Cabal

The Cabal is a secret organization of mixed, ancient alien species drawn from more than a thousand different intelligent xenos races who claim to have battled the forces of the Primordial Annihilator (Chaos) for a time longer than the existence of evolved humanity. The Cabal had been founded by a select group of Eldar with extremely powerful psychic abilities in the days before the catastrophe know as '"The Fall', when the ancient Eldar empire was destroyed during the birth of the Chaos God, Slaanesh and the creation of the terrible Warp rift called the Eye of Terror. This was an event that these particular Eldar had foreseen and thus took steps to survive it. Now, many millennia later, the Cabal survives as a shady organization, covertly predicting the future and steering all races of the galaxy toward the ultimate goal of the death of Chaos. They are chiefly known for involving themselves in the development of the Horus Heresy by using their foreknowledge of Horus' actions to seemingly suborn the Primarch Alpharius Omegon and his Space Marine Legion to their cause before the Great Betrayal took place in the 31st Millennium.

The Cabal and the Alpha Legion
Having studied the development of the human Primarchs over some decades, the Cabal were able to determine that the most important of them in th determination of galactic events were the "oldest" (Horus) and the "youngest" (Alpharius Omegon). They foresaw that Horus would ignite a galactic-level civil war using the powers of Chaos, and claimed that what Horus 'would do', Alpharius would 'undo'. They also claimed that, while the Horus Heresy was inevitable, the Alpha Legion was perfectly placed to control and direct it to one of the two possible outcomes.

Outcome One: Victory for Horus
The Cabal believed that, after the Heresy, a scintilla of the honourable being he once was would remain within Horus, eating at him and fueling a self-destructive sense of self-hatred and loathing that would see Horus fall on his subjects in an acceleration of the violence of the Heresy, creating civil strife amongst the Traitor and Chaotic forces that would culminate in a final armageddon for humanity. The end result of Horus leading humanity would be the total extermination of the human species within two or three generations...however, if this were so, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos, so heavily invested in humanity's existence, would be extinguished with it.

Outcome Two: Victory for the Emperor
The foreseen outcome of the Heresy, the Cabal saw the Emperor giving his life to kill Horus, but then becoming a howling rictus trapped inside the cybernetic life-support coffin of the Golden Throne. They believed that this path would lead to stagnation for the Imperium of Man, and stagnation would ultimately conclude in decay. This decay would accelerate, continually allowing the Chaos Powers to grow and spread their influence across the galaxy, until after ten or twenty thousand years of misery, the entire galaxy and all of its sentient species would be consumed by Chaos.

Aftermath
The Cabal, operating with its knowledge of the extreme long view, sought to generate the first outcome by convincing Alpharius Omegon of the truth of their predictions. They asked him, through their immortal human agent John Grammaticus, to place himself and his forces under the banner of Horus and Chaos Undivided, despite their sworn loyalty to the Emperor, and do all they could to ensure the Warmaster's victory, thus sacrificing humanity to destroy the Chaos Gods once and for all. As far as is known, the Primarch of the Alpha Legion appears to have acceded to this request, believing that such a sacrifice is what the Emperor would have wanted. As the Heresy ended with the second outcome, it appears that the Cabal's machinations failed and that, if they are to be believed, the galaxy is ultimately doomed to be comsumed by Chaos. The Alpha Legion were still branded Traitors to the Imperium and the Emperor, although their true motivations and loyalties since meeting the Cabal are not currently known.Though they seem to be servants of Chaos Undivided, they are also the most secretive, manipulative and united of the Traitor Legions and seem still to be working towards some unknown goal.

Organisation and Abilities
The Cabal are a collection of disparate alien species that seem, in the main, not readily identifiable to Imperial authorities. They are known to include seemingly mechanical life-forms as well as those that are apparently energy-based. Others variously resemble insectoid, avian or reptilian creatures. One species definitely identified as having a member in the Cabal is that of the Eldar. They are also known to have had at least one human member, although the individual in question appeared to act as more of an subordinate agent than an equal. A nomadic organisation, the Cabal has traveled all over the galaxy. Occasionally choosing to spend a period of time in one particular place, they are known to have selected "halting-sites" in particular star systems, choosing worlds to set down on. These worlds had their topography altered to suit the needs of the Cabal, who appear to construct their landing-zones in an identical fashion. Worlds that they have set down on are therefore identifiable if one knows how to look at the terrain, two such worlds being Nurth and Eolith. As well as these terraforming abilities, the Cabal also appear to have a high level of mastery over atmospheric alteration technology and the ability to extend or renew life. Their principal ability is an enhanced form of psychic farseeing, referred to as the Acuity.

Notable Members

 * Slau Dha - Eldar Autarch
 * Gahet
 * G'Lattro
 * John Grammaticus - Human psyker

John Grammaticus
Perhaps the most famous human operative of the Cabal is the human man John Grammaticus, a powerful logokine, a psyker whose power lay in the use of words. Grammaticus had served as a trooper in the Imperial Army. He met the Emperor, who recognized that Grammaticus was a man somewhat like him, who was immortal, never aging or becoming infected with a disease. The Emperor said that they should have a discussion about the paths open to men with their particular "talents." This never transpired, however, as John apparently died when he was hit by a car shortly after. He was reincarnated by the Cabal for use as an operative. At an age of over a thousand years, he was assigned to recruit the Primarch of the Alpha Legion to the cause of the Cabal in the war against Chaos. Unfortunately, not all went to plan and he was captured and imprisoned by the Alpha Legion, although he was still apparently able to orchestrate a meeting between the Alpha Legion and the Cabal. This turned out to be nothing more than a plot of Alpharius' design in order for him to gain the upper hand in negotiation with the Cabal. The Cabal showed the Primarch, Hetman of the Geno Two-Five Chilliad Peto Soneka and the Psyker Shere, the Acuity, a vision of the future as it would be if the Emperor won the coming war with Horus (Chaos would survive and last forever, ultimately dominating the galaxy) and if the Emperor lost (Chaos would be momentarily victorious then burn itself out in a blaze of war and death, though humanity would also go extinct). Based on this information, and Alpharius Omegon's understanding of what the Emperor would have wanted, the Primarch decided to join with Horus in the Heresy. Thus, the Alpha Legion's battle cry remains "For the Emperor!", which may be more than just a mocking of their Imperial counterparts. Upon his return to the Cabal, John walked out of an airlock without a spacesuit, hoping to end his seeming immortality once and for all.