Festerruman Sachiel
The Warmaster
THE PACT OF APOPHIS
"Revelation upon them! Plagues upon them! Chaos upon them! Apophis shall reign!"
"Revelation upon them! Plagues upon them! Chaos upon them! Apophis shall reign!"
OUT-OF-CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create an armed force for Warmaster Festerruman Sachiel to accompany him in his quest to "save" the Galaxy
Role: They serve as a massive military of The Warmaster and as a unit of the Sith Order
Image Credit: Letzte Battalion from Hellsing, Downfall - Cultists WIP by TheDrowningEarth
Permissions:
Links: The Blood Pact and Chaos from Warhammer 40k which I took first musings from and the Letze Battalion from Hellsing that I have used for their design and the sense of relentless drive and inhumanity.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Army Name: The Apophis Pact
Classification: An organized zealous cultist army.
Affiliation: Warmaster Festerruman Sachiel as its supreme Commander
Army Symbol:
The Holy Circle of Apophis serves as the Pact's main battle banner. The image depicts Apophis Herself as the Galaxy swallowing itself. Once the tail has been fully swallowed then the Time of Open Doors will begin where the Wells of the Force will self-implode, leading to the destruction and eventual rebirth of the Galaxy. It is most typically displayed upon the flayed skin of the most loyal servants of the Warmaster whose bodies have been recovered from the battlefield after a heroic death so that all may always gaze upon those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is one of the greatest honors for a Pact trooper ever to achieve. For those who have not taken a Pact to Apophis, laying a finger on a Holy Circle banner is a heresy that will result in the purging of the offender in holy fire. Units of repute within the Pact have personnalized banners created to celebrate their noble achievements and legacies. The smaller the circle is, the greater the honor.
Description:
The Pact of Apophis is a massive accelerationist religious armed cult that seeks to create enough death and disorder throughout the galaxy that reality will reset itself. Disillusioned with the current state of the Galaxy, the Pact believes that only a total reset can bring about any salvation. They hope through their diety Apophis, that if they spread enough chaos She will materialize into real space and cause the self-destruction of every Force Nexus in the Galaxy. The resulting chain reaction will cause an implosion of the universe that will allow Apophis to start over with a clean slate.
Many have tried to achieve their goals. But few possess the industrial capacity of organization of the Pact. The Pact prides itself on the supreme and unbreakable discipline of the common grunt and their carefully constructed organization modeled on the best armies of the Galaxy. Soldiers of the Pact are indoctrinated for years to obey their commanders in all things, without question, hesitation, or doubt. These things, combined with their zealous and absolute loyalty to their God and Warmaster, means they will almost always fight to the last man, giving nor expecting any mercy. The only thing they may ever fear is dying before the achievement of their objective, thus failing their holy deed in the eyes of Apophis and their Warmaster.
Many of their officers are battle-hardened and trained, often routinely using standard military tactics rather than relying on blood-crazed berserkers who simply rush head-long on the battlefield to attack their foe until they or their foe have died. They understand combined arms and the importance of regiments working together to achieve a goal. It was such iron discipline and organization that allowed the Warmasteer to conquer Pandemonium in short order, standing firm and uniform against the barbarians that blindly threw themselves on their line, and watching their foes break and flee for fear of their lives. Well organized, they have an established chain of command that allows them to coordinate easily on a massive scale. This enables them to almost always achieve numerical local superiority over their foes, able and willing to deploy millions of disposable manpower to a planet in mere days. This has given them the appearance of simply sweeping their enemies with a sheer wave of bodies.
However, all the skill and fanaticism in the Galaxy cannot overrun it if one does not have the right equipment. Luckily the great legions of Apophis have not been found wanting. Their great homeworld of Pandemonium is an industrial powerhouse. Its crust has been hallowed out to fit in massive temple factories manned by billions of workers more than willing to work themselves to death to give the frontline the munitions and material they need to wage holy war. To outside eyes, the Pact's equipment appears ramshackle and faulty though this is the furthest from the trust. Even if they cannot currently achieve technological parity with their foes much of their arsenal is cheap, rugged, and simple to maintain, therefore allowing commanders to rely on grinding down their foes through attrition.
