Wilmut Sachs

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

High Genetor Wilmut Sachs, the Devil of Vischmauz

"He was my brother, the most brilliant man I had ever met, save Johannes or the Emperor himself. I loved him, but he could not love. All that could be said of Vrach, he did what he did out of love. Sachs did what he did for no reason other than that he could, that was why he was so wonderful, and that was why he became the disgusting monster that could kill a sweet man like Edentis. It was my responsibility to look after my brothers, I failed them, and now I will hunt down the man who caused all this and end his life."

-Gaius Vira to Sebastion Rex, The Meeting at Duranesh

Even in the extensive gallery of heretics and traitors to Mankind, the figure of Wilmut Sachs stands out as especially ominous. The mere list of his vicious crimes against humanity can drive a lesser person insane with terror and disgust. One of the Galaxy's brightest minds, he served as the High Genetor with the Life Bringers, where his role involved creating cures to the numerous diseases that plagued the Galaxy. As his battle brothers clashed with the enemies of Mankind upon smouldering battlefields, he relentlessly fought its intangible foes in his laboratories. Although initially successful in his endeavours, his inability to find the ultimate panacea against all disease as demanded by his Primarch, Johannes Vrach, slowly chipped away at his sanity. Driven to utter desperation by his mounting failures, he begged the masters of the Immaterium for assistance - but, as expected, their help came at a hefty price. In exchange for the ultimate cure, Sachs forged a pact with Nurgle and corrupted his Legion in the name of his new master. After crushing defeat suffered by the Life Bringers in the Battle of Rai, he led the remnants of his Legion into the Eye of Terror, where he eventually rose up to become one of the pre-eminent warlords.

Youth

Early years

Wilmut was born to Ataulf Sachs, the Genetor-Bailiff of Terra, and a woman who was formally his wife, but really just the intended mother of his heir. Genetor Sachs was obsessed with the purity of genome, so when he decided to conceive a child, he sent his thralls to scan Terra for the most genetically pure woman they could find. They came back with a modest commoner who Sachs could never really connect to, such was her intellectual inferiority to her betrothed. But Ataulf decided to put up with her annoying stupidity at least until she would give him an heir. Alas, Wilmut turned out to be an even greater disappointment for the Genetor-Bailiff. He planned for the boy to take his place after his death and continue his crusade against the mutants and the impure. But Wilmut was far more interested in improving on the human genome than in trying to fix it. This difference in views made the father and the son grow far apart. Eventually, Ataulf gave up on Wilmut entirely, sent him to a cadet school and moved on.

Unification Wars

As was common with the orphans found by the Imperial forces during the Unification wars, Sachs received a thorough military training. Although he showed himself as a talented and capable soldier, his true passion still lied in biology and genetics. Now that he had access to the vast archive of scientific data the Imperial forces were gathering in the conquered territories, nothing could satiate his craving for knowledge. While his fellow cadets usually spent their free time enjoying the scarce pleasures the young Imperium could offer them, he was far more likely to be found with an ancient manual on genomancy. Noting Wilmut's scientific leanings, the pedagogues selected him for training as a field medic. But, although he excelled at his new occupation due to his natural talent, his aspirations were still set higher than that. Scalpels and syringes were crude tools befitting of a caveman to him, for he dreamt of working on a molecular level. Sachs didn't want to fix humans; he wanted to improve on them.

Although Wilmut was less than enthusiastic about medical lessons, his talent and impressive theoretical knowledge allowed him to effortlessly remain one of the top students. This was in a sharp contrast to his peer Edentis Pneuren, another contender for the top student spot. Unlike Sachs, Pneuren spent several years begging the staff at the military school to allow him to take medical training, for he felt like helping the injured was his true calling. Not as gifted as Sachs, Pneuren was nevertheless incredibly diligent and compensated with hard work what he lacked in raw talent. Although there was initially certain rivalry between the two, they quickly became good friends once Edentis realised that Wilmut was not at all competitive. Both students were often ahead of their class and managed to finish the training several years in advance of its formal conclusion.

