[Being a study on the methods and culture of the ancient Necrontyr race]
Transmitted: Magos Biologis Research
Station: Denebar
Received: Nallisea III
Date: 8624999.M41
Astropath: Prime Estellis
Ref: INQ.XB.12997/N
Collated by: Magos Biologis Urieth Malkar
| Necrontyr Equipment My Lord, With this report, I hope to inform you better of some of the many devices employed by the Necrontyr. [ADDENDUM: All material regarding gauss weapons has been moved to Report NCR.GW.221, 'Necrontyr Gauss Weaponry'. Please reference that report for further information.]The item designated as the Staff of Light has long been known to be a very capable weapon. It can fire a bolt of energy across a distance, or flash freeze the air about it so that anything close to it at the time becomes frozen and snaps - whether it is metal, duracrete, or even flesh. The two effects have been found to be somewhat related. The Staff draws in energy from the molecules surrounding it, mainly heat, thus lowering the temperature drastically. This energy is then released in a most spectacular manner, causing its target to explode as the sudden energy build-up violently ejects all matter around it. We have determined another use for the Staff of Light recently. It appears to be a sort of 'key' for the Necrontyr, granting access to their Pyramid structures. It also gives full command of Necrontyr warriors to its bearer. This makes the destruction of such items a key objective for our Priests and Magi. If we could control them, they would also be a useful addition to our armories. I believe it is worth noting that some teams have reported the existence of a larger version of the Staff of Light. I have requested these teams to send me one of these larger Staffs for further study. Many Staffs have been known to be equipped with what we have titled a Scourge of Light. Instead of the air surrounding the Staff being frozen, it is super-heated to the point that the air boils around the Staff. This is likely a release of the build-up of energy. Anything struck is burned away or melted in a flash of light. The Scourge also gives out a keening wail as it is swung, causing men to lose their nerves. Apparently, the Necrontyr have designed their equipment, as well as their bodies, to have a psychological effect on their opponents.Some Necrontyr Lords have had equipment built into their metal faces that affects their opponents in a purely psychology manner. This equipment we have termed the Gaze of Flame. When activated, it resembles a blazing fire within the Necrontyr's eyes, and causes such fear that men are frozen to the spot, and their courage is stripped from them in an instant. I believe that the primary reason for the loss of courage is the employment of some form of psychological device that manipulates the brain-wave patterns of any creature nearby, be it man or beast. This is a dangerous set of equipment, to be certain. I suggest we try to determine a means to stop this gear from affecting our soldiers. An item that I have found to be of great import is the Veil of Darkness. In short, this item is a miniature teleporter. It locks onto local Necrontyr signatures and teleports them over a short distance, allowing them to quickly move out of harm or to a more advantageous location. When activated, the item creates a shroud of darkness over those being teleported. It appears that this is yet another means of psychological warfare employed by the Necrontyr. You have known about the C'tan Phase weaponry (ref. C’tan Phase Sword/Knife, CPW.221) for a while, I am certain. These weapons are able to phase in and out of realspace by molecular realignment. We have found another device based on this technology, the C'tan Phase Field. This device is a generator that is attached to the chest of a Necrontyr. It creates a field of phase energy around the wearer that causes the Necrontyr to phase in and out of realspace in a manner similar to the C’tan phase weapons. This allows the Necrontyr wearing it to escape most harm, as the wearer is not in realspace at the moment the attack should have struck. I have begun personally examining it, as I find it may be a very useful piece of equipment for our own soldiers to employ. The last item I will inform you of is of great interest to me. Several drones have been found that were first thought to be a miniature form of the well-known Scarabs. Upon closer inspection, I have found these drones to contain cloaking devices. These devices were much larger than any needed for such a small drone, and I was left wondering for many days why this would be. I have recently formed my own theory regarding this phenomenon. Based on devices found upon these drones that allow them to attach to similar metallic constructs, I believe these drones are 'detachable' cloaking devices for the Necrontyr. They will attach to a Necrontyr or one of their constructs, then activate their cloaking device and cloak themselves and anything they are attached to. This makes their threat very great, as no Necrontyr will be singly cloaked - these drones can simply detach and then attach themselves to another Necrontyr, cloaking it instead. This can be very disorienting to troops facing these ‘Cloak Scarabs’. I hope this report will be of some use to you. I will continue to study these devices so that we may better understand them. My next report will contain details of the Necrontyr use of nanotechnology.
APPENDIX I I have attached this appendix to inform you of the resources used to create this report, including but not limited to: Explorator teams, studies of after-battle action reports, equipment found in excavations, and my own studies into the Necrontyr. Much of this is compiled from reports filed after battles with the Necrontyr, or interrogations of survivors. I worked with Inquisitor Mandius on the collection of these documents and the interrogations of a few of the survivors of the battle at Ledars. He has been a great boon to my work, and once again I find myself in your debt for gaining his services. I have also managed to obtain a number of artifacts from Quasiar and Benegtra. Most of these artifacts were gauss weapons, but the most notable was an intact Staff of Light from Benegtra. This helped us in our research. I must admit, the information I have contained regarding the items known as the Gaze of Light and Veil of Darkness is conjecture based upon observations made in battles. This is the best we have been able to do, as neither of these artifacts have been found by any of our Explorator teams. We continue to search in the hopes of finding one of each, so that we may study them and understand them better. The C'tan Phase Field was found on Mortarion. It was quite a find, although it caused a great deal of trouble. When it was first found, a junior TechMagos attempted to study its effects firsthand. Unfortunately he did not activate the field correctly and his body was rent apart atom by atom. I am still not certain how they got the field to shut down. It arrived before me in pieces, complete with a report on its effects and basic observations on the mechanisms within. To say that I am displeased with the results of the 'field' tests is putting it mildly. Last, but certainly not least, is the Cloak Scarab. It was simply thought to be a miniature Scarab until it was sent to me for personal observation. I was able to restore its spirit (tainted as it is) and observe its functions personally. I was amused when the Scarab chose to cloak my worktable, and later thankful that I had very little of my equipment near the table. A mild electro-magnetic pulse was fired into the area where the Scarab was, shutting it off rather forcefully. When I later opened its casing I found many wires to be burnt-out. I am receiving a shipment of more artifacts from Mortarion today. I hope these will prove to be in better condition than the last artifact. Your obedient servant, |