The Pact, despite its professionalism, advanced organization, and staunch discipline, are still fervent insane religious extremists that cannot be reasoned with. In the aftermath of a victorious battle, the Pacts commit massacres and atrocities of a repulsive level. They are not tolerant of non-believers and heathens, often flaying their skin off, bleeding them out, or burning them on stakes, purging their sins with Holy fire. Often, many innocents are rounded up and used for their sick debauched sacrifices and rituals to their God. If one currently trapped within Pact-occupied land does not accept the word of Apophis, repent their sin of following false ideals, and fight with all dedication for the Pact and the Warmaster, those individuals are as good as dead. Only the most faithful and zealous survive.
They have all pledged themselves to Warmaster Festerruman Sachiel, their supreme leader, and are named after the Pact all members take to swear to the goal of reseting the Galaxy. This ritual involves them grasping a burning branch to understand what it was like for their Warmaster when he made his very own pledge to Apophis Herself.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Headquarters: Pandemonium
- Goals: To bring anarchy to the Galaxy, to tear down the false Gods that have deceived the people, to bring true freedom by teaching all the primordial truth, and to serve the Warmaster's beck and call
- Reputation:
Having to yet commence large-scale operations throughout the Galaxy, they are not well known by most Galactic citizens. However, in the few raids, they have carried out against minor settlements to capture resources and information, they have become known as living demons. A wave of soldiers and steel that constantly advances no matter how much firepower is being brought down upon them and no matter how many of their numbers die beside them. Where one falls, ten more shall take their place. And one hundred each of them. They have never surrendered, broken, or fled in fear on the defense, holding their line with iron discipline. The only way that their foes have learned that it is possible to stop them is to kill every single one for each one possesses inspiration and zeal beyond belief. They are known as a highly disciplined army rather than the disorganized warbands of berserkers that normally characterize most extremist religious cult armies of the Galaxy. They are also known to be gibbering insane madmen who butcher entire populations, sparring no one, not only the adults but the women and the children, too, slaughtering them like animals in oceans of blood on altars to their God. Though only partaking in such activities after being approved by higher command.
- Army Size: Huge - Pandemonium is not a world with an army, it is an army with a world. The entire population of the Pandemonium System has been mobilized in preparation for the Warmaster's crusade. Massive birthing factories constantly churn out new recruits in a process akin to cloning... but far, far more visceral. Current calculations place 15 billion total members of the armed forces and associated militias. It is possibly one of the largest cult armies in existence but its true danger does not just come from its overwhelming numbers but rather how it chooses to use those numbers, its advanced organization, veteran leadership, fanatism, and strict command structure.
- Composition:
- Crusade Army- The largest official formation of the Apophis Pact that currently exists. They are commanded by those with the revered rank of High Seraphim, the Warmasters very chosen few. Composed of four Warbands, about ten and a half million soldiers, it is considered the absolute minimum for multiple-continent campaigns. For full planetary conquest, it is recommended to bring up to ten Crusade Armies to the forefront along with the direct command of the Warmaster.
- Warband - The Pact's version of a Field Army with the commanding rank of Seraphim. Typical Warbands consist of about four Legions within their ranks, rounding the number of their soldiers to about two and a half million. These are massive formations that are considered the minimum requirement for seizing regions or major cities of resistance.
- Legion
- Battlegroup
- Division
- Brigade
- Battalion
- Redeemer Battalion - Made up entirely of Redeemers who wish to atone for their sins and transgressions, this unit serves typically as the first suicidal wave before a major Pact assault used to calculate the position of enemy emplacements with analysis of their deaths, sparring the more valuable troops and giving them a chance to redeem themselves. They are placed under the command of a Warrior-Priest which shall judge the deeds of those attempting redemption and may, rarely, declare their sins atoned for in the eyes of their God.
- Cohort - the Galactic equivalent of a Company
- Troop - A Pact Troop is composed of four squads under the command of a Cornith who serves Platoon Leader and a Platoon Arluk who serves as their second-in-command. The exact organization can sometimes differ from Warband to Warband or depending on the situation and resources at hand but they typically have forty soldiers within their ranks. Specialization at the Platoon level offers commanders more options for the deployment of a platoon which can include heavy armor or artillery support.
