Author Notes:
Kinda giddy about the coming chapters for GSS, not gonna lie. There will be a lot to unpack before ending the Installation 08 mini-arc. Fingers-crossed you all will love it, hahaha.
Now then, do check out these links if you want to hop onto the bandwagon! I welcome any comment, ideas, or help that you can give! Peace!
https://www.patreon.com/Heartbreak117
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https://discord.gg/cVZxJ29ruh
https://www.webnovel.com/book/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich_23809095505377305
https://www.webnovel.com/book/in-the-grimdark-sector-with-a-system_31596105108346205
https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-soul.-occupied-body---please-the-other-me...!_35377211308783905
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2271569/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich/
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The battle for Installation 08 is reaching its endgame phase. Tricky as the followers of the Lord of Lies and the assorted, albeit mismatched Chaos cultists are, they find themselves being ground to dust by the warriors of the Joint Task Force all the same. Although the presence of Chaos Space Marines does level out the playing field somewhat, the traitors are nevertheless contending with the full force of the loyalist Salamander Chapter, the Order of Our Martyred Lady, the numerous and eager Cadian 8th, and an entire Regiment of Tempestus Scions in the form of the Lucifer Blacks. To say the heretics are now outgunned after suffering from numerous setbacks will be a severe understatement.
Day and night, the JTF assaults the traitors of mankind's positions with overwhelming firepower. They employ a bomb-first, chainsword-later tactic, reducing the chance that what happened last time will recur. You can't spring an ambush if the spell foci and whatnot are already blown to smithereens. And, most recently, the ferocity shown by the JTF goes up a notch as well as familiar faces and comrades, long thought to be retired and disabled, rejoin the fray and carry with them both hardened experience and blazing hearts of loyalty to the Golden Throne. These veterans, once having lost their limbs, eyes, and even most of their bodies, come to the frontline with gleaming new forms. The strength, durability, and versatility they possess sometimes even trump their old selves. More importantly, their morale is way over the roof, having earned a second lease in life.
"Impossible!" Shouts a hysterical cultist, having unloaded the entirety of his Autopistol magazine onto the target, only to find the discharged bullets doing nothing but spark harmlessly on the matte platings of the opposing loyalist Guardsman. "You should be dead! Dead! You hear me!?"
The Guardsman, who is actually a grizzled Kasrkin clad in head-to-toe, cybernetic-looking armor, grins as he slaps his chest, causing a bang to be heard.
"An entire body covered with Carapace Armor, nigh impervious to your peashooter." After saying that, the Kasrkin uses his Hellgun to blow apart the head of the cultist who tries to reach for a spare magazine.
Normally, Kasrkin are indeed equipped with a full suit of Carapace Armor, but this particular Kasrkin that is braving las shots and stub rounds without a care in the world has more than just a suit.
As a highly decorated Veteran Kasrkin who retired due to suffering from debilitating injuries, he had been one of the first to voluntarily participate in the experimental, reconstructive surgeries on the Iron Revenant, hoping to either die trying or to fight in the name of the glorious Emperor one more. The Emperor surely favors his loyalty, as the Kasrkin came out of the rounds of surgeries with a true cybernetic overhaul. His skeleton and flesh were replaced with alloys and circuitry as needed to accommodate the meticulously grafted skin of Carapace Armor and assorted auxiliaries and redundancy equipment. This grants him a degree of unmatched protection and versatility on the battlefield that falls just short of a true Power Armor. Crew-served weapons can be used by him alone, and his targeting, aided by the helmet-mounted Auspex, is peerless when combined with his ingrained experience. The only noticeable weak points in his getup are the small gaps around the flexible joints that grant him human-like agility. But this is a fair trade-off as it allows the Kasrkin to double up as a durable, frontline melee fighter for his fellow Cadian troopers.
Just recently, he has gone into three melee brawls before deciding to storm this bombed-out but still active ambush point with his fellow reconstructed veterans to swift success. The cybernetic-enhanced Kasrkin once again checks the built-in health monitoring system in his visor, only to be pleasantly surprised once again that the status of his remaining organic parts and the many cybernetic features of his body are still well in the green. The only issue here is a few more scratches in the matte dark green paint job over the Carapace Armor plates, and that the power pack for his Hellgun is in the yellow after multiple drawn-out battles.
It's still good news all around in the eyes of the Kasrkin, however. He has had worse odds than this, but still pulled through. This combat mission, in the Kasrkin's humble opinion, is no different than running a rookie gamut with max-level gear.
Soon enough, reconstructed veterans completely cleansed the ambush point, just in time for the main force consisting of Sisters of Battle and fellow Cadian 8th to arrive for a handover procedure. Unlike the Adeptus Mechanicus' mishappen-looking cyborg combatants, the reconstructed veterans are viewed more favorably by everyone else in the JTF for collectively maintaining a strict, Imperial Guard-compliant human look. Even the extensively replaced and enhanced Kasrkin in this particular field testing team is viewed with a large degree of respect just because he looks and feels human beneath all that armor. This is not to mention the fact that these reconstructed veterans all share the same roots of hailing from mortal Regiments as most of the JTF, Tempestus Scions or not. They are all friendly faces at the end of the day.
