Technology

Name: MK II "Legio" Power Armor

Inventor/Manufaturer: Martian Mechanicum

Technological Description and Capabilities: The MK II armor is a vast upgrade over the Mk I Thunder Armor and the interim pseudo-models used in early Legion actions. Its armor and synth-muscles are vastly superior to anything previous. Capable of resisting explosives, directed energy and kinetic munitions to an extremely high degree. While making the Legionnaire stronger and faster. Its backpack is equipped with a minimized fusion reactor that powers the armor. Life support systems, inbuilt cogitators and a thruster system that relies on the reactors exhaust are also included. Advanced auto-senses a Comm Suite and tactical Cogitators are included in the Helmet. The neural interface is highly advanced and better syncs with the wearers Black Carapace with prolonged use.

Physical Description: The armors plates are large easily replaceable segments of Ceramite. Its pauldrons are oversized, as typical of Imperial design. They move with the armor and house low-level Ion-shield generators. An experimental upgrade originating with the X Primarch. Its helm is an odd hybrid of ancient Terran Knight and Romu Empire design.

Limits: The Mk II armor was designed to be a general issue and mass producible. It fulfills those goals well. Lacking any glaring weaknesses and any major strengths. More specialized armor will outperform it in their particular skill set.

Specialized Armor subtypes

Karasu Class: Stripped down suit designed for stealth operations. Possessing weaker but quieter synth-muscles. Its sensor system is also more developed. Favored by the VIII and XIX Legions. Often deployed with Scout Squads.

Immitis Class: Sealed armor with thrust nozzles positioned on most of the Armors joints. Designed for void combat. With better Rad shielding. Along with traction spikes deployable from hands and feet for anchoring into a vessel or melee combat.

Amatshe Class: Heavily armored suits that straddle the line between Warsuit mechs and standard armor. Slower and more cumbersome than other suits. While not being uncomfortably large like a Dreadknight or Centurion suit. Favored in siege combat or other brutal war-zones.

Jaga Class: Jump-pack equipped aerodynamic armor. Used for Jump Infantry and aerial combat. Fastest mass produced armor with stronger neural ports for heightened sensory input. Due to its lighter and more sensitive nature, it is not as hardy as other suits and relies on the wearer's ability to dodge most blows.

Wulfhart Class: Designed for long-term operations where regular maintenance and re-equipment is not always possible. Lacking in almost every aspect compared to the base Mk II. Being less armored and with fewer features. It makes up for this through sheer resilience of its systems and easily repairable nature. Favored by Scouts and forces lacking stable supply lines.

Ueir Class: Armor meant for Pilots and Vehicle crews. Reasonably armored with enhanced life support systems. Enhanced Neural-links designed to allow the Astartes to interface with Machine-Spirts. Using the armor as an intermediary between the Astartes nervous system and the machines cogitators. Lacking in synth-muscle and sensor features.

Name- Shadow of Judgment

Inventor/Manufacturer- The Emperor of Mankind and Fenno Naur: Crafted during the tail end of the Iron War as a way to allow the Emperor subtle movement around the Galaxy during his exodus.

Purpose- Stealth Suit: The Age of Strife was an era of insanity and conflict. Items, artifacts, and individuals needed to be gathered from across the Galaxy to give humanity a chance of survival. The Emperor knew exposing himself before he was ready would lead to calamity. To prevent this the Shadow of Judgment was created to allow him unrestricted access and near perfect secrecy in his endeavors.

Technological Description: Woven of trillions of programmable Nano-gossamer strings each impregnated with microscopic Psi-reactive crystals. This allows a Psyker with sufficient control to shape the suit to their liking and power it. The Material is highly reactive and can shift itself to meet the wearer's needs. Be it generating melee weapons to masking energy signatures and disrupting scanning equipment.

Physical Description: In its base state the Shadow appears like a pool of liquid darkness. The Nano-gossamer absorbs all light that touches it and is so flexible it seems almost liquid. When donned by its wearer its appearance varies depending on needs and personal choice. For the Emperor, it typically appears as a lightly armored war-suit with an Avian theme. Particularly the helm would appear like a Bird of Preys head.

