On the recovery of bodies

[grailkeeper]

On the recovery of bodies,

By Baruch Tertosa,- Administratum scribe teritius class. Executed for heresy 973.M41

 

The noble heroes of the Adeptus Astartes are famed for always recovering their dead, where possible. Sadly, for the noble heroes of the Astra Militarum the recovery of the deceased is not as pressing a priority. The Munitorum already has a significant bureaucratic load shipping billions of living soldiers to battlefields across the galaxy, without having to add to it by shipping billions of dead ones home again. The cost of shipping a body home is prohibitive to all but the wealthiest of warriors. As such, a number of different solutions have presented themselves to this issue. The large-scale disposal of remains is an issue which will tax any Imperial military commander. In this humble scribe’s opinion cremation should become the default position, in order to avoid the spread of disease.

The first and often simplest solution is to simply leave them where they fall. The pressing nature of war means that other problems have to be dealt with. In the case of a moving battlefront organising supplies will trump organising burials. Frequent incursions by Xenos and Heretic mean that often the same battlefields are fought over time and again by differing generations of guardsmen. These guardsmen may have to contend with bodies that have been disinterred by the battle, or which were simply never buried in the first place. Many of the official picts and sculptures of Imperial heroes show them standing over bones are far too bleached by time to have come from any contemporary conflict.

The Administratum believes that no resources should be squandered. In cases where it is possible to recover bodies quickly then hospitals and rejuv centres in the segmentum will find themselves well stocked with spare organs and other bodily parts. It is reported amongst that amongst some nobles in the Voss System it is currently a fad to boast of a set of “Armageddon teeth” in one’s dentures. In other cases, cadavers may be used for industrial purposes, such as the creation of, solvents, phosphate fertilisers for agriworlds and bone char. Many an Imperial Martyr hopes that one day his cranium will be repurposed into a servo-skull and every hive citizen has their favoured brand of corpse starch. Entire guilds of officials, dubbed bureau-vultures by guardsmen, specialise in this form of recovery. 

On the topic of Martyrs, the Ecclesiarchy also plays a prominent role in the recovery of Imperial dead. Bodies of particularly valiant heroes will often be sought out in the hopes that a shrine may be established to them. The Ecclesiarchy sets great store in relics. These may be used to inspire future warriors to greatness or pilgrims to piety. However, it has been said that if the relics of certain saints are added together, they will have more skulls than a heretic and more arms than a battalion. The bodies of blessed saints would more closely resemble that of a detested mutant. In this system alone there are 12 different shrines which boast the skull of St Sebastian Thor himself. The relics of lesser saints bear even less certain provenance.

Finally, there are cemetery worlds. On certain warzones planets may be designated as cemetery worlds. The remains from the various conflict will be shipped there for disposal. Usually this will be organised by the armed forces in the region. Cemetery worlds can differ vastly. Some remain solemn. Utterly barren of life, rows of graves stretch across entire continents. Others become centres of tourism flocking to see celebrity graves or to trace their ancestry or to take pride in the final resting place of a martyred family member. These can be loud boisterous places, filled with pilgrims and hawkers catering to them. On Medina V the designation cemetery world has lead to a significant problem with criminality. In a speech prior to the final battle before its liberation St Vissar declared that all who lay there would find themselves at the right hand of the Emperor. Unfortunately, St Vissar found herself martyred in the siege and it was not clarified whether this applied only to those who died during the liberation. As such there is now roaring black market trade in those who wish to be buried there. Tombs are frequently broken into and the bodies disinterred to make room for new occupants. The guarantee of salvation has seen this world become a particular favourite of criminals and those who have reason to believe the Emperor may otherwise look unkindly on their actions in this life.

Edited August 19, 2022 by grailkeeper