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[[Image:necron activity.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Necron activity]]
The '''Necrons''' are a group of Undead undead metal warriors, created from the [[Necrontyr]] race. They have [[Great Sleep|lain dormant]] in their stasis-tombs for millions of years. They are ancient beyond reckoning, pre-dating even the [[Eldar]]. At long last, however, they are beginning to awaken, seeking to reestablish the supremancy supremacy of the [[Necron Dynasty|Necron Dynasties]] over the [[Galaxy]] once more.<sup>4-p.5</sup>
==History==
The Necrons' story is one of ancient betrayal. Aeons ago, sixty million years before the [[M41|41st Millennium]], the [[Necrontyr]] race reigned supreme over the Galaxy. However as their great empire grew ever wider and more diverse, the unity that had them strong was eroded and bitter rebellions known as the '''First Wars of Secession''' erupted as entire realms fought for independence. The [[Triarch]] - the ruling council of Necrontyr - realized realised that only the threat of an external enemy would bring unity once more and saw the [[Old Ones]] as the perfect subjects for the wrath of their race. Already jealous of the Old Ones seemingly eternal lifespans, the Necrontyr went to war with the Old Ones, the separatists realms abandoned their rebellion, and the [[War in Heaven]] began.<sup>4-p.6</sup>
The War in Heaven was one of the bloodiest wars in Galactic history, and it soon became apparently that the Necrontyr could never defeat the Old Ones and their mastery of the [[ImmateriumWarp]] despite their advanced technology. On the verge of total defeat, the unity of the Necrontyr began to fracture once more in the '''Second Wars of Secession'''. The Triarchs again desperately searched for a unifying force, and their prayers were answered by the ancient and godlike [[C'tan]], who were drawn to the Necrontyr by the beacon of their raw hatred for the Old Ones. Seeking the aid of these all-powerful star gods, the Necrontyr sought the favor favour of the C'tan and constructed bodies of [[living metal]] to contain their essence.<sup>4-p.6</sup>
So it was that a C'tan known as the [[Mephet'ran|Deciever]] came before [[Silent King|Szarekh ]] the Silent King]], lord of the Triarch. Telling the Silent King that his kind had also fought and been defeated by the Old Ones and were now looking for vengeance. Promising the not only victory in the War in Heaven but also the immortality every Necrontyr craved, the Silent King and Triarch eagerly agreed to an alliance, and so forever doomed their race. Beginning the great biotransferance, the weak flesh of the Necrontyr was replaced with immortal bodies of living metal. The C'tan drank off the torrent of cast-off life and energy and grew stronger as Szarekh, now in a machine body himself, realized realised he had made a terrible mistake. The Necrontyr may now be immortal and unified, but they had lost their souls in the process. Thus the soulless machines known as the '''Necrons''' were born.<sup>-pg.7</sup>
With the C'tan and Necrons fighting as one, the Old Ones were overwhelmed and defeated in a bloody purge across the Galaxy that saw whole systems devoured by the reality-warping powers of the Star Gods and legions of immortal Necron warriors, who managed to infiltrate the [[Webway]] and assail the Old Ones at every corner of the Galaxy. The Necrons burst into the Old Ones ' strongest fortresses, overcoming their magics and technology and forced the Old Ones to seed planets with life to help fight the C'tan, including the [[Eldar]] and [[orkOrk]]s. Ultimately the increasingly desperate Old Ones were themselves wiped out after mistakenly unleashing [[Warp]]-spawn perils<sup>4-p.7</sup> such as the [[Enslaver]]s.
Throughout the final stages of the War in Heaven, Szarekh bided his time, waiting for the moment where the C'tan would be most vulnerable. With the Old Ones finally defeated, the Silent King struck and led a Necron revolt against the arrogant C'tan. The Necrons focused the unimaginable energies of the living universe into weapons too mighty for even the C'tan to endure. The C'tan, almost impossible to destroy entirely due to their very nature, were instead shattered into [[C'tan Shard|shards]]. Yet even with the defeat of both the Old Ones and C'tan, the Silent King saw that the time of the Necrons was - for the moment - over. The mantle of galactic domination would soon pass to the Eldar, who had fought alongside the Old Ones in the War in Heaven. The Necrons, weakened by the War in Heaven and the revolt aganst the C'tan, could not stand against them. Yet the Silent King knew that the time of the Eldar would pass, as did the time of all flesh. So it was that the Silent King ordered the remaining Necron cities to be transformed into great tomb complexes threaded with stasis-crypts. The Necrons were laid to rest, ordered to sleep for sixty million years and then reawaken, ready to rebuild all that was lost and restore the dynasties to their former glory. Yet the Silent King did not join his subjects. Destroying the command protocols by which he had controlled his people, the Silent King left the Galaxy, there to find whatever measure of solace or penance he could.<sup>4-pg.7</sup>
For sixty million years the Necrons remained in their deathless slumber in their tombs in what became known as the [[Great Sleep]]. As time passed, many [[Tomb World]]s fell prey to malfunction or ill-fortune. Some were destroyed by marauding Eldar. These failures destroyed millions, if not billions of dormant Necrons. But when the Tomb Worlds did begin to rewaken, it was not simultaneously. Some awoke to see the [[Great Crusade]], others during the [[Age of Apostasy]]. Most however awoke during the later years of [[M41]], but even still billions of Necrons lay dormant.<sup>4-pg.8</sup>
In 783.M41, the Eldar [[Farseer]] [[Eldrad Ulthran]] of [[Craftworld]] [[Ulthwé]] witnessed a vision where on the [[Dead World]] of Maedrex, an Imperial [[Explorator]] team would arrive and unwittingly awaken the Necrons on that planet. To prevent this, the Eldar struck quickly and destroyed the Imperial ships before descending onto the planet where they purged it of the Necron presence.<sup>3</sup> Later came the first reported contact between the Necrons and the [[Imperium]] of Man came in 897.[[M41]] during the raid on [[Sanctuary 101]] which was garrisoned by the [[Adepta Sororitas]]. At the time, the invaders were identified as an unknown form of [[xenos ]] species but later reported as being the first encounter with the awakening Necrons. Its also later reported that the invaders did not attack the colony but instead emerged from the ground itself.<sup>3</sup>
==Overview==
*[[Szeras|Illuminor Szeras]] - [[Cryptek]] seeking to unravel the mysteries of life.<sup>4-p56</sup>
*[[Orikan|Orikan the Diviner]] - [[Cryptek]] known for his ability to predict the future.<sup>4-p57</sup>
*[[Anrakyr|Anrakyr the TravelerTraveller]] - [[Necron Overlord|Overlord]] who leads his armies across the stars to awaken as many [[Tomb World]]s he can.<sup>4-p62</sup>
==Other information==
==Sources==
*<sup>1</sup>:[[Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition)|''Codex: Necrons'' (3rd Edition)]]*<sup>2</sup>:''[[Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook]]'', p. 126, 128, 179*<sup>3</sup>:''[[Planetstrike]]'', p. 55
*<sup>4</sup>: [[Codex: Necrons (5th Edition)]]
