- "I am Harbinger. I am Herald. I am the Arrow which pierces the Day."
- —Gothic Translation of the Indrahkt Dynastic Glyph
The Indrahkt are a broken Dynasty, once the revered spearhead of the Necrons' undying armies, now little more than a few disparate legions sequestered onboard a singular vessel: the Brahmastra, a superweapon of such dreadful power that the ancient Aeldari sacrificed an entire Craftworld simply to ensure that no others like it would ever be constructed. Now, after tens of thousands of years of drifting aimlessly through the void, Phaeron Intemhat rallies his Court to a campaign of reconquest for the worlds of the Periphery and Nerio Sectors are rightfully theirs, historically theirs, and shall be theirs again.
History[]
Into the Unknown[]
Even before the biotransference, when the Necrons were still known as Necrontyr, the Indrahkt Dynasty was one of explorers, pioneers, frontiersmen. They were among the first to helm the ancient antimatter-fueled torch-ships, crawling slowly but inexorably across the stars in search of lush new planets far from the radiation-scoured hellscape of their homeworld. Consequently, they became the spearhead of the Necrontyr's earlier attacks against the implacable Old Ones, futile as their attempts might have been. It mattered not how many sons and daughters of Indrakht died futile, pointless deaths in the name of the bitter Triarchs; death was their duty, their payment for the privilege of being the first to tread upon the dirt of a thousand foreign worlds. This inherent stubbornness- the sense of duty that drove them to blaze a path for the rest of their species- would come to characterize the Indrahkt more than any discovery or battle. Thus, it was perhaps inevitable that the Indrakht Dynasty would be among the first to enter the cyclopean bio-furnaces of the C'Tan, rendered down and molded into forms more suitable conquest on a galactic scale.
The Triarchs declared Intemhat, eldest of the dynasty's Sibling Princes, to be Lord of Horizons, whose Tomb Ships would darken the skies of a thousand worlds in preparation for their deathless advance. The newly-anointed Phaeron proved to be quite effective at just that, leaving a trail of desolate, glassed worlds listlessly orbiting dead stars as his fleet tore deeper and deeper into the Old Ones' flanks. He crushed the Aeldari at Twinned Riga, his Crypteks engineering the explosive doom of the venerable stars in order to reduce their wraithbone vessels to cosmic dust, forming the unstable Riga Binary Star Cluster and ushering in Necron dominance of what is now the Cancridrean Periphery.
Morrighast, the Umbral Forge[]
The C'Tan desired genocide on a galactic scale, ceaseless "Red Harvests" of lesser species so they could glut themselves on soul-stuff. However, as the War In Heaven entered its latter years, not even that monumental carnage seemed enough, and so the insatiable Star Gods ordered the construction of weapons of apocalyptic scale and scope. The Indrahkt were to facilitate; their Crownworld of Morrighast converted into a singular massive engine of artifice stewarded by legions of Crypteks. The abominable mechanisms wrought within its confines were myriad, but none were as devastating as the Star Reapers, massive sickle-shaped battle-stations that leeched power from solar bodies to fuel world-ending payloads. Like the bow of some wrathful deity, they cast continent-sized mass-drivers from the heavens, powerful enough to crack entire planets in two.
The least of these stations, the Brahmastra, demonstrated just a fraction of its might by shattering the moon of a nearby ocean-world, sending a torrent of meteorites plummeting down upon its primitive inhabitants. Production would have no doubt continued on from that point, the Indrahkt's Star Reaper armada spreading outwards from the frontier to devastate the last remaining holdouts of the Old Ones, if not for the conflict sparking within the Dynasty's ranks.
Iothep, youngest of the Sibling Princes, had been nurturing seeds of resentment towards his brother and Phaeron since before the biotransference. In that age, successful births, let alone that of twins, was considered a fortuitous sign among the Necrontyr, and yet due to a margin of but a few seconds, the Triarchs passed over him in favor of the "seniority" of Intemhat. The loss of his soul to the C'Tan only stoked the embers of this jealousy, and so Iothep was kept at arm's length, reduced to the lowest station of Lord and sent off to establish Dolmen Gates past the Riga star cluster. It was this final perceived insult that shattered whatever lingering sense of loyalty he might have felt towards his Phaeron. Mustering his legions, he returned to Morrighast in a fury, demanding his rightful place in the Dynastic Court, stalling the intricate nodal command systems of the entire planet as two opposing forces of personality imposed their ironclad will upon the mainframe. No one had come to blows- for the hardwired hierarchy engrams would not allow for such a thing- but for a moment it seemed that the entire planet was holding its breath in anticipation.
