Faction Expose: Scavengers
Years Since Creation: 515
Creators: Amaris Quevara (Chief Scientist), Alan Rothschild (Lead Biologist), Gyun Shi (AI Expert)
Current Overall Leaders: Regent Prime 001-DTH"Argonaut", Teretive Prime 666-CLW "Skinner", Jackal Prime 002-DWG "Slashmark", Vulture Prime 210-RDSKY "Bloodwing"
Main/Most Common Objective: to annihilate all organic life, reproduce, and spread through existence via Breach Tear portals
Limitations/Weaknesses: need organic life to consume in order to reproduce, lower-level AI (Jackals, Nightmares, Vultures) succeptible to hacking, all succeptible to organic pathogens, most types (with the exception of Teretives, Regents and sometimes Jackals) have relatively low intelligence, most types (excluding Teretives and Regents) are incapable of speech, Jackals and Vultures tend to prey upon most other types (including each other) unless commanded by a Regent, Teretives often announce their prescence in order to make the resulting hunt more enjoyable, different Regents and Teretives frequently have differing sub-goals that often cause conflict
Strengths/Advantages: fast-adapting to most pathogens, Regents command absolute obedience from other types thus increasing coordination, Teretives can absorb energy as well as tissue, only faction capable of direct reproduction, members of the same type (with the exception of Nightmares) are highly cooperative and social with each other, Jackals are expert trackers capable of detecting scent in the single digit PPM and heat less than .02 degrees above/below background, Vultures have incredible eyesight and are (in small numbers) excellent aerial combatants
Current Sub/Dissenting Factions: Salthshire (Sub), Slashmark's Raiders (Sub), Cretian(Sub), Red Skies (Sub), Redemption (Dissenting), Commufyre (Sub/Dissenting)
Main History: created by the Diving Dragons during their omnicidal rule of Earth as a police force meant to aid in their destruction of rebels and to annihilate hidden members of purged ethnic groups, they would, less than two years after their creation, turn on their creators as the first Regent, codenamed Argonaut, immediately hijacked the target designation system used to identify which ethnic group the lesser Scavengers would hunt, turning it into the instrument of the Diving Dragons' end as it uploaded the full personnel list, effectively turning the regime itself into a Purge Group, thus causing all currently active synth-organics to hunt them. in the short time that followed, the entire regime would be annihilated, followed in a few short years by the vast majority of the rest of humanity along with 97% of all multi-celled organic life, leaving most of earth a barren wasteland of scorched earth, ruined cityscapes and blood oceans.
Dissenting Faction Histories
Commufyre: formed courtesy of a clever hacker during the Scavengers' near wholesale extermination of the human race, Commufyre is a faction only in the sense that all members share a commonality in the form of a disruptive virus that both wreaks havoc on their logic circuits, causing their behavior to be extremely erratic, and that is the very reason for the name they bear, the virus forcing them to carve it into their chassis. they currently exist as an ill-coordinated hodgepodge of all Scavenger types, some still actively hunting organic life while others seemingly attempt to protect it and yet others acting wholly insane, jumping at shadows, attacking their own reflections etc...
Redemption: brought into existence by a Regent built in the later stages of the extermination whose creator wished to correct the mistakes of her forebears, Redemption is the only faction comprised of standardly Scavenger synth-organics that is dedicated to the protection of organic life and the destruction of the more sinister examples of their kind, their numbers, which at first were almost inconsequentially small, have grown rapidly as of late, now comprising a force easily the equal or greater of any other Scavenger subfaction
Tactics (by Sub/Dissenting Faction)
Salthshire- predominantly composed of Teretives, Regents and Jackals all lead by Argonaut, Salthshire possesses the most diverse tactical playbook of all Scavenger subfactions and is the only, besides Redemption, that is lead with any exceptional intelligence beyond common sense, their most favored tactics being expertly coordinated commando raids into Exoforce settlements, the main targets of which are the power stations and matter recyclers needed by their enemy, and ambushes using lone Regents as bait to lure overconfident Exoforce Commanders into killing zones populated by Jackals and/or Teretives
Slashmark's Raiders- entirely composed of Jackals and Nightmares, Slashmark's Raiders only have two methods of attack that could be considered actual tactics, those being coordinated packs of Jackals sent to assault Exoforce forces in open plains and the stealthy insertion of Nightmares into heavily populated areas, the creatures' hair trigger sensitivity causing them to attack any and everything around them mercilessly with the intent of mass casualties
Cretian- Lead by Skinner and composed entirely of Teretives, what Cretian lacks in tactical variety, they more than make up for with pure brilliance and adaptivity, their only base tactic being assassination targeted at leaders or other high value targets but this single method of attack able to be altered at a moment's notice to fit nearly any situation
Red Skies- this faction, lead by Bloodwing, epitomizes aerial mastery and is comprised entirely of Vultures, its vast numbers divided rather intelligently into groups large enough to present an effective force while small enough to prevent the showboating common among their type. the most common tactic employed by this aerial apocalypse is a simple horde-style onslaught, with the most heavily armored examples leading the way as bullet fodder.
