Children of the Dark

Some call them a cult, to those who have only heard about them as "eccentric pirates", others as something no longer considered human; the reality however is far worse.

History
The original members of the Children, "The First Born" come from a colony ship named The Armitage that contained over 50,000 colonists and 1 Million Embryos to settle the unexplored edge of the galaxy. The ship's intended 15 year long journey became 70 as the ship's AI tasked with guiding the Armitage to the galactic rim malfunctioned and continued far outside the Milky Way.

The Children of the Dark seem to be obsessed with something the Armitage colony discovered outside the Milky Way.

Survivors of their attacks describe their appearance as twisted and deformed, a hollow husk drained of their humanity.

Their ships do not venture into the bubble and tend to pick off pirates and smugglers just outside it. The reasons for their continued slaughter is unknown.

It is not possible to "willingly" join the Children as they make their home world very secret. Finding a Children ship is often a rare occurrence though they will let you know if you do. They will only accept you as part of their ranks if they consider you a useful member of the crew.

Behaviour
Their followers often take psychotic pleasure in murdering, capturing and torturing the crew of ships in dark corners of the Orion Arm. Those who are more worthy are assimilated into their ranks by force, their minds wiped and body parts replaced with cybernetics becoming mindless drones.