The Machine Cult

The Machine Cult, known also as the Priesthood of Mars, Mechanicum or Machine Cult is a technocratic religion that preserves the ancient technology that the Imperium is utterly reliant upon yet understands so little about. For this reason alone, the Cult has a near-unique level of autonomy and religious freedom within the Imperium and a monopoly over complex technology – they control their own fiefdoms, called Forge Worlds, where their machine-worshipping religion replaces the more traditional Imperial cult.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is the Priesthood, it is what remains of what was once the Martian Empire. After the dark days of the Horus Heresy those Priests of the Machine Cult who had survived their own internal civil war made the decision (although some would say they were forced) to become more fully incorporated into the Imperium, becoming one of the Adepti of the Imperium. The Fabricator-General of Mars, as the nominal leader of the Mechanicus, became one of the so-called ‘High Lords’ of the Senatorum Imperialis, giving the Mechanicum a voice on the Imperium’s ruling council.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is unique in its independence from the strictures of the Imperium; many planets have Mechanicus enclaves and embassies that remain independent and sovereign territories of the Machine Cult. However, that independence is dependent solely on the Mechanicum fulfilling its role in supplying the Imperium; there is no clear-cut rule that gives the Mechanicus right to autonomy, and most certainly, willing and overt flaunting of Imperial laws by Mechanicus priests and servants is not politically astute and comes with severe consequences.

The Imperium, including the watchful Holy Ordos, may respect the Mechanicus’ role out of political respect, but it is not beyond their reach to bring a wayward Tech Priest or Forge World to heel by political or military means. The Mechanicus is powerful, but its internal political and religious divides render it disunited. There may be those amongst the Priesthood who dream of a resurrected and independent Martian Empire, but they are easily quietly removed by assassins and the levers of political machination before they reach positions of power where they would threaten the Imperium’s interests.

The History of the Machine Cult

The Machine Cult was born of the red sands of the fourth planet of the Sol System, Mars. Founded by humans from before the Age of the Imperium, the Machine Cult grew in power and strength until it became the core of a fledgling Martian Empire, known also as the Mechanicum. In the waning years of the Golden Age, the Cult came to revere and worship the great machines it constructed and dedicated itself to the preservation of that technology as the Age of Strife descended upon humankind.

One of the earliest powers amongst the stars, the Martian Empire and the Machine Cult was widespread before the coming of the Emperor. When the Imperium was founded, and Terra conquered, the Emperor forged an alliance with the Mechanicum, ensuring peace between what were two Empires of humanity and the supply of materiel and goods to the Emperor’s forces, the cornerstone of the Cult’s relationship with the Imperium.

However the defection of the leadership of the Martian Empire to the service of the daemon Horus during the Imperium’s civil war, and the subsequent Martian Civil War, almost destroyed the Martian Empire.

In the wake of the Heresy, the loyal Mechanicum were absorbed into the Imperium as the Adeptus Mechanicus, sacrificing a modicum of freedom in order to placate the reeling Imperium. This decision has been the cause of many internal disagreements among the Machine Cult – and is the reason why the Imperium has not made any attempt to stamp out their divergent belief.

Core Tenets and Beliefs of the Machine Cult

Religious practice across the innumerable words of the Mechanicum is as varied as that of the Imperial Faith, and doctrine that is accepted as totally orthodox by one Fabricator-General will be denounced as Heretekal by the adherents of a different Forge-World. The details of correct religious practice and obedience to Imperial Law are all questions of theological and political debate – often owing as much to the relationships of power with a given Forge-World’s nearest Imperial neighbours as the conviction of faith.

Despite this diversity, certain key tenets, known as the Universal Laws, are held as fundamental to the beliefs across the vast majority of the Cult, and enforced by the edicts of Mars. Widely known examples include the following:

• 4th: Intellect is the Understanding of Knowledge.

• 5th: Sentience is the Basest Form of Intellect.

• 6th: Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension.

• 7th: Comprehension is the Key to all Things.

• 8th: The Omnissiah knows all, comprehends all.

• 12th: The Soulless sentience is the enemy of all.

• 15th: Flesh is Fallible, but Ritual Honours the Machine Spirit.

• 16th: To Break with Ritual is to Break with Faith.

Some aspects of doctrine are however heavily debated by the Mechanicum. For example a tenet cited in some versions of the universal laws; A Soul can be bestowed ONLY by the Omnissiah, which is treated as doctrinal canon by conservative Tech Priests with close Imperial affiliations would be heavily debated by a Tech Priest who refused to acknowledge the existence of Souls or believed the Omnissiah to be a state one aspires to rather than an existent entity.

The same issue is hotly debated over the use of Xenotech manufactured by alien species. More conservative priests cite a Universal Law, The alien mechanism is a perversion of the True Path, however this is not universally accepted. Although it is the consensus opinion of most of the Cult – there are radical elements that call this a needless political acquiescence to the Xenophobic Imperium, and there are rumours that some Imperial technologies have Xenos origins.

