Chapter 420: Arrival at Prospero! Star God Shards! A Deal!
When Guilliman and the other Primarchs led their forces toward Prospero, the Emperor had already issued a prior order: the Thousand Sons Legion was to remain where they were and await further instructions.
If they dared flee at this point, it would be considered outright betrayal of the Imperium—and not even jumping into the Yellow River could wash away that crime.
Thus, until the Universal Megacorp made a move against them, the warriors of the Thousand Sons Legion could only stand by helplessly, staring across at their counterparts and patiently waiting for the Empire's latest directives.
"Trazyn…"
Aboard the flagship command vessel of the Universal Megacorp's Ninth Expeditionary Fleet, Jack Wells received a transmission from Trazyn the Infinite, one of the Necron overlords.
The message was a request for a direct meeting with the fleet's supreme commander.
As the Universal Megacorp's leading unifier in the Warhammer universe, Jack Wells had come carrying a series of critical missions. If all went according to plan, he would become the sector governor of the Warhammer universe, overseeing all military and administrative affairs.
This operation was not only a campaign—it was a trial to see if he was capable of bearing the burden of such a vast fiefdom.
"Reply to him—grant the communication request, but no face-to-face meeting," Jack Wells ordered.
He was well aware of who Trazyn was—an important, though cautious, ally of The Megacorp. Until trust had been firmly established, keeping a safe distance was the wiser course.
After all, this guy was an infamously notorious galactic collector, known for "liberating" things without paying, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't set his eyes on The Megacorp's warships or strategic weapons.
And these expeditionary ships weren't carrying mere scrap—they had neutron annihilators, MD-500 MicroMedics, miniature Starfall Spears, and more.
It wasn't a question of fearing a thief stealing, but of dreading a thief coveting.
As that thought crossed his mind, Jack turned to his officers and gave a follow-up command: "Initiate communication with Trazyn in ten minutes. Also connect to the Multiverse Base Headquarters and share the entire call log in real time."
This was too important. The boss needed full visibility.
"Yes, sir!"
Ten minutes later—
A holographic projection shimmered to life on the command bridge. The image displayed a fully silver, skeletal metal figure—on first glance, it looked like an unfinished AI humanoid.
It was none other than Trazyn the Infinite, one of the overlords of the Necron race.
"Greetings, humans."
Trazyn was remarkably courteous. Right off the bat, he greeted Jack and introduced himself. "I am Trazyn, a collector of the Milky Way."
"I find your unfamiliar human faction… quite intriguing."
There was a sense of profound mystery in his voice, as if he had already glimpsed the true origin of the Universal Megacorp.
Jack Wells remained composed, his expression unchanged as he responded firmly, "I know who you are, Trazyn. But before we begin this dialogue, I need to make something clear."
"Everything within the Prospero system—its constructs, its resources—belongs to humanity. You'd best abandon any unrealistic ambitions before they get you burned."
It didn't need to be said—Jack already suspected Trazyn had his sights set on The Megacorp's warships or the Thousand Sons' gene-seed.
A hardline warning was necessary, just to cut off any potential trouble at the source.
The Megacorp had already made it clear: if Trazyn didn't know his place, they'd deal with him accordingly.
Trazyn fell silent at the warning, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.
He began reassessing just how much The Megacorp knew about him—and how they were obtaining such detailed information.
His reputation among the galaxy's civilizations was indeed widespread, but not that widespread—surely not to the point where everyone knew his every secret.
"Humans? I'm curious—which humans are you exactly? The Imperium doesn't have that many advanced warships, nor do they use AI."
Trazyn chuckled softly. Before initiating the call, he had used his own equipment to briefly scan The Megacorp fleet.
The dense cannon arrays, streamlined optimized structure, AI-integrated systems, and large number of unmanned drones…
This was clearly not an Imperial fleet. Naturally, Trazyn found himself increasingly intrigued by their origins.
"We are the Ninth Expeditionary Fleet of the Universal Megacorp. At present, we're carrying out a classified mission for the Emperor."
Jack answered without hesitation.
