Editing Wilmut Sachs (section)

==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 [[Void Angels|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===
{{Main|Johannes 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.