Ambuk

Map	Basic Data		Planetary Image
	Name:	Ambuk
	Segmentum:	Tempestus
	Sector:	Eternum
	Subsector:	Kalibras
	System:	Timtoo
	Population:	~25,000,000
	Affiliation:	Imperial
	Class:	Death World
	Tithe Grade:	Solutio Prima

Overview

Ambuk is a brutal world of vast deserts filled with hostile xenofauna, including several unique species of mega fauna. The only human settlements are massive city fortresses built around the few oases, with massive walls and gun emplacements that frequently hold off waves of flesh eating scarabs, spider-scorpions, or the occasional Walking Sphinx or Anubi. Atmospheric flight is incredibly difficult due to constant sandstorms that can clog up engines or batter down wings, as such only massive, heavily armored and shielded craft like the Sevastapol Class Battlezeppelin made on nearby Remeo can navigate aerially. The only other crafts that can survive are heavily armored military craft like Thunderhawks or specially reinforced Valkyries, with all normal traffic having to land at one of the main settlement's landing towers that breach above the sandstorms and atmosphere. Standard traffic like trade convoys, hunting parties, mining parties, or farming convoys must make their journey in heavily armored cars that make use of specially crafted and shielded engines, with eye protection or gas masks to breath almost required. This reliance on vehicles, and using vehicles and weapons to fight off xenofauna to survive has created several Guard regiments that excel in mechanized warfare, and many a line has been broken by the Ambukian Mobile Pathfinders. The xenofauna has prepared them well for the enemies the guard faces, whether it's the flesh eating scarabs that attack in hordes and can flay the flesh off a man in seconds in a massive swarming attack, or megafauna like the Walking Sphinx, a massive creature that can eat a vehicle whole with massive human like mouths on its paws. Also innate is a keen sense of imminent danger, as Anubae, rare creatures that pretend to be human by day (appearing as a non-descript elderly traveler) but by night they become monstrous killers, slowly walking towards their prey while disguised as a human, the only giveaway being a too many teeth smile they hold as they advance. No one has survived a night encounter with an Anubae that hasn't run away, and if they catch someone they quickly transform into a ghoulish demented version of a human, with strength and teeth that can rip through plasteel. Luckily, they tend to avoid excessive light and the fortress cities that house the bulk of the population place a high importance on maintaining their floodlight arrays and generators. Smaller light sources have the opposite effect, drawing them like moths to a flame, but any traveling caravan cannot afford to turn off their lights, lest the flesh eating scarab choose that moment to attack (while they will attack during the day as well, scarabs prefer attacking at night but will avoid lights), causing all caravaners to have a 6th sense in detecting danger drawing near. This isn't enough to escape an Anubae that has chosen their target, and any caravan that sees one must keep driving until either daylight or they make it to a city fortress, as the Anubae, although they're never seen not slowly walking or teleporting, having a method of unseen travel that allows them to pop up again to menacingly walk towards the caravan who stopped after believing themselves safe. Luckily, Anubae are rare, and although they kill a couple of caravans a year who either made a mistake or had their engines die, do not overly ruin trade for the world. Furthermore, they are vulnerable when exposed to sunlight and thus lone travelers are often gunned down, though the more merciful may attempt to interrogate lone travelers first, few have survived to report that Anubae can talk.