The Early Life of Gauss
Gauss was born in the early days of the colony on Enoch and lost his parents at the tender age of five. He most likely had a different name, but it’s been lost to time. Gauss blamed the Enoch Colonization Authority, or ECA, for their deaths and fought alongside the Insurgent Movement. The pain and suffering that was the birthright of Enoch created a hateful and violent young man, and for many years he fought in the never-ending war against the ECA. One fateful day, a storm powered by The Anomaly hit him and his platoon, and he emerged reborn as the Altered Gauss.
What Happens When One Becomes Altered
I used the term reborn, because either immediately or over time after becoming an Altered, Gauss’s personality and physicality would significantly change. When a human becomes an Altered, their psyche is put through a ton of stress and aspects of their personality are drastically changed. Negative emotions and qualities are enhanced, while positive traits are muted. As a side note, this might be why our Outlander is so aggressive and quick to kill. Just because they look normal doesn’t mean they haven’t been mentally changed. Now, back to Gauss.
Gauss was reborn as an Altered with a changed personality and a twisted and corrupted body, and was given the ability to harness and manipulate electromagnetic energy. As soon as he realized what had happened, Gauss flew into a rage, and began a path of slaughter against the ECA, causing them to lose much ground in the region known as Eagle Peaks. Since the Altered are the leaders of the Insurgents, Gauss’s rebirth acted as a sort of promotion for him, since no one in the Insurgents except for another Altered would dare to challenge him.
Gauss and the Solar Tower
Gauss would lead Insurgents against the ECA, although the exact number is unknown. It’s also unknown if Captain Reiner or any of the other Insurgents were under Gauss, or if they were there by order of someone else. Regardless, Gauss would help capture the Solar Tower. From a strategic standpoint, the Solar Tower was extremely important as it had a high vantage point that looked over much of the vast battlefield. It was also very close to Rift Town, which was potentially the last bastion of the ECA. Gauss taking that position presented a massive problem for the ECA, as it disrupted their trade routes significantly. Shira would send over a hundred men to try and retake the position and all of them would fall to Gauss’s power. Gauss would keep the place until we, the invincible and indestructible (unless we’re farming for legendary gear) Outrider, showed up. We would fight him, and we would win.
Conclusion
Gauss is a prime example of how most of the Altered ended up, and it’s a miracle we didn’t join them. His death allowed us to retake a key position for the ECA and it also allowed crucial trading of resources to resume. It’s said that in Enoch, guns are as plentiful as bread used to be on Earth, which means that if we hadn’t defeated Gauss, the people we see in Rift Town most likely would have starved to death. Killing Gauss also removed another Altered from the ranks of the Insurgents, however, the rate at which they get new Altereds is unknown.
But, yeah. That’s everything there is to know about the life of Gauss. I plan on becoming the lore master for this game, so if you want to know anything about the world of Outriders, this website is the place to be! My name is Ben, and I thank you for your time.
| Program | Freedom! Scholarship |
| Author | Ben Duffield |
| YouTuber | Venextron |
| Publisher | MGN TV |
| Game | Outriders |