Capabilities: The Shadow of Judgment allows its wearers to bypass virtually any and all security measures. Be they psychic or material. The psychic crystals attune themselves to the wearer's warp signature and neutralize it. Jamming apparatus can be easily created by the suits nano-colonies. Any sound, heat or electromagnetic activity generated by the wearer is eliminated.

Limits: The Nano-Gossamer threads can form different shapes and functions but are limited in both matter and energy supply. If damaged the suit is extraordinarily hard to repair and would take knowledge and skills virtually lost during the Age of Strife. Extreme levels of psychic control are also required to reach the suits full potential.

Name- Cognatu Ferrum

Inventor/Manufacturer- The Emperor of Mankind: Created originally during the Iron War and kept in storage till the Unification Wars where it was installed into the Bucephalus by the Terrawatt Clan.

Purpose- Psychic Intelligence: it is an Artificial Intelligence created using Psi-Tech. Designed to operate advanced automated technologies that would require computational and multitasking abilities beyond humans.

Technology Description- The Cognatu Ferrum is, in essence, a psychic echo chamber that a sufficiently powerful Psyker can fill with their energy. The energy then forms a semi-sentient echo of the Psyker that acts as the operating system and Intelligence of the Cognatu Ferrum. Hard-Coded limits and rules are built into the actual body of the machine and prevent degradation or insanity.

Physical Description- The actual body of the Cognatu Ferrum is a Land-Raider mass of Crystallized Warp Energy that acts like the brain and central nervous system of the Psi-I. This core is connected to a system of crystalline circuits that run throughout the Bucephalus and connect to all of its systems and allows the Ferrum to control it like a main computer would.

Capabilities- Designed to be a replacement for the hyper-intelligent ASI's of the Federation the Cognatu Ferrum matches its Silica predecessors of a similar Class (Flagship Singularity Core) in both Processing Power and Multitasking capability. It is actually superior in atypical thinking and system orchestration. It can also use limited Psychic abilities to further increase its vessel-hosts Offense and Defensive abilities. (Precognitive Weapon Systems and Kine shield boosted Void Shields)

Limits- The primary weakness of the Psi-I is its heavy reliance on a Psyker constantly feeding it large amounts of Psychic Energy. If this flow is interrupted the Cognatu Ferrum will rapidly start to shut down, with it attempting to ration the remaining energy. Due to being based on a human mind and soul while bound to the Thirteen Asimov-Zuklove Laws it lacks the ability to evolve and advance like a true Artificial Intelligence. For better or worse

Name: Crusade Era Armor Skeletons

Inventor/Manufaturer: Martian Mechanicum and Astartes Legions

Technological Description and Capabilities: The Great Crusade showed the Astartes Legions required weapons and armor beyond even that available to the Legio Armor. Shortly after the unification of Sol, a committee was put together to design a series of "Dreadnought" class power-armor. Headed by Culain Mactursan the X Primarch and counting numerous Mechanicum Magos and Legion Techmarines among its number. This committee combined recovered STC's for Golden Age industrial suits, numerous designs supplied by a number of Primarchs along with schematics used in Martian Knights and Titan designs. Creating three new classes of Power Armor. Terminator armor, designed to be a heavy-duty version of traditional Imperial power-armor. Dreadnought class armor-skeletons, a combination of Golden Age Exo-Skeleton and Albia Steam-Walkers. Lastly is the formidable Dreadknight class armor-skeleton, a heavily modified class of Armiger Knight war suit. Each of these suits was designed to fill a niche in the Astartes armory. Providing different grades of armor and heavy-weapons as needed for situations where normal equipment is not suitable.

Physical Description: Imperial Power Armor is often compared to "a wearable tank." This is not a strictly accurate assessment. It is, however, accurate for Imperial Armor Skeletons. With the adamantium frame and thick ceramite slabs of the suits absorbing all but the worst blows. Massive muscle-fiber bundles and enhanced sensor suites allow for the use of weapons that an Astartes would struggle to lift under normal occasions. Terminator armor being the lowest caliber looks like a simply larger and better-armored version of Imperial Power armor. The difference is greatly expanded in the Dreadnought and Dreadknight class skeletons. With the Dreadnought class resembling a bulky, squat bipedal suit that wraps around an already armored Astartes. Slow and lumbering the Dreadnought can be best described as a vaguely humanoid tank. Dreadknights are heavily based upon Martian Knight walkers and borrow much of the design but with a few notable differences. Dreadknight armor is shaped more accurately to human proportions. Resembling a two-story-tall Astartes in full battle armor. With the piloting battle-brothers inside its armored chest cavity.

