The Scourge

The Vendrasi, known to humanity as The Scourge, were an ancient, hyper-intelligent species that ruled through cold efficiency, brutal oppression, and absolute technological dominance. They were not conquerors in the traditional sense, nor did they appear to have any form of diplomacy or negotiation. Their first encounter with humanity was not one of curiosity or conflict—it was annihilation.

First Contact & The Enslavement of Humanity

When the first human colony ships ventured beyond Sol and established footholds in five star systems, they were filled with optimism and wonder, believing themselves to be pioneers of a grand new age. But then came first contact with the Vendrasi. There were no warnings. No threats. No attempts at diplomacy. The first human colony world they encountered was reduced to debris in a matter of hours. The military fleets sent to defend humanity’s fragile expansion were erased from existence, their weapons useless against technology millennia beyond their own. Within months, humanity’s dream of a bright future among the stars was shattered, replaced with an existence of servitude and chains. But the Vendrasi did not exterminate humanity completely. Instead, they saw in humans something useful—a species that bred rapidly, adapted easily, and could be molded into an endless supply of labor. For them, humanity was not an enemy to be fought, but a resource to be collected, then exploited.

The Age of Slavery

For hundreds of years, humanity was reduced to a slave race, scattered across the stars, laboring under the dominion of their inhuman masters. The Vendrasi prohibited all forms of weaponry—humans were denied ships, guns, and any form of personal armament. Instead, the only technology they were allowed were mechs and exoskeletons, not for war, but for menial labor—mining, resource extraction, and construction. These industrial mechs became the backbone of The Scourge’s empire, allowing humans to dig deeper, build faster, and harvest more than the Vendrasi could have done on their own. Entire planets were stripped bare, their resources fed into the unstoppable war machine of the Vendrasi, fueling their mysterious expansion beyond human space. But humans never stopped resisting. For centuries, rebellions flared and failed—each attempt at revolution crushed with swift, brutal efficiency. The Vendrasi did not retaliate with anger or cruelty—they simply exterminated all involved without hesitation. Entire colonies were purged, labor camps erased, and yet humanity never gave up hope.

The Fall of the Vendrasi

The final, successful rebellion was not led by generals or politicians, but by a rogue intelligence officer named Vasaira Lambda. Her Lambda Virus was a digital plague designed to cripple the Vendrasi’s AI enforcers, the vast robotic legions that kept humanity in check called the Reapsteel Frames. Once unleashed, the virus spread instantly, turning the Vendrasi’s own machines against them, erasing entire databases of military command structures, and crippling their infrastructure overnight. For the first time in history, the Vendrasi were vulnerable, and humanity struck with everything they had. The very mechs once used to mine and build for the Vendrasi were retrofitted for war—mining lasers turned into energy weapons, plasma cutters reforged into melee blades, and industrial arms converted into crude, devastating cannons. The final war was surprisingly short but brutal—the Vendrasi, deprived of their Reapsteel Frame legions, were outnumbered, and for the first time in history, they were not the ones dictating the terms of battle. Humanity swarmed their cities, burned their strongholds, and hunted them down to the last. The Scourge fought fervently nevertheless, with towering seldom used mechs of their own. Even when 100 humans were slain for the life of one alien, humanity ground onwards, steamrolling across the once great empire of The Scourge. No Vendrasi were spared. Humanity did not just defeat them—they exterminated them entirely.

Legacy of The Scourge

With their overlords destroyed, humanity took the stars for themselves, but they were forever shaped by centuries of enslavement. The Lambda Virus ensured that AI would never rise again, but it also meant that humanity would forever be bound to manual control, forced to rely on flesh and blood over automation. To this day, the Vendrasi are remembered with universal hatred. Their structures have been erased. Their artifacts destroyed. Their memory is a warning—never again shall humanity bow to any master. Even now, ruins of lost Vendrasi worlds still exist, hidden in the depths of space, their cold, lifeless cities standing as silent tombs to a species that once ruled without mercy. Some say that a handful of them might have survived, but if they did, they remain hidden, watching, waiting for a time to reclaim what was lost.
But humanity will never allow that to happen. The Vendrasi are dead. The Scourge has been purged. And the stars belong to humanity now.

“They spoke no words. They gave no warnings. They saw us, and they destroyed us.”

Unknown - Exodus

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Vendresala Kahndatt

Alternative Names

The Great Enemy, The Enslavers

Official Languages

• Xaerethun

Controlled Territories

• Vendresala Kahndatt

Organization Vehicles

• Scourge Cruiser

Related Species

• Vendrasi