So, when the leader of this field testing team hailing from the Iron Revenant comes and asks if they can get a top-up of some supplies from the reinforcement. The Sisters of Battle and the Cadiant 8th are more than willing to open their inventory and part ways with some grenades and power packs if it means keeping these veterans well in the fight for the Emperor. And since these reconstructed veterans are all eager to prove themselves worthy of their new organs, limbs, and enhancements, if they have them, they will go on to throw themselves into the fray with a zeal rivaling that of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, pushing their new bodies to their absolute limit.
This, in turn, gives the people behind the upgrades valuable combat data to improve and integrate cybernetics into the rest of the JTF, and hopefully the Imperial Guards as a whole. From the Iron Revenant, a dedicated team of recovery personnel, maintenance experts, and data analysts is dispatched groundside to monitor these field testing teams composed solely of reconstructed veterans. Still, it has to be noted that the term 'reconstructed veterans' is coined by the veterans themselves, and not anyone else. That term will be made official in the future by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl for simplicity's sake.
For these reconstructed veterans, while the Emperor of Man is their one true leader, Dominus Cawl is viewed as a respected, if eccentric, backer. In the future, they view his adoption of the title Reconstructed Veterans as a badge of honor. In their opinion, being a Reconstructed Veteran means they have lived and performed exceedingly better than all others, worthy of the Imperium giving them another chance at the fight. As for the true pusher behind the movement to create Reconstructed Veterans, the one known as Corporal Ein...
It won't be a stretch to say that the Reconstructed Veterans view Ein as a figure no less important to the Imperial Guards than a Colonel of a Regiment. Perhaps a bit more so, for she brings tangible benefits, and her deeds of valor are more and more legendary with each passing day. To them, Ein is a young Guardswoman with limitless potential.
And if the Reconstructed Veterans can see it, why can't the leadership of the JTF?
Nevertheless, that will be a development for another day.
Currently, dear little me is busy scrunching numbers and dataslates, working on the final touch to what is essentially a full rebuild of a quite heroic Sister of Battle. She, whose name is Setsuna, is what I will call a close acquaintance instead of a friend or sister in the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Back before I signed up for the Cadian 8th, Setsuna rarely stayed at the Order's chapel on Cadia, so we similarly rarely came across one another. And when I was made a Guardswoman, it was rarer still for us to meet. Thus, our relationship is at best a close acquaintance, rather than a friendship or a sisterhood, the types of relationships I am closely familiar with. It's only thanks to the formation of the JTF that the two of us manage to connect with one another, with me learning that Setsuna is part of an Inquisition field team that regularly goes off-world to hunt down heretic cult leaders.
Given the nature of the battle on Installation 08, it's no wonder that she was recalled by Mama Elyzabeth. Setsuna's expertise proved to be very useful in counteracting heretical tactics until she suffered crippling injuries when the traitors sprung that barrier trap and unleashed relentless attacks. She survived everything, but ultimately the Sisters Hospitaller decreed that Setsuna's body was beyond recovery. This Sister of Battle would have no choice but to retire into the position of a teacher or preacher in the Order of Our Martyred Lady, had she not heard of the prosthetic programs Belisarius Cawl and I were cooking up for the Imperial Guards. Which then leads us to this point in time where Setsuna has just finished adapting to her new self.
"How are you feeling, Setsuna?" I ask the Sister of Battle who is halfway there up there in the realm of being called a cyborg.
And yes, I understand how it may be weird for this Sister to have a Japanese name and appearance. But is it truly that weird when the Imperium literally has millions of worlds at its beck and call? The Order of Our Martyred Lady is famous and extensive; it's not odd for them to recruit Aspirants from a great many planets with vastly different cultures. Setsuna is but one of the many in the Order that hails from a more spiritually-aligned Feudal world that, apparently, runs on a mimicry of a Shogunate system. Instead of a Governor, the planet is governed by a Shogun, with nobles beneath him to help run the system. Nonetheless, this information is beside the point.
The Sister of Battle, Setsuna, replies to my earlier question while reclining on a mechanical throne with ornate Mechanicus decorations. The throne is connected to her gleaming metallic body via data cables and power lines, plugged into the sockets on her back and four limbs.
"It's a bit..." Setsuna leaves her words hanging, her black eyes squinting in thoughtfulness.
I finish the sentence for her. "It still feels odd, am I right?"
The black-haired Sister of Battle nods slowly, her head being the only part of her body not covered up by her new metal skin.
"Odd should be the correct word to describe the sensations I am feeling, Ein." Setsuna says. " To feel yourself possessing power greater than ever before, yet to have your senses dimmed and out of sorts by that very power... It's indeed an experience I would never imagine myself going through. The first time I put on my old Power Armor, I didn't feel such a great dissonance as I do now. But I believe I have adapted to my newfound prowess. At the very least, I think I am capable of combat training."