Limits: All of the Armor Skeletons share the same basic weakness but to different levels. The Astartes inside suffers a severe loss in mobility in exchange for the extreme strength and durability gained. The Dreadknight avert this slightly, due to the repurposed systems of the Armiger pattern Knight. How-ever its massive size burdens it with new difficulties. Reducing the number of environments it can be effective in and making it an easy target for artillery.

Mech Suits Classes:

Terminator Class: A multipurpose armor-skeleton designed to fulfill any role needing mobile heavy weaponry. Its hardy nature and (relatively) small size allows it wide use on traditional battlefields, or cramped boarding actions or urban combat. Resembling oversized power-armor it is the poster-child of Imperial Armor-Skeletons.

Dreadnought Class: Absurdly heavily armored and equipped with siege-weaponry. The Dreadnought class armor-skeleton is meant to wade into the thickest and messiest parts of a battle. Shrugging off colossal amounts of damage and destroying anything that gets into range. Enhanced life-support systems borrowed from Albia steam-walkers allow Astartes to fight on in this suit despite heavy injuries. This and its numerous redundancies make disabling the suit or its pilot extremely difficult. In times of crisis, this life-support system can be used to allow heavily wounded Astartes to fight when under normal circumstance they should be in a Sus-An coma. This practice is considered taboo and the widespread use of it as an ill omen.

Dreadknight Class: Easily the largest and most powerful class of Armor-Skeleton. The Dreadknight blurs the line between Astartes infantry and Martian Titans. Extraordinarily expensive to produce the Dreadknight armor-skeleton, does not suffer from the nerve-drag and general clumsiness of its sibling suits. A trained operator can use the full range of dexterity, mobility, and technique they could normally use. Only multiplied by the Dreadknights size. The Legion elite who employ this armor-skeleton are used as champion-warriors against high-caliber threats. When deployed the Dreadknights face some of the most dangerous non-titan class foes the Imperium has. Including Greater Daemons, Orkish Warbosses, Aeldari Wraith or Flesh constructs, Rangda Theophages, C'tan Shards, and other force-multipliers that can completely alter a battle.

Name: Lexicanum and Cogitator Cubes

Inventor/Manufacturer: Created in a partnership between the bureaucratic wings of the Adeptus Terra and Adeptus Mars.

Origin of the Lexicanum: The Great Crusade and growing Imperium required more advanced data storage and retrieval methods. In order to deal with the rapidly increasing complexity of Imperial logistics and data. Martian Datalooms and Terran Archives were proving both insufficient. At the command of the Sigillite, the Adeptus Terra and Adeptus Mars worked together to develop a new system. After years of experimentation, the first version of the Lexicanum was developed. Using designs based on Golden Age designs discovered in the Kebira Crater complex, Sigillite Order engram systems, and Martian binary cant. The Lexicanum is an impossibly advanced archival system that is designed to hold the sum total of Mankinds knowledge. A reimagination of the STC and Neurosphere database of the Golden Age. Where the Neurosphere relied on warp based pathways that held the Akasha Library and its Standard Template Archive. The Lexicanum was designed to be entirely material in nature and extremely compartmentalized.

Lexicanum Cogitator Cubes: A key part of this system of data storage was the development of Cogitator Cubes or "Bone-Gems" as they are sometimes called. Martian advancements with fractal coding allowed for the inscription of petabytes of data into a crystalline matric. Allowing the Imperium to create crystals that are infused with a binary cant that is easily translatable with anything from crude las-readers to anyone with knowledge of the language/code/system and a microvisualiser. Systems like this had been tried before but had failed due to silicon corruption from Abominable Intelligence or Warp Predator interference. A Martian Genetor discovered the solution to this issue. Hydroxyapatite, the calcium crystal found in organic bones could be used instead of silicon or carbon crystals. Cloned or naturally sourced human bone could be rendered down and rebuilt as techno-organic Cogitator Cubes. The organic nature and sanctification process used in the creation of these "bone gems" protected them from all but the most extreme Warp Exposure and Abominable Intelligence tampering.

