Makov Quavarian
Makov Quavarian was an Adeptus Mechanicus Programmator who became a Heretek and then created the Heart_Wyrm Scrapcode virus and its variant the Conqueror_Wyrm.[1]
History
The Scrapcodes corrupted machine-augmented minds and turned them into loyal servants of Quavarian and through him the Chaos Gods. They were especially dangerous to the forces of the Mechanicus, though, the Heart_Wyrm was limited in that it needed to be injected, via a Data-spike, directly into a Data-jack located on a skull. To get past this flaw, Quavarian began working on a variant of the Scrapcode named the Conqueror_Wyrm, which could infect its victims through a simple broadcast aimed at the Mechanicus' forces. All this required numerous subjects to test on and the equipment needed to create more of the Scrapcodes and also refine them. He would soon receive aid from other servants of the Chaos Gods, to conduct his research and Quavarian set up his operations in the Imperium's Meloc Worlds archipelago. Once there, he began using Heretek Pirates to capture Imperial ships that contained Mechanicus members. Only those who had Data-jacks were allowed to live and Quavarian's corrupted Skitarii accompanied the Pirates to ensure their prisoners did not escape.[1]
However the Scrapcodes caused Quavarian's Cogitator equipment to become extremely overheated and they required a cold environment to continue functioning. This led the Heretek to establish a base on the Meloc World Ataraxes, which Quavarian's data listed as having six months of winter. It was only sometime later, though, that he discovered that this was no longer true. Ataraxes's winter now only lasted three months and was followed by an intense summer. The resulting heat destroyed Quavarian's equipment and forced the Heretek to find a new base to meet his needs. He later found it on Sanga Kappa, whose northern pole was the most consistently frigid location within the Meloc Worlds archipelago. Once there, Quavarian claimed an abandoned Adeptus Mechanicus Research Station, named Station Zeta, and once again began continuing his research and infecting Mechanicus members with his Scrapcodes. In time, tens of thousands of captured Mechanicus members would be brought to the base and infected with the Heart_Wyrm. This placed them under Quavarian's control and he named them the Transmuted. While most were made mindless and simply followed Quavarian's orders, his Skitarii and a small amount of the Transmuted maintained a semblance of free will. These were used to aid Quavarian in infecting the captured Mechanicus members and ensuring the safety of his base. However should the need arise, Quavarian could take direct control of the Transmuted. Eventually his actions not only led to an increase in Pirate activity within the Meloc Worlds, but also caused the Imperium to label Quavarian one of the greatest Heretek minds in the archipelago's Sector.[1]
This led the Callidus Assassin Sycorax to be assigned to kill Quavarian and also destroy the equipment the Heretek was using to create the Scrapcodes in M42. She would infiltrate Quavarian's lair as a captured Mechanicus member and later killed and replaced the high ranking Transmuted Heretek Slavigor Alpha-208. However she was unable to get closer to Quavarian, until Engine-Master Third Class Jezette Vaal was brought in among a new group of prisoners. The Engine-Master's defiance led Sycorax to secretly convince Vaal to aid the Assassin in her mission. Armed with a Needle Pistol supplied by Sycorax, the Engine-Master began shooting the Transmuted and corrupted Skitarii, while the Assassin slipped away. This soon caused a stampede among the newly arrived prisoners who had not yet been infected with the Scrapcode. As Quavarian sent his guards to deal with the riot, Sycorax began hunting for the Heretek. Quavarian was aware of this, though, as not only could he sense where each of the Transmuted were, but he could also see through their eyes as well. Even the base's infected equipment served as eyes for him. He sent his Skitarii after the Assassin, but ordered them to take her alive, so that he could discover who Sycorax was by dissecting her. This proved to be a disastrous decision, as it allowed the Assassin to make her way through the Skitarii and reach the equipment that made the Scrapcode. Quavarian would reveal himself to be near by and realized Sycorax was a Callidus. The Heretek stated he was honoured that the Lords of Terra thought so much of him. Though Quavarian claimed it was a pity they had not done so, when he still served the Imperium. All the while, however, Sycorax was tracking his voice and attacked as he was still speaking. However this had been a ruse by the Heretek and the Assassin instead struck down a Skitarrii, that Quavarian had been speaking through. This allowed him to then emerge from nearby and grab hold of the Sycorax with his numerous Mechadendrites.[1]
With Sycorax at his mercy, though, Quavarian decided a Callidus would be useful to have protect him and he decided to make the Assassin a member of the Transmuted. As Sycorax swore that she would never serve him, Quavarian plugged his Data-spike-tipped Mechadendrite into the Assassin's Data-jack. The Data-spike was filled with the Heart_Wyrm Scrapcode, but when Quavarian entered Sycorax's Data-jack, he learned that the Assassin had been implanted with a miniature Machine-mind for her mission. It was the Machine-mind that had been infected with the Scrapcode, when Sycorax had entered the base disguised as a prisoner. However Quavarian then saw that the Assassin had also been implanted with a Data-dam, which sealed off the infected Machine-mind from her main consciousness. The Heretek then attempted to destroy the Data-dam, in order to infect Sycorax, but the Assassin quickly revealed the Machine-mind held one last surprise. With a mere thought, she disabled the Data-dam and allowed the Wrecker-code virus hidden within the Machine-mind to burst out and infect Quavarian, through his connected Mechadendrite. The resulting infection burned Quavarian from the inside out and his death soon spread to those who were connected to him via the Heart_Wyrm Scrapcode. Almost instanlty, Quavarian's corrupted Skitarrii fell dead and his equipment was destroyed. This not only destroyed the Scrapcodes, but also ended the base's protection from the snow of Sanga Kappa's northern pole, which immediately began to pour in.[1]
With the Heretek dead and the Heart_Wyrm and Conqueror_Wyrm Scrapcode destroyed, Sycorax's mission was complete and the Callidus Assassin soon left Sanga Kappa. Three months later, however, a Heretic who was among those who aided Quavarian entered the base, searching for any remains of the Scrapcodes. Near the burned out remains of Quavarian, the Heretic found a buried data-pipe that led to a cave in the nearby Khaldera glacier. Within it, the Heretic discovered a working Data-sarcophagus, that contained Quavarian's backup data for the Heart_Wyrm Scrapcode and a version of the Conqueror_Wyrm that was ready for a broadcast trial. The only draw backs, were that these versions were three months out of date and it would likely take another Heretek years to replicate Quavarian's lost work. Yet for the Heretic, these minor setbacks were not a total disaster and despite the Imperium's best efforts, he would be able to continue using the Scrapcodes against it.[1]
