Vates

Not to be confused with the Inferrectus, Vates (known as "Kesukgn" to the Ngkanukgr) represented a more peaceful hybridization of the Elder Race and the Inferus. Vates was created by the systemic infection of an Elder Race commander with a mutant strain and was left in its facility for millions of years when the Ancients abandoned the world during their withdrawal to the galactic rim, only to be discovered by a fledgeling Ngkanukgr civilization.

Sins Past
The true name of the member of the Elder Race who became Vates is lost. A prominent commander in the fleet, he sacrificed strategic advantage to rush and attempt to save a colony world where he had spawn-kin. The Ancients took his abandoned position, flanked him, and crippled his fleet. His world was scourged. Lossoriawath recalls this defeat, remembering his father describing the commander as a sentimental fool, and not fit for command of any vessel by Ancient standards. The Elder Race commander fled, attempting to rally the remainder of his scattered ships, but he was ambushed by a fleet led by Vatic Pariah. He surrendered himself to protect his crew, once again demonstrating a sentimentality that earned him the scorn of the Ancients. Presented as an esteemed captive, he was scoffed at by the Ancients, who said they would not even bother to treat him as a true leader. He was given to the experimental biowarfare division, where he was infected with a mutant strain of Inferus and grew into the wretched Vates. When the Ancients pulled back, he was abandoned in a stasis chamber for millions of years.

Kesukgn
The Ngkanukgr are renowned for their innovation and technological advancements, but they once struggled to navigate space as all races did. The young race was barely expanding beyond their own solar system when they came across a containment facility that held one prisoner in a still active stasis chamber. They interrogated the freed being, separated by the containment measures, and observed him. The failed commander, the one who protected when he should have fought, he was still in there. He contained the hive mind of the Inferus and did not let it influence him. The Ngkanukgr named him "Kesukgn," which means "Prophet" in their language. Vates is the human name for this being. Vates told the Ngkanukgr much, drawing on his own knowledge of Elder and Ancient technology, and even tapping into the well of the Inferus' collective knowledge. This is the reason the Ngkanukgr were able to accelerate their technology at such a rapid pace.