# A question on S.T.Cs



## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

Fellow heretics, Oldman has been thinking (something which the wife says is her realm of expertise) about ye old 40k lore and what not and wondered if your good selves could help me with the fluff on s.t.cs, according to the fluff they used to be the way mankind used to build literally everything but no fuctioning machine has survived completely intact or found at all, and I was wondering if anyone out there knows or could point to books etc that would answer some of the following questions or even just give your own opinions.

What did s.t.c machines look like?

How did the s.t.c work?

Did they fuction like star trek esque replicators transforming huge amounts of energy into matter or like super 3d printers, were they huge designing and asembling the whole object or were they smaller making the parts to be assembled elsewhere and telling you how? Your thoughts, answers, pointers as always appreciated and thanks in advance Oldman xoxox


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Hmm not quite sure which book it is now but in one of Gaunt's Ghost books they find a fully operational S.T.C that could produce the now outlawed Men of Iron. Basically they are a machine like a construction line for a car except fully integrated. I remember reading someone was given a planet for simply finding a S.T.C for a new style of knife.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

It's still up for debate/no one really knows:

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=90961


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Given that we have no surviving examples it's hard to say what they looked like. 

As to how they worked we have slightly more information. From the Index Astartes article on the Rhino we learn that the STC systems were able to produce blueprints to create anything the user desired- he simply input what he wanted and the materials to hand. 

It's quite possible there were several types of STC systems. Those which just designed and produced a blueprint to types which also produce the design- essentially self innovating, automated factories.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Btw that book with the STC in it was First and Only it seems.


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## Lost&Damned (Mar 25, 2012)

does anyone know what size they are?
btw, i assume they would all look different.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

If it's the machine that constructs them entirely I suppose it would only be limited by the size of the object it's designed to create. Alternatively it could simply be a computer that prints out a STC for you.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

I agree with Rems. Some are probably like 3D printers we have today and some just possess schematics in their hard-drives.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

We see them actually make them though in First and Only.


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Words_of_Truth said:


> We see them actually make them though in First and Only.


And no one is saying that some STC's can't, just that there may be some which can only produce designs and some that can produce products.


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

Well, bear in mind that there are STC machines and STC templates--things like Rhinos and Land Raiders are templates that have been recovered and disseminated by the AdMech, not the actual constructors themselves.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

Based on the description in First and Only, the Men of Iron STC interior production line, e.g. area into which the Iron Men were popped out after being manufactured, was about 100 meters in diameter. The complex it was located inside of was pretty huge and required a couple hours travel by the Ghosts through undergound tunnels, but no certainty if the complex was or simply contained the STC as a part.

In Mechanicum, there are entire vaults on Mars that contain 'STC's, but again, theres no description if they're parts, whole, schematics, etc., only that they are located in a sizeable area that's extremely well guarded.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

darkreever said:


> And no one is saying that some STC's can't, just that there may be some which can only produce designs and some that can produce products.


I always imagined them as just that. A computer unit with schematics for absolutely _everything_. Including handy how-to guides for the stuff as well.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Over Two Meters Tall! said:


> In Mechanicum, there are entire vaults on Mars that contain 'STC's, but again, theres no description if they're parts, whole, schematics, etc., only that they are located in a sizeable area that's extremely well guarded.


I very much doubt that they were full fledged STC systems. A functioning STC system is the holy grail of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They'll quite happily sacrifice worlds for mere STC designs or fractions of designs. What they'd do for an actual STC system...

With good reason too. A functional STC system, in the right hands, would almost single-handedly reverse the Imperium's technological decline. Imagine a database full of Golden Age technology, with the ability to create more at the users whim.


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

Words_of_Truth said:


> Btw that book with the STC in it was First and Only it seems.


I do recall that, when they were figthting the Blue Blood right? The Mordians? Anyway from my viewpoint they described the S.T.C as thw "vonder-machine" of the galaxy that could construct anything that humankind needed. S.T.C's came in various designs, but the general idea was that the S.T.C is the blueprint, and physical design for something. 

I am looking online as we speak, but I recall another novel, one invloving the Tau, where an S.T.C was encoutnered. Additionally their are numerous mentions of it throughout Warhammer 40k Lore. This ranges from Eisenhorn, of which I remember a breif passage mentioning an S.T.C in conjuction with a very power deamonic entity, to a short story I read on a Choas champion seeking the "End of World's," weapon to help him claim daemonic hood. 

TBH the S.T.C sounds like a CPU Mainframe similar to Star Trek that has been buried with time. Most don't exist because humanity forgot about them after the Emporer brought civilization back to the brink. Now that the Imperium is delcinging they are in such high demand; like ancient Egyptian artifacts are today.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

emporershand89 said:


> I do recall that, when they were figthting the Blue Blood right? The Mordians?


