The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"According to the Necronomial, the Menekh Dynasty was a powerful dynasty comparable to the Sautekh Dynasty, and also the most loyal to the Triarch Praetoria. It committed countless acts of slaughter and extermination during the War in Heaven, and was also known as the Blood Dynasty. However, after the Necrons fell into slumber, this dynasty disappeared. Even the Great Scouring that followed didn't find them, and I've never even seen their traces on the crystal maps. I didn't expect them to be hidden in the black regions at the edge of the galaxy."

After Starbane roughly described the strength of the Menekh Dynasty, Soshian turned his gaze to Night Spear. This legendary ranger almost lost his life this time. During his deep reconnaissance in the Orpheus sector, he was detected by the Necrons, who then dispatched an entire team of Deathmark assassins to hunt him down.

Fortunately, Night Spear had fought the Necron Deathmarks many times and was very familiar with their combat methods. This allowed him to escape the deadly pursuit and kill four Deathmark assassins using various means and advanced equipment obtained from the Royal Court.

"Master Night Spear, what is the situation in Orpheus now?"

Night Spear took out a golden orb and tossed it into the air, and then images were refracted.

A gray sky, ruined cities, silent streets, corpses everywhere, and the occasional flash of claws and shadows... almost all the images were like this. Only a few were images from space, with a large number of warship wrecks floating in space, and huge orbital facilities turned into fragmented debris orbiting the planet.

"The entire human world in eastern Orpheus has become like this. All life has been slaughtered. According to your instructions, I originally wanted to go to the home world of the Lamenters Chapter to check the situation, but..."

Night Spear switched to another image, also a planet surrounded by wreckage of ships and orbital facilities. At this moment, it could be seen that it was covered with scarlet cracks, obviously caused by violent bombardment that even damaged the planet's core.

Soshian looked at this tragic scene, narrowed his eyes, and finally uttered a sentence.

"The Lamenters... are finished. There are no chapters protecting Orpheus now."

His mood, which had been slightly better, instantly turned terrible. Soshian knew very well that the scale of this battle was probably not small. It might not be enough to fill the entire legion. Necrons were not as easy to handle as Orks or other types of enemies. They had an absolute technological advantage over humans. The only advantage of the Imperium was its size, but Menekh was a large dynasty. Even in terms of size, the current Imperial forces in the Storm region probably had no advantage.

"What about the Imperium?"

"The Imperium is preparing for war very quickly, and is gathering a large number of troops in the capital to prepare for defense, but the Menekh Dynasty seems to have stopped attacking."

"Stopped attacking?"

Soshian immediately seized the key point.

"Are you sure?"

"As far as I can see, that's the case. After the area marked as the Drusus Marches by the Imperium fell, the Menekh Dynasty has not launched any further attacks. I also felt strange, so I went in alone to investigate, wanting to find the reason."

"Hmm? They could have won in one battle, what conspiracy are these Necrons up to?"

At this time, Starbane, who had been thinking, suddenly said:

"Your Highness, it may not be a conspiracy, but a tradition."

"Tradition?"

"The Necronomial records that some Necron dynasties have a tradition of 'war honor'. When they catch their opponents off guard with a surprise attack, they will choose to give the opponent a period of time to reorganize their forces, instead of simply chasing them to the end."

Hearing this explanation, Soshian sneered.

"These dead remnants still have this kind of hypocritical pretense. Heh, they already launched a surprise attack and still pretend to give their opponents a chance to resist. This is not honor, this is shamelessness."

Veronica also said:

"Of course not, how could a race that cares about face launch a war because they are jealous of other races' longevity? Necrons are a bunch of hypocritical bad seeds at heart, and they become even worse and darker after turning into metal."

"Your Highness, what I care more about is, does Menekh have other plans for waking up at this time?"

Dolar's words were approved by Soshian.

"What you said is true, that's what I think too. Speaking of which, a binary star near Orpheus exploded before, and it may also be related to Menekh's awakening. Starbane said that they are very loyal to the Triarch Praetoria, in other words, loyal to the Silent King Szarekh. Not long ago, the Royal Court destroyed the Ryza Dynasty, and this is likely Szarekh's response."

Saying that, Soshian stretched out his hand and summoned the star map.

"The distance from Orpheus to the location of the Royal Court is not very far. At the speed of the Necron ships, if they start from here, it won't take too long to reach the Brakato system."

"So, Your Highness, the best way is to keep the enemy out and limit the scope of the war to Orpheus."

"But the problem now is that if the Royal Court intervenes in the war in Orpheus on a large scale, it may arouse suspicion. Also, Orpheus may be a trap. Menekh's tactical intention is to attract the Royal Court's fleet here, and then take the opportunity to attack the rear. We have to guard against it."

Soshian said so, and Dolar and other important ministers nodded.

"Your Highness is right. The key is that we don't know how many troops the Menekh Dynasty has. The previous Ryza Dynasty was small in scale, and the number of fleets was easy to estimate, but this one is difficult to estimate. Moreover, this kind of large dynasty often hides super weapons left over from the War in Heaven, which may indeed pose a fatal threat to the Royal Court."

Soshian rubbed his forehead in some annoyance, and then made a decision.

"The Royal Court will enter a state of combat readiness first, and be vigilant against possible attacks at all times. I will go to Orpheus to see the situation first. I will decide on the specific follow-up arrangements after I get there. I also have to see how the Imperium is reacting... At least there is some good news, that is, the Necrons have stopped attacking. Although I don't know how long they will stop, I have a feeling that if I don't go, they may not attack."

Dolar immediately heard the implication of Soshian's words.

"Your Highness believes that Menekh's attack on Orpheus this time is to lure out Your Highness?"

"There is such a possibility."

"Then Your Highness should not take risks in person."

Soshian sneered.

"I really want to see what tricks that old dog Szarekh is going to play."

At this time, he had already planned to use the Flayer Pylon to test the depth of Menekh, but this power was not easy to talk about in the Royal Court. At this time, he also felt that the nesting doll game on his body was a bit ridiculous. The identity of the Aeldari could not be said to the humans, and the identity of the Star God could not be said to the Aeldari.

After arranging a series of things, Soshian spent some time alone with Veronica again. No matter how annoyed he was, as long as he was with his wife, it would always be relieved. The two didn't even need to say much. Soshian hugged Veronica and quietly watched the beautiful scenery, and the two hearts could get each other's comfort.

No, or rather, three hearts. Veronica's abdomen was already quite obvious, and the unpredictable crystallization of the two would soon show the real result.

But the more so, the more Soshian could not tolerate any danger around Veronica, whether it was Necrons or anything else.