Of the Legio Custodes and the Legiones Astartes?

As has been mentioned, the Custodian Guard and the Space Marines are related in form, as perhaps might be expected of works of a same creator's hand, but they are very different in function and capacity. There are of course similarities between the two. Both are physically transformed well beyond 'natural' human limits in terms of strength, endurance and fortitude, and fitted for inhuman environmental adaption and resilience, though in this the Legio Custodes are the markedly superior of the two in might, if not in adaptability. Both are subject to extensive psychological and cognitive conditioning, and are physically and mentally reworked to render most of their baser drives inert and their beings rechannelled towards aggression, goal acquisition and the fulfilment of duty, and as a further safeguard against distraction and as a biological control, both are of course incapable of procreation. In both cases all that is left are beings of singular purpose; in the case of each Legiones Astartes, what is created is a living engine of conquest that cares for little else, and in the Custodian Guard, each is created protector of unrelenting diligence and savage capability—a watchman whose vigilance will never tire.

就如我們之前提到的那樣，禁軍衛(wèi)士和星際戰(zhàn)士在外形上是相關(guān)的——就像我們對(duì)于出自同一位創(chuàng)造者之手（不同）作品的看法那樣，但他們?cè)跈C(jī)能和能力上大不相同。當(dāng)然，兩者之間存在著相似性：兩者都接受了生理改造，在體力、耐力和勇氣方面突破了“自然”人類的限制；兩者都擁有超人的環(huán)境適應(yīng)力和恢復(fù)力，不過在這兩者中，禁軍們?nèi)绻皇窃谶m應(yīng)性上更為優(yōu)秀，就是在力量上超越了星際戰(zhàn)士。兩者都接受過心理和認(rèn)知上的調(diào)整，而且也都被進(jìn)行過精神和思想上的重置，他們的大部分低級(jí)欲望因此變得遲鈍，他們的性格被重新調(diào)整出了富有攻擊性、目標(biāo)導(dǎo)向和（專注于）履行職責(zé)的特征；而且作為防止分心的進(jìn)一步保障手段和生物控制手段，兩者當(dāng)然都是不能生育的。兩者也都是有單一目標(biāo)的群體：每名阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士都是作為活生生的征戰(zhàn)機(jī)器而被創(chuàng)造出來的，他們對(duì)其他事物漠不關(guān)心；每名禁軍都是作為擁有毫無松懈的勤勉和強(qiáng)大能力的保衛(wèi)者而被創(chuàng)造出來的——他們是永遠(yuǎn)保持警惕的守望者。

What also differs truly between the two, Custodian Guard and Space Marine, is not just their functional purpose, but the extent of their augmentation and the means by which it is accomplished. While the process through which the Legiones Astartes are fabricated from a human being is well enough documented in its outline, though its details are, of course, rightly held secret by those parties involved in the process on a Legion by Legion basis, genuine facts about the manner in which the Custodian Guard are created are very few, even within the hands of the Imperium's hierarchy. This is because —as with all else about the Custodian Guard——it is a matter for the Imperial Household alone, and that authority is one none may gainsay or question. What is known, however, marks them as different. Firstly, there is the matter of the age of the candidacy. For a child to become one of the Legio Custodes, it is known that they must begin the process in their late infancy and certainly before adolescence has taken hold on their physical structure. This stands in stark contrast to the Space Marines whose implantation is only possible after adolescence and best served before full maturity. This may link to a second of the few known facts about the creation of the Legio Custodes: that the gene-craft and alchemistry that transforms them is as absolute as it is subtle, and worked upon the smallest conceivable microscopic level of their genome and cellular structure. It is a process that effects such change on the mortal human form that, when complete, unless they suffer such massive bodily harm as to forcibly end their lives, they are effectively immortal, without perceptible ageing taking place after full maturity.

