Explorator - Notable Explorators: Archmagos Saphentis - Saphentis was a senior Tech-priest of the Librarium Primaris on the Forge World of Ryza. Appointed by the Fabricator-General of Mars, Saphentis was to lead an Explorator mission to help assist the Inquisition in the exploration of a newly-discovered planet in the Borosis System. The planet was determined by the Adeptus Mechanicus to be the Forge World of Chaeroneia, which had been lost to the Warp just over a standard century earlier. Saphentis would join the Inquisition in a joint mission to reclaim the lost world for the Priesthood of Mars. The initial landing force was composed of Justicar Alaric and five of his Battle-Brothers from the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter, along with Interrogator Hawkespur, Tech-priest Thalassa, and Archmagos Saphentis. They were also supported by a twenty-man strong Tech-Guard unit. While approaching the Forge World, their landing craft was badly damaged by an asteroid field and they were forced to crash land on the planet's surface. Most of the Explorator party survived with the exception of half of the Tech-Guard unit. Making their way towards one of the world's forge cities, the Explorator party was ambushed by members of the Dark Mechanicus and their daemonic allies and Heretek creations. But the combined might of the Grey Knights and the Tech-Guard wiped them out. The Imperial explorers eventually made their way towards Primus Manufactorum Noctis' data-fortress, in the hope of acquiring STC data. But Tech-priest Thalassa mysteriously disappeared. When the Explorator team finally reached the data-fortress they were once again attacked, but this time they faced the dire threat of hunter-programs (who in reality were actually Data-Daemons) as well as Warp-corrupted Combat Servitors sent by their Dark Mechanicus masters. The Grey Knights valiantly held them at bay, while Saphentis extracted the information he sought. They were only saved from being overwhelmed by the timely intervention of Magos Antigonus, who led the Imperial party to his lair beneath the Manufactorum Noctis. Examining the data he had acquired, Archmagos Saphentis discovered that the Dark Mechanicus had been constructing hundreds of Chaos Titans, and had brought Chaeronia back into realspace to deliver these deadly war engines as tribute for the Chaos Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler as he prepared to launch his fearsome 13th Black Crusade. Though their mission seemed futile, Interrogator Hawkespur ordered that they destroy the Chaos Titans. The Explorator party was once again attacked by the deadly Data-Daemons, only this time, they were led by a now-possessed Tech-priest Thalassa. Saphentis confronted the Heretek and beheaded her with his twin saw bladed weapons. The Dark Mechanicus then arrived to confront the Imperials with three maniples of daemon-possessed Combat Servitors. Despite being outnumbered, Saphentis was able to hold his own against the Servitors' superior weapons. During the battle, the Archmagos was confronted by a Dark Mechanicus Heretek, the Archmagos Veneratus Scaeros, who quickly overwhelmed Saphentis. Though he was now at the mercy of the Heretek, Saphentis willingly sacrificed himself by overloading his bionic eyes, which exploded in Scareos' face, critically wounding him. Saphentis then held the Dark Archmagos down long enough for Magos Antigonus to take control of a Warhound-class Titan and crush them both underfoot, valiantly sacrificing himself so that the rest of the Imperial party could escape offworld and warn the Imperium of the horrors to come.Magos-Commodore Gnothis Trannarch - Magos-Commodore Gnothis Trannarch leads the Explorator Fleet KX-557.V in its mission of discovery, commanding from the bridge of the Lathe-class Monitor-Cruiser Eternity Bell. During its extensive travels in the Koronus Expanse, his Explorator Fleet has encountered many wonders, from semi-sentient nebulae to heretofore unknown xenoforms. Despite this, the Magos' attention has long been fixated on a world that exists as little more than rumour and legends. At some point in the Explorator Fleet's journey, Magos Trannarch heard tales of a world somewhere in the Expanse that is devoid of life, yet where great edifices and technological artefacts from Mankind's distant past are maintained, through purely automated means. Further scraps of evidence -- ancient legends, corrupted data-journals, and the ravings of savant-hermits -- lent further credence to the story. The Magos became obsessed with stories of this self-sustaining, artificial world, eagerly following up on any evidence or rumours of its existence. In recent years, the Magos has conducted his fleet with a new-found sense of purpose, as if he possesses some new, vital information as to the whereabouts of this phantom machine-world, and his obsession has become the driving force behind the fleet's route and activities. If the world can be found, it would provide a trove of insights into the miraculous works of the Age of Technology. How such a world might have survived the Age of Strife virtually intact is in itself a vexing question, and to find the answer would be a great discovery. Recently, Trannarch has come into possession of information regarding the machine world that has brought him into conflict with Eldar pirates of the most depraved sort. Despite the loss of life, and the atrocities inflicted by these sadistic xenos, Trannarch shows no regret, and is more driven than ever.  	 	<a href="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/38/Magos_Delphan_Gruss.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120705221545" class="image"><img alt="Magos Delphan Gruss" src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/38/Magos_Delphan_Gruss.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120705221545" decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="250" height="385" class="thumbimage" data-image-name="Magos Delphan Gruss.jpg" data-image-key="Magos_Delphan_Gruss.jpg" data-relevant="1" data-src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/3/38/Magos_Delphan_Gruss.