Exploratorium Prima Player Characters Info

Ork War (4500-approx 4811(?))

• The Orks attacked Raakata about 500 years ago (local date 4500)
• The Aegean Hypercomplex was destroyed by an Ork superweapon about 200 years ago (local date approx 4811).
• The survivors united together, it took decades to cobble together some sort of working society, scavenging from the wrecks and ruins of the Hypercomplex.
• No news from the rest of Raakata at all - everyone else might have been dead.

The Sleastatt Agreement

• For 60 years after the Hypercomplex was destroyed, survivor groups battled the remaining Ork survivors (most of whom reverted to primitive ways)
• Many lesser Houses joined with the remains of the five major Noble Houses to form the Sleastatt Alliance in order to protect what remained of the Imperium. It was named in honour of Polyma Sleastatt, a minor noble who helped small survivor groups trust each other and help each-other survive.

Tantalus Voidstation Founded (4881)

• Around the local year 4881 scouts discovered the massive mining asteroid KJ-383na/201 outside the ruin of the Hypercomplex (now known as the Graveyard because of the billions of lives that were lost).
• Sleastatt Alliance nobles agreed to send everything they could to clear KJ-383na/201 of the Ork infestation and make it fit for human habitation. When this was done they renamed it Tantalus.
• The Ithacaran, Minoan, Macharius and Westguard Nobles moved from the Kalrek (one of the few surviving voidstations of the original Hypercomplex) to Tantalus to develop it. House Crassius and several minor Houses stayed behind to act as caretakers of the Kalrek (where huge amounts of ancient records and artefacts were still stored until Tantalus was prepared properly).
• Tantalus was seen as the best hope for people to rebuild properly in safety - pirates and surviving Orks still caused major problems in the Graveyard, not to mention gravity anomalies, drifting wrecks and more - Tantalus could be easily defended and presented a ‘fresh start’, with plenty of un-mined minerals ready for exploitation.

Separatists seize control of Tantalus (4892)

• In 4892 the Ithacaran and Minoan Nobles declared independence from the Sleastatt Alliance and claimed ownership of Tantalus. Assassins killed all members of House Macharius and Westguard in what many call “the Night of Blood” - presumably because these Houses refused to join the rebellion.
• House Minos moved to claim the recently rediscovered voidstation of Pandareus around the Lava planet Hades  and took over the mining of that world.
• House Ithacaran abolished the Noble Dynastic hold on government, devolving control of the Adeptus Administratum to elected representatives of the people. This became the Ithacan Star League, governed by the Assembly Council, all traces of Imperial heritage were erased and suppressed.

Imperial Isolation

• After the shock of the rebellion at Tantalus, House Crassius and the lesser Houses that remained in the graveyard pulled all ships and resources back to guard the Kalrek.
• Fearing an attack from Tantalus, House Crassius ordered all resources focussed on the defence of the Kalrek Voidstation at all costs - the attack never came.
• Entering a period of forced isolation with the stated aim “to build strength until the time is right to retake Tantalus in the name of the Imperium and the Emperor”, House Crassius sent out scavengers specifically to find ships and weapons technology and drag them back to the Kalrek.
• After a few years it became clear that (for whatever reason) the new Ithacan Star League wasn’t going to attack the Kalrek, but House Crassius remained extremely afraid that it might happen at any moment.
• Graveyard communities grow
• Over time more scavengers and survivors started to be born into the Graveyard, or leave Tantalus or the Kalrek in search of a new life, or were exiled, or ran from the law, etc. and new communities began to emerge and develop.
• The Ithacan Star League was growing rapidly, new ships being produced at a rapid rate.
• The Kalrek was hard to reach deep within the Graveyard and had the benefit of war-era Imperial ships and weapons to defend itself, but no-where near enough manpower or firepower to retake Tantalus at this stage.
• Several areas in the Graveyard were more stable, and started to become focal points for other communities. This more stable area would become known as the Scrapnest Cluster.