- Section/Squad - The Section is one of the most important units of the Apophis Pact, having massive flexibly during active combat situations and able to maintain command cohesion. It consists of ten troopers with an Arlurk who is the commander alongside with a corporal who is his second-in-command who will assume command should the Arlurk fall in the line of duty. Each Section can be subdivided into two fireteams. A squad's specialty training during induction defines their combat function. During induction, members of a Section are often told to treat all as equal and as fellow comrades that will be at their side until death and beyond. They eat from the same pot, live in the same tent, and die on the same ground. The Pact currently contains the following types of squads:
- Fireteam - The smallest organized unit within the Pact. Consists of four men and one squad leader. These groups are often split off from squads only - with the Section leader and his second - temporarily during combat to achieve tactical mobility or to pincer foes from both sides before once more joining together into a squad. There are more permanent fireteams that exist however those are for specialized jobs such as marksmen, suicidal bombers, and religious/moral enforcers.
- Crusade Army- The largest official formation of the Apophis Pact that currently exists. They are commanded by those with the revered rank of High Seraphim, the Warmasters very chosen few. Composed of four Warbands, about ten and a half million soldiers, it is considered the absolute minimum for multiple-continent campaigns. For full planetary conquest, it is recommended to bring up to ten Crusade Armies to the forefront along with the direct command of the Warmaster.
- Military ranks of the Apophis Pact
- Warmaster - The highest rank in the Pact, it belongs to the absolute Supreme Commander of all units of the Pact and whoever holds the title is to be granted respect and obedience. Only one person in the history of the Pact has ever held such a name.
- Officer Ranks - Those who hold these ranks are those who have graduated His Most Praised Academy which is a school where promising cadets are groomed for high-ranking officer roles. Here they go through three years of grueling teachings as they are educated in the way of command and affirm their loyalty to the Warmaster. Those that have graduated are given a Letter of Academic which is their commission to this special rank.
- High Seraphim - This is the elite rank that is only held by those who the Warmaster has personally chosen. As a result, there are only around half a dozen who hold the rank at any given time. They possess the ability to command the Crusade Armies but some are relegated to more specialized tasks. Such an example is the most famed person amongst the High Seraphim Selaphiel Shamshel, Sachiel's right-hand, who commands the feared Death Brigades and serves as his personal executioner. The rank is modeled on the Galactic equivalent of a Grand General.
- Seraphim - General
- Cherubim - Lieutenant general
- Ennenhim - Typically commands Battlegroups-sized units.
- Chervertim - They command the feared Division of the Pact and are basically Colonels in most states' armed forces.
- Archcommanderim - The commander of Brigades with a command Arlurk Archcommanderim as the principal NAR officer on the field and an Astdevim as their executive officer.
- Astdevim - The Galactic equivalent of an Army Captain, these officers command cohort-sized formations with an NAR to assist them in their tasks.
- First Cornithim - An experienced Cornithim with up to 18 to 24 months of front-line experience.
- Cornithim - This is the entry-level rank given to most officers that have received their Letter of Academic. These officers lead the Troops with a Second Arlurk and four squads.
- Non-Academic Ranks (NAR) - NAR officers are the backbone of the Apophis Pact. They handle the day-to-day small-scale operations of the Pact. They ensure the maintenance and improvement of the common soldierly. They take vital commands from above and execute them with ruthless and uncompromising vigor.
- High Arlurk - Those who hold the rank of High Arlurk are the absolute epitome of what it means to be an Arlurk and oversee all Non-Academic Ranking Officers. Those who hold this rank are the absolute most veterans of the Pact, having been at its side since its inception and been through the dozens of battles that have forged its name in fire and blood. They serve as the senior advisors, consultants, and adjutants to High Seraphims.
- Arlurk Archcommanderim - A person holding this rank is typically a subject matter specialist in their field and the primary advisor and reviewer of Pact Regulations. They are amongst the most veterans of the Pact, having served for possibly decades within the Pact. They are the senior NAR officer at the Brigade or higher levels. They supply recommendations for actions to be taken by the Archcommander and his staff during actions. They enforce the policies and standards that have held up the Apophis Pact from its creation within their units such as the performance, discipline, and conduct of Troopers.
