June is fast approaching, and (at least for those in the northern hemisphere) that means summer – vacations, blue skies, and days filled with beautiful sunshine.
Naturally, no faction is better suited to hit the beaches and bask in those rays (while attempting to blot them out) than the demented mole-like horrors of the Subterran Uprising!
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In this article, we’ll learn a little about the faction itself and explore the existing units before diving into some of the new unit teasers. Let’s meet some of the new Destroyers on the block!
Overview
Of all the monsters mankind has seen since the dawn of the Monsterpocalypse, none are more nefarious than the loathsome Subterrans. The tyrant caste of these misshapen beast-men inflicts slavery and pain upon those in their domain and now seeks to subjugate humankind as well. The tyrants’ ultimate goal is to blot out the sun so they may live comfortably on Earth’s surface despite their highly photosensitive eyes. To that end, they send Subterran warriors to the surface, along with enormous mole-like beasts that smash cities to bits and send citizens running heedlessly into the arms of Subterran slavers. Their perverse “human resource centers” are vast factory prisons whose sole product is a constant wave of inky darkness streaming into the atmosphere, causing the skies to darken gradually in their vicinity. In the face of such villainous foes, the various factions of Earth have no choice but to band together.
Hammerklak
Leading a force of ravenous and destructive creatures from below the soil, Hammerklak is considered a leader of a group referred to, for obvious reasons, as Subterrans. Resembling moles in aspect and methodology, yet utterly brutal and with no regard for the natural world, Hammerklak has proven to be a menace as great as Rogzor or Gorghadra. Able to tunnel with unnatural alacrity and emerging to destroy his foes, Hammerklak has a fierce temper, and few can withstand his drills during his berserk rages.
Blastikutter
The overlords of the Subterran Uprising are capable of melding flesh and metal in ways that only the most diabolical human engineers have ever considered before. Their mad science has peaked in the creation of Blastikutter, a creature that can literally view any challenge from multiple angles. Blastikutter’s two heads each control part of its nervous system and are capable of trading control of various parts of the creature as needed. Because no known attempts at communication from the Subterrans have been recorded and because the language of any creatures captured in battle is indecipherable to humanity’s most gifted linguists, the soldiers who first encounter a new member of this mole-like race usually coin the name used to refer to the creature in the future. Blastikutter’s name came easily enough to his first opponents – one of his arms bears a cruel mechanical cutting implement and the other arm ends in a cannon capable of blasting large holes out of any target.
Mollock Brutes
Among the Subterrans, the mollocks are a caste of battle-ready warriors noted for their ferocity and fearlessness. After being surgically equipped with prosthetic grinders and drills, the greater tyrants send mollocks to the surface to murder and destroy.
Mollock brutes live up to their name with savage brutality. The rank-and-file brutes display a wide array of machined replacement appendages, though their augmentations are unerringly geared toward melee confrontations. Displaying cunning beyond that of any simple animal, the adroit brutes employ their tools to create makeshift burrows just beneath the surface, hiding in plain sight while they await commands. It falls to the largest and most terrifying brutes in the mollock ranks to command the smaller ones. These elites teach their lessers the Subterran assault patterns which ravage enemies who, believing they face lesser intelligences, discover their mistakes all too late.
Mollock Berserker
Existing in stark contrast to the brutes, the mollock berserkers forgo any of the subtleties displayed by their kin. Berserkers use their superb speed and vicious taloned hands to their advantage, erupting from the ground to startle and flank foes. Once battle is joined, they enter a frenzied trance-like state and begin tearing through swathes of opponents, relenting only when either no foes remain or they have been put down.
Mollock Mortars
The mollock mortars are the artillery corps of the Subterran Uprising; they are among the slowest units to walk the fight but their long-range mortar shells can be deadly. Lowly in both stature and status, mollocks too feeble to serve as brutes are chosen to receive the mortar “enhancements”. Despite this, they serve their masters with the same fanatical determination as the rest of their kin.
Oppressors
The brutal oppressors are the highest caste of mollock yet observed by the forces of the surface world, and they are aptly named. These tyrants search the battlefield behind the Subterran advance, using the mighty industrial vacuums grafted onto their forearms to abduct shocked and cowering surface dwellers before ferrying their captives to the slave pits where they will live out their days. The oppressors’ mere presence drives their subordinates to fight to their utmost, lest shoddy performance draw the unwanted attention of these overseers.
Grinder Tank
Though most surface dwellers are familiar with the massive overlords of the Subterran Uprising and their lesser (though still comparatively large) mollock minions, a host of ever-more subordinate mollock beings toil unseen in the work pits of Subterran society. It is these smaller creatures who truly make Subterran existence possible, for they fashion the intricate mining machinery required for daily life and who conduct the delicate surgeries that integrate flesh with machinery.
