A hulking derelict ghost ship was detected drifting in Imperial space very close to the Great Warp Rift. High command believed the strange object likely contained vast resources and potentially lost technologies. Two battalions of highly trained shock troopers where dispatched to undertake an extended operation exploring the hulk. They found that massive derelict vessel was occupied by a great number of chaotic cultists, warp daemons, and warp daemon possessed cultists. In the following seven months the the shock troopers succeeded in purging the hulk of all hostiles, though casualties were extremely high. Despite this, the mission was deemed a tremendous success, the hulk had contained many valuable resources and several archeotech devices likely of some significance were recovered.
The surviving shock troopers were congratulated for the success of the operation and for the objects recovered. However, upon returning to their home base a routine inspection of the force found them to have been changed by their prolonged exposure aboard the massive derelict and it's close proximity to the Great Warp Rift. Among the survivors many examples of mental derangement, minor physical mutations, and even several instances of daemonic possession by low grade warp entities. The surviving members of the mission were deemed too tainted by the warp and were scheduled to be immediately purged. The survivors, who had accomplished their mission and done everything they had been asked to do with courage and honor were shocked at this death sentence. They had suffered too much, sacrificed too much, and lost too many of their comrades to stand for what they saw as nothing less than callous betrayal by the Imperium. The survivors, highly trained combat veterans all, promptly freed themselves from the military detention center and fought their way to the spaceport where they hijacked a ship in a daring escape.
Having made their escape the now renegade veterans were uncertain what to do next. They couldn't return to any Imperial world and they, like most imperials, had no friends or allies outside the Imperium. While the Emperor and the Imperium had turned their backs on the veterans, they all had to admit that their escape was only possible because of a number of extremely lucky situations. The Emperor had turned his back on them, but was some other force now aiding them? Seeing no other options, the renegade veterans returned to the derelict ghost ship. They had already dispatched all of the cultists there and burned their profane symbols and icons, but the walls of the place were still covered in graffiti written in low gothic as well as some strange language none could understand. In the weeks that followed the renegade shock troopers read the cultist graffiti and their worldview began to change. Before long they found they could begin to make sense of the graffiti in the unknown language.
So it was that at the very site of their greatest victory on behalf of the Imperium, the shock troopers now declared their fealty to the Dark Powers. The shock trooper sergeant who would go on to become the Daemon-Infused Mutant Cultist known as 'Deathrattle' had been one of the first to embrace the powers of chaos. He had watched too many men under his command die for the rotting and backstabbing Imperium. He went further than most of his fellows and performed a ritual which he had learned from the disturbing graffiti. The sergeant followed the ritual as explained by the chaotic writings, but the real power of the ritual came from his own psyche. All of his intense dark emotions of rage, betrayal, and loss were like a beacon to the entities of the warp. The ritual was a success and the chaotic cultist began his new shared existence with a daemon.
NOTE: I've included an alternative variant of 'Deathrattle', however, he isn't a Daemon-Infused Mutant Cultist, but a traitorous soldier of the Imperium who has embraced the Dark Gods. His name is Pavlo and he isn't possessed by any warp entity, because of his fanatical devotion to the Dark Powers he has been gifted a chaos boon in the form of a long serpentine tail in place of his legs. His fellow traitors see this mutation as a clear sign of his favor by their masters. They have gave him an appropriate epithet and now call him: Pavlo the Blessed.
[UPDATE 23-01-16] I was not satisfied with the scale and proportions of my first four mutants. So I have uploaded a new STL in a more 'Heroic Scale.' The original version has been retained in a sub-folder.
These models wouldn't have been possible without the talent and generosity of these creators:
Head:
Jungle Fighters Head Bits "Commandos" Set x5 by DakkaDakka.Store
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/jungle-fighters-head-bits-commandos-set-x5
Torso:
Detailed Human Guards of Astra Torso by Tempestio Designs
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/detailed-human-guards-of-astra-torso
Arms (& Chainsword):
Angry Spaceguards Arms Clean by ZioCru
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/angry-spaceguards-arms-clean
Left-hand Claw:
Ridley by Schlossbauer
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/ridley
Right Hand:
Extra Hands for GoPro Stand / Selfie Stick by JohanvW3D
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/extra-hands-for-gopro-stand-selfie-stick
Laspistol (Pavlo variant only):
Weapon Rack by Solutionlesn
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/weapon-rack
Snake Body:
Slaanesh Serpent Body for Marine by Louiskim92
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/slaanesh-serpent-body-for-marine
Holster & Pouches:
Euclidean Infinite Number Soldier Builder by TabletopMando
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/euclidean-infinite-number-soldier-builder