- Arlurk Chervertim - They are the senior Non-Academic Officers in Cohort Formations. They serve as assistants and advisors to Chervertons. They help oversee logistics, be a personal counselor to the men, be the commander's connection to the grunts, and be the harsh watcher who doles out discipline where he sees it most needed.
- Second Arlurk - Given typically to long-time veterans who have fought for at several years in multiple combat engagements, they serve as the key assistants and advisors to Troop Leader Corniths. First Arlurk's are also typically given a command to more elite and special mission squads due to their experience.
- Arlurk- An Arluck holds a rank above the Parlurk and corresponds to the commander rank of a Squad/Section. They also serve as a Troop's Cornith as the second-in-command. These are the first-line leaders who have the most direct impact on the common grunt troopers and oversee their daily tasks. They typically have one or two Parlurk's under their command.
- Parlurk - The lowest official commanding rank, Parluk's serve as adjutants and the second-in-command to Arlurks. They serve as team leaders for fireteams or the smallest units. They are responsible for the actual management of each soldier personally within the Squad. They oversee individual training, personal appearance, and the maintenance of both discipline, loyalty, honor, and brotherhood between the troopers of a unit. The later tasks being a large reason for them being one of the most important, though lacking respect, ranks within the Pact.
- Specialist - The rank of Specialist, while being able to manage Troopers of a lower rank, is not an official command position. This title is given to those that have been trained outside of the basic training of a Trooper in order to focus on a type of task. Such examples of those that hold these ranks are Pioneers, Martial Musicians, or Flamethrower troopers. Those with this rank can qualify for promotion to Arlurk after eleven months holding rank and one a half year in service to the Warmaster with at least three separate combat engagements.
- Trooper - The lowest and most junior rank of the Pact outside of Induction and at which a soldier gains the right to make their full Pact to Apophis and the Warmaster. They are eligible for promotion to Specialist after four months with the rank and at least six months of service.
- Officer Ranks - Those who hold these ranks are those who have graduated His Most Praised Academy which is a school where promising cadets are groomed for high-ranking officer roles. Here they go through three years of grueling teachings as they are educated in the way of command and affirm their loyalty to the Warmaster. Those that have graduated are given a Letter of Academic which is their commission to this special rank.
- Warmaster - The highest rank in the Pact, it belongs to the absolute Supreme Commander of all units of the Pact and whoever holds the title is to be granted respect and obedience. Only one person in the history of the Pact has ever held such a name.
- Apophis Pact Troop Variation- Within the billion-strong ranks of the Cult, there are a great many variations and specializations that exist. This is a list of some of them but is not comprehensive.
- Rifleman- The common grunt of the Pact that makes up the majority of the Pact and the backbone for their Holy infernal war engines. Unlike most extremist cult armies that have formed in the past, a pact trooper is highly drilled, trained, and disciplined. They are all exactly uniformed in their heavy grey overcoat with the band of Anarchy over their left arm. All of them have their faces obscured by either gas masks, hoods, or face scarves. They believe with their faces covered it makes them all equal under the eyes of their God for they are all near-identical servants of His will. To their foes, it serves to blot out any humanity or emotions that they may have ever possessed, leaving no question to their indomitable will and resolve. This also gives the impression that no matter how many are killed within their ranks during a storming charge, it is replaced by ten more identical to the last, a never-ending unstoppable uniform tide of insanity thundering towards them.
- Pioneer - Troopers are demolition and repair experts. They construct structures for infantry soldiers to cross natural and man-made obstacles as well as breaching enemy fortifications. They build and oversee the construction of defensive or offensive emplacements, such as bunkers, support weapon firing positions, etc. They are experts in the use of demolitions, planting land mines and booby traps, as well as their clearing them for the path of advancing forces. Often deployed in the first wave of assaults on heavily fortified enemy positions, using their skills and equipment to support the attacking force in crossing and breaching the enemy's defenses, they have earned a reputation of dread as those that oppose them hear their deafening battle cries and look on in horror at their unstoppable charges of valor. Due to their nature of often encountering close-quarters combat, they are often equipped with melee weapons that include axes, Vibro weapons, hatchets and billhooks, picks, shovels, and even repurposed chainsaws fashioned for use against armor and meat.
