Warhammer Warhammer General discussion thread: Now with 100% more Space Marines
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Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
Got more of a fanfic idea coming up here.
Shared it before, but have since expanded on it and am a bit more "serious" about fleshing it out now, so if anyone has any suggestions or references I should consult before writing proper, I'd greatly appreciate that.
Otherwise, a Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to come! 🥳
Shared it before, but have since expanded on it and am a bit more "serious" about fleshing it out now, so if anyone has any suggestions or references I should consult before writing proper, I'd greatly appreciate that.
- I first floated the idea here, but to elaborate on it somewhat: My fanfic draws on the notion of sentient emotions and beliefs giving rise to deities in the Warp that come to embody them, as is the case with the Imperial Cult sustaining the Emperor of Mankind or the turbulent state of the Galaxy fueling the Dark Gods of Chaos. However, my interest lies in the other, more “theoretical” beings who’d arise from this — namely, the Machine God so fervently worshipped by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
- The Adeptus Mechanicus is as old as the Imperium itself — and their faith even older, what with the Tech-Priests of Mars practicing the Cult Mechanicus before the Emperor came along and conscripted them to his cause in exchange for being allowed to retain their faith. At present, there exists an uneasy syncretism between the Imperial Cult and the Cult Mechanicus. However, even ignoring the Tech-Priests’ continued reverence for the Machine God (and the Emperor as more of a “Machine Jesus”), the ubiquitous (if not enthusiastic or innovation-happy) use of technology and pervasive belief in Machine Spirits throughout the Imperium provides a basis for a new, long-gestating Warp God to finally awaken.
- Come the 42nd Millennium, and Psykers and Tech-Priests across the Galaxy sense a “thunderclap” of psychic energy as what began as occasional sightings of new “machine daemons” and skirmishes with elusive, but technologically advanced warships of similar design becomes an onslaught when a host of new Warp Storms open. A new player has entered the Great Game, and when the Fabricator-General of Mars renounces the Emperor as a “False Omnissiah” and pledges fealty to the newest God of the Warp, so, too, does most of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A Second Schism is now underway, but the reign of Deus Machinarum — the “God of the Machines” — has only just begun.
- Despite its recent emergence, the Machine God of the Warp is known by many titles: Deus Machinarum, the Great Gear, the Machine in the Warp, the Omnicog, the Orthodox Omnissiah, and a hundred-thousand other epithets spoken by Tech-Priest and Heretek alike across the Galaxy. As these name imply, it is the Warp God of machines and technology — ranging from simple mechanisms like gears and pulleys, to Dark Age marvels like STC constructs and Men of Iron. It also claims domain over the various disciplines that led to their invention, with the areas of mathematics, engineering, and scientific discovery and innovation falling under its sway — much to the alarm and paralyzing panic of Imperials, Mechanicus loyalists, and neutral tinkerers the Galaxy over.
- Like its rival deities, the Machine God has its own residence in the Warp that reflects and gives visual quality to the areas in which it claims domain. It dwells in the middle of the Foundry-Scape, an endless expanse of factories, power plants, and giant gears whose size and productive capacity put the likes of Mars to utter and fatal shame. But much like the Forge Worlds (who are but pale imitations reserved for the Great Gear’s mortal servants), its assembly lines work ’round the clock to mass-produce armies of mechanical daemons — known as “Warpbots” — who act as the Machine God’s disciples and foot soldiers in the Materium, and are easily a match for the Necrons and their C’tan Shard superweapons in direct combat. Indeed, many have noted the Warpbots’ strange resemblance to the long-defunct Men of Iron of ages past, with some going so far as to theorize that even before fully awakening, the Machine God had unconsciously triggered the Cybernetic Revolt that saw mankind’s machines turn on them and resulted in the outlawing of Abominable Intelligence throughout the Galaxy. In any case, it remains a theory for now, though many fear the fully awakened Machine in the Warp may come to perform similar feats of technological terror than that as the 42nd Millennium rages on.
- Even though it lacks a physical form or appearance comprehensible to mortal minds, the Machine God is best visualized as a colossal mass of gears and sprockets held together by metal beams and dotted by computer terminals, conveyor belts, and mechanical tendrils that flow out from its body. In the middle of its gargantuan central cog is a single red eye that focuses in and out on whatever the Machine God has turned its gaze to, much to the consternation of beings on the receiving end. In short, imagine it as a roughly planet-sized Klingklang with a color scheme of Martian gold, red, and rusted grayish-brown — as well as numerous other machines attached and appended to its physique — and that is the Machine God, dubious visual qualities as a Warp entity notwithstanding.
- While its emergence was felt by all and its role to play in galactic affairs profound, the Machine God’s reception throughout the Materium has been mixed. Its most obvious devotees include the bulk of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who have defected from the Imperium and pledged themselves to the newly emergent Machine in the Warp. Unfortunately, this has produced a Second Schism on a scale not seen since the Horus Heresy, which — as cribbed from some ideas put forth by @Bassoe right here — has split it into an Orthodox Mechanicus loyal to the Great Gear, an Imperial Mechanicus that remains loyal to the Emperor, and a Draconic Mechanicus that venerates the recently awakened Void Dragon of Mars, now in direct competition with the Machine in the Warp for the title of “True Machine God”. More schismatic still are the numerous “heterodox” cults in the margins, ranging from a minority that believes the true Machine God is neither a C’tan nor a Warp deity, to sects of the Dark Mechanicus who seek to create their own “Dark Omnissiah” in the Warp to act as the Chaotic rival to the Orthodox Omnissiah in much the same way as Unicron is the equal and opposite of his brother Primus in the Transformers franchise.
