The Zodiac Guard were the most elite combat forces of the Holy Empire of Man. Founded at the end of the Great Reckoning, they served the Empire throughout its history, fighting and winning many battles over the millennia.

Founding

The Holy Empire of Man cherished relentless brutality, and sought to instill it in their troops at a genetic level, so, when the empire captured Earth at the end of the Great Reckoning, a detachment from the imperial army and Cosmid inc. set about gathering DNA from the most aggressive and brutal beings in the galaxy. This initiative was known as Project Zodiac. This DNA was used to create the members of the Zodiac Guard. Immediately, the Zodiac Guard was given the task of defending Earth, and divided into twelve houses, each representing a sign of the Zodiac.

Genetic Supersoldiers

The genes gathered by Project Zodiac were from a wide variety of sources, including the most brutal and hardened criminals, and the resulting soldiers were unrecognizable as human. Averaging 8’ tall, rippling with muscle, and brimming with malevolence, the soldiers of the Zodiac Guard were some of the most feared beings in the galaxy.

The soldiers of the Zodiac Guard never took off their helmets. This served two purposes, it enforced the idea that the guard were a faceless authority without personal identity, and it concealed the wearer’s ghastly inhuman visage, brought about by the patchwork of genes used to create them.

Organization

The Zodiac Guard were organized into twelve Houses, each headed by an Imperial Vizier, a leader chosen by officials from the imperial court for exemplifying the unique traits and tendencies of each house.

Each House was headquartered in a Zodiac Fortress, an entire star system given over to military endeavors. Each of the Zodiac Fortresses was centered on one of the major stars from the zodiac constellation each house was associated with, forming a rough ring around Earth.

Each House of the Zodiac Guard also had a number of affiliate houses scattered in strategic locations around the empire. The number of these affiliates became quite large as the imperial age advanced, and over time many of these became wholly independent entities. Late in Era-2, many of these even turned on the empire that created them, hastening its eventual downfall.