Name: Xak Tsaroth
Age: 477
Height: 8'7"
Appearance:
Closer to a walking tank than a man, nearly 3 meters tall and not much less across. An Astartes was designed for killing- the appearance alone cowed one with fear. But to see one move- nothing human shaped should be so fast, so powerful. The psychologists called it transhuman dread. It froze a man, stuck him to the ground, caused his mind to lock up, made him lose control of bladder and bowel. Something huge and warlike gave pause: something huge and warlike and moving at the speed of a striking snake, that was when you knew that gods moved against men, and that there existed a scale of strength and speed beyond anything mortal, and that you were about to die.
Xak Tsaroth himself has been blessed by his dark god, becoming not male or female, but something in between. A hermaphrodite, the swell of his breasts contained within a tremendous shell of powered armor. Within this hideous warp-exposed exoskeleton is a body twisted with corruption, grotesquely mutated and morphed with Chaos. And it is a sight from the worst nightmares.
Traits:
A servant of Slaanesh, She Who Thirsts. From Slaanesh flows unending, unlimited pleasure; The eyes which gaze out of that skull seem deadened and numb, the pupils so wide and dilated that scarcely any iris was visible. These were eyes that had seen too much and never quite recovered. It was a condition that was like the opposite of blindness- rather than seeing nothing, these were black eyes that could see everything, and could never look away.
Xak Tsaroth's hearing is one thousand times as keen as a normal person. This sensory input affects his whole mind, causing extreme emotional reactions that make all other sensations pale and worthless. The more riotus the color, the louder and more discordant the noise, the more extreme the emotional reaction provoked. At such a level of sensory perception, nothing can stir him other than the din of battle and the screams of the dying.
Augmentations
-second heart
-third lung
-ceramic-ossified bones (with the ribcage fused into one solid piece like a breastplate)
-inhuman musculature
-blood that seals wounds in seconds
-an organ that lets them sleep parts of their brain while the others remain alert
-a pre-stomach decontamination organ
-nerve bundles connecting the spine and stomach wall, to read opponent's memories by eating their brains
-night vision
-a synthetic ear that not only improves balance but can filter and enhance certain sounds
-an organ that allows the marine to enter suspended animation
-an organ that provides adaptive skin that darkens in high levels of sunlight and protects from other radiation
-a blood-filtering organ that provides immunity to poison
-taste enhanced to such a degree that they can identify chemicals and track targets by taste alone
-an implant that allows the marine to sweat a thick mucus that coats the skin and offers resistance to extreme heat, cold, and vacuum.
-an organ that gives the marine the ability to spit highly corrosive acid poison
-a gene-seed that can be extracted and used to create more space marines
Equipment:
Underneath the powered exoskeleton is implanted a something resembling a film of black plastic, directly beneath the skin of the torso- the Black Carapace. It hardened and sent invasive neural bundles into the body, with interface points tied directly into his armor. This allows the space marine to link with the suit and move it subconsciously, without being hindered at all. The armor is effectively their second set of skin and the electrical fibre bundles underneath the armour their second set of muscles. The Black Carapace also allows the user to monitor their biological functions and that of the suit which is flashed straight to the mind just like a thought.
Weapons:
Primary weapon is a Bolter, which functions as a fully automatic armor-piercing rocket launcher that fires 20mm caseless "bolts". Other main weapon is the Doom Siren; fitted to his back, the device is an arrangement of tubes which amplify the war cries of the bearer into a devastating sonic attack which spreads out in front of the charging marine.
At different frequencies the Doom Siren can have different effects. It produces noise variously disorientating, stimulating and murderous. High decibels can deafen, while throbbing bass notes are strong enough to burst eyeballs and rupture organs as the victim vomits torrents of blood and viscera.