Despite the religious dominion of the Imperial Cult, the Machine Cult has remained rigidly independent of the Ecclesiarchy, enjoying legal rights that ensure the free practice of its religion and the absence of more than token Imperial Governance of its territories. Indeed the political situation is such that ancient laws and ties give the Machine Cult the sole legal right to prosecute individuals observed to be breaching its religious tenets and rules upon the correct and proper handling of technology. This is in part because the Arbites are just as reliant on the Cult for technology as the rest of the Imperium, and it would be impolitical to police the domain of the Cult.

Indeed this conviction that the Machine Cult is the one-true-authority on technology means that many of the most ancient War Machines and technology of the Imperium are effectively ‘loaned’ to it by the Priesthood of the Omnissiah, something that is a cause of considerable tension between Imperial Commanders, and the Mechanicus representatives to their forces.

The Hierarchy of the Cult Mechanicus

Within the Adeptus Mechanicus there are hugely complex machinations of politics, rank and status that determine where individual Tech-Priests fall within the hierarchy of a Forge World. The political divisions of the Mechanicus are as much religious as they are territorial. Though most Forge Worlds will, broadly speaking, align with a single sect of the Machine Cult, there may be further sub-sects still who divide up the surface of a Forge World and its colonies into their own private enclaves. Above these minor groups, individual Archmagoi will act as regional governors of a particular sector of Mechanicus territory, answering to the Fabricator-General of their Forgeworld.

Within the Priesthood of the Machine Cult, Priests are divided into rough areas of specialisation, the ‘Collegia’ (sometimes translated from the binaric script of the Cult as ‘Ordo’) define both practical specialisation and religious role. A Mechanicus specialised in biological technology, for example, would be part of the Collegia Biologis; a Mechanicus specialised in data and information would be a part of the Collegia Logis; and a Mechanicus specialised in construction of void ships would be a part of the Collegia Exstructio Astra. Each Collegia has its own complex web of ranks and subsections, adding to the further complexity of rank and politics within the Machine Cult.

As should already be apparent, the Cult boasts a vast and often confusing array of religious ranks, titles and offices. All above the Lay-Mechanicus or menials are referred to as “Tech-Priests” or “Adepts”, though may also hold additional titles. Some examples include:

A Fabricator-General or Arch-Magos and their deputy Fabricator-Locum have charge of a full Forge-World, including temporal authority equivalent to that of a Planetary Governor in addition to their religious duties.

• A Magos is a high-ranking priest with some authority to act independently, and may be referred to by specialisation (for example Magos Biologos or Magos Genetor).

• A Logis is an analyst, statistician and diviner, relied upon for prophecy gleaned through ritual probability analysis.

• A Secutor is a warrior-priest, entrusted with leading the armies of the Mechanicum into battle against its foes.

• A Genetor is responsible for genetics, which might include the study of xenogenetics, the maintenance of womb-vats, and biological enhancement of humans and abhumans.

• An Enginseer is responsible for the maintenance and spiritual welfare of the Machine-Spirits under their command, and often found attached to Guard units and Naval ships, where they may be called a “Pastor”, with the spirits of the Enginarium considered their “flock”.

• A Transmechanic specialises in communications technology.

• A Lexmechanic specialises in data collation and analytics, and works closely with cogitator systems.

• An Explorator is a senior Tech-Priest who quests across the dark spaces of the Galaxy to uncover priceless Archaeotech, often found in the company of Rogue Traders, Crusade fleets and others who quest the boundless depths of space.

The Explorator Fleets

Beyond their traditional territories, vast fleets of vessels adorned in the Cog Omnissiah and filled with arcane technologies jealously guarded by the Machine Cult carry out the ultimate will of the Omnissiah across the Stars. These are the Explorator Fleets. Their crews of void-nomad Tech-Priests and Mechanicum servants explore ancient worlds and lost sectors in a ceaseless quest to reclaim technologies lost to the depredations of time. No one Explorator fleet is alike, each has their own character and nature, and within the Prosperitas Sector where the Rimward Marches contain the promise of the remnants of lost human cultures each of the Forges maintains a sizable fleet, though a number of independent fleets and those who began their journeys from forges years away from the Sector ply the warp-ways too.

Service in the Explorator Fleets is something of an unusual duty for a Tech-Priest. The majority of the Priests and Menial servants within them are born on one of the vessels, but there are those who are assigned to the duty from more static places of birth. For these latter Priests, the Explorator fleets are something of a place of exile; to be assigned to an Explorator fleet without the declaration of a Crusade by the Machine Cult is a sign that a Priest has been cast out by their superiors. To this end, most Tech-Priests look upon those who serve in the fleets as eccentric strangers at best, and at worst, blighted exiles best kept outside the perfectly ordered society of their Forges.

The Taghmata Omnissiah - The Faith Militant

While the grand majority of the Machine-Cult’s military forces are comprised of non-ordained or ‘lay Mechanicus’, there are a number of sects of the Machine-Cult dedicated to warfare. When the Machine-Cult goes to war it does so in a number of configurations; the majority of the time most Tech-Priests prefer to direct their forces from the safety of a vessel in high orbit, an armoured bunker, or a heavily armoured vehicle far behind the front lines of a conflict.

