Necrons

The **Necrons** are an ancient, robotic species that has spent most of the history of the Milky Way in stasis. Former servants of the C'tan, the Necrons are soulless and driven only by a desire to restore their ancient dynasty.

## History

Originally, the Necrons were an organic race known as the **Necrontyr**. They originated in a remote region of the Beta Quadrant known as the Halo Stars, under a particularly intense star. Their homeworld was constantly assaulted by ionizing solar winds and radiation storms. The Necrontyr had short lifespans -- their bodies battered, beaten, and blighted by the harsh reality of life on their planet. As such, a culture developed that celebrated the dead. Elaborate monuments and tombs were built to honor those who had passed away. Still, life on their homeworld was always a struggle to survive and as such, the Necrontyr took to space travel as early as they possibly could. They began to build an empire, carving out a massive territory where they thrived -- once they were away from the harsh star of their homeworld. Initially unable to manage faster-than-light travel, they developed advanced stasis technology to allow them to survive voyages into space.

The Necrontyr Empire was ruled over by a council called the Triarch, composed of three Phaerons. The head of the Triarch would only ever speak to the other two Phaerons, and so this leader became known as the Silent King. The title was hereditary, however short lifespans ensured that the title went through several dynasties. The last of the Silent Kings was Szarekh.

During their slow expansion, the Necrontyr encountered the Old Ones. The Old Ones were much more advanced than the Necrontyr -- having built Warp Gates and discovered the secret of immortality. The Old Ones refused to share their secrets with the Necrontyr. The relationship between the two species was hostile -- the Necrontyr were enraged and envious of all the the Old Ones had. But soon, another conflict would arise.

As the territory of the Necrontyr expanded, their empire became ever more diverse. The unity that had once held the species together began to erode, and soon the houses of the empire were engaged in brutal, violent confrontations with each other. This became known as the War of Secession. As the war waged, it would have eradicated the Necrontyr altogether. As such, the Triarch devised a new way to unify their empire once more: a common enemy. And so, the Necrontyr Empire went to war against the Old Ones. This tactic worked, and soon even the most secessionist houses returned to the fold. The War in Heaven began.

### The War in Heaven

The War in Heaven was hopeless for the Necrontyr. The Old Ones were far more advanced and able to use the Immaterium to travel far more quickly through space. The Necrontyr were pushed back, and became little more than an irritation to the Old Ones. Much of their territory was lost, and the Necrontyr were furious to find themselves primarily confined to their harsh homeworld once again. This rage turned into a hatred of all other sentient species, and -- to many -- of each other. The unity the War in Heaven had created fractured in the face of defeat.

While the Wars of Secession resumed, more destructive and widespread than ever before, the Necrontyr also made first contact with the C'tan -- or "Star Gods". How this contact occurred is unknown -- some say the Necrontyr had sent a probe to investigate a dying star, while others say that the hatred and rage felt by the Necrontyr had beckoned to the C'tan. However, as it is known that the Necrontyr had been studying stars even before their empire rose, it seems the former theory is more likely to be the truth.

It is unclear how the Necrontyr were able to communicate with the C'tan, who they revered. To help their new gods, the Necrontyr created Necrodermis shells for the C'tan, giving them a physical form. One C'tan, known amongst his kind as the Deceiver, came before the Silent King Szarekh and spoke of a war that had once been fought between the C'tan and the Old Ones. The Deceiver insisted the C'tan had been seeking allies to gain revenge against the Old Ones, and that unity and immortality could belong to the Necrontyr once more. The Deceiver assured Szarekh that there would be no price for these boons.

Szarekh debated this with the Triarch and the royal court for months. Only one voice dissented, that of the court astrologer Orikan -- who foretold that an alliance with the C'tan would bring about a great renaissance for the Necrontyr but also destroy their souls. Orikan was ignored, and the Necrontyr entered in an alliance with the C'tan.

### Rise of the Necrons

The Star Gods revealed that the "immortality" they promised meant abandoning the battered, flesh bodies they had known. The Necrontyr used biotransference to place themselves in new bodies made of Necrodermis. What was involved in this biotransference is unknown, but each and every Necrontyr was stripped of both flesh and soul. The C'tan fed on the life essence of the Necrontyr, devouring their souls, and turning them into a robotic subservient army. When Szarekh saw this, after his own transference, he realized the terrible price his people had paid. The Necrontyr no longer existed -- the soulless Necrons now stood in their place.

Nevertheless, all of the promises of the Deceiver had been fulfilled. The Necrons were virtually indestructible and completely ageless. They were unified, albeit because they had lost emotions and individuality. Command protocols had been placed in the minds of every single Necron -- giving Szarekh utter control over his people.

The Necrons soon engaged in a terrible massacre of the enemies of the C'tan. With the two species fighting together, the Old Ones were doomed to defeat. Finally, the Necrons were able to access the Webway using Dolmen Gates -- truly damning the Old Ones who relied upon the Immaterium as their one remaining advantage. The C'tan and the Necrons were the undisputed rulers of the Milky Way. But the C'tan always hungered, and the Necrons began terrorizing all of the younger sentient species developing in the galaxy in order to feed their masters. Eventually, the insatiable hunger grew and the C'tan even began to fight each other.

The patient Old Ones, hiding and recovering from their defeat, patiently created servant species of their own to use in the war. They nurtured several races, including the Eldar, the Krork and many others. These psychically empowered races, once they had developed, turned the tide and the Old Ones broke the C'tan empire -- already weakened by the infighting of the Star Gods. To counter this new attack, the C'tan unified and attempted to seal the material plane of the Prime Reality from the Immaterium. These efforts threw the Immaterium into disorder, created the Realm of Chaos, and allowed terrifying, predatory creatures to develop within the Warp. The Old Ones and the C'tan continued their tremendous war against each other, their subservient races taking the brunt of the battles.

Meanwhile, Szarekh waited. He knew the C'tan were too powerful for him to defeat at the height of their strength. He knew the Old Ones would not be forgiving of his alliance with them. He waited -- he waited for the Old Ones to be defeated, and for a moment of vulnerability for the C'tan.

And finally, it happened. The Old Ones were beaten back, and the C'tan were weakened from the intense war. It was then that Szarekh turned the tireless Necrons against them in an open revolt. Millions of Necrons died in the rebellion, including all of the Triarch save Szarekh himself, but they successfully wedged the C'tan Shards into a multidimensional Tesseract Labyrinth.

Szarekh could see, however, that time of the Necrons had passed as well. The threats created by the C'tan's efforts to block off the Warp had the potential to wipe out all life and turn the Milky Way into a wasteland. Many younger species were developing and growing strong -- they would soon be dominant in galactic affairs. The xel'naga were already experimenting on other developing species, and would eventually find themselves in a war against the Necrons -- a war the Necrons could never win after their costly rebellion.

And so the Silent King commanded the Necrons to build their great cities into tombs full of stasis chambers. Then, Szarekh commanded that they sleep for millions of years -- ready to rebuild their empire in whatever world it was that they awoke in. And so the Great Sleep began.

Many of these tomb worlds did not survive. Those that did, however, stirred and awoke in the late 41st millenium. The Great Awakening has not been precise, with Necrons awakening in fits and starts over thousands of years. But, with the Necrons mostly awake, they began to work towards rebuilding their former empire and their former glory.

## Source

The Necrons are derived from *Warhammer 40k*. For canon information visit the Warhammer 40,000 Wiki.