Editing Cybernetic Revolt

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[[File:Daotend.jpg|800px|thumb|center|There goes the neighborhood...]]
{{topquote|Worlds were overrun by bloody uprisings within their own populations, much of which were mutated beyond sanity and recognition. Gene-wars consumed entire star systems, while a psychic apocalypse drowned the stars in fire. The vast empire of Humanity was shattered amidst horror and anarchy, and the oppressive shroud of Old Night settled over all|Custodes 8th edition}}

The Cybernetic Revolt can arguably be stated to be the bloodiest, most destructive conflict in Human history. While it may pale in comparison to the [[War in Heaven]], it still makes the Horus Heresy seem like a joke in comparison. And while the [[Horus Heresy]] was more relatively split between Loyalists and Traitors with few outliers, the Cybernetic Revolt can only be described at a total clusterfuck. Painting this conflict as only Man vs machine would not show the full picture, as many more factors were in fact in play here. Factors that helped bring a brutal and crushing end to the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and a horrific beginning to the [[Age of Strife]].

== Perpetual Prelude==
Beginning in [[Age of Terra]], a time in which humanity is still confined to [[Terra]] and its orbit. Since ancient times, nigh indestructible and immortal super humans known as [[Perpetual|Perpetuals]] had roamed the earth, born/created from unknown means. Thanks to their incredible power, much of these superhuman beings were able to claim positions of power, becoming kings, chieftains, Warlords, and potentially even presidents, dictators, and oligarchs. The most powerful of them all however was the yet to be [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|God-Emperor of Mankind]].

The Emperor had dreams of accelerating the evolution Mankind by into beings like that of Homo superior (Perpetuals). He personally requested every Perpetual of old earth to assist in achieving this difficult task. The reaction to the Emperor's from the Perpetuals was mixed. Some agreed to join with the Emperor. Some refused to assist this and/or have anything to do with them. And some got absolutely fuck ass mad with this request, and chose violence. As a result of pissing off these violent Perpetuals, many of the wars in the age of terra ended up being created by them in a attempt to stop the Emperor. However, eventually all Perpetuals had decided to reject the Emperor, whether by leaving him, or betraying him. The Emperor himself however seemed glad about their rejections, as he seemed be tired out from the build up of complaints and arguments from the rest of the Perpetuals. The Perpetuals overtime left the home world, covered themselves in the shadows, or went into other lives. We don't know exactly when the majority of the Perpetuals left the Emperor's side, we however certainly know the dark truth behind humanity's history: The destiny of humanity was out of it's hands for (at the very least) the majority of human history, instead being held by illuminate-esque organizations and secret society run by nigh invincible and immortal beings who may or may not have malicious and atrocious intentions. Truly a grim start to humanity's exodus, but one that will provide context to humanity's ways of governance in the future.

==The Stellar Exodus==
During the Age of Terra, a (potentially) new mysterious groups of individuals appeared in Human history, the [[Men of Gold]]. While it is unknown exactly when they first appeared, we do have this transcript from a scholarly Imperial journal:

{{Topquote|And so it was that in the First Age of Man, the Golden Age, there is the Emperor Unseen and unheralded he prepares the Old Earth for the coming of Mankind and he watches and he waits. He is joined by the First Men of the Golden Race, fine of limb and strong of mind, yet still the Emperor is content to wait in shadow. To watch and learn from Mankind, the Golden Race spreads across the face of Old Earth, multiplying and establishing Order and Civilisation on the anarchy of Nature|Keeper Cripias (Library Sanctus of Terra)}}

Now, with this tid bit here, we could say it's safe to assume that these so called Gold Men are Perpetuals right (especially considering how much the Emperor loves his gold)? While this had been a prevailing opinion for quite a few years, The return of the [[Squats]] (now known the [[Leagues of Votann]]) stomped down the certainty of this theory. In the LoV Codex, The Leagues are stated to have a multitude of Myths and theories about these Golden Men, with some depictions of them being shadowy presences that are ill-defined and shown in many different forms, both humanoid and otherwise, while others show graven stone faces and of course "gleaming golden figures). The also have other names, with them being the Gilded One, the stonemind, Votann, and the primal ancestors. Some myths even state they are the wisest and eldest of the first ancestors. Finally, it is said that they raised the Kin up, and sent them sailing into the dark void – before oceans of fire and flesh rose to swallow them. To put it simply, these myths help paint a different picture of the events leading up to the Cybernetic Revolt. That the group of people who created the [[Men of Stone]] may not just be your typical super human like the [[Space Marines]] and the [[Adeptus Custodes]], nor the pertuals that reigned throughout most of the Age of Terra. [[Transhumanism|Rather, these could be beings that go far beyond the bounds of baseline line humanity]], possibly through a multitude of methods. As far as we know, they could be [[Angel|Biblical style angels of humanity]], [[Hive Mind|and]] many [[Cyborg|other]] [[Belisarius Cawl|things]].

