At the dawn of the 23rd century, Mankind found itself in a golden age. Post-scarcity promised human civilization limitless potential. As ever, however, man's own hubris threatened to undo the previous generation's progress with every passing decade. For centuries, the population of the human race had ballooned with each new scientific discovery further extending the lifetime and youth of the people. But this only exacerbated the internal chaos of civilization. Millions upon millions of persons crammed into cityscapes, scrambling for resources despite the nearly untapped potential and apparently limitless riches that the stars promised. The colonization of space barely alleviated this issue, and infighting among mankind was nigh unstoppable as conflicts broke out even inside the more civilized and united nation-states. The truth was, though the boon of technology proved a blessing for the lives of man, it did not bring them purpose. The weight of countless billions of proletarians sagged on society, straining it to the very limit. None were most troubled by this situation than the intellectual scientist caste, which had been developing for centuries as the priorities of education and technological progress shifted from the masses to better-off individuals who were more inclined to pursue science and engineering as a lifetime career. These men saw the troubles of mankind and despaired at its doom. Using their technology, they sought their way out of a disaster they thought sure to come...
Among the most remarkable advances in technology which brought great boons to mankind was genetic engineering. By altering the base genetic data which would determine the very physical form of mankind, countless sufferings could be wiped away from civilization. Though costly, one who became subject to genetic meddling could find themselves stronger, faster, smarter, and generally less susceptible to disease and illness. Crops could be grown in ever larger quantities with higher yields. Lost or damaged organs could be regrown without any risk of rejection. These and more benefits characterized genetic engineering at the time, and it was considered man's greatest achievement. A cabal of radical scientists sought to use this technology to alter the very fabric of human genetics, along with a little societal engineering, to once and for all end the suffering of humanity because of its excessive growth and stagnation. They believed strongly that mankind must change if it wished to survive. Alas, this was not to be. They were dedicated, but not in the good graces of the super-wealthy who controlled society. The lame masses, after all, were good consumers who mindlessly supported their vast fortunes. Politicians of the times, who ran on shallow campaigns that appealed to the many "moral" compasses of the average voter, decried the effort as unethical and unnatural. Change, it seemed, was not welcomed by mankind. In spite of the inevitable doom that paranoid science kept warning humanity about, the immediate cost and unknown threat of change ensured that such ideas would only ever be popular among the scientists. Even among the scientific community, such scheming was deplored as unwise. Without popular support, mass genetic alterations would be unethical and likely cause yet more division and chaos within humanity. Even at such a level of development, scientists were unsure if mass genetic alterations would even work, much less behave as they expected. The pessimistic predictions of the radical eugenicists may in fact not come to pass as they warned. Slowly, the movement died as one by one the radical members of the scientific community softened their views or faded from the intellectual space.
Eventually only one scientist remained, defiant of the apparent ease with which humanity seemed to accept its fate. She believed that she alone knew how humanity could survive, nay, thrive in so boundless an era of possibility. It wasn't long before she came to the conclusion that society was simply doomed as it was. Instead, she must start anew. Using what resources she had available to her, the lone scientist collected about herself the most advanced AI available to humanity at the time, a veritable archive of data on technology and engineering, and advanced robotics that would be useful for her mission. With this in hand, she acquired a star ship that would take her to the very edge of mankind's expanse in the galaxy, whereupon she left the human race as she knew it behind. Now alone, she searched the unknown for a garden of eden to start humanity anew. Having found a suitable star system, she began terraforming the second planet to house a new civilization. She called this planet Vexia, and hence became the First Vexian.
Her plan was simple: humanity as it was is too fractured and self-indulgent to ever let progress last. What she required was a people who could find no difference among themselves to bicker about. Not like the race wars of old, fought by factions of men who believed themselves blood brothers only to turn upon each other once each foe had been struck down. The new Vexians would not be so weak. The First Vexian drew upon her own genome for the template, her new civilization would be made entirely of clones. Each individual would know that their sisters are ever faithful and competent as they were. They would not fall to infighting as man before them had. In such a society, direct democracy could flourish as all could be trusted to make the right decision, though mockingly of such a concept a society of clones could only ever vote unanimously. The stale monotony of so singular a race was not lost on the First Vexian, and she drew upon her technology to craft a solution. Though externally quite the same, each Vexian would be slightly, imperceptibly unique. Genetic diversity would be kept by randomizing select portions of the genetic code so that their greatest strength could not be made weakness. The appearances of the Vexians would be no different between individuals, but by chance one or two may be more resistant to a yet-unknown disease or illness than others.
