"Proceed." Turning to the officers that manned the bridge. "Status from all stations afflicted! Find the source and restore power!" The thought that this was all a mere coincidence died with their failing power. "All hands to battle stations! We will not allow this threat to deter our faith! The Emperor is with us this day! We will emerge victorious and see our enemies laid out before us!" He continued to monitor the situation through the various screens and icons that quickly flared into life before the Lord Commissar. Sitting on his command dias he puffed his cigar, angry that he could not be in direct conflict with such a cowardly foe. Pure hatred flowed from him at the cowardice of the enemy, afraid to stand toe to toe with the Emperor's might.

"Very well. We should divert all remaining power to the teleportarium, starboard batteries and the port side thrusters. Continue with the current collision course, we already have ramming speed. The rest shall become clear when we ram that ship." Victus' plan was sound in his mind. Though the Sword of Orion's prow would likely sustain some minor damage he knew the other ship would fare much worse. He kept an eye on Rackham, following his lead now.

Sabios shrugged. "You cannot expect me to know the etiquette for talking to a Necron Lord. The mistake with the parley on the other hand is completely my fault. The gift I want to present you is a cure to the flayer virus. It is your right to doubt me being able to procure such a cure, so I will first tell you about the general framework. We found an assortment of artifacts, which combined open a lot of possibilities. One of the artifacts was lost by your race before you went to your sleep and we will need help with activating it. Another artifact is the solution to your problems. A device of Dark Eldar origin which is used to capture daemons and plays a role in getting rid of the flayer virus which works similar to daemonic possesion. Explaining how exactly it works will take a lot of time and I would like to skip that part, if you insist. I can assure you, that I am sure that it will work as I would otherwise risk call up your wrath on my person."
At that part Sabios smiled.
"I might be lacking manners, but I am not completely foolish. I know how far the wrath of a common Necron noble reaches and fear to imagine the vast amounts of space and time a Phaerons would cover. Your part of the deal includes technical help regarding the Necron artifact and defensive measures on eventual Tomb worlds on which the artifacts might be. You could also support us with your troops, if you want to get over with this alliancce faster and wait less to receive the cure. Your time is infinite, but you already told me that your patiemce has limits. You are also required to tolerate the presence of humans and Eldar in the same system as yours, because we also require their help. You do not have to be polite, but their presence is required, so it would be nice of you would not kill them."
Sabios took a breath and continued.
"On the positive side I can assure you that we will at least not work together with Orks. Your compensation will be details regarding the cure, the position of the artifact, help regarding the recovery of it and the instructions how to operate it. I have to mention it, that the artifact will at first be used together with the others, but afterwards the artifact is yours and with it your problems with your subordinates should cease to exist.

This finishes my explanation and I apologize if I left any open questions. I will answer them to my best knowledge, but I have to inform you, that our presence will be required soon. This whole operation has extremely many moving parts and a delay now could prolong the time you will have to tolerate our presence."
He looked at the Necrons and tried to read their body language as their faces bared any motion due to their design. He could not read a single thing. *Well, at least this message is being recorded, I can stare at them later as much as I need.*

--Aboard the khornates' vessel--

The ship shook violently as the first torpedoes from the Sword of Orion struck their target - without void shields and weapon batteries the khornates' vessel was completely defenceless, letting its attacker to tear it apart - the sheer vastness of the space vessel was the only thing that prevented it from being annihilated too fast. Clouds of debris and chunks of steel the size of hub-blocks driften behind the ship in its wake yet it kept its course unchanged - power was almost out, enough only for launching the boarding torpedoes and the ship headed towards its assailant on a momentum of its previous charge.

"Pathetic weaklings and cowards! Face me in battle like true warriors, imperial scum!!!!" the warband's leader roared in helpless fury staring at the firing Sword of Orion as though its crew could hear him if he roared loud enough. He suddenly realized they wont make it to the enemy's starboard side if they continue to be fired upon at the same rate and intensity - they will be burst apart piece by piece, methodogically and inevitably.

The sudden ripple of energy across the Sword of Orion's hull kept his and his crew gazes for several moments before all of them realized what has just happened, bestial smiles appearing on their monstrous faces - something caused damage of their assailant's void shields and for a brief time the ship's fire rate decreased - they were given a small reprieve. Whoever or whatever made it, the fact was reassuring.