That statement did two things—it identified The Megacorp fleet's origin, and it hinted that they were working directly for the Emperor. As for the actual relationship between The Megacorp and the Imperium… well, Trazyn could speculate all he liked.
"The Universal Megacorp… working for the Emperor…"
Trazyn quickly made a connection. "You're from outside the galaxy, aren't you? Drifted into intergalactic space during the Golden Age of Humanity… and now you've returned to your homeland?!"
As one of the living historians of the Warhammer universe, Trazyn didn't just collect artifacts—he had a deep fascination with historical events and records.
Through prism galleries, sculpted echo chambers, and high-resolution holodisplays, he reconstructed real historical events and maintained extensive knowledge of galactic history.
In some ways, Trazyn was a living archive. So it was only natural that he'd link The Megacorp's origins to the long-lost Golden Age of Humanity.
Jack didn't confirm or deny his speculation—his silence was a tacit acknowledgment of Trazyn's conclusions.
"I never expected humanity to leave behind such a hidden gem in the intergalactic void!"
Trazyn mused aloud. The last time he had seen a fleet of this scale was millions of years ago, during the war between the Necrons and the Old Ones.
That cataclysmic conflict had left the Necrons devastated, and after being betrayed by the C'tan, the Necrons fractured into separate dynasties, buried themselves in tombs, and went into long stasis.
Since then, such awe-inspiring fleets hadn't been seen in the galaxy for ages.
"You came all this way with so many ships… planning to turn the Prospero system to ash? Did the Thousand Sons provoke you?"
In the ensuing conversation, Trazyn kept probing Jack with questions, but Jack answered each one briefly and firmly, leaving Trazyn to fill in the blanks with his own speculation.
As for Trazyn's background and situation, Jack didn't bother asking. The Megacorp's central database already had extensive data on Trazyn—even the location of his base of operations. If needed, they could always go knock on his door.
"Trazyn," Jack said suddenly, acting on a directive from Li Ang, "since you're so passionate about collecting rare treasures, why not make a deal with us? We can offer you something worth your while."
As expected, Trazyn's interest perked up immediately at the mention of a potential acquisition. "What kind of deal?"
He was quite eager to get his hands on some of The Megacorp's ships, AI drones, elite soldiers—or even some high-ranking officers.
In fact, he'd already amassed a significant number of Imperial soldiers and officers in his collection, enough to form an entire fighting force.
If the Emperor ever needed reinforcements, Trazyn might even be persuaded to lend them back.
For a mysterious and powerful civilization like the Universal Megacorp, Trazyn certainly couldn't resort to his usual tricks of sly theft and underhanded acquisitions to claim whatever treasures caught his eye.
If a deal could be struck instead—well, that might not be entirely unacceptable.
"We want a Star God shard."
Jack said it directly.
In an instant, Trazyn visibly froze, as though he'd just heard the most ludicrous nonsense imaginable.
A Star God shard? That was absurd!
"Absolutely not!"
Trazyn rejected the proposal without hesitation. "A Star God shard is my lifeline. There's no way I'd trade it."
"Don't even think about it!"
Back in the distant War in Heaven, the C'tan—the Star Gods—had been defeated and dismembered by the Old Ones and other ancient species using unique containment technologies. The resulting shards of those energy entities had since been weaponized, harnessed for power, and adapted for all manner of uses.
A Star God shard could serve as a devastating weapon, empower Warp-based demonic artifacts, or even twist the very fabric of reality and reshape entire battlefields.
To Trazyn, this ultimate energy form was more than just a rare trophy—it was his trump card. If his body was ever destroyed in battle, he could use the shard's power to transmit his consciousness back to his tomb-world lair, resurrecting himself like some undying revenant.
Even the Chaos Gods of the Warp coveted such relics. For all his obsession with collecting, even Trazyn couldn't part with a shard so essential.
Unless—
The Universal Megacorp could offer something of equal value.
"Don't be so quick to say no," Jack Wells said, following central command's instructions. "At least hear what we're offering in return."
"First, we can send you to another universe—far away from this Infinity war."
