2378. Eleven years after the Capella supernova. The Destruction of the Capella star by the Shivans had many impacts on the society of the GTVA. Some were immediate and obvious � the incalculable loss of life and goods and the loss of a key system on the GTVA map, others were subtle and longer term � the gradual economic decline of the GTVA as a whole leading to the recent depression. Some were general � the massive blow to morale, of both the citizenry and the military, others were localized, such as the destabilization of recently isolated system. Such a one is Epsilon Pegasi.

Once, EP was something of a paradise, basking in the warm glow of Capella�s prosperity, with a population of millions, and the economic hub of that region of the galaxy, fed by the resource rich systems of Mirfak, Procyon and Adhara. But if all was well within the confines of the system, the same could no be said of those systems surrounding EP. In 2366, economic and social tension came to a head as Polaris, a single jump from EP itself, began open revolution against the GTVA central government, under the banner of the Neo Terran Front. Whatever twisted ambitions Bosch may have had for this force, many of the Polarians who joined him did so more out of desperation and disgust over the mismanagement of their home worlds, end envy felt against the more prosperous systems closer to them. In fact, many social and military historians believe that, were it not for the prosperity and proximity of the Vasudan Adhara system to Polaris, much of the NTF's key social doctrine would have been radically different.

Whatever their motivations, the battlescars left by the assaults of the Neo Terran Front were compounded by later attacks by Shivan forces spilling out of Capella. The Pegasans watched helplessly as, over the course of less than two years, millions of credits and thousands of lives were destroyed. But ultimately, these were setbacks, temporary losses. The Colossus would destroy the NTF, the Shivans would be contained � but fate, as it so often does, had a different outcome in mind.

After the Shivan armada had destroyed Capella, the GTVA, and the EP sector in particular, was thrown into turmoil. Millions of refugees were thrust upon the surrounding systems, and into an infrastructure utterly unable to support them. EP particularly, isolated as it was by the destroyed Capella node, formerly its link to the core systems of the GTVA, on one side, and dangerous to traverse former NTF systems on the other, convoys were rare, and the thriving commerce began to dwindle as companies realized the prohibitively high cost of protecting their outbound convoys. Unemployment, already in shambles from the sheer number of Capellan refuges, rose even higher as corporations began to pull out to seek less dangerous markets. Some, imbued by quasi patriotism and overfed feelings of injustice, turned to rebellion, seeking for themselves a better life. Within the first five years after the Loss of Capella, three embryonic revolutions were put down by the GTVA forces in the EP sector, themselves hit hard by recent conflicts. The only other escape for the citizens was a life of crime or piratism, and this soon became almost commonplace. The undermanned and under funded GTVA military in the area was hard pressed to maintain any kind of order or protection. And so it remained, year after year � the populace in turmoil, pirate groups fighting the GTVA and each other for supremacy, none able to gain a clear advantage. Until now.

In the past few months, a single group has begun to assert its supremacy over the other criminal factions. This group, calling themselves the Survivors, presumably of Capella, or perhaps of the seeming abandonment of EP by the GTVA, make use of vessels, such as the Golem strike bomber and Sigyn Superiority fighter, which can be found in no other force, and are presumably manufactured by the pirates themselves. More worrying, however, are the advanced technologies these pirates have been able to bring into the fray � subspace disruptors and potent anti subsystem weapons the GTVA has never seen the like of have become standard parts of the pirate arsenal. Unless this tide of advancement can be stemmed, the pirates may find themselves in a position to directly challenge the GTVA militarily in the EP sector, and supported by an unhappy and rebellious population behind them, the system could well be on the brink of civil war.

But more momentous events than these have been set into motion, into an inexorable sequence that will plunge not just EP but the entire GTVA into what could be the bloodiest war in its short history. EP is now the gateway to the fields of the destroyers � and even of those that may yet destroy them.