"It is time to finish this."
The giant that is Caspian Valerian stands at the top of a cliff looking into the distance where a metallic being, composed of liquid metal, is wandering the area. It has been over 15 years and this monstrosity is still not scrap.
'Good, I get to end this myself,' Caspian says with a wicked grin on his face. Hunting monsters and having no meaningful human interaction for so long is making him more feral in his ways.
Looking at an enemy he has been searching for, the one that humiliated him, his grin grows even more menacing.
"NECRON, COME AND MEET YOUR END."
His voice echoes like thunder across the plains. The ground near him stirs with dust and particles from his voice.
Drawing his copper looking blunt straight sword slowly, he keeps his eyes on the Necron Flayed One as it turns to look at him.
Their gazes lock even from this distance. Its systems whirl in confusion combined with a klik klik klik sound as it tries to process what it is seeing.
Caspian begins motioning toward the xenos, walking, then jogging, then running, then moving at such speeds that no normal man can keep up with. Moving toward the filthy xenos at such speed does not stop it from following his motion.
The Necron also moves at such speeds toward Caspian. They meet in the middle with a resounding BOOM, neither gaining the advantage.
Caspian's sword and the filthy xenos' claw clash.The quantum shield of the Necron flickers into view for a micro-second.
Withdrawing back, Caspian levels his sword horizontally and swings. There is no need for technique, all he needs is power.
The air in front of the sword screams as the blunt blade cuts through the polluted air of Cygnis III so fast that the wind visibly moves aside for it.
The Necron moves a step back to avoid it, but as the sword passes in front of its face, the air pushes it back slightly.
The Necron falters slightly in its attempt to counterattack. Caspian, not planning to give it any leeway, diverts his sword downward for a vertical cut.
Through his fabric the veins on his arms pulse like coiling dragons and the strike comes at the Necron again from below.
Prepared this time, the Necron takes a bigger step back. Immediately after the sword passes its face, it stabs forward with its claws. Its molecular claws cut the air in silence as they approach Caspian.
Using his upward momentum, he folds his body backward into a backflip. His face and torso evade damage, but the Necron swings its claws down just enough to catch his shin, scraping off flesh and chipping a little of the bone.
"Nghhhh!"
Caspian's voice escapes his mouth as the pain is extreme. Standing upright he tries to move in for another strike, but fails to understand the exact level of his injuries.
As his shin bone splinters under the Necron's swipe, Caspian does not just stumble, he leans into the failure. He converts the agony of his collapsing limb into a violent pivot, dropping his center of gravity to whip his sword upward in a desperate, low-angle spring that defies the machine's predictive logic.
The Necron, already moving in for another strike, is hit with a blow with so much force that it is greater than it originally calculates. That buckle accelerates Caspian's strike by nearly triple. Once again the quantum shield comes into existence, blocking his blow again.
Caspian hears the Necron's clicking and explodes in anger, believing that it is mocking him. Instead of his more organized strikes he moves in a frenzy, swinging his blunt sword left to right without regard for anything.
Although not much of a threat to it, the force behind each blow keeps the Necron in place. His eyes now get red in rage and Caspian's strikes become more brutal, faster and harder. His arms, shoulders, waist, and legs are all in pain.
The rhythmic clicking of the Necron sounds out. It seems to bring Caspian back from the edge of insanity.
This is almost a fatal mistake for him, as he pauses and immediately a power claw comes down from shoulder to opposite waist.
Blood sprays out of his chest as three jagged cuts appear on his torso. His bones and organs are visible through the wound.
Many thoughts run through his mind in that second.
'Would I lose to this thing again? Will I have to go back to the others asking for help again? Even after all this time, am I still this weak?'
Like a volcano bubbling under a mountain, Caspian's bloodshot eyes snap up as he looks at the Necron. He notices something he saw before but ignored.
The shield of the Necron appears and seems to phase it out of existence in that spot. What if it is in multiple places at once?
His mind explodes and the air and sky distort as his resolve hardens. He lowers his waist, forcing the wounds closed. He punches out with the fastest fist he has ever thrown. Then comes a second, a microsecond after the first.
The Necron quantum shield comes into effect again, this time for a very short moment. Power must be used with speed. Caspian starts shuttling his fists at blinding speeds and begins turning his waist to add power to his punches.
Like the beginning of a plane's takeoff, he starts getting faster and faster and faster. His punches become heavier and heavier and heavier.
If a hundred punches will not do it, then a thousand will. If a thousand will not, then ten thousand will, and so on.
His mind feels as if it leaves his body. He can now see the trajectory of his punches. He starts adjusting the angles, the weight, and the speed.
He gets more out of his punches than before. The feeling reminds him of what Custodian Aurelian Gaius Trajan says it feels like when using a weapon.
Although the Necron now moves back, it does not take any damage. Its shield keeps it protected. His hand speed begins to exceed what his hands should be able to take. His tendons, ligaments, and muscles begin to tear.
His thoughts remain clear. Even the strain on his body is not able to take his mind away from his attacks. After close to 1000 strikes he realizes that he needs to end this now. If he stops he will have to contend with a Necron that is fully healthy.
"ARGHH!"
Using the last of his strength and determination, and after calculating the timing of the quantum shield, Caspian crosses the final threshold of speed and power, gathering his strength.
His fists become a rhythmic, deafening blur, striking the green light of the shield with the mechanical cadence of a heavy bolter. The air around his knuckles ignites from the sheer friction, creating a localized heat shimmer that mirrors the thermal violence of a multi-melta.
The skin on his knuckles burns away as his flesh and some bones become exposed. The quantum shield, overloaded by the relentless kinetic saturation and mounting heat, flickers with violent green static before it finally shatters like pressurized glass, throwing off a discharge of cooling ozone.
CRACK
Like glass breaking, it shatters.
Not leaving any chance for the Necron to react, a second fist aimed straight at its head explodes forward with the same speed, power, and heat and connects. Its head goes flying into the distance as the body jerks and shuts down.
Caspian's hands hang loosely at his sides, with clear separation of muscles. Bones and ligaments are torn apart, hanging loosely by the skin on his shoulders. But at this very moment he seems to understand the final part of the glaive tattoo.
His body is weak and heavy. His eyes are droopy like he wants to sleep. He knows he is in the open and must find a place to hide if he is to survive.
Looking at the location the Necron was wandering around, there is a ruin there with a fairly well-maintained door.
Dragging his body with agonizingly slow steps, he moves toward the door.
Then a scanning beam comes from the top of the door.
[Identity Verification: Successful]
[Genetic Sequence Detected: Uncorrupted Baseline / High-Caste Terrene]
[Condition Report: Critical Trauma. Systemic shock detected. Cardiac rhythm failing.]
[Security Status: Access granted. Welcome home.]
A voice comes from the door as he enters, dripping blood all over the place.
Stepping into the ruin, he falls to the ground with a loud thud. His body finally succumbs to his injuries.
He can barely see with blood pooling in his eyes, but what he does see is something beyond his comprehension.
Weapons, technology, and a glass tube glowing with blue lights that remind him of pixels. Oddly similar to something he saw in his previous dream all those years ago, a supercomputer, he thinks, or something more.
[Initialize sterilization protocols…]
[Initiate swarm protocols…]