I reply as I hit a command to release her from the mechanical throne. It has to be noted that only a custom-made throne from the Mechanicus would be able to service Setsuna's new body, given its overall mass and complexity. "Feeling out of whack is to be expected, Sister Setsuna."
As the mechanical throne hums and hisses as data cables and whatnot start disconnecting from Setsuna's metal body, I add.
"You have chosen to discard most of your organic body, opting to pioneer the testing of the premier line of my prosthetics and artificial organs. Believe me when I say that, while you will never be able to match an Astartes in terms of physical prowess, you are technically now more powerful than your former biological self with external Power Armor by at least two times. Your brain, only partially modified to accept the cybernetic upgrades, will take some time to fully settle into the new somatosensation system and the horsepower behind each and every single one of your servo-enhanced actions."
I look at Setsuna upon seeing the last of the cables removed from her body.
"Try and move your hands, slowly now."
Setsuna obliges, and she raises her two cybernetic arms in a gesture of thumbs up. Unlike prior tests where Setsuna's movements generated sharp wind-cutting sounds due to her being unable to master her momentum, the Sister of Battle has finally managed to do a normal thumbs-up now.
I glance at the acquired data before saying.
"I have updated the software responsible for helping you run your own body. More specifically, I added more restraints to them, preventing you from fully utilizing the power packed into your new body, Setsuna. Unironically, you will have to hit the gym and combat hall and run the training gamut for the foreseeable future. Since nothing but your head and spine remains biological, you won't develop muscle, persay, but the new software will detect the increasing mastery of your physical strength and reflexes before unlocking more and more of your body's power. The more you train and familiarize yourself with your body, the more loose the restraints until they're non-existent and you effectively mastered your full cybernetic potential."
"Fascinating." Setsuna marvels at my explanation while looking at the hands that still feel oddly foreign, yet are now her own. "So, how strong am I now, having just taken on the restraining software?"
"From the data I got from your old self before your injuries, I reckon you are around 10% stronger now. Given enough effort, reaching that twice-as-strong mark shouldn't be too difficult for you. Of course, I have made it so that in the case of an emergency, you will be able to actively remove the restraining for a burst of ferocious power in close encounters." I reply, signaling for Setsuna to stand up.
"I understand, and thank you for giving me this chance, Ein. Really, I am undeserving of all these experimental technologies. I was thinking of acquiring the same upgrades as those used on the injured Kasrkin, at best." The Sister of Battle speaks her gratitude with a gentle voice as she rises to full height.
Setsuna is much taller than me, even a bit taller than Mama in her full combat suit, thanks to her cybernetic upgrades.
I smile.
"The veterans are already running around with all sorts of prosthetics and artificial organs, from common to high grades. They are very proactive in acquiring field data for the Archmagos Dominus and me. However, on the matter of testing our custom, mastercraft cybernetics like yours, well, the Dominus and I deemed that only you are the most viable option. Honestly speaking, Sister Setsuna, your loyalty is unquestionable in the line of duty, and you have the composure and mentality needed to accommodate not just abandoning your flesh, but accepting something more than just replacement steels and servos."
Stepping closer to Setsuna, I put my hand on her alloy chestplate to feel the hums of micro-generators and cooling systems. I continue to say.
"The cyborgs of the Mechanicus, like the Skitarii, in my personal opinion, are dead-end projects and a travesty against the beauty of the human forms. You, Sister Setsuna, will be the true pioneer of a brand new line of human enhancement programs, one that perfectly balances the human essence and most basic needs of survivability and firepower. It's my hope that, from this point forward, you will confidently help me from this point forward on paving a path where even monstrosity will cower before the light of humanity's valiancy and ingenuity."
"..." Setsuna falls into a brief thoughtful silence before she takes my small hand into her own, smiling as confidently as I said she needed to be. "It will be my honor, Ein. May the Emperor bless us both in this grand endeavor... It's just, well, do you need to make my breasts so big? They're bigger than the fleshy ones I used to have..."
I laugh aloud, seeing the odd expression on Setsuna's face as she asks something that she never thought she would ask in her entire life.
"Hey, your breasts are literally the most armored part of your cybernetic body. They need to be big to protect your most precious generators, cooling systems, and their redundancy, and even your spinal column behind them all. Only when you're more protected than your old Power Armor would I feel safe entrusting all of my experimental cybernetics to you, Sister Setsuna." My explanation is taken with a sigh of wry acceptance from Setsuna, who is unable to refute the weird, if logical answer of why her boobs need to be bigger than before.
No, seriously. The boobs really need to be big out of necessity.
Unfortunately, our discussion is cut short when Belisarius Cawl's voice comes through the Iron Revenant's internal Vox.
"Corporal Ein, report to my office..."
"...We have a situation planetside."