"Behold, my brothers! The Blood God looks benevolently upon us today! It's a sign for us, a sign that the Skull King favours our courage! We shall board that accursed ship and show its miserable crew what the true warfare is!" roars of devotion and confirmation answered his passionate tirade. "To the boarding crafts, prepare to abandon the ship! "


--Aboard the Wailing Phoenix--

A piercing shriek of colossal anger reverberated through the wraithship's structure, shuddering its psychic core and souls of all its occupants, both dead and living as Jain Zar watched Tylarurdrenn firing at the Sword of Orion. A single banshee rushed in Jain Zar's private compartment with eyes widened in shock.

"Mistress, the dark kin's vessel is...." the warrior abruptly cut her report and trembled as the Phoenix Lord sharply turned head in her direction.

"Board the Nightwings, warrior! Your attack begins now! Approach the mon-keighs' vessel and await my further commands!" the Phoenix Lord snapped through gritted teeth, rising sharply on her feet and pacing hurriedly to the control panels. The banshee still stood where she was, fearing to ask another question.

"What of the dark kin, Phoenix Queen? Should we..." she didnt have time to finish her speech as Jain Zar covered ten meters separating them in a blink of an eye, standing barely a half-meter away from the warrior and looking at her from above, her entire pose radiating menace and fury. The banshee tried to back away in terror but couldnt move her gaze away from Jain Zar's mask's eye-lenses, standing before the Phoenix Lord as if frozen.

"Your orders are given to you, warrior! Go forth and obey them! Now!" Jain Zar barked bluntly, barely able to restrain anger pouring out from her like steam from a machine. The banshee bowed deeply and prepared to leave immediately when she felt a firm yet gentle grip upon her shoulder.

"May the fury of Khaine guide you, sister. We shall prevail as we always do but I need you to follow my orders swiftly if we are about to emerge victorious. I'll deal with commorraghans. Now go, child," Jain Zar added more calmly and nodded, encouraging the warrior to leave. When she was alone again Storm of Silence clasped hands behind her back and straightened, pacing gracefully back to the control panels. Amalysemar would dearly pay for this diobedience once this chaos was over.


--Aboard the Alpha Legion's cruiser--

"Move out, brothers!" Tandreus commanded to twenty space marines standing in front of him who turned around as one and headed towards a waiting Thunderhawk - the enemy made its first move at last and now it was time for the Hydra to strike. Tandreus didnt need great numbers of warriors to see his objectives complete - such a blatant waste of military resources was better left to other Chaos Legions who knew nothing of the art of war - sons of Alpharius were superior to all of them, of that Tandreus was absolutely sure.

"I'm coming with you, mon-keigh - someone must watch over you to prevent other stupidities from occurrence," a songful haughty male voice reached Tandreus and he turned his head right - a tall slender eldar clad in ancient and resplendent armour was standing nearby him with a long witch-blade glittering with eldritch energies held in both hands, smooth polished helmet with antlers was mounted on his head and long flamboyant clock trailed behind his back - despite being a half-head shorter than Tandreus and of much subtler physical frame, he looked like a king of old times and his entire posture betrayed a person of ancient nobility, wisdom and dignity.

"Slau Dha, I didnt expect you to come at the front lines, it's unusual for you to sully your hands with blood of primitives," Tandreus replied, starting to move towards the Thunderhawk with the noble eldar striding left of him.

"Autarch Slau Dha, primitive, I won tolerate your foul tongue pronounce my name without mentioning full title. Besides, you know nothing of my battle experience, sometimes dirty work needs to be done," Slau Dha replied without looking at Tandreus. "You must be grateful to the honourable Phoenix Lord - were it not for her, I'd not have involved the Cabal into dealing with your treacherous Legion again after the Nurth catastrophe. I'm helping my race, not your disgusting species, mon-keigh." Tandreus ignored a jibe and replied calmly.

"Honourable? That blood-crazied xeno you call the Phoenix Lord is totally unpredictable and mad, couldnt you find someone else?"