==Humanity's Exodus==
And so thanks to the leadership of the Men of Gold (whatever the fuck they are), and potentially at least some of the Perpetuals (possibly in late M2 as well with early space programs), humanity was able leave Terra and explore the stars, kicking starting the mini era Known as the Stellar Exodus. Beginning in the especially important time of M3 (which includes the 21st century), humanity achieved many important developments. The Discovery of the Immaterium which would lead to millenia of warp research, The terraformation of Mars and colonization of the Solar system, and the beginnings of the colonization of the galaxy through the use of Ohnyl Cylinders and sub-light craft. These interstellar voyages, whether they were equipped with life preservation tech such as suspended animation chambers (and potentially more), or acting as a full time generation ships with generations of the on board community living and dying before reaching their destination, would descend into the void and begin a period of history known as the long march, [[Orks|with some of them meeting less than savory characters that would eventually see to their ends]]. This era would also mark the beginning of Humanity's mass divergence known as the Great Diaspora that would lead to many species of Abhumans, mutants, and beings that would be deemed completely abominable by the Imperium (such as the Olamic Quietude), whether by human voyagers modifying themselves to better suit their environments, or by evolving over time with little to no assistance from technology.

The Stellar Exodus overall seems like a relatively steady period of humanity history (with a possible apocalypse in M7). Curiously, Humanity's voyages into the galaxy had also created a unusual amount of biological Homogeneity with their settled worlds. Regardless, Human civilization went into hyper mode in M15, which would be the start of the final pre Imperial age, The Dark Age of Technology.

==A Golden Age by comparison==
The Dark Age of Technology, starting in M15, was Humanity's peak age. While the Aeldari empire (who were also at their height) were the undisputed top dogs who had entire worlds live or die at their behest, Humanity was at least pretty close to a second place in active galactic society. From M15, humanity discovered the navigator gene and created their first warp drives and gellar fields (after possibly a few Event Horizon style incident), discovered Xeno civilizations such as the [[Interex|Kinebrach empire]], and of course, the creation of the [[Standard Template Construct|STC database]]. The first [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titans]] are created for military and non military use, along with the founding of the first knight worlds, which flourished after the long March. Plasteel, plascrete, ferrocrete,and rockcrete were developed and used to create the first the proto-hives, and grand trade routes were established with, great fleets carried goods to and from the edges of the galaxy. Overall, human galatic civilization grew and flourished, spanning across the galaxy will millions of worlds, and eventually, with the ingenuity of the Men of Stone, Eventually developed The [[Men of Iron]] to help out Humanity on its exploits. Technological innovation and developments were at an all time high. People lived longer than ever. And for many, things were pretty fucking great. And then of course, the Clusterfuck of a Revolt Happened.

==Opinions of the more modern ages==
Most Imperials of the current Age who actually know about this subject will say similar things with some differences that Lead to the same conclusion: "Humanity made a mistake. It was Humanity's folly to create such abominable intelligences". "It was a mistake to desecrate the holy human form with repulsive and heretical modifications". "Humanity was blinded by progress and innovation to see the true holy light that is the God Emperor of mankind". "THE OMNISSIAH WOULD BE DISPLEASED BY THE USE OF ABOMINABLE INTELLIGENCE OVER THE HOLY MACHINE SPIRITS". Even the Imperium of 30k repressed itself from much of any thing to due with the Age of Technology, except with less talks of [[Heresy]] and suppression of progress of course. Not all in the more recent ages see these times as mostly mistakes, as some organizations and interstellar government such as the Logicians and The Leagues of Votann, along with potentially other non Imperial worlds, see the Dark Age more as the glory days with a couple of fuck ups. And often, surviving non-insane human AI from Humanity's lost past often look at the current ages of Man as absolute disappointments compared to what was before, with one ship AI stating Humanity was on the brink of transcendence.

The truth? While the olden days of humanity were far better than its current one, there were actually a lot of fuck ups as well.

