The darkness receded like a falling tide. Alexei regained his composure, finding himself once again standing in the silent room. He looked down at the palm of his hand; a trace of Zarhulash the Potentate's power seemed to linger there. "It seems the C'tan shard has granted me more than just system enhancements—it has affected my physical body as well..."
Alexei tested his focus and found he could indeed channel this energy. "The majesty of time..." He decided he would study it thoroughly once he returned to safety.
As he stepped out of the room, Torquill and the others looked at him with confusion.
Alexei asked, "How long was I in there?"
"You walked in and came right back out," Torquill replied. "Was there a complication?"
"It's settled. Let's head back," Alexei answered, turning to leave.
The Astartes exchanged incredulous glances but had no choice but to follow.
The group began to retrace their steps, but the Necrons had already begun entering the interior of the Pharos in force. The journey back was far more grueling than the trek in. The Necrons were flooding through the various cavernous tunnels of the mountain range; massive waves of Necron Warriors threatened to drown Alexei and his squad. Fortunately, being battle-hardened veterans, they managed to reach the exit without any casualties.
Just as they were about to leave the structure, Alexei felt a sudden surge of heart-stopping dread. He instinctively ducked to the side as a beam of compressed leptons slammed into the ground where he had been standing.
Alexei whipped his head around and caught a glimpse of a silhouette retreating into a pocket dimension.
"Deathmark!" Alexei realized immediately. He had been marked by the Necrons' premier assassination unit. He scanned his surroundings and said to the Astartes, "Go first. Wait for me at the foot of the mountain. I'll be right behind you."
"The Scythes of the Emperor do not have the habit of abandoning battle-brothers," Torquill shot back, refusing to move.
"No, it's dangerous, and its target is me. I can handle it, and it must end here," Alexei said, gripping his power sword tightly as he warily observed the environment. "Trust me."
He urged the Astartes squad to move quickly. The sound of countless metallic footsteps was approaching from the depths of the tunnel; the Necron legions were catching up. Torquill looked at Alexei's alert stance, nodded reluctantly after a pause, and said, "We will wait for you."
With that, he led the squad out of the passage. Alexei took a deep breath. Having missed its first shot, the Deathmark would undoubtedly wait for its next opening.
In the distance, countless green gauss beams streaked toward Alexei. He evaded with superhuman reaction speed and agility, charging into the ranks of the Necron Warriors. The disruption field on his power sword was cranked to maximum output as he cut through the Xenos at speeds nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Alexei was waiting. He knew the sniper would strike again; he had to give it an opening. Just then, a Skorpekh Destroyer roared out of the shadows, swinging its massive hyperphase thresher down toward him.
Alexei knew he couldn't tank the hit—it would cleave both him and his power sword in two.
He lunged to the side. Just as his footing was unsteady, the hyperphase blade pivoted from a vertical strike to a horizontal sweep. Simultaneously, a synaptic disintegrator beam shot toward him from a hidden corner, and the surrounding crowd of Necron Warriors sealed off his remaining escape routes.
Everything seemed inevitable, yet Alexei did not panic. "Found you," he whispered, a smile flashing behind his visor.
In an instant, an unknown power erupted from within him. With Alexei as the epicenter, the flow of time within a several-kilometer radius slowed to a crawl. The sweeping hyperphase blade and the countless energy beams hanging in the air became impossibly sluggish.
Except for Alexei. "Power of the C'tan." He didn't hesitate for a second, bolting straight toward the Deathmark's position. Every Necron in his path was reduced to scrap by his power sword before they could even register his movement.
"Caught you." Alexei looked at the Deathmark, which had been frozen in place by the C'tan's authority just as it attempted to open a pocket dimension to flee. In the next heartbeat, its body was finely minced into metallic cubes.
Alexei landed on the ground, and the C'tan's power receded into his body. The flow of time returned to normal. Behind him, the countless fragments of living metal hanging in the air slammed into the floor with a series of clatters and clangs.
He didn't look back, sprinting out of the cave while thinking, *So this is the power of a C'tan. A shame I can't use it indefinitely.* He also surmised that the Necron Obelisks likely possessed chronometron technology to counter such effects; after all, the Necrons had long ago mastered the apex of universal physics.
At the foot of the mountain, the Scythes of the Emperor were fighting off a small Tyranid swarm when they noticed the unusual energy signature in the distance. Torquill's face was grim; he could only hope that Alexei, their battlefield leader, was unharmed.
Just as the last Tyranid was put down, Alexei's figure appeared in their sights. He ran to the Astartes, his power armor covered in Xenos gore and scratches. "It's done. I've already notified the defense base to send a transport. It'll be here shortly."
Torquill looked deeply at the Governor through his crimson eye lenses. The man's combat capability was easily on par with a veteran Astartes—and in some aspects, perhaps even superior. The secrets hidden within this man far exceeded his imagination.
Soon, a dark shadow approached rapidly at low altitude as a massive Medivac slowed near the ground. "Let's go. We're going back. We don't have to worry about the Pharos Beacon anymore," Alexei said, boarding the craft.
Once everyone was inside, the Medivac rose vertically and flew toward the defensive lines, escorted by a wing of Wraith-fighters. This ensured they wouldn't suffer another crash-landing like the trip in.
Sitting in the hold, Alexei gazed out at the distant battlefield illuminated by the flickering lights of death. The Necrons and Tyranids were locked in a stalemate—one side was a swarm that had harvested nearly all the planet's biomass, the other a powerful dynasty guarding ancient, vital installations.
"Soon," Alexei whispered, closing his eyes to rest. "We will end this for you." With the help of the C'tan shard, the Protoss main force would soon be able to warp directly into the Sotha theater, coinciding with the arrival of the second wave of reinforcements from Aiur.
The final hour was approaching. Until then, they had to be ready.