Title: “The Imperium’s Immortal Guardians: A Deep Dive into Space Marines and Dreadnoughts”
Greetings, denizens of the Imperium! As part of our multi-part series, today we’re turning our focus to those awe-inspiring, almost-mythical beings we know as the Space Marines. To the majority of us, these mighty warriors appear as Immortal Champions dispatched by the Emperor himself for our protection. However, like any biological existence across the Galaxy, even these behemoths are mortal. But fear not, for the Imperium possesses a mysterious technology that allows the Astartes to continue their fight for mankind, even after receiving mortal wounds.
Enter the Dreadnoughts, cybernetic combat walkers, an echo from the times of the Age of Technology. Their origins may be shrouded in mystery, their original appearance lost to antiquity, but their presence is undeniable. Once found amongst the techno-barbarian tribes, distant human colonies, and early adherents of the Machine Cult on Mars, these war machines were of modest size, allowing for operation by common folk. Yet, each Dreadnought was customized to serve specific needs, making the identification of the original model impossible.
The advent of the Imperium era saw these walkers repurposed into the Space Marine’s Dreadnoughts, christened as Proto-Dreadnoughts. The Imperium now boasts an array of diverse Dreadnought models, with their pilots being exclusively wounded Space Marines or Custodes. The latter may even volunteer for internment within the sarcophagus willingly. However, this is no simple matter of piloting a walker, like an Imperial Knight or a Battle Suit of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The chosen Space Marine is submerged in amniotic fluids, surgically implanted into an armored sarcophagus, and connected to sensory systems that allow them to see, hear, and communicate as if they were still made of flesh and blood. This sarcophagus, equipped with a life-support vault, grants the Space Marine a form of biological immortality, though this gift comes with a dark downside, as centuries of being interred can cause the hero’s mind to gradually lose its grip on reality.
Not every Space Marine who sustains grievous injuries will be interred in a Dreadnought, for several compelling reasons. Firstly, the technology to forge new Dreadnoughts has been lost to the mists of time, with only fragments of knowledge remaining. Secondly, to be interred within a sarcophagus is a privilege awarded only to a venerated veteran of the chapter, for a warrior’s experience is far too vast and valuable to be lost.
The greatest honor a chapter can bestow upon a mortally wounded hero is burial within a Dreadnought. It is the Chapter Master alone who decides who is worthy of the sarcophagus, after consulting with the Chief Apothecary and the Company Chaplain of the troop in which the fallen brother served. Each Dreadnought bears a scroll upon its sarcophagus, inscribed with the name of the hero currently resting within.
Our exploration of Dreadnoughts wouldn’t be complete without a look at the Castrum model Dreadnought. This model, boasting a broad array of weaponry and surprisingly adaptable to modification, is considered the most widespread throughout the Imperium. Its exact origin remains unknown, but according to the Imperial Archives, it was forged or rediscovered simultaneously or after the Contemptor Dreadnought.
Sheathed in enormous plates of cast adamantium armor, the thickest of these plates safeguard their shoulders, sarcophagus, and leg apparatus – defending the most vital parts of these extraordinary war machines. So, the next time you gaze upon a Dreadnought, remember the fallen hero within, unyielding, continuing their eternal battle for the realm of mankind.
Leave a Reply