Void Engineers

"What kind of archaeologist carries a gun?"
"Uh, I do."
"Okay, bad example."

– Stargate SG-1

One of the five remaining Conventions of the Technocratic Union in Mage: The Ascension. The Void Engineers are oldest of the Conventions, tracing their lineage back to the astrologers (and possible ancient alien contactees) of Sumeria and Akadia. Today, they are astronauts, astronomers, and theoretical physicists. They maintain probably the largest military force of any of the Conventions, because space in the World of Darkness might actually be even more full of evil than Earth.

The combination of interest in crazy-far future technology and exploration, their recognition that fellow humans are all, broadly, allies in the fight against the outer darkness, and their portrayal as aggressively independent and free-spirited space cowboys has earned the Void Engineers the designation of "the good ones", meaning that they were actually pretty cool even back when the other Conventions were mustache-twirling nonsense monsters. It's just too hard to make people cheer against the astronauts.

That's not to say that it's all gleaming chrome and good times. The Voiders are trying to be The Federation in a world that constantly pushes them to be The Imperium. They were the ones who pushed for the removal of the luminiferous ether to keep their Etherite brothers in line, leading to the entire Convention defecting to the competition. A defection which the Voiders took in stride as an irreconcilable difference of opinion rather than any sort of betrayal. The Voiders see the Sons of Ether and the Virtual Adepts more as professional rivals than existential enemies, a perspective which NONE of the other Conventions share or appreciate.

For all their idealism, they also have the highest incidence of the Conventions of members falling to the Nephandi. The Deep Universe is no place for humans, and you can only be out there for so long before you start bringing it back with you. Even worse, the new war against Threat Null has really worn the Convention down. You can only mow down endless hordes of your twisted former allies in the depths of an uncaring universe for so long before it starts to get to you...

Also, the Gaians from Werewolf: The Apocalypse are deliberately steering them into the worst, most horrific parts of the spirit world in a futile effort to scare them off, because let's face it, making smart decisions that're in humanity's best interest was never a feature of most Gaian factions.

In summary... they're basically just Stargate Command with magic.

Members of the Technocratic Conventions
Iteration X	New World Order	Progenitors	The Syndicate	Void Engineers