The Subsector Project

  Let’s talk surgery.

I really enjoy stories that explore Chaos, but I often find them simplistic to the extreme about the actual reason for the fall. Some of the best 40k stories (in my opinion) discuss a human flaw or personal failing which leads to chaotic corruption which is more than “I want the power to destroy the solar system because I’m crazy/evil/already love blood and skulls”.

Corruption, to me, is about more than being evil. Yes, the 40k universe is a collection of supposed binaries, but it usually comes back to the idea that each faction is evil and flawed in its own way. A chaos warband may maim and kill because they are connected to the blood god, but the Imperium does the same at a sweeping scale for what they consider to justified ends.

Corruption, and the levers that Chaos pulls to sway characters to its side, are about exposing the fundamental flaws within a person or group. To quote The Power Broker author Robert Caro: “When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do.” The surgeon strives for perfection, as unattainable for him as it was for Fulgrim, and Chaos exploits that desire for perfection.

I hope it doesn’t surprise anyone that the regimental insignia pin was supposed to be the vector by which corruption spread. I tried to portray Arason as complacent, self-assured in his mastery of the medical profession. Yet despite his accolades, despite disinfecting his hands physically, he forgot to guard his soul from the corruption of the war outside his operating theater.

Placid, at this time, is suffering years-long invasion from archenemy forces from Caomer and the Ca’bellus Cluster. Forces have been redeployed, guard regiments recalled, and the planet is in a grinding arrangement of mass casualties, trenches, and sweeping armored engagements seeking to throw back the traitors.

Humans like Arason are not vulnerable to the fighting, their roles of support staff giving them some measure of security, but their own persistent flaws are the true danger when facing a chaotically-corrupted enemy force.

At this point, I think I’m in the majority opinion here, but it never made sense to me when people fall to Chaos, and immediately start carving symbols into their skin and such. Yes, they’ve traded away their souls, and must deal with the physical manifestations of that, but given the weaknesses are focused on things like perfection, or the desire to live without succumbing to a sickness, or pleasure itself, it always strikes me as odd when they jump to the most debaucherous and violent form of that goal. Admittedly, we generally join part-way through, after the initial phases. I think that’s probably intentional, as a lot of writers are more interested in the outcome to have their characters deal with the consequences of others’ actions, but I find those first instances tantalizing!

Arason wanted to maintain his record of perfection, but came up against a case which he would not be able to heal- or perhaps he would’ve been able to, but the powers of Chaos interceded to ensure he would not. The actual catalyst matters not, but Chaos provided an alternative- retain perfection.

The actual consequences of not being able to save a man sawn in half by a chainsword would likely be minor, but the damage to Arason’s self-aggrandizing ego and self-made mythology would be extreme in his own perception. If he is a miracle-maker, why can’t he perform a miracle?

Then, he accepts the ruinous powers’ assistance, and he does pull it off. He saves the guardsman’s life, and is back on top of the small world he’s created for himself. However, he is now harboring corruption, he’s given into his flaws in order to fulfill his ecomaniacal needs.

This, I think, is the purest example of how Chaos starts. In the 40k universe, the boons offered by the Chaos gods are real, they will really help you accomplish what you want to accomplish.

The price, however, will be infinite, and likely not immediately noticeable.

While I don’t anticipate a direct sequel here, I’ll probably have Arason show up as a background character somewhere. We’ll just have to see how far he’ll go in order to ensure his personal myth remains mythical!