Cold War (4890-5006)

• The overall attitude of the Sleastatt Alliance was now firmly embedded as one of caution and fear of reprisals from the new Ithacan Star League, something of a ‘cold war’ developed between them.
• The Houses of the Sleastatt alliance devolved, focusing entirely on fear and protecting themselves. They developed a highly paranoid attitude and mistrust of everyone that wasn’t from the Kalrek.
• This attitude created ‘layers’ within Imperial society. Those born in the Kalrek to “pure Imperial parents” were given the freedom of the Voidstation and better jobs. Immigrants from other Graveyard communities and those born to Immigrants were considered less trustworthy, and eventually this developed into a fully segregated society.
• Pure Imperial citizens lived in the Kalrek, everyone else lived in the newly constructed parts of the voidstation outside, which became known as the Port of Auras due to the ionised radiation in the nebula caused by the Kalrek’s voidshields.
• Secret Police known as the Hochfrei (a development of the House Bodyguards common to Raakatan Nobles) ensured the “inner” and “outer” group kept separate for ‘security reasons’ - crossing outwards was easy, but getting inwards, being among the Pure citizens as a visitor was extremely difficult - let alone gaining the legal right to be called a citizen.
• Over time, the Hochfrei expanded, recruiting non-citizens to work as intelligence gathering agents out in the Graveyard, as well as amongst the many thousands living and working in the Port of Auras (of which the Kalrek is the Capital, buried deep).
• The Exploratorium Prima was developed from these origins as a ‘security agency’ entirely focused on two main ideas: 1: Hide the truth of the Kalrek under layers of lies until it’s time to strike, 2: Know thy enemy. Both of these ideals were aimed at protecting the ideals of the Imperial way of life that had been so nearly extinguished.

Lies within Lies

• The Exploratorium Prima was extremely successful. It spread disinformation about the Sleastatt Alliance, carefully constructed to make military leaders in the Ithacan Star League believe that the Imperial Sleastatt Houses had collapsed and dissolved into warring factions.
• They spread the story that one of these factions called themselves the Sleastatt Alliance as a way to pretend they were still strong - this was enough to hide any accidental slips, and to explain reports any spies for the Ithacan League may deliver claiming that the Sleastatt Alliance still existed.
• The Exploratorium Prima trained special agents to enter deep cover assignments in all the newly forming societies within the Graveyard and through the Ithacan Star League’s territories.
• The Star League Expanded quickly using it’s new ships as its powerbase and began to patrol the Graveyard, eventually taking governorship of Storm Port in an attempt to ‘civilise’ the trade in salvaged tech and parts from the Graveyard.
• Agents of the Exploratorium Prima worked hard to sow seeds of rebellion and destabilization against everything the Star League did, making it hard for them to maintain a foothold in the Graveyard (and keeping them far away from the Port of Auras).
• Agents began establishing many different groups that all vaguely aligned with Imperial ideals and the goals of the Sleastatt Alliance in some way - although subtle. The intention was to use these as recruiting grounds for anyone that showed enough enthusiasm, and as an easy method of identification and control for those that didn’t. By 5006 more than a dozen organisations existed across the Graveyard that were unknowing fronts for the Sleastatt Recruitment and Control programmes, all governed by the Exploratorium Prima.

The Star League Withdraws (5007)

• With almost no warning the Star League withdrew from the Graveyard, leaving a power vacuum that cost countless lives and destabilized the entire region. Piracy exploded as the Star League patrols vanished almost overnight.
• Exploratorium Prima agents reported that Orks had amassed a fleet and destroyed Niobe station entirely (with the loss of tens-of-thousands of lives)
• The vast majority of the Ithacan Navy is drawn back to Tantalus to defend it against Ork attack - this attack never happens. For some reason the Orks had stopped at Amphion point and seemed to be waiting there.
• Exploratorium Prima agents are told to activate all Recruitment and Control programmes, begin bringing people into the Alliance proper, and start training the best of them to man the many Warships the Alliance had been secretly restoring.

