Clan Moulder had come for the staggering diversity of life, or more specifically, for those unique geic sequences that defied reason. Upon breaching the Sanctus Reach of the Imperium, the Skaven of Moulder discovered a most peculiar windfall while looting Imperial spoils.
They appeared to be nothing more than mundane tins of preserved meat. After overrunning the supply depots, the Skaven fell upon the crates, brawling over the rations. While the prestigious wargear was the exclusive domain of Stormvermin and Warlords, for Slave Rats and even Clanrats, these tins were the only way to sate their gnawing hunger. Furthermore, such small trinkets were useful; they didn't draw the ire of higher-ranking Skaven and could be used as leverage, or a distraction, to backstab a peer and climb the social burrow.
Yet, even this scavenged feast carried a lethal price.
Those Skaven who pilfered the Astra Militarum rations and tore them open with desperate haste found themselves in a struggle of a different kind. As they gorged, their bodies began to contort in agonizing throes. From their ruptured ribcages burst forth xenos horrors, monstrous organisms that began a frenzied culling of the surviving rats.
It took considerable effort for the Skaven clans to subdue these strange beasts. Only after consulting captured Imperial manuals and putting prisoners to the rack did they learn the truth: these creatures, as large as Rat Ogres and clad in natural carapaces capable of shredding ceramite with their talons, were known as Ambulls.
In the wake of this "surprise," the Master Mutators of Moulder gleefully began analyzing the Ambull biological samples. Due to the sheer quantity of the "canned Ambull" and the species' ferocious vital energy, the Ambull had quickly become a trump card for various small-to-mid-sized Moulder-affiliated clans.
Most crucially, Moulder had begun clandestinely splicing Ambull genes into various behemoths. The most stable results occurred within Rat Ogres. This geic infusion rendered the Rat Ogres exceptionally resilient, granting them the Ambull's ability to sustain themselves on radiation and thermal energy alone.
This drastically reduced the maintenance costs for Packmasters and their clans. For once, in a rare display of Skaven restraint, this secret remained confined to Clan Moulder and a few inner-circle allies, with remarkably few leaks to the wider Under-Empire.
Thus, these "cheap," mass-produced, and incredibly hardy xenos-mutants provided a vital edge for lesser clans, after all, not every clan had the status to command the Brood Mothers required for large-scale monster production.
…
Following the trail of destruction blazed by Ammentar, Clan Moulder eventually arrived in the Vespator system, located in the eastern reaches of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar. It seemed they had finally found a prosperous world teeming with life.
However, the situation was far from ideal. The Skaven Nest-Fleet discovered a fleet of "metallic skeletons
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