Morgan Insider January 2025

comic

No Name Papers

Urijah Holiday

3 Fun Facts About Morgan

Evelyn Self

The Morgan Middle School campus is located on the Pshw´anapam people´s homelands.

MMS was built in 1927 and was re-modeled on 5 different occasions' in 1935, in 1956, in 1966, in 1991, and in 2017.

Some tunnels run under our parking lot that lead to the high school.

Source: Mr. McCloskey, MMS teacher

WWII

Eastern Front- 1943-1944

Trenton Kelly

Operation Uranus

Operation Uranus was the counterattack following the battle of Stalingrad. It was early 1943, and the war on the Eastern Front was raging. The tide was turning in favor of the Soviets. The Soviets had pushed the Germans out of the Caucasus oil fields and mountain range, almost capturing an army group of Italian and Romanian troops in an encirclement but they escaped through the Crimean peninsula.

At the same time, the Soviets were pushing into Ukraine towards the town of Rostov. The city was to be surrounded by the Soviets and captured. The Soviets completed this maneuver perfectly and this is where most historians mark the end of Operation Uranus but it is up for debate.

Operation Bagration

This Operation has been considered the point that the Germans could no longer defeat the Soviets. Operation Bagration was the Soviet counter-offensive that led them to victory. It started in the south when they pushed into Ukraine with a powerful force past the Crimean Peninsula and into the area south of Kyiv with hopes of encircling it. When the Germans prepared defenses for this the Soviets made a surprise attack into the Belarus area in the German center that was heavily unguarded, this attack led to the recapture of Minsk.

After the Germans gathered their armor to retaliate they failed the encirclement. The Soviet defense allowed them to get a morale boost and continue pushing into the center looking to cut off the Baltic States in the north from the rest of the German territory. With near success in this campaign, they were initially stopped by the German armor. Still, they suspected that General Georgy Zhukov was going to pull the same maneuver they did prior and juke the German armor and attack Ukraine when it was unprotected so the German armor rushed south, but this is exactly what Zhukov wanted. He plowed into the pocket he created and cut off the Baltic area. (Ostland)

With the now cut-off Ostland, the Soviets could focus back on the southern front and push into Ukraine and the Balkans. An offensive was led into Ukraine with the goal of capturing Kyiv. So with an encirclement maneuver, the city was encircled and taken with the 3rd deadliest battle of the war and the 6th deadliest in human history (numbers by Britannica).

So with the city taken the Balkans were wide open for a Soviet invasion and the pocket in the north was closed the Germans were in a complete retreat to the homeland. The German armor was stuck in Romania after these maneuvers by the Soviets and a man by the name of King Michael led a coup in Romania to switch their country from the Allies to the Axis, he was successful with the help of the Soviet Red Army and Romania was now in the allies.

Warhammer 40,000: The miniature wargame rules

Miah Littrell

Warhammer 40,000 10th edition is a 28mm heroic scale miniature wargame where you fight large wars or small skirmishes in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium.

The scale of Warhammer 40,000

The scale of Warhammer 40,000 is 28mm which means the average height of a human is 28mm, but some models are larger like Space Marines 32mm tall.

Photo Caption: Models in ascending size order from left to right: Sir Hektur base size 25mm, Skitarii ranger alpha base size 25mm, old cast of a Dark Angels sergeant base size 32mm, Deathwatch sergeant base size 32mm, old cast of a Grey Knights terminator base size 40mm, Primaris space marine with a modified head with a Necron faceplate base size 32mm, Grey Knights terminator base size 40mm, Adeptus Custodes warden base size 40mm, Castaferrum Pattern Venerable Dreadnought base size 60mm, Redemptor Dreadnought base size 90mm, Nemesis Dreadknight base size 120 x 92mm, Rhino, Impulsor, Canis Rex base size 170mm, Unfinished Cerastus knight Lancer base size 170mm.

Rules & Phases

Warhammer 40,000 is currently in its Tenth edition of rules. There are 5 phases in a game round, 2 rounds per turn and it takes around 7 and a half hours to play a game of 6 turns.

