The Rise of The Skaven Tau Part 2

Year 1545: As the vehicle makes its way to an unknown destination through the darkness of space the new nest, unimpeded by the squabbling of the mob, makes technological breakthroughs that they have never previously dreamed of. Engineers of Clan Skryre, through investigation and scavenging of the vehicles components learned how the humans were able to produce such tremendous power without the severe limitations of Warpstone, the Moulders moved away from their ad-hoc surgical methods and began working with tissue on a cellular level and Eshin agents turned their attention towards accessing the vast stores of information that the humans kept.

Year 1562: For thirty years the Skaven nest aboard the vehicle had remained undiscovered by the humans though it was not until an experiment with using human technology to stabilise Warpstone went wrong causing a massive explosion that the stowaways realised that there appeared to be no humans onboard at all. Discovering this, the Skaven set about taking some measure of control of the vehicle by trying to establish where they were and where they were travelling to.

Year 1563: Having thoroughly investigated the vehicle it was established that there were once humans on the ship however, in an apparent attempt to prolong their lifespan they had reduced their own body temperatures. While in this state one of the many experiments that were carried out by the Skaven had caused their temperatures to rise without the proper procedure and as such none of the thousands of humans onboard survived the process.

Year 1830: After hundreds of years aboard the vessel the Skaven had gained a full understanding of the human technology to the level where they were continuing the human’s cultivation of plants for both oxygen and food, maintaining the power systems built by the humans and had completely mapped out the computer systems present on the ship. Strict breeding controls were in effect aboard the ship to ensure that overcrowding was kept in check and the clan system had faded into a distant memory. The nest was ruled over by a meritocracy with each potential leader being tasked with inventing a device of some kind, the most impressive device as voted every two years by all (male) Skaven was declared the winner.

Year 2878: It had been over one thousand years now and hundreds of generations of Skaven had lived and died aboard the vehicle that the humans had called Icarus III. Stories of Skavendom were vague now but generally they told of the horrors of life underground and how evil, selfish rats had ruled over clans fighting petty wars over the ownership of dark, worthless tunnels. Young Skaven were uncared for and each Skaven was left to fend for themselves without the rigid support structures and discipline of New Icarus.

Year 2891: 1359 years after they left Skavendom forever the new nest continued to maintain and control Icarus III however the time had come when the powerplant seemed unlikely to be able to continue operating for much longer. The Skaven had done what they could to keep it running but they had run out of Warpstone hundreds of years ago and without it the repairs were only temporary. The currently acting leader of New Icarus, Brighteyes Kritkin, made the decision to leave space and attempt a landing on one of the planets orbiting a nearby star.

Year 2892: Using the sensors constructed by the humans the Skaven located a planet not unlike the planet that their ancestors had left behind when they first boarded Icarus III. From information left behind by the humans and his own understanding of the vessel Kritkin was able to land the massive vessel without loss of life though on inspection of the crafts engines after landing it was clear that the damage was significant and the decision to land had saved New Icarus.

Year 2893: After his performance in the landing of the craft along with a recent brilliant invention it was decided that Kritkin would remain leader of Skaven for his entire life and that elections would be held immediately upon his death. Exercising caution on behalf of New Icarus Kritkin declared that most Skaven would remain on board Icarus III for another two years while specially chosen teams investigated the planet.