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Is another Human faction living outside the IoM viable? A splinter group that doesn't worship The Emperor as a God, but rather take a atheistic approach to every day life.

I realize the heavy religious practices and zealous nature of the Space Marines are keeping the IoM alive and functioning, while severely handicapping the way of life for its citizens.

Could a technology first, scientific culture akin to the Tau survive the daily vigor of the other armies around them at all times.

Tech first? You mean the Mechanicus?

If you mean on unreclaimed worlds, certainly. There are still lost worlds.

If you mean a cult hiding underground, sure. But when it's found it will be considered heresy if it deviates too much from the acceptable worship standards of the local eclesiarchy. Large scale? Probably about as likely as a single coherent Genestealer infestation spreading across many systems.

There have been many fan creations over the years of "good", high tech, non-superstitious, democratic human societies...often by people seeking to create idealized versions of modern day society or to create a valiant "rebel alliance" against the Imperium. Unfortunately these fan creations often come across as "Mary Sue" in that they are portrayed as somehow managing to overcome the issue of uncontrolled psykers, entrenched almost species wide distrust of high technology and rational scientific thinking after the Iron Men's war with humanity, and the issues of interstellar travel/communication/political organization all with generally little trouble.

Small pocket empires? Possible, just as there are small minor alien empires across the galaxy. The Imperium's populated systems are scattered across the galaxy with vast swathes of space in between that is unexplored or unpopulated by Imperial humans. These areas are room for alien empires and non-Imperial human societies.

 Sylhfer wrote:
Could a technology first, scientific culture akin to the Tau survive the daily vigor of the other armies around them at all times.

Yes, for exactly as long as they don't come to the attention of any of them. Then they are going to have to bend the knee to whoever comes knocking or be destroyed.

As for psykers popping up and ruining everything, it is mentioned that psychic ability is awakening in humanity as an evolutionary process. If a pocket of high-tech humans had sufficient genetic technology and understanding of psykers, they could theoretically suppress the effects at a genetic level.

So yeah, I think they could exist, but I think they'd have to have some very good luck to even be a regional player.

Yes, its possible and even likely. But only because such a group would have to have remained undetected.

Mankind as a whole have a distrust of technology because of the War of the Iron Men, which nearly wiped all humans out. Since then technology, especially AI, has been something to be feared. The Ad Mech keeps technology from gaining an intelligence of its own and betraying mankind as it once did.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Yes, its possible and even likely. But only because such a group would have to have remained undetected.

Mankind as a whole have a distrust of technology because of the War of the Iron Men, which nearly wiped all humans out. Since then technology, especially AI, has been something to be feared. The Ad Mech keeps technology from gaining an intelligence of its own and betraying mankind as it once did.

The hate of AI post Horus heresy is directly connected with how long since the dark age of technology ended. As in as the Imperium ages so to does its capability to maintain technology diminish, and as their technology diminishes their fear of AI's goes up as they know less about the processes which govern cogitators. And in .M38 they built a machine that used tech priest brains and after about two hundred years they became sentient and wouldn't let the tech priests hooked up to it disconnect. A few hundred years after that it starts making macro-scale decisions like who is friend and foe.

Could a technology first, scientific culture akin to the Tau survive the daily vigor of the other armies around them at all time

Insofar as they never come into contact with the Imperium of Man, yes.

Once they do? Their days are numbered. The only reason the Tau still exist is because the Imperium hasn't had the time to make a serious effort at eradicating them. A human empire on a similar scale will be of significantly greater interest to the Imperium, because its technology will be of human manufacture, and thus of more interest to the Mechanicus.

It is, actually, for this reason alone that they will be assimilated into the Imperium, by choice or by force.

A technology first human culture will have most of their technology based on the STC, and the rest will be derived from it.

A prize like that is something the Imperium would not pass up. they'd have so much coming down on them it would be overwhelming.

Dont be silly. The reason the Tau qare still around is because the Ultra Smurfs love Fish Girls and The color blue of their skin. Hasn't the allies chart thought you guys anything :/.

Yes, there are hundreds, if not thousands of non-IoM human groups out there. The great crusade "liberated" tens of thousands of human worlds, but the crusade was called to an abrupt halt when the horus heresy started. There's a huge swath of the galaxy still left unconquered, and ecclesiarchy priests, rogue traders, and black templar (along with former lord solar macharius cronies) are still working hard at bringing the rest of humanity into the fold.

 Sylhfer wrote:
Is another Human faction living outside the IoM viable? A splinter group that doesn't worship The Emperor as a God, but rather take a atheistic approach to every day life.
I realize the heavy religious practices and zealous nature of the Space Marines are keeping the IoM alive and functioning, while severely handicapping the way of life for its citizens.
Could a technology first, scientific culture akin to the Tau survive the daily vigor of the other armies around them at all times.

Yes, well sort of.

On the eastern fringes you are too far from terra and basically anything goes. The imperium cannot navigate out that far and thus they cannot bring their considerably size and might of the imperium to reconquer the splitter worlds.

Around the eye of terror it is possible that warp storms prevent the imperium from bringing their might to bare.

If they recently split off it is possible that the high lords of terra are unaware of them. This likely wouldn't last.

The only way they could survive is if the IoM is unable to use size to it's advantage or doesnt know they are there.

The Tau for instance are on the FAR east of the galaxy, furthest from the IoM might and in a region covered in warp storms and are often allied with the IoM.

Well, not quite, because they are in the SE section of the Segmentum Ultima. Warp-travel is certainly possible (there's like half a dozen SM Chapter homeworlds in this same region of space), just not as well-plotted by the Astronomican.