Command phase

The command phase is at the beginning of every round, which is split into two parts, the first is each player gains 1 command point to be spent on a stratagem at any time which are special abilities and actions. The second is at the beginning of every round after the first you determine if your soldiers are battle-shocked. Battle-shock is where in this part of the command phase you roll 2d6 if a unit is below Half-strength and must get equal to or higher than your leadership. If you do not succeed the unit becomes battle shocked which makes it so a unit can no longer control objectives and if they fall back from melee they must roll for every unit, if they get a 1 or 2 that unit is counted as a casualty, stratagems can also no longer be applied to them.

Movement phase

In the movement phase, you place your army on the table and then move them, most infantry moves 6”. The second part of this phase is reinforcements, units you selected to be in reserve can now deploy.

Shooting phase

In the shooting phase, you select a valid unit to fire, select a valid weapon or number of weapons, select an eligible target, roll to hit, roll to wound, make save rolls, and deduct damage from wounds.

Charge phase

In the charge phase, you select a valid unit to charge, select an eligible target, and roll to move, you have to roll on 2d6, if it is equivalent to the distance away from them, move your troops into base-to-base contact, and proceed to fight phase.

Fight phase

In the fight phase, you select a valid opponent, then you select a valid unit to attack with, select a valid weapon or number of weapons, select an eligible target, roll to hit, roll to wound, make save rolls, and deduct damage from wounds.

The factions of Warhammer 40,000

The Imperium of Man

Note: this is not all of the Imperium of Man's forces, just what has been revised as important and interesting.

Space Marines

Ultramarines

Description snippet: The Ultramarines are the 13th legion led by Primarch Roboute Guilliman. They currently are the strongest loyalist chapter made up of more strongly disciplined and honourable Astartes than the other chapters.

Grey Knights

Description snippet: The Grey Knights are a secretive chapter of Astartes that are highly trained in combating Chaos Daemons and have no Primarch but are crafted from the gene-seed of the Emperor of mankind himself.

Salamanders

Description snippet: The Salamanders are the 18th legion once led by Primarch Vulkan. They are the “kindest” chapter of Astartes being unusually concerned with preventing civilian casualties and are the only chapter that is allowed to retain contact with their families after becoming an Astarte.

Blood Angels

Description snippet: The Blood Angels are the 9th legion once led by Primarch Sanguinius. They are known for their flaw called the Black Rage, after their Primarch was killed it left a phychic imprint of trauma on the Astartes, Astartes who succumb to the Black Rage become trapped in a rage-filled nightmare where everyone becomes the person who killed their Primarch and must avenge him.

Adeptus Mechanicus

Description snippet: The Adeptus Mechanicus is a cult of people who believe the best form of all organisms is fully machine because there is no truth in flesh, only betrayal, there is no strength in flesh, only weakness, there is no constancy in flesh, only decay, there is no certainty in flesh but death. This cult serves as the Imperiums tech adepts and fabricators.

Astra Militarum

Description snippet: The Astra Militarum is the Imperium's largest coherent fighting force, comprised of normal people such as you and me against the horrors of the universe, and is often the first response to a threat that a planets defense force fails to stop, they usually fight whatever is too weak to send space marines to fight but too strong for the planetary defense force to stop.

Imperial Knights

Description snippet: The Imperial Knights are the Imperiums support force of Robotic walkers piloted by neurally connected pilots. They have assisted the forces of the Imperium ranging from the lowly Astra Militarum to the Space Marines in battle.

Armies of Chaos

Note: this is not all of the Forces of Chaos, just what has been revised as appropriate to show and important and interesting.

Chaos Daemons

Daemons of Khorne

Description snippet: The Daemons of Khorne are brutal daemons who wish to only spill blood for their god, every murder and kill feeds their Khorn.

Daemons of Tzeentch

Description snippet: The Daemons of Tzeentch are arcane daemons who use their god's powers to shift and change and to use psychic powers.

Thousand Sons

Description snippet: The Thousand Sons are the traitor 14th legion led by the Primarch Magnus the Red. They are known for their connection to the warp and some have been turned to dust because of a failed spell.

Xenos Armies

Note: this is not all of the Xenos armies, just what has been revised as important and interesting.

Aeldari

Description snippet: The Aeldari are elf-like warriors who are known for their elegance and strength in combat and their appearance. They are a dying race due to them creating the god of excess by being so excessively prideful and amoral who consumes their souls when they die instead of them being reborn like they did long ago.

Necrons

Description snippet: The Necrons are an ancient race of people who were turned into machines to stop a disease in their people and later went to a deep sleep and are now reawakening

Orks

Description snippet: The Orks are a race of green mushroom people who love only violence and crave a good battle. They have no proper science but if enough of them believe it will work it will most likely work, this is how many of their vehicles and weapons work.

