Michael Zachariah

"The ideology of Greater Good is a living mockery to humanities! The delusional ideology will gave a sweet lips to touch ears and hearts and soon every human who fall by it will be enslaved by alien masters neither as a meat shield nor their bed slaves!"

- Captain Michael Zachariah, Second Jerasian War

Michael Zachariah is the current Space Marine Captain of the 2nd Company (Sayeret Gibor) for the Storm Zealots chapter. He is widely known for his deep hatred of the Tau Empire with its communal ideology known as the Greater Good. He was selected from his home world alongside dozens of other prospective Aspirants. He is considered to be one of the four youngest captain ever recruited in Storm Zealot chapter history of the 41st Millennia. He is well known throughout the chapter as the “Bane of Greater Good” from his reputation of continuous purge of the forces of Greater Good in the Eastern Fringe, slaying at least four Tau Commander and three Ethereals with extreme prejudice.

History
Zachariah was the first son of a Jerasian trader that often traded upon neighboring planets in the Realm of Ultramar. Born to a Jerasian Menash Tribe, Zachariah spent his early childhood accompany his parents traveling through neighboring system such as Zyon, Indravari, and Calth learning foreign cultures and the art of negotiations. At the age of 7 his father trade ship was boarded by a rogue Tau and Tallerian mercenaries. His parents died while defending the ship and luckily young Zachariah and his brother were put inside a rescue pod and launched to safety, which landed back at Jeras. After being rescued, for the next 8 years the orphaned brothers survived in the orphanage, but later on they went their separate ways. At the age of 15, Zachariah became a Ceramite Miner of An Geidi Ceramite Mines and his brother work as an accounting officer in the offices of Imperial Logistics. He is settled on a small town near the mines and married to a Jerasian girl at 17 and had a son.

Two years later a renegade forces of Tau Empire led by Commander Ravenbane invade Jeras, breaking the newly constructed Imperial Orbital Defense System and raid upon the mines of An Geidi for its minerals and ceramites. In a sudden second after the successful raid, a plasma bomb was dropped and once prosperous mining town turn into rubbles. Surviving the bomb, Zachariah emerge from the ruin with his son, he run towards his home to find his wife buried under ruins and her skin burnt from the plasma bomb. Holding her in his arms, he swore in the name of the God Emperor that he will have his vengeance against the Tau Empire. Zachariah then take his son to the nearby bunker and return back to the town. He took a lasgun and wore a half burned flak armor taken from a fallen guardsman then dash into the battlefield, joining the 48th Jerasian Defenders in fighting the grayskins.

While the guardsman take cover from their trenches, Zachariah and some other miners charge through the fields of battle. He succeed in gunned down four Fire Warriors and stab the other three with his fixed bayonets. As he stab a Tau Pathfinder he begin to saw a giant drop pod fall from the sky and sound of bolter begin to fires and echoes in his ears and in an eye blink Zachariah was knocked unconscious. Zachariah and other brave surviving militias that charged into the field of battle were abducted aboard a Thunderhawk gunship and arrived at the Fortress Monastery of Golean Heights. They were soon line up with other potential recruits as the Space Marine Chaplain and the 9th Scout Company Captain began to give their speech on how they had all been chosen to become one of the Emperor's Angels of Death -- a Space Marine.

Thus, Zachariah began his training as a Space Marine. Amongst the 230 recruits that were inducted and forced to undergo the intense training and operations, only 28 managed to survive. Amongst these few fortunates were Zachariah, Alexander Lievinsky, Gozalius Roth, Kevin Ben Aaron, and Hans Menachem. During his training Zachariah prove to be a profesional Heavy Weapon operator, favoring Lascannon, Heavy Bolter, and Boltgun as his weapon of choice. After serving in the Scout Company for several decades, Zachariah finally inducted as a full-fledged battle-brother and was later assigned to the 8th Company where he befriend brother Avishai ben Zion and brother Arden Rosenberg.

His first mission as a battle-brother began on the planet Gassar. There, Brother Zachariah and the 4th Devastator Squad suffered heavy casualties while fighting against a Tyranid horde. Even though the Storm Zealots successfully destroyed their hive tyrants and evacuated most of the civilians, Zachariah trembled with rage as he saw many of his battle-brothers killed by the vile Tyranids. It was told during his first campaign as a battle-brother, Zachariah has fell in shock due to an explosion and was mistaken to be dead, but when an Apothecary tried to retrieve the Chapter's Gene-seed, Zachariah woke up and thus he return to battle.

Deep behind the enemy lines, the 4th Devastators that consisted of 7 men which included Zachariah, Avishai, and Arden, made their way to escape the planet's surface. Along the way, they even managed to slay a deadly Lictor and a Zoanthrope. Realizing the potential of this squad, the newly promoted Chapter Master Mordechai decided to split the remaining Battle-Brothers into the Chapter's Battle Companies. Avishai was assigned to an Assault Squad in the 3rd Company, Arden Rosenberg assigned to the 5th Company and Zachariah to the 2nd Company under the leadership of Captain Yuval Abargil.

