40K Lore: The Humble Servitor, Backbone Of The Imperium
Today Loremasters, we look at the very backbone of the Imperium Itself. The humble servitor–yes, whether armed to the teeth, transporting lancers, or carrying out some other mindless, menial task with machine-like precision, the humble servitor holds up the Imperium.
Many of you may be thinking, surely the backbone of the Imperium is the noble men and women who are its citizens. Well you’d be so laughably wrong it’s embarassing, Loremasters, so today we’re here to correct your opinion. Consider the average Chaos Cultist–from whose ranks are they drawn?
That’s right the average Imperial Citizen. The average Imperial Citizen requires millions of lives to be spent to keep them safe and sane and happy. Gluttonous and bloodthirsty, given to petty violence, criminality, or even poverty–which may be the most egregious offense–the average Imperial Citizen is a disaster waiting to happen. They’re one dark rite from betraying the Emperor.
No, far superior to them in loyalty, and of far more import are the ones who carry out the labor that enables the loyal heroes of the Adeptus Astartes or the powerful, cybernetic soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus, or the battle-hardened sisters of the Sororitas to do their work. By performing tasks that are too menial and dangerous for these, they accomplish far more good in the galaxy than any great Imperial Hero could hope to. So in honor of these humble servants, whose self-sacrifice is an example to us all, let us examine the Servitor.
Servitors are mindless drones of flesh and metal used to carry out simple, manual tasks. They are one of the few tolerated forms of robotics tolerated in the Imperium as they are simply surgically enhanced cyborgs, not true artificial intelligence.
And classified as such, there’s certainly no way that a servitor could go haywire. How many times have you heard of damage being caused by a malfunctioning servitor? It never* happens. Perfect blends of machine and man, this is perhaps the best way to live in the Imperium. Even criminals find themselves reformed when given Servitude Imperpituis.
While many are vat-grown, often a criminal, particularly one who has offended the Cult Mechanicus, will be sentenced to “Servitude Imperpituis” and will be handed over to the Tech-priests to be mind-wiped, reprogrammed, and cybernetically-enhanced to serve some specific, rudimentary function. Servitors are mindless, possessing only the most basic of instincts. Their brains are programmed to perform only the task they were designed for. The altered and fragmented brain of a Servitor functions poorly unless constantly supervised. Most will go into a state of mindlock, babbling incoherent nonsense as the Servitor tries to assert some form of awareness.
Servitors are often used to carry out the more dangerous or labourous duties, such as heavy mining. They also accompany Tech-priest Enginseers on the battlefield with the Imperial Guard, as well as Space Marine Techmarines. These types aid in the repair of vehicles or sometimes carry large and dangerous weapons such as plasma cannons. For both forces, the Servitors are practically identical cybernetically, although the servitors of some Space Marine Chapters are created from failed Marine Initiates. Perhaps the most feared of all the Servitors are the Praetorian Servitors, a class of heavily armed and armoured Servitor deployed by the Adeptus Mechanicus to guard the Tech-priests and temples dedicated to the Machine God.
Little wonder then that the Imperium stands strong, because the cybernetically enhanced spines of the Servitor are the foundation upon which the rest of our civilization is built. So remember that, should you find yourself approached by members of the Adeptus Mechanicus–to be a Servitor is to be of the most use.
Considering that, if any of you wish to volunteer for servitude imperpetuis, the Adpetus Mechanicus are recruiting today.