As the two very best students in the field medic training centre, both cadets were eventually selected by the Imperial authorities for an implantation of geneseed to serve amongst the Space Marines - the ultimate supersoldiers of the future. At the age of sixteen, both Sachs and Pneuren received the geneseed of Johannes Vrach, the twelfth of the twenty lost Primarchs of the Emperor. Due to the unfortunate flaw peculiar to the Primarch's genome, the implantation made both cadets rather plump and balding well before this process would start naturally, giving them somewhat of a homely appearance so unusual for the Space Marines. On the other hand, it gave them above average resistance to poisons and toxins of any kind. It was based on this advantage that their squad, the Twelfth, was dedicated to fighting in hazardous environments.

The first several engagements of the Twelfth squad brought them little glory, although their performance was perfectly adequate. Their finest hour came during the Infiltration of Tarrant. The great Hive of Tarrant was firmly protected by a layer of toxic fog generated by an infernal machine built by the Hive's tyrant, the mad alchemist Hermes Geber. Unable to assault the enemy fortress directly, Hektor Cincinnatus opted to use the Twelfth Squad to infiltrate it and destroy the fog generator, allowing the rest of the Imperial forces to advance. Although the squad members managed to successfully accomplish their objective, two of their numbers met their demise by chemical weapons and another one, Gaius Martinus Vira, inhaled too much toxic gas during the operation, putting his life at risk. Since Pneuren was busy elsewhere, Sachs was the one to perform the detoxification, thus saving Vira's life and earning one more close friend.

The squad's new commander, Theophrastus Salk, was so impressed with the chemical weapons used by Geber that he decided to adopt them for usage by the Twelfth. While Pneuren was busy developing superior chemical protection that would render the application of toxic agents much safer, Sachs was tinkering with the captured chemical weapons themselves, making them more usable for a Space Marine. The toxic grenades that later became one of the signature weapons of the Brothers of Death were in fact his invention. The new breathing apparatuses and chemical weapons designed by Pneuren and Sachs were put to a field test during the siege of the Hive of Xebek. The resounding success of the operation was in many ways determined by the preliminary efforts made by these two.

The Asclepeion

Near the end of the Unification Wars, the Imperial strategists started preparing for the imminent Great Crusade. It was clear to all that it would require a very different approach from the one used during the Wars, but very few generals had any idea what exactly to expect. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, the suggestions from the veterans were listened to with great attention, particularly those coming from such distinguished individuals as Edentis Pneuren. He stressed the utmost importance of field medicine, arguing it to be one of the key success factors in any battle. His words resonated with Hektor Cincinnatus, who ordered to open the Asclepeion, a medical school for the Space Marines aimed to prepare them for the Great Crusade.

The school was staffed with some of the best physicians and genetors found in the young Imperium, but a headmaster befitting of such an establishment was not so easily found. Ultimately, the genetors suggested Lyster Larrey, an Adept Biologis of Mars for this role. Larrey was glad to accept the invitation, for it gave him a highly coveted opportunity to study the biology of the Space Marines. As expected, both Pneuren and Sachs were star students in the Asclepeion, but it was the latter who quickly became Larrey's pet. The adept admired young Wilmut's burning curiosity, innovative mindset and craving for experimentation, for these qualities reminded him of himself. Although Pneuren was bz all accounts a superior and more diligent physician, it was with Sachs that Larrey spent a lot of hours in his laboratory, performing experiments that could be charitably described as extracurricular. Nevertheless, this did nothing to damage the firm friendship between Sachs and Pneuren; if anything, their time together in the Asclepeion only made their bond tighter.

While Larrey was by all means a formative influence on Sachs, the opposite is true to a certain extent as well. It was him who suggested to the adept that the positions of a field medic and a geneseed caretaker should be merged into one due to the abundant overlaps between the two. Larrey relayed the proposal to Hektor and suggested the name Apothecary for this new position. The Primarch found it to his liking and ordered the founding of the Apothecarion. Sachs and Pneuren were the very first Apothecaries to graduate from the Asclepeion, although their skill sets were quite different at this point. Edentis grew to become a peerless physician, while Wilmut deepened his knowledge of gene manipulation, which he fully intended to use for the glory of Mankind.