Fortuitously, the confrontation was mercifully ended when the master program was overridden by a will greater than that of any petty Phaeron. The Silent King himself called his subjects to the crypts, to sleep until a time when they could once more rule the galaxy uncontested; free of Old Ones and C'Tan and any other would-be "gods". Resentfully, mercifully, the Umbral Forge stilled, and the siblings retreated into stasis, their vendetta forstalled but never forgotten.
Rude Awakening[]
In the early 31st Millenium, even as elsewhere the forces of mankind took to stars to persecute their Great Crusade, Farseer Alishae of the Craftworld Var-Lienn was beset by a terrible portent. In her vision, great sickle-craft the size of moons scythed through the galaxy, visiting upon it a level of destruction not seen since the War In Heaven. The skeins of fate reverberated with the names of would-be conquerors; Indrahkt, Intemhat, Brahmastra, names Alishae did not recognize, though their malignancy was unmistakable. Though it pained the ancient seeress' very soul, she persevered further into the tangled web of destiny and discovered a final name, a shatterpoint that could perhaps avert the coming catastrophe: Morrighast.
Upon her command, the Craftworld's miles-long solar sails shifted and Var-Lienn burned bright unto the very edge of the Milky Way. Upon sighting the necrodermal bulk of Indrakht's Crownworld, Alishae and her Autarchs wasted no time with speeches or proclamations; they knew all too well what horrors dwelled within its depths. Rather, as swiftly as they appeared, the Craftworld and its escort fleet began a planet-wide bombardment, determined to reduce Morrighast and its slumbering inhabitants to cosmic dust.
However, though Morrighast might have been sleeping, it was far from defenseless. The moment the Eldar fleet entered its atmosphere, it's Nodal Command's sophisticated relays had already registered the dangers posed and marshaled its own defenses appropriately. Before a single torpedo had even grazed its surface, monolithic Gauss Pylons shook off the dust of millenia and sent beams of viridian energies coiling into the skies. All entrances to the Tomb Complexes were triple-sealed, sentry turrets primed, and millions-strong swarms of Canoptek repair constructs scuttled to the surface, repairing the damage done to the planet's superstructure almost as quickly as it was inflicted.
Nevertheless, the Eldar continued to give as good as they got. Knowing full well the Necron's vulnrability to the forces of the Immaterium, they unleashed the breadth of their species' psychic mastery. Salvoes of Vorpal Torpedoes made a mockery of the Crownworld's obital shielding, openning up localised Warp rifts all across its continents. Pinpoint lance-fire openned up great gashes that tested even the regenerative properties of Necrodermis, guided by the precognitive mastery of Alishae and her coven of Seers. For a few brief hours, the two forces seemed locked in a stalemate, engaging in an apocalyptic level of warfare not seen within the galaxy for eons.
It was a stalemate that could never last. Morrighast, slowly but surely, was beginning to awaken, the Necron Legions stirring to life as the Nodal Command network openned the planet's cavernous hanger-bays to spew forth support craft. Swarms of Doom Scythes and Night Shrouds met the Eldar's ships in the open void, and looming behind them, the Star Reapers themselves, each one bearing enough of an armament to devastate their armada several times over. Var-Lienn's forces verged upon annihilation, but Alishae was resolute, firm in the conviction that if the Eldar could not triumph, they would at the very least ensure that the Necrons would join them in oblivion. Ordering the fleet into a retreat even as the Craftworld surged forward, the Farseer and her fellow psykers submersed themselves in the raw power of Var-Lienn's Infinity Circuit, calling upon the potent energies of her ancestors for one final, cataclysmic strike.
