Princeps

Por orden de su Santísima Majestad, el Dios-Emperador de Terra. La Sagrada Inquisición declara este artículo En Construcción por Adeptus Hispanus. Si encuentra algún problema o falta de devoción por su parte, notifíquelo, un acólito del Ordo Hereticus estará encantado de investigarlo.

Plantilla:MascotaGuardiaPatrocina

Un Princeps (pl. Princeps) es un veterano oficial en la dirección de una de de las masivas maquinas Imperiales o Caoticas de guerra conocidas como Titanes, y todo en estas maquinas, ya sea servidores, servocraneos y tecnoadeptos por igual, esta subordinado a el. El Princeps es un hombre o mujer con una exepcional fortaleza mental, que se requiere para entrar en una unión mental con un Titán y mantener su cordura intacta en medio del espíritu feroz de destrucción alojado dentro del casco adamantium del Titán. A pesar de que pertenecen a la jerarquía militar separada (su Legión de Titanes y el Collegia Titanica, los princeps forman parte del Culto Mechanicus, y como tal obedecen órdenes del poderoso Adeptus Mechanicus Magi, que comandan el poder de las Legiones de Titanes y son capaces de dar directamente órdenes y a decidir sus tareas.

El princeps ejerce control sobre su máquina de guerra por medio de una unidad de Impulso Mental - un dispositivo de entrada de los nervios tecnológicamente complejo, que permite una conexión cibernética entre la mente humana y el espíritu máquina de un titán, y la capacidad de imponer su voluntad sobre este. Para establecer el vínculo entre el Espíritu máquina y la mente humana requiere que los Princeps se someten a una amplia cirugia cibernética de su sistema nervioso central, ya sea mediante la aceptación de la implantación de un varios implantes cibernéticos en la parte posterior del cuello y el cráneo, una serie de los implantes en la columna vertebral que permiten la conexión de la MIU a la médula espinal o sepultura incluso sometido en un tanque amniótico con grandes partes del cuerpo reconectados para dar cabida a la interacción con los nervios cibernéticos del Titan.

El proceso de enlazar la mente humana a un Dios-Máquina es muy difícil y peligroso, pues un Titán está imbuido de un poderosamente potente Espíritu Máquina: uno que no es como cualquier otro, pues porta su propia inteligencia, salvaje e instintiva. El Princeps debe romper la oposición de la máquina y lograr domeñarla a sus designios - una habilidad que requiere una enorme fuerza de voluntad. Debido a ésto, los Princeps son individuos escasos, y una de las tareas del Collegia Titanica consiste en descubrirlos donde quiera que puedan encontrarse y entrenarlos para que puedan liderar las máquinas de guerra colosales. Mientras normalmente el Adeptus Mechanicus busca a sus miembros en las filas del Culto Mechanicus, la extraña rareza de éstos individuos requiere que el Mechanicus busque en la amplia población del Imperio. Apenas uno entre diez millones posee las cualificaciones necesarias para servir como Princeps, e incluso menos aún de éstos logran completar el entrenamiento y liderar finalmente una máquina de guerra. Debido a esta realidad, los Princeps son individuos intensamente apreciados, y su Mundo Forja natal no desperdiciará esfuerzo alguno para recuperarlos si desaparecen en combate, si es que existiese la mínima posibilidad que sigan con vida. Hay dos formas en las que un individuo puede convertirse en Princeps -- bajo entrenamiento en las academias del Collegia Titanica, como ya se ha citado antes, o avanzando desde el rango de Moderatus a Princeptura total, lo que se consigue liderando un Titán Explorador clase Warhound.

Cuando el Princeps establece el vínculo con el MIU de un Titán, siente el cuerpo del Titán como si fuera suyo -- sus m,anos se convierten en brazos armados, sus sentidos se convierten en poderosos Auspexes y su piel adquiere la dureza del grueso armazón de adamantium -- una experiencia de supremacía y escapismo de la fragilidad humana que hace a cada Princeps, ya sea masculino o femenino, adicto de su vínculo con el Titán. El Princeps es entonces capaz de gobernar el Titán instintivamente -- sólo necesita pensar en tomar una acción y la máquina la cumplirá. Durante ésta operación, el Princeps no pierde la conciencia de su propio cuerpo, y es capaz de simultanear el moverlo y actuar normalmente mientras está en la cabina de pilotaje del Titán.

Relación con el Espíritu Máquina

Cuando un Princeps se enlaza por primera vez con un nuevo Titán, ella o él deben romper la resistencia de éste y forzarlo a conocer a su nuevo maestro. Once that is done, however, the Machine Spirit's resistance does not cease, and each reconnection is painful and mentally taxing for the Princeps. Being linked to a Titan will, either through the sheer mental strain of connecting to and becoming a being that dwarfs a human in nearly every respect, or through the actual patient endeavour of the Titan's Machine Spirit, eventually result in the Princeps losing sanity, being broken by the Titan, or being completely overwhelmed by the domineering Machine Spirit, lost in the machine's mental landscape. At this point, disconnecting the Princeps from the Mind Impulse Unit will result in certain death.