The Lexicanum Database: The limit to the size and storage space of these Cogitator Cubes is theoretically near infinite. Lesser cubes are capable of being assimilated into much larger Macro-Cogitator systems. Then this data can be copied into another Cube or transferred. Leading to the development of massive Data-Vaults across the Imperium where hab-block sized cubes contain sectors worth of information. This data can be easily copied into smaller less impressive cubes as needed. With them ranging from barely visible cogitator-grains, palm-sized personal recorders to the great Ossuary Archive of Mars that is believed to hold the sum total of the Imperiums knowledge. This system of copied and distributed data is linked together as the Lexicanum. With new information transferred and updated across the Imperium in a huge network of intelligence. Armies of cloned psychic brains guided by an Astropathic Choir can be used to transfer the raw binary data of these cubes as needed across the galaxy. These beams of hyper-dense spiritually translated binary traverse the Immaterium as psychic-lasers capable of cutting through minor warp-disturbance. These Lex-Arrays act as a supplementary system to the Astropathic network. Used for the transfer of large quantities of data. More important or smaller amounts of information are transferred by cube to cube audits and Astorpathic Choirs. Imperial worlds and vessels possess large Lexicanum Data-troves that are constantly updated by the resident Tech-Priests. This information is then transferred along with the Worlds Tithe or in ships case. When the vessel docks at an Imperial port. All this information feeds into the massive archival system that forms in a web from the Sol System outwards. Attached to the existing Astropathic relay system. This system of continuous communication and archiving of information makes it so important data ranging from Imperial Laws to STC designs are easily available across the Imperium. Connecting the new galactic human civilization and creating large deposits of information as needed.

Data Rating: Not all information is created equal and the Lexicanum uses two axis to rate it. Making it so every file or "grain" as they are called is rated by its importance and level of security. These two matrixes are rated 1 to 100. With 1 being the least important/classified and 100 being the most. Files are typically marked with a binary marker of some kind and a pair of numbers laying out the data rating. For example "file-name 5:58 Would be a minimum important piece of information that is fairly classified. This system makes it so a Cube can have hundreds of different files but only a portion of them accessible to the public. Requiring an authorization ranging from finger-print to neural scan or more to open the classified ones. The Importance rating is used for deciding the speed a "grain" should be sent. With it being placed in Astropathic queue or Cube-Transferred as needed.

Name- Deep Striker Beacons

Inventor/Manufacturer- Magnus Rubricar and Odafin Vulkan invented with the Mechanicum manufacturing.

Purpose- Single use rapid insertion Teleporter Beacon: Teleportation has long been a dangerous if useful technology. Shooting an object or being through an artificial warp-passage involves innumerable risks. The Deep Striker Beacon was designed to minimize these risks and allows soldiers to be and effectively enter the battlefield. With far greater accuracy and range than a standard Teleportation Homer.

Technological Description: Mixing psionic and material technology the Deep Striker Beacon lets out a psychic pulse on activation. This pulse is uniquely attuned to Imperial Teleportariums and once the pulse comes into contact with a Teleportariums Warp-Core a link is formed. The Teleportarium then responds with its own pulse .these Psychic signals overlap and home in on each other. Forming a stable connection between the two points. Unlike traditional Teleportation that can be described as a bolt of lighting traveling through the Warp, Deep Striker Beacon teleportation is like a fast-moving current through the Warp. It is not nearly unpredictable and can allow for much longer range and accurate transportation.

Physical Description: The current Prototype Beacon is a armored collum about 3/4 a meter in height and 15 centimeters in width. At its base is a deployable grounding spike. Which can be programmed to extend 35 cm on impact. At its top is an interface for cogitar inputs and a Lumen that change from Red when activated, Yellow when a bridge is formed, and Green when a teleportation is occurring. Additional flashing patterns occur when there is an issue.

Capabilities: Where a traditional teleportation homer acts like "lightning rod" for a teleportariums warp-stream and is therefore very inaccurate with short range and prone to mishaps. The Deep Striker Beacon forms a one-way Warp-Current that smooths the passage and allows for a longer distance teleportation. Where orbit to surface Teleportations was a traditional device limit a Deep-Striker Beacon can reach AU's in distance. The stream nature of the connection between Teleportarium and beacon also vastly increases accuracy and virtually eliminates chances of a mishap.

