Scourge is a new series of weapons from NovaCorp and from Ephesus in particular. He was inspired by the most annoying of all creatures: Insects.

The first are a millimetre long, and half that tall. If you get them underneath a microscope they look like little metallic insects (an illusion, they are actually made entirely out of ceramics and non-metallic substances), with a thorax tipped with a vicious spike, and a head adorned with long, slender antennae and a sharp feeding tube. On its middle segment are gossamer wings, and underneath are six legs. The purpose of the spike and tube are not to damage by themselves, but to inject, usually Chaeron-1.

The First is made almost entirely out of advanced ceramics, and in place (such as the spike) Perfect diamond, and an advanced carbon-weave (or ‘diamond-weave’) makes the fabric of the wings. Its brain, situated in both its head and middle section, is limited but designed to behave just like a fly and to comprehend fairly complex orders and act on the data it recieves, and its head is equipped with a variety of advanced chemical sensors, especially capable of picking up the scent and pheromones of a certain race or individual, along with audio and visual sensors. Its small size, coupled with its manoeuvrability and speed means that the First is virtually impossible to hit physically (with a hand, bullet etc.) and hard to even see.

The First is designed to target unarmoured or lightly armoured people, since Chaeron-1 is not made for attacking armour. Its use for intelligence gathering is limited due to its size. Like most of the Plague, it works with others, usually communicating with radio or pheromones. There eyes are high powered camera’s, and can see into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum.

For an energy source the First uses a highly efficient battery core which is capable of providing power for 47 hours of flight. However it uses virtually no energy when not moving and simply recording and can recharge its battery through tiny solar panels on its wings. The low surface area and effectivness of the solar panels mean that it regains one hour of fly time for every two hours spent resting with sufficient light. The battery gradually loses its efficiency and will fail altogether after a week an a half.

The First are usually stored in box measuring ten centimetres by five centimetres by five centimetres, which contains 25 First. Inside this box is a charging system which keeps the First fully charged untill their deployment. On the top of the box lies a small number pad for the insertion of a code, and after access is granted, allows the launching of the First and also giving them basic orders. This includes being able to 'paint' people with an infra-red laser that's built into the device and activated by pressing a small red button to one side and coming out one end. When activated the buckyball-anti-matter-magnetic cores are inserted and the First (how ever many have been called up), fly out of tiny millimeter sized holes in the side of the box.

The first of the Chaeron series, Chaeron-1 is an extremely potent anti-organic. It consists of a goo (self replicating nanobots), which are programmed only to ‘eat’ organic tissue. The process is very painful, reasonably quick (it takes around three horus all told), and fatal, leaving only a skeleton which itself is devoured. The speed of the goo increases greatly as time goes on, as more and more of the body is converted into goo that in turn can convert more biological matter. The goo then disassembles itself, leaving little evidence it was there. It powers itself primarily on Carbon as well as ambient body warmth and kinetic energy. The goo without exception disables itself within five hours of impacting organic tissue.

The goo rarely spreads to other organics, but touching someone who carries it has a risk (depending on how far the goo has spread) that they will catch it. It also carries a smaller quantity of nanobots that function like a nerve gas, disrupting certain vital enzymes, most notably Acetylcholinesterase needed for the nervous system to work, and through this causing quickly growing paralysis and eventually (within a around thirty seconds) death. It causes the contraction of all the involuntary muscles in the body, causing death.