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a Blasphemous idea!, just bear with me

485 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  praxis 
#1 ·
ok, so some buddies of mine were sitting around the other day at my local hobby store and they were talking about the Horus Heresy novels, they said they were all great until you got to fulgrim (where he said he picked a page and highlighted how many times perfect appeared on it, something like 26 on one page), then he said wouldn't it be interesting if there were some kind of space marine community, like they went against their teachings and formed some kind of a society and began mating, while i said this would be highly impossible (seeing that space marines lack the ability to reproduce) he responded with something that got me thinking:
What if some of the chapter of Space Marines genes were not synced exactly right and they mutated into females?

i thought about it for a while and then realized there is a very viable scientific way that it could be explained: some species on our world do this already, when presented with a society lacking of females, males have been known to rework their genes to make themselves female to continue along with their species so it doesn't die off.
now i realize that the species that do this are egg laying species (frogs and birds mostly) i thought it would be an interesting fluff and modeling opportunity, think about it, female and children space marines, while it know it would be all but impossible it would be a very flavorful army

it could start out as just a random case of mutation that the chapter destroys but then more and more of them become female, and they begin to see it as more of a gift than a curse, not having to rely on removing the gene-seed of their fallen brothers to repopulate their chapter, obviously the inquisition would call them mutants and traitors and have them banished for heresy and hunted down, but they'd still find themselves loyal to the emperor (much like any renegade chapter who isn't really chaotic)

just some ideas i had swimming around in my head thought i'd share with you guys, this isn't meant as a way to make a female space marine possible, so no flame wars, its simply a flavorful character-filled idea for a chapter
 
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#2 ·
You mean, a male was implanted with the geneseed and he mutated into a female? Or a hermaphrodite?

It's...theoretically possible, in the same way it's theoretically possible that a Genestealer and a Terminator will give each other a hug. The only issue is that the geneseed, as it works now, operates pretty strictly - it grows these organs, that do these things, and if it deviates from that the Marine usually devolves into a cancerous mass because the geneseed doesn't know what it's supposed to be growing. It would be kind of weird for the geneseed that makes, say, a second heart, to suddenly deviate and turn into a fully functional womb. Since the geneseed can technically turn into anything it's theoretically possible, but see above re: Genestealers and hugs.

I do like the idea of a peacefully renegade Space Marine society that segregated itself from the war, however. The reproduction isn't a necessary element since Marines apparently live forever as long as nothing kills them, and it's not like they can't continue using the progenoid glands to reproduce. The biggest hurdle is explaining the shift from supersoldiers monks to regular monks. They would have to be of a pretty philosophical and restrained bent already, and then something major would have to happen to a) make them turn from the Imperium and b) to not then turn to Chaos or go renegade.

One chapter (Legion, rather) that behaved in this manner was the Thousand Sons sorcerors, who from their novel seemed perfectly willing to spend the centuries of their lifespan in the library so long as there was nothing pressing that needed to be killed. To them, at least, warfare was kind of a secondary application of their studies; the main reason they sought knowledge was for its own sake. In fact, if the Emperor had exiled them rather than send the Wolves after them, it's likely that a large number would have just stayed on Prospero and continued experimenting.

Another possibility is a chapter like the Salamanders, who spend unusual amounts of time socialising with the inhabitants of their homeworld and participate heavily in its development. If a chapter like them decided to head in that direction, it's likely you'd end up with some sort of hybrid society where the Marines walk amongst the normal human inhabitants, rather than just the Marines isolating themselves from the rest of galactic civilisation. Either option is equally intriguing. It would be interesting, for example, to see the reaction of loyalist marines upon finding that a long-lost and thought dead Chapter had not been lost but had deliberately gone AWOL. There are important themes to explore here, like issues of responsiblity (the renegades here are basically abandoning their duties) versus a desire to reconnect with their lost humanity - or, if they're isolating themselves, to further develop their superhumanity. It could make an interesting bit of side fiction. It would be difficult to work into an army background, since if the Marines are trying to establish an autonomous society, they won't have time or the inclination to run around fighting various other races - they'd only do it if they had to.
 
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