Through many missions Zachariah earned a reputation as an accurate lascannon operator, destroying many battle suits, daemon engines, and other vehicles alike. He was soon promoted to the rank of sergeant following his deeds of slaying a Chaos Sorcerer on an errant mission upon planet Eskar Prime. For the next two mission he earned a distinct reputation amongst the warriors of his Chapter. Inspired by Captain Yuval and the brave 2nd Company, 'Sayeret Gibor', Sergeant Zachariah, alongside his old friends Lexicanium Alexander Lievinsky, and Chaplain Gozalius Roth, fought in one of the greatest crusades in the history of Imperium - the Damocles Crusade in 742. M41. The Storm Zealots 2nd and 4th Company fought alongside such vaunted Chapters as the Raven Guard, Raptors, Howling Griffons, and the Black Templars.

It was on this war that Zachariah was reminded about his past life and of how his relatives had been slain by the alien Tau. At that moment he goes frenzy and used his rage as a weapon as he gunned down every Fire Warrior, Kroot mercenary, and several Tau Battle Suits. By the end of the Arandal Crusade Sergeant Zachariah took a vow to eradicate every Tau and its allies that threatens the Imperium.

Exactly four months after the death of Captain Yuval on the planet of Yavonia at the hands of Tau Commander Duskblade in 995.M41, Sergeant Zachariah was promoted to the rank of Captain due to his exemplary service as a sergeant to the 2nd Company. Under his leadership the disastrous casualties sustained by the 2nd Company were soon restored back to its former strength. Through his experience from killing xenos he trained and passed on his knowledge to his men on how to fight the Tau, Kroot, Orks, Tyranids, and other known xenos within Tau Empire.

His first encounter with the Tau Empire as a captain began at the end of 996.M41, when a mass Tau fleet, under orders of the renegade Tau Commander Shas'o Kalsa, invaded Jeras. Although some of the senior members of the Chapter believed it to be a premature promotion, young Captain Zachariah proved to be an efficient leader by not only continuously showing his expertise in defense craft and long range warfare but also his formidable dueling skills with the enemy commander as well. He successfully slew the renegade Tau Commander Shas'o Kalsa, smashing the grayskin with his mighty Thunder Hammer Duskbreaker, and beheaded the Tau Commander with his personal gladius Unbroken Faith.

His ferocity and hatred of the Greater Good soon earned him the title 'Tau's Bane ' as well as the ‘Bane of Greater Good’ for his deeds of slaying another Tau Commander Duskblade during a retaliation strike known as the Second Jerasian War. His famous bravery was later echoed in the Eastern Fringe during Nimbosa Crusade where he support both the Imperial Fist and the Black Templars; and the ongoing Tarradin Campaign where he manage to virus bomb planet M'keros as well as slew another Tau Commander and an unnamed Ethereal earning him an infamous reputation amongst the newborn alien empire, and even struck fear in the eyes of its civilian population. Whenever there is a conflict with the Tau Empire or other xenos races, Captain Zachariah always leads from the front, leading his men in the thickest of the fighting and being the first to strike and the last to retreat.

Journey Through the Webway
Following the end of the infamous Skabbian Heresy, Captain Zachariah were thrown inside an Eldar Webway Gates by Daemon Prince and former Chief Librarian of Space Naga Shekar Kapoor. It was Zachariah's action of overcharging the plasma gun that slay the daemon as well as shut off the Webway Gates from Indravari II. Armed with only his signature Thunder Hammer, a Plasma Gun and a Bolt pistol, Captain Zachariah venture the labyrinths of Eldar Webway. Finding a way out to reunite with his chapter.

Personality
"Your Greater Good is coming to you from my Hammer, alien!"

- Captain Zachariah, Vor'dos War

Michael Zachariah believes in the potential power of mankind. He believes that both humans and abhumans can do everything and break the impossible through an iron will, hard work and intense training. He also believe that the key to victory lies upon a strict, humble, loyalty, and charismatic leadership. Even though he wishes for a quiet life, early on he came to the realization that when he became an Astartes that it was another chances for something worthy in the eyes of the God-Emperor. And through many campaigns and missions that he was given, he slowly changed from an ordinary quite ignorant Battle-Brother who obediently followed orders without question, into a battle-hardened warrior that value the lives of innocent Imperial civilians, and he will do whatever it takes to defend them from any threat. He is a field commander who is down-to-earth and prefers to fight, bleed, and laugh alongside the warriors of his company. He valued his warriors like his own children, employing strict reward and punishment to them as well as willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of their own company. Like most Storm Zealots, he never shown any hatred or prejudice against the abhumans.

