Adeptus Mechanicus

Synod of Mars — Lore-Malagra & Forbidden Vaults of Moravec

The Adeptus Mechanicus is not truly a branch of the Imperium, but a sovereign empire bound to Terra by the Treaty of Olympus (signed between the Emperor and Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal in M30, symbolized by the two-headed Aquila). To the Priesthood of Mars, flesh is weak, knowledge isalready complete and waiting only to be excavated in the form of Standard Template Constructs (STCs), and True Artificial Intelligence—the 'Abominable Intelligence' or 'Silica Animus'—is the ultimate sin.

Yet in the radioactive catacombs beneath Olympus Mons and the Labyrinth of Noctis, the Cult Mechanicus harbors secrets that could shatter the Imperium: the Void Dragon (Mag'ladroth) sleeping inside the Noctis Labyrinthus whose machine-dreams seeded the Tech-Priests' talent for engineering; the Schism of Mars where scrap-code from the Vaults of Moravec infected half the Red Planet; and the Collegiate Extremis (Prefecture Magisterium), which hunts Tech-Priests who commit 'Heretek' innovation.

Sub-Factions, Secret Orders & Classified Relics

• Collegiate Extremis (The Malagra) — Elite Tech-Assassins of the Prefecture Magisterium who hunt down fellow Magi guilty of researching Silica Animus, xenos necrodermis, or warp-engines.
• Forge World Stygies VIII (The Xenarites) — Secretive Tech-Priests who fought a covert shadow-war against the Deathwatch and Ordo Xenos to preserve their subterranean laboratories of captured Aeldari and Necron technology.
• Ordo Reductor & Legio Cybernetica — Siege-breakers dating back to the Great Crusade who view the physical destruction of cities and fortresses as a sacred liturgy of the Destroyer-Aspect of the Machine God.