-- In The Beginning --
The Zanatorians are an ancient machine cult that turned renegade several years after the Horus Heresy, there leader High Magos Zanatos of Mars was convinced that the Imperium would eventually reach it’s breaking point under the constant siege from it’s enemies and fall into chaos and drag humanity down with it.

To prepare for the inevitable Zanatos left with his followers and founded the Zanatorian Machine Cult, an organisation designed to protect humanity from the madness of the Imperium and when the end came save humanity from the bring of extinction and lead them into a new golden age.

Without the Imperium’s restrictions Zanatorian machine cult were free to research into the most ancient and forbidden technology. One of which was robotics and AI, that would soon become the foundation of the machine cult.

A Millennia pasted and the Zanatorians had created a small empire in a system within the uncharted territories beyond Imperial space. A place where they could go unnoticed by the Imperium until they were ready to reveal themselves. The Zanatorians were now commanded by a group of 10 high ranking and skilled Magos called ‘The Machine Lords’.  Each one protected by a powerful mechanical warrior known as an ‘Avatar of the Machine God’ for which they shared a unique bond with.

The Zanatorians technology had become highly advanced, their greatest achievements from the years of research into the art of technology was their MIU and Shield technologies.
Each machine lord was fitted with a superior MIU (Mind Impulse Unit) that allowed them to control whole legions of robotic machines whilst receiving information back from them. This allowed the Machine Lords and their machines to work in perfect sync with actions being preformed quickly and efficiently as if the army was a single elegant machine.

As well as the MIU the Zanatorians had developed sophisticated energy shield technology that allowed even the smallest unit to be equipped with an energy shield. The strongest shields were reserved for the Machine Lords themselves. While large generators know as defences grids were used for base defences and were rarely penetrated.

It was rumoured that the Zanatorian were also developing a way to evolve humanity to a new stage in evolution through the use of nano-machines. But this has yet to be proved.

Many forces from the uncharted territories attempted to invade the Zanatorian system but the machine cult’s fleet always proved resilient and managed to crush any invasion attempt.

-- The Imperial Crusade --
However in the course of time their existence was discovered by the Imperium who refused to let such a power exist, scared of the possible threat the Zanatorians could become a large scale crusade was launched against the machine cult.
The Zanatorian forces were overwhelmed and their planets were set a blaze as the imperial forces carried out an Exterminatus upon all the planets in the system.

Some Machine Lords managed to escape the massacre and were driven into hiding with what remained of their forces.

In the following years the Zanatorians faced many hardships as they were forced to make connections with underground organisations and criminals in order to survive. Taking on hired jobs in order to receive the resources they would need to rebuild the machine cult.

However while 2 out of the 3 remaining Machine Lords were able to endure through this difficult time the 6th Machine Lord Sevarius was driven to madness by the fact they were punished for wanting to help mankind. He was eventually consumed by his lust for revenge and joined the powers of chaos after the other Machine Lords failed to stop him.

-- A New Age --
A millennium has pasted since that dark day and now the Zanatorians have begun to move once more. There are now 6 Machine Lords commanding the Zanatorian Machine Cult led by the 3rd Machine Lord Ix Valerius who was the pupil of the surviving 2 machine lords from the crusade. The Zanatorian Machine Cult’s main base of operations is a colossal space station in the outer rim of Imperial space that is well hidden and protected.

From there Ix Valerius commands the 6 Machine Lords who operate individually throughout different parts of the Segmentum Ultima. Each one is based aboard a Zanatorian ‘Liberator’ class battleship that is on the same level as the Imperium’s largest ships. Equipped with powerful technologies the Liberator ships act as the Machine Lord’s base of operations allowing them to move about Imperial space undetected. These ships are often supported by a small selection of recon, resource, and escort ships.

Each Machine Lord has their own methods and tactics so whilst some prefer brute force there are others that prefer stealth. Through judging these attributes thoroughly Ix is able assign the best Machine Lord for a task whether it be defending an unprotected Imperial world or sabotaging an enemies operations.

All of the Machine Lords have a large robotic force made up of machines of their own design ranging from worker drones to large war machines which they control through their advanced mind impulse units. Supported by a small team of engineers and techpriests this provides the Machine Lord with a powerful and well built force to carry out his commands. Also protecting the Machine Lords are the ‘Avatars of the Machine God’ that have been restored over the millennia after the destruction of the Zanatorian system, but due to their ancient and complex technologies the machine lord’s were unable to restore them completely. Though despite this the Avatars are still a force to be reckoned with, each one sharing the same powerful bond with their Machine Lord that they did a millennia ago with the first group of Machine Lords.

But even with their Avatars protecting them the Machine Lords are forbidden to leave the safety of their ship, as they are too important to risk being captured or killed. So if the Machine Lord wishes to leave the ship to meet with someone or observe something in person they must use a remote puppet. These puppets are designed to appear and feel exactly like the real Machine Lord down to even the smallest detail.
The Inquisition once captured the 5th Machine Lord Proiteus Kruger and took him to an Imperial stronghold to be integrated but they were too late in realising that they had captured a remote puppet and the Machine Lord detonated a bomb that was built into the puppet causing a large amount of damage to the stronghold.

-- The Zanatorians’ Goal --
At the moment the Zanatorian’s activities have been based around researching and obtaining ancient and forbidden technologies. But they’re mostly focused on protecting worlds that are unable to receive Imperial reinforcements and are besieged by an enemy too great for their own defence forces to manage. By doing this they gain support from the majority of worlds they save, and in doing so disrupt people’s loyalty to the Imperium.
Steps are being taken by the Ordo Hereticus to prevent this but the Zanatorians continue to corrupt the Imperium and evade detection. The Machine Cult’s forces have clashed with Imperial forces on several occasions but no matter the outcome they have always managed to escape. There is evidence that suspects that the Zanatorians have made an alliance with the Tau Empire and often retreat into their space after suffering a crushing defeat to avoid further conflict until they are full repaired.

The Zanatorian Machine Cult is viewed in many ways by different people some call them heretics who are out to disrupt the stability of the Imperium, whilst others believe they are guardians of humanity. At the moment the Zanatorians continue to protect humanity against threats that the Imperium is unable to defend them against, what the Zanatorians will do once they’ve got enough support remains to be seen.