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120705221545" /></a> 	 		 			 		 		 		 			Magos Delphan Gruss 		 	 Magos Delphan Gruss - Delphan Gruss is a Magos Explorator who hails from the Forge World of Arenxis Minoris, far to the galactic south. After reaching the rank of Magos he spent several solar 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 Technology. He has made it his life's 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 extensively cybernetically augmented and possesses two bionic arms. The left arm has been replaced with a bionic attachment known as a Breacher, designed to drill through slag piles and bulkheads and which is equally capable of boring straight through a person. Gruss also has a bionic head that houses a re-breather mask which complements his advanced bionic lungs. He also has augmetic eyes incorporating a motion tracker, a bio-scanner and range-finder gunsights. Like most Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, he has Mechadendrites implanted within his body.Magos Paladius - Mentioned in the great logi-stack archives of Mars, Magos Paladius was sent by the Fabricator-General to oversee the study of a rediscovered Hellstorm Cannon from a destroyed Imperator-class Battle Titan known as the Aquila Ignis on the world of Kronus. The Aquila Ignis was later revealed to be a Titan of the infamous Legio Mortis that took part in the coup of the Dark Mechanicus during the Schism of Mars at the beginning of the Horus Heresy. The Imperator Titan had asaulted the Loyalist-controlled Magma City which was defended by the Legio Tempestus. Though the majority of the Legio Tempestus was destroyed, the Aquila Ignis was unable to escape the destruction of Magma City as Master Adept Koriel Zeth purposely self-destructed her beloved forge city, releasing a torrent of molten magma that destroyed the main body of the Imperator Titan, leaving only its Hellstorm Cannon behind. The remnants of the Titan's massive cannon were later found near the city of Ironworks Bay in the late 41st Millennium by the 1st Kronus Regiment of the Astra Militarum. The Tech-priests of Kronus had brought this massive war-trophy back to their homeworld from Mars millennia earlier. During his researches, Magos Paladius also discovered a pre-Heresy Aeolis-class Orbital Control Post, a more efficient cousin of the Kyber-class Tracking Station, capable of tracking all planetary activity and plotting courses to evade siege formations. This valuable STC artefact was thought to have been lost for all time. While continuing his explorations of Kronus, Magos Paladius also discovered a Zeus-class Relay and Control Station which possessed orbital artillery capabilities.Magos Varnak - Varnak was a Magos Explorator who oversaw the Adeptus Mechanicus outpost of Tyran Primus, the first of Mankind's worlds to feel the full wrath of the new threat known as the Tyranids, in 745.M41. Though Varnak's forces put up a fierce resistance, their efforts proved futile. As the outpost of Tyran Primus was overrun and Varnak's command bunker was breached, the Magos whispered a final prayer to the beneficent Omnissiah and triggered a switch, sending a data-codex plummeting into the depths of the base. This codex would be the Tyran outpost's enduring legacy, for it would be found months later by one Inquisitor Kryptman, the man who would go on to dedicate his life to opposing the Tyranid menace. This vital information painted a vivid portrait of the threat that the galaxy now faced in the form of the Tyranids, who were named after the first Imperial world they had consumed.Technoarchaeologist Arkhan Land - Arkhan Land is one of the most famous members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. For he rediscovered, at the very dawn of the Imperium during the Great Crusade, the lost STC template for a heavy armoured battle tank originally known as "Land's Raider"; later the Land Raider. These discoveries were made during Technoarchaeologist Land's great expedition into the fabled Librarius Omnis on Mars. The main aim of Land's expedition into the labyrinth catacombs of Mars was to find a fully functioning STC database. In this he failed, but two other discoveries were made which revolutionised technical thinking for millennia to come. The first was a near-complete database of STC information about a heavily armoured main battle tank. The second discovery unearthed information on rare anti-gravitic plates, and theories on their uses, which eventually would lead to the construction of the first "Land's Speeder"; later the Land Speeder. Without Land's discovery it is likely that there would be no anti-gravitic vehicles remaining in use by the Imperium at all. Land would not live long enough to see the Land Speeder come into existence. The Land Crawler is another of the STC constructs re-discovered by Arkhan Land at the birth of the Imperium. Unlike the more famous Land Raider and Land Speeder, the Land Crawler is not a military vehicle but an agricultural one. Countless billions of Land Crawlers are used on Agri-worlds across the Imperium, where its versatility, ease of maintenance, and forgiving driving characteristics make it hugely popular. It has been argued by more than one Imperial historian that the humble Land Crawler is by far the single most important STC construct discovered by Arkhan Land; after all, even Space Marines need to eat. Land would later be killed on his second expedition into the Librarius Omnis, the victim of a psychic entity which destroyed his entire party. What secrets of the Age of Technology died with him remain a mystery.Chief Artisan Tilvius - Chief Artisan Tilvius rediscovered the lost STC database template for the Razorback armoured personnel carrier variant in the 36th Millennium whilst on an expedition across the Southern Rim of the galaxy. The Razorback find was the main triumph of his quest, although rumours abound that another STC template was found but has never seen production. After its rediscovery, the Razorback template was rapidly adopted by the Adeptus Mechanicus as part of the STC canon, and in just under 200 Terran years, the first Razorback was field-tested. Existing records had already indicated that a troop carrying variant of the Predator had been a forerunner of the Predator tank, and the Razorback seemed to fit the description closely. When Tilvius returned with evidence of the vehicle's existence, the Lords of Mars quickly recognised it. The omens were deemed good, and work commenced on the new vehicle's construction.