"Hold your tongue, filthy brute, you know nothing of the things you speak about," Slau Dha barked angrily as they stepped inside the Thunderhawk and the boarding ramp began to close. Tandreus was amused a bit by such reaction - for all the time he knew the old Autarch he never saw him to behave like that.

"Easy, eldar, easy. What's so special about her? Are you in love with each other?" Tandreus asked with barely suppressed chuckle before realizing his mistake. A heartbeat later and the glittering witch-blade was an inch away from his throat, ready to cut his head at the merest twitch of Autarch's wrist. Clicking sound of twenty bolters raised at the same time and aimed at the Autarch answered his jest and Tandreus raised tightened fist to prevent violence.

"Lower your weapon, xeno," he commanded imperiously. With a graceful sweep Slau Dha sheathed his witch-blade and strode confidently into the Thunderhawk's inners, glaring to Tandreus briefly. The legionnaires lowered their bolters and Tandreus mentally swore for his reckless act

Fear. Excitement. Relief. Disappointment.

Mon-keighs are limited creatures and their psyche barely leave impact upon immaterium, excluding few mutants. But compared to other species of the universe, their ability to express emotions is satisfying. Their mind is complex, well at least compared to those of Orkoids or Rak'Gols. Amalysemara wasn't after their lives, merely destroying them would have been waste and not fitting for their kind. Instead, making them to express wide range of emotions, going from one end to other is more appealing. Even if they can't harvest those emotions, just knowledge of them provides acceptable refreshment.

The debris following khornate hulk removes its cloak, revealing squadron of Voidravens. They release a salvo of leech torpedoes at the hulk, which without defensive measures has no hope intercepting them. With what little power the hulk has left, it won't take long to completely drain it and leave the disintegrating ship cold and empty, drifting in the void.

Okantakht refocussed his gaze as the monkey started to tell him what he wanted to know; Information and data.
But while at first the proposition seemed reasonable, a search party for various artifacts, several details bothered the Phaeron quite a bit. For the first time since the conversation started, Okabtakht spoke unto the Space Marine directly.

"For what reason is the presence of the Eldar infestation necessary to this operation?
And what do you hope to archieve with the power of an artifact crafted by the genial crypteks of my kin? What is your goal? Explain yourself."

"Know that we cannot allow you to hold such a treasure yourself. Since you have shown so much more understanding for your position than your specimen, I expect you to grasp this fact and accept it as given. If the purpose is agreeable, we may give account to your efforts and assist you in the matter, but the artifact will not leave the hands of its rightful owners."

"The Eldar are needed, because of their understanding of wraithbone technology and their psychic mastery. It pains me to say so, but in those disciplines they outperform humans and as far as I know even Necrons. Some of the artifacts, which we have to deal with, will not be accessible without those abilities. We would like to ditch them as much as they would love to do the same with us, but the necessity for the alliance is big enough to overcome our ...."
At this point Sabios pondered for a moment.
"... Let´s call it animosities. The position of the artifacts is not decided yet, but I cannot let us finish this conversation with you being sure that this artifact will be in your position until this mission is finished. For once we might need it as a bargaining chip. The other reason is that I have no idea what you will do, as soon as your goal is in reach while the allinaces is not."
All motions on the bridge behind him stopped for a moment. As soon as everyone recuperated from the shock of the words they resumed looking at the monitors.
Sabios raised his hands with the palms to the Phaeron and hurried to proceed with his speech.
"Do not understand me wrong, I know that you are a person of great honor, but on the other hand I understand that you see me and the others I represent so far below you, that no metapher I can think of can describe it. You would have no reason to honor your words towards me, due to our perceived differences in position.

As for our goal. I was not sure you were interested in the affairs of humans. A champion of chaos named Drakaniel plans to tear a rift in reality and end the stalemate at Cadia, the gate of the Eye of Terror. This would have consequences neither Eldar, Imperials or the Alpha Legion can tolerate. At the moment the Ruinos Powers are no danger for you, but I have no idea what happens when the Eye of Terror encompasses the whole Imperium. I would like to hear your opinion on this hypothetical situation, as your thoughts would certainly enlighten me."

