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Old 07-21-2009, 09:50 PM   #4
 
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~Hidan~
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Clouds above Midgar
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Re: The Necrons: Info

Necron Fleets

While Necron forces are usually land-based, Necron space vessels are not unheard of and are quite possibly much more common than people realize. They are probably simply not seen and so the Necrons seem to have the terrifying ability to appear out of nowhere. There are more than two dozen records of Necron space contacts in the Imperial archives, and there are accounts of other races battling Necron fleets.

Necron mastery of physical technology is beyond anything the galaxy has ever seen and surpasses even that of the highly advanced Eldar and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their ships are stunningly fast and agile, equipped with propulsion systems which are capable of traveling interstellar distances without entering the Warp. This is achieved, as far as is known, by making their ships unbound by inertia, allowing them to accelerate almost instantly and infinitely, which explains why Necron ships are often seen to be visibly decelerating upon reaching the site of battle. This also protects them from many of the practical problems and dangers of warp travel. All Necron ships are well-armored, equipped with self-repair systems and use an advanced stealth technology which makes them invisible to enemy targeting systems, granting Necron vessels surprising staying power overall. Indeed, these vessels are so dangerous that they once reached deep into the heart of the Imperium, landing on Mars before being gunned down by the planetary defense system. Necron naval weaponry is frighteningly devastating; one Necron ship is more than a match for a small imperial fleet while larger Necron ships have been known to cripple ships with a single shot and are known to bypass many conventional defense systems, such as void shields and even Eldar holofields, and strike with an unearthly accuracy.

In every battle so far engaging Necrons on even terms proved to be suicide. Fortunately, all of the Necron fleets encountered so far were small task forces that usually disengaged and phased out like their land-based counterparts rather than putting up a full fight. However, their frequency seems to be increasing and the possibility of a massive Necron attack is dreaded by the Imperium as well as other sentient races. Even as a raiding force, they are a serious threat since they are fully capable of outmaneuvering most other fleets (probably with the exception of Eldar and their dark kin). This often leads to catastrophic losses for enemy fleets and forces them to stall for reinforcements to arrive, at which point the Necrons simply phase out again.

Recently, there has been one notable full-blown encounter with a Necron ship the size and shape of a planet called "The World Engine". It is unknown if it was a tomb world moved by incredibly advanced and arcane technology, or a starship of planetery proportions. The World Engine possessed weaponry which could scour all life from a planet without actually destroying it, as well as defensive shields that could withstand the combined firepower of Imperial Navy and Space Marine fleet elements. When conventional boarding actions such as drop pods and teleportation also failed, it finally took a Space Marine Battle Barge traveling at full speed to ram it and punch through the shields. The entire Astral Knights chapter was on board, and they spent hours fighting down to the last man to cripple the massive ship. In the end they managed to disable the shields but were completely overrun, scoring a Pyrrhic victory as the World Engine succumbed to planet-killer cyclonic torpedoes launched by the remaining Imperial ships. The final tally of the engagement was two worlds sterilized of all life, countless Imperial vessels destroyed by Necron ship-to-ship weapons and the loss of an entire Astartes chapter.

It is yet unknown if the World Engine was the only one of its kind, however its presence sheds some light into the old Ork claim of encountering a Necron vessel which dwarfed even their massive space hulk. It seems certain by the stories that have survived throughout the ages about the first great war against the Necrons that they had many horrible weapons at their disposal. However no one knows how many of these are still functional since, as is usual when facing Necrons, only a few of those who encounter them live to tell the tale.
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