Threat 0xZRQ448E - Origin

[TetrahedronCaptain (PCG)]

A species of pirates and raiders, the Draugr were originally a genetically-engineered slave race who served a third party- known to us only as the Masters. From what little we can tell, the Draugr were created in the wake of a singularity-esque drone uprising of some kind, which deprived said Masters of the majority of their workforce. The Draugr were devised as a stopgap measure, until a more suitable final alternative could be found. Pacified with carefully-managed cyborg implants and promises of eventual ascension to equality, the Draugr served this role well for around three hundred years.
    Then the “suitable alternative” was found.
    We don’t know anything about this new replacement slave race, or even how every Draugr was relocated so quickly; what we do know, however, is that their former Masters left them to rot on a barren, desert world we’ve named Gehenna. The Draugr --shocked, abandoned, betrayed-- swore a race-wide oath of vengeance against their Masters, seeking to escape their prison planet and rebel.
    Their chance came when the Masters launched a survey mission, consisting of several science and light escort vessels, ordered to monitor the Draugr remnants. When they discovered this, the Draugr prepared a trap- they used a defunct comm array to broadcast anomalous readings to lure one of the vessels planetside. The gambit worked; a lighter craft soon broke off to investigate. Soon after landing, the Draugr boarded the ship and used it as a Trojan horse to assault and capture the rest of the fleet. When a Masters cruiser squadron entered the system to investigate the disappearance, they too were boarded- and so began the infamous Draugr tactic of assault-and-capture operations. Each time the Draugr struck a Master target, they would commandeer or scavenge any ships or debris; eventually, a small rebel flotilla had been formed out of captured, jury-rigged, or custom-built warships.
    In the following years, the Draugr soon developed the same strategies that would both allow them to escape defeat at the hands of the far superior Masters navy and strike fear into the hearts of countless different species generations later: shock-jumping directly onto the target, then using large numbers of heavily-armed, maneuverable fast-attack ships to swarm opponents while small squadrons of heavier cruiser- and capital-scale vessels engaged tougher high-priority targets.
    This same first generation of raiders were also the first to pioneer the Draugr’s impressive control of subspace. We believe that the drives employed by the Masters (and thus these early Draugr) were similar to what we refer to as slipstream drives, albeit far more stable and much quicker than the ones of this galaxy. Regardless, the Draugr were able to modify the technology to be able to suspend themselves in subspace for limited periods of time- and later, for one ship to provide FTL capabilities for an entire ship squadron. These modified drives would eventually evolve into the Draugr's signature Naglfar drives used today.
    By a combination of all these factors-- guerrilla warfare, experimental subspace manipulation, and adept salvaging --the Draugr waged large-scale insurrection against one of the most advanced and powerful empires yet recorded- in the process, gaining a fearful reputation as merciless pirates and raiders.
    The rebellion didn’t last; while the Draugr proved highly competent as boarders and salvagers, they never acquired the numbers to pose a serious threat to anything but outposts, wayward convoys, minor colonies, and other such targets. The repeated attacks began to wear on the Master’s patience; it is believed the growing loss of matériel and public discontent with the politically-limited military response are the causes of what happened next, but it’s impossible to be sure.
    After a diversionary attack on a small asteroid outpost drew away most of the main defense fleet, a Masters light carrier squadron --consisting of at least two tactical carriers, several sub-capital vessels, and a small fleet of light assault craft-- swept in, destroyed almost all orbital structures, and proceeded to bombard the planet for nine days straight. What few million Draugr who called the planet home --over 90% of the species' population-- died. Follow-up attacks succeeded in routing or destroying the stragglers almost completely, leaving only a handful of vessels and their crew alive. Redoubling their pact for revenge, these few survivors plotted a course far from known space, intent on ravaging lesser species- and rise from the ashes, a force even the Masters would be unable to stop.
    These progenitors to the modern Draugr believed they would return in a generation, or less. It has since been nearly forty- and we believe they yet consider themselves understrength. It is doubtful they will ever make good on their blood oath- though it is possible they've since gained a new purpose.

[Addendum:  Almost all of this information has been derived from the data archives of [Rosetta]; this account may be incomplete or inaccurate, and should be viewed as such. More analysis and data is required to fully confirm or deny any part of this report.]

[JohnnyredCaptain (PCG)]

Bump so I can create a shadow of the topic.