Explorator

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

- Explorator Enginseer Acula

An Explorator is a Tech-priest, a bionically augmented adept of the Adeptus Mechanicus. 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. 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.

Overview
All Mechanicus research stations, exploration ships, and outposts any distance from a Forge World are likely to be manned by Explorators. It is also the sacred function of these intrepid (or foolhardy) individuals to delve in the unexplored reaches of the galaxy, either as part of great Mechanicus-backed fleets or by attaching themselves to the Rogue Trader houses to carry them into the beyond in search of both the future and, most importantly, the past. The lost achievements of Mankind’s Dark Age of Technology soared far beyond anything that can be made today. 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 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.

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 they who are the most likely to be exposed to the proscribed technologies of the alien and the sins of the dark past. In truth, Explorators are on the frontline of perils few can understand. There 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 doctrine of the eight Universal Laws, have become corrupted by warp-twisted engramatic code and lost their souls to the abyss of Chaos, becoming Hereteks of the Dark Mechanicus, or have simply been driven mad from knowing too much.

Yet, the risks are worth the rewards, and Explorators have found many 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 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 line owed the Cult 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.

Notable Explorators

 * Magos Delphan Gruss - Delphan Gruss is a Magos Explorator whom hails from the Forge World of Arenxis Minoris, far to the galactic south. After reaching the rank of Magos he spent several decades amongst the Explorator fleets where he developed a deep knowledge of pre-Imperial technology from rediscovered worlds. His research into Standard Template Construct (STC) legends has led him to believe in the existence of an artefact known as the Omnicopaeia -- a data-storage device containing every STC blueprint created during the Dark Age of Technoloyg. He has made it his life quest to find this revered item, and his search frequently brings him into conflict with local authorities, members of the Inquisition and unscrupulous treasure hunters. Magos Delphan Gruss is heavily augmented with two bionic arms - his left arm having been replaced with a bionic attachment known as a breacher, designed to drill through slag piles and bulkheads and equally capable of boring straight through a person. Gruss also has a bionic head that houses a re-breather mask which compliments his advanced bionic lungs. He also has two advanced bionic eyes incorporating a motion tracker, a bio-scanner and range-finder gunsights. Like most member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, he has Mechadendrites implanted on his body.

Notable Explorations
"Too often, the meddling of humanity uncovers things it should not know, your kind's base thoughts unclouded by regret and driven only by reckless ambition. I think the universe would thank me if I killed you now, before you can do any greater harm."

- Caedovir Oriosrith of Iliasanae's Weeping


 * Discovery of the Tau - The homeworld of the Tau race, T'au was discovered and catalogued by the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator starship Land's Vision. The Frontier World was a planet only recently discovered by the Imperium of Man through the explorations of the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets.
 * Discovery of the Hrud - The vile xenos species known as the Hrud was discovered on a world was in a region of space the Eldar] warned the Adeptus Mechanicus' Explorators] to avoid, but the Explorators did not trust the xenos' warning and entered the star system anyway, precipitating the first contact between humans and Hrud sometime during the Great Crusade in the 31st Millennium.