T'au Empire

Description snippet: The T’au Empire is an army of highly advanced aliens known for their small mech suits and their ranged prowess

Tyranids

Description snippet: The Tyranids are a species of aliens that are closer to bugs than humans biologically and are connected through a hivemind, and they see all biological life as prey to be consumed.

Sources

• warhammer40k.fandom.com
• warhammer.com
• wargamer.com
• wahapedia.ru
• en.wikipedia.org

Revisor

• Garr Littrell

Space marine painter

Short Story Submissions

Guidelines for submitting your original short story

Brooklynn DeBritz

Short story submissions must be:

• original, written by you
• between 100-1000 words
• school-appropriate
• Edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• readable (if we have to do lots of heavy editing, it will not be featured in the Morgan Insider)

We will feature 2-3 short stories in the next edition of the Morgan Insider, depending on the length.

Short Story

Mika’s Story

written by Celia Hamilton

It was a chilly winter day, but the sun shot like a hyper child through the clouds. Mika, a girl from the local town, dragged a frozen pail down the long path to the well. The cistern had broken two weeks before, and Mika had been chosen to bring water to the town every day. Each morning, she hiked up to the well and took the town’s rightful share from it. The water giver divided it among the people, giving them rations which were, to be blunt, scant at the least.

After all these things were done, Mika would run back to her house and nestle under blankets in front of the fire. Ama would pull her and her little brother, Soren, into her arms and tell another story. Ama often shared magical tales with her two children. But today, Ama was sick. And no story would wait for Mika when she came home.

¨Why shouldn't I take my sweet time? Ama would be fine if this stupid water wasn't rationed. If not for the water giver, I would hear a story today!” She thought, angrily.

But then, a little blue light shone in the woods.

“I may as well have a real-life adventure. I won't hear one tonight.”

Mika set down the pail at the edge of the woods and followed the little wisp.

She was led through the woods, over a little brook, curiously not frozen. She slipped on the tiny stepping stone, wet with snow, and wet her foot in the creek.

“Blast! How am I to explain this to Ama?”

But she didn't care enough to ponder it for long. She ran to catch up with the wisp, who was just beyond the stream. She ended up at the fence of Harold Filcher, the meanest old man in the town. He was known for his specific hatred of children. The wisp kept floating through the farm, past the property line and various unfriendly signs. Mika mustered up her courage and dashed after it, not

wanting to miss the adventure. She followed him across the property until they climbed another fence, finally exiting his property. She ran after the wisp, which was edging ahead. She came to a fjord, and from the fjord flowed a river, which flowed into a pipe, which filled the cistern. Mika couldn't believe

it. She had found the source of the problem! She could now spend her days with the other children, not hiking to the well each day. She was so happy that she began to jump up and down. Suddenly, the spot she was standing on evaporated. She was sliding down the cliff! She frantically grasped for something to hold onto, anything stable. The jagged rocks scraped her side as she slid down the cliff, like some kind of sickening carnival ride. She finally found a thin ledge and grasped it with all that was left of her strength. The landing place was six feet from the top of the fjord, low enough to be doable… but high enough to be disappointing. She tried in vain to pull herself up but had no strength to do the task. She finally swallowed her pride and called out.

“Mr. Filcher! Help!” she screamed.

She cried out over twenty times, each call louder than the last.

“I hear you, darn brat! What do you want?” asked the disgruntled face of Harold B. Filcher, peering over the edge of the cliff.

“Can you get me up?” she begged.

“Yes, of course!” his face disappeared over the top for a moment and came back with a rope in hand. He made a loop that she held onto, and he pulled her up over the side of the cliff. She took a deep breath and began to cry.

“Did anyone ever tell you how kind you are?” she cried, thanking him.

This sentiment was greeted with eye rolls and scoffs from the other party. He saddled her on his horse and took her back to her home, promising to convince the water giver to address the broken pipe. She thanked him again and burst into the house.

“Soren,” she said. “Have I got a story for you!”

Short Story

Random DnD Shenanigans

Michael Eberhart

In a galaxy not that far away, a Half-Elf (Kay), Human Barbarian (Chumba-Wumba), and a Monk Wizard (Zarlack) were Ubered deep into the dark forests. Unfortunately, their Uber driver had a sudden emergency and had to leave them stranded.

