Explorator - 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.