Imperial Ship Arrives (5011)

• Exploratorium Prima agents working at Tantalus report the arrival of a group claiming to be from the Imperium, but not the Core worlds, from outside Raakata entirely.
• By the time this report reached the Sleastatt leadership several weeks had passed.
• Shortly afterwards, the Star League Assembly Council announced a new military initiative to push back the Raider threat from Amphion Point and build a new battlestation there.
• Almost all of the Star League Navy moved out to Amphion Point. Agents positioned in the fleet were able to get images of the “New battlestation” back to the Sleastatt leadership, showing it was clearly a (very damaged) Imperial starship being crewed by Star League personnel.
• The Sleastatt leadership concluded that it must have been a wreck salvaged from another part of the graveyard and dismissed the first report as being a mistake or deliberate subterfuge.

Parasite Infiltration Detected (5011)

• With the majority of the Ithacan Navy (and the Star League Assembly Council) distracted with taking the fight to the Orks at Amphtion Point, the Sleastatt Alliance was able to take larger and larger steps to get ready to retake Tantalus with no fears of reprisals.
• Despite the century of preparation, many things seemed to stall, everything fell behind schedule, sabotage and internal disputes were common and finally the Sleastatt market economy collapsed, threatening to end everything they’d worked for.
• Invigilators (Exploratorium Prima agents that only focus on internal security) discovered several highly-placed and trusted individuals were behind all these failures. Investigation showed a long history of “minor” sabotage and double-dealing that had resulted in massive delays to everything the Sleastatt Alliance was attempting. Initially it was suspected that these people were working for the Star League.
• It became clear during questioning that these people were infected with parasite creatures that showed signs of artificial creation, they were biological controllers, the perfect infiltration tool. The only place they could have come from was the extremely high-tech medical facilities at Tantalus, the Star League had been merging human and alien technology for over a century.
• Sleastatt officials are convinced these parasites were spread through the graveyard to prevent any organization from gathering enough power to threaten the Star League.
• A quarantine was established around the Port of Auras. All ships would be stopped and searched, or destroyed if they refused, the crews taken off and taken to internment facilities for extensive questioning, medical tests and, if necessary, executions. The ships would be added to the Alliance Fleet.
• Exploratorium Prima agents were sent to all major factions in the Graveyard with information packets containing everything that had been discovered about the parasites, along with a series of detailed reports highlighting why these creatures must have been the work of the Star League.

Present day (5011)

• With the Parasites eradicated, the Sleastatt Alliance’s timetable accelerated.
• Reports of a new, massive, ship started coming in - though sporadically. Exploratorium Prima agents were spread thin and were increasingly relying on civilian reports for intel.
• Reports came in of Goldworth Outpost being destroyed and ‘consumed’ by the ship confirmed that a new, unknown faction was active in the Graveyard.
• A huge internal debate in the Kalrek broke out. Some believed it was the Star League, some believed it was a complex hoax, another type of control like the parasites, some wanted to mobilise the fleet early to meet this threat, some wanted to get the fleet ready, but hold it back to defend the Port of Auras, some wanted to get the fleet moving to get it away, convinced that nothing could stop this “Eater” ship.
• Almost overnight everything changed when the three most influential Houses of the Alliance announced that agents had been sent to the “Eater” to determine the nature of the threat.
• Shortly afterwards, everyone in the Port of Auras was given 6 hours to board their assigned fleet ships. The fleet set off for Tantalus.
• Official statements were that the Eater had been destroyed by allies and the wreck was drifting rapidly with the gravity tideas away from the Port of Auras.
• Official statements say that the Sleastatt Alliance is being mobilised to help retake Tantalus after Imperial sympathisers had already toppled the Assembly Council.
• Rumours and those high-enough up the chain of command were informed that a second Ork fleet had been detected heading for Tantalus, agents working for the Star League had come to the Alliance asking for help in exchange for dealing with the Eater - exact rumours varied.