The Volpone


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

What Gaunt and company blew up was an STC assembler for Iron men. A factory for a very specific thing.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

Thanks for the replies Heretics, it would seem that there would maybe a seperation of s.t.c computer that would design everything and s.t.c manufacturing device, that the holy grail would be the designing computer with a full data base as tye Admech can already build s.t.c templates such as land raiders though not as well as an s.t.c manufacturing device.


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## jareddm (Jan 6, 2014)

At the end of 'Death of Integrity', they find a full STC database at the heart of the DaoT ship trapped at the center of a space hulk. But the drive is protected by a true DaoT AI who proceeds to absolutely wreck the marines and tech priests attempting to download the database.


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

It did wreck the Marines, but it didn't really say if it survived or not. It would not surprise me if a book series comes out about the S.T.C's. It honestly would be awesome to see some new miniatures develop for the Imperial forces based on an S.T.C backround story; similar to the Land Raider's.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Hrm, I had a thought. Have you folks followed the increasing amount of advances with 3D printers? To me, a 3D Printer is effectively an STC Assembler. Feed correct matter into it and add the correct blueprint and it will fabricate -anything- you desire.

I especially paid note to a bit I saw, stating future space missions will bring a 3D printer to fabricate crucial spare parts. It would be revolutionizing what you could bring along, then you dont need a million different spare parts. Just have the 3D printer and if something breaks, you simply have it replicate the part with the materials on hand. And that was exactly what the STCs was used for in lore.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

Brother Lucian said:


> Hrm, I had a thought. Have you folks followed the increasing amount of advances with 3D printers? To me, a 3D Printer is effectively an STC Assembler. Feed correct matter into it and add the correct blueprint and it will fabricate -anything- you desire.
> 
> I especially paid note to a bit I saw, stating future space missions will bring a 3D printer to fabricate crucial spare parts. It would be revolutionizing what you could bring along, then you dont need a million different spare parts. Just have the 3D printer and if something breaks, you simply have it replicate the part with the materials on hand. And that was exactly what the STCs was used for in lore.


That's extremely cool and entirely NOT grimdark enough for 40K. Or, perhaps this is found on one planet and communicated to the Lords of Terra/Mechanicum right before a Nid invasion wipes it all out :grin:


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## Sevatar (Aug 21, 2013)

Brother Lucian said:


> Hrm, I had a thought. Have you folks followed the increasing amount of advances with 3D printers? To me, a 3D Printer is effectively an STC Assembler. Feed correct matter into it and add the correct blueprint and it will fabricate -anything- you desire.
> 
> I especially paid note to a bit I saw, stating future space missions will bring a 3D printer to fabricate crucial spare parts. It would be revolutionizing what you could bring along, then you dont need a million different spare parts. Just have the 3D printer and if something breaks, you simply have it replicate the part with the materials on hand. And that was exactly what the STCs was used for in lore.


The biggest problem with that is the "materials on hand" part. Iron/steel/adamantium/ceramite isn't exactly common in our Milky Way.


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

Sevatar said:


> Iron/steel/adamantium/ceramite isn't exactly common in our Milky Way.


Iron is actually pretty darn common for rocky planets (according to my very basic understanding). Carbon ought to be near everywhere on planets we'd likely settle on, too, right?


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Sevatar said:


> The biggest problem with that is the "materials on hand" part. Iron/steel/adamantium/ceramite isn't exactly common in our Milky Way.


The genius of the STC system was that you could substitute any available materials you had at hand. It's why for example the Leman Russ and Rhino can run on anything combustible.


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## Sevatar (Aug 21, 2013)

Yeah, Iron should of course be pretty common overall, my bad.

I was under the impression that Imperial vehicles need Promethium (which is pretty loosely defined, granted). Or are you referring to different vehicle patterns?


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

Sevatar said:


> I was under the impression that Imperial vehicles need Promethium (which is pretty loosely defined, granted).


The IG codex states the Leman Russ can run on "virtually any fuel".

Imperial Armour I says the Leman Russ can "run on _any_ available fuel" (emphasis mine).

So they're pretty versatile in that way.


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

hailene said:


> "virtually any fuel".


So can I fill her up with black Powder, or do I need the Trash Fuel Energizer from "Back to the Future II?" :grin:



Brother Lucian said:


> Feed correct matter into it and add the correct blueprint and it will fabricate -anything- you desire.


Really, what does that remind you of....................anyone? Star Trek Fabricator using particules/energy/material to create anything.


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## Sevatar (Aug 21, 2013)

hailene said:


> The IG codex states the Leman Russ can run on "virtually any fuel".
> 
> Imperial Armour I says the Leman Russ can "run on _any_ available fuel" (emphasis mine).
> 
> So they're pretty versatile in that way.


