To Abaddon, the fact that Black Templars had boarded his vessel was a surprising development, but not one that fell outside his tactical estimations. Had it not been the Black Templars, it might have been the Deathwatch, the Dark Angels, or the scions of some other Astartes Chapter. The Warmaster of a hundred victories did not fear such petty gambits.
Of far greater concern was the Dark Angels fleet, which remained dogging his wake with relentless persistence.
However, as the Balefleet approached its primary rally point, more unexpected reports flooded into Abaddon's flagship. The Arks of Omen, which had translated through the Warp ahead of the main body to set an ambush, had encountered an unforeseen foe.
They were under massive assault by the Necrons.
Compounding the crisis was the fact that these Necrons were far more troublesome than those encountered elsewhere. The Drazak Dynasty here had suffered a collective malfunction during their eons of slumber, falling victim to a peculiar plague known as the Flayer Virus.
This virus originated from the C'tan known as Llandu'gor the Flayer. During the ancient betrayal by the Necrons, they had overcharged their weapons in an error of hubris; instead of being shattered into shards, Llandu'gor was utterly obliterated. This true death birthed a lingering resentment and a curse that manifested as the Flayer Virus.
The Necrons of Drazak had succumbed entirely to this contagion. They existed in a state of perpetual hunger, yearning to strip the skins of other races to drape over their own metallic frames, thus, they were known as the "Bone Kingdom." The Overlord of Drazak, Valgûl, was the only entity immune to the virus's rot, earning him the titles of "Flayer King" and "Fallen Lord."
Since time immemorial, the Ghoul Stars had served as a dumping ground for the Necron race. The dynasties callously cast their rebels, dissenters, and those deemed "unclean" or "cursed" into this exile, forcing these pariahs to succumb, willingly or otherwise, to the Flayer Virus. Consequently, the Bone Kingdom of Drazak possessed a higher concentration of noble-tier Necrons than almost any other dynasty.
Under the influence of the virus, these infected Necrons were immensely destructive. Moreover, the virus-tainted Canoptek technology and Cryptek arcana had birthed weapons that filled living beings with primal dread.
Now, swarms of Necron Flayers were running rampant across the gargantuan Arks of Omen. Legions of mutants, cultists, renegade mortal troops, and daemons were fighting a desperate battle to repel the silver tide. The sudden influx of biomass into the Ghoul Stars had fully awakened the Drazak Dynasty.
Unlike other dynasties that relied on the methodical fire of Gauss-wielding Warriors and Immortals, the Drazak forces were primarily focused on melee. They deployed a unique caste known as "Bone Warriors." Their chassis were forged from hardened bone and metallic alloys, equipped with razor-sharp bone-swords and shields. They specialized in brutal close-quarters combat and relentless frontal assaults, possessing terrifying defensive resilience and offensive power.
Even their ranged armaments differed from the norm. They utilized "Bone-Energy Rifles" that discharged potent beams of raw energy in place of Gauss Flayers, and Particle Shredders instead of Gauss Blasters. They even deployed "Bone Bombs," ordnance functionally similar to melta charges, designed to breach enemy lines in an instant.
Furthermore, Drazak was the only dynasty to utilize "Flayer Augmentation" technology. Unlike individuals on other tomb worlds who spontaneously mutated from Warriors or Immortals due to the virus, the Flayers of Drazak were a cornerstone of their military might, crafted through advanced living-metal fusion. By perfectly grafting plundered biological tissue onto mechanical components, the Drazak Flayers possessed superior strength, agility, and tenacity. Efficient energy-transfer systems and neural-control interfaces were embedded within their frames, allowing them to adapt to any theater of war.
Driven by the logic of the virus, the Drazak Dynasty had also developed various biochemical viral weapons. These artificial plagues could be deployed via weaponry, airborne dispersal, or direct injection. Once infected, victims suffered rapid physiological failure and profound mental psychosis, crippling the combat effectiveness of entire regiments.
Most troublesome of all was Valgûl himself. Though he remained untouched by the Flayer Virus, the long millennia spent surrounded by his maddened, bloodthirsty subjects had pushed him toward the brink of insanity. Over the long ages, he had abandoned the search for a cure, choosing instead to embrace a throne adorned with splintered bone and charred skin. He maintained the loyalty of his subjects by providing the bloody bounties they craved. Every few solar months, when the flesh reserves on Drazak were exhausted, Valgûl would declare a "Bounty Hour" and dispatch his fleets to raid nearby worlds for the "blood tax," clotted gore and fresh ichor.
Now, a fleet of Arks of Omen, brimming with living flesh, had arrived in the Ghoul Stars. Though the flesh was twisted and reeked of the Warp, it was a feast beyond compare for the savage, virus-addled Necrons. The sheer volume of biomass aboard the Arks had driven the Necrons into a state of uncontrollable frenzy; even Valgûl dared not issue commands to his maddened subjects at such a moment.
Crypteks opened ancient trans-dimensional corridors. Almost the entire dynasty, save for Valgûl himself, poured forth. As waves of Bone Warriors and Flayers carved out beachheads on the Arks of Omen, swarms of Canoptek Scarabs followed, rapidly constructing massive phase-gates.
Soon, the distorted units of the virus appeared. Skorpekh Destroyers, no longer wielding phase blades and Gauss cannons, emerged armed with grotesque talons and Bone-Energy Cannons.
Simultaneously, Lion El'Jonson's Dark Angels encountered unexpected friction. The Sautekh Dynasty, under Imotekh the Stormlord, had long kept a vigilant watch over these fallen exiles. When the entirety of Drazak mobilized, the Sautekh Necron fleets guarding the region were stirred into action. Though Drazak was weak compared to the might of the Sautekh, Imotekh had no intention of allowing these degenerates to expand.
However, as the Sautekh fleet transitioned out of its pocket dimensions, it crashed directly into the Dark Angels fleet pursuing the Arks of Omen. Faced with the Imperial vessels, the Sautekh Necrons initially had no desire to engage. But when several Dark Angels ships were crippled by accidental collisions with the Necron fleet, the Lion immediately ordered a full-scale assault against the loathsome xenos.
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