Limits: The major downsides to the Beacon come in a few categories. First is the danger of disruption. If the Beacon is damaged the bridge will be broken, stranding the passenger in the Warp at worst or shooting them into realspace somewhere in the gross vicinity of the beacon at best. Second, the creation and dissolution of this Warp-Current can only be done once due to power and mechanical limitations. Once it is used the Beacon must be reset by a trained Tech-Priest or Marine. Lastly the presence of the beacon itself, Teleportariums can "estimate" without a Homer and can be used to rapidly deploy and end a battle before it even begins. The Deep Strike Beacon requires someone or something to deploy it. Making it a tool of reinforcement and blitzkrieg, not decapitation strikes.

Name: Imperial Warp Gate

Inventor/Manufacturer: Product of Mechanicum intellectual Reclamation projects, with aid from the Navis Nobility and Adeptus Psi.

Origin: In the early years of the Xenocide and Beast Wars the power of the Xeno technology became rapidly apparent. With both enemy species using stable warp-rifts and tunnels to gain a mobility advantage over the Imperium. A group of radical Tech-Priests broached the idea of using these Xeno technologies. With initial studies of Rangda Wormgates and Orkish subspace tunnels showing potential for reverse-engineering. Mechanicum hardliners strenuously objected and political strife threatened the productivity of multiple Forgeworlds. This brief and minor schism came to an end when Adepts of the Adeptus Psi. (Master Adeptus of the Astronomicon, Telepathica, Psykana, League of Black ships and theoretically the Navis Nobility) demonstrated similarities between First Age of Technology Warp Gates found across the Imperium and the Xeno technology. Mechanicum moderates find a compromise and declare the Xeno technology as Heretek based on stolen human inventions. Gaps in understanding of the Warp Gates are filled with reclaimed knowledge and the process to construct new gates is started.

Purpose and Potential: An Imperial Warp Gate is in short a stabilized and secured Warp rift. Providing a controllable entry and exit point for Warp travel. Allowing ships to bypass systems Mandeville points and reduce stress on its Warp Drive. Ensuring faster and more efficient movement of Imperial vessels. Gates typically measure less than a dozen kilometers in diameter. Limiting the size of fleets entering and exiting. By design Imperial Gates are relatively fragile. Capable of being destroyed with well-aimed fire from a single Imperial Cruiser. The production cost for Gates is high and they are only found in the most critical systems to the Imperium. Gates are multipart creations. With a localized macro Warp Drive making up the heart of it. Protected by two-fold Gellar Fields aligned to Anathemic and Chaotic energies respectively. The Anathemic Gellar Field acting as a moat, stopping the Astronimcons Firetide from burning away the Warp rift. The Chaotic Gellar Field creating an area of solidified realspace at the edge of the Rift. Forcing the Rift to form in a controllable space. Linked together the Gellar Fields will both collapse if one is destroyed. Resulting in the moat breaking and a flood of the Emperor's light crashing into the now unstable Warp-rift. This ensuing clash and explosion is capable of banishing most Neverborn and destroying Voidcraft close to the Warp Gate.

Appearance: Gates are composed of a series of interlocking rings set inside each other. With the largest defense ring forming the exterior. Then inside of it is the Anathemic Gellar Rings, Pariah Ring, Chaotic Gellar Ring, and finally the Warp Rift's generator. When not in use the Rings spin at different rates and directions. Protecting the Warp Rift from any rogue entry or exit. When an approved vessel is moving to pass through the Gate. Its component rings align into a single circlet.

Manufacturing: The majority of the materials used in creating Warp Gates are not dissimilar from those found in Star Forts or Orbitals. With a few extremely exotic exceptions. The outer frame and Anathemic Gellar Field require Astral Crystals to function. A potent byproduct of Psykers aligned to the Emperor's power. Slowly generated by the Astronomicon and its Choir. Forming fine golden dust found within the Hollow mountain and connected parts of the Imperial Palace. This dust can also be found in the Chamber of Rebirth on Titan and in the brains of Astropaths and other soulbound Psykers. Gathering enough of it to form the needed Crystals is difficult and demand of them is high. The other rare ingredient is a Pariah substance. Be it negatively charged Blackstone or the remains of Sisters of Silence and Culexus Assassins. While only needed in very small quantities the Pariah substance creates a buffer zone between the two Gellar Fields where the laws of physics are absolute. Psykers passing through Warp Gates may experience a split second of terror and pain due to the Pariah Ring. This can be combated with sedatives or sufficient focus.