禁軍衛(wèi)士和星際戰(zhàn)士之間真正的區(qū)別不僅在于他們的職能目標(biāo)，而是在于他們的改造程度和完成這些改造的方式。雖然將凡人轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)榘⑺顾剀妶F(tuán)戰(zhàn)士的過程已經(jīng)被完善地記錄在了有關(guān)的大綱文件中，不過，其中的細(xì)節(jié)當(dāng)然是被那些參與過軍團(tuán)創(chuàng)建的人們恰當(dāng)?shù)乇Ｊ刂孛?。關(guān)于禁軍創(chuàng)造方式的真實(shí)信息也是極其罕見的，哪怕帝國的統(tǒng)治者們也對(duì)禁軍知之甚少。就像其他所有關(guān)于禁軍們的事項(xiàng)那樣，這是因?yàn)檫@些內(nèi)容事關(guān)帝國皇室，可能誰也不能質(zhì)疑或質(zhì)疑這份權(quán)威。不過，即便是我們已知的內(nèi)容也足以表明禁軍們的與眾不同。首先是關(guān)于候選者們的年齡：那些（將會(huì)）成為禁軍的兒童必須在嬰幼兒后期就開始接受改造過程，而且是要在青春期發(fā)育將他們的生理結(jié)構(gòu)定型之前進(jìn)行。這就與星際戰(zhàn)士們形成了鮮明的對(duì)比——后者只有在進(jìn)入青春期之后才可能接受植入手術(shù)，而且最好是在身體完全成熟之前進(jìn)行。這可能與禁衛(wèi)軍團(tuán)創(chuàng)造過程中第二個(gè)罕為人知的事實(shí)有聯(lián)系：將凡人轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)榻姷幕蚬に嚭蜔捊鸺夹g(shù)是絕對(duì)的，也是同樣微妙的，它們是在基因組和細(xì)胞結(jié)構(gòu)的微觀層面上發(fā)揮作用。這個(gè)過程會(huì)改變受試者的凡人形體，當(dāng)這一過程完成時(shí)，除非遭受了極其嚴(yán)重到能夠強(qiáng)行終止他們生命的外傷，否則他們實(shí)質(zhì)上就是不朽的——在完全成熟之后，他們就不會(huì)發(fā)生可被察覺到的衰老。

Not then for the Legio Custodes the pattern of surgical grafting and organ implantation that creates a Space Marine, no such crudities of augmentation at all mar the Custodian; what creates them is as invisible as it is potent, worked upon the core genetics and at a deep cellular level, and perhaps tailored to each specific inductee. There are those who insist that so invisible and yet so powerful this process is that it crosses over into a metaphysical realm of biomancy and psychic manipulation on a level unguessed at. Given that it is said that the Emperor Himself has overseen the creation of every single Custodian Guard who has ever lived, this may well be true.

創(chuàng)造星際戰(zhàn)士的那套外科移植和器官植入的改造手術(shù)并不會(huì)用到禁軍身上，禁軍們完全不會(huì)受到這種粗暴強(qiáng)化過程的損傷：創(chuàng)造他們的過程是無形的，但也是強(qiáng)大的，該過程是在他們的核心基因和深層細(xì)胞層面上發(fā)揮作用，而且可能是為每個(gè)特定的入選者量身定做的。據(jù)說是帝皇本人親自監(jiān)督了有史以來每一名禁軍衛(wèi)士的創(chuàng)造，由此看來，這很可能是真的。

The peerless warriors who then result from this arcane process are a rare breed indeed, and not to be squandered recklessly on the battlefield. They were created with a single purpose in mind; to be the Emperor's own elite guard. They were a force created both to defend the Emperor from physical harm wherever the Great Crusade might take Him, to stand watch over His private domains and most guarded secrets, and to serve as the direct agents of His will —as His personal emissaries— be that will to protect, to venture, to claim, to keep secret, or to execute without remorse.

通過這種神秘的過程而產(chǎn)生的出類拔萃的戰(zhàn)士確實(shí)是頗為罕見的，不能在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上肆意揮霍。他們的意識(shí)中被創(chuàng)造出了一個(gè)單獨(dú)的目標(biāo)：成為帝皇本人的精銳護(hù)衛(wèi)。創(chuàng)造這支部隊(duì)的目的有兩個(gè)：一是無論帝皇隨大遠(yuǎn)征前往何方，禁軍們都要保護(hù)他免受生理傷害，監(jiān)視守護(hù)帝皇的私人區(qū)域和最需要守護(hù)的秘密；二是充當(dāng)?shù)刍室庵镜闹苯哟砣恕妭儞?dān)任著帝皇的私人特使，按照帝皇的意志去進(jìn)行保護(hù)、探險(xiǎn)、宣布旨意和保守秘密，或者去無怨無悔地執(zhí)行處決。