@BlackNecron | Akhenhotep let out a mental yawn as Okantacht and the fleshling spoke, only slightly moving when the primarch mentioned the flayer virus and a necron artifact in their possession.
"Let me take my family aboard their ship. I'll reclaim this artifact the fleshling speaks of."
The concerns of the mortal realms held no interest to the Overlord, what did the immortal have to fear from such fleeting beings and their problems?, although he was vaguely intrigued by Cadia, remembering being aware of plans to seed certain worlds with null pylons in an attempt to split the material plane from the immaterium.

Victus stared out at the other ship as the Sword of Orion drifted towards it, he thought he saw something new appear in the debris behind but it was too far away to tell what yet. Instead he stayed focused on his current plan, they were about to ram into the ship. "Brace for impact!" He barked, activating the mag boots of his power armour to root him in place on the floor as the Sword of Orion smashed into the other ship and met its mark perfectly unlike the torpedos.

They had smashed straight into the breach in the ship's hull, lodging the Sword of Orion's prow in there like a chain axe in a deep wound, Victus was about to have it ripped out as violently as possible. "Now power up the port side thrusters! Execute a high energy turn, now!" Victus had barely finished the latest order when the thrusters came to life and forced the Sword of Orion to turn, the prow tearing a huge chunk off of the side of the ship and sending it and its contents hurtling off into the void. The Sword of Orion's prow didn't escape undamaged, however, as the ornate golden eagle head snapped off and lodged into the other ship's midsection. Luckily the Sword of Orion's void shields saved it from serious damage.

Despite the serious damage already done the Sword of Orion continued to turn, it's rear thrusters being swung like a giant space faring maul into the front of the other vessel. Just as they were about to experience the second impact, Victus yelled out one last order. "Open fire with the starboard batteries!" The impact and the firing of the batteries occurred almost simultaneously, the distance between the two ships being measure in mere meters as the macro cannons fired at point blank range, tearing through their target's hull with ease. Such grievous damage was done that when the second, much more violent collision came the front half of the other ship could take no more and was smashed to pieces. The impact rended it apart, massive chunks of debris going off in different directions as the Sword of Orion powered on before coming to a stop at the port side of what was left of the other ship. The Sword of Orion's shields had once again prevented it from taking more than superficial damage but it, like the front half of the other ship, could not take any more of the strain with such low power and so it sputtered and died barely a second after they had stopped.

Victus simply stood silently on the bridge for a few moments, catching his breath before speaking again. "Teleport some Armsmen into what's left of that ship. We need to know what we were up against in there."

--On the Alpha Legion's Thunderhawk--

"Approaching the unidentified vessel, captain! Estimated time before arrival - six minutes!" a pilot shouted to Tandreus through a vox-link. The violence of the Sword of Orion's attack surprised Tandreus and, despite himself, made him slightly admire courage and skills of the Sword of Orion's captain - to ram another ship, especially as big as this one, was always one of the most dangerous tactics of the void battles. Whoever was aboard the attacked vessel they were doomed, he thought - they would soon find themselves out of oxygen supplies and complete power loss, a cerain way to death.

"We shouldnt be following this route, the blades will spill blood and lives will be taken in another place," Slau Dha's hollow voice sounded as if he spoke from the grave, his helmet's eye-lenses blazing with bright yellow light. The Autarch was fixed on his place as if stiffened in paralysis, as immobile as a statue. Knowing nothing of the eldar's witchery, Tandreus immediately realized that the Autarch was in one of his strange psychic conditions allowing him to see the events which hadnt yet unfolded into material universe.

"Speak plainly, eldar, I understand not a word from your babbling! The ship is before us, they dont fire in return which means they have no defence still active, the enemy is still within," Tandreus barked angrily. A psychic shockwave washed over his senses as if something invisible has just returned from beyond the veil and his head dizzied. A heartbeat later Slau Dha's body returned to its normal condition and he turned his head towards the Alpha Legion's captain.

"The enemy will escape soon aboard the Sword of Orion, the mon-keigh will discover their corrupted brethren's presence at the cost of their own lives, we should be aboard the hunter, not its prey," the Autarch replied with his usual imperious voice. Tandreus knew about the eldar's psychic might and their unparalleled mastery of the Warp but was still reluctant to trust the xeno. As if sensing his indeciseveness the Autarch added, "the ship is about to be destroyed soon, it would be better for your warriors to stay aboard the living vessel, not the dead one".

