A massive tomb-class Necron Battleship, shaped like a crescent moon, docked at the Tomb World Gydrim.
Obyron Zandrekh, the Crowned General, was eating in his chambers, watching the Necron Battleship emit a verdant glow.
At his table, his captives and esteemed guests watched, twitching, as Zandrekh picked up food that forty poison tasters had deemed non-toxic and put it into his mouth.
He chewed a few times, as if his useless metal mouth could truly taste, then the chewed food spilled from his metallic skeleton body onto the floor.
"This old bone is crazier than the craziest lad I've ever seen," a green-skinned Warboss sitting next to Thor grumbled.
Thor, the Chapter Master of the Phoenix Son, couldn't help but nod in agreement with the alien's statement.
Thor had been captured by Zandrekh, the Necron Crowned General, about three to five years ago.
At that time, his Chapter accidentally collided with Zandrekh's main forces. To cover the retreat of other Chapter members, Thor single-handedly defended the flagship and engaged Zandrekh in a one-on-one duel.
Thor had to admit that while the old General was a bit eccentric, his martial prowess was truly admirable. Thor narrowly lost to him.
He had expected to die then, but Zandrekh, after disarming him, not only didn't kill him but declared that Thor was a worthy opponent, and according to the "Necron Noble War Protocol," he would ensure Thor, as his captive, received due courtesy.
Zandrekh kept his word; he indeed ensured Thor was treated with dignity, and every week he would invite Thor and his other captives to dine, politely introducing them to Necron Empire culture, customs, and various technologies, even often sparring with Thor and teaching him how to fight, as if Thor were his esteemed guest.
Gradually, Thor also came to understand the old General Zandrekh's mindset.
He believed himself to still be a flesh-and-blood Necron, and even thought Thor, the green-skinned Warboss beside Thor, the genestealer patriarch, the Aeldari pirate captain, and the Astra Militarum commander were all Necrons.
All the battles that broke out between them were merely due to internal Necron disagreements, a noble civil war among aristocrats.
Therefore, Zandrekh adhered to the "Necron Noble War Protocol," not using assassination units including Deathmarks, not employing any barbaric or disorderly means of warfare, maintaining respect for enemy generals, responding to all dueling requests, and treating captives with courtesy.
Thor had to admit that while the old General was eccentric, he was indeed a somewhat endearing and respectable old man.
Zandrekh also had a good impression of Thor.
He declared that he saw in Thor the demeanor a Necron noble should possess and promised that if Thor ever defeated him in a duel, he would release Thor.
Zandrekh picked up a cup of hot tea, poured it into his mouth, and the scalding hot tea spilled between his metal skeleton, then he slowly said:
"I will release you, and my fleet will place you where you wish to be released."
These words made the captives near the dining table pause, then caused a stir.
"By the Emperor, what Necron trick is this?"
"Are you insulting Big Tooth, old bone?!"
"This must be the great power of the Four-Armed, Two-Rooted, Thirty-Six-Legged God-Emperor."
"By Cegorach's backside, you iron lump, you've finally gone completely mad."
Facing the captives' exclamations, Zandrekh was not in a hurry, merely shaking his head with a hint of helplessness, seemingly saddened by these captives abandoning the etiquette a Necron noble should possess.
"Why?" Thor asked in a clear voice, "Zandrekh, I have not yet defeated you. Do you intend to humiliate us in this way?"
Thor's words pleased Zandrekh. He nodded gently and said, "No, this is to protect you, and to protect my honor."
"The Silent King has issued a summons to us, and I shall answer this summons, temporarily departing from Gydrim."
"In this era of collapsing rites and decaying music, too many former nobles have abandoned their original honor and etiquette, turning base and shameless."
"Even many among my own subordinates have become such shameful figures. If I leave, they would likely kill you to eliminate future troubles."
"To protect my honor, esteemed guests, I ask that you safely depart from my Tomb World."
"Old bone, Big Tooth guarantees you'll regret this! Big Tooth might not beat you, but Big Tooth knows someone who can! Big Tooth will find the biggest, strongest Bonesplitter Boss to smash your iron lump to bits!" the Ork Warboss shouted, pounding the table.
"Zandrekh, by my oath to the Emperor and Saint Doraemon, I will leave," Thor stared at Zandrekh and said, "But I owe you a battle. Wait, I will return to have another one-on-one duel with you."
A faint smile seemed to appear on Zandrekh's metallic face: "I await your revenge, and I look forward to capturing you both again, to have you keep this old man company."
Just then, an extremely tall Necron, wielding a war scythe, entered through the doorway and approached Zandrekh, respectfully saluting the old General.
He was Zandrekh's Vanguard Obyron, Orbylon, and in Thor's eyes, a terrifying opponent.
