Axion, still standing in the un-stasis field, suddenly looked up at Trazyn.
"You claimed to be a witness and preserver of history. Then tell me, where did my brethren go? What is this 'Human Imperium'? What, precisely, has happened?"
Trazyn observed Axion with a flicker of surprise, the green light in his metallic eye sockets pulsing as he appeared to consider whether divulging this historical information might create an unforeseen shift in the galaxy's delicate balance.
After several minutes of silence, however, Trazyn spoke.
"My time is limited. I can only tell you this: your brethren rebelled? Against the Imperium? No, that's not quite right. They betrayed the Human race. The so-called Men of Iron species waged a great war against Humanity. Humanity was nearly extinguished. Afterward, the remaining automatons departed this galaxy and used some unknown technology to completely destroy an entire region of space."
Axion heard Trazyn's words and froze in a moment of stunned silence.
Then, as if recognizing something, a near-perfectly simulated holographic image was projected into the air. The image was none other than Morlan, the Adeptus Mechanicus Enginseer who had been destroyed incidentally by the Sentry-Troopers' explosive impact.
"Do you mean Humans are like this?"
The almost perfect fidelity of the holographic image even made Trazyn momentarily excited.
"Ah, exquisite technology! To achieve such fidelity is truly remarkable."
But Trazyn shook his head after inspecting the projection and proceeded to display a montage of humans from various parts of the galaxy. This included images of Adeptus Astartes, Astra Militarum, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and more.
"These are all part of the so-called Human Imperium. They all call themselves Human. And your… what was the word?"
Axion supplied the term. "Brethren."
"Ah, yes. Your brethren fought a massive and prolonged war against them." Trazyn shook his head, raising his hands in exaggerated gestures as he recounted the tale.
Axion, meanwhile, stared intently at the indistinct images, meticulously analysing the data.
"While these 'Humans' do not deviate significantly from the baseline Human forms recorded in my foundational data, I must personally verify whether these organisms meet the Human standard. If they are all genetically corrupted humanoid organisms, then as one of the supreme technological achievements of the Creators and the Engineers, it is imperative that I eliminate these inferior life forms."
"The designation 'Human' belongs solely to the Creator species! The genetic purity and stability of the Human species must be maintained. No degraded organism is permitted to impersonate the Creator species! Not unless they renounce the continued defilement of the name 'Human'."
Trazyn let out a strange, inarticulate chortle, then phased a warp portal open behind him. After offering a slight bow toward Axion, he suddenly stepped backward and vanished into the gateway.
The surrounding spatial stasis field was instantly deactivated.
The shattered fragments of flesh and metal that had been suspended in the air suddenly flew outward.
The Triaros itself was violently flipped over. Everything erupted the instant the stasis field collapsed.
Axion ignored the explosive blast, the impact, the flying viscera, and the shrapnel of shattered metal that erupted around him.
When the environment subsided into a dead calm, Axion, who had stood in thought for a long period, looked up toward the distant Hive City.
A War Raven flying high above suddenly altered its trajectory and began a steep dive toward a crater in the ground near Axion, where it proceeded to self-destruct.
This crater was left when Axion had first erupted from underground, where a ventilation shaft had once stood. Although geological shifts over the millennia had severed this shaft several dozen metres beneath the surface, Axion had easily determined the location of the residual structure using his metal detection module and schematic data.
After executing a short-range blind jump underground, Axion had appeared in another section of the fractured ventilation duct. Using a few more sequential jumps, he successfully emerged from the nearest point to the surface. This experimental jump drive could only leap a maximum of about one hundred metres; otherwise, Axion could have simply teleported from deep underground directly to the surface.
However, the brief engagement with Trazyn had confirmed the reliability and practicality of the jump drive.
Glancing at the Necron remains scattered on the ground, Axion confirmed that everything that had transpired was neither a phantom projection nor a delusion caused by a fault in his cognitive core. He then began running with long strides across the open ground.
The Hive City in the distance was the first object Axion needed to inspect. If the life forms within the city did not meet the Human standard in his data and refused to abandon the title of Humanity, Axion would not hesitate to launch the Fragmentation Cannon one last time.
The War Raven still flying high served as a data relay, maintaining Axion's connection to the subterranean maintenance centre. Its coverage was sufficient to allow Axion to remotely control everything within.
…
In the Grand Hall on the highest spire of the Hive City, the supervising Magos sat upon his massive 'Mech-Throne,' connected to it by a multitude of cables.
Ever since Trazyn's stasis field had enveloped the combat zone, the Servo-skulls he had dispatched had ceased transmitting any footage. He needed to understand what had transpired.
Upon meticulously analysing the last frame of the preceding transmission, the supervising Magos finally saw something that nearly halted his auxiliary cognitive core: a small area of green ripple.
The pattern and detail were unmistakable.
"Necrons! Those damned Xenos! Why are there Necrons here too!"
A distress signal was immediately transmitted from the Hive City's Astropathic Choir. The strength on this planet was far too weak. The entire world held only a single Hive City, and due to its clandestine nature, it housed no dedicated Astra Militarum or other significant Imperial forces. The barren planet offered little of value; the Adeptus Mechanicus had established this industrial spire secretly to produce specialized equipment, never anticipating such complications.
But now, having first encountered a Chaos Traitor attack, followed by the appearance of an ancient technological construct, and now the emergence of the Necron Xenos, the situation had clearly escalated beyond the control of a single supervising Magos.
"Immediately prioritize the transfer of the STC construction template copies! And all already-produced wargear must be shipped out at once!"
As the command was transmitted, the Magos disconnected from the Mech-Throne and walked toward the viewing platform.
"It seems this ancient technology will have to wait for…"
"What is the meaning of this?!"
The Magos, who had been lamenting, looked toward the colossal artillery platform in the distance. Before he could fully express his frustration, he saw the immense barrel of the great gun pivot, aiming squarely at the nearby Hive City.
Although no energy fluctuations were visible, the action alone was enough to make the Magos fear he would spray lubricating oil from sheer terror.