Necron Decapitation

The Stone Lizard Cannons on the ground roared continuously, and every time the Raven Guard called for artillery support, it dealt a heavy blow to the Necron advance.

The Raven Guard and the Mechanicus did their utmost to slow the Necron assault, but their strength was far too meager against a Necron dynasty in the midst of its reawakening protocol.

Under the fierce artillery fire, some skeletal figures glowing with a dark green light still nimbly slipped through the barrage, diving straight into the mine tunnels held by enemy forces. Flesh and metal of the mortal auxiliary troops and the Adeptus Mechanicus Army flew in all directions with every flash of a Phase Sword.

"For the Omnissiah!!"

"For the Emperor!"

The Mechanicus soldiers, knowing no fear, charged toward the enemy now in sight, shouting their faith in the Machine God.

Not just the Mechanicus—the mortal auxiliaries also shed their blood on this battlefield. Countless laser beams and Logging Gun fire hammered into the agile forms of the Wraiths, but in moments, the foremost Mechanicus vanguard was torn to shreds by massive Phase Swords.

The elite mortal auxiliaries behind them immediately filled the gap, even knowing full well they were walking to their deaths.

Green metal skeletons and iron-gray Mechanicus soldiers, mortal flesh and blood, interwove on the smoke-choked battlefield. Lethal Neuro-Disruptor Guns, Gauss Rifles, Laser Guns, Bolters, and Chainswords rose and fell in a deadly rhythm.

The sacrifices of the Mechanicus and mortal auxiliaries were not in vain. A squad of Raven Guard finally reached the battlefield and, working with other units, tore the metal head from a Wraith's massive body.

But the death of one Wraith did little to stem the loss of the main mining zone. The Imperial forces on the ground had suffered grievous losses, while the Necron troops, tireless, surged forward wave after wave.

"Contract the defensive line. Rally all forces to the third defensive line." Sage Lawrence directed the remnants of the Imperial army to fall back to the last line of defense. If this line fell, the entire Tir Star would be taken by those damned skeletons, and follow-up Imperial forces would have to carve out a safe landing zone to reclaim this vital mining world.

The Imperial army began to break, and the front lines shrank.

But a howl from the sky cut short the Necron advance.

Drop Pods scraped violently against Tir Star's atmosphere, flames engulfing them as they ignited the swarms of Scarabs in the air. Like rain, the Drop Pods slammed down onto the Necron forces, and a few unlucky Canoptek Constructs were crushed outright.

Imperial reinforcements had arrived!

Tall warriors clad in black Power Armor burst from the Drop Pods, the ravens poised for flight on their shoulder pauldrons marking their allegiance.

The faltering, retreating Imperial forces instantly reversed course. The front lines began to push forward slowly, smashing the Necrons back into metal chunks.

The Raven Guard, veterans of tunnel warfare, methodically cut down the Necrons in the mine shafts, while ground troops hastily threw together simple defensive works.

Antigone stood silently beneath the throne of the Tomb World, watching these lowly races occupy his land. He had awakened a third of the dynasty's forces; according to the Tomb World's calculations, that was enough to annihilate every invader on this planet.

As the Overlord of the Tomb World, his duty was to ensure its safety and keep these base races from disturbing the slumbering king.

That was why, when the shallow Tomb World's gates were roused by abnormal tremors, and the Necron Scarabs and lowest-tier Necron Warriors were destroyed, the Tomb World had awakened him.

The xenos weren't particularly strong. Their artillery fire was fierce, destroying many low-tier units, but that loss meant nothing to him—death had never left their race.

Antigone had no idea how long the king had slept. In the endless ages, even his own linear programming had begun to throw errors on some data, but those errors were trivial.

"I said, stop all mining operations on Tir Star." Sandman stared expressionlessly at the newly appointed Sage before him. If the man weren't the Sage of Griffin IV, he'd already be reduced to a pile of scrap.

Sandman knew the Mechanicus' ways well enough—claiming they were already engaged with the xenos when the order came. It was all just greed at heart. Now, thanks to this mess, Tir Star's output would take ages to recover.

"Lord Sandman, I will take full responsibility for everything on Tir Star." Sage Lawrence now looked like a gambler who had lost it all, needing this lord's power to finish off the damned xenos.

"Good to hear you have that resolve." Sandman cut the comm. Since the man was willing to admit fault, that was fine—he was never one to be harsh.

This time, he didn't descend to command on the ground. Instead, he dispersed the Raven Guard fleet in space and switched all ships back to Void Shields. He wasn't confident the Reflective Shields could fool Necron eyes.

As for whether the Necrons had a fleet? Sandman never doubted it. Even if this dynasty was small, they'd still have basic warships. As soon as the Necrons on the ground detected the Imperial fleet's arrival, they'd awaken more defensive forces.

A Necron Tomb World was like a Doraemon's pocket—until it was fully occupied, no one knew what insane toys that ancient race would pull out.

Of course, if they pulled out a C'tan shard, Sandman would be very happy to thank the Necron lords. And if they weren't willing to offer it up, he'd just have to "take" it himself.

Sure enough, as the Necrons on the ground detected the Imperial fleet in the sky, they launched their own fleet.

In the void far from Tir Star, over a dozen Necron warships suddenly appeared within the Augur Array's detection range of the Imperial fleet.

Sandman stared hard at the Necron fleet, outnumbered more than ten to one by the Imperial ships. Their numbers were small, their vessels sleek and compact compared to the Imperium's bulky designs, shaped like scythes in dark green.

