38 Small Ember of the Great Flame

Arlow sat in a Necron Cairn ship, which was remodeled with his psychic power to fit his aesthetics. Instead of the dreary green and black corridors that gave off an atmosphere of suffocating death, now it was adorned with silver outlines, pictures, and imagery of purity and beauty from death. Most of these images were focused around a single image, which was a burning silver rose covered in thorns.

The halls of the ship itself had already filled with a thin veil of psychic fog he naturally produced. This was followed by the low hums and chanting of Gregorian-like voices, reminiscent of the old Warp. Arlow was gazing outside the port viewport of the ship and looking at all the Necron forces of Atep's legion, making preparations against an enemy who would make an appearance in exactly 35 days. He was deep in thought while he watched every proceeding as it should, considering what he might do next to help the universe that had fallen into chaos due to his imprisonment.

Despite what one might think, Arlow was very displeased at what the Old Ones had done to himself and the universe. Weklor did not understand exactly what he had truly done out of ambition and greed. The Immaterium was no longer the same. In Arlow's absence, it sought out a way to survive as it once had. It united itself with the souls and thoughts of those in the Materium, producing a naturally formed loop between the Warp and Immaterium. Now, the souls of the Materium and the Warp were inextricably linked. Not only were the souls that formed now much more unstable to the energies of the Warp, but the Warp itself had changed permanently.

If Arlow were to purify the entire Warp by simply using his Incensia energies, all the souls within the Materium that were linked to it would undoubtedly burn away with it. Weklor had indirectly created a problem that would plague the universe for millennia to come, he just didn't know it yet. 

Arlow was unwilling to simply purify the entire Warp just because of the Old One's betrayal. It would betray the justice he had grown to love in his heart. Instead, he was thinking of other ways he could help the residents of his universe overcome this. Only if necessary, and a total loss of the innocence of souls in the Materium would he consider purifying the entirety. Until those conditions were met, he did not desire so much death.

However, he still needed to consider how he would like to give justice to the universe due to what it had lost. 

"I have decided," Arlow spoke to himself.

Arlow's eyes flashed with silver light and the psychic fog poured back into his body from around the ship in flashes of silver lightning. In Arlow's hand, he formed new Matter out of only the energies in his body. It was silver metal with streaks of white running across its body like lines on a circuit board. This was a stable form of quantum matter that could exist independently from the Warp and Materium's connection. It instead relied on the properties of Incensia to change its state from energy to matter.

Next, Arlow began forming the metal and shaping it into a specific shape. The metal glowed white hot as he moved his hands along the body of the metal, forming six petal-shaped ovals with a circular core at the center. It looked like a robotic rose made of silver and white metal. Finally, he reached inside himself and took hold of a single ember from the flame of his soul and held it in his hand, before pushing it inside the newly created robot.

*Wrrr*

The robotic shell began to float as it naturally used the surrounding energies of Inscensia to sustain and power itself. The robotic eye at the center blinked intelligently and began to fly around the area scanning things like a newborn baby. The metal seemed to naturally superheat itself and looked as if it was some place between energy and matter, taking the form of a burning white and silver rose with a robotic blue eye at the center.

"Hello, who are you?" the newborn creature asked.

"I am your creator," Arlow responded kindly.

*Wrr* *Beea*

Some light appeared from the little creature and scanned Arlow.

"Oh, hello creator. Then what am I?" The little creature asked curiously.

"You are the first of the Embers," Arlow explained. 

"And why was I made?" the Ember asked.

"I have made you, my messengers, and my helpers," Arlow said, allowing himself a small smile.

The little psychic robot before him was innocent and was linked to him because it contained a small part of himself. He felt a natural closeness with them because of this. He leaned over to the Ember and tapped its eye gently.

"Inside you, I have given a part of myself. Use it to manipulate Incensia while you go on the life mission I have planned for you." Arlow explained.

*Wrrr*

"And what mission is that?" the Ember asked.

"Choose someone, accompany them, and help them ascend," Arlow explained.

*Wrrr*

The Ember seemed to look downward in thought as it considered Arlow's explanation.

"Will there be more like me?" The Ember finally asked.

Arlow nodded silently.

"Can I watch you create them before I go?" The Ember asked, with an excited tone a child might have.

"Remain quiet." Arlow agreed.

"Okay," The Ember said, with a loud whispering tone.

Arlow spent the next 34 days creating Embers while occasionally directing the legion under him in preparations for the ambush. The Embers themselves could be seen floating around like small children, bothering the Necrons with questions or simply accompanying some of them around scanning things. The Necrons themselves were confused by these small creatures, as they were a strange cross between machines and living beings. In their sight, they could sense the life force coming off of them in large waves, but at the same time, they could recognize the shared mechanical nature they had with them. Some of the Necrons didn't take this revelation very well. The Embers seemed to be what they had longed to be.

But under the persuasion of the Embers themselves and some casual conversation with them, the Necrons understood that the Embers were created to help others like themselves overcome death anyway. It was useless to be greedy when good things would come their way as long as they waited. Overall, the Arlow's ship was very lively as the days passed. Finally, the day before the ambush finally arrived the legion was on alert.