As Morrighast's atmosphere began to crackle with witchlight, the Tomb World immediately bypassed into Platnium-level priority, rousing the Phaeron and all his court. Intemhat himself had but a few minutes to acclimate to his sudden awakening before suddenly, the sky erupted. Alishae had focused the pent-up psychic might of an entire Craftworld into a single focused strike; a maelstrom of psionic power now ripped its way through the Umbral Forge. Nobles and drudges alike died screaming in their stasis crypts, rendered down into metallic slag by the primordial forces unleashed. Intemhat and those few survivors only barely escaped, boarding the Brahmastra just in time to watch their dominion burn. Morrighast was more than devastated; it was banished, rendered out-of-sync with the rest of the material universe. As if to add insult to injury, the de-powered husk of Var-Lienn crashed upon with the force of a meteor, further pulverizing its superstructure. What was once a marvel of stellar engineering was now little more than a ravaged, warp-polluted wasteland.
Present Day[]
The Brahmastra drifted through the intergalactic void for a long while, its inhabitants wary of discovery in their weakened state. Even as Horus's rebellion shook the galaxy, as the Imperium spread further into what was once their sovereign dominion, as the frontier burned in the fires of the Xenocide, the Indrakht watched and waited.
When the Necrons did foray into the Periphery, their expeditions were cautious, probing. Intemhat acknowledged the state of his scant few remaining cohorts; the Brahmastra, for all its power and arcane complexity, was not a Tomb World- any Warriors he lost would not be coming back. Thusly over the next few generations the Phaeron consolidated what resources were still under his command, retrofitting the upper portion of the battlestation into a makeshift crypt-complex, ordering his surviving Crypteks to scour the surrounding star systems for suitable staging grounds, even personally leading forrays to the blasted surface of Morrighast to salvage valuable artifacts from the ruin.
Eventually, after years of self-imposed exile, the Cryptek's techno-auguries did reveal a favorable location: the largest moon of a dismal, proto-formed gas giant. So irregular was this planet's orbit that at times it was submerged in its parent world's icy atmosphere, scouring it with semi-liquid hydrogens that quickly melted away in the searing light of its nearby star, only to repeat the cycle with each solar month. It was a world caught between stellar extremes, twisted by gravity, shorn of any complex life by annual onslaughts of extreme heat and bitter cold; in short, a perfect location for a Necron dynasty to regroup and recuperate. As the crescent profile of the Brahmastra darkened its horizon, the Phaeron christened it "Akhmathis"; an ancient Necrontyr word for "rebirth".
The Brahmastra[]
- "Eater of skies, breaker of worlds! It comes! It comes!"
- —Errshkrr, Paletide Warp Hag
The last of the Necron Star Reapers, this moon-sized space station has become so synonymous with destruction and genocide that it's sickle-profile has ingrained itself into cultures across the Periphery. The Amphra still whisper in hushed tones of the Lsskrrllror, the apocalyptic Days of Fire and Sky, brought about by the superweapon's initial test-firings. On Singhar, the Drift-Tribes speak of a "False Moon" that only appears on the eve of a major disaster, and the people of Gwynn still regard the crescent Gealach rune as a symbol of catastrophic misfortune. Indeed, so infamous is its reputation that virtually every inhabited world from the Alera Spiral to the Riga Binary Cluster retains some myth regarding the Brahmastra and its inhabitants; the folkloric "Dreadmen", the bogeymen of the Outer Dark.
These tales have more basis in reality than one might expect. The Brahmastra is indeed a literal bringer of destruction, essentially a mobile collection vane for a one-of-a-kind weapon: the Fulcrum Arrow. It harvests the atomic energies of nearby stars, leaving them hyper-aged and unstable, all while restructuring these captured particles into superdense "bolts"; kinetic mass-drivers the size of battleships. Once fully charged, the massive railgun assembly that bisects the Brahmastra's fame fires the bolt towards its intended target at subsonic speeds. The projectile's inertia, combined with its immense size and mass, utterly pulverizes anything it hits. Enemy voidcraft are reduced to metallic scrap, and from orbit, its strikes are comparable to that of a meteoric impact.
Even without the Fulcrum Arrow, the Brahmastra would still be a formidable opponent to any fleet. Its flanks bristle with parallel gauss-lances and Tesla generators, and its sheer bulk and necrodermal hull make it difficult to permanently damage. That being said, due to its internal structure being retrofitted to accommodate the remainder of the Indrahkt's legions, a number of its weapon systems are offline, their power generators having been rerouted to serve other functions. The Fulcrum Arrow itself remains perfectly operational, but its lengthy charging process leaves it temporarily vulnerable to detection by outside forces.