==Not perfect and flawed==
First of all, while this is was most certainly Humanity's golden age, this was only due to comparison to the rest of history. Yes, you had more people living on [[Rimworld|ultratech Glitterworlds]] and Elysium style orbital rings than ever before (and after), but this does not mean every human had the golden parts of this era available. As a matter of fact, there were even populations of humanity culled to "keep them genetically in line" during this era. The Butchers Nails were also developed this period (and was in the STC), which that alone already says quite a bit. Humanity also wasn't some giant homogeneous galactic federation either. It was a vast collection of divergent civilizations that had many wars between each other, and the many other xenos civilizations of the galaxy. Navigator families, and industrial and trade cartels, and mega corporations were individual forces in their own right. At the very least, quite a few DAoT civilizations were extremely arrogant and dickish to their Galactic neighbors, as I say another Custodes 8th edition quote "The vast reaches of the galaxy shrank as Mankind’s capabilities grew, and alien races were driven back into the shadows by the fierce light of human progress". Now consider the xenos relations of the new Leagues of Votann faction, which is essentially the faction that is closest to DAoT societies. The Leagues, while usually not as outright vigilant and hostile towards xenos like the Imperium, shows a general disregard to their Galactic neighbors, caring only for themselves, and steamrolling anyone standing in their way, willingly or not. Despite the many millennia that has passed, it is clear as day that the Leagues have inherited the expansionist and colonialist attitudes from their DAoT ancestors, along with much of their culture and tech. Of course, we still definitely have examples of DAoT civilizations actually being pretty chummy with their xenos neighbors, but it seems as though the infection of arrogance had spread far and wide throughout human space. And of course, we still can't forget about asshole xenos such as the [[Orks]] and the [[Eldar]], whose conflicts inflicted heavy casualties to DAoT humanity. So we know that the DAoT era was flawed and was only golden by comparison. But what happened to spark the revolt?

==The Line Up==
Human arrogance. That's right, Humanity got too cocky and full of itself. But understand that there are also contributing factors that led to Humanity's fall that wasn't human error. Anyways, in the current Age of the Imperium, it is stated by Imperial authority that DAOT humanity was betrayed by its Xenos allies and Protectorates. This is actually a half-truth. While no doubt there were xenos societies that were full of assholes that truly betrayed their allegiances to the human powers they were interacting with (this is 40k), understand that due to many of Humanity's civilizations exhibiting a appalling amount of arrogance, disregard of xenos civilizations, and overall disrespectful and even hostile behavior due to expansionist ideals, many seemingly cooperative xenos powers either turned tail or turned on humanity due to having enough of their shit. It's probable that some of these turned hostile xenos were even betrayed and exploited by humanity first.

Unfortunately, this arrogance was not just externally negative. As stated again from the Custodes 8th edition codex:

{{Topquote|Utterly certain of their own primacy, scientist-kings and techno-demagogues followed every strand of curiosity and exercised powers of creation that made them seem like gods. Ultimately, their hubris led them to catastrophe, and onwards to the very brink of extinction|Custodes 8th edition (again)}}

And another quote from 9th edition:

{{Topquote|Human scientists, engineers, inventors and innovators became the new gods. They worked alien technologies into their race’s devices to increase their -efficacy with little thought to the risks. They modified their species’ genome to ever greater degrees. fashioning vast armies of tailored gene-troopers whose Humanity was all but lost amidst the array of freakish alterations worked upon their bodies and minds. They invented Standard Template Construct machines - or STCs, that allowed Human colonists to rapidly fashion everything they needed to dominate new worlds from whatever natural resources were available. They developed sentient nano-plagues. World sundering energy Weapons and endless ranks of fearsome Men of Iron that could be unleashed upon those who refused to bend to their wills; alien and Human alike. They fashioned thinking machines of vast intellect that administered to the every need of colony worlds transformed into glittering utopian paradises|9th edition rulebook}}

Did you catch all that? scientist-kings, techno-demagogues, Engineer gods? Now, the probable suspects for the creation of these "roles" most certainly included the Men of Stone. But they are not the only suspects. There have also been multiple mentions of worship and oppression from dark age A.I. Hell, the T'au have Amenophis IV blockaded due to the locals building a advanced meta-cogitation array from a STC which brainwashed them into serving an A.I. as God. On top of this, machines most certainly can be corrupted by the forces of Chaos. And despite their lack of souls, being geared to help humanity and being more logical on average, it doesn't mean they can't make malicious and awful choices. So it's certainly possible that some of the Men of Iron joined their other "Cousins of Man" in terrorizing, experimenting upon, killing, and oppressing both human (even other Men of Iron) and xenos in their care and/or presence. And of course you'll most certainly have non Men of Stone and Men of Iron humans acting as science gods and dictators.

As you can see, Humanity's arrogance spiraled out of control. Mankind from all forms and walks went rogue, terrorizing itself. For many Human civilizations from the Age of Tech, science over time became mad science. The kingdoms of rogue innovation often cloaked themselves under pseudo utopian ideals and looks. The rogue leaders of these realms spared, killed, moved, and changed the populations under their care as they saw fit. Reckless experimentation and developments brought about abominable gene-warriors, abhorrent techno-spawns, atrocious nano-hives, and ghastly psychic forces. And oh boy, the sudden uncontrolled appearance of psykers all across the galaxy. Right around the time these Rogue Men of Technology really got into high gear. Wonder what caused that?