The First Vexian took the opportunity to further improve the Vexians over their human counterparts. Strength and reflexes were tweaked and generally improved. Aging was slowed as much as possible, giving a Vexian a theoretical lifespan in the centuries, with the benefit of medical technology to extend that yet further without appearing to have aged a day. This came at the consequence of an absurdly long childhood, but the First Vexian saw no reason to let this weigh the civilization down. Each clone would be, from inception, grown in growth tanks until they came of suitable age to be trained into society. They would emerge from the growth tanks after 6 years at a level of development roughly equivalent to a human's biological age of 14. From here, they would be implanted with cookie-cutter personalities, hypnotically and synesthesiatically writing in a basic psyche which would take the place of the first decade of the lives a normal human might have. Personalities are allowed to diverge past this point, the minuscule differences in brain chemistry and experiences producing personas which, to an experienced observer, will appear to be unique individuals. This newborn Vexian is known as a "Neophyte", and represents the closest thing to a child the Vexians have. Neophytes are produced in batches, never having been conceived by parents or any similar family mechanism. Indeed, the very concept of family is swept away, replaced by the more apt formation of clade. Batches of new Vexians are ordered by the government, the gestalt of Vexians and their voting mechanics and a management AI system that directs the whole of Vexian civilization. During inception, genes and personalities are tweaked such that randomly, in any given batch of Vexians, the necessary desires and ambitions are formed to produce the very professionals that the civilization requires at the time. This means that each Vexian will, by their own accord and in pursuit of their own happiness, choose a career that society requires. Undaunted by the apparent lack of free will, young Vexian Neophytes spend their first 20 years of life outside a tube learning of their world as a human might. Basic language is already known to them through hypnosis, but skills and muscle memory are built through experience. The scientific method, history, mathematics, and other useful knowledge is trained into Neophytes as a young human might be schooled. Upon reaching maturity, fully grown and stocked with skills, an Adult Vexian is promptly drafted into the military to serve their due to society. After completing a military service, the Vexians are released into their civilization to choose their own path and career, living and working in Vexian society as any other intelligent species would.
Various other differences with humans result from the unique means of inception that Vexians employ. The means of creation being divorced from biology and the family unit rendered extinct, all Vexians are rendered sterile. The act of reproduction is now best left mentioned as merely a recreational activity, nothing more, though the means of traditional reproduction are preserved and may be reactivated with the right medical treatments in an instance of an emergency. Such matters are, however, never discussed as the odds of such an event being necessary are astronomical. This apparent lack of a family or even romantic partners is off-putting to non-Vexians, who find that despite the alien upbringing a Vexian is fairly functional in social interactions. In spite of the acclimatization of the Vexians to regular society, their often very similar personalities and near identical appearances make dealing with more than one Vexian confusing at best. On occasion, one might be lucky enough to discover a Vexian with a much more differentiated personality, an archetype beyond the bland normal drone one might encounter for better or worse.
Vexian technology is considered on-par or better than typically found with other human political factions. Vexians are noted for possessing fairly advanced energy direction technologies, manifesting in a kind of mastery over field technology in the form of active camouflage, ship shielding, and holograms. Artificial intelligence is also a notable feature of Vexian technological ability, as their mastery of the human brain enables them to craft fairly excellent digital reproductions of a Vexian mind for use in their systems, though this is intentionally varied based on intellectual need.
In general, Vexians are sometimes considered sociopathic, choosing to keep communications and interactions with non-Vexians at a minimum. The official political entity of the Vexian Confederacy chooses to remain isolationist where possible, remaining within its borders in order to leverage its smaller population for defense and economics. Vexia prefers to operate outside its borders through the use of Mercenaries, organized as "Free Companies" of varying size and composition who are hired out to entities both political and economic in order to see out desirable ends. Free Companies may be drawn from active duty personnel in Vexia's military, from units as small as Guard Platoons to entire formations of warships and everything in between. Indeed, a rebellion on the fringes of human space may be surprised to find elite Vexian Commandoes crushing their every operation despite Vexia itself being quite distant and uncaring.
On the whole, there is little to fear from the Vexians. They are a small people, dwarves among the giants that stride the galaxy. The First Vexian died a content woman, having spawned a new civilization she hoped would avenge humanity even as it yet lived. It has been 200 years since the birth of the Vexian Confederacy in a backwater system, and it would be many centuries yet before it meets its reckoning.