Markus

*"That what we are fighting for may not be the only truth, but should you allow a single step back - and the darkness will consume you, as it consumed those who came before us. We will never be humiliated. We declared war to the fate itself, and we will fight to the bitter end."*

Markus, undoubtedly, is the most famous and mysterious historical figure of the Phoenix army. His true past is a secret, hidden so that even the strongest of the Markus' rivals could not unravel it - came from the shadows, he we quickly gather the resources necessary to stabilize the Scorpion subsector, turning Phoenix into an organization that will almost instantly capture the dominant position among the scum, which ruled the chaos after Split.

## Biography

Everything that is reliably known about Markus' life prior to the foundation of the Phoenix is ​​two years of service for which he managed to achieve the rank of major in the fleet of Barras self-defense forces - fourth capital world in Rosetta system. An investigation, conducted by the Phoenix's opponents, showed that all the documentation about Markus's life on Barass before the moment of military service - a one clever falsification that the planetary bureaucracy has not been able to recognize in time. In view of the fact that soon Markus himself was enrolled into the local strategic department - the details of his work, as well as the reasons of rapid career growth - remained hidden.

## The Phoenix Foundation

By creating an independent military group, Markus initially aimed to stabilize the region around the isolated Antares system, so he can use it as Phoenix's future foothold - those who went through the horrors of those years, rarely thought about anything other than survival, so Markus' desire to clean up the capital sector from the reign of lawlessness was met with growing enthusiasm. The sector's inhabited worlds were almost completely devastated, and the number of survivors scattered over space did not exceed fifty thousand people, while more than half of them will die before the start of the first Phoenix's military campaign, and the rest will turn out to be slaves or cannon fodder in the hands of criminal and religious elements. Due to critical situation, new recruits were completely out of question, but Markus, with the support of ten surviving elite antarean guard pilots, gained an unlimited access to covert movement throughout the whole capital sector, together with the coordinates of the secret technology storages scattered throughout the Milky Way. The final formation of the fleet and the military capabilities of the organization was clearly just a matter of time.

## Supreme Commander

Markus can be described as a person who has become disillusioned with his own faith. Before the battle in the Great Desert, the commitment of the Phoenix's founder to the ideology of the Antarean Unity was truly uncontested, and his desire to restore the old system was sweeping away any obstacles. The slightest disagreement was immediately eradicated, and the survivors of the loyal to Comissariat forces, captured by Phoenix, were destroyed with cruelty, exceptional even for times like those. He was ready for everything, and no matter how hopeless the prospect, and how ruthless the enemy could be - all this only strengthened his determination and confidence in his own righteousness.

By the end of the Thirty Years Campaign, Markus' tactical and combat skills will reach such heights that Phoenix will soon become comparable with the full-fledged division of the antarean fleet, and even the strongest of their rivals will always keep that in mind.

But a battle for the Great Desert will come, and with it the truth will be revealed, the truth, that will change Markus forever. His former fanaticism will vanish, and after a prolongued confusion, Markus will personally erase the last mention of antarean ideology from the history of Phoenix. However, the revelation will only strengthen his determination, and the founder of Phoenix will become a cold and discreet commander, whose firmness will subsequently lead his people to the domination over Unity's capital sector.

It is known that Markus is xenophobic and indifferent to civilizations on less technologic level - even if the difference was almost imperceptible, and everyone who ever collaborated with Phoenix - were perceived by him as nothing more than an instrument for achieving Markus' own goals. In the Aelim Gate's universe, Markus stood up for indigenous population only after the Lyra Witte's ultimatum.

## The Hour of Truth

When it became clear that the Gate through which the First Research Fleet once left was not a metaphor at all, but a really existing object, Markus' mistakes again reminded him about themselves, and the Supreme Commander will long hesitate between the truth and the rupture of the last, so painful connections with the past, the darkness of which has put an end to the dreams and aspirations of tens of billions of people. As a result, the curiosity and desire for justice of every soldier in Phoenix, reinforced by the organization's gained might, outweighed the burden of regrets, and Phoenix will return to it's long-standing goal of finding the founders of the Antarean Unity, but now not with the unity in mind, but with the revenge.

When the Knowledge Keeper Vargas, who disagreed with their intentions and had the possession of the latest Unity's technological achievments, and who was already consumed by desire for power - decided to besiege the system that sheltered the Gate itself, Markus will be forced to confront the Keeper directly, concluding a union pact with the neutral factions, regardless of his own prejudices. Vargas, as a cornered snake, will inflict monstrous damage on allied forces, and only Markus' decision to attack the Stellar City, using the last available chronoengine at Phoenix's disposal - will keep the enemy from an uncontested domination. Markus expected that overloading the power grid at the time of the transition would cause an EMP burst, sufficient to bypass the protection of Stellar City and render it harmless. But at the time of the activation, when the Seraphim, covered in hostile flaks, will reach a close proximity with it's target and the evacuation of personnel would take it's place at any second - the Phoenix flagship wiill suddenly disappear. There are many theories what exactly happened on that fateful day, but no one can say for certain whether Seraphim made a blind jump, or was completely destroyed.

But the sacrifice was not in vain - a premature explosion will occur to be much more powerful than that one planned initially, and the stronghold of the fallen Keeper will indeed lose any energy signatures, and the chain reaction in the power grid of the massive leviathan will doom it to an imminent destruction.

Despite the darkness, which covered the fate of the united humanity by an impenetrable veil, Markus managed to create a tool that changed the course of history forever. He believed that when Phoenix will break up with it's past - it will find it's own way. His ideas and views will be announced as the Testament, and the memory of this man, fully committed himself to make a change, will forever be imprinted in the history of Phoenix, whatever tests will ever get in their way.