Slaugth (Hektor Heresy)

This article describes a Xenos species in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

Repulsive on the outside as well as on the inside, the inscrutable Slaugth are uninvited guests from the dark times that are better left forgotten. Arrogant to the point of a severe egomania, they consider themselves to be the true heirs to the Old Ones and the Galaxy their lawful inheritance, squatted by savage races and infested by vermin during their unwilling absence. Consequently, they see themselves as the only creatures worthy of free will and intellectual work, viewing every other race as either potential slaves or an obstacle on their way to absolute power. A crushing defeat at the hands of the Imperium of Man during the early stages of the Great Crusade forced them to form the Compact of Free Galactic Interchange with four other races that they otherwise wouldn't consider worthy of kissing the ground they slither on, but few within its ruling council have any doubts that the Slaugth will betray their allies as soon as the right time comes. And may the Emperor be with us when it does.

History

To most Inquisitors and Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the origin of the Slaugth is one of the greatest mysteries the Galaxy can offer. They clearly display a baroque and sophisticated culture and a level of technology that must have taken countless millennia to develop, yet there are absolutely no records of their presence anywhere in the Galaxy prior to the Great Crusade. Likewise, there are no relics of their presence to be found anywhere from Ultima Macharia to the Eastern Fringe. It's almost like the abominable worm people just suddenly materialised in Segmentum Pacificus out of nowhere.

Only the great Craftworld libraries of the Eldar hold the answer to this enigma. And yet, the tomes describing the rise and fall of the Slaugth are covered with centuries-thick layers of dust and locked behind impenetrable wrathbone contraptions that only the Farseers can unlock, should the need arise. For the Eldar do not remember the time of the worms fondly, and wish they could erase this grim page from the annals of history. But nothing is ever that simple. The Slaugth live, and the traces of their evil will forever permeate the Galaxy even if their vile kind is exterminated.

The War in Heavens

Wait until dark, put your cogitator aside and walk up to your window. Look skyward, and, if the heavens of your world are not enveloped by heavy clouds, you will see hundreds upon hundreds of stars punctuating the celestial tapestry. If you're especially lucky, you will even see a magnificent river of lights flowing from one edge of the night sky to the other. Let pride fill your heart when you see it, for this is the domain of our glorious race, our blessed Galaxy. Our realm is colossal beyond imagining: it harbours hundreds of billions of stars, measures an entire tredecillion of kilograms in mass and a hundred thousand light years in length. To a casual observer, it may almost seem infinite. And yet, sixty million years ago, two ancient races found it too small for the both of them.

One of those two was the Necrontyr, a race of brilliant scientists and engineers whose stride towards progress was only hampered by their brutally short lifespans, physical frailty and vulnerability to afflictions of all kinds - such was the dubious gift of their merciless radioactive sun. But, possessed of an unbreakable determination and will to live, they eventually managed to leave the confines of their untender homeworld and forge an empire amongst the stars. Alas, this empire was not to last, for the same stubbornness and inability to concede that guided them to greatness eventually led to a diplomatic breakdown between the numerous dynasties that formed the realm of the Necrontyr, and it wasn't too long before a full-fledged civil war broke out between them. To put an end to this infighting that threatened to spell doom for the entire race, the supreme ruler of the Necrontyr, known as Silent King, decided to find a common enemy for all of his subjects to unite against. The search wasn't very difficult, for another ancient star empire thrived just outside of Necrontyr space - that of the Old Ones.