They had only known each other from the car ride there, but they all had something in common… They were all searching for “The Oasis”.

They decided to split up and explore the forest. Zarlack searched for animals in hopes of finding a pet. In searching he slipped and fell into a thorn bush full of berries, where he gathered some. While gathering berries he heard a sound, Zarlack looked up and saw a giant creature- Tiger Bear. It was huge and magnificent. It didn’t seem too ferocious, so he decided to try to speak with it. Zarlack greeted Tiger Bear calmly in hopes of befriending him. Tiger Bear stood on his hind legs and said, “Why have you come to my forest being?”

“I have come in search of “The Oasis. I have some berries if you would like some," Zarlack responded.

Tiger Bear asked, “What do you want from me, and why should I help you?”

“We can work together as partners to discover “The Oasis” where everything you could ever want lies. Infinite delicious food, kingly shelters, and beautiful scenery," Zarlack exclaimed.

“I suppose if this “Oasis” is real, it would be quite the change from this dark forest. If I agree with your request, you must provide the description. Or else… I will eat you.”

Zarlack nodded in agreement to Tiger Bears' terms. Zarlack wandered the large forest with his new friend.

After a while, they saw bright lights shining in the distance. Soon, Chumba-Wumba runs into them and is frightened at first by the presence of Tiger Bear. But Zarlack reassures Chumba-Wumba that Tiger Bear is friendly. Chumba-Wumba notices the distant lights and asks Zarlack about them. Zarlack explains that he doesn’t know either. Chumba-Wumba decides to move towards the lights while Zarlack and Tiger Bear stay put.

Kay has been trying to contact the spirits of the area but has had no such luck. Kay had explored the area a little and discovered a small pond. He decided to take some time to find materials for a fishing rod. Kay also found some worms as bait for fishing. He sat on a nearby log and began to fish.

Chumba-Wumba continued towards the distant lights but got distracted by something lurking in the bushes. He went to investigate, and six Gruesomes (a Gruesome is a type of monster with a sludge-like appearance) emerged from the bushes. Startled Chumba-Wumba let out a loud holler. Zarlack, now a distance away from Chumba-Wumba, heard the scream. Zarlack thought it was a cry for help. Zarlack has teleportation powers, which he used to teleport Tiger Bear and himself to Chumba-Wumba. Zarlack didn’t know Chumba-Wumba’s exact location, but he knew his general direction. Zarlack and Tiger Bear teleported right next to Chumba-Wumba who was trying to defend himself from the gruesomes. Zarlack electrocuted the gruesome with his Thunder-Spell (a spell of black magic), which instantly vaporized five of them. There was still one gruesome left. Zarlack picked up the gruesome with Mage-Hand and threw the gruesome deep into the forest. Zarlack threw the gruesome so far, it was not visible to the naked eye anymore.

Kay was still fishing in his small peaceful pond when he heard a scream gaining closer to him. Kay felt confusion as he looked around in search of the sound, when all of a sudden a gruesome fell into his pond, instantly turning into an applesauce. Kay was mortified, and very confused. Zarlack had thrown the gruesome so far, it landed in Kay’s peaceful fishing pond. Kay, still confused, started to feel some irritation and maddening. He learned the monster that rudely interrupted him was a Gruesome, which makes some good fish bait. Kay borrowed some of the gruesome gore and decided to continue fishing, still annoyed.

Zarlack, Chumba-Wumba, and Tiger Bear continued towards the distance lights, still intrigued and questionable from them. They started getting closer to the lights, beginning to make out what they were. It was a small village. They found a path that brought them the rest of the way to the village. Chumba-Wumba was about nine feet tall and massive. He looked like an angry beast, and Tiger Bear was the same. They both came by as a threat to the townsfolk. The townsfolk stared up at the “Beasts” in fear. They decided to attack in defense of their town. Zarlack, Chumba-Wumba, and the tiger bear took cover behind a building, getting shot at by arrows. Zarlack sent out Tiger Bear but it was not powerful enough and returned to cover. Zarlack had enough. He stood up tall and mighty through the arrows and used his black magic to create a giant fireball. The fireball glowed like the sun. Zarlack never intended to kill, but he didn’t seem to have a choice. He grabbed ahold of Chumba-Wumba and Tiger Bear, threw the fireball, and teleported far away, not knowing what happened to the village.