Throughout the chapter, Zachariah is also well known for his highly xenophobic nature. Showing a deep hatred of Tau Empire and its delusional ideas of the so-called 'Greater Good'. Whenever there is a Tau fleet or convoy, he will strike them immediately and leave no survivors. In one of his more infamous decisions, he brutally slaughtered Tau Diplomats from the Water Caste when they came for terms of surrender. Another of his infamous deeds occurred when he utilised ancient and forbidden technology and virus-bombed the heavily populated Tau world of M'keros in order to lure out the Tau Ethereal Aun Yarel and Commander Skyspear to battle. Rumors has it that during the Vor’Dos War the captain flay an Ethereal alive and force a Water Caste diplomat to sent the flayed skin back to Ta’u along with a warning message. Though his actions often seem brutal and overkill, such deeds have at least decreased the number of potential recruits for the Tau Empire to muster for their upcoming Third Sphere Expansion.

Appearance
Captain Michael Zachariah is a native to Jerasian tribe of Menash. Before his ascension as a Space Marine, Zachariah was a tall person that stood at approximately 1.9 meters tall. And after he become a Space Marine, Zachariah stood at near 8.6 feet tall. He once wore a Mark VII 'Aquila' pattern power armour and always wore a helmet, per standard procedure of the Storm Zealot Chapter. Later on, following his promotion as a sergeant of the 2nd Company he began to wear a Mark VIII 'Errant' pattern battle-plate and wielded a combi-melta. After his promotion as Captain and following his success after the Second Jerasian War, Captain Zachariah now wears a suit of relic artificer armor with an Iron Halo on the top of his armour's backpack. Unlike many senior warriors of other Chapters, the Storm Zealots veteran warriors do not wear Service Studs as other Chapters do. Following his victory in the Dargosa Crusades, Captain Zachariah received an ancient relic helmet with Imperial Laurels on its forehead. He only removes his helmet after leaving war zones or hostile territory. Captain Zachariah lost his right wrist during Second Jerasian War while dueling the Tau Commander Duskblade. He had a plasma burn on his right arm, left legs, and back shoulders as well as a big horizontal scar across his nose bone, left cheek and a vertical scar stretch across his torso from left shoulder to stomach. A 'gift' he received from fighting various forces of Greater Good, Tyranids, and Chaos.

Combat Skill
"No Captain ever wield a Thunder Hammer aside from the old Chapter Master Seth Avramson."

- Chapter Serf Evytas to recently promoted Captain Zachariah

Through his intense training and battlefield experience, the young captain Zachariah is known to master both melee and ranged combat. He is an expert sharpshooter in operating Boltgun, Heavy Bolter, and Lascannon through many wars and campaigns. He might not experts in swordsmanship but he is an experts in wield and operate blunt weapons such as Thunder Hammer and Power Mace.

Wargear

 * Duskbreaker - A relic Thunder Hammer of ancient provenance, it is said that after the Second Jerasian War, Duskbreaker was reforged by the Adeptus Mechanicus, they incorporated a tiny shard of Primarch Rogal Dorn's massive chainsword, Storm's Teeth, and a shard of Katranite crystal implanted in the hammer's head. Blessed by the Inquisition and the Jerasian Sanhedrin as well as infused by both psykers from Jeras and Indravari, this hammer is known to possess great energy output capable of absorbing daemonic souls of the Immaterium. Unlike other ordinary Thunder Hammer, Duskbreaker has longer grip so its wielders can hold it in both hands with ease.
 * Storm Shield - Bestowed to him following his promotion to the rank of Captain he often carries it into battle alongside his relic Thunder Hammer. In battle, he often uses this shield to not only defend against incoming attacks but also to bash the enemy. Captain Zachariah only wields Storm Shield until Vor’Dos War.
 * Artificer Power Armor - Zachariah's master-crafted set of artificer armour was given to him directly from his Chapter Master following his success in the Berenggrad Crusade. This relic artificer armour provides great protection by absorbing incoming damage as the Captain first charges onto the battlefield, enabling him to land the first blow against his foes.
 * Iron Halo - The Iron Halo on his master-crafted artificer armour' backpack emits a very strong gravitic Conversion Field around its wearer, which makes his armour even harder to pierce with enemy weapons. In addition, it also provides its wearer with immense resilience to even the most potent weapons on the battlefield such as lascannons and missiles of all varieties.
 * Unbroken Faith - Personal Gladius and Heirloom from Captain Yuval of the 2nd Company. Zachariah use it to behead his most worthy foe. He almost never use it during a duel.
 * Bolt Pistol - Seldom used, Zachariah wears his Bolt Pistol on his hip in his holster, but will often use it to execute a dying foe or to taunt his enemies to fight him.
 * Glory of Jeras - A relic helmet that once belonged to Captain Yuval Abargil of the 2nd Company. The helmet is customized with its photolenses able to detect stealth units. An Imperial laurel was forged to the helmet following Zachariah's victory over Dargosa Crusade.