The year is 40XX. Since the establishment of the Galactic Consul peace has reigned, but as of late a cold unease has settled into the barren soil of the colonies. It began at first with the odd distress signal — a company freighter lost in the dormant starfields, an occasional satellite having seemingly vanished from a backwater planet. Now, entire solar systems have slipped into the encroaching ink sweeping across the outskirts, and maddened whispers speak of a force beyond the void —