"Very well and how the hell are we supposed to get inside? Just send a request to Rackham so that he would open the door?" Slau Dha ignored Tandreus's barb and reached his mind out towards that of Tandreus before the latter could reply - the Alpha Legion's captain's mental barriers built with centuries of discipline and training were swept out like a poor dam by ferocious river while the Autarch studied his mind like a surgeon observing some specimen's inners. He found himself gazing at the operative №67 striding through the Sword of Orion's corridors and hangars as if he was following just behind her, in an instant he was aware of the entire ship's structure as it was percieved by his agent's eyes.

"There, we will proceed to these hangars," Slau Dha's voice reached his mind from out of nowhere and he found himself standing in a place swarming with aircrafts and people carrying ammunition in preparation for disembarking. An instant later and Tandreus was back in his full conscience again with Slau Dha still sitting on his place - by relaxed poses of his fellow legionnaires he guessed no one has mentioned cursed xeno's psychic intrusion in his mind.

"Do it again, xeno scum, and I'll end your life with my bare hands," Tandreus growled and demanded a pilot to establish communication with Jain Zar's ship.


--Aboard the Wailing Phoenix--

"You want me to attack them? Are you complete fool, human?" Jain Zar asked harshly.

"I need their ships to be lured from the hangars, we need clear space to board the Sword of Orion without fighting its own crew. Will you do it or not?" Tandreus demanded.

"Curse you, mon-keigh," the Phoenix Lord snapped and nodded curtly signifying her acceptance.

"That's better. Tandreus out". The Storm of Silence clenched fists and established communication with Tylarurdrenn whose Void Ravens were eagerly ravaging the almost destroyed ship's hull like crazied hyenas tearing chunks of meat from a mortally wounded animal.

"Amasylemar (@GoreWrencha ), if you value your miserable life just a bit you'll react to my order in the precise way it's being delivered right now - I want your every ship to lure the imperials out of their hangars - make sure they follow you and not a single one of them remain aboard the Sword of Orion. Delay and distract them for as long as you can, do you understand me, foul creature?"


--Aboard the khornates' vessel--

The space marines stumbled and rolled on the floor as their ship was being torn apart mercilessly. The ship shook in its agony and what had previously began as an organized retreat to the boarding crafts was now a rush of beasts who knew that their domain was soon about to become their tomb - they didnt fear death, they feared to displease their god by the way the death has almost found them.

They ran through endless corridors, hangars and sections, the floor trembling beneath their feet, chambers and entire sections of the ship collapsing, exploding and crushing all arond them. Now almost the entire ship plunged in darkness whose dark corridors were filled with bloodied remains of the ship's previous crew. A sudden flare of many lights blinded running space marines for a second before they saw living figures emerging from the light in different spots - they were armed and they were many, but they werent space marines - worth for them, they were the imperials. Whoever they were, they have arrived on their own slaughter. The warband's leader bellowed in triumph and charged towards the newcomers whose faces twisted with utter terror and revulsion at this first sight opened to them after teleportation. They fired almost immediately but too late - axes, swords, bolters, talons, mauls, fists and grenades greeted the newcomers and received their shattered flesh and bones as a welcoming response. The music of misery, suffering, bloodshed and death sounded across the ship - the most pleasing music the armoured beasts could ever hope to hear.

Whoever these newcomers were, perhaps they were meant to investigate the ship's fate, but it mattered nothing at the end - the blood was being spilled and that was everything that mattered. The half of the warband's helmet was scorched by laser beams but inside he was grinning with pleasure. Some of his warriors were wounded but already the power of the Warp was healing their injuries and they were embarking upon the boarding torpedoes at last.

The khornates' leader grabbed an armsman, his immense gauntlet fully gripping a tiny human's body and squeezed him like a fruit, blood and guts pouring out like rain. He picked a vox-device from a corpse's helmet and strode into the last torpedoe, the hatch closing with little hiss behind him. He leaned the device close to his helmet speaker and snarled.

"I'm coming for you, servants of the corspe-Emperor." He crushed the device into his fist and the booming sound of his torpedoe's launch muffled its occupants' victorious roars.