"In that stable universe, you'll be free to claim a domain of your own and expand your collection as you see fit."
In the grim darkness of the Warhammer universe, what did most civilizations long for above all else—godlike power? Immortality?
Not quite.
What they truly craved was peace. Stability. A livable future.
But in this galaxy wracked by Warp corruption, Infinity interspecies conflict, and perpetual war, that was a fantasy. The galaxy burned without pause.
It was dangerous here.
And since the current state of the Warhammer universe couldn't be changed anytime soon, the only answer was to look beyond it.
If the mountain won't come to you—you go to the mountain.
The Universal Megacorp, conveniently, possessed many peaceful and stable universes—utopias that someone like Trazyn would never find on his own.
Even the Star Wars universe, with its own hyperspace phenomena, was safer than the Warp-infested hellscape of 40K.
"What did you just say… another universe?!"
Trazyn was stunned. This human faction—had they really discovered a gateway to other universes beyond the galactic rim?
It sounded too absurd. He couldn't help but suspect this might be a trick—perhaps some deception engineered by Tzeentch himself, trying to swindle him out of his treasures.
"Even during the height of our power, the Necrontyr never truly ruled the galaxy. But now you say there's a chance…"
Jack Wells continued calmly, laying out The Megacorp's offer:
"We can escort the entire Necron race to a safe, distant universe."
"One without Chaos gods or demonic corruption. No xeno raiders or alien empires. A place where your people can rebuild—restore both body and soul."
Trazyn locked eyes with him, studying his every word. The more he listened, the more he suspected this might be some vast Warp-born plot—one designed to seduce and destroy the Necrons from within.
"To us, it sounds like you're trying to overturn the entire Necron race."
Trazyn said darkly. "Back then, we had just fought a devastating war with the Old Ones. The chaos Gods took advantage of our weakened state and struck."
"We tried leaving the galaxy—ventured into intergalactic space, hoping to find a new home. But what we found was no safer than what we left behind."
"Out there, we faced unpredictable cosmic cataclysms—supernovae, lethal gamma bursts, reality-warping black holes…"
"Such unavoidable, catastrophic hazards halted the Necron advance."
As he recounted his tale, Jack glimpsed a vast interstellar epic: the rise and fall of countless races, the emergence of ravenous Orks, sprawling Tyranid fleets, and civilizations wielding incomprehensible technologies that defied understanding.
Among them, some races even held dominion over time itself.
Their warships could travel freely across timelines and multiversal planes, appearing and disappearing like gods on a whim.
But unfortunately, such time-wielding species were rarely friendly toward outsiders.
So from Trazyn's perspective, the galaxy—chaotic as it was—still offered some semblance of predictability. There was no peace, but there was familiarity. One could survive here.
Even if the Necrons had fallen from glory, they were still a force to be reckoned with. A dying elephant was still larger than a horse. Thanks to their inherited tech, the Necrons retained substantial influence in the galaxy.
At the very least, they were in a far better position than the Imperium of Man.
And with their fully mechanical bodies—no flesh to speak of, no souls for the Chaos Gods to corrupt—the Necrons were largely ignored by the daemons of the Warp.
Even if the whole galaxy were to go up in flames, the Necrons could still get by.
For them, relocating wasn't exactly necessary.
"No. This is a true utopia in the fullest sense," Jack Wells replied patiently. "In this universe, the Necron race would face no danger—because everything there is privately owned by the Universal Megacorp."
"Tending to it is as easy as a landowner caring for his own garden."
The Universal Megacorp's multiverse dominion extended across countless realities, all bound by the commercial web of the Grand Trade Ring. The Megacorp held absolute control over every star system within those spheres of influence.
That made them perfect bargaining chips.
Of course, what Li Ang truly wanted wasn't just Trazyn's Star God shards.
He had his eyes on the rest of Necron technology as well.
"A true utopia? Heh."
Trazyn didn't buy it.
He refused to believe that any universe could offer a genuine paradise—unless the ruling civilization had achieved total control over every star system within it.
Otherwise, lawless frontiers would inevitably spawn new species, new threats.
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