The Great Crusade

After Pneuren and Sachs graduated from the Asclepeion to become Apothecaries for the Twelfth Legion, now called the Brothers of Death, they switched their roles. Always the top student back at the medical school, Wilmut now took the back seat to his friend, who was appointed the Chief Apothecary by Lord-Commander Theophrastus Salk. While Sachs was arguably more gifted, Pneuren's insights into field treatment were of more practical value to the Legion, and Salk was a pragmatist to the bone. Wilmut had to make do with being a Senior Apothecary in charge of the research and development of new chemical and biological weapons. While this could have bruised a lesser man's pride, Sachs was perfectly satisfied with his lot. The only thing that mattered to him was the freedom to research and experiment, and he had that in abundance under Pneuren's leadership. The two remained close friends and always made the important decisions regarding the Apothecarion after consulting with each other.

Before proceeding with conquest, the Brothers of Death spent some time stationed on Luna, which proved to be an enlightening experience for Wilmut Sachs. He was utterly fascinated with the Selenar geneforges, which remained a major source of inspiration for him long into his career. It was there that he first met Antoine Antonelle of the Fifth Legion, who had come to Luna of his own accord to petition to Pallas Eugenesis to allocate some genetic resources to his fledgling Legion. Starved of geneseed, the Fifth was in real danger of being disbanded altogether before the Great Crusade even began. Alas, the aloof Governess refused to waste her precious time on another peasant with pathetic problems that didn't concern her in the least. Yet Antonelle knew that she always had a couple of minutes to spare for a fellow biologist, so on learning of Sachs's presence on Luna he immediately sought him out and asked to petition to Pallas on his behalf. The Apothecary empathised with his fellow Space Marine's struggle and agreed to meet with the Governess.

Their meeting was fairly brief, but it left a long-lasting bad taste in Sachs's mouth. To get Pallas into a good mood, he had to kowtow to her in a pathetic fashion unbefitting of an Astartes. In order to amuse her, he even stooped down to insulting his teacher and her bitter rival, Lyster Larrey. As a result of this spectacle, Pallas reluctantly agreed to allocate a little of her surplus genetic materials to the Fifth - just barely enough to keep it afloat. This was the beginning of the amiable relations between the two Legions. Although Sachs was deeply respected as a benefactor by the sons of Lumey, he preferred not to talk of this incident, and any mentioning of it drove him to quiet fury. His first impression of Pallas Eugenesis was truly wretched, and it only kept growing worse as time went on. As a result, instead of relying on the assistance of the Selenar genetors like the rest of the Legions, the Brothers of Death preferred to work with the Magi Biologis.

Conversely, Sachs managed to build a lot of rapport with the ritual spouse of Pallas, Hektor Cincinnatus. The Primarch held a lot of respect for him and Pneuren from their Unification Wars days and considered their assistance invaluable. During the great Crusade, he often consulted with them on medical matters or even requested them from Salk for his own battlegroup. This led to jokes that Sachs spent more time with the Heralds of Hektor than his own Legion, though this was certainly untrue. Away on an expedition with Hektor, Sachs and Pneuren were absent from the Pulmni War, the most devastating conflict the Brothers of Death had ever experienced. The war costed the Legion half its strength, and many within its ranks were insinuating that the outcome would have been very different had the Primarch not seized much of their Apothecarion along with its leaders for his own campaigns. Lord-Commander Salk was quick to calm these dissenters down, for he understood the vital importance of good relationships with Hektor Cincinnatus.

The Discovery of Vrach

The discovery of their Primarch Johannes Vrach became a pivotal moment for the Brothers of Death. Rechristened Life Bringers at the behest of their genetic sire, they underwent one of the most radical transformations any Legion went through during the Great Crusade. A profound humanist who had no prior experience with the military or indeed violence of any kind, Vrach did not deny the need for warfare, but, uniquely amongst his brothers, he saw it as only a part of his mission as a Primarch. To him, war was merely a form of medical treatment for the Galaxy suffering from the ravages of the Age of Strife - an important form, sure, but hardly the most important one. He was less interested in conquering worlds in the name of the Emperor than in healing them, and only paid attention to warfare because a world needed to be conquered first before it could be properly healed.

