Drej Centaur
The Drej are a race of energy-based creatures haling from the planet called Fus-4. Fearful of the dominance humankind might attain as a result of Project Titan (an extremely advanced planet formation project), they set out to destroy, and additionally to devour the lifeforce and energies of, both the Earth and the human race.
The Drej social order seems to consist of two castes: countless multitudes of Drones, and a small number of ruling class elites such as Queens. Whether or not these are the only positions in their society is never explored. Additionally, only two Drej ruling caste are ever seen: The King and Queen. They do not seem to be capable of speaking any form of human language, but they do have their own which consists largely of mechanical clicks, rumbling noises and inhuman shrieks.
Biology[]
Upon first inspection, the Drej are not much different from our own species. They are not corporeal entities, yet they have a physical form which appears to be both skeletal and humanoid in design. Whether this is an adaptation to allow them to better survive outside of their home environment or a natural result of their biology is unknown.
The Drej are arthropods made up entirely of pure energy, formed into a resinous substance and utilized to construct both their machines and bodies. At the front of their heads is what appears to be an eyespot, which also houses a mouth, which is usually unseen. Despite their energy based physiology, however, they are tangible and can manipulate objects just as easily as other sapient races. Furthermore, when a limb is destroyed, they can regenerate it in a matter of seconds, possibly by extracting energy from their surrounding environment and calcifying it into new “Drej Resin.” The Drej can fire portions of this substance at their foes in the form of a concentrated blast, although whether or not this expenditure of energy subsequently weakens their ability to maintain physical form is not explained.
Ships & Technology[]
Like the Drej themselves, their technology is also made of pure energy that has been hardened into Drej Resin. In at least one known instance, non-Drej beings have been able to escape captivity and move through Drej ships by putting two objects (i.e., Hands) against surfaces and then bringing them together, interrupting the energy flow and allowing passage.
The Alahenena flanked by Drej Stingers
The Drej have two primary modes of transportation. The bulk of their fleet is made up of swarms upon swarms of smaller, aggressive looking ships called Stingers. Making up both the offensive aerial forces, as well as prisoner and cargo transport, the Stingers consist of a small central fuselage with pairs of sharp fins on the back and sides, and a pair of long arms extending up and forward from the body, then leveling off and angling back down, inward toward each other In the manner of two tongs at the end of a taser.
The second type of craft is the large mothership, called the 'Alahenena' (the Drej term for "Planet Killer"). The craft is incomparably massive in size, and powered by a white dwarf star, entirely eliminating the need for fuel. Not only does the flagship house the Drej population, but is also capable of, as its name would suggest, destroying entire planets, as demonstrated on the Earth. To do this, it positions itself over the planet and fires a beam of kinetic energy at it, causing the planet to spin faster and faster, until its centrifugal force overpowers its gravity, thus causing it to rip apart at the seams.
The mothership is part of the reproduction cycle of the Drej. The Queen Drej gestates a new generation by adsorbing the rays of pulverised planets. The absorption takes decades before the Drej then move on to the next world.
Their weapons, referred to as "Focus Burners" in the novel, channel photons into a beam, turning light energy into heat energy that can even melt through starship hull when concentrated. In addition, the Queen has an advanced computer system, known as the Orb, with which she can see through her Drones' eyes.
The Drej Queen.
The Novel[]
In the book, the Drej are seen quite differently. Early in the novel, when Cale sees them on Tau 14, one of them "ha[s] its mouth open, and the interior [is] pitch black". In the film, however, no such mouths are seen. It was also noted that they had some sort of black, fleshy envelope above the pulsing energy, possibly the eyespot seen in the film. In addition, when Cale is captured, they speak using pulses of light instead of rumbling and whirring noises. There also appear to be different types of drones as well: Deeheh, who serve as scouts; Daiheh, who oversee ground transport; Droheh, who can fight, and Douheh who serve as thinkers and strategists, with high level cognitive abilities.
The Drej Queen's name was Susquehana, one year, of the planet the Drej were from was called a Making, because every year the Drej would make more Drej. They could calculate much faster than any human, they had a piece of technology called the Orb which would act like a computer, only much stronger and capable of doing things. The Drej believed that nothing except duty is important. They were not even familiar with the concept of a friend. They suffered no disease, lived for thousands of years, and were not afflicted with a need to procreate. They possibly got more Drej by the Lanoor, a piece of technology capable of making more Drej, but it is unknown how they created more Drej before they had technology. They called their stingers Slijah. The ones specifically shown were Praojeh class.