Khafretekh Dynasty

The Khefretekh Dynasty is a void-based dynasty whose Tomb Worlds were lost in the last days of the Great Sleep. The Crownworld originally situated on the southern edge of the Segmentum Tempestus, their territories were swallowed by the coming of Hive Fleet Leviathan. The remnants of their dynasty now roam the void in the form of a single powerful battlefleet, which houses the entirety of the dynasty's few remaining armies. These armies, and the fleet itself, can most commonly be seen striking at Tyranid Hive Fleet tendrils, especially in defense of still-awakening tomb worlds.

Dynasty History
In the days of the ancient Necrontyr, the Khefretekh dynasty was founded by a Philosopher-Queen named Amunet Khefra, who became the first Phaerakh of her Dynasty. She carved out a small but extremely wealthy realm in the Galactic South, but like most other Necrontyr, died young from myriad diseases and cancers.

Even so, Amunet’s unusually optimistic philosophies (especially for a Necrontyr) instilled her people with a culture which valued wisdom, loyalty, and honor above all other virtues. As Amunet had left her people with such an abundant and resource-rich domain, her heirs and even her subjects were able to continue to cultivate a culture of philosophy and honor. The Khefretekh dynasty garnered a reputation amongst the other dynasties, as the Phaerons and Phaerakhs through the ages became known for their high-minded thinking and sense of honor. Many of the other Necrontyr nobility scoffed at this, but a few grew to respect it, and a very few, to cherish it.

The Secession Wars
To the surprise of no one, the Khefretekh Dynasty immediately took the side of the Necrontyr Triarch in the brutal Secession Wars, fighting ferociously for the reunification of the Necrontyr. Still, the dynasty suffered in the Secession Wars. The rulers of the Khefretekh were unwilling to sully themselves with the use of dishonorable tactics, such as Deathmark assassinations. Instead, they strictly adhered to the Triach’s Codes of War in all engagements. Many of the Khefretekh nobility were murdered in this time by rivals with no such scruples.

The Biotransference and the War in Heaven
When the Star gods came, and offered the Necrontyr the secret to life eternal, the Khefretekh embraced it willingly. The ruler of the dynasty at the time, a young Phaeron known as ‘Ahmoset the Gallant,’ was already deeply ill, at an early age, even for a Necrontyr. Ever a student of Amunet’s teachings, Ahmoset believed the only way he could hope to achieve wisdom or accomplishment of her measure would be to accept this gift of eternal life. And accept it he did, for himself, his court, and his people.

Thereafter, under the direct control of the Silent King, the Khefretekh Dynasty fought against the Old Ones alongside a C’tan known as Gorthaur, the Terrible Dread. And when the war was won, they destroyed Gorthaur and captured several of his fragments.

Then, the Silent King commanded the Great Sleep, and for 60 Million years, they knew no more.

Awakening
To their great detriment, the Khefretekh dynasty was very late to awaken. One of the first and few Khefretekh nobility to ever awaken again was the Chief Cryptek, a Necron named Sekhedes, the uncle of Ahmoset. Sekhedes awoke to a complete catastrophe.

The year was 995.M41 and Sekhedes’s vision flicked to life to bear witness to the Rippers of Hive Fleet Leviathan tearing his body apart, even as the Canoptek Scarabs struggled to defend him. The entire tomb complex was overrun.

Taking direct control of the Canoptek constructs around him, he was able to sweep the rippers from his body and crawl to relative safety, his body below his torso ruined beyond even the advanced automatic repair protocols of the Necrons.

Sekhedes downloaded an overview of the situation on the tomb world. Never in his entire life had he known such an alien force as this. The vermin had already all but stripped the entire world of its lush beauty and abundant resources, and now the horrid creatures burrowed into the tombs beneath the surface. Time was short and the horror had just begun.

With no time to repair himself, no means of escape, and no hope of saving the planet, Sekhedes took a drastic step. He commanded a nearby Canoptek Wraith to approach. Then, ordered the scarabs to remove its head, and fuse what remained of his body in its place, permanently.

