Joseph Entwiler von Schachten

Joseph Entwiler von Schachten was the Syndicate Vice President of Operations in command of the Special Projects Division (VPO-SPD), the Syndicate research and development arm. Under his command, Special Projects focused primarily on the creation of superior power conduits, research in genetics, and handheld projectile weaponry. To the embarrassment and confusion of Iteration-X, some of this technology has surpassed their timelines over the last twenty years and trading in proprietary schematics has greatly increased the Special Projects profile and von Shachten's personal power. Born in late 19th-century Prussia, von Shachten spent most of the last seventy years in an experimental space vessel to avoid paradox effect.

Over a series of missions the Roosevelt Group discovered that von Shachten's success was due in part to trafficking with Nephandic entities in deep space. His most important operations at Research Plantation 4 and Null-B involved forcing enlightenment on extraordinary citizens, mind control, and new measures for species-wide modifications. These ventures were disrupted one by one as the Roosevelt Group picked off von Shachten's key allies before launching a final assault on his stronghold, The Unconquered Fate. In this last attack all key Special Projects assets on Earth were seized by Layla Ahmed and von Schachten himself was killed by a gift-wrapped EDE.

In the end, von Schachten revealed that his power came not from the corpses of demon gods but from the dreams of even greater entities still. In a final letter he suggested that these beings must have either died or woken up.