Fear Incarnate

Fear Incarnate Portion 7

Acrophysis, his name. Innoak, the other name. Bunk, his friend. He sat, not chained nor imprisoned within a mechanicus sanctum, he had a room. Strange. He couldn't remember his purpose. Ah, to find Innoak. Innoak, A librarian, a lost one. In a star system, Despondos. Ornamental chains rattled as Acrophysis stood, metal girders creaked under his feet. Massive primaris bulk augmented by Father Cawl's experimentations. He stood at just over 10 feet tall, Mk X tacticus armor draped with chains and fur upgraded with Gravis armor to fit him. Boot pneumatics hissed and growled as he took an unsteady step. Acrophysis forgot things when he slept so Bunk always left a data slate that explained things. So Acrophysis sat in a ridiculously small chair and watched as his friend gave a short briefing of the War Dog's mission. Acrophysis suddenly remembered what he was, memories flooding back in painful concert. He had been a child when Cawl found him, taking the boy and training him mercilessly Cawl crafted a perfect soldier. He then injected the child with the genes to make a space marine, but not just any genes. Those of traitors. Those of the World Eaters. This made the boy become Acrophysis, a keen hunter and savage warrior. And he had a scent now, the uncanny ability to track prey throughout the stars. Gifted to him by Cawl's strange and near mystical mastery of gene craft. Innoak, the astropaths had guided them to Despondos and Innoak was there. He had confirmed it, and now he had to find the librarian to prove himself. Acrophysis stood again, the tiny chair flung aside, Bunk believed in him. He would make the rest believe in him, then the Emperor would grant him forgiveness. Acrophysis was more hound than man they said, and it was true. But Acrophysis was determined to be a good boy.

Innoak was silent as he removed the segmented pieces of his armor, he needed Adora to see the humanity of him. However little remained on his scarred and augmented body. Every piece of ceramite plate that he removed was set neatly on a fluffy white sheet he had no use for, laboriously the Astartes scrubbed his armor, working out every bloodstain and every congealed piece of grime. The various scratches and dents adorning the thicker and more exposed sections could be buffed out later, when Innoak found his brothers again. If he did. Ever. Innoak pushed it out of his mind, he'd had no use for hope anyways. So instead he prayed to the Emperor, not for salvation or rescue, but for strength and cunning. For speed and anger. And for hate. Innoak clung to his hate, it was what forged a warrior. Made him merciless and focused, so that he may strike true. Innoak finished tending his weapons, and he arrayed his armor back neatly once again. Innoak offered a quiet thanks to the machine spirit before he stepped out, clad in only thick robes.

Adora swung her sword around, practicing the moves she had done on the Horde bots she fought in Plumeria. To her it was the work of a master, to others it was clumsy and ill fitting to someone of her stature. Adora continued to fight mock Horde until she swung particularly hard without looking and found herself disarmed and on the ground within seconds. Adora looked up to see something she wouldn't expect in a thousand years. A man, a huge man to be exact, stood in loose robes holding her sword like it was a child's pocket knife. "H-Hey! Give that back!" Adora said as she stood quickly and put herself in a fighting stance. The man only chuckled and let his hood fall, Adora looked into fierce and uncanny orange eyes. Reminding her of particular eye lenses. "Innoak?" She asked, voice quavering. Innoak nodded and presented the hilt of her sword. "You are competent, much more than I can say for your Horde brothers and sisters. However, without your mystical second form you are but a mortal. You need training. Real training."

Adora scoffed "Under your armor what are you like? I bet you're just as weak as I am." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, Adora had forgotten how truly alien Innoak was. Innoak smirked and drew back his robe, letting the top half fall to his waist. It revealed a massive tattoo of a double headed bird spanning his mass. Input ports for his armor and the strange discoloration of the black carapace were apparent immediately. As Adora's eyes wandered around the immense transhuman musculature of the Space Marine she realized why she felt so scared around him. Innoak possessed the form of a human, and he had the face and body of a man. But he was so much more, the uncanny glow of the eyes, the mechanical input holes within his flesh. The immense stature and size, over 9 feet tall and just as broad to fit the hefty height. Within him she sensed a multitude of organs, She-ra tomfoolery allowing her to peer within him. Adora gasped, two hearts pumped blood to organs she would never understand their function. Three lungs drew in breath and other bizarre and foreign glands and organs idly did their unknown purpose.

Innoak allowed Adora to take in the immensity of the Emperor's gene craft, one day he would tell her how he had been created. Perhaps he would give her visions of the glorious Imperium, but now was not the time. So instead he spoke, "Be not be afraid, my duty is to protect and serve. As is yours, so listen to all I say and commit it to memory without hesitation. Your footwork needs...work. And whatever the Horde taught you is only adequate for mid level soldiers, you are much more. First we will begin with rudimentary melee training, then escalate to reflex development before finally moving to the sword itself. Agreed?" Adora nodded, unable to speak. Innoak continued. "Good, every day you come here and we practice for an hour. Without fail Adora. I will not tolerate tardiness."

So the two began a daily ritual, Space Marine and mortal trained together. Each party learned something different about the other. Every thrust and parry a moment of education, and Innoak relished it. He had become just like his mentor before he became a Librarian, the young teaching the old. The veteran instructing the recruit. Innoak had a chance to continue the Space Marine chapter's ancient tradition of passing off the torch, even on a world far away from his beloved Imperium. Or at least, he thought it was far away.