Apostles

"*My Apostles would provide me the tools I needed. It was they who constructed a fully operational armada on Venus at my command. It was they who trained their offspring to operate those vessels with deadly efficiency. For a generation, they toiled and trained, and now their efforts shall be put to the test as the Ring of Negation prepares to arise!*"
―Umbralord[src]
The **Apostles** were a secret cult who venerated the Umbralord. During the 2020s, NoHead cultists established their lair on the ancient island of Sicily, an ancient Dark bastion located in Venus, merging with the Apostles, who secretly answered only to the Umbralord. Using Bast Castle as their base, the Apostles oversaw the gradual rejuvenation of Hell Burnbottom, who had been the NoHead Grandmaster until his downfall at the hands of Lindsay Kellerman, in accordance to the Umbralord's will. Determined to extinguish what little light remained in the universe following the Melanization, the Apostles constructed the Z-class quartz warships with enormously destructive technology comprising the Ring of Negation — the largest fleet in world history. They also brought together a band of elite dark mutants consisting of Whammo Fireball, the Lunch Money Bandit, the Outlaw, Sakawan, and Helga. In addition, the Apostles raised a generation of children not only to embody the cult's values, but to serve as elite soldiers, officers and fleet technicians in their military. Although they did not have particularly strong superhuman attributes of their own, the new generation was just as devoted to the darkness as the one that preceded them, and believed that Sol was theirs to rule by cosmic right.

Their name was unknown to Sol, who referred to all the enemy forces of the Third NoHead War as the "Elite NoHeads".

## Description

"*Fear not these feeble children! The borders close in tighter than ever before! New World Order has become inevitable, my faithful legions!*"
―Umbralord[src]
The Apostles were a secret sect of cultists spread throughout Sol whilst maintaining their headquarters on Venus, where they created a fleet of hundreds of futuristic warships and amassed legions of well-trained soldiers. Among their ranks were engineers, shipwrights, and enslaved labor responsible for the creation of numerous aircraft.

Quartz troopers comprised the Apostles' ground forces, which were divided into legions of one hundred troops, sharing the cultists' devotion to the Umbralord, who sought to use the oncoming wall of night to facilitate his rule over all life. Hence, they comprised the backbone of his army. A quartz trooper squad consisted of twelve troopers led by quartz trooper sergeant. The squads were configured in five triads, which consisted of a quartz trooper corporal leading three lance corporals. Quartz troopers typically fought in sizeable teams, overpowering their targets with firepower and combat skill rather than stealth. On both their recorded front-line deployments, they were sent against groups of superheroes at the direct command of the most senior commanders of the Elite NoHeads. Quartz troopers were considerably more formidable than Rockets. All apparently carried a rifle at the left shoulder, but this usually served as a backup to their other armaments. The most basic model supposedly used a hand-held incendiary dart launcher. However, some of the demons at the Tower of Reincarnation carried a fixed incendiary dart launcher under either wrist. Meanwhile the group at Bast Castle used a variety of weapons, including flamethrowers and repeating launchers. Some of the quartz troopers were skin-changers.

Quartz troopers who excelled and were considered the army's best was elevated into a cadre of elite royal guards known as the Crown Defenders. These Crown Defenders were stationed in the amphitheater that housed the Dark Throne within Bast Castle. Armed with the X-13 rifle serving under Hell Burnbottom until they integrated into the Umbralord, they were used by both for the purposes of defense and detection. One such man participated in the early stages of the Battle of Bast Castle. Along with Mephist, he was struck by fire and shorted out, thanks to the Umbralord's deflects of two of Sebiscuits Cardarphen's attacks directed at himself. Still, such a rank within the Apostles could only have been achieved by the best of their army's Quartz troopers. Each crimson-armored sentinel always carried a rifle at the left shoulder, but this usually served as a backup to their other armaments. A few of them carried repeating launchers.

The cultists of Sicily wore a style of apparel designed to conceal their identities. It included an oversize robe, gloves, face coverings, and a multi-layered hood whose length depended on the wearer's years of service to the Umbralord.

## History

### Coming together

 File:Burnbottom-TROTV.jpg
A band of cultists gathered on Venus to swear fealty to the demonic Umbralord. The death of Hell Burnbottom was a pivotal step in the eventual destruction of the NoHeads. In the impassable depths of the ancient island of Sicily, however, a group of NoHead cultists joined the already present cultists hoping to keep the NoHead religion alive, not knowing the overwhelming majority of cultists answered to one master. As such, their shipyards continued to operate for decades, creating a vast fleet long after the fall of the NoHeads, which the Umbralord had commanded discretely. During this time period, Sicily's human population was indoctrinated with the values of the Apostles, having been raised by the cultists as their children to become officers, technicians, and soldiers in the New Order.

In 2041, Hell Burnbottom finally returned to a physical body through the ancient Tower of Reincarnation created by Whammo Fireball and the Lunch Money Bandit (the agenda required a bone from a vulture, an egg from a crow, and the flesh from a hero or heroine — that being Lindsay Kellerman, the woman responsible for Burnbottom's death over Yellowstone). The body was human-shaped, though hairless and with many unusual features. After setting a few affairs in order, Burnbottom battled Kellerman, who escaped and fled back to the MBH, warning Master Intelligence of the coming of the Apostles, although she only knew about the Elite NoHeads, leading to their name, and not that of the Apostles, becoming public knowledge.

### Third NoHead War

Hell Burnbottom now had some of his followers, but he still needed to mobilize the Apostles' military for the Umbralord. Ultimately, the only knowledge of Burnbottom’s return was Kellerman’s word, which was vigorously disputed by the government. Burnbottom and the Umbralord were both able to grow in power in secret. When open war became inevitable, however, they emerged from the shadows without revealing the existence of their backbone, the Apostles. Many disappearances occurred, such as Tildo Montgomery, Emily Fiennes, and Flora Fortescue. During this time, Hell Burnbottom also gathered the strengths of the lions, panthers and werewolves to his cause. Without the Umbralord's counsel, Burnbottom also set a plan in motion to assassinate Master Intelligence, the leader of the resistance against him, striking a crippling blow against the world’s morale as well as removing the S.M.S.B. from existence.

### Downfall

Eventually, Lindsay Kellerman discovered the secrets of the Apostles, including their clandestine agenda. In response, the Umbralord probed Lindsay’s mind, and realized she could be turned. Days later, he implanted a vision into Sebiscuits’ head that only he could destroy the NoHeads. Convinced of his power, Sebiscuits traveled to the base, where he was quickly defeated in single combat. During the virtually concurrent Battle of New York, quartz troopers converged to protect Red Mist, causing Troy's greatest fear, the pedophiles who had abducted her as a small girl, to manifest. She fought them with her sword, driving them into another dimension and slaying all of them, thus overcoming her fear. However, the Elite NoHeads were defeated at a battle over Bast Castle by the S.M.S.B. and their allies, preventing the Apostle fleet from deploying off of Venus and establishing the new order. With the Ring of Negation smashed and the Verasect, which had recently inhabited the body of Sebiscuits Cardarphen, lost to the ether, the Apostles fell, in the process freeing Sol from the tyranny of the NoHeads forevermore.

## Notable Apostles

* Others

**Elite NoHeads**
Hell Burnbottom (leader)Mr. Stupid NoHead
* Whammo Fireball
* Lunch Money Bandit
* Helga
* Sakawan
* The Outlaw
* Others

## References

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