Battle of Fordris - History: The Ork Warboss Skullkrak had led his Boyz to the seeming ghost world of Fordris pursuing rumours rife throughout local space of ancient alien weaponry. He had been hoping such tools could tip the balance in his ongoing campaign against the Raven Guard Space Marines' 3rd Company. But after weeks of searching, all he had discovered was that Fordris' seas were highly acidic and that its omnipresent sand got everywhere.Yet, in truth, Fordris was neither lifeless nor uninhabited, as Skullkrak discovered when the first wave of Necron Warriors emerged from the planet's blood-red seas. Brackish water streaming from their living metal bodies, the soulless androids strode across the obsidian sands, each marching in perfect unison with every other, save for where circuitry misfires caused an involuntary twitch or stumble. Then, as Skullkrak bawled and bellowed at his lads to "get 'em, ya slugs" the Necron phalanx came to an abrupt halt, swung their Gauss Flayers to bear, and the killing began.The first volley of viridian energy cut deep into the disordered Orks. Skullkrak, being somewhat quicker-witted than his followers, survived by hoisting one of the "lads" off his feet to use as cover. As a second torrent of flensing energy crackled into the Greenskins, Skullkrak threw aside his erstwhile shield and roared at his Boyz once more. This time, the call of the WAAAGH! was taken up across the length and breadth of the shoreline. Choppas flailing, the Orks hurled themselves into the storm of emerald energies. Such a charge would have been sufficient to freeze the blood of any mortal foe, but the Necrons were not so easily shaken as creatures of flesh. Three more volleys did the mechanical warriors fire, pitching dozens of Greenskins into the black sand -- but then the Orks were upon them.Skullkrak hurled himself bodily into the Necron ranks, swinging his massive war axe in a succession of brutal alloy-crunching arcs that smashed undying heads from shoulders, crushed rib cages and shattered limbs. Within moments the Ork Warboss stood alone in a sea of twisted metal, roaring his dominance over the foe. Yet Skullkrak's claim to victory was premature. Even as the last Necron fell, the regeneration circuits of the first triggered, drawing upon hidden power reserves to reknit broken limbs, repath critical engrammatic circuits and return the warrior to full function. Thus, even before Skullkrak's jubilant shout had finshed echoing off the cliffs, the Ork Warboss found himself surrounded once again by the reanimated forms of those he had hacked apart only moments before.Such was the scene all across the shore. Again and again the Orks' ferocity bore Necron Warriors to the ground, but again and again the fallen dragged themselves back into the fight. Decapitated heads were reclaimed by grasping hands, and severed arms scrabbled across the sand in search of sundered necrodermis bodies. As the momentum of the Ork charge faded, the Necrons began to hold their own in the bitter battle. Still acting in unison, the Necron Warriors hacked at the Orks with heavy-bladed bayonets and, unlike their opponents, the Greenskins that were struck down did not rise again. Only near to Skullkrak was the fight still in the Orks' favour, for the Warboss had taken to smashing his opponents into as many, and as small, pieces as possible to delay their inevitable reassembly.So lost was he in the joy of battle that Skullkrak did not notice the swiftly rising tide until its ruddy waters were lapping at his feet. The dynamic of the battle changed as the sea rose up the beach to swallow the sands. For the first time since the fight had begun, downed Necrons were failing to regenerate, as vital components were swept out into the seething waters of the bay. Yet the rising tide also sucked at the Orks' feet, making their footing treacherous. Worse, those Necrons that managed to self-repair did so hidden beneath the waves and many an Ork was dragged beneath the surface by grasping mechanical hands. Bellowing at his lads to follow, the Warboss ran back up the beach as swiftly as the drag of water about his legs would allow.There, under the shadow of the cliff face, the Orks prepared to make their stand. The waters below were quieter now. Only a handful of Necrons were visible above the waves, and a handful of sustained volleys pitched them beneath the surface. The Greenskins let out a cheer, but the raucous noise swiftly died away as, out in the bay, the waters parted once more and a slab-sided Monolith heaved its way to the surface. Gunfire scattering off its armoured flanks, the inexorable war machine glided slowly towards Skullkrak and his remaining Boyz. There was an ear-splitting whine, the crystal atop the Monolith glowed a piercing white and then all that was left of the Orks was a smoldering pile of ash.Far beneath the surface of the bay, in a vaulted stone chamber, two enthroned Necron nobles watched a holographic recreation of Skullkrak's demise. Rising, one banished the hologram with a dissatisfied wave of his metallic hand. "Combat efficiency remains at seventy percent of acceptable parameters. Further data is necessary to complete the required optimisation.""Indeed," replied the other, also rising. "Recommend activation of Mindshackle Cluster XD11101 -- humans will provide a suitable comparator." The first Necron nodded to indicate his assent and issued the necessary interstitial command. "It is done. If the subject performs as expected, we have three solar months to prepare."Shortly thereafter, three sectors distant, Tech-priest Dreicon Brudac began preparations to investigate a reported cache of xenos technology, located on an out-of-the-way Desert World known as Fordris...