"That is our prey," Imotekh answered curtly.
"Prey?" The adjutant was even more confused. "Forgive my candor, Your Majesty, but while its energy readings are unusual... it does not seem particularly powerful."
Imotekh did not answer. He reached out and took the cube from the adjutant. He could sense faint pulses of consciousness emanating from within, filled with rage and humiliation.
He activated the release sequence.
Humm-
The cube began to unfold. Space twisted, folded, and stretched within the Throne Room.
With a pop, a grotesquely contorted figure was spat out and slammed onto the floor.
All the Necron nobles in the Throne Room looked over curiously.
The figure's limbs were tangled together in a way that defied physics, his head squeezed down into his chest cavity. His entire body resembled a mangled knot. His robes were in tatters, and fragments of lavish ornaments littered the floor.
A few seconds later, the figure's living metal body began repairing itself. His limbs snapped back into place with a series of cracks, and his head popped back onto his neck.
When he finally regained a humanoid shape and raised his head, the entire Throne Room fell deathly silent.
Trazyn, the collector renowned throughout the Milky Way Galaxy for his elegance and taste, was now kneeling before Stormlord Imotekh in an utterly wretched state.
"Tra... Trazyn?" The adjutant's voice was filled with disbelief.
Imotekh's soul-fire also flickered violently. The trap he had laid was meant for that golden C'tan Shard. Why had the Overlord of Solemnace been delivered in its place?
"Imotekh!" The moment Trazyn saw the Stormlord, all his pent-up grievances, rage, and humiliation erupted. He pointed at Imotekh, his voice as shrill as a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "You shameless, despicable bastard! You actually set a trap! Do