Corpus-Skitarii
The Corpus Skitarii refers to the series of cybernetic augmentations used to transform a baseline Human into a Skitarii warrior. It is a closely guarded secret by the Adeptus Mechanicus. It also is used to refer to their new armoured bodies.[1]
Overview
Developed over centuries of experimentation and perfection during the Age of Strife by the scavenger-clans of Mars, the Corpus-Skitarii strips the subject of any individualism and joins them to the gestalt consciousness of all of their order. Neither still human nor Automata, the new subject is a cybernetic warrior of death and destruction which is sworn to the Cult Mechanicus. While complex, the Corpus-Skitarii takes a fraction of the time as the process of creating Space Marines. This has given rise to the myth of Skitarii immortality, for the Mechanicus is easily able to replace their fallen warriors, who seemingly return to the battlefield unchanged by death.[1]
Their masters refashion their bodies, replacing fallible ligaments and flesh with titanium servo-motors and bionic musculature. During the process of conversion into a Skitarii most of their organs and tissue are modified or replaced entirely with circuit, bio-plastic, and metal. With few exceptions, Skitarii have pallid bodies of puckered flesh and sutured cybernetics. Ceramic valves and adamantium sockets stud their hard knots of sun-starved and translucent muscle. In imitation (so some tech priests believe) of the ancient cohorts that first ground their limbs into stumps upon the dunes of Mars, the Skitarii's lower legs are replaced with prostheses of inviolate alloy. Even the brains of these warriors are grotesque hybrids of grey matter and twisting neurocircuitry.[2] Their minds were just as heavily modified, being subjected to extensive alteration and hypno-indoctrination that turned even the most menial of laborers into veteran soldiers utterly loyal to the Mechanicum.[1]
The end result of these many surgeries and bionic augmentations is a warrior with enhanced strength and endurance. They are capable of shrugging off wounds that would kill normal humans and survive in environments that would otherwise prove toxic. Their locomotive prosthetics are considered particularly emblematic, being a holdover of the wandering clans of Mars and allow them to ceaselessly march towards their objective.[1]
See also
Sources
- 1: Journal Tactica: Skitarii, pgs. 4-5
- 2: Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (10th Edition), pgs. 14-15
