Moqaddas

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## History

### Proto-Moqaddas

The history of the Armor Corps faction known as Moqaddas is longer and more complicated than the other ACC factions of today. Early in the Human-Vannai War, the aliens established a beachhead for their invasion in Tel Aviv, Israel. This naturally resulted in the deaths of every human being in the Levant and immediately placed immense pressure on the various countries of Western Asia, who found themselves on the doorstep of an alien invasion.

Historically embroiled in various wars and squabbles against each other, the Arab world collectively found their ways of life and objects of worship threatened with unbiased annihilation. Religious leaders of the various sects of Islamic faith in short declared a holy war against the alien invaders - the last holy war that would see the faith of all warriors tested. Those that answered the call of this jihad did so under the banner of the Jaysh al Al'akhir Harb Muqadasa, or “Army of the Last Holy War”. Unfortunately for the Jaysh Muqadasa, their devotion did not aid them any more than the determination or desperation of any other mundane human army during the Two Week War, and the jihadists suffered appalling casualties in their repeated assaults against the alien beachhead.

### The Armor Corps Faction

After the Two Week War had ended and the first of the humanity-aligned suits allowed their pilots to awaken, some of these pilots made a journey to the Abrahamic holy lands for the same reason the Jaysh Muqadasa did. Finding the holy army in dire straights, these pilots would join their ranks and legitimize the group as being one of the first large power armor organizations. The Jaysh Muqadasa by this point in time now counted many Christians among its ranks, as well as the Muslims and a few Jews. Although positions of leadership continued to be held by the Muslim members, these other Abrahamic faiths were grudgingly integrated into the fighting army by sheer need of power armored warriors. The influx of foreigners led to the internal identity of the group to become blurred, and the Jaysh Muqadasa increasingly became referred to by its primarily English-speaking, non-Arabic members as “Moqaddas”.

Following Operation Unlikely Heroes, the Armor Corps would begin its counterattack against the aliens in earnest, expanding rapidly and gathering allies for the oncoming war. Although disinterested in the secular attitudes of the Armor Corps, the Jaysh Muqadasa did need the support that Armor Corps claimed to be able to provide, thus forming the basis of the Armor Corps Coalition alongside the Engineers.

### Growth As A Faction

Perhaps as a result of coming under the Armor Corps umbrella a the same time as the Engineers, under ACC administration Moqaddas quickly experienced a series of abrupt changes. Just as the Engineers became the designated “Smart People faction” to the ACC, Moqaddas instantly became the designated “Religious People faction” with individuals of a faith of any kind pointed in their direction upon joining. This resulted in an influx of a variety of religions and religious sects, many of which would be happy to be killing each other were it not for the aliens, being abruptly shoved together to fight against their common foe. Internal friction within the new faction was high in those early days, with Moqaddas’ organization quickly falling into dozens of secret sub-cults behind the ostensibly secular internal hierarchy. Such an organization would not likely have remained functional for very long, but Moqaddas was saved by one thing that unified its disparate membership above everything else: a burning desire to purge aliens. Bolstered by Armor Corps support and guided by the questionable hand of Armor Corps Command, Moqaddas adopted an intense operations tempo against the Vannai and their Puppets that eclipsed every other faction. Following in kind, Moqaddas pilots had the lowest survival rating of any other faction. While Armor Corps may have been the first, largest, and ultimately most successful group of its kind, none pushed themselves harder than the pilots of Moqaddas during the war, to which the call to arms was stronger and more profound than anything that could be induced by mere godless alien suggestion.

### Modern Moqaddas And The Cult Of Hereafter

Although their reasons may have been vastly different, Moqaddas pilots found kinship in their shared hatred and the sense of finality that came with the war. As the casualties of war took their toll, the disparity in numbers between the different faith groups began to shrink in kind. A revolving door of attitudes, airs and figureheads within the faction over the years led to the formation of a common identity within Moqaddas separate from any individual religion - a warrior cult born of the fires of war and eschaton that would later be known as the Cult of Hereafter.

## Base of Operations

The area surrounding the Moqaddas HQ was the scene of both parts of Operation Relay. However, the base itself has only ever been described sparingly.

### God's Beacon

The primary feature of Moqaddas' HQ is the massive communications tower built near its center, known as God's Beacon. Part of the worldwide relay network used to track VP movements and plan ACC counterattacks, the establishment and defense of God's Beacon played an utterly essential role in retaking Earth. It remains today both as a monument to human tenacity, and as insurance should its services ever be needed again.