Black Armory

The **Black Armories** are an ancient and secret set of ancient Jovian Mechanicum weapon caches, and foundries founded during the later years of the Golden Age of Technology. These ancient technology schematics, and venerable SDT fragments designed and created by the Mechanicum are of the highest quality and are therefore their venerated archeotech is highly sought after by human techno-archeologists.

## History

### Ancient History

According to ancient Jovian remembrance codices, the teachings of the Vixite Mechanicum are older than most modern religions and dogma of the 90th Millennium, and are thus likely several tens of millennia old. The Mechanicum have presumably always believed in a monotheistic belief system whereby technological and scientific progress helps them get closer to their Machine god.

Since the Mechanicum is this ancient, it is possible that their technological creations have inspired the belief systems of the modern Elkiedai Houses, and the Aularite Sovereignty as well as the pseudo-supernatural tenets of these beliefs, which the Mechanicus do not wholly believe in. However at some point these Jovian Beliefs evidently operated as far away as the fringe star systems of humanities Golden Age, long before the great decline of the Dark Age of Humanity as remnant archeotech can still be found in the dark reaches of humanities old Empire.

In time, the Black Armories would be founded in the tail end of the Golden Age of Technology by multiple secular factions of this ancient Vixite Mechanicum; each bringing elements of their native heritage to the many designs of the Armories. Modern day Mechanicum skeptics are known to speculate that these ancient leaders had some idea of the oncoming Dark Age of Mankind, and in their collective wisdom agreed to manufacture and stockpile advanced weapon technologies and technological advancements to ensure survival of humanities technological development at that point.

The Ancient Mechanicum would construct several thousands of these vaults containing their accumulated knowledge and inventions scattered around human conquered space within the human empire of the known universe. Each vault would reserve an order of militant gatekeepers. However, even with their best precautions many of the Armory's failed when the actual Collapse started; the superior weaponry of the gatekeepers militant often providing little protection against xenos onslaught, or the Armories simply failing due to the ravages of time. And after sustained attacks or loss of resources, the gatekeepers simply had to abandon their stations and leave their Armories behind.

However, the United Aularite Sovereignty, led by the Rei'kharch Vycter Alexand during the middle years of the 61st Millennium found one of these ancient Jovian vaults, killed the automated gatekeepers, and stole the secrets held within. The war machines the Sovereignty produced with this stolen knowledge were perversions and mockeries of the religious sect's work, and allowed the Sovereignty to succeed in their Religious War with the abhumans of the Elkiedai known to the Imperium as the *'Diverge'* during their Second Aularan Expansion Crusade. Even after these bloody conflicts, Aularite research into the Vixite technology continued in Sovereign Labs such as the research moons of the Kahltehk Engineering Syndicate used to create and or reverse-engineer new weapons and technologies.

In addition, many Black Armories possessed large Vaults which contained a large number of their weapons. To prevent their weapons from being misused, the ancient Vixite Mechanicum went to great lengths to ensure their secrecy.

One extraordinary fact about the ancient Vixite Mechanicum is the invention of sophisticated technologies such as anti-grav world engines, directed-energy weaponry, planetary terraforming technology, and mind-control devices that became staples of the Vix Mechanicum during the Golden Age of Technology. A prime example is the vault on Zichi M which contains research on anti-gravity, and Dreadnought Power Armor technology. Despite a good amount of their technology and SDT constructs having fallen into the hands of a myriad of forces, the Mechanicums advanced technologies still can resist the enemies of the Imperium Dominus.

## List of Known Black Armories

The Mechanicum has Armories located in various parts of the Known Universe, with the intention of stockpiling legendary technology by its founders.

* **The Fedolosich Armory** – Located within the Proxima Borealus on the world of Nasuter, it would be claimed by the Aularan Sovereignty in the tail end of the Second Aularan Expansion Crusade.
* **The Supharth Armory** - Located within the Proxima Borealus on the world of Yudaerus, it would be claimed by the Aularan Sovereignty in the 85th Millennium wherein ancient Power Armor technologies would be captured by the Sovereignty.
* **The** **Zuhavio Armory** – Located within the Proxima Occidenta and was secured by The Thorcennae Enclaves. The small moon sized armory would be retroactively converted and later erected aboard the Ketch Kin-Ship of the House of Crowns known as the Twin Exodus.
* **The** **Betatain Armory** – Located within the Proxima Occidenta, it would be secured for the Imperium Dominus by the XIIth Legion during the opening years of the Great Crusade.
* **The** **Ceard Armory** – Located upon the world of Lesothwyn, it would be secured solely by the Luminarch Shaka Jubari Mulciber during his youth, and would become a boon for the Vth Legion of the Iron Asha’karii.
* **The** **Ivisadus Armory** –
* **The Thrensode Armory** –