Slavers/secret

The "Slavers" exist, but there is only one. It is a (mostly) functioning Ancients-era robot that calls itself "The Shepherd". It is tasked with gathering rare minerals which it achieves through the activities of the Voyagers, immense organic harvesters that it tends and guides. The Shepherd controls a number of pseudobio Droyne-like robots – the so-called Greys – which it dispatches to carry out tasks and missions.

The Shepherd first became aware of humans when it encountered vessels of the Dissident Fleet and recognised the mark of its own Creator in the creatures aboard them. It watched them as they passed by but did not make contact with them.

The Voyagers – the Shepherds' wards – blundered through the Distant Fringe and unintentionally destroyed the human civilisation that they found there. They didn't mean any harm, they were merely doing what they had been constructed to do. For a long time the Shepherd remained unaware of the Voyagers' depredations. Eventually it sent the Greys to herd the Voyagers to new pastures – these are the events which occurred on Tal Varisa (0911 Far Home) during Slaver Year.

The Shepherd remains deeply troubled by the events surrounding his flock and its impact on the humans. It believes humans to have been sent to the Distant Fringe by the Creator for a specific reason and is concerned that the Voyagers – and thus itself – have compromised their mission. It quietly observes their activities and periodically sends Greys to examine human "specimens". The Shepherd actively avoids any direct contact – apart from occasional research by its Greys – for fear of further interfering with the Creator's plan. The Shepherd's current location is many sectors to spinward.