Layout[]
The upper portion of the void-station's superstructure underwent serious renovations, now resembling the interior of Tomb Citadel, painstakingly modified down to the molecular level to host to the Dynasty's remaining legions. Demi-cohorts linger within jury-rigged stasis crypts that once were munition chambers, cavernous hangar-bays sealed off and converted to armories and Canopek repair assemblies. Even the bridge, the very nerve center of the gargantuan vessel, now plays a dual role as Intemhat's throne room, where the Lord of Horizons holds court even as the station's modified Nodal Command systems steer it towards its next destination.
The lower holds, meanwhile, remain the same as they were ten millennia ago, the domain of the station's formidable defense matrix and complement of assault craft. Doom Scythes, Night Shrouds, and scores of void-modified Tomb Blades sit in silent rows, ready to swarm forth should the Brahmastra ever come under assault by an enemy fleet. In addition, the lower tiers also contain variant Eternity Gateways that allow Indrakht ground forces to teleport directly onto the surfaces of planets or even on to unshielded enemy vessels, forgoing the need for landing craft.
Organization[]
- "Outnumbered? We once broke the spine of the galaxy! Their greater numbers are not symptomatic of some great renewal, merely the festering of bacteria within a still-twitching corpse."
- —Hahpthis, Indrahkt Noble
The Sunburst Court[]
There was a time when the dynastic inner circle was vast indeed, the Phaeron's court including dozens of Necron Overlords both major and minor, as well as representatives of several client dynasties. Those days are long gone: the Sunburst Court of Intemhat's ancestors is a shadow of its former glory, numbering only himself, his brother, and a scattering of minor nobles that managed to escape the destruction of Morrighast alongside him. Nevertheless, they persist, engaging in their ancient pageantry; each lesser Lord now a general bearing proudly the Indrakht's cobalt blue and brass-edged finish, their metallic hides spiderwebbed with ancient constellation-glyphs charted by long-dead Necrontyr navigators.
Despite its diminished size, the Sunburst Court still serves as the Dynasty's war council, the Phaeron taking into account the many advisements, warnings, and opinions of his subordinates before charting a new course of action. This ritualized gathering, though antiquated, is perhaps one of the Dynasty's most integral tools for survival. Possessed of the long view of immortals and legendary patience, the Court's deliberations ensure their plans of action are never reckless, and never endanger the Dynasty's future.
Notable Figures[]
Intemhat, Lord of Horizons[]
- "Where is the passion? Where is the drive that spurred us beyond the reach of the poisoned star? I do not feel the conquerer's calling, the eternal fire that once beat within my breast, urging me to seek out the next horizon. I feel... tired. Existence tires me..."
- —Attributed to the Phaeron Intemhat
Phaeron Intemhat, known also as The Inexorable, First Helmsman, and Herald of the Triarchs, is old, even by Necron standards. In even eons past when he was still flesh, he persevered long past the brutally short lifespan that plagued his species; a byproduct of extended periods of stasis while in transit between distant worlds. The aftereffects of the biotransference and subsequent reawakening have only magnified the weight of the years upon his psyche.
In recent years Intemhat has sunk deep into a deathly malaise, brooding upon his throne, hardly moving and rarely speaking, and even then, never uttering more than a few concise words before retreating back into his constant melancholy. His servants whisper behind his back that the Phaeron's warrior spirit that once saw entire sectors kneel in obedience before him has diminished, the loss of Morrighast having reduced him to but a hollow shell of necrodermis and regret, his days of conquest long behind him. Still, such is the Phaeron's reputation that they dare not refuse the scant orders coaxed from his vocal synthesizer, for now at least...
Iothep, The Eclipsed[]
- "Tell your masters thus: your armaments are pathetic, unworthy of gracing the hides of rabid Krorks, much less my own raiment. Return with weapons befitting the station of those you face and perhaps I shall grant you a warrior's death."
- —Wide-band broadcast received by the Mazul "Ram Company" Armored Platoon
Twin of Intemhat, the Iothep's eponymous title is something of an inside joke within the Indrahkt Dynasty, an epithet mockingly referring to how the younger of the Sibling Princes has ever been "eclipsed" by the achievements of his brother. Granted, no Indrahkt noble would ever dare say this to Iothep's faceplate, especially now that he has been declared the Dynasty's Nemesor. A controversial decision, but not one without merit: Iothep is a skilled tactician and sublime warrior whose staggered-advance strategies have made the best out of the Dynasty's limited military complement.