- Tank-Hunters - Specialized anti-armor personnel equipped with Inutilis Disposable Rocket Launchers, E-60R Rocket Launchers, Smart Rockets, anti-material heavy blasters, and other esoteric weapons. They are often draped in camouflage ponchos and trained in stealth tactics with even the most elite given optical dephasers to make them functionally invisible to the naked eye. Deployed in Hunter-Killer teams, Tank-Hunters serve to counter enemy tank attacks, destroy armor in urban environments, and provide support for fellow Pact mobile armor. Due to their heavy casualty rates, the average tank hunter is highly fatalistic. Few last longer than a few weeks but those that do become fearsome veterans with dozens of kills under their belts.
- Flametrooper - Often used to smoke enemy strongpoints that are showing heavy resistance to normal units. However, their reputation has come not for their ferocity in combat but rather for the atrocities they have been observed to partake in. The Apophis Pact believes that their flamethrowers and holy and purifying, washing the unclean in waves of blessed flames. As a result, they have been used to purge heretics that have foolishly surrendered or houses where the occupants have been locked inside.
- Recon Trooper - The scout troopers of the Pact, are made of soldiers showing extreme discipline and stealth as their operation often takes them behind enemy lines. They are famed for their use of their long silver trench knives to slit throats, making entire enemy formations disappear forever without a trace, without a single shot fired.
- Redeemer - There are disappointments and failures, that is the truth of the Galaxy, and the Pact is no stranger to such truths. Having failed or fallen short of their duty, they had been stripped of all titles they may have once held and their honor. They however are given one last chance to re-earn the God of Anarchy's grace once more through self-flagellation and find a worthy death in the heat of battle. They cast off their holy armor and weapons in favor of simple robes and melee weapons. Most often they are deployed in the first wave of attack against an unknown enemy as disposable assets. Tactical analysis of their real-time deaths provides valuable intelligence to commanders. Such data allows the more proper units of the Apophis Pact to take positions with minimal losses. Often as well, they are equipped with bomb vests so that they may take their foe with them. One man for a tank or an elite infantry squad is a good trade. Those that have been atoned for are allowed to return to their units and are often treated by others with respect for having passed the trials and redeemed their sins in the fire of combat. These redeemed are often battle-hardened and unwaveringly fanatics. They are recruited by more elite sections of the Pact. Most notable being the Holy Order as personal retinues for their Warrior-Priests or as members of the dreaded Death Brigades.
- Suppression Trooper - Made up of the most ideological sound of the Pact - truly believing in their Holy Mission and in the superiority of the Warmaster as His prophet - their mission is the reestablish obedience in occupied territories in the rear area. They are equipped with flamethrowers, riot shields, pikes, lung-eater gas, and other crowd-control weapons. They possess the highest discipline of the Pact and will not act unless ordered to do so. Such formations are exclusively commanded by the Discipline Master to ensure that the correct protocols are followed. They prefer close combat weapons with vibroswords and do not fear being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Slaughter a hundred to frighten ten thousand into submission, as they so often say.
- Jump Trooper - Equipped with a Jump Pack looted off murdered Mandalorian POWs, Jump Troopers are among the most insane within the Blood Pact. Seemingly shunning thousands of years of Jump Pack Doctrine, Jump Troopers instead are equipped with bomb vests and vibroblades. They will leap into the ranks of the foe to slaughter with their vibroblades before detonating their bomb vests upon death.
- Gas Trooper - designed to exterminate enemy holdouts, these troopers are equipped with modified flamethrowers that instead of projecting flames spew toxic material over a designated area. This material ranges from highly radioactive waste to extremely corrosive toxic gases which will reduce victims to liquid flesh.
- Death Brigadier - the elite shock troops of the Apophis Pact, Death Brigadiers are entombed in Wolfsbane Armor while wielding weapons capable of annihilating entire blocks of buildings. Deployed in Company-sized Wolf Packs they blast apart enemy defensive structures or spread terror in the rear of enemy forces.