From his sparse memories, Sandman identified the leading Scythe-class Cruiser and the Jackal-class Frigates. As for the rest, he had no clue.

These few Necron warships showed no fear as they charged at an enemy far superior in both number and scale.

Within half an hour at most, both fleets would enter firing range. But even this small fleet was nothing the Raven Guard could afford to underestimate.

Sandman had already pulled a cable from his Terminator armor and jacked directly into the Styx, allowing him to command all ships at maximum speed against the Necron challenge.

Necron warships were small, but they relied on brute force. This race, already doomed to death, used Inertialess Drives—technology that could accelerate a ship to absurd speeds in an instant.

No living being in the galaxy could withstand that sudden, massive acceleration. Even an Astartes' enhanced body would be crushed to paste.

But the Necrons didn't care. They had abandoned flesh long ago; no amount of acceleration could affect their bodies or minds.

At the same time, the Necrons' absurd tech tree rendered the Imperium's naval weapons pathetically ineffective against them.

"Torpedoes? No!" Sandman immediately dismissed that idea—powerful but slow. In a standard space battle, both sides would first exchange torpedo volleys upon entering range.

Most torpedoes would be intercepted, but even a tenth hitting their mark was enough. The high-yield explosives packed inside could easily blow a cruiser in two.

"It has to be Lances." Sandman mentally picked the best weapon from the Imperial arsenal. Lances had extreme range and near-instantaneous travel time, making them energy weapons that were hard to defend against.

In space combat, both Imperial and xenos ships relied on shields to weather Lance strikes.

Of course, the downside was that each ship carried only a limited number of Lances, and they needed time to recharge. But that didn't matter—the sheer number of ships made up for it.

As for the remaining Macro Cannon fire, the hail of shells was enough to cover the maneuvering space for the Necron warships' assault. No matter how agile the Necron vessels were, one thing they could never avoid was the need to close to sufficient range before launching their attack—this was unavoidable.

Here they come.

Sandman watched these sickle-shaped ships advance along their predetermined flight path without rushing to attack. He knew this was all just a facade put on by the Necrons. When the Necrons were about to enter the range of their weapons, the true terror of the Inertialess Drive would fully erupt.

The Necron fleet drifted unhurriedly toward the Raven Guard fleet, which stood ready in formation. Both their speed and every other aspect were as steady as a thousand-year-old hound.

"Come on." Sandman continuously adjusted the fleet's layout based on the Necron warships' trajectory, preparing for their sudden course changes. The massive fleet danced gracefully under his command.

Soon, the Necron ships entered the Raven Guard fleet's attack range. The green Lightning Arc Generators were the first to unleash massive arcs of electricity. After successfully destroying over a dozen frigates, the arcs dispersed into chains of lightning that spread toward the other warships.

"A show of strength!" Sandman immediately ordered the remaining frigates with overloaded shields to fall back. Then, Particle Whips emitted beams of green light, relentlessly hammering the human warships as they covered each other in turns.

The sheer power of the Necron warships' weaponry was evident.

After completing a single volley, the Necron warships suddenly burst forth with a speed that the Imperium of Man's vessels could hardly counter. With the Inertialess Drive backing them, each ship skipped across space like a flat stone in the hands of a hobbyist, ricocheting through the void.

They maneuvered continuously, launching further attacks against these bulky, crude warships.

At the same time, the Raven Guard fleet's counterattack arrived.

Forming a three-dimensional spherical formation, the Raven Guard fleet maximized the effectiveness of their warships' Lances. The first to fire was the Styx's main weapon—a black beam struck with precision, hitting a Necron Jackal-class Frigate mid-skip.

A single shot, a kill. The Styx's attack kicked off the battle between both sides.

It wasn't just the Styx. The other warships opened fire as well. Death Rays, Macro Cannons, and Lances wove together into a three-dimensional crossfire net, turning the entire interior of the sphere into a massive orb wreathed in flames.

Even if his own artillery fire struck allied ships, Sandman didn't care. After all, the Imperium's warships were protected by Void Shields—a little friendly fire was insignificant.

But the Necron warships were different. These vessels, forged entirely from Living Metal, had no shields. Aside from relying on Living Metal's self-repair, they depended more on stealth and adaptability for protection. Necron warships excelled at energy containment, and ordinary Imperial vessels could only accurately track them when they maneuvered or opened fire.

The Necrons didn't know that the performance traits of their ships had long been leaked. In such close-quarters combat, all Imperial warships shared the data scanned by the Styx fleet's Augur Arrays.

Sandman evenly distributed these precious Dark Age of Technology vessels throughout the sphere, using them as scanning nodes. This severely compromised the Necrons' stealth capabilities.

Even so, the Necron fleet showed no sign of retreat. These metal skeletons, tireless and unceasing, weaved through the Imperial warship formations, dodging incoming beams and solid shells while occasionally sparking bursts of flame.

Every time a Lightning Arc or green beam flared up, it meant the Necrons had found an opening to strike.

One opening was enough!

"It's time!" Sandman watched the Necron warships, which had already plunged deep into the fleet's core and were charging straight for his flagship, revealing a smile of a successful scheme.

Sandman had never truly placed his hopes of destroying the Necron fleet on the Raven Guard's warships. The formation he had laid out was designed to lure the Necrons straight toward him.

The Imperium's flagship was inevitably the Necrons' primary target for decapitation.

Now, the Styx had been exposed to the Necrons' gaze!