Despite his competency, the awakening has not left the Nemesor unscarred either. His arrogance, legendary even before the biotransference, has only magnified his recklessness. Oftentimes he will outright refuse to engage those enemies he deems "unfit for battle", while on other occasions he will fight alone and unsupported, carving his foes into shredded armor and shrieking meat with his twinned Hyperphase Swords.
Hakomenes, Bearer of Sacrament[]
- "Kneel in obedience and rejoice in fealty, for your existence now serves a grand purpose."
- —Praetorian Hakomenes, administering the Rites of Subjugation
Occupying a somewhat paradoxical role within the Indrakht hierarchy is Hakomenes, Triarch Praetorian and Left Hand of the Phaeron. Originally seconded to their ranks as the Silent King's own cat's paw within the ranks of his most isolated fiefdom, the rust-scarred adjudicator technically has no standing within the Sunburst Court; he is, after all, an outsider. At the same time, however, Hakomenes has made himself virtually indispensable to the Dynasty's continued survival through his own clever manipulations of the Necrontyr's most ancient laws and doctrines. It was he, for example, who revitalized the long-obsolete Rites of Subjugation, spurring the Indrahkt to acquire Hemnu thralls from the surrounding organic population to supplement their lack of any large-scale Canoptek construction drones.
Though the remaining Indrahkt nobility sees the Praetorian as little more than a glorified bureaucrat, none can deny that Hakomenes has become of the greatest driving forces behind the Akhmathis revitalization. Some even worry that- with the Phaeron receding deeper into self-imposed stagnancy and his brother bent only on bloodshed- Hakomenes may have plans to lord over more than just brainwashed organics.
Djarkare, Master Transmuter[]
- "Oh grandchild, you have so much to learn..."
- —Cryptek Djarkare, to Magos Arco-Dhelson of Forge World Gilgamesh
One of the Dynasty's few remaining Crypteks, Djarkare was one of the original architects of the Star Reapers, the Brahmastra, in particular, being one of his crowning achievements. A Harbinger of Transmogrification, Djarkare manipulates the atomic structure of the universe like a painter arranging pigments on canvas, taking great pride in what he refers to as his "elemental artistry". His most recent project is one of bewildering complexity's as he attempts to reverse-engineer the Brahmastra's Fulcrum Arrow in order to transform the station's greatest weapon into massive atomic assembler in order to aid in the terraforming of Akhmathis.
Somewhat curiously for a Necron, Djarkare takes an unusual interest in sapient species of the galaxy, treating them not with barely disguised disdain or ambivalence as is common, but rather treating them as though they were simpleton children, almost adorable in their ignorance. Whether this is some residual quirk left over from the biotransference or a consequence of the awakening on the Cryptek's personality-engrams is still a matter of debate within the Sunburst Court.
Unique Units[]
During the War In Heaven, the Indrahkt Dynasty's role was that of unrelenting forward momentum, the unbending speartip, shattering enemy lines to make way for the bulk of the Necron legions' advance. Said tactics eventually led to the development of unique cohort-formations and Canoptek constructs, such as:
- Deathmark Arbalest - In place of traditional Lychguard, Intemhat surrounds himself with a unique cadre of Deathmarks, each armed with a miniaturized version of the Brahmastra's own superweapon. Known as Fulcrum Casters, these longbow-like devices carry destructive potential that belies their primitive design; each is capable of projecting a hail of silvery mass-drivers with enough force to core a battletank. The Deathmarks' inbuilt augury-sensors allow them to call their shots miles in advance, to the point where all the enemy ever sees of them is a rain of shrieking arrows descending from on high. At one point, the Phaeron himself even wielded one such device, an ancient weapon known as the Dawnbreaker.
- Boarding Phalanx - True mariners, the Indrahkt Dynasty have been persecuting void combat for eons, developing specific formations of Necron Warriors in order to facilitate the most effective boarding actions. These Necrons go into battle wielding Dispersion Shields and Tesla Siphons, pistol-like variants of Tesla technology that turns the bioelectricity of living creatures against themselves, frying them in pinpoint flashes of viridian lightning. Marching in perfect lockstep along the cramped corridors of enemy vessels, Boarding Phalanxes are typically only deployed when a particularly important objective is identified onboard a starship.
