T H E I R O N H A N D
They called themselves The Iron Hand. Fundamentally they were a group of zealots, depraved separatists who had turned their back on humanity and now pursued twisted dreams and the lure of forbidden knowledge. Using technologies long since outlawed in human society such as cloning, mind stapling and genetic recombination they advanced themselves rapidly in terms of psychological ability and military capability. Staying hidden from the mainstream of humanity for a long time they finally became an active threat in the the year 3118 (new time). It was here that they used their advanced knowledge of both sorcery and teleportation to launch capture operations whereby they would transport squads into cities, outposts and colonies, slaughter all resistance and capture any survivors for use within both genetic experimentation, as new gene material for cloning and as grisly sacrifices for the dark gods they now worshipped.
But then the new methods were brought to light when colony 23355-beta fell, its police force suddenly going berserk, half of them slaughtering the others and a series of carefully timed detonations wiping out the military detachment stationed there, the governor himself leading the insurrection. Apparently an underground cult had formed, instigated by the Iron Hand, using illegal substances and mind stapling to breed discord until they deemed their puppets strong enough to take the colony, which they then did, the troopers and priests of the Iron Hand at a safe remove until the fighting ended and they entered the colony, welcomed by the traitors who had butchered their own.
The reaction was instantaneous and widespread. Whereas before only certain colonies had martial law and street side execution for wrongdoers it was now emplaced as matter of fact throughout all of human civilization. Automatic defenses were installed at all points in order to defend the cities that became fortresses and despite the harsh nature of these controls they seemed to work - attacks by The Iron Hand fell reduced to a few sub-structures led by the lower echelons of their command and these usually failed miserably, the zealots driven back and the citizens safe behind their walls.
Although they also stole the survivors of this massacre they took all the technology as well - only a few recordings by hidden security devices surviving, giving humanity a glimpse into the twisted sub-society it had spawned. Ruled by sadistic murderers, the standard troopers being almost mindless killing machines, the priests deviant in the extreme, the labourers twisted things alien to the genetic code that had spawned them. That they had advanced far in illegal technology and heretical worship there was no doubt. But when foul demonic entities were seen working alongside them it became clear that the Iron Hand had become one of the single greatest threats to humanity and must be wiped out for good.