Expedition returns to Blackstone Fortress

Lucius Valcetti gazed out at the dark shape of the space station, its lightless exterior made visible only by its sharp contrast to the maddening riot of colour all around. Roiling eddies of technicolour light surged about them in colossal storm fronts light years across. Such treacherous currents were more than capable of ripping a ship apart, yet the area around the station itself was becalmed, as if the storm served to protect it. Known as the Rifts of Hectate this area of space had long been avoided by travellers. Situated beyond the unexplored depths of the Hadron Expanse its remoteness was almost as much a disincentive to explorers as the mortal peril of the storm itself.

It had been a joint Federal – Tau science expedition that had first uncovered the existence of the station. Keen to develop a better understanding of such phenomena the eager scientists had fired a series of autonomous probes into the chaotic tumult. Most had been ripped to shreds but one, guided by fate or simply random chance, had made its way to the heart of the storm where it broadcast a steady stream of sensor data and imaging.

The existence of the alien construct and the raging warp storms that surrounded it defied rational explanation and lay far outside the Tau and Federacy's limited understanding. Reluctantly they had turned to the Eldar, hoping that their ancient understanding of the immaterium could supply the answers they sought. In this they had been only partially satisfied. The Eldar had recognised the construct as an artefact dating back to the war in heaven, known to the Imperium as a Blackstone Fortress. As to its purpose and how it generated and fuelled the surrounding storm they were as baffled as the Tau and Federacy, although they did not care to admit it. The crazed maelstrom resisting any attempt at psychic scrying and it seemed to cast no shadow on the paths of the future, its influence noticeable only as a void of possibilities that should have existed.

The Alliance powers had agreed to mount a joint expedition to the construct, each sending representatives to oversee their interests. Lucius wasn't sure how he felt about the silent, forbidding Eldar Ranger chosen as Kel Sandros' representative, although he had to admit that without her guidance the Vanguard would never have made it intact through the fury of the storm. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunfire and explosions over the open vox channel. It seemed the station was not as uninhabited as had been presumed. Garbled reports of hostile contacts filtered through as the landing party fell back to the assault boats.

This turn of events was not entirely unexpected, large vessels such as this invariably became home to an assortment of scum, outlaws and hostile xenos no matter how remote or formidable their defences. Lucius decided he would lead the first expedition himself. This station would give up its secrets to him, and quite possibly make him a very rich and influential man indeed.

It was over 2 years since the first expedition had penetrated the interior of the mysterious blackstone fortress. Rogue Trader and privateer Lucius Valcetti had been forced to withdraw his team after finding the interior infested with outlaws and chaos filth. On returning to Federal space he had lobbied the Federal government for the resources and funding to mount a properly resourced expedition into the Rifts of Hectate, complete with auxiliary support vessels, scientific specialists and a complement of armed mercenaries. After finally completing the long and tortuous journey through the Foramen Ancilla and the chaos, ork and necron infested space beyond they had finally returned to station, codenamed Pandora to maintain operational security. Despite losing 2 supply ships to the raging lightening storm surrounding the station they managed to set up base camp and docking facilities within the deserted outer reaches up the xenos construct.

Somewhat familiar with what to expect from his previous visit Lucius Valcetti decided to lead the the first expedition into the interior himself, accompanied by Kel Sandros' brooding emissary, a kroot tracker and the hulking form of a bodyguard robot supplied by their federal backers. At first resistance was within expected parameters but the situation rapidly deteriorated as fresh hostiles swarmed to the area, attracted by the sound of gunfire and explosions. The kroot tracker was almost disembowelled by a  hissing xenos monstrosity that leapt out from the shadows and Lucius himself was mortally wounded as corrupted deserters from the Imperial Guard swarmed over him from a passageway. Assault cannon blazing the bodyguard robot assigned to him executed its primary directive and strode into the fray to recover Lucius' bleeding body and carry him to safety.

The expedition had been a disaster. Two of their members had been seriously injured  and confined to a medicae facility for weeks and they had made no headway in penetrating the stations secrets. The limited haul of archeotech they had come away with looked like junk at first glance. It was only on closer inspection that it turned out to contain an ancient relic from the fall of the Eldar along with and an Empyrean Chronometer that was beyond priceless. Convinced of the haul of knowledge and ancient artefacts to be found deeper within the station the Alliance's representatives in the expedition were resolved to unlock the secrets of this place or die trying.