There is one very interesting institution of the Imperium in the fictional world of Warhammer 40,000 - the Adeptus Mechanicus. The main function of this organization is the promotion and preservation of technological as well as scientific thought. The Adeptus Mechanicus is a cult, but the Ecclesiarchy does not seem to notice it and is in no hurry to appropriate a heretical status. In this article we will talk in detail about this organization.
Occurrence
When did this cult appear, which is so famous in the Warhammer 40,000 universe? The Adeptus Mechanicus arose on Mars long before the founding of the Imperium. At that time, the galaxy was swept by warp storms, destroying everything in its path. On the red planet, they led to the destruction of the ecosystem, which was created several centuries. Moreover, many of the surviving people turned into degraded mutants.
Then the Altar of Technology appeared, and worship of the Machine God began . His followers methodically searched for fragments of lost knowledge and were engaged in the construction of anti-radiation shields and shelters. All unbelievers showed fierce resistance and were soon driven out into the deserts of Mars. Most of them died there.
After restoring order on the planet, technology priests began to study the Holy Terra. They found that the civilization of the ancient ancestral home of mankind collapsed. Terra was filled with hordes of fierce barbarians fighting among themselves. Other worlds of people were also not in the best condition. Quite a lot of research ships disappeared in the vastness of the galaxy. But the survivors founded colonies on the model of Mars and turned into worlds of factories.
Cult "Adeptus Mechanicus"
He teaches that not only knowledge is sacred, but also any of its carriers. The highest object of faith is God the Machine (Omnissia, Deus Mechanicus). He is an omnipotent and omnipresent spirit. Omnissia is usually considered an aspect of the Divine Emperor. On the other hand, only the cult is relevant to the mechanics. They do not obey the authority of the Ecclesiarchy.
Omnissia is friendly to people and it is he who produces all the technologies that exist in the Warhammer universe. The Adeptus Mechanicus also receives scientific knowledge from him. The God-Machine obeys the Spirits of mechanisms. To ensure the stable operation of technology, they need to pray.
According to the Adeptus Mechanicus Code, the ultimate goal of a cult is to understand Omnissia. It can be achieved only through the search for knowledge. This is an intermediate goal of the mechanics. According to their teachings, all knowledge already exists, you just need to find, study and assemble it together. Adepts The Adeptus Mechanicus rarely does research. And if they do this, then the results must be classified.
The arrival of the divine emperor
When the Age of Discord ended, the Emperor came to Sacred Terra. He unleashed several wars, which eventually rallied the people. Thus began the Great Crusade for the unification of mankind. As a result, the tech-priests of Mars made him the embodiment of Omnissia and legitimized the new Imperium. But not everyone agreed with this decision. During the civil war, they destroyed all opponents of the Divine Emperor.
The crusade helped technomages establish a connection between the world factories, as well as create many new ones. Throughout its duration, adherents of the God Machine were engaged in supplying the Emperor's army.
Horus Heresy
She suddenly swept through the Adeptus Mechanicus, tearing apart the newborn Imperium. A lot of cult members went over to the side of heretics, turning weapons against their former brothers. Since then, all the tech-priests-traitors began to be called nothing more than the dark adept mechanicus. They were led by Solomon Abbadon, the archmage who founded the citadel of Jericho.
In this fortress was an incredibly powerful artifact that protects it from orbital bombardments. However, the imperial army found a way to conquer Jericho, and the dark adept mechanicus could do nothing about it. An acoustic destroyer was developed that wiped the citadel of techno-heretics from the face of the earth. After the destruction of Chaos fans, the mechanicums took their place in the imperial structure. And the fabricator general of Mars, who stood at their head, became the High Lord.
Mars
It is the capital of the Mechanicums and the sister planet of Sacred Terra. Since ancient times, human settlements on Mars have been adjacent to radioactive deserts. They formed subsequently of numerous wars of the past.
Mars is the greatest miracle of the Imperium of Man, the first and most powerful forge world. The supply of military equipment and weapons for the defenders of mankind is flowing inexhaustibly from this planet. Also on Mars are shipyards, regularly replenishing the imperial fleet.
Hierarchy
Any fictional universe has its own structure, including Warhammer 40,000. The Adeptus Mechanicus also has it. Moreover, it is quite complicated. Technoadept, advancing to higher levels of the hierarchy, tries to get rid of the shackles of the flesh, replacing it with implants. Not only his body, but also his mind undergoes changes. With each improvement, it is more and more different from the human.