- However, for all the “mixed” reception the Machine God has received in the Materium, it pales compared to the dissonant reactions it has received in the Warp. Chief amongst these is the Dark Gods of Chaos, who fear the newest arrival as an all-too-powerful interloper and Second Great Force for Order alongside their longstanding archnemesis, the Emperor of Mankind. The Machine God has caused them considerable trouble on the ground, as well, what with the mass-conversion of Chaotic Tech-Priests to the Orthodox Omnissiah and resultant “Scrapcode Wars” in which Chaotic machinery (such as Daemon Engines) has become increasingly vulnerable to “disinfectant cleansing” by the Great Gear, turning them from disturbed demonic constructs into well-oiled mechanical wonders used by the Orthodox Mechanicus. Its relations with more “material” gods fare no better, as the Void Dragon — once the “original” Machine God whom the originators of the Cult Mechanicus mistook for divine and made their god of choice — must now compete with the Machine in the Warp for followers, with the consequent clashes between the Orthodox and Draconic Mechanicus — as well as Imperial Mechanicus loyalists — proving especially fiery and baleful. But perhaps most ominous of all are the tiny, but growing sects of the Dark Mechanicus who’ve drawn twisted inspiration from the emergence of an “orthodox” Machine God and seek to create one of their own as their Chaotic rival in the Warp — laying the groundwork for the emergence of a Fifth Chaos God who, if born, will unleash a galaxy-spanning, techno-theological apocalypse to make the Horus Heresy, Age of Strife, and War in Heaven look insignificant in scale.
- This is what the Coming of Deus Machinarum hath wrought. And as the Galaxy is wracked to its very core by the Second Schism, endless Warpbot incursions, and the arrival of the Orthodox Omnissiah in the 42nd Millennium, an age-old adage becomes more relevant than ever: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.”
Otherwise, a Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to come! 🥳
Bassoe
Well-known member
What does the Emperor think of all this? Just another chaos god? Continuing the realpolitik alliance He'd already made with with the human-led Mechanicum because the Imperium would collapse immediately without production capacities?
Also a possibility, Vulkan's engineering skills letting him return as a daemon prince and prophet of the Omnissiah.
Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
I'd prefer to keep that vague for now, though there are certainly competing "theories" as to what Big E thinks — many of them products of "heretical" scholarship, if you know what I mean.
On the one hand, He's probably not enthused about the emergence of a competing god who's drawn most of the Mechanicus away and is the literal epicenter of a Second Schism threatening to snap the Imperium's learned backbone into two — or perhaps, three, since the Draconic Mechanicus is also a force to be reckoned with now.
But on the other, the Orthodox Omnissiah could be another force for Order in the Galaxy, given its mechanistic, computational, even anti-Chaotic nature and the various setbacks it has set into motion for Chaos. Indeed, I'd say the Machine in the Warp's value system matches up decently with Big E's, though what the Great Gear itself thinks of the Emperor remains a mystery. Ultimately, I think He'd approach Deus Machinarum cautiously, knowing that He could just as easily be an ally as he could be a new enemy, depending on how things roll out.
Cool suggestion, thanks. May or may not use something like that, if you're okay with it — though you've also given me another idea for what happens if the Emperor and Machine God reach an "understanding" of sorts.
- Perhaps the Emperor of Mankind, who's been observing the Great Gear with a mix of apprehension and curiosity, reaches out and has — for lack of a better description still comprehensible to mortal minds — something of a "chat" with Them over their goals, values, and prospects for building a Galaxy based on science, reason, and Order above all else once the Gods of Chaos have been vanquished.
- While by no means a sure thing, the "ideal scenario" is that they come to an agreement and establish a "Concord of Order" in which the forces of the Imperium, the Machine God, and the Orthodox Mechanicus become the Western Allies to Chaos's Axis Powers. Shared goals, compatible value systems, mutual aid, and inter-group cordiality — but not unity under one political system, and still a decent amount of jockeying and relatively bloodless rivalry between different higher-ups behind the scenes.
- Vulkan, as you suggested, could easily return as a Daemon Prince of the Orthodox Omnissiah, lending a hand to the besieged Imperium and fighting alongside his brother once again in a final push to close the Eye of Terror and crush Chaos for good.
- But I've also considered an even more epic scenario than that, in which the Gods of Order themselves work together instead of "only" through their servants or alliances of convenience. It's a long shot and unlikely to receive clearance from Guilliman or other Imperial higher-ups, but should they receive the green light, perhaps the Orthodox Mechanicus can — with the aid of Deus Machinarum, mind you — safely remove the Emperor's corpse from the Golden Throne and place it into a cybernetic mech-suit, somewhat akin to how Darth Vader got his life-sustaining armor.
- Even if not that, giving Big E a mechanical, psychically decked-out body for his soul to possess would still be groundbreaking, since it'd enable Him to both walk about in the Materium and communicate directly with others, while simultaneously remaining a Warp God whose home base is now the Empryean. In any case, the Dark Gods' worst fears have now been realized, though judging by the progress the Dark Mechanicus has made on their own "secret weapon", something tells me the worst that the 42nd Millennium has to offer is yet to come...
But anyway, let me know what you think. Like I said, it's overly "idealistic" and by no means guaranteed to be how the actual fic pans out.
That said, I think my base idea would certainly make for an interesting 10th Edition, even if the odds of Games Worship incorporating (or at least, "adapting") it are nil — to your and my chagrin both.
Bassoe
Well-known member
Just wanna’ leave these here…
Otherwise, have a Very Merry Christmas! 🎄
While we’re at it…
Aldarion
Neoreactionary Monarchist
Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
I prefer this package:
Well, it's definitely not as "wholesome" — though I suppose that's kind of the point, when it comes to all things 40K. 🤷♂️
I eat a bowl every morning!I prefer this package:
Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
No! Get your own bowl!
