The Marked

The Exploratory Corps started to suspect that the Imperium had no intention of ever setting them free. Sick of constantly being shipped to new planets, one squad seized their transport ship dropping the Imperium Crew on an uninhabited planet and taking refuge on Teron, a nearby planet with a sympathetic populace who resented the Imperium control of their water.

The Imperium reacted swiftly; all the Exploratory Corps members were tracked down and given a public execution. The city that had harbored them was occupied by a sizable force of Imperium troops, and its water rations were halved.

The Imperium decided they needed a stronger method to control the Exploratory Corps. They injected the Exploratory Corps members with an enzyme key designed to signal the brain to cease all life functions at the age of 25. The key also turned the left eye completely black, so the Corps would stand out from normal citizens. The Exploratory Corps, not knowing where the changes came from, began to suspect they were cursed. They soon became known as the Marked.

As the necessity for colonization subsided the Marked transitioned to the role of indentured servants, supporting society by carrying out the duties nobody else wanted.