When humanity first discovered fold space and antimatter energy, there was a huge space race between the biggest corporations on Earth to colonise planets in the Local Spur of our galaxy. There were many resources to be researched and mined, and hundreds of pioneer planets were established. Yet no alien civilizations were discovered. Were humans alone after all?

Decades later, Horizon Corp was hungry for expansion and dared to travel to the outer reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, into the deep unknown. This gamble paid off and humanity finally found advanced alien civilizations, leading to a period known as the Enlightening. New trade routes were established, business boomed, and a second wave of colony planets were founded in the Centaurus Arm.

Many of the first wave colony planet’s were then abandoned by their corporations, as more profit could be gained further away from Mother Earth. Trade stagnated, economies crashed and these planets now found themselves untethered. A new age of Space Piracy dawned as first wave pioneers set out to seek their fortune amongst the stars.

Captain Swift and his loyal pirate crew have made port on the automated mining planet, Aeox. They strip antimatter energy cores from large ships and craft hundreds of high value energy cells to sell on the black market. Many planets pay handsomely for one of these which can fuel their settlements for years. Aeox is a metal mining planet and after hacking the system, Swift’s crew can now siphon off whatever they need for manufacturing.

Captain Navarro comes from an ex-military planet that was disbanded when trade moved north of the Galactic Centre. Left without work or purpose, she formed her own ruthless band of pirates. As both mercenaries and arms dealers, they now make a good profit by trading with militarised planets across the galaxy. Her latest deal is with Swift. She bartered an antimatter energy core they ripped from a gargantuan freight ship for the loot of phase weapons he scavenged from a wrecked Vitrandi warship. Navarro already has a buyer lined up, willing to pay a fortune for the rare technology.

The exchange is to take place on Aeox. As an automatic mining planet, it is uninhabited so there’s no risk of Horizon spies spotting the deal. Initial scans of the meeting point have shown it to be free of traps, but Navarro is taking no chances. There’s a bounty on all their heads, and captains have been known to turn on one another. She’s heavily armed and ready for a fight. Only time will tell what goes down on Aeox when the two pirate crews meet!