"See, Obyron, the separatists come – attempting to outflank me just as they did at the Fourth Battle of Vyndakh. How they calculate that daubing themselves green and roaring like savages will produce a different outcome, I cannot fathom; but it is of no account. Ready my legions – another glorious victory shall soon be ours."
- —Nemesor Zahndrekh to Vargard Obyron, prior to the crushing defeat of Waaagh! Bludtoof
Nemesor Zahndrekh oversees the Conquest of Uttu Prime
Nemesor Zahndrekh is a Necron Overlord who was once counted amongst the greatest generals in the Necron Dynasties. It was by his campaigns of conquest that his world of Gidrim rose from ruling a small and insignificant planet on the fingers of the galaxy to the iron-handed governance of a dozen star systems. Even now, though Gidrim has been subsumed into the Sautekh Dynasty, Zahndrekh is numbered amongst the mightiest of its heroes. It is a reputation well deserved, for Gidrim is one of the more expansionist of the recently awoken crownworlds, and Zahndrekh’s armies are an ever-present peril upon the Milky Way Galaxy’s eastern fringe.
Personality
Whilst possessing a grand and calculating military genius, Zahndrekh does not see reality as it truly is. His mind suffered damage during the Necrons’ Great Sleep, and as a consequence he is trapped deep in the past, in the Wars of Secession that wracked his corner of the dynasties. In his mind, he still fights these campaigns as a creature of flesh and blood, crushing rebellious kings and bringing their domains back into the fold. He does not see armies of Orks, Eldar or Men, but hosts of rebellious kinsmen battling to sunder his beloved dynasties. As such, Zahndrekh is one of the few Necron Overlords to employ the full protocols of honourable Necron warfare against all enroachers – where others see aliens, he sees only Necrontyr. He disdains the use of Deathmarks, assassin Canoptek Wraiths and other strategies forbidden by the Necron codes of battle – not that his subordinates have any such compunction. Wherever possible, Zahndrekh ensures that enemy commanders are captured, not killed, and thereafter treated as honoured prisoners – much to the outraged consternation of Zahndrekh’s Royal Court.
Indeed, there are many Necron Lords in Zahndrekh’s Royal Court who would dearly love to see the old general removed from power, for they judge his adrift perceptions greatly outweighs his feats of battle. However, as befits his station, Zahndrekh has formidable defences against regicide. His personal sepulchre is heavily woven with traps, his personal household retinue boasts three entire legions of Lychguard, and he even employs four score food tasters – even though it has been countless millennia since any morsel passed his lips. Yet Zahndrekh has one defence greater than all others – his aide and protector, Varguard Obyron.
Nemesor Zahndrekh (rear) and his bodyguard Vargard Obyron (fore) upon the field of battle
During their campaigns, Zahndrekh and Obyron have proven to be an almost unbeatable combination. Zahndrekh seldom lowers himself to personal combat, but instead wields as a weapon his grand battlefield acumen that somehow remains undimmed by his faltering memory. Under his gaze, the Necron armies of Gidrim react almost instantaneously to counter enemy strategies, shifting between aggressive and defensive postures at a moment’s notice. With a few carefully chosen words of command, outflanking foes are isolated and crushed, enemy assault waves dispersed, and fire support positions obliterated. Such is Zahndrekh’s crystal-perfect reading of the flow of battle that even the enemy’s experienced veterans often seem like raw and fumbling recruits as their every tactic is anticipated and their every skill countered. For his part, Obyron fights in the front lines, wielding his Warscythe with a precision to be expected of a warrior who counts his campaigns by the thousand. Yet no matter how distant he is, Obyron always keeps close watch on Zahndrekh – his responsibilities as a bodyguard outweighs any other considerations. Should Zahndrekh be threatened, Obyron always returns to his master’s side.
It is well that Obyron is so dedicated, for few Lords of Gidrim are eager to fight alongside their Nemesor. Some simply cannot tolerate Zahndrekh’s constant stream of reminiscences to battles fought long ago, relevant to the campaign at hand though these recollections always are. For others, Zahndrekh’s damaged mind is a constant reminder of the fate that might one day be theirs, should need dictate they enter stasis sleep once more. None of them see that such damage has doubtless already been wrought – that they are, in truth, just as blind to their own involuntarily idiosyncrasies as Zahndrekh is to his own.
