Looted Monolith

By SJE, in Dark Heresy

An amusing thought...

Ordo Xenos gets word from IG scouts that a rare example of Necron technology has been spotted outside of Necron control. Somehow, impossibly, it hasnt vanished into thin air like every other bit of Necron tech the Imperium have tried to study in the past. The Acolytes must acquire it at any cost as it will push forward AdMech understanding of the most advanced of mankinds enemies by literally centuries.

The catch is.... Its a Looted Monolith in the middle of a giant Ork Waargh- the Ultimate ZZzzzzap Gun of an Orky Mekboy Warboss! Its his pride and joy since Orky nose-how kept it from phasing away!

(Inspired by this

SJE

An Ork Waaagh!! With a big ol' zap cannon as their primary weapon eh? Can they aim it skyward? It would be a good way to introduce the DeathWatch into the game (they seem to be ignored by many and all for some reason) and call down the ran with some Lance fire, all the while your group and/or your Inquistor with them could move in with a few IG squads to and through the monolith. Of course for giggles you could throw up some stats for a Pariah that somehow gained sentience and lies in waite inside....

No... Just no. Orks can't loot Monoliths. It just doesn't happen...

SJE said:

Dude- Orks can loot ANYTHING.....

jaekyu.deviantart.com/art/Looted-Golden-Throne-57912723

(Click on picture to make it bigger)

SJE

Heresy!

Yeah, golden thrones perhaps. But nothing of Necron make. You'd have to make it stick first instead of just teleporting away like Necrons and their warmachines always do gui%C3%B1o.gif

Very doubtful sorpresa.gif . Besides IIRC from the fiction in the Necron Codex it is implied that they use some kind of Dimensional Warping (not to be confused with the Immiterium), and aside from the gates most Necron tech is just solid metal. Besides the Orks can't even get a Titan done without it looking like a trash heap lengua.gif .

T-800 said:

Very doubtful sorpresa.gif . Besides IIRC from the fiction in the Necron Codex it is implied that they use some kind of Dimensional Warping (not to be confused with the Immiterium), and aside from the gates most Necron tech is just solid metal. Besides the Orks can't even get a Titan done without it looking like a trash heap lengua.gif .

Seeing as they can make Warp capable Voidships out of sheet metal, a refrigerator and a busted out Leman Russ engine, I put nothing beyond their ability to make Orky....

I think this can still work and be within established canon (if such a thing exists). The reason the monolith hasn't just teleported away is because it does not have enough power. All its energy is being tapped by the Zapgun. The Orks are using the relic as a massive battery for their latest war machine. Give them enough time and the monolith could be at the heart of a zappy gargant.

Attila-IV said:

I think this can still work and be within established canon (if such a thing exists). The reason the monolith hasn't just teleported away is because it does not have enough power. All its energy is being tapped by the Zapgun. The Orks are using the relic as a massive battery for their latest war machine. Give them enough time and the monolith could be at the heart of a zappy gargant.

Why would power be an issue? You can blast Necron technology into little itty-bits seperate from their power supply and still have them phase out. And what would they connect the gun to? Honestly, I think the Necron angle is a dead end. There's really not a good way to do it with a Necron warmachine. Maybe with a piece of semi-active technology, but not a monolith.

And don't overestimate the Orks. They can make most things work, but crudely. The full capability of void shields are beyond them (they have cruder power fields) as are miniaturized pieces of tech. I'd say that the Orks can break down almost anything and rebuild it into something Orky, but not interface with anything.

Don't underestimate them either, though. Their stuff works, albiet crudely, because they know it should.

Therefore, of course the monolith works. You see, they painted it green. Don't mind the thick black smoke that now comes out of it, even though Necron technology doesn't produce any smoke...

I do not even try to reason this:

If one thing feels even more wrong then Necron Technology being looted, it is " being looted by orks ".

Gregorius21778 said:

I do not even try to reason this:

If one thing feels even more wrong then Necron Technology being looted, it is " being looted by orks ".

I agree, maybe breaking the crystal off the top could work, but it's unlikley :/.

IMHO:

Can the Orks steal a monolith and stop it from disappearing? If anyone can it would be the Orks or the the Eldar, both were created to fight the Necrons back at the dawn of time. A mechboy had a really really bad idea and it worked and blew him up in the process. There was probably a lot of cheering at both events.

Can the Orks use a monolith to zap things? This is a little jarring, I'd maybe say only once or twice before they break it, it somehow doesn't feel right that Orks would reverse engineer a technology designed specifically not to interface with the warp and based off mechanics so small they can't be hit with a spanner.

Ok, so why would the Orks bother stealing a monolith? It's A Trophy! Imagine a Warboss' massive pile of Looted Stuff! Space Marine Helmets, Eldar Direswords, Tryanid skulls and in the middle of it all: A MASSIVE LOOTED MONOLITH! No way is any Warboss giving up that kind of status symbol without a fight.

Ignayus said:

Seeing as they can make Warp capable Voidships out of sheet metal, a refrigerator and a busted out Leman Russ engine, I put nothing beyond their ability to make Orky....

Could be because Imperial technology is only a small step from being orky tech anyway. Orks just make it a tad bit more crappy, but still functional. If they haven't even been able to loot eldar vehicles, then Necron warmachines will be fully beyond their capability.

Attila-IV said:

I think this can still work and be within established canon (if such a thing exists). The reason the monolith hasn't just teleported away is because it does not have enough power. All its energy is being tapped by the Zapgun. The Orks are using the relic as a massive battery for their latest war machine. Give them enough time and the monolith could be at the heart of a zappy gargant.

The phase-out capability of Necrons and their warmachines isn't powered by an internal power source which can be "drained". Necrons have been known to be crushed, melted and even generally vaporised and still been able to phase out. Any "internal" power source woukld've been obliterated by such damage, and logically their "carcasses" would've been left behind. But they aren't. Necrons don't leave any trace of their existence once they have phased out. Despite how badly damaged the have been during the battle.

SJE said:

Dude- Orks can loot ANYTHING.....

jaekyu.deviantart.com/art/Looted-Golden-Throne-57912723

(Click on picture to make it bigger)

SJE

Why bother stealing the Golden Throne when they can ruddy well make their own? (Ref: Headhunted , Steve Parker's excellent Deathwatch story in Heroes of the Space Marines )

For the point of the thread, I think the idea isn't absolutely bonkers. Whilst it's quite an unlikely situation, it's not impossible. There's a big thing in more recent Necron Lore which highlights that soem fo their technology is malfunctioning with age, that loops and nodes and controls are simply missing leading to gross malfunctions, repetitions or iterations of bad decisions (e.g. the 'attack every forty-hours in exactly the same way, forever' styled Necrons used for training by some guard, IIRC). With that in mind, I could see Orks having a monolith just by accident. Popping a massive Shokk Attack Gun on the top would be neat too.

A slightly ridiculous situation, but on a deeper level I imagine it could be a very stimulating and quite action-packed campaign. Especially if each Ork is treated as a gribbly monster, not just some bumbling mook.

It can happen because it's fun.

It sounds like a very fun scenario! Have fun running it and don't wory (too much) about explaining how the Orks did it. It is unlikely the Acolytes will even be able to figure out how anyway, and maybe it is in a semi-dormant state. When the PC' s kick enough butt it could "wake" and warp away. Sounds very fun!