Female Furies, or just Furies, are the premier elite force of warriors on Apokolips. They first would be established during the rule of Darkseid, nominally serving directly under his command, while in practice most of the orders to them would have been given out by Granny Goodness.
The backbone of the Furies originated from Granny Goodness' orphanage, where the top prospects were personally trained by her, moulding them into the feared warriors they were considered in the future. The young recruits were subjected to rigorous physical and psychological conditioning that was even more intense than for those recruits who were meant to end up in the regular army. The training for those fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get picked for the regular army was designed to erase their former selves and instil absolute obedience and martial mastery, while for the Furies, the training focused much more on personal power, battle tactics, special operations and discipline. The Female Furies served as executors of the royal family's will, not only engaging in battles to conquer worlds, eliminate threats, but to carry out covert missions, including reconnaissance, assassination and escort missions.
Under the management of Granny Goodness, the ruthlessness, mercilessness and the overall brutality of the service would turn multiple notable members of the Furies off from the rule of Darkseid. Eventually, such members would turncoat and defect.
That was unacceptable. Uxas couldn't afford to let such a waste of personnel and their potential. That's why he decided to kill Granny. Ultimately, she would prove to be a liability, unfit to train for the role she was given.
Uxas stood on the platform in the training yard of the Orphanage, waiting for all the recruits to gather up. He was looking at how instructors were lining up rows upon rows of children that were trained here to be the future core of the Apokoliptian army. Younger kids looked absolutely terrified, and judging by the same terrified expressions on the faces of the instructors, the news that their previous 'management' was killed for treason spread around quickly.
The faces of the older students were much more interesting. Most of them looked borderline joyful, apparently celebrating the death of their tormentor. Although most of those who were deep into their training at this point lost their ability to feel most emotions and their personalities, their slight smiles betrayed the hate they had deep inside of them for the Granny. Uxas understood that he made the right choice; the loyalty of your army is of the utmost priority if he was to conquer the universe.
"My future soldiers", he began his speech from the podium. The commotion around the yard immediately stopped. His voice was now booming throughout the place, bouncing off the grey walls of the Orphanage. His deep voice was akin to a thunderstorm, grumbling around in the air.
"As your future ruler, I came here to personally carry out the punishment for Granny Goodness for treason. Unfortunately, now the Orphanage is without its master. I'm saddened to think that our future, recruits of our glorious army, would be left without someone competent enough to lead all of you". Uxas looked around the crowd of children. Most of them were barely listening, either scared or not caring enough. It seems that there was no true respect given to him. It seemed like he still had some ways to go before commanding the respect of the common folk.
"For now, the Orphanage is under my command. All instructors are to report to me immediately." He then proceeded to get off the podium and walk into the building. There was no proper place to hold a conversation with the instructors, the office of the Granny was not only dirtied with her remains, blood and other waste, but it was an incredibly tacky room in Uxas' opinion. Tuck all the way into the back of the building, hiding behind the barracks from the possible intruders. No, Uxas was not a coward.
The instructors and other personnel behind his departing back started to run around trying to get all the kids back to their scheduled regime in the shortest time possible; they had a "staff meeting" to attend.
Uxas ended up choosing the entryway hall for his impromptu meeting. Now, standing right in the middle of it, he felt an unusual excitement building up inside of him. It was time to lay the first stone in the foundation of his power base.
***
The staff meeting he held went smoothly. After the brutal death of their superior, no one dared to question any of the stuff that he was talking about. He held the meeting to talk about the changes in the structure, schedule and the education program of the Orphanage.
From this day on, this facility was to be called the Academy. It should symbolise the future of the Empire, not the grim present of it. And with the name change should come the change in the "style" of the education. Now, the future graduates of the facility were to be taught as officers and specialists rather than lambs for slaughter. They were to be the link between the regular soldier and the commanding force of the Empire. The educational program of the Academy was to be broadened and developed accordingly, and the staff of the facility was tasked with creating the project for that change.
Giving out such a task was meant not only as a means of achieving the higher standard of education of the military personnel, but also as a test for the Academy staff themselves. Most of them would no doubt fail the check, and the proceeding recruitment of the teachers and instructors was a necessary step, albeit a painfully long one. He wasn't expecting to fill out the staff of the Academy with good cadre fast. After all, the personnel resources of the Empire bottomed out, and despite being almost thirty planets deep, the Empire's well of potential recruits dried up. No doubt because of the nearsighted rule of his family. Uxas was fortunate enough to be given the meta knowledge about the future of his universe, to see his own mistakes and failures, as well as the shortcomings of others.
As for the top performing recruits, that would usually end up on the Furies, or on various positions in the planet's administration, they were to be personally shown to him at the end of their education as candidates for his new personal guard. Yes, Uxas wanted to make the Furies not only his best warriors and the elite spec ops, but the military unit that was reporting directly to him.
Now, he was in the middle of the training yard once again looking at what, presumably, were the best recruits that the former Orphanage had amongst its residents.
The training yard was a giant sand pit. Sand was an abundant resource on the scorchingly hot planet of Apokolips, readily available for usage. Although this sand was different from the regular one that one could see everywhere lying about on the surface of the planet. This sand was not only rich with blood, tears and sweat of child soldiers (something that Uxas' sadistic heart appreciated very much), but it was improved scientifically and magically. Not only would the sand cushion fall when needed, but it also wouldn't get into one's clothes, stick to shoes, or get into the airways with gusts of wind. But most importantly, it would absorb blood, sweat, and any other liquids originating from the people training on it; this function was needed as a sacrifice to fuel the energy behind its magical properties. The magicians on the planet Apokolips were practicing a lot of so-called black magic (for obvious reasons) that required sacrifices for its effectiveness, and the ritual that enchanted the sand of the training yard was no different.
The magical properties of the sand here were much wider than one could imagine, from accelerated growth and healing properties for those walking on it, to improving the rate of one's training in martial arts. Despite the shortcomings of the previous management, they were no fools; the resources on their hands were used well… for the most part.
The recruits that were now standing before him in a row all bore a stoic expression of confidence and readiness for action. A welcome sight. Amongst the various young adults there were some familiar faces that he knew from his meta knowledge. And he fully intended to use that knowledge to his advantage, choosing the best ones to join him on his journey.
The hard question was whether there were any of the recruits that slipped through in the original timeline, someone who was not picked to join the Furies or the elite of the Empire.
Uxas gestured to the closest instructor to him in a grey military uniform, adorned by an officer's cap with a red outline in the middle of it, which indicated the rank of the officer, in this case, a captain. A simple captain who was the highest present-ranked officer; most of the others were either lieutenants, a rank lower, or sergeants, the lowest rank amongst the officers.
"Make them fight", he said to the man, who hurriedly ran to him. Solemn, Uxas began judging and evaluating the recruits before him. The people that he would choose today would become the first people to join his ranks. The importance of them was sky high, and he understood that with his whole heart, however black it was - it was still there, beating with anticipation.