Chapter Text
He gasped, but felt no air go through his lungs. He tried to move, but felt no limbs. He tried to open his eyes, but saw nothing but dark. He panicked. He didn’t like that fact, but he panicked. He felt nothing. He saw nothing. There was nothing. Suddenly, he heard a noise. “...gzzrkeee Is this thing on greeeee…” He tried to open his mouth to respond, but heard only a gurgle and a croak. He heard the sound again, and realized it was a mechanically augmented voice, although it sounded tinny. “You are finally awake Lord Commissar, please, do not panic, everything is alright. Your mind is just adjusting to your current state. If she had allowed us to…” the voice was cut off. Another voice, deeper in tone, started speaking. “Lord Commissar, please relax, everything shall be all right. Magos, instruct him on what to do next.” The tinny voice returned. “Ah yes, I apologize, I had forgotten how weak minded you simple sacks of flesh arghh…” The deeper voice returned. “Instruct him, now, Magos.” The voice sounded irritated. “Very well,” responded the tinny voice, its attention now returning the Lord Commissar Sebastian Yarrick, hero of Hades Hive, and a true Hero of the Imperium. “Imagine that you are opening your eyes, Lord Commissar, imagine that you are now able to perceive what is directly in front of you.”
Yarrick did as the voice instructed. He gasped a wordless gasp as he beheld a room in front of him, and then the information started flowing in front of him, message after message, status report after status report, every single little detail. He felt his brain pound in agony as hundreds of streams of data hit him at once, completely overwhelming him. “Turn it off you fool!” shouted the deep voice, which Yarrick registered as coming from what appeared to be a Space Marine. Before he could register every single little detail, the information flow stopped. Yarrick was now able to register the room in its entirety. He saw everything as if it were below him, and he was a goliath overlooking normal men. He saw two figures standing close, one, a Space Marine in the armor of the Iron Hands, heavy duty mechadendrites coming out of the Marines back. Next to the marine stood a lanky figure, clothed in the red robes of the Martian Priesthood. At numerous workstations behind the two, various members of the Mechanicus sat at consoles, their work seemingly forgotten as they gazed in awe at something below Yarrick. In addition, numerous Skitarii and combat servitors, along with a squad of Iron Hands Space Marines, stood scattered throughout the room, with all but the servitors looking at the same thing that the priests were. Yarrick attempted to shift his head to look downward, but found that he could not. The figure standing next to the Space Marine turned around and snapped at the figures. “Get back to work, all of you. Just because we are witnessing one of the greatest feats the Adeptus Mechanicus has ever accomplished, does not mean that you may neglect your work.” Yarrick realized that this figure was the one who spoke in the tinny voice, meaning that the Space Marine standing next to it was the one who spoke in the deep voice. Seemingly chastised, everyone else in the room went back to doing what they had likely been doing previously, the priests typing furiously on consoles, and the guards standing ramrod straight. The thin figure looked up at Yarrick, enabling him to see this mysterious priest. The priest had a face mostly covered in metallic plates, with only the mouth uncovered, allowing Yarrick to see an extremely pale face below the plates. Its body was mostly shrouded in the same type of plates, however it was mostly obscured by a seemingly custom designed robe, one that seemed more luxurious than other priesthood robes. Yarrick then spotted another detail, a large red inquisitorial I emblazoned on the front of the priest's chestplate. “How do you feel, Lord Commissar,” questioned the priest, who Yarrick then realized was the Magos the Space Marine had been talking to, “Is everything all right?” Yarrick tried to talk, but could not. “Ah,” exclaimed the Archmagos, “you must activate your microphone. Luckily, all sacred rites have been performed in advance, so that you may receive your orders quickly. Admittedly, it is a bit unusual, but it is for a good reason.” Yarrick figured that the way to activate the microphone would likely be the same as looking, and thought of speaking. He tried to speak again. “Where am I.” His voice boomed, echoing throughout the chamber. Some of the less visibly augmented priests winced, but kept to their work instead of looking up once more and risking the ire of their superior. “You are within Inquisitorial Outpost Exactus 3532-93J, Lord Commissar. More specifically, you are within the Grand Testing Hall of Our Glorious Saint Bethal the Machinist.” “And why am I in this ‘testing hall’?” Yarrick asked. “You have been brought back, for your duty to the Imperium and Humanity is not yet done.” Proclaimed the Space Marine in a grand manner. “And what have I been brought back from?” Yarrick questioned impatiently, having no time for those who wasted it. “What was your last memory before waking up here?” Questioned the priest. Yarrick pondered, and gasped as he remembered. As soon as he did, alarms started blaring within the hall, and frantic priests started pressing buttons. “I… I remember dying. The Daemon had killed me. I was bleeding out. How did I not die?” He finished with a question.
“You were saved due to the interference of a Grey Knight, Lord Commissar,” The priest responded. “A librarian working with Inquisitor Amalda Hirpinius, the Inquisitor who runs this facility. With the help of the Grey Knight, we were able to preserve your soul and implant it into the machine that is your new body.” The priest, as befits one of the Cog, finished reverently, with the other priests in the room making the sign of the Machine God, as the alarms stopped blaring and the room returned to normal. “So I am now a machine.” Yarrick stated, taking in this new information he had just learned. “Indeed,” responded the Space Marine, “You have been brought back in a most holy way to serve the Imperium after your death.” “This is about Ghazghkull.” Yarrick deduced, knowing that he was quite possibly the most experienced when it came to fighting Ghazghkull and countering the foul Xenos’s tactics. “Indeed,” replied the Space Marine, “The Xenos warlord has disappeared, however it would be foolish of us to assume that his reign of terror is over. There is no doubt that he is merely gathering his forces to strike at the Imperium once more.” “I understand,” Yarrick said, “What are my orders?” “You will be moved to the Iron Fortress, a Mechanicus War Barge that has been modified for your vessel,” Responded the Priest. “We will now begin transfer procedures, so expect a brief moment of darkness.” Yarrick’s vision slowly turned dark, as the Mechanicus personnel began the process of transferring the massive machine that was his new body onto the Iron Fortress.