It is almost a millennium after the great Earth Exodus, and the colonies of humanity shift restlessly in the turbulence of dissent. The crumbling League of Planets fights tooth and claw to maintain its hold on wayward fringe nations, beset with terrorism and political controversy. The five founding nations seek to consolidate their alliances through diplomatic endeavor - but some are not content with talk.
Proud Antares, eldest and farthest colony of Man has become ever more dissatisfied with the lumbering bureaucracy of the League. In the political arena the Antareans petition remorselessly against the tightening noose of League legislation, but below the surface stratagems and treasons broil and churn. The stage is set for conflict, and none may know which spark may ignite the fuels of war.
The galaxy is changing.
A plan decades in the making, the Antarean systems have declared their independence, reforming the once great Antarean Empire. With their strength of will and technological know-how, the Antarean Star Empire has set out to regain its lost territories, and gain new ones.
Each day that the Antareans' power grows, more and more systems flock to their banner, leaving behind the now fractured alliance known as the United League of Planets.
The League, formed over a century ago in order to stop the unyielding tide of the first incarnation of the ASE, now finds itself in desperate straights as it attempts to keep control of a huge swath of space with fewer and fewer ships. Even worse, should enough systems leave the League, it will be constitutionally required to dissolve.
Both powers need to prove themselves on a galactic stage that has shifted radically, or face destruction from within.
Ten years ago, the Antarean Star Empire, headed up by its fresh-faced but shrewd new Emperor, declared war on the League. Attacked from without, rotting from within, the League should have fallen swiftly.
It did not.
Bolstered by loyalists and ships from its five founding powers, the League fought back - hard. In its victories, it found stability, resources, and new leaders. Fighting the Antareans to a stalemate, the League must constantly prove itself, or it will loose its members and collapse.
The Antarean Star Empire finds itself in a similar situation, having promised victory, the Emperor must now provide it, least the enemies he has made in his short time as his people's leader discover that his crown will do little to prevent a dagger in the back.
Facing threats from within and without, the League and the Antareans have only one solution: War. Territories must be gained, Borders are cracking. When every battle is a desperate one, every officer can become a hero. Join the battle. Earn a reputation. Call the fleet to your banner and fight.
It has been ten years and the war is only beginning.