But these are nothing to the powers of Slaanesh, inspiring and entwining the noises of it's servants. The noise carries all who hear it on a journey of the senses. It drives them to laugh and then cry, builds a terrible anger and soaring elation. Faces become rapt in stunned disbelief, eyes wide as the power and majesty of the dissonant sounds penetrated the skull and spoke ectsacy to the soul. But not everyone can appreciate the wonder of what they are privileged to witness- many men are tortured in the throes of agony. Dizzying colours flash in the air, uncontrollable laughter and the intoxicating rush of emotions. The enemy shudders in pleasure, but there is panic in their eyes as their mouths stretched wide in silent screams, bones cracking as they distended. Hideous, soundless shrieks issued from their throats, realising the they could actually see the music as it reached out from the speakers and slithered among the men like a living thing. Friends turned and fought each other with fists and teeth. Others fall upon one another with carnal lust, and the heaving victims soon draw into a pile, convulsing in agonised throes of death and desire. An orgy of killing and sensational excess follows, blood running in rivers as the power of the noise drew a monstrous thirst and myriad colours. Soldiers club their allies death with their fists and eat their flesh or drink the blood from their veins, or set themselves on fire for the sensation of being burned alive.
And the rapid-fire bolts and offensive blasts continue in devastating explosions. Sonic booms rip human beings apart with an ear-splitting concussion, while the few able to fight thrash helplessly as their bones snap and heads explode beneath the barrage of noise. The music of the apocalypse.
But though the war from range is dire, the one close is far worse. In close combat, his mind ceases to reason and becomes a mere receptacle for sensations ignited the dance of destruction. Xak Tsaroth gives himself over to the sensation and becomes enraged- unbelievably, incomprehensibly, all-consumingly enraged and massacres whole legions. With the augmented muscle, powered armor, and the weight of chaos behind him, the marine would rip humans apart with his bare hands and open tanks with passes of his claws. The Traitor Marine is like an earthquake or a storm. Enemies have little hope of escaping and are helpless to stop it. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth; and prayer, thinking the end of the world has come.
Personality:
Brutally strong and has a fascination with war, genocide and pain and the methods of inflicting it. As with all followers of Slaanesh, the only focus of admiration is senseless indulgence. This ranks him among the most violent, sadistic, and debauched creatures imaginable. Because the Chaos Space Marines have all dedicated their souls to Chaos, they know that their souls will ultimately be consumed by the Ruinous Powers, unless they can earn the rare promotion to become Daemons in their own right. The Dark Gods do not truly care for their servants, and would gladly see them tortured for all eternity within the Immaterium simply for their own amusement. Xak Tsaroth does not care, seeing such as a new experience. He fights for everything that was once forbidden to indulge in as the ascetic servant of the Emperor and the selfless guardian of Mankind. Pleasure, wealth, but above all else the power to rule their fellow men in the name of Chaos.
Background Story:
An Astartes from the Relinquishers space marine chapter, whose ranks had allied with the Sky Brothers and endured weeks of hard fighting in the swamps of Tyrfa. The forest was dark and twisted. No light shone through the canopy above, the wet muddy floor was totally dark and wrought with strange alien foliage. The enemy numbered in the millions and were entrenched deep in the misty glades, past mazes of razor sharp rocks and daemonette-infested forests. But the Sky Brothers fought with valor and the guidance of the immortal God-Emperor, and the cultists who held the world were reduced to utter destruction. From an abundant multitude, scarcely a thousand survived to flee offworld. The Sky Brothers emerged triumphant, and the company were hailed as heroes.
But the company did not leave the war untouched; something about the cultist worlds had twisted and corrupted them. On Rhyutis, they uncovered the lost secrets of Chaos and became the heirs to an ancient and evil legacy. Succumbing to the lure of the Warp, the traitor marines and the great fleet under their control abandoned the Imperium and swore fealty to Chaos.
With their army of followers, the Traitor Marines returned not as saviors, but as conquerors. War raged on the Sky Brothers homeworld, and Xak Tsaroth fell upon his former allies with a wrath as never before. Colonists died by the millions, their corpses choking the crimson-red cities and grasslands. The loyal Astartes gained victory after victory, until they destroyed the servants of Ruinous Powers.
But many Chaos marines survived, fleeing to the embrace of the Warp, sent to other worlds to spread the will of destruction.