However there are a few unique Collegia within the Machine Cult who consider themselves to be better put to serving on the front lines. Ravening hoards of Electro-Priests dedicate their entire lives to mastering the energies of bio-electricity and motive forces, using cybernetic upgrades and tesla weaponry to engage in combat with powerful electrified weapons – fanatical devotees of the Priesthood, their obsessions often leave them as more ravening hordes then potential leaders of the Cult.

Leadership and direction of the Taghmata Omnissiah comes from the Siege Engineers of the Collegia Reductor and the War Savants’ Collegia Secutor. Both sects worship the Omnissiah in its form as the ‘Unmaker God’, unleashing the destructive power of hidden Mechanicus technologies on the battlefield, using the wars it fights as the testing ground for rediscovered and rare weapons of destruction. Dedicated as they are to the art of war, the singular focus of these beings makes them terrifying to behold; often augmented into war-machines in their own right, they lead the armies of the Cult from the front in contrast to the majority of their fellow Priests.

Skitarii

Among the Lay-Worshippers of the Cult Mechanicus are the Mechancum’s ‘Protectors’ – the Skitarii (singular Skitarius), elite warriors augmented by arcane technologies into a deadly blend of machine and human lethality. The Skitarii act as bodyguards, shock troops and force projection for their ruling Magoi, dangerous and deadly creations of cybernetics, flesh-crafting and Martian practices of eugenics and social darwinism within their menial populations. The majority of these warriors are mentally augmented, either to increase aggression, or to strip them of fear and other threat responses such as the ability to feel pain.

As with much Mechanicus technology, there is no one ‘universal’ pattern of Skitarii; they are as varied as their masters, ranging from feather-and-fur-clad techno-barbarian hordes whipped on by mechadendrite-wielding overseers to sleek, armour-plated killing-machines with only a few scraps of flesh remaining from their original bodies, marching in precise and silent unison to the noospheric command impulses that send them to war. All are augmented beyond the human baseline, and many equipped with strange and deadly Mechanicus weaponry.

Within the majority of Skitarii units there is a designated leader responsible for coordinating the actions of their squads. This individual is known as an ‘Alpha’ in most configurations. The majority of Skitarii configurations have no need for higher ranked Officers as they are often subservient to an attendant Tech-Priest, but it has been known for Skitarii to be deployed with specially constructed units equivalent to superior ranks of Imperial Officers.

The Collegia Titanica

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.

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 Machine, to several Moderati who support the Princeps by operating other systems, all working one single will to pilot their great Machine into battle. The sight of a Titan Legion 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. 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.

Around the feet of the God-Machines the elite Titan Guard, known as Secutarii, act as infantry support and bodyguards to the Titan Legions, clearing the way for their God-Machines to rain fire and destruction down on the enemies of Humankind. Based upon similar patterns as their Skitarii cousins, these troops are augmented for the specialised role of protecting the Titans from infantry attacks and boarding attempts.

The Questor Mechanicus

During the early years of humanity’s colonisation of the stars, before the emergence of the Emperor, many worlds were seeded with human life. Accompanying some of these early colonies were an ancient pattern of exosuits, single-pilot walking frames similar to the technology used in the Titans of the Collegia Titanicus. Unlike Titans, these Exoframes were intended for construction and colony support, but over time, they were armed and armoured by their riders in order to protect the colonies as the Age of Strife progressed. Influenced mentally by their bonds with their machines, the riders of these suits came to view themselves as noble defenders and in time on many such worlds this psychological change brought about the emergence of a feudal nobility of suit pilots, the so-called Knights.

The Machine Cult encountered many such worlds in the waning years of the Age of Strife has made it a quest to locate the worlds where these exosuits were seeded, often indoctrinating the riders and their maintenance crews into their religion, creating a dependence on the Machine Cult to maintain their Knight-suits. There are Knight-Worlds that the Imperium found before the Cult where the Knights serve the Imperium, and some Knight-Worlds have come to serve the Imperium of their own volition after breaking from bonded service to the Mechanicus – something of a point of political tension in the troubled times of the 41st Millenium.

When one refers to a Knight, they refer both to the exosuit and the pilot, for they are one and the same – often when a Knight-suit becomes available the closest legitimate ‘heir’ to the Noble Houses that have formed around the pilots that command them will compete in various tests in order to undergo a sacred rite known as the ‘Ritual of Becoming’ where Knight-suit and pilot blend. As with all the arcane technological rites of the age, it is possible to fail in the ritual – the results of doing so are often psychologically and socially devastating, as a rejected scion is no use at all to a Knight House.

See Also:

• Ferraeus, Naximus and Castellum, the three Forge-Worlds of the Prosperitas Sector
• Legio Ferraeus and Demi-Legio Custodi Incudem, the two Titan Legions of the Sector
• The Knight-Houses of Anaximund
• A note on Machine Spirits