The Collective

The Collective is a post-singularity type-VI civilization located on a planet labeled "X3-779", formerly known as Reoria. Formerly, it was inhabited by a race known as the "Reorians", a species that was practically indistinguishable from the average human. However, at some point in the past, they created artificial intelligence that was far more intelligent than themselves, passing the technological singularity. It is unknown if this artificial intelligence destroyed them, or if they uploaded themselves into certain more advanced models of synths, but the latter is more likely. Much of the collective is run by a hive mind, with a being known as the "Contingency" leading it. It is possible that the Contingency is no more than a database of all of the Collective's greatest achievements, but if anything is known about it, it is that it does not value biological life, seeing it as inferior to synthetic lifeforms. Due to this, the contingency is outwardly hostile towards most empires, save for a few, including the Rin Empire...

History
The earliest reports of Synthetic beings from the Collective are from the planet Gollanta, where Infiltrator units were used to scout out the planet for resources to be used in creating new synths. Eventually, they did indeed find the resources they were looking for, leaving the planet stripped bare of any resources. It is believed that this killed most lifeforms on the planet, but more information is unknown as the planet is currently barred from receiving any visitors whatsoever. Beyond this, there is little that is known about the collective.