Name: Modular Template Design Schema (MTD)

Inventor/Manufacturer: Developed by Forge-World Phaeton with Martian oversight. Now distributed to all compliant military Manufactorum.

Origin: As the Great Crusade expanded outward and new Forge Worlds joined the Imperium or were established. A number of new logistical challenges faced the growing Imperium. Many of them originating in the complexities of uniting disparate Forge Worlds in doctrine. Chief among these was the problem of disparate Patterns. Virtually every Forge-World or Manufactorum brought into the Imperium added new Patterns, pre-existing STC's for specific models of a machine. Centuries of Doctrine and a healthy distaste for experimentation and change prevented Forge Worlds from changing what Patterns they manufactured. Unwilling to produce untested foreign Patterns, or incorporate new manufacturing processes. Resulting in each major Forge World producing equipment that proved incompatible with similar machinery manufactured on a different Forge World. Forcing Crusade Tech-Priests to jury-rig repairs and replacement parts if they were not in contact with the machine origin forge. This undue stress on Imperial logistics along with the inevitable fallout of irate Machine Spirits feeling violated by foreign modifications could not continue. Tech-Priests of Forge World Phaeton developed a solution in modular equipment, which with Mars' blessing quickly spread across the Imperium

Purpose and Potential: Imperial Modular Template Designs is a return to the ancient styles of Dark Age STC's. Stripping different vehicle patterns down to the base hull and making them highly customizable as they were intended to be. Traditional fabrication following STC protocol "prints" a completed vehicle of a specific pattern instead of a modular system. Often with built-in systems and arcane ritual-programs that proved incompatible with other machinery. The Modular Template Design Schema allows a Forge World to mass-produce the frame of a vehicle along with a variety of equipable modules. Ensuring near-universal cross-compatibility of all parts belonging to a specific vehicle class or purpose. An additional perk of this system is the streamlining of Imperial vehicle classifications. With equipment organized on three different levels.

Basic Organization of Imperial Equipment

1. Class - The most basic purpose and hull/frame/blueprint of this piece of equipment. Every class is designed around a general-purpose. Be it Combat Vehicle, Civilian Transport, Star Frigate, Infantry Weapon, etc. The "RH1 N0" or Rhino Craft being a well known Combat Vehicle Class.

2. Model - A sub-class designed for a particular purpose. More specific and specialized than its base class. Many vehicles once considered independent crafts have been folded into the model division. For example, the Predator Tank and Razorback Transport are Models of the Rhino Craft. Taking the base model and equipping it with modules designed for a particular role that differentiates it from the base class.

3. Patterns - The specific loadout and equipment meant for a situation. The preexisting STC patterns are used as a basic guide for loadouts and effective equipment. Examples include the Destructor and Annihilator Predator Tanks which are equipped for different combat situations. Newly discovered Patterns are still very valuable. Providing instructions for new modular loadouts and ways to appease the machine spirits of equipment rebuilt with new modules.

Future Plans: By returning to the pre-Age of Strife modular equipment style the Imperium hopes to ensure stable production and distribution of equipment. Escaping some of the Cargo-Cult tendencies of the Adeptus Mars. While still using the accumulated knowledge and resources of the Forge-Worlds. Another definite benefit of the MTD schema is the broken apart nature of the instructions provided. Instead of providing an exact blueprint for a single Pattern, the MTD gives a less complicated summary of the equipment creation and purpose. Allowing for less reliance on a centralized database like the STC's of old. The Lexicanium is being constantly updated with MTD's and spreading acquired knowledge across the growing Imperium. The new system of Modular design also encourages some level of experimentation and creativity when it comes to constructing and using equipment. Reintroducing lost concepts to the Adeptus Mars in a safe manner acceptable to all but the most hardline Tech-Priests.