Such new thinking brought drastic changes in the military doctrine. Whereas the Brothers of Deaths were renown the Galaxy over as unsurpassed masters of lightning-fast operations, the Life Bringers began to focus more on war of attrition and protracted sieges with casualties reduced to a minimum. Whereas they used to be amongst the fastest conquerors under Salk's sole leadership, the speed of their advance slowed down tremendously after the discovery of Vrach. Furthermore, every single officer was ordered to undergo extensive medical training and equipped with tools of field medicine. Although this measure allowed to reduce the casualties to the point of near negligibility, it was considered unnecessary by many of the Legion's veterans. It was only firm and unflinching support of universally beloved Salk that allowed Vrach to legitimise his reforms.

If there was one person who wholeheartedly embraced the innovations brought by Vrach, that was Wilmut Sachs. Always more fond of medical research than warfare, he welcomed the change with open arms. He also quickly found common ground with the newly found Primarch, as both were, at their heart, scientists who had reluctantly taken on the mantle of a warrior. For his part, Vrach thoroughly enjoyed his Apothecary's passion for research - Wilmut was exactly the kind of man he wanted to see more of in his Legion. A pragmatist through and through, Sachs quickly found a way to use his influence on the Primarch to further his personal goals. In their private discussions, Wilmut convinced Vrach of the necessity to establish a separate Genetory within the Legion. He argued that the medical and terraforming efforts of the Life Bringers would be ineffective without an adequate research base to support them. These arguments convinced the Primarch, and soon the Genetory was established with Sachs at its head.

As the High Genetor, Sachs rose up to become one of the most influential men in the Legion. He no longer personally spent any time on the battlefield at all, for his talents were of much greater benefit to the Life Bringers in a laboratory. Finally he was free to show the world the full extent of his genius. Many of the lifeforms he created served a practical purpose, such as rebuilding the biospheres of the conquered worlds, but equally as many lacked any discernible purpose or were simply bizarre. Sachs delighted in creating impossible creatures that even the Universe of infinite possibilities could never have spawned, boldly probing the limits of possible with every new creation. His detractors asserted that the former Apothecary simply got drunk with power and abused the Genetory as his personal sandbox, while his apologists argued that the High Genetor was a visionary whose genius was not for the plebeians to judge. Johannes Vrach tended to side with the latter, as even he was fascinated by the wondrous output of his protege. Eventually, most Battle Brothers came to appreciate Sachs and his work as they witnessed the worlds settled with the perfect flora and fauna tailor-made by the High Genetor to suit every particular planet and the needs and culture of its population. His numerous quirks and limitless enthusiasm for experimentation were written off as eccentricity so typical of geniuses.

Although Sachs was delighted to lead the Genetory, his departure from the Apothecarion was somewhat soured by the end of his centuries-long partnership with Edentis Pneuren. The Chief Apothecary was also sad to lose his right hand man, but realised that Wilmut was born for things greater than just tending to the wounds, and so let him go with no hard feelings. Fairly soon, Sachs made another close friend, a young Genetor called Nikephoros Galen. Galen was very promising, but inexperienced, and the High Genetor cherished the opportunity to guide him on his path to great achievements. It wasn't long before Galen became a Senior Genetor in charge of creating all new plants. Rumours abounded that he would eventually surpass his teacher, but Galen was outraged by them and Sachs ignored them as meaningless rubbish. In his mind, only Lyster Larrey could ever possibly best him as a Genetor, and even that wasn't clear.

The Heresy

The Culling of the Genetory

Although the Life Bringers were quite successful as a Legion, Johannes Vrach cared little for conquest. He was certain that the Imperium kept downplaying the danger the numerous diseases of the Galaxy posed to humanity's restored domain. Since his reunification with his Legion, he had seen malaises that made the great blight of Rai look like common cold, and he was sure that he had yet to encounter the worst of them. The Galaxy was rife with diseases, and the Life Bringers could only cure a handful of them on the planets they discovered. This was clearly not enough for Vrach, and so he tasked the Genetory with finding the ultimate cure.

Alas, this was not in the cards. Soon after the work on the panacea began, Malcador the Sigillite personally summoned Vrach for a meeting. He admonished the Primarch for conducting extensive genetic research on his flagship without the Emperor's permission, reminding him of the dangers of unrestrained genomancy. By Malcador's decree, the Genetory of the Life Bringers was disbanded, its equipment destroyed and its members demoted to common Apothecaries. Unfortunately, Vrach was already far too obsessed with finding a panacea. After a long period of pondering, he decided to secretly disobey Malcador's orders. While the Genetory was officially culled and its members stripped of their ranks, they secretly received a permission from their Primarch to continue their work. They had to move into half-abandoned old technical decks and settle for what little equipment Vrach could find for them without rousing any suspicion, but they now had his full cooperation. Vrach was determined to go to any lengths to make his noble dream a reality.

