Under pressure from mutant firepower, as well as the advance of hideously malformed and large mutants, the outpost’s garrison began to give ground.

“There is no place on Morkai for the twisted, heretic creature known as mutant. They must be exterminated. It doesn’t matter that they number in the tens of millions. It doesn’t matter that some call them human, or that they are victimized by the pollution and radiation of our industries. They exist, and they shouldn’t.“—Inflammatory speech by Wyhm Carium, chair of the Citizens For Genetic Purity, a militant anti-mutant organization

Continued from Page 1 . . .

Hideous Threat

A pict of the hideously malformed mutants that attacked Outpost #17. The mutants managed to overrun the garrison troop tents, but they were forced to retreat when they came under heavy bolter fire that killed the majority.

As the outpost’s garrison began to withdraw, a new threat emerged. Some of the most hideous mutants yet seen—pale, with elongated skulls and scaly skin, and six arms—appeared out of the mesas and charged the Imperial position.

“These mutants were so disfigured as to be unrecognizable as human,” Sayar said. “They ran at an astounding pace, and the withdrawing troops were hard-pressed to stay ahead of them.”

By this point, nearly a quarter of the garrison were casualties, and discipline was unsteady, authorities admit. Troops were retreating through rows of tents and stacks of supplies, with the mutants in hot pursuit.

Sayar dismissed reports that some troops panicked. 

“Not so,” he said. “Obviously the men were under great stress, but they did run blindly into the desert, and they did not drop their guns. They made their way to the completed trenches and formed a volley line that poured immense fire at the pursuing mutants.”

Mutants managed to advance deep into Outpost #17, where they stripped supplies and equipment—no doubt to support their own military ambitions.

Crisis Averted

The soldier’s fire was supported by a heavy weapons squad of heavy bolters, as well as the outpost’s sole Sentinel. Both units did good service, Sayar said, with the heavy bolters deterring the pursuing mutants and the Sentinel’s multi-laser destroying one of the rebel walkers.

One heavy bolter team was ambushed by rebels that snuck up on their position. The weapons crew was killed, but the rebels were forced to retreat back into the desert as nearby troops responded to the attack with accurate fire—killing the majority of the attacking force.

At this point, authorities say, the mutant attack lost its momentum. “The rebels outnumbered the garrison but, with troops well defended in the the trench line, the cost in casualties to storm the position was just too high,” one senior officer suggested.

Indeed, after one half-hearted charge, the rebels fell back and contented themselves with harassment fire, officials say. Much of the camp was under rebel control, and the mutants took advantage of that fact by loading up on supplies and destroying everything else of value.

Under the protection of heavy bolter fire, garrison troops redeployed in the outpost’s completed trenches—and the mutant advance faltered. Clearly they were unwilling to suffer the casualties necessary to take control of the outpost, and PDF troops survived until reinforcements arrived.

Rebels Withdraw

About an hour after the attack began, the rebels withdrew and disappeared into the desert. The outpost’s garrison was in no position to give chase.

“A distress signal was broadcast, and a squadron of Valkyrie gunships, loaded with veteran troops, were quickly dispatched,” Sayar said. “They arrived about five hours later.”

The Valkyries circled the desert for dozens of kilometers, but there was no sign of the attack force, he added. The mutants’ uncanny ability to move unseen in the desert once again emphasized the threat of their anti-Imperial ideology.

“We knew they were nearby, but our sensors could not spot them—nor any sign of their passage,” Sayar concluded.

Garrison troops fall back as mutants break into the outpost.

Shift in Strategy

The obvious vulnerability of Outpost #17 has prompted military authorities to promise a strengthening of the outposts surrounding Ungolath.

All outposts with be reinforced with troops and heavy-weapons systems, and a greater priority will be placed on completing the defensive fortifications of each outpost, Sayar said.

Such promises have been made before, so rank-and-fire troopers are saying they’re skeptical that the outposts will get the assistance they needed.

Said one trooper who asked to remain anonymous:  “Our officer begged High Command to provide a few dozen shovels and some corrugated metal—nothing more. He said, “Forget the construction laborers and heavy dozers. Just give us the supplies, and we’ll do the building ourselves.”

“Two years later, we’re still waiting.”

+ End Voxcast +

Scenario: Basically a  “to the death” scenario, with victory points assigned for control of the outpost , standard secondary objectives, and number of units destroyed

Size: 500 points per army

Imperial Victory: Single objective (3 v.p.)  + one enemy unit destroyed + First Blood  (1 v.p.) = 5 v.p.

Mutant Victory Points: One enemy unit killed (1 v.p.) + Linebreaker (1 v.p.)  = 2 v.p.

Imperial Victory!

Click here to return to Part 1.

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.