- Rifleman- The common grunt of the Pact that makes up the majority of the Pact and the backbone for their Holy infernal war engines. Unlike most extremist cult armies that have formed in the past, a pact trooper is highly drilled, trained, and disciplined. They are all exactly uniformed in their heavy grey overcoat with the band of Anarchy over their left arm. All of them have their faces obscured by either gas masks, hoods, or face scarves. They believe with their faces covered it makes them all equal under the eyes of their God for they are all near-identical servants of His will. To their foes, it serves to blot out any humanity or emotions that they may have ever possessed, leaving no question to their indomitable will and resolve. This also gives the impression that no matter how many are killed within their ranks during a storming charge, it is replaced by ten more identical to the last, a never-ending unstoppable uniform tide of insanity thundering towards them.
- Notable Military Divisions of The Apophis Pact
- 82nd "Screaming Demons" Voidborne Division - considered the most elite and best-equipped division in the Pact of Apophis, the Screaming Demons have been at the forefront of nearly every single major operation that the Pact has launched. As a Voidborne formation, they are capable of beginning combat operations directly from space using drop-pods and gunships. Deploying in division-sized strength within an hour of landing, the 82nd often secures beachheads for larger landings or launches lightning strikes to disrupt enemy counter-attacks.
Their assaults are known for their ferocity as hundreds of troopers charge straight into hellfire shrieking at the top of their lungs, giving them their infamous nickname. Often these attacks are mistaken for human waves. In reality, it is their shock trooper training and mobility on the battlefield that gives this false impression.
The average trooper of the 82nd is a rifleman capable of complex combat maneuvers, dropzone deployment, and survival behind enemy lines in the long term. They are one of the few formations equipped with advanced Sith weaponry, wielding BR-212 "Jackal" ACRs and DG-41 "Inferos" Class Disruptor Shotguns while supported from the skies by Atmospheric gunships and accurate orbital bombardment.
- Taskforce Mirial - an ad-hoc grouping of shattered Pact divisions formed in the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Mirial where the Pact saw its first devastating defeat at the hands of the vaunted 34th "Hellstompers" Walker Battalion. Several regiments and the 2nd Armored Division were battered and cut off from planetary evacuation as the war went south for the Sith Order. It would have seen its utter destruction if not for Chervertim-Colonel Asenath rallying the scattered units after executing Ennenhim-General Thuen Neraddur for incompetence.
Through sheer force of will he beat off several attacks in a masterful tactical withdrawal into the deep deserts where the pursuit was ended. Even months after the battle had officially ended Taskforce Mirial was capable enough to launch deep raids into Mirial Industrial Areas and defeat several Alliance attempts to snuff them out. Asenath was able to maintain his forces using ramshackle improvised vehicles and captured Alliance weaponry. Eventually, the Taskforce escaped Mirial after seizing a starport long enough to evacuate a majority of Pact personnel.
The tenacity of the survivors and their lust to avenge their defeat has become infamous. Allowed to become an official unit, Taskforce Mirial is now one of the premier formations within the Pact of Apophis. They are infamous for their raids on the rear of the enemy and can wage brutal insurgencies. Their Combat Pioneers are among the most crafty of the Pact, able to repair and reuse captured enemy vehicles. Despite appearing to be crushed time after time on the battlefield, Taskforce Mirial always comes back.
- 82nd "Screaming Demons" Voidborne Division - considered the most elite and best-equipped division in the Pact of Apophis, the Screaming Demons have been at the forefront of nearly every single major operation that the Pact has launched. As a Voidborne formation, they are capable of beginning combat operations directly from space using drop-pods and gunships. Deploying in division-sized strength within an hour of landing, the 82nd often secures beachheads for larger landings or launches lightning strikes to disrupt enemy counter-attacks.