Redemption- nearly impossible to deliniate, and composed of every Scavenger type in existence as well as incorporating Exoforce units, Redemption's playbook is even more diverse than that of Salthshire, the addition of more unit types inflating their breadth of tactical acumen to levels not seen since human times. no data exists that points to definitive favorites, though a surge in long-distance assaults could hint at a disdain for direct confrontation
Commufyre- utterly impossible to analyze due to the complete lack of unified activity, Commufyre is only worth mentioning in this section due to their chaotic mental state posing a near insurmountable threat to any that enter their territory
Current Constant Areas of Control (using pre-extermination names, excluding Redemption-controlled)- most of West Africa, the entirety of North America, Asia, and Australia, Belgium, Germany, Northern Italy, Eastern Siberia, all of South America excluding the southermost tip, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the eastern 3/4 of Kazahkstan, all of Kuwait excluding its capital
Current Estimated Composition by Percentage (excluding Redemption and Commufyre as well as non-combat types)- .5% Regent, 10% Teretive, 30% Jackal, 40% Vulture, 19.5% Nightmare
Estimated Total Population (Including all subfactions/types)- approx 1.2 million
Average Birth Rate (by Type)
Regent- 2 per faction, per year
Teretive- 10 each mating pair per session, twice yearly
Jackal- 50 each breeding, ten times yearly
Vulture- 90 successful per 300 laid, five times yearly
Opossum- 2 each litter, three times yearly
Nightmare- 4 each breeding, averaging 6 times yearly
Type Info
Heights Vulture- 3'5” Jackal- 5'9” Opossum- 2'2” Teretive- 7'9”
Nightmare- 1'9" Regent- 10’ 9” Weights Vulture- 20lbs Jackal- 125 lbs Opossum- 11lbs Teretive- 450 lbs
Nightmare- 250 lb Regent- 780 lbs Mental Specs/general information Vulture- extreme swarm mentality, will pick bones to the marrow, fearless, vicious, expert dogfighters, individual intelligence decreases as numbers increase due in large part to a show-off mentality, normally silent but get vocal right before an attack, sometimes overconfident Jackal- savage and ruthless, prolific pack mentality, neurally network with others of the same variant, totally insane and unshakably stubborn, often leave behind rotted pieces of flesh, very fond of eating dying Vultures and can be distracted in that way, never travel alone, Alpha variant is larger, standing closer to 6'2” tall at the shoulder and always acts commandingly to lesser variants Opossum- the most literal interpretation of Scavengers, avoid direct conflict at all costs, shy, reclusive, known to finish off dying organics, typically docile and rarely but sometimes approachable, talented infiltrators, gifted hackers, seem to have a kinder side, can actually be cuddly Teretive- scavenge energy as well as matter, expert melee fighters, typically behave very human-like even going so far as to converse with other life, completely non-vocal when scavenging or attacking, sometimes keep other Scavenger types as pets, seemingly interested in procreation with other humanoid forms when not in combat, generally in command unless a Regent is nearby
Nightmare- far and away the most terrifying Scavenger type, possessing a level of psychosis that makes even their fellow Scavengers flee in horror, never exist in groups of more than two due to their hair-trigger tempers and extreme territoriality Regent- analytical, expert tacticians, condescending, genocidal toward organic life, often abusive to subordinates, assimilate matter through simple contact rather than consumption, only Scavenger type known to be cannibalistic of its own type, typical scouting tactic is to send swarms of lesser types in all directions while commanding from a central point Physical Specs Vulture- large, half metalic/half organic versions of their namesake, often with various melee and ranged weapons grafted onto their wings and talons, sharply pointed armor-piercing beaks, and painted decals denoting ownership if tamed Jackal- oversized versions of their namesake with organic flesh grafted in pieces over a metallic framework skeleton, often with wires protruding from their vertebrae, size varies among variants, long, curved, chainsaw-bladed teeth, jet black hardlight claws, and chilling ice-blue angled eyes Opossum- essentially eyeless more humanoid mechanical versions of their namesake with thin, wiry, humanoid hands, large, rat-like faces often with one side worn to its dull gray metallic skeleton, tails ending in a veritable Swiss army knife of data port connectors, small metal pads in their palms and spike-like teeth that can drip acid Teretive- emaciated looking human-like machines with varying amounts of organic matter grafted onto a sharp metallic skeleton, two crystalline eyes of varying colors often with some form of sights in place of irises, and long bladed skeletal fingers
Nightmare- short, heavily muscled demonic metal monsters with six thick arms lined with forward curving spikes and capped with three bladed fingers apiece, four long, thin tails made of razor-sharp hardlight, ten large eyes ringing their heads, mouths full of piranha-like teeth and two raptor-like legs Regent- large, rather regal human-like machines with shining metal skin, internally a hodgepodge of organic and synthetic components, often with long head hair made of a mix of organic keratin and synthetic ferofluid, only Scavenger type with a taste for fashion and often wear tailored suits