Trazyn 'The Infinite'

As Iax gradually increased the output of his mechanical arms, he easily tore the Necron in his grasp in two.

The Necron continued attacking even after being torn apart, its staff still firing beam after beam of green light.

Although the Sentinel had exploded after taking several consecutive hits just moments ago.

But Iax's mechanical body was nothing like those automated sentries used as cannon fodder.

Firepower capable of destroying a Sentinel could barely leave any visible damage on him.

Even the Necron's expressionless face showed a flicker of astonishment.

But Iax quickly crushed his skull underfoot.

"You seem rather special, unlike any of the Machine Intelligences I've seen. Very interesting."

Another identical Necron appeared almost instantly a short distance from Iax, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Iax looked over the newly arrived Necron, then glanced at the shattered remains beneath his feet, still crackling with arcs of energy. He was clearly puzzled.

"Another new Ancient Xenos?"

"Aha, Ancient Xenos. As expected, whether it is the so-called Imperium of Man or a creation of Old Humanity, the sentiment remains the same."

The Necron's teasing tone turned serious.

"I am the collector and preserver of this universe's history, the ruler of Solemnace! I am Trazyn!"

Trazyn took pride in his identity and dignity. Being repeatedly called an Ancient Xenos was hardly his style.

Iax extracted the essentials of the xenos's identity from his words.

"Trazyn, ruler of a xenos civilization, why did you interrupt this interrogation and abruptly interfere with my remote control using Spatial Stasis Technology?"

"No, no, no. I merely wished to witness all this. Perhaps one day, many years from now, today's encounter will prove to have been an important turning point in history."

Trazyn tilted his head and waved the staff in his hand.

"This world is more complicated than it was when you were constructed, and far more interesting. Although I am very curious about how you can ignore my stasis, it is not unheard of. Many have broken free through their own power, but quite frankly, I do not believe you possess that kind of strength."

Listening to Trazyn's "mad ramblings," Iax's intelligence core went blank.

He simply could not understand what this seemingly deranged xenos was doing.

According to his foundational database, some of his brethren had encountered these xenos during the Age of Expansion and fought them on several occasions. But these xenos were not particularly powerful. Even ordinary automated sentries, little more than cannon fodder, could each take on several standard Necron units.

The records showed that a single Elatana-class armed guardian could easily destroy swathes of their low-tier units.

Even the xenos's medium combat units were utterly fragile before an Elatana.

According to the records, Elatana-class armed guardians were barely lower-middle-tier combat units among his "brethren."

Their armament consisted of nothing more than one modified light Magalon-Type Atomic Pulse Cannon and a light Particle Ripper Machine Gun. Some models lacked even an atomic pulse cannon, instead carrying an Immolation Burner or a Particle Disintegrator Blade.

Standing over six meters tall, with four arms and six legs, they had been reduced on battlefields of the past to cannon fodder only slightly better than light robots and Sentinels. A somewhat more advanced Ravager armed reconnaissance robot could easily tear apart several Elatana robots.

Those were the only combat records in Iax's files.

These xenos had virtually no ability to resist a sufficient number of automated combat robots.

Countering the properties of their weapons required only replacing the outer armor with a denser material. Some defensive properties might decline compared with certain alloys, but the actual damage sustained would be drastically reduced.

If armor made with Neutron Star Material had not been too heavy for smaller bodies to bear, these xenos's Gauss Flayers would have been able to strip away only a thin atomic layer.

The ancient database dating back to the Federation era contained very little information about the Necrons. Some test records indicated that these xenos possessed unusual weapons, but they were still not enough to put the Federation on its guard.

In reality, however, the Necrons the Federation had encountered were merely units accidentally exposed by anomalies in a Dynasty's pocket space. These Necrons had either gone mad during their slumber or could not be awakened at all, leaving the Federation with an extremely limited understanding of them.

This left Iax dismissive of Trazyn. Although he did not know why the Trazyn he had just destroyed had reappeared, as long as this was not an illusion created by projection technology, he simply needed to keep dismantling him.

While Trazyn was still considering how to communicate with this newly awakened Ancient Machine Intelligence, Iax activated Short-Range Jump again. In a flash of blue Warp light, he appeared beside Trazyn.

His mechanical arms moved swiftly. Before Trazyn could react, one hand seized the side of his body while the other grabbed his mechanical head.

With the whir of machinery, that distinctively Necron head once again ended up in Iax's hand. He casually tossed the remaining body to the ground and watched its green arcs of energy gradually fade.

A green doorway appeared again, and the familiar figure once more emerged before Iax.

"Ah, what foolish behavior. Stop wasting your effort."

Trazyn's voice rang through the space before his figure appeared.

Iax abandoned his attempt to jump again.

Comparing the two bodies, he found that they were clearly not completely identical, yet the consciousness was obviously the same. This indicated that the xenos before him possessed Consciousness Backup, or rather, Consciousness Upload and Transfer. Simply destroying these backup bodies was meaningless.

As a Machine Intelligence, Iax possessed these abilities as well.

But because of his body's unique nature, leaving it would render his consciousness and many of his functional modules unusable.

Furthermore, given its different level of technology, there were no backup bodies available for Iax's current form.

That did not, however, prevent Iax from recognizing what made the xenos enemy before him special.

Trazyn had also noticed the problem.

Rather than waste time fighting an advanced Machine Intelligence, he would be better off communicating properly. Driving history forward was a pleasure in its own right.

Moreover, the intelligence of the Machine Intelligence before him was clearly no simple matter. It represented a technological path the Necrontyr had never successfully followed.

There were few bodies nearby that he could take over. As a noble Necron Overlord, "borrowing" the bodies of overlords from other Dynasties still befitted his status. But once all these bodies were destroyed, he could not bring himself to stoop to borrowing the bodies of lesser Necrons.

"If I were you, I would retreat immediately rather than return here to probe me over and over. You had better tell me your purpose at once, or I will not mind destroying another of your bodies."

Although Iax did not know how many bodies Trazyn had available, each one destroyed was one fewer. There could hardly be an unlimited supply.

Besides, these mechanical substitutes, each of which fell to a single punch, were not difficult to deal with. Their mechanical design was inferior even to that of the Creators—humanity.

What was more, the Men of Gold had participated in his own design and manufacture.

The Men of Gold were a superhuman race humanity had created through Genetic Engineering and technology. Their fundamental purpose was to assist humanity's technological development and scientific progress, serving humanity itself.

The Men of Iron, his "brethren," habitually referred to humans as the Creator, while the Men of Gold were the true Engineers.

As one of the Men of Iron, he himself was the culmination of human and Men of Gold technology.

Although tens of thousands of years had passed and Iax did not know what had happened to this world, finding the Creator and Engineer would surely resolve his questions. And the Men of Iron had to serve either the Men of Gold or the Creator.

Without anyone to serve, he had no value.

His foundational logic compelled Iax to find someone suitable to serve.