“It will be easy” they said. “All the Remnant are gone” they said.
The opportunity to obtain cheap fuel and materials made cracking through the thick surface ice fields an appealing proposition to the outlaws after they departed from the Nexus. This was until they drilled a little too deep, and swarms of Remnant machines poured out, awakened after lying dormant for centuries.
After the ensuing battle was over, and believing any immediate danger to have passed, the outlaws withdrew to re-evaluate how appealing the proposition now was.
A quartet of elite outlaw soldiers were left behind to guard the facility, thinking this would be a nice relaxing assignment, involving nothing more than shooting whatever local wildlife wandered too close by. The second wave of Remnant machines quickly corrected this misconception...