Tiger Bear and Chumba-Wumba teleported nearby Kay safely. Zarlack teleported directly on top of Kay. Zarlack had caught on fire from the fireball. He now on top of Kay caught him on fire as well. Zarlack throws Kay into the pond, then jumps in after. Kay catches a fish in frustration and quickly eats it to replenish himself. Zarlack then throws Kay out of the pond, and thunder strikes the pond, instantly killing all twenty fish in the pond. Zarlack gathers the fish and starts walking away. Before Zarlack can make any distance, Kay grabs him, throws him to the ground, and kicks him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Zarlack in pain looks at Kay in confusion. Kay very irritated starts yelling at Zarlack for causing unnecessary issues. “We were supposed to work together and with nature in peace to find “The Oasis”. But you’ve gone and screwed everything up,” Kay says to Zarlack in a powerful demonic-like voice. “Leave before I kill you” Kay exclaims. Zarlack got off the ground shaken and slightly afraid and scurried away into the forest with his fish.

Kay begins moving in the only direction he can. After a little while Kay sees a very distant shimmer of light. Not too far along afterward, a gruesome crosses Kay’s path. Kay is very irritated at this point, he does not feel like dealing with a gruesome. Kay grabs the gruesome by its neck, cursing it with magical spells, making it feel immense pain. It suffers terribly for a few seconds, then explodes. Kay feels slightly better from this.

Zarlack has been setting up traps for Gruesomes with the bones of the fish he collected. He used the excess meat to heal. After setting the rest of the traps, he sat by a tree and rested, inevitably falling asleep. Chumba-Wumba has been resting as well, falling asleep near the pond.

Kay is the only member still awake. He passes by Zarlack, comfortable sleeping against a tree. Kay ignores him in scarce that he might kill him out of past anger. Kay continues his journey. The forest begins to get thicker, with more dark green trees. The glimmer is more of visible light.

Zarlack awakes from his slumber, heading to check his traps. Zarlack caught seven Gruesomes. He uses his power of beast translation to tame all seven Gruesomes. Zarlack felt alone and scared so he teleported towards Kay. Right before he teleported, he got tackled by Chumba-Wumba teleporting him too. Zarlack and Chumba-Wumba teleport a few feet behind Kay. Kay still wasn’t very happy with Zarlack, and the mixture of irritation and surprise caused Kay to uppercut Zarlack in the stomach knocking the wind out of him once again. Cumba-Wumba stepped back after seeing what happened to Zarlack. After Kay realized what had happened, he helped Zarlack off of the ground. “Why are you here Zarlack?” Kay asks disgustedly. “I just wanted to group up again, and Chumba-Wumba followed,” Zarlack said still winded. “Whatever,” Kay said. The group continued walking towards the light.

After what had felt like an eternity, the group finally reached the light. It was a large castle with miles long of walls on each side of it. Kay walks up to the giant doors and knocks. The doors creak open showing three ghost knights wielding swords reading to battle. Kay embarrassed one of them by using a spell causing his head to explode.

The other two knights look at their comrade's corpse in surprise, only making them more angry. Zarlack uses Mage-Hand on one of the two left causing him to fly through a wall. The one knight left started to run through the castle in fear, but Chumba-Wumba chases and lays on him, inevitably suffocating him. With the three knights dead, the group walks through the castle searching for the door leading to “The Oasis”. Eventually after searching the colossal rooms, they found a room with a singular door. Chumba-Wumba saw the door. He was too stupid to know how to open it, so he ran through the wall creating a hole in “The Oasis”.

It was real, and they made it…

Morgan Insider Staff

Student Content Creators

Allison Alder, Evalynn Andal, Lili Baldovinos, Elke Barlow, Rheanee Beeson-Petty, Chloie Biddle, Harper Bononcini, Brooklynn DeBritz, Paisley Douthwaite, Michael Eberhart, Quinn Fleming, Abiageal Frank, Natalia Garcia, Ava Henson, Ashley Hill, Urijah Holiday, Elliot Holland-Neff, Trenton Kelly, Miah Littrell, Emily Malella, Olive Martinson, Adithya Rajendran, Evelyn Self, Bridger Thompson, Brooklyn Velasquez, Amelia Wooten, & Ellie Youngblood

Advisor/Editor

Mrs. Carly Clark

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