Gaining the phasing abilities of the now-defunct wraith, he used them to quickly travel through walls and between corridors, to the Awakening room of his nephew, Ahmoset, and that of the core members of his court. He had but one chance of saving them all, and himself.

Quickly he moved from room to room, awakening the nobles and as many warrior-forms as possible. All the while, the Tomb AI keeping him aware of the Tyranids’ quickening progress as they tunneled toward the core of the complex.

The awakening process was rushed and incomplete. Ahmoset and the other nobles stumbled helplessly, barely able to think, let alone walk or fight. Sekhedes had them collected by wraiths and continued his trek to the center of the Tomb Complex. What few Warriors, Immortals, and other forms could be awakened put up a feeble defense against the Tyranids, with neither direction nor fully operational systems. But the delay they inflicted was enough.

Sekhedes reached the center of the complex with his precious cargo. Therein lay a Cairn Class Tomb Ship, the Shield of Amunet, along with its Scythe Class Escort Cruisers, the Caliburn, the Durandal, and the Gramr.

To activate the ships, though, would be a process that took altogether too long. So, Sekhedes layered a new desperate gambit upon his desperate gambit. He issued a command for all the Tesseract Vaults to be broken, and all shards of Gorthaur, released.

The ensuing battle upon the Tomb World was so apocalyptic as to make the prior fighting appear like a skirmish. But even the power of the C’tan could not dissuade the terrible Leviathan.

But it did purchase time. The activation sequences were complete, and Sekhedes initiated a mass recall of what few Necron warfighters remained upon the planet, teleporting them aboard the Shield of Amunet. Then, teleporting the fleet directly from the tomb complex, into orbit.

Sekhedes spent only moments observing this new threat consume the former Crownworld, before activating the inertialess drives and catapulting the fleet far beyond the reach of this new horror. And so the Khefretekh dynasty rejoined the greater galaxy.

But the Dynasty was not truly saved. It lived, but it was shattered, just as their C’tan masters had been. The rest of the dynastic territory had been consumed already.

A Lost Phaeron
Ahmoset and the other nobility would spend the next year under the close watch and care of Sekhedes, as he oversaw their recovery. Their sudden awakening had severely damaged several of the noble’s minds, driving some into various forms of insanity. Though many did recover, to some extent or another.

Ahmoset himself would receive particular attention, and thus did make a substantial recovery. But the Great sleep took its toll…

At first, Ahmoset’s recovery seemed to be progressing remarkably well. Now, though, Sekhedes discovered, something was amiss. Ahmoset carried no memories of his life, instead carrying memories of a young peasant farmer.

In a wave of fear, disgust, grief, and horror he did not believe possible in his new form, Sekhedes realized that a mistake had been made in the biotransference. His nephew’s prepared body had been implanted with the mind and memories of a common serf. And Ahmoset’s mind, lost. Trapped in a lesser form, impossible to locate or even know if the form had survived.

Sekhedes flew into a rage, and the serf, a Necrontyr named Nemhet, fell before Sekhedes, begging for mercy. Sekhedes would have struck him down, but paused for a fraction of a second, questioning what Ahmoset would have done. And he stayed his hand.

Nemhet was sequestered to the deepest sanctum of the ship. There, he was kept by Sekhedes in absolute seclusion. Sekhedes told the other nobility that they would need to await for their Phaeron to undergo further repairs and recovery before they made their next move.

So Nemhet spent an additional year alone in the Tomb Ship, with only Sekhedes as company, in the form of a harsh tutor. Sekhedes would teach Nemhet exactly who he would need to be from that moment forward. The identity of Nemhet had to die, and Nemhet had to become Ahmoset. Every day, Sekhedes would teach Nemhet. History. Politics. Strategy. Tactics. Philosophy. And most importantly, the persona of Ahmoset.

In life, he had been called ‘Ahmoset the Gallant’ for his heroic and selfless way of waging war. Always with honor. Always by the Code. Never asking his warriors to do what he would not. Always standing by their sides. Nemhet, for the good of the dynasty, had to embrace this.

