Explorators

Overview

"The Quest for Knowledge drives the Mechanicus to the stars, forgotten Archeotech and un-catalogued celestial phenomena await, the voice of the Omnissiah waiting to be witnessed."
— Explorator Enginseer Acula

An Explorator is an Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-priest who is dedicated to the exploration and exploitation of new worlds and new regions of the galaxy for the Imperium of Man. They act as part adventurer, part warrior and part emissary of the Machine Cult of Mars. Their function is to travel into the depths of the unknown and unearth the ashes of the past in order to acquire knowledge and secrets for the glory of the Omnissiah and the benefit of the Imperium.
Something of a breed apart in the Adeptus Mechanicus for their independence, penchant for innovation and personal initiative, they are seen as a necessary evil by some of their fellows and vital agents of the Machine God by others. Explorators undertake their god's Quest for Knowledge across the stars, seeking out undiscovered data and unrecorded phenomena, forgotten archeotech hoards, and unknown life forms.

Operations

All Adeptus Mechanicus Research Stations, exploration starships, and outposts any distance from a Forge World are likely to be manned by Explorators.
As bionically-augmented servants of the Machine God, it is also the sacred function of these intrepid (or foolhardy) individuals to delve into the unexplored reaches of the galaxy, either as part of great Mechanicus-backed exploration and colonisation fleets or by attaching themselves to a Rogue Trader house to carry them into the beyond in search of both the future and, more importantly, the past.
An Explorator's function is to travel into the depths of the unknown and unearth the ashes of the past in order to acquire knowledge and secrets for the glory of the Omnissiah. Something of a breed apart in the Cult Mechanicus, they are seen as a necessary evil by some of their fellows and vital agents of the Machine God by others. Explorators undertake their Quest for Knowledge across the stars, seeking out undiscovered data and unrecorded phenomena, forgotten archeotech hoards, and unknown life forms.
The lost achievements of Mankind's Dark Age of Technology soared far beyond anything that can be made today, at the end of the 41st Millennium. Only by re-learning ancient lore found scattered across the stars and painstakingly piecing it together can Man ever achieve such dizzying heights again. Attempts at improvisation, innovation or adaptation are viewed by most followers of the Omnissiah as the height of hubris. Imagining that one can set oneself above the knowledge of the Ancients without risking their deadly sins and the dark fate that led to the horrors of the Age of Strife is pure folly.
Yet Explorators themselves tend towards a greater independence of mind and inquisitive thought than adherents of the Machine Cult in more sheltered roles, and they often have their own secret agendas and arts far beyond those of their more pedestrian peers. Many Tech-adepts, particularly of the more junior and provincial variety, regard the Explorators as dubious outsiders, prone to stray beyond the bounds of the arcane dogma and rigidly adhered-to precepts laid down by the inviolable teachings of the Machine Cult.
Whether or not this is true, it is undoubtedly the case that amongst the adherents of the Cult Mechanicus it is the Explorators who are the most likely to be exposed to the proscribed technologies of the alien and the sins of Mankind's dark and hidden past. In truth, Explorators are on the frontline of perils few can understand.
There are more than a few Explorators who, in their desire to uncover the secrets of the universe, have fallen prey to some xenos dogma and turned from the rigid technological doctrine of the eight Universal Laws or have become corrupted by the Warp and lost their souls to the abyss of Chaos, becoming Hereteks of the Dark Mechanicus. Others have simply been driven mad from knowing too much.
But for Explorators, the risks are worth the rewards. Explorators have found some of the greatest prizes in the Quest for Knowledge, and their role in many other affairs has been key to their success and the Imperium's continued survival. However, countless Explorators have met with grisly deaths in the hostile galaxy they explore, and on mercifully rare occasions, their ill-conceived prying has unleashed cataclysmic horrors on Mankind.
When an Explorator accompanies a Rogue Trader, the arrangement may have come about by some ancient debt the Rogue Trader's family line owed the Adeptus Mechanicus, hard bargaining, or even pure chance. Whatever the case, the Explorator will be a valued member of the Rogue Trader's party, bringing with him a wealth of esoteric knowledge and arcane technical know-how quite beyond any other member of the crew, and often, not a little firepower of his own.

Explorator Fleets

The Adeptus Mechanicus is a secretive organisation, conducting a never-ending search for forgotten knowledge and ancient technology to hoard for itself. At the forefront of this ceaseless quest are the Explorator fleets.
While research outposts and Explorators attached to Rogue Trader crews are integral cogs in the Mechanicus' efforts to uncover forgotten knowledge from Mankind's past, it is in the Explorator fleets that the full resources and might of the Machine Cult are pressed toward this end.
While Explorators who accompany Rogue Traders have many opportunities to explore ancient ruins and uncover forgotten secrets, their mission is ultimately secondary to that of the Rogue Trader's eternal mission for profit.
Not so, in the Explorator fleets. There, Tech-priests live amongst their own kind, not to be disturbed by the insignificant desires of those who lack the blessing of the True Flesh.
Commanding countless serfs, servitors, and adepts, the magi of the Explorator Fleets hold supreme power, just as they do on the Forge Worlds of the Mechanicus. These fleets are, like the Forge Worlds, the sovereign domain of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Even within the bounds of the Imperium, the Mechanicus is fiercely independent of the greater Imperial power structure. In the Koronus Expanse, Rogue Traders are well-advised to treat with the Explorator-Magi as they would a fellow Rogue Trader, or other equal in rank. To do otherwise could be a fatal mistake.
The vessels that make up the Explorator fleets are amongst the most sophisticated in all of the Imperium, as they are invariably constructed in the orbital dockyards of Forge Worlds, or even salvaged from ancient pre-Imperial Space Hulks.
The Tech-priests apply their full knowledge and ability in crafting (or repairing, as the case may be) these starships, incorporating alchemical alloys and esoteric processes that are unavailable elsewhere.
Even the newest vessels constructed by the Adeptus Mechanicus far surpass those available to all but the most powerful of Rogue Traders. However, many Explorator fleets include vessels that are many millennia old. Explorator Fleet KX–557.Vis one such fleet.