Editing Slaugth (Hektor Heresy) (section)

===The Brotherly Alliance===

The Slaugth were the pinnacle of the Old One experiments in creating sentient colonial species. Each planarian forming a single Slaugth specimen was engineered by the reptilian geneurges to be a weak psyker. Together, they amplified the psychic powers of each other, allowing the Slaugth to reach levels of psychic potential that even the Eldar could only dream of, and in some exceptional cases even surpass their creators. Unfortunately, as it all too often turns out, there was a major flaw to this ingenious design.

Initially the Old Ones intended to teach both of their proteges the secrets of using the Webway. However, they were forced to abandon these plans when  preliminary tests showed that the enormous psychic potential of the Slaugth combined with the composite nature of their minds destabilised the Warp tunnels and damaged their structure. Theoretically, a single Slaugth ship entering the Webway would be enough to destroy a whole section of it. Although the Old Ones shared their best FTL travel technologies with the worm people to compensate for their inability to enter the Webway, poor logistics made the Slaugth easy prey for the Necron legions. This is why they had to form an alliance with the Eldar to be able to effectively fight the undead machines. 

Initially, theirs was no easy alliance. As different as day and night, the two species thought very little of each other and were perplexed as to why the Old Ones needed to create whole two psychic races where one would be enough. The only thing they had in common was their love for their creators and desire to protect them. Starting from this point, they eventually managed to find a common language and formed an extremely effective duo. The Eldar with their swift and manoeuvrable fleet delivered thousands of cuts to the Necron armadas from all directions, weakening them and subtly guiding them into a trap. The Slaugth were the heavy hitters, striking when the machines were at their most vulnerable, weakened and confused by constant Eldar attacks, and utterly decimated the enemy with psychic storms worthy of the Old Ones. As the two races learned to trust each other and work together, their successes started to mount. For the first time in centuries, the Necrons began to retreat, losing one system after another. But, just as the tables finally turned, an unexpected new menace befell the Old Ones and their children.

The doom came from whence no one expected it. Although the psychic activity of the Old Ones had always sent ripples into the Immaterium, distorting and corrupting it ever so slightly, their sorcery never had any lasting effects on the realm of potential. But the cumulative activity of three powerful psychic races finally managed to tip the fragile balance between the Materium and the Immaterium, turning the latter from a peaceful and calm ocean of dreams into a distorted mirror, reflecting the ugliness of the material world right in its face. Clusters of energy began forming around the most powerful emotions caught in the Warp, slowly attaining a strange semblance of sentience and an inescapable craving for souls. More natural phenomena than living creatures, these were the Enslavers, the primitive precursors to the Daemonkind. Drawn to psychic activity like moths to a flame, they used it as gateways to the physical world, where they proceeded to consume the soul of the unfortunate psyker who drew their attention. Although countless Eldar and Slaugth fell to the Plague of Enslavers, these pseudocreatures have always considered the Old Ones a special delicacy. And so they perished, without ever truly realising why. The Old Ones never saw the long-awaited counter offensive they had fought so hard for, undone by what they had always considered their main trump card. 

The tragic fate of the Old Ones did not make the Eldar and the Slaugth falter before the Necrons; if anything, it strengthened their resolve to see the work of their creators and teachers through and send their soulless enemies back to the grave where they belonged. The two races redoubled their efforts to put an end to the Necron menace once and for all. And a wonderful thing happened that seemed all but impossible mere centuries ago: seemingly realising their precarious position, the Necrons laid down their arms and secluded themselves in myriads of stasis tombs scattered throughout the Galaxy. Or maybe they were content to see the demise of their sworn enemy, at their hands or not, and decided to take some rest after their Pyrrhic victory. 

With the departure of both ancient races, the Galaxy was left for the Eldar and the Slaugth to rule. Wishing to preserve the bonds of camaraderie forged by centuries of fighting back to back, the two races agreed to divide their inheritance in two equal halves. Their leaders swore an oath of eternal peace and friendship, and thus began the age of the Brotherly Alliance. Both races collaborated on numerous scientific and esoteric projects, conquering numerous heights that they could never dream to achieve on their own. Together, they found a way to fight and contain the Enslavers and other malicious entities of the Warp, putting an end to the Plague that took their beloved creators away from them. They carefully studied the legacy of both the Old Ones and the Necrons, understanding that eschewing science in favour of sorcery or vice versa can not possibly lead to a satisfactory outcome. It was then that the Eldar discovered the potential of Wrathbone and the Slaugth began to experiment with time manipulation. This was the the golden age of both races, and it seemed that the Galaxy had finally found peace under their rule.

And yet, this age of friendship and cooperation was not to last. Curiously enough, the Old Ones were to blame for this.