Though Nemhet quaked at the burden being placed upon his shoulders, he grew to admire Ahmoset from the stories that Sekhedes told. And Nemhet humbly accepted the greatness that had been thrust upon him. Nemhet adopted Ahmoset’s name and persona, genuinely beginning to hope he might live up to it. Thus did the Phaeron return to his throne at last. And so convincing was Nemhet's charade, that few would ever realize the truth. And when doubt creeped in, Sekhedes would be there to guide him.

Rejoining the Galaxy
At last prepared to face the present day, the Khefretekh looked out upon the once-great domain of the Necrontyr to see a galaxy ablaze. Everywhere, they had been usurped. By a so-called Imperium. By the devolved Orks. By strange, immaterial entities from the Warp. And worst of all, by the Tyranids, who ravaged it all. It was these Tyranids who drew the consummate ire of the Phaeron.

The highest priority of the Khefretekh Armada immediately became, and has consistently remained, to protect still-awakening Tomb Worlds from the Tyranids. Nemhet resolved early on that he would do everything possible to prevent the tragedy of the Khafretekh from becoming the tragedy of other dynasties. And to many Phaerons, this made them among the most honorable of all.

When Void Warfare was impossible, Nemhet would frequently take the field himself to fight with his armies. Initially, doubts clawed at him. But Ahmoset's overlord-form was far stronger, faster, tougher, and quicker-minded than Nemhet had ever been in life. And he began to relish these times of battle, reveling in his newfound power. And with these gifts, he began to sweep aside the enemies of the Khafretekh and the Necrons at large.

The Khafretekh became known as a force that would materialize from the void, strike like lightning in defense of a world, then vanish again into starlight.

Embracing the Codes of War to the point of fanaticism, Nemhet would sometimes even be seen arriving to fight with his armies alongside Imperium forces, helping to defend their planets against Tyranid invasion. Still, the price for such intervention usually came in the form of resources to replenish the manufacturing halls of the Shield of Amunet. Many resources. Sometimes these requests would be met with gratitude. But often as not, the Imperium defenders would simply turn upon Nemhet's armies immediately after the Tyranid invasion was repelled. In such cases, Nemhet would meet dishonor with honor, and crush the already-tattered Imperial forces, still holding to the Codes of War the whole time. And then taking his requested tithe.

The royal court was baffled by these acts. To consort with such low life-forms would stretch even the high-minded philosophies of the Khafretekh. Still, the results could not be argued with, especially for a Dynasty that already existed on the fringe of extinction.

New Allies, New Enemies
Upon the conclusion of a war in which the Khefretekh Armada successfully destroyed a small splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Kraken, Ahmoset and Sekhedes were approached by a mysterious traveling Cryptek, bearing gifts. Naming herself Thutaruun, once-Phaerakh of the Nazzaros Dynasty, she bid greetings to the Phaeron and his Chief Cryptek, offering her services to the armada in the name of her liege, Szarekh, the Silent King.

She explained that Szarekh had noticed their dedication in the crusade against the Tyranids and wished to earn their allegiance by sending her, and much more.

Thutaruun delivered to the armada several tesseract vaults. To their astoundment, they mostly contained shards of Gorthaur, the Terrible Dread. And more, she delivered several shards of a strange C’tan named “Dioscuri, the Twin.”

Nemhet had reservations and concerns in the face of such overwhelming generosity, wondering why the Silent King should show such favor, and what he would expect in return.

However, after Sekhedes scolded him for his hesitation in the face of the Triarch, he relinquished his hesitation and accepted Thutaruun’s gifts, and services.

Thutaruun herself would prove to be a powerful, if incredibly brutal, ally, with a taste for the sadistic. And the return of c’tan shards to the Khefretekhs’ forces would multiply their strength by orders of magnitude.

And they would soon need it. Rumors of a Necron warfleet pillaging the fringe worlds of the Imperium had reached the Adeptus Administratum, the Imperial Navy, and worst of all, the Inquisition’s Ordo Xenos...