This article delves into the dark secret of mankind, that of humans who willingly ally with those who would destroy them.

Cultists: While the Great Enemy is universally feared and loathed by mankind, there remained throughout the Judgment War a fringe element of those who willingly allied with the demons. Whether through lust of power, greed, some twisted sense of self-preservation, or whatever other motive, there have consistently been humans who have openly betrayed their species.

Many demons of the Great Enemy possess magical powers, much like humans, and some are even telepathic, again like some humans, able to worm their way into the minds of unsuspecting enemies, subverting their thoughts from within; turning them into paranoid maniacs, or deranged psychopaths unable to discern illusion from reality, and compromise human fortifications or installations from within. Some demons are capable of entering the dreams of humans, planting subconscious suggestions into the minds of their victims, so that they suddenly turn their guns on their comrades in the heat of battle, or lower key defenses at critical moments. Still others can outright possess humans under the right conditions, imbuing them with all manner of newfound powers, and instantly twisting their forms into something insidious.

Still, all these methods of infiltration only give the Great Enemy advantages in small-scale conflicts. Despite their multitude of races they command, they lack anything resembling humans, to infiltrate even deeper into the fabric of society, to pervert it from within, spread the cancer of corruption throughout a world so that, by the time the skies darken with the ships of the Great Enemy, its defense networks already lie in ruins.

Through various means, the Great Enemy reaches out, finding those whose minds are malleable, open to the normally abhorrent idea of betraying one’s species for personal gain. Whether through dreams of lust, through hints of power, through visions of dark glory, a sampling is given, with the promise of boundless rewards in exchange for servitude to the darkness.

Committed to darker masters, the individual seeks out others that have been touched. Operating individually or in small groups at first, many are caught by the authorities and typically either imprisoned in isolation or executed. But, those groups smart enough to avoid detection and work their way into critical positions spread their influence, corrupting more to their cause, and awaiting the arrival of the Great Enemy. When the Great Enemy appears over their world, the cults emerge, striking at their planned targets, often with devastating results.

One of the worst examples of infiltration occurred on the world of Belarus, during the second century of the Judgment War. Cultists had managed to infiltrate nearly the entire defense network of the planet. When the Great Enemy fleet emerged in the system, the Solar Alliance fleet, horribly outnumbered, feigned a retreat towards the planet, intending to make it seem as if Belarus was being abandoned, giving the Great Enemy fleet an opening to attempt bombardment of the planet, only to discover most of the primary continent was shielded and that an extensive planet-side orbital defense network was in place.

But, when the Great Enemy fleet began its bombardment, and the Solar Alliance fleet came about to surround it, the planetary shields and guns suddenly fell inoperable through a series of bombings and sabotages, rendering the planet’s defenses largely inoperable. Only a few ships of the Solar Alliance fleet escaped, their last view before escaping to foldspace being the sight of hundreds of Great Enemy ships descending to the planet’s surface, and thousands of fires raging. When the Solar Alliance was able to re-take the planet, four years later, no trace remained of its two billion inhabitants, only millions of charred corpses were found, along with the ruins of hundreds of cities, and scattered records which shed light on the cultist activity.

Throughout the Judgment War, the Solar Alliance was very much aware of the threat of cultist infiltration of its ranks, though the knowledge of such activities among the general populace was heavily suppressed, as the Alliance knew full well that knowledge of such threats would not only spread fear and panic among the population, it would undoubtedly inspire others to engage in such activity, sensing weakness among the Solar Alliance. Only high ranking federal and military personnel were truly aware of the threat, under standing orders to stay vigilant for any suspicious activity.

Many humans in the military with the power to read minds were re-assigned to the Military Intelligence branch, and trained in methods to detect subversive thoughts. Numerous clerical personnel were also trained by the Church or equivalent bodies in new rituals developed to cause those with the mark of the Great Enemy upon their souls to reveal themselves in some way, as it was discovered even those who only consorted with the Great Enemy, without actually being among their number, reacted negatively to blessed objects.

Even until the end of the war, public knowledge of cults dedicated to the Great Enemy was suppressed by the Solar Alliance, and thus few records existed on Terranis during the Fall. The few tomes which spoke of it were kept in secret through most of the millennium from the Fall to AF 1016, with only a few copies being made. Thus, the people of Terranis also remained largely ignorant of the idea of humans consorting with demons.

However, situations still arose in which humans were found to be allying with the demons, such as after the duchy of Versennes was destroyed by a combined army of demons and humans. Though this army was destroyed by the forces led by Lucilia Doramor and lord Tinamer, the shock of seeing humans fighting alongside monsters remained.

Fortunately for Terranis, this was the largest instance of human/demon cooperation, as far as it is known, at least. Though a number of other troublesome situations have arisen over the centuries following the Fall, no evidence of open consorting between humans and demons has been seen in large-scale numbers. A number of smaller cults have been discovered, attempting to simply spread anarchy by summoning lesser demons, but these are invariably hunted down and destroyed, whether by local authorities, mercenaries, or the Order of Light.

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