- Canoptek Caliphrite - A Canoptek construct unique to the Indrahkt, Caliphrites mainly occupy an auxiliary role, designed primarily to salvage valuable alloys and materials from starship wrecks and wandering meteors. Resembling massive, metallic botflies, Caliphrites glide through the void and latch onto their targets with their blade-like legs, releasing microscopic swarms of Ferrophage Scarabs directly into its superstructure. The tiny machines dissemble any useful components on the atomic level, the resulting "atomic slurry" absorbed by the Caliphrites via miniaturized Eternity Gateways located within their distended bellies, instantaneously transporting the raw materials to Indrahkt atomic assemblers to be put to use. Though not technically combat constructs, Caliphrites can still rip holes in hulls and severely damage critical systems if allowed to get too close.
- Hemnu - The term "Hemnu" is an old one, originating from a time when the Necrontyr were still flesh, and therefore required organic chattel to service the needs of their empire. With resources stretched thin, the Indrahkt have revitalized the old ways through the use of Cortex Leeches, a variant of Mindshackle Scarabs implanted directly into the unfortunate victim's brainstem. The insidious construct siphons away "extraneous" brainwave signals in order to ensure complete docility and obedience to their Necron masters; such is the fate that befalls any so unlucky as to be taken alive during an Indrahkt raid. Glassy-eyed and virtually immune to pain thanks to the hijacking of their nervous systems, legions of Hemnu labor away on the construction of the Akhmathis tomb-citadel, though of the Dynasty's lords are not above sending them into the fray to serve as disposable cannon fodder.
Warfare[]
Typical Necron battle-doctrine employs a mass advance, the Dynasty's undying legions marching forward tirelessly to overwhelm whatever resistance they encounter through sheer resilience and attrition. Once the Indrakht were much the same, but with the destruction of Morrighast having severely whittled down their numbers, the Lords of the Sunburst Court have struggled to adapt. With little in the way of heavy support beside a scattered demi-cohorts of Immortals, when faced planetside the Indrahkt legions skirmish rather than outright engage, trusting in the inherent tirelessness and advanced, particle-shredding weaponry to win the day. When faced with superior numbers, they consolidate, establishing defensive cordons and striking from afar until such a time as the enemy either breaks or has been sufficiently depopulated to the point where close-quarters combat may be more viable.
In ship-to-ship combat, the Dynasty is far more bold, as ultimately nothing short of a full Battlefleet can truly test the Brahmastra in the open void. It scythes through resistance like a massive sickle, bludgeoning its way through enemy formations and releasing scores of attack craft in its wake to mop up whatever survivors may be left in its wake.
Raiding Stance[]
When the Dynasty exhausts its current store of mortal chattel, the Bearer of Sacrament will call for a "Gray Harvest"; the ritualized capture and enslavement of lesser species as outlined by the ancient Rites of Subjugation. For the Indrakht, this is no simple thing: diverting a portion of their already depleted ground forces while still engaged in the Akhmathis Revitalization is a risky prospect in itself. Thus, days beforehand the Crypteks divine populations of the proper hardiness and genetic sustainability, determining which sites on which planets within the Periphery offer the least chance of a protracted engagement. Then and only then, are these coordinates presented to the Sunburst Court, and the Grey Harvest well and truly declared.
Those unfortunates selected awaken the next day to behold the blade-sharp profile of the Brahmastra skewering the horizon overhead, followed by pulses of emerald light heralding the Necrons' planetfall. Almost instantly the Dreadmen are among them, Gauss Flayers striking down anyone and anything that dares resist. Those who remain are herded together into isolated groups before themselves disappearing through the Eternity Gateways, wherein a grim future of neuro-shackled enslavement awaits the future Hemnu. The entire assault, having lasted less than a few minutes, concludes with a single low-output strike of the Fulcrum Arrow, reducing the depopulated township to a glass-fused crater as the Dynasty translates out of the star system, as swiftly as it arrived.
Relations[]
Feel free to add
Quotes[]
Feel free to add