There is also a perverse effect to the mind-link: it is highly addictive to the human mind. From the moment he manages to dominate his Titan's Machine Spirit, the Princeps will actively crave being linked to his war engine, for the feeling of becoming a godlike machine of destruction is impossibly intense, and living as a mere human eventually becomes intolerable for some Princeps. Alas, this withdrawal also accelerates the Princeps' descent into madness, straining his mind when he is not linked to his mighty war machine. If a Princeps does not fall in battle, he will ultimately fall to the Machine Spirit of his Titan when his will finally snaps.

Being linked to the Titan's Mind Impulse Unit is a considerable effort in itself, and controlling the war machine's systems precisely is difficult. Most Princeps are incapable of controlling all of a Titan's functions simultaneously due to the sheer, unbearable mental tumult it inflicts, and those who do will only do so for short periods of time. For this reason, Princeps are assisted in operating these towering war machines by junior officers called Moderati -- whose role is to operate some of the Titan's systems in their commander's stead -- lessening the mental strain placed on the Princeps and allowing for the efficient handling of the machine.

The mind-link is a very intimate and immersive connection, causing the Princeps and the Titan to leave an imprint in each other's consciousness and grow increasingly alike over time. The Titan's Machine Spirit will learn from its Princeps and from the battles they take part in, storing the knowledge and making it available at all times and to any Princeps that will command the war machine in the future. The Princeps on the other hand, will, with time, begin to show traits of character akin to those of his or her war engine. The nature of the Machine Spirits varies between individual Titans, however war engines of the same class will be similar. Thus, the commanders of Warhound-class Scout Titans are known to be bellicose and belligerent, and sometimes loners, though the latter may be due to their generally solitary assignments as scouts, while the Princeps of other war engines are more cool-headed and better capable of cooperation as part of a larger force.

Princeps del Caos

Durante la Herejia de Horus, la mitad de las Legiones Titanicas declararon su ayuda para el Señor de la Guerra Horus, and since those ancient times, the fickle blessings of the Ruinous Powers have warped many of them. Although some of the Traitor Princeps have remained largely unchanged, and are presumed to operate their machines as described above, the rest have become hideously disfigured and physically merged with the corrupted war machines they command, linking with them not only in mind, but in flesh as well.