As the Great Crusade went on, Sachs plunged deeper and deeper into bioheresy in his desperate quest to find the panacea his Primarch would be satisfied with. Without the rare equipment and unlimited resources he possessed as the master of the Genetory, he found the success rate of his experiments dwindling dramatically. Disillusioned with traditional methods of medicine, he made the hard decision to shed the shackles of medial ethics entirely. Soon, he and his closest adherents experimented eagerly on the kidnapped battle brothers of their own Legion, picking out those who openly stated that the Life Bringers' transformation from a military force to a glorified interstellar hospital was a disgrace to their origins. Valetudinarium became a dangerous place to speak up against the Primarch. And yet, success eluded the Genetors time and again. Constant failure made the once open-minded and curious Sachs into a bitter, callous man who would do anything necessary to bring his research to a successful conclusion. He didn't know yet what exactly was necessary, but he was most determined to find out.

The discovery of Nurgle

Soon after the Culling of Genetory, the Life Bringers were struck by another major blow from the Emperor, this time in the form of the Council of Nikaea. The Legion's Librarians were infuriated by its outcome, none more so than Chief Librarian Vertumnus Alraun. A major apologist of psychic powers, he was massively disappointed with the decision of the council and even briefly contemplated a mutiny, but eventually judged against it. Still, his faith in the Imperium was compromised and all he needed to betray its principles was just a little push - and it came soon enough. As Alraun was going back to his quarters after surrendering his Librarian equipment to the armoury, he was suddenly stopped by High Genetor. With sparks of nascent madness dancing in his eyes, he told the former Librarian that perhaps his powers could serve Humanity at least one more time. Intrigued by Sachs's enigmatic proposal, Alraun followed him to his new secret laboratory.

Wilmut Sachs, it turned out, had carefully studied the logs of the Council of Nikaea. What really drew his attention was the evidence presented by Darius Cyaxares against the Black Augurs. It included detailed descriptions of the dark rituals the sorcerers of the Fourteenth Legion purportedly used to establish contact with powerful sentient entities inhabiting the Immaterium. One name that kept coming up was that of some Master of Disease, a godlike entity with seemingly absolute control over all sorts of plague and pestilence. Sachs was determined to contact this entity and strike a deal with it that could help him find a universal cure that his Primarch so desired. For a price, of course, but High Genetor was long past the point of caring about the price.

And so, using the notes from the protocols of the Council of Nikaea, Alraun and Sachs managed to step by step recreate the forbidden rituals of the Black Augurs and summon forth an evil spirit of the Warp, paying for this privilege in blood of several battle brothers too critical of their Primarch's new course. A bloated, repugnant creature truly worthy of the title of Plaguefather looked back at them from their amateurishly drawn pentagram. The creature introduced itself as Ku'Gath, a beloved grandchild of the Master of Disease himself. Although it was apparently delighted to be summoned by the Life Bringers, as it had a fondness for making new friends, it stated that they were unworthy to speak to his divine grandfather. That honour belonged to their Primarch, and to him alone. With these words, the entity departed the occult chamber, leaving only a repugnant smell in the air and a pool of diseased slime on the floor as sole reminders of its visitation. Although both Space Marines were most impressed by the profane spectacle they had witnessed, their opinions on it varied drastically. Wilmut Sachs was excited by a long overdue breakthrough; finally, after years of wallowing in failures, a glimmer of hope for success shone in his eyes. Vertumnus Alraun, on the contrary, was shocked and appalled by the creature he personally had summoned.

