Voidspace Stalkers

Their ships lurk typically in the vast void between stars, where they conserve energy and supplies while they scan for faint traces of Psyasma. These ships are extremely difficult to detect and are rarely spotted, with wormholes typically written off as naturally occurring phenomena. Tales spread of anomalies surrounding Wormhole travel, where unfortunate ships have found themselves emerging off course in deep space near a Voidspace Stalker vessel, which crews have mistaken for salvage. Few survive such encounters.

Once their ships detect Psyasma in a nearby system, typically deep beneath the crust of a planet, the Voidspace Stalkers emerge suddenly into its space. Their invasion forces are rapidly deployed to the surface, securing the area before burrowing beneath it, where they create a network of ever-deeper trenches for their defence and to extract precious minerals. The world’s original inhabitants are contained through grinding attritional warfare, with the Voidspace Stalkers scavenging gear off their fallen enemies to be melted down and reused to fuel their warmachine. This fighting invariably grinds on until, eventually, the Psyasma extraction renders the world unstable, forcing everyone who remains to evacuate.

The Voidspace Stalkers are dreaded throughout the sector for their brutal and calculating approach to warfare and willingness to experiment upon their population. Yet, despite all of their extractions and research, the Stalkers still find their precious reserves of Psyasma slowly dwindling while they remain as dependent on it as ever.

How far will you go to delay your people’s looming extinction?

History

The Tainting

The Voidspace Stalkers recall little of their history before the tainting, when the atmosphere of their subterranean home began to experience the taint, as the Psyasma which they relied on became unbreathable. It is said that the Commissariat convened at this time; a secretive council with extreme executive power that consolidated all of their world’s previous power structures under their control. Their propaganda claims that attempts to save their world failed, and eventually, they turned to genetic experimentation to try and adapt the bodies of the Voidspace Stalkers. However, even these efforts failed. Finally, the order was given to evacuate onto ships designed to preserve the precious resource as much as possible, while leaving any records of their people’s history prior to the Commissariat behind.

Into Sirius

The Commissariat’s fleet explored space for over a generation but found no traces of Psyasma anywhere beyond their homeworld. They focused upon new detection methods to find it further afield and eventually found a means to trace the compound back to its source. However, when they attempted to connect to this source, they emerged near the Radiance Exclusion Zone in unknown space. Though initially alarmed, their sensors soon confirmed what they had hoped; Psyasma had been detected nearby.

Raiders

With their numbers dwindling, the council approved plans to clone their population to give them sufficient numbers to raid targeted worlds. Desperate to claim all of the Psyasma that they could, the Voidspace Stalkers launched an aggressive campaign against nearby worlds where it was detected. Most worlds caught by the attack were scientific outposts or largely evacuated civilian planets and fell quickly to the unexpected threat.

Seeking shelter from the harsh light of these planets’ suns, the Voidstalkers dug deep, where they discovered more of their strange compound, but they rapidly rendered the world unstable as they extracted it. Within a year, most worlds were abandoned, left either as collapsing husks or destroyed completely.

Borrowed Time‍

Although some celebrated the discovery, it soon became apparent that the Voidspace Stalkers’ survival was not guaranteed. The compound salvaged from these initial worlds was rapidly used up, as they lacked the technology necessary to preserve it. Worse, it proved exceedingly rare. 

What little they found was mostly near the Radiance Exclusion Zone, which affected the systems of their ships. Yet, with few alternatives left to them, the Voidspace Stalkers retreated into the darkness within the stars and began plotting their next move...

Timeline

• 127 BRC - Discovery of the Psyasma taint
• 74 BRC - Emergency Military Council Seizes Control.
• 28 BRC - Evacuation of Voidstalker Homeworld.
• 83 ARC - Arrival in Sirius, raids launched on systems.
• 87 ARC - Cloning Programme
• 97 ARC - First planetary extraction ends with evacuation as the planet’s hollow core collapses.

Society

Voidspace Stalkers are a society led by the mysterious Commissariat made up of a coalition of different species that share the same dying artificial homeworld and many similar adaptations. They have grown accustomed to the state of emergency in which their society is run, led by a secretive council of military leaders authorised to take any necessary measures for their people's survival. Long terms of military service and harsh rationing are the norm, as the Voidspace Stalkers become increasingly desperate to claim the Psyasma necessary for their survival.

