Titans

The Imperial Titans or God-Machines are titanic armoured war-machines towering over the battlefield at heights that rival many buildings, made in the image of humankind to fight the enemies of the Imperium. Each is piloted by a specialist Mechanicus-trained crew raised within the massive training halls of the Collegia Titanica.

Titans in the Prosperitas Sector

There are two Legions of the God-Machines known as Titans active in the Prosperitas Sector, under the command of different Forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus:

• The Demi-Legio_Custodii_Incudatem of Naximus Prime
• The Legio_Ferraeus of Ferraeus

Four Facts about the Collegia Titanica

• They are the pilots of God-Machines. The sight of a Titan striding to war is one to set the coldest Imperial heart ablaze with righteous zeal, and scatter even the hardiest of foes before the deadly weapons mounted by their God-Machines.

• Titans are gigantic. The smallest classes of Titan are around seventeen meters tall, their largest over fifty meters there are few war machines of the same equivalent scale on the battlefields of this era and their firepower is so intense that even the smallest Titans can dominate in battle against lesser ground forces.

• Their Titans are rare and valuable war-engines. There are few pieces of technology more valued by the Imperium, and more sacred to the Adeptus Mechanicus, than a Titan, and the loss of a single one of these increasingly irreplaceable relics is a cause for deep mourning. To this end the discovery of a 'lost' Titan is one of the few things that can quickly rouse the Mechanicus to war as they rush to reclaim their sacred God-Machine.

• They are one with their machines. Within the massive hulls of their vessels, these human crews are neurally linked to the body of their mighty Machine; Titans link the mind of a single Princeps, who serves as the commander of the Engine, to several Moderati who support the Princeps by operating other systems, all working one single will to pilot their great Engine into battle.

Rank and Status in the Collegia Titanica

The Senior Officers of a Titan Legion are the Princeps, the title for the primary pilot of a Titan - the undisputed Masters of a Legion they do not take 'Staff' roles however, no Princeps would deny themselves the ability to taste battle. Staff Roles in a Titan Legion are normally filled by militant members of the Priesthood of Mars who provide strategic advice to the Princeps in the field.

The Master of a Titan Legion is designated the Princeps Maximus but may have a unique title depending on the Legion. The Princeps Maximus is the senior-most of her kind in a Titan Legion and is an experienced warrior often given command of the mightiest Engines in their legion.

Beneath the Princeps Maximus are the Princeps Senioris the senior Princeps that command the maniples of the Legio, formations of five Titans that represent the squadron-level divisions of the Legion.

Beneath the Princeps Maximus are the regular Princeps of the Legio each the master of her own God-Machine when the legio walks they operate beneath the command of their Princeps Senioris but more often than not a single Titan can be paired off from the main formation to go to walk alone in support of lesser ground forces.

The Moderatii (singular Moderatus) are, after the Princeps, senior in rank aboard an Imperial Titan. They usually assist the Princeps by operating the various systems of the Titan while she focuses upon piloting manning weapons, motive systems, auspexes and void shields of the Titan.

Beneath these come the lesser members of the Titan Legions the swarms of Enginseers and their tech-thralls who tend to the powerful reactors of each Titan and ensure they are kept in operation and repair during and after battle.

Battle Cant and Slang of the Collegia Titanica

Like both the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy the Collegia Titanica has its own lexicon of names and phrases that make sense to it, but mean little to those outside of its ranks;

• Aff (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Affirmative or Yes

• Neg (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Negative or No

• Quiaff (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Used questioningly as 'Query Affirmative?' to check the subjects agreement.

• Quineg (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Used questioningly as 'Query Negative?' or more literally 'Why not?'.

• Ristar (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Shorthand for 'Rising Star' usually referring to a promising Princeps or Moderatii

• Pondskum (Legio Ferraeus Cant) - Derrogative term for the Princeps of the Demi-Legio Custodii Incudatem who are often suspended in amniotic tanks.

• Error-Shunt-Abort (Common Mechanicus Slang) - To be irritated with someone as in I am 'error-shunt-abort with the Enginseer'.

• Walk (Common Collegia Slang) - As in 'The Legio will Walk', a slang term that means that a Titan is going to battle or on campaign.

• The Primordial Annihilator (Common Mechanicus Slang) - The Archenemy

• Inload (Common Mechanicus Slang) - To download information directly to the cerebral cortex via a MIU.

• Manifold (Common Mechanicus Term) - The virtual environment experienced by Princeps and Moderatii when they are immersed in the task of piloting their Titans.

• MIU (Common Mechanicus Term) - Mind Impulse Unit, a neural implant that allows a human mind to mesh with machines, used heavily in piloting a Titan, but also starships.

• Amniotic Tanks (Common Mechanicus Term) - a form of Princeps/Titan interface where the Princeps is suspended in a tank filled with a liquid medium that some claim gives a greater interface with the God-Machine.

• Engines (Common Collega Slang) - Titans, often used when countering the number of Titans in a formation.