Notable Campaigns
Nemesor Zahndrekh arrayed in his full panoply of war
"It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war."
- —Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty, Necron Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
- 813.M41 Escape from Cano'var - At Nemesor Zahndrekh's instruction, the Necron armies of the Tomb World of Gidrim invade the Tau world of Cano'var, routing the planetary defenders after two standard weeks of campaigning. The Necron victory is short-lived however. A demi-company of the White Scars Space Marine Chapter, led by Kor'sarro Khan, arrive on Cano'var, pursuing a now-obsolete punitive mission against the previous Tau inhabitants. As overwhelming volley of Gauss Weapon fire destroys the White Scars' Thunderhawks moments after they land, leaving Khan and his Battle-Brothers to fight a bold, but doomed, series of hit-and-run battles. Almost all of the White Scars are slain on Uzme Plateau, but Zahndrekh commands that Kor'sarro Khan be spared and imprisoned. So does Khan begin a peculiar period of captivity beneath the surface of Cano'var. Zahndrekh treats him with honour, through few of the other Necron Lords even acknowledge his presence. At a bizarre feast, where food is placed before Zahndrekh and his court but goes uneaten, Khan learns he us but one of a dozen prisoners. With the desire for freedom outweighing any ranklement or rivalry, Khan and the other captives conspire to escape. The Necrons are slow to react and so the breakout goes well at first. Only when Vargard Obyron takes command do things go badly for the escapees. Several of the fugitives are slain by Obyron's Warscythe, leaving only Kor'sarro and an Eldar Ranger by the name of Illic Nightspear to fight on, and the latter swiftly receives a blow that sends him sprawling from the fight. Thus does the battle devolve into a duel atop bleeding bodies and broken machines. Khan's sword is quicker and guided by a desperate fury, but Obyron's undying machine body repairs any damage within only moments. Little by little, Khan tires, and the sweeping Warscythe comes closer to connecting with each swing. Finally, one of the Vargard's blows is too swift for Khan to evade -- the Warscythe slices through his armour and deep into his flesh. Before Obyron can finish his foe, there is an intervention from an unexpected source. Unknown to either combatants, Zahndrekh has been watching the fight from afar and, impressed by Khan's skill and bravery, orders Obyron to stand aside and let him leave. Dragging the crippled Nightspear behind, Khan finally escapes to surface, finds a still-functioning Tau spacecraft and leaves Cano'var far behind. Khan and Nightspear part ways shortly after, the Eldar to his Craftworld and the White Scar to Chogoris. Shortly after Khan's return to his Chapter planet, Nemesor Zahndrekh and Vargard Obyron are added to the Scrolls of Venegance, their names to be put forward as possible quarry for the next Great Hunt of the White Scars Chapter.
- Unknown Date; Conquest of Uttu Prime - The Conquest of Uttu Prime was a military campaign led by the Nemesor Zahndrekh against the Imperial world of Uttu Prime in the Vidar Sector in the late 41st Millennium. Despite the intervention of a force of Space Marines drawn from the Imperial Fists Chapter, the world was lost to the Necrons and was integrated into the personal domain of Zahndrekh within the larger Sautekh Dynasty.
Wargear
- Staff of Light - A Staff of Light is both a weapon and a symbol of Necron authority. Its haft is actually a disguised Power Generator Rod and the crest is a finely tuned focussing device which allows the wielder to unleash searing green bolts of Gauss energy at his foes.
- Resurrection Orb - A Resurrection Orb is a glowing sphere that focuses energy into the repair circuits of Necrons around the bearer. This allows them to regenerate at a rate faster than normal upon the battlefield
- Phase Shifter - A Phase Shifter is a Necron defensive device that causes the bearer to flicker in and out of a phased state. If attacks are not timed properly, they will simply pass through empty air instead of striking the bearer of the Phase Shifter, granting him a form of invulnerability to most attacks directed towards him.
- Sempiternal Weave - A Sempiternal Weave is an enhancement of a Necron Overlord's exoskeleton in which filaments of phase-hardened Amaranthine and Adamantium are threaded throughout the Necrodermis, strengthening it to the point where the protection offered by it is akin to that of Terminator Armour.
Sources
- Codex: Necrons (5th Edition), pp. 21, 25, 60-61, 82