Raiders from the Void

The compound which the Voidspace Stalkers depend on to survive is extremely sensitive to light and heat, but serves as a highly efficient fuel source for much of their technology. As a result, the Voidspace Stalkers are able to spend long periods in deep space, retreating through temporary wormholes which make them extremely difficult and dangerous to track: any ship which becomes stranded in their pursuit will have no means of returning to safety and little hope of survival.

This is what has lent the Voidspace Stalkers their name within the Sirius Sector, where they are viewed as a menace that lurks in the darkness between stars.

Shelter Beneath

Each of the species comprising the Voidspace Stalkers shares a vulnerability to light, which they find blinding. Upon arriving on a new planet, the first priority of the Stalkers is typically finding safety from the burning sun above. Scouting patrols quickly set to creating elaborate systems of trenches which gradually extend deep beneath the ground.

Once discovered, they will fight tooth and nail to protect and extend these subterranean redoubts until they have found what they first came to the world to harvest.

Bioengineering

In an effort to slow their gradual demise, Voidspace Stalkers began experimenting with genetic engineering, particularly cloning and accelerated maturation. Perhaps the most radical of these modifications can be seen on the tightly controlled animal populations of their world, surviving specimens of which have been extensively modified and are now deployed largely for war.

Other common modifications are ocular enhancements to decrease light sensitivity and respiratory system alterations in order to make their breathing more efficient. These procedures often carry a hefty price tag, requiring those who undergo them to commit to long terms of military service.

Debt to Society

Many Voidspace Stalkers are born from cloning facilities, quickly wracking up a significant debt to the Council for their rations of food, water, Psyasma, compulsory medical procedures, as well as for their own creation. These young clones have few ways to discharge their debt except through service to the Commissariat; most commonly, and lucratively, to the military. 

Even the few natural born Voidspace Stalkers remaining may easily find themselves facing similar situations, pushed into work to pay for treatments or even simply to stay afloat when faced with shortages.

Scavengers

For generations, Voidspace Stalker society has strived for maximum efficiency, recycling everything possible in order to make it last longer. This also extends to war; Voidstalkers are quick to strip captured gear and weapons from foes in order to make use of the materials if possible.

High-ranking Voidspace Stalkers offer significant payments for worthwhile salvage, such as enemy technology or rare materials which they believe might prove useful. As a result, it is common to see Voidspace Stalkers stripping fallen foes in hopes of finding something to help discharge some of their debt. Where Stalkers merely see this as good sense and efficiency, foes often see the Stalker’s scavenged equipment as grisly trophies torn from their fallen comrades.

Commissariat

Voidspace Stalkers live in a highly regimented society, and so their social lives often revolve around the work or combat unit which they are assigned to. These units can be fluid, with superiors often trying to discourage any bonds that they see as detrimental; wary of any relationship that might cause a breakdown in their strict sense of hierarchy. Despite this, many Stalkers form a certain kind of familial bond with those that they have worked and fought alongside.

In order to ensure that such bonds do not hinder efficiency and the mission remains the top priority, it is common for an outside officer to be assigned to monitor Voidspace Stalker teams. Though these political officers have a reputation for ruthlessness, they also maintain one for even-handedness and impartiality. Though they maintain the authorisation to give radical reassignments and demotions, they are generally respected for their dedication to the wellbeing of their people and the stamping out of corruption. 

Language‍

Though composed for several different species, it is apparent that the Voidspace Stalkers have long shared a common language. It is often described by others in the Sirius sector as whispering and unnerving, especially when heard echoing through the artificial tunnels and trenches where the Voidstalkers ambush their targets from.

Natural born Shadowstalkers have personal names and surnames similar to most humans, but note that there is a distinct ending which differs according to the Shadowstalker’s gender, with personal names almost universally ending in a “u” and surnames with a “ul”, while female surnames typically end with an "a", while their personal names may end with any sound. Clones meanwhile usually take a first name, followed by a number based on the number of previous clones with the same genetic sample.

Examples

Natural Born Males

• Amathu Othashalul
• Zosenu Kanethul
• Safuru Sularashul

Natural Born Females

• Omiz Ashira
• Hishiz Marthena
• Thalosh Xumehala

Cloned Males

• Amathu-23
• Mutheku-183
• Shunisu-542

Cloned Females

• Luriz-9
• Nashahith-64
• Xalas-821‍

Trivia

Proverbs

• “There can be no peace so long as we draw breath between the burning stars.”
• “There is no greater shame than waste.”
• “All things must be rationed. Even time.”
• “Each Voidspace Stalker owes their life to the Commissariat... and the Commissariat intend to collect!”
• “Honour the fallen by taking what they have left behind.”