A dirtcycle, also known as an Atalan dirtcycle, is a two-wheeled Imperial light vehicle common to many worlds across the galaxy. Atalan vehicles like this are typically shipped to civilian mining corps by the Departmento Munitorum for the purposes of locating and claiming resources, before high-level agents of the Genestealer Cults that infest many Imperial worlds disguised as miners and labourers ensure they end up in the hands of their Neophyte Hybrids who serve the cult as the outriders known as Atalan Jackals.
Each Atalan machine is built to run for solar decades or even Terran centuries. It has much to recommend it: a robust frame and a shock absorbing suspension array; an engine that can run on multiple fuel types; and the capacity to mount stowage, recovery tools and auxiliary equipment without loss of efficacy. With such tools at its disposal, an Imperial mining corp's reach is long enough to find new sites with which to feed the endlessly hungering planetary networks of the Imperium.
On almost every Industrial, Forge or Agri-world, Atalan-branded machines can be found -- much like the ubiquitous Lasgun, they are cheap to manufacture, highly durable and easy to repair. They have become well-respected workhorses across the industrialised elements of Mankind's realm, especially in fringe regions and Sectors Fronteris. It is also for these reasons, unfortunately, that they are favoured by those cults who would spread the Genestealer's Curse to every world of the Emperor's domain.
Sources[]
- Codex: Genestealer Cults (8th Edition), pp. 58-59, 83, 95
Genestealer Cults Forces | |
---|---|
Command | Genestealer Patriarch • Magus • Primus |
Specialists | Clamavus • Nexos • Biophagus • Sanctus • Benefictus |
Elites | Abominant • Jackal Alphus • Kelermorph • Locus |
Troops | Acolyte Hybrid • Neophyte Hybrid • Hybrid Metamorph • Brood Brothers • Purestrain Genestealer • Aberrant • Genestealer Familiar • Mindwyrm Familiar • Atalan Jackals |
Vehicles | Dirtcycle • Wolfquad • Goliath Truck • Goliath Rockgrinder • Achilles Ridgerunner • Chimera • Sentinel • Leman Russ Tank (Leman Russ Eradicator • Leman Russ Exterminator • Leman Russ Vanquisher) |
Other | Tectonic Fragdrill |