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Saphentis

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Archmagos Saphentis was a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and senior Tech-priest of the Librarium Primaris on Rhyza. He was killed by Archmagos Veneratus Scraecos of the Dark Mechanicum during a mission on the planet Chaeroneia.

History

Spoiler!
This page contains spoilers for: Dark Adeptus (Novel)

When the Inquisition sent a request for identification of a newly-emergent planet in the Borosis System to the sector librarium, the Adeptus Mechanicus determined that the planet in question was the Forge World Chaeroneia, which had been lost in the Warp a little over a century ago. Saphentis was appointed by the Fabricator-General to lead an Explorator mission to reclaim the planet. To avoid an authority conflict with the Inquisition force already present around Chaeroneia, Saphentis agreed to a joint mission. The Exemplar was placed under Rear Admiral Horstgeld's command. The landing force would be comprised of Justicar Alaric and his 5 Grey Knights, Interrogator Hawkespur, Techpriest Thalassa, Saphentis, and a 20-strong tech-guard unit. Interrogator Hawkespur and Justicar Alaric were in command on the surface.

Their landing craft was damaged by the asteroid field and crash-landed in a valley. Most of them survived, but roughly half of the tech-guard unit was dead. With information as their first priority, they immediately made their way into one of Chaeroneia's cities. They were attacked by members of the Dark Mechanicus and their daemonic as well as mechanical creations.

During the mission, Saphentis was confronted by Alaric multiple times for not disclosing to him the full extent of his knowledge, and suspected by the Inquisition members of having alterior motives on Chaeroneia. This suspicion was all the more heightened when Saphentis expressed his astonishment at Chaeroneia's self-sufficiency and pace of innovation, remarking that the Dark Mechanicus here had accomplished what entire generations of Imperial magi pecuniae had failed to do. Alaric threatened to have him executed if he suggested anything like that again, and to report him to the Inquisition when they leave Chaeroneia.

They headed to Primus Manufactorium Noctis' datafortress in hope of acquiring more complete data. Thalassa mysteriously disappeared along the way; but Saphentis was unfazed, simply stating that he was not required to watch her. When they reached the datafortress, they were attacked by hunter-programs (in reality Data-Daemons) and Combat Servitors sent by the Dark Mechanicus. The Grey Knights were forced to hold them off until Saphentis could extract the information. They were saved by Magos Antigonus, who led them to his lair beneath Manufactorum Noctis.

Using the information that Saphentis acquired from the datafortress and a reconnaissance mission, they discovered that the Dark Mechanicus had been building hundreds of Chaos Titans, and had brought Chaeroneia back into real space to deliver them as a tribute to Warmaster Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade. Saphentis suggested a mission abort, citing that the chances of their force successfully destroying so many Titans was almost zero, and that dying while pursuing an impossible goal would mean throwing away the significant investment of Imperial resources that they all represented. However, Interrogator Hawkespur ordered that the Titans be destroyed, and he complied.

They were attacked by the Data-Daemons again, this time led by a possessed Thalassa. Saphentis swiftly beheaded her with his twin saw blades. The Dark Mechanicus soon arrived with three maniples of possessed Combat Servitors to kill them. Due to the servitors being possessed and lacking the logical clarity of true machines, Saphentis was able to hold his own against their superior weaponry. In the resultant battle, Saphentis died fighting Archmagos Veneratus Scaecros. Although Scaecros had Saphentis at his mercy, Saphentis overloaded his eyes with the full light spectrum and they exploded in Scaecros' face. He managed to hold Scaecros down long enough for Antigonus to take over a nearby Warhound Titan and crush both of them underfoot.[1x]

Equipments

Saphentis had four bionic arms, two of which were normal shaped, and the other two ended in bunches of dataspines and interface units and could reconfigure into twin saw blades. His combat augmentations made him so formidable that even Justicar Alaric doubted that he would be able to take Saphentis in straight combat if it came to that. Saphentis also had large multi-faceted insectoid eyes, and his mouth was hidden by a heavy metal collar with a series of slits cut into it. There was not one scrap of biological flesh visible on him.

Sources