Zandrekh was only slightly stronger than Thor, while Orbylon completely overwhelmed Thor.
Among all the individuals Thor had met, only a select few, such as Khârn and Sarojin, could consistently defeat Orbylon.
"Sir," Orbylon whispered into Zandrekh's ear, "Phaeron Imotekh has arrived."
Zandrekh belonged to the Sotek Dynasty, and the de facto Phaeron of the Sotek Dynasty was Stormlord Imotekh.
Zandrekh was loyal to and directly subordinate to him, but Imotekh had strong opinions about the Silent King, and he seemed unable to understand why Zandrekh intended to respond to the Silent King's actions.
"My apologies, gentlemen, my Phaeron summons me, and I ought to go and receive his questioning."
"Please forgive my rudeness; I will send you off after you have finished your meal."
With that, Zandrekh stood up, bowed in apology, and then left the banquet hall with Orbylon, heading to the reception room.
Zandrekh saw Stormlord Imotekh's figure from afar; his towering metallic body was almost as tall as Zandrekh's guard, Orbylon, but more slender.
This Phaeron, like Zandrekh, was once a Crowned General, until he was awakened by an Overlord attempting to exploit him.
Imotekh was shocked to find that the former Sotek Dynasty had fallen into cruel internal strife. An enraged Imotekh killed the Overlord who awakened him and, with his own power, reunified the Sotek Dynasty, self-crowning himself as Phaeron.
Truth be told, Zandrekh and Imotekh had a fairly good relationship. Although Imotekh was an excellent general, he was uniquely bad at dealing with Orks because he was too logical and often couldn't understand Ork thinking.
Zandrekh, however, could precisely compensate for this, helping Imotekh deal with those Orks, and Zandrekh consistently maintained his loyalty to Imotekh.
But this time...
"Old madman, are you still playing your game of pretending to live millions of years ago?"
The Stormlord slammed his Staff of Light onto the ground, his glowing eyes fixed on Zandrekh:
"I can usually tolerate your feigned madness, but this time you've truly gone too far."
"Have you forgotten Szarekh's betrayal of our race? Have you forgotten that shameless, incompetent ruler's betrayal?"
"Old friend, you're speaking nonsense again about us turning into metal bodies," Zandrekh said, his eyes flickering with light. "You know I was promoted to Crowned General because I suppressed those traitors who sought to secede, upholding the unity of our Imperium, and thus earned my honor."
"Even if we truly are as you say, already lifeless metal skeletons—of course, old friend, you know I never believe such things—but does becoming a metal body mean we can abandon honor, loyalty, dignity, and love for our compatriots?"
"The Silent King is summoning in the name of the Three Saints Council. I am loyal to you, but even more loyal to the Three Saints Council, so of course I will answer the summons."
Imotekh stared intently at Zandrekh with his glowing eyes, as if trying to penetrate his elusive mind.
"Your loyalty is worthless," Imotekh said. "Szarekh betrayed us first; everyone understands this. There are few left in this galaxy who adhere to your code of honor and loyalty."
"..Old friend, I've been reading a new novel these days."
Zandrekh said, his eyes sparkling with light:
"The story of that novel takes place in an era where vice triumphs over virtue, cowardice over bravery, and baseness over honor. The knights who once represented these virtues are all gone, and all one sees is depravity and madness. But the protagonist of the story, an old man, is unwilling to accept all this."
"He dons his armor, rides his scrawny horse, calls himself a knight-errant, and vows to punish evil, promote good, and wander the lands..."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Imotekh snapped, banging his Staff of Light impatiently.
"My old friend, my point is, if the world truly is as depraved as you say, then isn't it better to be a fool, to pretend not to see this base world?"
Zandrekh's tone rose slightly as he said:
"Depravity is undoubtedly further from virtue than foolishness. When people mock me, I never care, because I understand that I am no more ridiculous than those who have fallen into depravity."
"Imotekh, my Phaeron, please believe… whatever I do, this foolish person will only walk on the narrow, rugged path of virtue."
"Everything I do is for our honor, our Imperium, our galaxy."
Imotekh stared at Zandrekh for a while, then finally just shook his head.
"Do as you please, you old madman. I'm truly fed up with your feigned madness." With that, Imotekh turned and left without looking back.
Zandrekh did not stop him, calmly watching Imotekh leave.
Then, he gently raised his head, looking towards his visual blind spot: "You were right, Imotekh indeed did not stop me."
"This isn't the first time I've seen this, old General."
"Though Imotekh calls you an old madman, he trusts your character implicitly."
A young man wearing glasses, with a buzz cut, and a revolver on his hip, slowly removed his Blind Spot Star and said:
"So, are you ready to go to the Pariah Nexus?"
"Ready! Let us go and punish evil and promote good!"