Elated by the prospect of progress, Johannes Vrach gave his support to Sachs, and the blasphemous summonings continued along with forbidden experiments in the secret Genetory. Progress that would have normally taken decades of trial and error was made every day, and soon Vrach and Sachs presented the first outcomes of their research to the Legion - experimental creatures known as Sym-Biomes, permanently diseased yet theoretically immortal half-living monsters. Very few knew how the Primarch managed to achieve such impressive results so quickly, and Sachs was amongst them. Desperate in his hopeless quest to find the ultimate cure, Johannes Vrach agreed to summon the Master of Disease, who revealed himself to the prodigal Primarch as the Plague God Nurgle. As a patron of life in all of its forms and manifestations, Nurgle refused to give Vrach the panacea that would cure all illnesses - indeed, why would he give anyone a horrible weapon capable of killing billions of billions of viruses and bacteria who have the same right to live as humans do? Instead, he offered the Primarch a deal. He would shield a select few from disease, but only if they offered their bodies as hives to billions of his smallest grandchildren, by which he meant pathogenic microorganisms. With a heavy heart, Vrach agreed, thus cursing himself and his entire Legion for all eternity. Immediately thereafter, a dark ritual was conducted, during which several of Nurgle's high-ranking daemons possessed Librarians of the Life Bringers. With help from those repugnant advisers, the prototype Sym-Biomes were ready in no time at all.

Edentis Pneuren, the Chief Apothecary of Life Bringers, was absolutely appalled by the actions of his former friend. He openly took the lead of the opposition to Sachs and his Genetors, trying to bring the Primarch he used to be so close to to his senses. Pneuren's faction was soon joined by his long-time friend Gaius Martinus Vira, better known as the Reaper. The clashes between the followers and adversaries of Sachs became more and more frequent, some of them even resulting in fisticuffs, yet no side could clearly gain the upper hand. Centuries later, Vira said with regret that if only Nikephoros Galen and his Green Men could shed their damned neutrality and join his faction, Sachs and his vile clique would be crushed and the Legion would still have a chance at redemption. Unfortunately, Nikephoros didn't think much of Chief Apothecary and his primitive methods. He needed the triumph over Sachs to be his, not Pneuren's, and so he refused to join their cause.

The Great Sacrifice at Vischmauz

It all culminated in the infamous Great Sacrifice at Vischmauz. On this planet, a massive Loyalist force was assembled in order to try and stop the advancement of the Life Bringers towards Terra, or at least slow it down. Sachs, however, saw them as less of an adversary and more of a generous sacrifice to his divine patron. Deep in the recesses of his laboratory, now flooded with blubbering filth and crawling with organic overgrowth, he prepared the greatest pest yet to see the light of day - the infamous Unmaker Plague. But as he was preparing to unleash it upon the doomed loyalists, he was finally directly confronted by his once-friend Edentis Pneuren. The Chief Apothecary tried reasoning with the mad doctor, recognizing that it was daemonic influence that drove him to such ignobility. He reminded Sachs of who he used to be, and who he could still become if only he denounced Nurgle and repented for his sins. Seemingly moved by Pneuren's speech, High Genetor showed repentance and invited him to share a brotherly embrace. But as Chief Apothecary embraced his old friend, firmly convinced that he was on the road to redemption, Sachs injected him with a strain of the Unmaker Plague and watched, giggling and making notes in his notebook, as Pneuren collapsed into a pile of formless flesh. When the Chief Apothecary was done for, Sachs set his unholy creation lose upon the Emperor's forces on Vischmauz, all the while singing praises to the Plague God.

With Pneuren dead and High Genetor's Plague Marines openly hunting down his followers, Vira and his Plague Doctors saw no better option than to escape from the spaceship that once was their home, but has now turned into a horrible death camp. The last bulwark of opposition to Sachs's reign of terror had now been crushed.

The Battle of Rai

The Battle of Rai was the final major confrontation of the Scouring the Life Bringers took part in. The Legion was chased by the combined forces of the Entombed and the Void Angels back to their homeworld of Rai, which Vrach intended to turn into a death trap for his pursuers. By this point, half of the Life Bringers consisted of Plague Marines and another half of plantmen, and Sachs was in charge of the former group. At the order of his Primarch, he was dispatched to deal with the Entombed forces on Rai. Although they were dramatically outnumbered, the children of Golgothos managed to fight their way into the midst of the Plague Marine ranks, after which their leader, Cardinal Merik, released a Shard of the Nightbringer that he likely obtained on some Tomb World. To deal with this new threat, Sachs had to sacrifice his own reserves to Nurgle in exchange for summoning a Great Unclean One. But even direct assistance from his god didn't help him much, as the plantmen of Nikephoros Galen cravenly ran away, leaving Sachs to deal with two Legions at once. Unable to win this fight, High Genetor made the decision to evacuate.