- Personal Protection
- Small Arms
- Pistols
- Rifles
- Carbines
- Scatterguns
- Snipers
- Repeating Blasters
- Explosives
- Grenades
- Portable anti-material weapons
- Artillery
- Mortars
- Rocket Artillery
- Howitzers
- Turbolasers
- Vehicles
- Tanks
- Walkers
- APCs and IFVs
- Logistics Vehicles
- Engineering Vehicles
NOTABLE MEMBERS
Warmaster Festerruman Sachiel - The Warmaster, the supreme commander of the Apophis Pact and High Prophet of the God of Anarchy and the Holy Crusade.
Selaphiel Shamshel - Warmaster's Sachiel right-hand man and executioner, commander of the Death Brigade, and personal confidant to Sachiel.
Sahaquiel Sandalphon - Head of Research and Development
Hamalat al-Arsh - Head of Acquisition Support and Logistics
Temeluchus Tarawan - Supreme Drill-Abbot
Uriel - Director of Intelligence and Sabotage
Kushiel - Discipline Master of Interior Security
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The story of The Apophis Pact cannot be separated from its leader and founder: Warmaster Festerruman Sachiel. They originated from the world of Pandemonium. It was a world that had been largely forgotten about by the Galaxy at large, cut off for nearly eight hundred years by Hyperspace Storms that had prevented travel to the planet. It's separation caused a massive resource crisis that resulted in a massive civil war where a central government collapsed. The next several hundred years would see the planet devolve into a feudal society of warlords where might made right. Roving warbands of barbarians and savages sowed fear among the remaining population.
Then came the Prophet. Sachiel came forth and preached the virtues of Apophis. A mere twelve men, later come to be known as the Twelve Apostles, would be all that initially joined the Warmaster. But they would rapidly grow under the leadership of Sachiel who instead of slaughtering the defeated would integrate and re-educate to rapidly swell their ranks with fanatical and devoted troops. He practiced highly mobile warfare to constantly bypass and encircle his foes before annihilating them piecemeal. The Apophis Pact quickly became feared by all on Pandemonium. No matter how many were killed they would continue their onslaught, disregarding losses in nearly suicidal charges against ill-equipped foes. The Warmaster ensured that the Apophis Pact would become the first truly industrialized force on Pandemonium since the fall built on the backs of mass slave labor.
The Apophis Pact quickly evolved in the final years of the conquest of Pandemonium from a mass of gibbering madmen into highly disciplined and regimented troops capable of advanced infantry tactics, albeit still madmen. With their massive industrial base, they innovated greatly in artillery and armored warfare before building a massive air force to blot out the very skies.
But Pandemonium was not enough. In the final days of the war, as the final warlords bent the knee to the Warmaster, he received a vision of revelation from his God. He was the first to see what had happened to the Galaxy during Pandemonium's absence. It had become sick and twisted. Apocalyptical wars ravaged the Galaxy and no power could maintain the peace for more than a few years. Tyrants and madmen from both the Light and Dark Side reigned supreme as the inhabitants of the Galaxy merely became pawns in a never-ending game. It was all rotten to the core. This twisted game needed to be reset.
But instead of seeking to sally forth into the Galaxy and restore justice, Apophis told Sachiel that nothing could be done but to accelerate the Galaxy towards its natural conclusion. The faster he could spread death and chaos, the less overall suffering would happen. Once enough had been achieved Apophis would see it fit to emerge into realspace to reset everything back into its primordial state.
For one hundred years Pandemonium prepared for the Warmaster's campaign of salvation. Vast entire subterranean cities were founded, tens of thousands of kilometers of bunkers and passageways dug, and a vast underworld of industry and manufacture geared specifically to the production of arms and equipment. Workers willingly worked themselves to death in the name of their prophet to create the weapons of war he needed. Great birthing factories were established to create the soldiers that the Warmaster would need.
With several raids outside of the Pandemonium system in motion, the Apophis Pact is rapidly modernizing as they learn more and more about this wartorn Galaxy. New technology and tactics now flood their ranks and entire legions of researchers are being assigned to bring brilliant innovations that will only increase the Pact's ability to slaughter. Uncounted Armies each with hundreds of millions in their ranks now have begun to form across Pandemonium in great troop ships, ready to prophetize the word of their God by sermon or blaster.
The Galaxy will be saved. If it wants to or not, it does not matter.
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