A Moment of Reflection - Primaris Short Story

[Julgolax]

A towering figure, nearly twice as tall as a man, entered the room and stood before a marbled white stone altar tucked into a cloister on the wall. Outside of the cloister a pair of spherical censori hung from sculpted clenched fists and within burned a mixture of cleansing herbs. In the recess behind the altar a single large banner hung from the ceiling, resplendent in pure white covered in a thick red cross and in each corner an icon stood. The Sword, the Helmet, the Eagle and the Lion stood proudly as symbols and reminders of strength, wisdom, honor and duty.

The towering figure, garbed only in linens and a robe, knelt down on his knees and placed his right hand on a black imprint at the base of the altar which clicked and scanned his hand. A portal opened to his right and a small cherubim emerged and fluttered about the kneeling giant, it's inner workings clicked and clanked as it moved side to side, holding a recieving device. The warrior made a cross gesture with his fists across his chest and sat in the chair position as he spoke.

"This day I was asked from on of my serfs during a cleansing period what my thoughts were on how the visiting master reacted towards us as he reviewed my warriors and I. He decreed that we were not true heirs to the Primarch's legacy and that we were unblooded. One of his staff even declaired that we were inhuman creations, bastards who stained a great legacy. I did not know at the time how to answer him and rebuked him unjustly for his familiar candor.

I have had time to dwell upon the subject and in my idleness I fear I may have discovered a truth which offends the soul. I found that, despite our purpose decreed by Lord-commander Guilliman, we truly are not men but something more, something else. We of the Ultima Founding, Primaris Astartes, were created far from this world. We were not born of men and uplifted by the geneseed of our spiritual liege, we were born as demigods, born without heritage or lineage.

I remember almost nothing of my time before the genesis, only fragments. We were made entirely from the geneseed of a mighty demigod in his own time, the Primarch, true son of the Emperor. We have more in common with him and his kin than we do with the humans we protect. In the beginning, all I can remember is a formless light and then it was shattered by a shock and a sequential torrent of information.
When I awoke next, I remember only that I knew all that was around me yet knew nothing of myself. My brethren and I were freed from our genesis pods to the shock of life, of being and we were lost in misdirection and panic.

 

Then as we looked up we saw a great figure, HE stood before us, the Lord-commander. As he spoke we listened and all that we did not know came together and formed what we were. Lord Guilliman looked to me, to me alone, and said that I was destined to lead my brothers to war in the name of Mankind and our grandfather, the Emperor of the Imperium, master of Mankind. He said that we would inherit a world on the edge of oblivion and would stand as guardians against great evils that threaten humanity. Then I felt my strength, my hearts thundered in my breast, my lungs drew in the breath of life.

 

Over time, I remembered learning subtle, small things that, as the Lord-commander said only I would be able to learn. When I wanted to know what something was, it came to me like a lantern out of the fog of my mind but using my strength and my hands, I had to learn for myself. Such great strength was a gift of our creation, a gift and a weapon against evil. I learned to feel pride but also humility as I looked upon the lesser peoples of this vast and broken empire. Strange and diverse yet united by a common goal.

What strangeness struck me when I saw the capital of our empire from orbit. It was then that I truly began to fathom the glory and dire importance of our being but it also unleased a hail of questions, questions that none could, or would, answer. If we are not man then why do we fight for man? If we are man, then why do they fear us so? Why do our elder brethren, the Adeptus Astartes, look upon us with disdain but also with hope?

Many questions still linger within me and I know only that I am made for war and in battle, I feel as if I belong no where else. It is in battle that I feel... right, and with each swing of my sword, with each bolt fired, with each disgusting and heinous enemy I crush in my great fist, I gain a sense of belonging. Perhaps that is enough, but the questions still hang in the back of my mind, like a scroll with words I cannot read. Perhaps there will come a day when I can learn to read this scroll, but until that day, I am called to slay the enemies of man, and that is where I belong."

The cherubim waited and clicked several times as it finished inscribing the words the great warrior spoke upon an unfurling scroll of parchment. It chimed and sang out a trumpeting tone before retreating into the portal which irised shut. The warrior uttered a quiet prayer before the altar and praised the Emperor before crossing his arms again in salute. He stood and watched as the hand pad retreated into the marble altar and put his thoughts away into the back of his mind as he walked towards the doorway.

 

He stood before the door for a moment and sighed heavily, a sound like a great wind as he waited for the door to shunt open with a hiss of air. Outside the door, the warning klaxons sounded, the hallway lit with flashing lights and over the vox all warriors were called to the armory to make ready for war. The great figure looked down the hall and grinned as the door shunt behind him.

[Julgolax]

(Comments and critiques welcome)

[Wargamer]

Feedback? On this site? Good luck!

 

Personally, I came away feeling like I know very little at all after reading this. The character is nameless, as is his Chapter, and there isn't even anything about him that feels like a Primaris to me. Change a few words and this could be anyone from an ordinary Marine to a Skitarii gene-soldier or enhanced Imperial agent.

 

Right now, I think Primaris are defined by their relationship to other Marines, and for that to mean anything we need to see the other Marines.

[Julgolax]

Feedback? On this site? Good luck!

 

Personally, I came away feeling like I know very little at all after reading this. The character is nameless, as is his Chapter, and there isn't even anything about him that feels like a Primaris to me. Change a few words and this could be anyone from an ordinary Marine to a Skitarii gene-soldier or enhanced Imperial agent.

 

Right now, I think Primaris are defined by their relationship to other Marines, and for that to mean anything we need to see the other Marines.

 

I noticed...

 

The idea behind this short story is my version of a Primaris Marine reflecting on the nature of his existence. Albeit it is a short story, I thought I touched a few points that haven't really been explored yet.

 

I don't think that Primaris marines are ENTIRELY defined by their relationship to the Adeptus marines. Those interactions are piecemeal and individual. That's for each of us to decide. I'm looking more at the big picture and where and how these born-superhumans fit into it. Also, the whole point of this story is that this could be any captain of any chapter, and the details I noted were just to create a setting. I don't know how you could figure this guy to be a guardsmen, skitarii or evena regular marine... someone as big as this guy could be nothing less than a Primaris marine. :P

[Kelborn]

I think it's decent.

 

Good take on a Primaris right after his awakening. I'm not an expert regarding prose, writing style, etc.

 

I enjoyed it and that's the important thing for me. :)

 

Curious if he's a member of a project of yours / someone important or "just" a regular Primaris?

[Julgolax]

He is in fact my captain, and eventually he might be my primaris chapter master. It's my thoughts projected through a born-superhuman demi-primarch. They aren't like us but then again they belong to humanity and all the imperial indoctrination and conditioning can't change the fact that they have yet to find their place among human kind.