Princeps notables

• Ramus Macabee - Posiblemente considerado el Prínceps más condecorado de las Legiones Titánicas. Sus logros tácticos son de obligada lectura en la Collegia Tactica. Dirige personalmente a un Titán Warlord llamado Imperius Dictatio.
• Danferus - El princeps Danferus fue el Princeps Majoris de la Legio Metallica durante la Segunda Guerra por Armaggedon y murió a bordo de su Titán, el Imperius Quintus, cuando subió a bordo de un piedro orko.
• Esau Turnet - Senior Princeps Esau Turnet was the commander of the Dies Irae, an Imperator Titan of the Legio Mortis, during the Horus Heresy. He was known to have high expectations of the crew of his Titan. By the time of Isstvan III, Turnet had already sworn allegiance to Warmaster Horus, and was privy to what the Warmaster had planned for the loyalists on Istvaan. Just before the virus strike, Turnet ordered the Dies Irae sealed up and the weapons taken offline. After the strike and the subsequent firestorm, Turnet ordered the guns reactivated, to open fire on the Death Guard loyalists. One of the moderati, Titus Cassar, confronted Turnet with his treachery and began a brief autopistol duel with the Princeps, which ended when Cassar was killed by the other moderati, Jonah Aruken.
• Rufus Aquila - Rufus Aquila was the Princeps of the Imperator Titan Aquila Ignis and part of the Legio Mortis, during the Horus Heresy. The Legio sided with Horus during that conflict and became corrupted by the powers of pestilence, which Rufus and his crew willingly gave themselves to; thoroughly corrupting themselves and the Aquila Ignis. During the Schism of Mars Rufus was deployed by the Legio Mortis, during their walk on the Magma City and the defending loyalist Legio Tempestus. Though he succeeded in destroying the remnants of Tempestus, the destruction of the Magma City by Adept Koriel Zeth unleashed a torrent of lava that destroyed the Aquila Ignis' main body, killing the Princeps and leaving only its corrupted Hellstorm Cannon behind.
• Sidarius Calvin - Sidarius Calvin was the Princeps of the Warlord Titan Semper Sanctus, part of the Legio Praetor, and took part in the Battle for Macragge, during the First Tyrannic War. The Princeps and his consorts were stationed to defend the Northern Polor Defense Grid, when it came under attack from a large wave of Tyranids. As the battle began, Sidarius fired upon the smaller Tyranids until he sighted a Hierophant Bio-Titan advancing upon the defenders. Deeming it a threat that had to be immediately destroyed, Sidarius advanced the Semper Sanctus through the horde of smaller Tyranids to engage it, firing upon it as he did so. As the Semper Sanctus fought the Hierophant, it continued to wade through the smaller Tyranids to do so and soon its legs became immobilized, when their bodies clogged the Titan's leg joints. The Hierophant soon fired upon the trapped Semper Sanctus and destroyed its left arm, killing several of its crew in the process. Now unable to move or fire upon the Tyranids, Sidarius could do nothing as they began to crawl upon the Semper Sanctus, seeking to kill its crew. Unwilling to allow the Titan to be taken apart by the Tyranids, Sidarius initiated a reactor overload which completely destroyed the Semper Sanctus, as well as the Hierophant it had been fighting.
• Enoch - Princeps Enoch commanded the Warlord Titan Invictus of the Legio Astraman, during the invasion of the Forge World Graia by both Ork and Chaos forces. During the initial Ork invasion the power to Manufactorium Ajakis, where the Invictus was berthed, was disrupted preventing the Titan's release from its mooring clamps. Enoch and his crew could do nothing as the Orks rampaged across the Forge World. This continued for some time until after the subsequent Chaos invasion, as Captain Titus, of the Ultramarines, and his squad fought their way through the Manufactorium to the Titan and engaged its back up generator. Titus explained to Enoch that he needed the Invictus to fire upon the Forge World's Orbital Tower, where the Chaos Lord Nemeroth was opening a Warp Gate big enough to allow his fleet to enter through. In order to do this Titus needed to place the Power Source, created by Inquisitor Drogan, into Invictus to power up its weapons enough to do the job. Enoch was hesitant at first because of the breach of protocol, until Titus convinced him of the severity of the situation. With reluctance he showed Titus where to place the Power Source and with the Invictus' power increased he fired upon the Orbital Tower, partially destroying it and closing Nemeroth's Warp Gate. The firing of its weapon, overloaded the systems of the Invictus and with confirmation that they had succeeded, Enoch powered down the Titan.
• Pietor Gearhart - Pietor Gearhart was Princeps Maximus of the Legio Invicta for several centuries. He commanded from the Warlord Battle Titan Invictus Antagonistes. Lord Gearhart commanded the Legio during the well-known execution to save the world of Orestes from an invasion of Chaos Titans. Gearhart earned the nickname "The Red Fury" from the ferocity with which he won many of his victories.
• Ervin Hekate - Ervin Hekate was the princeps of the Imperius Dictatio.
• Kurtiz Mannheim.
• Indias Cavalerio - Indias Cavalerio was Princeps Senioris of the Legio Tempestus during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. During the Schism of Mars, Cavalerio piloted the Warlord Titan Victorix Magna against the Legio Mortis. Cavalerio was badly injured when his Titan was destroyed during the fighting and had to survive in an amniotic tank afterwards. After being bonded with the Deus Tempestus, Cavalerio lead the Legio Tempestus in the defence of the Magma City, where they were struck down by the Titans of the Legio Mortis.
• Camulos - Camulos was a Princeps of the Legio Mortis during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The Princeps of the Imperator Titan Aquila Ignis, Camulos ran the Titan Legion on Mars while Princeps Esau Turnet was deployed with Horus. During the Schism of Mars, Camulos sided with the traitorous Mechanicum Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal, and led the Legio Mortis' Martian forces against loyalist throughout the planet, most notably their hated rivals Legio Tempestus. During the Battle of Magma City, an overflow of lava unleashed by Tech-Priest Koriel Zeth engulfed the Aquila Ignis, leaving only one of its arms behind and killing Camulos.
• Kel Sharaq - Kel Sharaq was a Princeps of the Legio Tempestus during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Piloting the Reaver Class Titan Metallus Cebrenia, during the Schism of Mars he served as 2nd in command of Tempestus forces after Legion Master Indias Cavalerio. During the battle at Magma City during the Schism, Sharaq was killed when the Metallus Cebrenia was destroyed by the Legio Mortis Imperator Class Titan Aquila Ignis.

Fuentes

Traducido y extraído de Lexicanum inglés y Wikihammer 40K UK.

• Reglamento Warhammer 40,000 (4ª Edición).  
• Adeptus Titanicus (1ª Edición).  
• Codex Titanicus (1ª Edición).  
• Imperial Armour VI y VII.  
• Titanicus (Novela), de Dan Abnett.  
• Falsos Dioses, de Graham Mcneill.  
• La Galaxia en Llamas, de Ben Counter.  
• Mechanicum, de Graham McNeill.  
• Helsreach, de Aaron Dembski-Bowden.  
• Titan (Novela gráfica), de Dan Abnett.  
• Wthite Dwarf nº 255 (Edición inglesa).  
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (Videojuego).