I didn't know that, thanks for clarifying.

If your run-of-the-mill STC has access to limitless energy, it even makes "sense" that it can create anything out of anything. It wouldn't require any material if the limitless energy part is true actually.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Had to dig back a while for a topic on STCs.

Came across this newsbit today:
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/12/nasa-just-e-mailed-a-wrench-to-space/

Now imagine a Mars mission, having a full library of tools, bits and pieces which to print on demand and you have the STC.


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## el_machinae (Nov 17, 2014)

That's incredibly cool.

What's that anti-pirating commercial? "You wouldn't download a car"

Er, yeah. I just did. Tesla made their technology open-source, and they emailed me their new model.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

Sevatar said:


> If your run-of-the-mill STC has access to limitless energy, it even makes "sense" that it can create anything out of anything. It wouldn't require any material if the limitless energy part is true actually.


I'd think this demonstrates there are no functioning STCs out there in the Galaxy, or at least none under the control of any sentients, otherwise the crusade sponsored by the STCs owners would have swept up Terra and not the other way around. With your supposition, I can see how the machine revolution occurred. Just one AI guiding an STC could very quickly gain domination of an entire sector of space IMO.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

I think theres a marked difference in possessing the STC blueprints, vs the actual STC assembler.

Gaunt once found a chaos corrupted STC assembler for Iron men.

The AI in the Spirit of Eternity, had a full STC library.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Just came by another newsbit about 3d printing that have the potential to be another milestone advance in the use of it.
http://3dprint.com/64223/3d-printed-drugs/

So far it seems that the one that dreamed up the idea of the STC assembler was a visionary ahead of his time.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

Brother Lucian said:


> The AI in the Spirit of Eternity, had a full STC library.


I haven't been able to find anything on "The Spirit of Eternity", much less an AI with a full STC library?! Sounds incredible, but was it a plot foil for a quick and ultimately devestating story, with all remnants lost?


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Over Two Meters Tall! said:


> I haven't been able to find anything on "The Spirit of Eternity", much less an AI with a full STC library?! Sounds incredible, but was it a plot foil for a quick and ultimately devestating story, with all remnants lost?




spoiler for Death of Integrity
The Spirit of Eternity was the Dark Age of Technology Starship trapped at the heart of the Death of Integrity spacehulk, and controlled by an A.I.. Which did not take kindly to the technophile Admech. It had the full knowledge of the ancients, but would not share it with humanity, seeing how far they had fallen in their ignorance. The crew of the Spirit of Eternity was killed when they made contact with the imperium and the AI thusly fleeing with the ship and hiding in what which became the space hulk.

It ends with the hulk comming apart and the Spirit of Eternity blasting away into space, away from the humanity that had failed.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

STCs are inching yet closer to reality.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35247318










The Dragonfly 2020 can print multilayer circuit boards to help test if the designs work 

Nano Dimension, an Israeli start-up, is demoing a printer that uses inks containing nanoparticles of silver to create complex circuit boards.
It says the Dragonfly 2020 can help gadget-makers bring products to market more quickly by making it easier to test the electronics involved.


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## cottrelli (Dec 1, 2012)

There was a short story in the "Let the Galaxy Burn" anthology called Children of the Emperor about a Guardsman who crashes on a high gravity planet and encounters the descendants of ancient DaoT colonists. The Guardsman was led to a place highly implied to be an STC site. Unfortunately a bunch of Chaos tribesman destroyed the machines and set fir to the building it was in.


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## bipolarbob1 (Jan 11, 2016)

hi,

please dont shoot me down if i dreamed this but i seem to remember an old short story somewhere where some marines i think or some sort of ambassador of the imperium lands on a planet which is suspected of having a FULL working STC unit in some sort of monastery.
the imperium delegation act like idiots and the monks just sort of say we dont have a STC unit..something happens anyway and the delegation leave empty handed and then the last sort of paragraph is the head monk pulling back some curtain to reveal the STC.

long time since i read it and cant remember what it was called..

i may of dreamt it thought....


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Relax, you are refering to this incident from a very ancient wh40k story called Monastery of Death in the Deathwing antology.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Standard_Template_Construct_%28STC%29

A STC Library was located on the planet Hito. This planet had escaped from the Warp and was reclaimed by the Imperium. The library was hidden by the local clerical Order of Heavenly Virtues who managed to deceive Imperial agents as to the library's existence to keep its secrets out of the Imperium's hands.


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## bipolarbob1 (Jan 11, 2016)

my thanks brother lucian..


co-incidentally ive re ordered that book off ebay..hopefully its the original..

want to read the navigator story 'lacramenta' i think its called and the one about the mouth and the titan.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Interesting. I haven't read that one about the STC.


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