These lesser mollocks have even proven to be fiendishly adaptable in their arts. Within mere months after first encountering the human weapons of war known as “tanks”, devious mollock artificers had crafted their own twisted versions of such contraptions. Crafted to be exceptionally resilient (lest their uncaring masters heedlessly crush them underfoot) these vehicles known to the surface world as Grinder Tanks have become an all-too-common sight at points of Subterran emergence. Though they will never grow to anything even remotely approaching the size and might of their larger brethren, the pilots at the helm of these vehicles nonetheless relish the thrill of power as they shower their foes with unceasing hails of bullets.
Mollock Excavator
Construction and fabrication are essential to daily life in the Subterran empire, for there is no end to the work needed to keep their tunnels clear and structurally sound. As the Subterrans have emerged onto the surface world, the Mollock Excavators have followed in their wake, shoring passages, repairing collapsed infrastructure, and reinforcing vital buildings such as the Smog Factories that make life on the surface tolerable for the painfully photosensitive Subterran skin and eyes. Though it is a thankless job, the Excavators have proven instrumental in erecting and securing footholds on the surface world, clearing and repurposing the upworlder rubble frequently left in the wake Hammerklak and the other Subterran masters.
Okay, mild rules spoiler. You guessed right. Destroyers are getting access to Action: Repair!
Groundbreaker
Groundbreakers, coincidentally identically-named by both humans and Subterrans because of their appearance and obvious function, serve a vital role in the Subterran battle host. Though Subterran forces are able to traverse the tunnels left by massive beings such as Hammerklak or by their Smog Factories as they burrow toward the surface, traversing hundreds or even thousands of miles of tunnels is an arduous and painfully slow task for even the hardiest Mollock Brute or most bloodthirsty Berserker. The Groundbreakers act as troop transports capable of rapidly and independently shuttling Mollock shock troops to the site of battle. Though ostensibly unarmed, Earth Breakers have been known to employ their tunnel-making capabilities offensively on occasion, undermining and weakening the foundations beneath structures until they are swallowed by the darkness below.
And, last but certainly not least, let’s meet the newest member of the Subterran family:
Meka-Merkondak
It was the ignominious loss of the mighty Drillcon in battle with the upworlders that first gave the Subterrans pause in their attempted conquest of the surface world. Though they possessed long experience combatting the Savage Swarm and other menaces beneath the earth, Subterran forces were largely unprepared to stand against foes that acted with more than mere animal cunning.
The overlords addressed this threat with reasoning typical of their position: why risk themselves, when their underlings existed to serve? And as the decree traveled by lash and threat down the ranks, it was once again the shrewd, scheming artistry of the lowly mollock craft that provided an answer.
Combat with the upworlders had introduced Subterran society to instruments and concepts of warfare never before imagined in their long existence, and the mollock artificers were quick to adapt. Gargantuan, purpose-built combat machinery, such as the supermechs fielded by G.U.A.R.D. and the combat robots manufactured and sold by Uber Corp International, fascinated these creatures. They were enamored by the technical sophistication of these creations, but also by the concrete demonstrations that even the physically fragile beings could wield enormous power if given the correct tools.
Using a form chosen to honor the fallen Drillcon, the first iteration of Meka-Merkondak ravaged Des Moines in a successful raid that resulted in the capture of thousands of slaves. Though the machine was effectively reduced to slag by the combined response of humanity’s defenders, the trial run had proven the concept to the satisfaction of the mightiest tyrants and their peers, and work began in earnest to replicate and improve upon the machine.
Though Subterran artifice was known to have produced smaller vehicles such as the Grinder Tanks and Groundbreakers, it is unknown how these beings managed the technological leap forward required to craft something of Meka-Merkondak’s size and complexity. Unverified reports from victims released from Subterran captivity suggest human collaborators assisted the loathsome beast-men in some fashion. It is perhaps telling that the Uber Corp skyscraper was one of the only buildings in downtown Des Moines to remain untouched by Meka-Merkondak’s first raid. Investigations into the corporation’s affairs revealed little, and reports of sizable offshore “investments” (in the form of truckloads of gold and gems) suddenly appearing on the company’s books were dismissed as mere clerical errors.
What is certain is that the Subterran approach to warfare has changed. While the defeat of singular, mighty abominations might quell Subterran ambitions for years, all who live beneath the open sky now shudder at the thought of the unbroken stream of these machines being wrought by the ceaseless toil in the dark work pits far below.
…And with that bombshell, that’s all for today! I hope you’re excited, because I know I am!
Tune in next time when we’ll discuss rules and tactics for these new models!