Explorator Fleets of the Prosperitas Sector

You can find many common notes about the Machine Cult on the Adeptus Mechanicus page.

Four Facts About the Explorators of the Prospertias Sector

• Most of the Machine Cult think of them as the "oddballs" - Though Imperial history is littered with stories of Explorator Fleets leaving their Forgeworlds on a quest for ancient technology. The Explorators of the Prosperitas Sector enjoy no such respect. For the most part they are by-and-large nonconformists, losers of political battles and embarrassments exiled to a collection of ancient and esoteric vessels that roam the frontiers of the sector.

• They are mostly poorly supplied and rely heavily on salvaged technology - Explorator vessels often began life as a standard-pattern design but over years of service have been heavily modified by their occupants. Life as an Explorator is not easy, the Forges of the Prosperitas Sector often provide them with maintenance and supply only in trade for the technologies they might have salvaged in thier explorations and most have to deal with a myriad of different powers within the Prosperitas Sector, such as the Great Houses in order to keep their vessels running.

• Their beliefs are varied and they often face persecution by the rest of the Machine Cult - because of their reputations, Explorators find themselves under the scrutiny of the Ordo Malagra or 'Magisterium' the Tech-Inquisitors of the Machine Cult who deal with those who deviate and possess the power to declare a Tech-Priest "Heretek" - a sentence that normally results in Servitorisation. Indeed many Explorator vessels face supply issues for fear of interacting with Ferraeus and Naximus Prime and being declared heretek by some uncompromising hardliner of either Forge's Magisterium.

• There are lots of Explorators in the Prosperitas Sector, and they have no central leadership - Though it is common to speak about the 'Explorator Fleets' the idea of mustering more than one Explorator vessel at once is laughable. But there is a lot of them, the Prosperitas Sector is rich in Archaeotech of the Golden Age and with only 500 years of history has yet to be picked clean making it fertile ground for Tech Priests -some- might call 'scavengers'.

The Explorator Fleets

One of the biggest draws of the Adeptus Mechanicus to the Prosperitas Sector, aside from its abundant resources, is an abundance of Archaeotech and ancient ruins. Explorator Ships compete with rakish Rogue Traders as they blaze passages into the Untamed Worlds on the Rimward edge of the Sector, eager to find treasures of the Golden Age on human colonies untouched by the Imperium in thousands of years.

Beyond their traditional territories, vessels adorned in the Cog Omnissiah and filled with arcane technologies jealously guarded by the Tech Priests aboard carry out the ultimate will of the Omnissiah across the Stars. These are the Explorator Fleets. Their crews of void-nomad Tech-Priests and Mechanicum servants explore ancient worlds and lost sectors in a ceaseless quest to reclaim technologies lost to the depredations of time. No one Explorator is alike, each has their own character and nature, and within the Prosperitas Sector where the Rimward Marches contain the promise of the remnants of lost human cultures, some of these fleets owe loyalty to Ferraeus and Naximus Prime though a number of independent vessel and those who began their journeys from forges years away from the Sector ply the warp-ways too.

Service on a Explorator vessel is something of an unusual duty for a Tech-Priest. The majority of the Priests and Menial servants within them are born on such a craft, but there are those who are assigned to the duty from more static places of birth. For these latter Priests, the Explorator vessels are something of a place of exile; to be assigned to an Explorator craft without the declaration of a Crusade by the Machine Cult is a sign that a Priest has been cast out by their superiors. To this end, most Tech-Priests look upon those who serve in the fleets as eccentric strangers at best, and at worst, blighted exiles best kept outside the perfectly ordered society of their Forges.

Rank and Organisation amongst the Explorator Fleets

The varied nature of the Explorators means there is no consistent forms of organisation, some vessels might have a singular Tech Priest who claims control of the vessel, usually considered preeminent amongst their kind they will often be attended to by a collective of other Tech Priests claiming a less senior rank within the ships hierarchy who might look at them as a 'teacher' of sorts, or any number of roles. Some vessels are largely anarchic, with a collective of Priests guiding its direction and making decisions each while pursuing their own research aboard a vessel that is by-and-large a collective workspace for them all. Others still might be generation ships, with many of the Priesthood and Crew being interconnected by genetic lineage or adoption. The configurations are endless.

Because of this anarchic nature, the majority of Tech Priests from Forge Worlds rarely demonstrate more than perfunctory respect for the colourful ranks claimed by Explorators and rarely give them a place within the structure of their forge. This means that Tech Priests, Servitors and Skitarii of such worlds are deeply unlikely to follow commands from any Explorator claiming the rank of a senior member of the Priesthood if they are not officially recognised as forge hierarchy. In most cases, Explorators rely on diplomacy and bargaining to get what they need, not hierarchy.

Notable Explorators of the Prosperitas Sector

Archmagos-Explorator Every-Simply-Connected-Closed-Three-Manifold-Is-Homeomorphic-To-The-Three-Sphere Lockwood was once recogised as the Fabricator-General of Castellum. A pious and efficient Magos, “Three” Lockwood wan her young and vulnerable planet with a canny eye for political advantage. Despite the constant manoeuvring and political sparring with her neighbours on Ferraeus, Lockwood always gave the outward appearance of being concerned with nothing more than the spiritual and moral welfare of her charges. Following the annexation of her world in 593.M41 Lockwood opted to enter exile rather than serve under the rule of Ferraeus and took control of one of the fabled Arc Mechanicums of Castellum before disappearing into deep space. Since she entered exile she has gained some notoriety with the Magisterium for using the manufacturing facilities of her vessel to support the Explorator vessels of the sector, and earn their loyalty. It is likely that should Ferraeus be able to pin her location down they would use tech-assassins to eliminate her as a potential threat as her charismatic leadership made her such a thorn in their side for years.