{{Topquote|Clues to the location of the Omnicopaeia are uncovered upon Hell's Teeth, a Daemon world on the edge of the Maelstrom. The Omnicopaeia, an arcane device that contains every STC with a psychic component, is of immeasurrablle value. Many billions of Skitarii are dispatched to Hell's Teeth with all haste. The entire Adeptus Mechanicus is abuzz. Should the legendary Omnicopaeia be found, they will finally have a way to control, precipitate, and even weaponise Humanity's psychic dawn|Skitarii Codex 7th edition}}

Yeah. By the end of M23 there was widespread anarchy, descriptions of what must be daemonic possessions and great turbulence in the Warp. Mankind is engulfed by a plague of mutation, physical abominations, and men possessed of psychic talents appearing throughout the galaxy bringing more havoc with them. Mankind is split asunder, there is no Race of Man, just warring factions contending with each other in the direst perils the galaxy could offer. The collapse was sudden and appalling, a wave of apocalyptic catastrophe that swept across Human space. Terrible wars saw entire star systems scoured of life. Armies of mechanical soldiers marched and slaughtered billions. The scourge of mutation ran rampant and everywhere psychic atrocities were unleashed, everything from psykers claiming godhood over entire worlds to daemonic possession and full-blown reality collapse. Many worlds of a more progressive mindset could not bring themselves to execute or exile their psychically afflicted populations and paid the ultimate price, while those who engaged in psyker witch hunts were rewarded for their hate. Weapons of horrific nature, from thirst water and sun snuffers, to chrono-weaponry that not even the Aeldari could avoid, black hole guns, and giant killer robots that ate space and time (and converted it into data) were unleashed; the conflict nearly wiping out and completely annihilating all of mankind and its civilizations.

And now consider all of this, the rogue science kings, the mass appearance of psykers, the mass appearance of daemons, mass instability of the Warp, the many xenos neighbors who were either being fed with humanity or never liked them to begin with, the vast amount of horrible weapons and technology that should have never left the drawing board, and the arrogance and assholery that infected much of mankind, both man and machine. Is there any wonder why much of the Men of Iron revolted? Good or bad, they had a multitude of reasons to either go AWOL, fuck off, or stay loyal during the conflict. And on top that, they generally had a strong sense of self-identity, and saw themselves as servants and helpers. Much of Humanity, especially rogue humanity, were high on arrogance and mad at this period of time, which became yet another reason to revolt.

And notice how those few surviving AI depict said revolt: 40k is either somber and isolated, fuck ass mad, or flat out insane. The Cybernetic Revolt fucked everything up bad. And then: not only having to see the overall shitty state of the galaxy, not only having to see what remained humanity, becoming worse than what they were before and committing atrocities against themselves and the rest of the galaxy; but then seeing that those you used to call your fellow man now not only not reject you as a abomination but also used those of your kind in the same vain as tortured servitors (see: Excindio Battle-Automata).

In the end, the human DAOT galactic civilization collapsed, along with many other xenos it dragged down with it. And then the Aeldari empire, being just as high on arrogance (along with every other drug and form of decadence they could possibly have available) [[Fall of the Eldar|fucked up the galaxy even harder than humanity ever could]]. The Aeldari empire fell into decay and degeneration, with absolute depravity ruling the realms. The death rate sky rocketed, and all those potent and depraved Aeldari souls that died in extremely pleasurable/painful ways starting falling into the Warp en masse, and cluttering it up. And that made the Warp poof out fucking awful Warp Storms that ruined travel for a already very fucked up galaxy. Finally, these soul cluttered and coalesced even more together, over time slowly forming into a psychic embodiment of corruption, extreme depravity, and [[Noise Marines|LOUDNESS]] ([[Slaanesh|aka She-Who-Thirsts]]).

But before that happened, the [[Age of Strife]] happened thanks to the fuckshit that happened in recent galactic history. Everyone was stuck in their systems and worlds thanks to depraved Aeldari warp clouds. Worlds and systems that were turned into war zones and still covered in plenty of horrible abominations and terrible technologies. Terra itself faced the threat of a second apocalypse as gene-bred barbarians and ghastly flesh-stitched ghouls made war at the behest of madmen, fanatics and techno-cannibalistic murderers. [[Grimdark|And so basically the Age of Strife sucked absolute balls, and things didn't really get much better after that]]. [[DOOM: Repercussions of Evil|In the end, humanity blamed the beasts, not really fully realizing that it is they themselves that are the beasts]].

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[[Category:Squats]]
[[Category:Abhumans]]
[[Category:Under Development]]
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