Technomages
These are Adeptus Mechanicus masters (miniatures of cult heroes are sold in any toy store). They vary in many disciplines. There are magos leksmehanikus, magos biis, magos alchemis and others. As for the higher ranks, these are archmagos. Separately, it is worth noting the magos-researchers combing the Galaxy in search of ancient knowledge.
Generators
They are specialists in biotechnology. They study new worlds, looking for new DNA samples. Then they are introduced into the ecosystem of imperial animals.
Logs
These are advisers to the cult of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose symbol is represented in the form of a skull on the background of a gear. They are logic, analytics and statistics. Able to predict events with a minimum probability of error. Logisas have a reputation of seers giving successful predictions.
Lexical mechanics
Carefully investigate and collate the facts. With precision and speed, computers process reports from planets, battlefields and economic statistics. Their main goal is the collection and optimization of data in the main computer storage of Mars.
Tech Marines
Only trained on Mars. They serve both their order and the cult of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Rune Priests
Responsible for the singing of liturgies and the application of the sacred runes. The latter are needed to spell the Spirits of machines.
Servitors
Heretics, thieves, bandits and other asocial personalities who opposed the God Machine are subject to conversion into soulless cyborg slaves. Their mind is first edited, and then programmed to perform dangerous and / or primitive tasks. There are many types of servitors, from cleaners to combat models that have the firepower of a tank.
The source of the servitor is the body (to be precise, the central nervous system), artificially grown in a biological reservoir. It can also be a recruit who has not passed to the "Space Troopers" or a lobotomized criminal. After programming, a person becomes a living robot, and his brain becomes a central processor.
Lingua Technis
This is the sacred language of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Until the 40th millennium it was used in many worlds, and then it became the prerogative of only this cult. For tech-priests of the lingua, technis is the only language acceptable to the God Machine that is used for communication between technology and people: the spirits of machines, logical machines and servitors.
In the books “Drinking Souls” and “Adepts of Darkness”, this language is described as a combination of clicking and hissing sounds corresponding to zeros and units of machine code.
Military establishment
A variety of troops is one of the hallmarks of the Warhammer universe. The Adeptus Mechanicus, although part of the Imperium, has its own independent army. Periodically, she joins the general forces of the Imperium. The Adeptus Mechanicus army consists of four parts: a combat fleet, titans, skitarii and a unit of the Legio Cybernetics (uses robots in battles).
Titans
These are huge walking machines designed for destruction. The crew of each of them is headed by princesps. And he, in turn, obey servitors, engineers, a tactical officer and a moderator. For the mechanics, titans are living things. They worship the spirits living in their computers. Each titanium is very important, therefore it is awarded its own name. It is made up of two words in high Gothic (a semblance of the Latin language): regalis annihilatus, imperius dominus, apocalyptus creed and others.
Titan spirits are fundamentally different from the standard machine spirits that tech priests believe in. Each titanium has its own thinking computer. By connecting to it, the adherent can see the mental landscape.
There are several divisions in the titanic unifying College: Divisio Investigatus, Divisio Telepathica and Divisio Mandati. The most important is the Ordo Military. It includes battle titans.
The crusade breathed new life into the creation of Martian weapons, and the production of titans was launched throughout the galaxy. Legions such as Gryphons of War, Fire Wasps, and Dead Head appeared.
Soon, the Heresy of Horus split the ranks of the College of the Titanicus. The Dead Head legion has crossed over to the enemy side.
Mechanisms did not develop new types of titans. They only copied ancient samples. The war titans of the Warhammer universe are significantly inferior (both physically and mentally) to the first prototypes of the Age of Discord.
Imperial knights
Reduced similarities of the titans. Unlike the latter, they do not use plasma reactors in battle, but cells of increased energy intensity. Mechanisms involved in the cultivation of knights on the most backward agro worlds under the control of tech priests.
Skitarii
Along with the titans, they actively defend the Imperium. Skitarii is an infantry that consists of cyborgs (half-humans, half-humans). They are also divided into several subspecies. For example, balisterei equipped with weapons to destroy enemy fortifications. Or prathorns, consisting of a metal skeleton and cyber implants.
Techno-heretics
Fel Chaos contributed to the emergence in the ranks of the mechanicums of various types of technoeres. The publication “Adepts of Darkness” tells about the forge world of Caeronia, completely infected with Chaos. The tech-priests at the head of this planet fell into heresy. The result was a self-contained world of cannibals. At the same time, the top leadership of Caeronia was united in a network, disconnecting individuals. And ineffective workers were processed into a nutritious mixture for other residents.