A Sicarian Infiltrator battles a giant Necorn Cryptek, seeking to slow the Necron advance and allow Magos Abnightus to obtain a rare piece of xeno technology.

“Fear of xeno technology is nonsense. The ninth law of the Cult Mechanicus is insanity, written by superstitious priests frightened by the Age of Strife. Knowledge is knowledge. That I must fear my own Mechanicus for being in a theological prison of their own making is, to me, the ultimate insult to the Machine God.”—Magos Abnightus Satagien Psi-52, from notes of his personal journal (since deleted to ensure his safety from prying enemies)

* * *

+ + Advance. Autonomous tactical protocols are suspended pending a direct order from me. Infiltrators: Block path of xeno attack. + + 

Two figures immediately broke away from the body of Skitarii and ran at approximately 24 kilometers per hour toward a gap in front of of the magos Abnightus.

His tactical algorithms indicated a 68.4 percent chance that the Infiltrators could slow the Necrons long enough for him to reach the wreck of the crashed xeno skimmer {Classification: Tomb Blade).

If his remaining Skitarii could form an adequate defensive line in front of him, there was a 75.2 percent chance he could extract the skimmer’s power unit and escape with a rare and wondrous opportunity to study the xenos’ advanced technology.

Despite more than 170 years of existence, with cybernetic augmentations that had long since stripped him of many human emotions, Abnightus noted with interest that he was experiencing physiological phenomenon normally associated with excitement.

Although his mechanical heart beat normally, his respiration rate had risen, and he sensed rising levels of adrenaline and cortisol hormones in his bloodstream.

Simple logic explained the release of such hormones: Severely damaged Necron warriors and vehicles had a teleportation protocol designed to prevent “lesser” species from finding and studying the highly advanced technology of the cybernetic species.

Abnightus, screen by his Skitarii, races to the wreck of a Necron Tomb Blade (top left of photo).

That protocol had failed in the case of the wrecked skimmer ahead of him. It was truly a miracle—and a rare and strategically important opportunity—to get his hands on Necron technology . And Abnightus was eager to succeed at this task.

The sound of firing gauss flayers, the most common hand-held weapon of the Necrons, filled the air only 40 meters in front of him. The Necrons were in sight—and their proximity forced Abnightus to lower the statistical probability of his mission’s success.

+ + Vanguard will advance and form a screen in front of me. Protect me from the xenos. Rangers will deploy in optimal firing line and open fire. Avoid targets near the Infiltrators. + + 

It took another 10.3 seconds for Abnightus to reach the Tomb Blade. In that time, he watched the two Infiltrators wield their taser goads, intercepting the lightning-like energy beams of the Necron weapons one moment, then leaping forward to bisect a xeno at the waist.

The Infiltrators’ incredible speed and agility, along with their kill rate, allowed the Tech Priest to raise his potential success estimate slightly.

The tech-priest reached the Tomb Blade and went to work. With seconds to complete his task, he used brute force. His servo-arm smashed the metal cover that protected the vehicle’s power source and tore it free.

A half-second’s assessment reassured him that he had not damaged the power unit, but its mountings blocked a quick removal.

He eased his most powerful mechadendrite into the crowded opening and attempted to cut through one of the mountings.

At that moment, his sensors indicated that one of the Infiltrators had ceased functioning. He adjusted the Skitarii’s tactical protocols, and he noted with satisfaction that the volume of gunfire increased significantly as his warriors reprogrammed their guns to auto-fire.

A Necron Lychguard strides forward into battle, ignoring the explosion of a grenade thrown by a Skitarii Ranger.

Nothing distracted him from his work, but his augmentations allowed him to observe the battle around him as well. He saw a Vanguard rush directly into the xenos, attempting to engage them in melee and distract the enemy from their advance.

The charge failed immediately. A Necron voidblade suddenly erupted out of the Skitarii’s back, its power blade glowing blue with arcane energy. Wielding it was one of the largest xeno warriors—clearly a Necron lord of some rank—that Abnight had ever seen.

One of the power unit’s mountings broke free. There were two more to dismantle. Abnightus recognized his chances of success with this mission had dropped to 1.59 percent, but he refused to abort. He grabbed at another mounting.

A moment later, the whoosh of burning air engulfed him. Three nearby Skitarii became living bonfires. They made no sound as they died.

For Abnightus, his power armor and vox grille largely protected him from the cloud of plasma that swept over him. Despite his protections, what little was left of his organic body suffered withering burns that left the tech-priest in agony.

Enough, he thought. I cannot succeed, and there is a rapidly rising, 21.3-percent likelihood of death.

+ + Shield wall retreat protocol enacted. Use your bodies to screen me from enemy weapons. Retreat speed is 5.2 meters per second.  + + 

Aftermath

Of the 21 Skitarii that accompanied Abnightus on this mission, only six survived. Four were seriously injured but candidates for reconstruction. Two survivors reported no injuries at all, a statistical anomaly.

Abnightus

Abnightus suffered second-degree burns at the juncture of his vox grill and the remaining flesh around his throat and jaw. The damage was surgically removed, leaving the Tech-Priest with no organic flesh remaining on his body’s exterior.

The tech-priest was disappointed at the lost opportunity to study the xeno tech. Necron technology was incredibly advanced, and he could not understand his superiors’ unwillingness to take advantage of what the xenos had learned of manipulating the universe.

Such knowledge could determine the fate of the war on Myopolis. It would benefit the Omnissiah. And it would not harm his ambitions for the future.

After a two-day recovery, Abnightus wrote a limited mind-wipe program to eradicate his disappointment and other negative emotional memories from his consciousness. It was useless and distracting indulgence that interfered with pure logic.

He accepted the defeat and proceeded to his next project.

TheGM: Another great game at Shorehammer 2025. By intercepting the Necrons as they passed through a narrow gap, the Sicaran Infiltrators gave Abnightus the chance to run to the Tomb Blade.

If the Mechanicus players had rolled some better dice, they would have succeeded. But they simply couldn’t roll the “success rolls” needed for Abnightus to acquire the Necron power unit. That gave the Necrons the time to kill  the two Infiltrators,  advance and “puppy-pile” the Skitarii screen, and almost kill Abnightus.

(Of historical note, Abnightus did recover a damaged Necron power source on the world of Tophet in 739.M41 at the 2019 Shorehammer Convention. Alas, his prize did not give him the necessary clues to unlock the secrets of the Necron power source. This recent failure is, therefore, particularly disheartening.)

The “historical” date of this skirmish is going to be 6 039 746.M41.

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.