After their ignoble escape from Rai, it was Sachs who advised his Primarch to seek refuge in the Eye of Terror. Left with no other sensible options, Vrach agreed to his suggestion, and the Life Bringers followed the rest of the Traitor Legions into the rift where the Warp spilled into reality. The Legion quickly found a suitable Daemon World for itself, which the Primarch named Eden. Alas, his reign over his new domain proved to be short-lived, as Nurlge decided to finally reward his servant for his loyalty and granted him Daemonhood. As most Daemon Primarchs, Johannes Vrach showed very little interest in actually running his Legion, leaving Sachs in charge. Many of the Heresy veterans challenged his superiority, aspiring to seize the leadership for themselves. These dissenters were dealt with swiftly and brutally, leading to a further splintering of the Life Bringers. But Sachs didn't really care for the well-being for the Legion: for the first time in forever, he was free to research and experiment as much as he wished to.

Current situation

In the Forty First millennium, Wilmut Sachs is still alive, though to call him well would be a big stretch. A walking incubator of pestilence, Sachs serves as the high regent of Eden, the Daemon World ruled over by his Primarch Johannes Vrach. Like the rest of the Daemon Primarchs, Vrach neglects his domain in the material world, which leaves Sachs as the de-facto leader of the Life Bringers. Not all of his former Battle Brothers agree with this hierarchy, prompting many of them to leave and found their own realms within the Eye of Terror. The Devil of Vischmauz cares little for such dissent, since his main passion still lies with research, not political power. And research needs funding, which often leads Sachs to hire out his services to those few warlords of the Eye who can afford it.

Wilmut Sachs was a round man even before his corruption, he naturally gave the appearance of being soft despite his enhanced physiology. He wears a moustache and a monocle, both of which he has come to be known for. His doughy face and watery eyes give off the impression of a pudgy infant, but this is in direct conflict with the nature of their owner. Inflated by the numerous toxiferous gases his organs produce, his body is large, malformed and rotund in shape, the unnatural bodily processes constantly going on inside of it produce a repulsive symphony of physiological sounds that heralds his presence. At one point, reckless genetic experimentation Sachs performed on himself caused a permanent atrophy of his legs, turning them into misshapen blobs of flesh hanging from his massive underside, compelled to twitch spasmodically by the vestiges of muscle memory. This defect made Sachs incapable of locomotion, forcing him to graft spindly spider-like limbs to his lower body to carry him aloft.

The most drastic feature of Sachs is his constant decomposition. Over the course of his tenure as the Master of Life Bringers, he accumulated more gifts from Nurgle than even a genetically enhanced Space Marine organism could handle. This causes his body to decay so quickly that even a naked eye can easily see the decomposition process in motion. It generally takes between several days and several months for his body to decompose entirely, leaving nothing but a yellowish mouldy skeleton and a disembodied brain. Although this is a source of great discomfort for Sachs, his brilliant mind eventually found a way around this curse. He constantly keeps several dozen lobotomised clones of himself in a stasis field and, as soon as his current body rots to the point of being impractical to use, he takes one of his spare bodies from stasis and transplants his diseased brain into it, discarding his previous shell. Although he's done it countless times over the course of the millennia, several incidents did happen. For instance, one of his clones managed to escape before Sachs performed lobotomy on him, tricked a number of prominent Life Bringer champions into believing he was the real Sachs and started a civil war on Eden. Eventually, he was defeated and escaped with his followers to found one of the largest Nurgle-worshipping warbands, the Harbingers of Pestilence.

The goal and aspirations of Wilmut Sachs have come full circle. Whereas before the Heresy he searched desperately for the ultimate cure for all diseases, now he is trying just as hard to create the ultimate plague that nothing in the Galaxy could heal. Although he has unleashed several epidemics upon the Imperium and each one dwarfed its predecessors, all of them were ultimately stopped. One was studied by the Magi Biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus until they found a cure, another was cured by an ancient Xenos artefact found by the Inquisition, and his best plague to date, the Überrot, was stopped by an Imperial Saint. Still, Sachs keeps experimenting with dedication deserving of a better application, an he will not stop until he has reached his goal.