Morio

“Old Arazi used to claim he saw the secret docking bay, where they loaded the bodies of dead coglovers for transport out of the system. He could never find out why.”
–Terian Oltsweet, dockyard rating
Far away from the Lathe Worlds, hidden in the flickering
light of the Halo Stars, sits a tiny system. It consists of a
simple, pale red dwarf star, barely able to keep itself alight
in the void. Around it a single planet orbits, a ball of rock
and cold mud whose name is listed only on a few ancient
star charts, as Capulus. The planet itself is unassuming and
of little interest for mining or colonization. No more than
a collection of dirt with little atmosphere or water, it has
nothing that would attract any looking for wealth or power.
Even its single moon seems, at first glance, to not be worthy
of any effort. The moon is in an unnatural orbit, such that it
is always on the dark side of Capulus, so no light from the
feeble star ever shines directly upon the moon’s icy terrain. As
it glides alongside Capulus, it seems to be hiding itself, afraid
to come into the light and allow its secrets to be known, and
that is exactly how the Masters of the Lathes want it. For on
the little moon, known in stories and rumors as Morio, the
Mechanicus hides one of its most unsettling secrets.
The dusty plains of Morio have no real atmosphere to speak
of, its entire surface mostly exposed to the vacuum and cold of
the void. The side of the moon that faces away from Capulus is
scarred from ancient collisions with asteroids and space debris.
There are no signs of past or present life on this side, either
alien or human. On the side facing the planet, Morio is covered
with the lights and spires of a staggering hive city, larger than
almost any other in the entire sub-sector. Here, the towers and
cathedral-factories of the Machine God climb majestically
beyond the surface of Morio, as well as burrow deep within it,
nearly to its long silent, cold core. This is the Sepulchre of the
Adeptus Mechanicus for all of the Calixis Sector.
When any of the Omnissiah’s followers fall in the Calixis
Sector, all possible care is given in trying to get the remains
of the fallen to Morio. Ancient, sarcophagal crypt ships make
passage through the treacherous Warp routes between the
Dominions of the Lathes and Morio, carrying their precious
cargo. Once they have arrived, the bodies of the deceased are
brought down to the moon in waves of short range cargo
craft. While basic servitors do most of the actual labor, there
are those of the Adeptus Mechanicus whose duty it is to
prepare their fallen brethren and to administer the final rites
of the Machine God. Known as the Mortifers, these humble
brethren have several duties to perform before allowing
their charges to rest. This is not only the cemetery world
for the followers of the Machine God in the Calixis Sector,
it is also where the Mechanicus take back and refurbish the
cybernetics of those who have fallen, so that they may be
offered to upcoming generations of Tech-Priests.
The Sepulchre is the next step not only for the remains
of the followers of the Omnissiah. Here the fleshy remains
of the fallen are processed into corpse wafers, to be used in
religious observances of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It is also
the main reclamation point for the detached bionics and
cybernetics, so that they can be used once again by others
in the Adeptus. Building and maintaining cybernetics is a
time and resource consuming task that also becomes more
and more difficult every year, as those with the knowledge
to create or maintain such wonders die without passing on
that information to the next generation of Tech–Priests.
Reclaiming these cybernetics and using them for training
purposes, or to augment others who seek the perfection
of the Omnissiah, allows the Mortifers to reduce the need
for current resources. It also serves a more holy purpose,
allowing a line of ascension within the Adeptus Mechanicus
to continue far beyond the span of even the eldest of Magos.
Worthy Tech-Priests might gain the mechadendrites of a
famous Logos from within the system, or receive the same
bionic eye that once spied the pacification of Calixis.
But there are other reasons why the Mechanicus hide the
Sepulchre. Knowledge is power, and here is where knowledge
is preserved and used to grow the power of the Cult Mechanicus
throughout the Sector. For Morio is also where the memories
of the fallen are stored, so that they may be kept from oblivion.
In the farthest recesses of the Sepulchre, the Mortifers and their
servitors stubbornly work on their great task. They administer
and maintain ancient cogitator systems and arrays, far more
complex and delicate than anything known currently within the
Calixis Sector. Here the Mortifers connect the cortex implants
and cybernetic synapse overlays of the fallen to this gigantic
system, known as the Cenotaph Calixia. The accumulated
knowledge and experiences of the now-dead Tech-Priests are
retrieved, so that they can be accessed later.
Currently, the ability to retrieve and utilize such information
is rudimentary at best, but near-heretical experimentation with
the holy machinery has allowed for greater efficiency in recent
years. Dark whispers of what the Mechanicus might do with
such concentrated knowledge scatter across the cognoscenti of
the Sector. Stories among the Mortifers tell of outsiders who
were caught investigating the Cenotaph being placed into the
ancient oubliettes of the moon, never to be seen or heard from
again. Nothing can be allowed to halt the great work from
continuing, and one day the Sector will see its grand results, and
know the glory that every true Tech-Priest already believes.
==Caretaker Ganash==
No one knows how old Ganash truly is, or even if this is his
real name. He has toiled on Morio longer than records exist,
and some say in half-jest he was already on the moon when
the Cult Mechanicus arrived to establish a new cemetery hive.
As time passed, he rose in rank as the hive transmogrified into
the Cenotaph, the moon became the central repository for
the accumulated knowledge of the Mechanicus in Calixis. He
slowly began the implementation of his programs to recycle the
cybernetics of the dead, turning it from more local procedures
and into a sanctified rite under the direction of his Mortifers.
He is now and ever shall be the Caretaker Eternal, seemingly
as endless as the moon itself.
Ganash is a gaunt and pale thing. What little flesh remains
between the voluminous, ancient black robes and the long-dulled
surgical metals of his cybernetics is tight and waxen
from age and neglect. Most suppose that his frame and
demeanor have become shaken with age and the burden of
his duties, but none can recall him any other way. Despite
the little care Ganash may have for his own fragile shell, his
care for those who have come to Morio and the Sepulchre
on their final trip is obvious. He handles his charges as if
cradling the most precious of treasures. The creation and care
of the Cenotaph Calixia, and his fevered desire to use it to
save the knowledge of his fallen brethren from oblivion, is
commendable. A worried few within the Holy Ordos wonder
what the Adeptus Mechanicus will do with such a vault of
knowledge once they are able to successfully and safely
retrieve information from it, and what Ganash will do with
the kind of power that comes from such a feat.
Category:Moons
Category:Cemetery Worlds
Category:Adeptus Mechanicus
Category:Halo Stars