Battle of Hephaistos

"Some scholars argue that the Commonwealth might have fallen even without Nietzschean treachery. In one breath, they underestimate both the Nietzscheans and the Commonwealth."

- Yin Man-Wei; The Rise and Fall of the Systems Commonwealth, CY 11942



The Battle of Hephaistos was the first in a series of interstellar military engagements that ultimately marked the beginning of the end for the Systems Commonwealth. The opponents in the battle consisted of the race known as the Nietzscheans and the Commonwealth military arm, the High Guard.

Origins
The origins of the Battle of Hephaistos go back several years to the Treaty of Antares in which the Systems Commonwealth had made peace with their longstanding enemies, the Magog. The Commonwealth race known as the Nietzscheans were opposed to the treaty and were outraged to see the Commonwealth demonstrating what they felt was an amoral and unforgivable show of weakness. The Magog were a savage race who ate sentient beings and used their bodies as nests for their young. Many Nietzscheans had died due to the practices of the Magog and in their eyes, there could never be peace. Believing that the Systems Commonwealth no longer had the fortitude for continued survival, the Nietzscheans spent the next several years pooling their resources and establishing a strategy to overtake them.

Hephaistos IV
A rogue black hole had emerged in the Hephaistos System and the Nietzscheans chose this as their opportunity to spring their attack on the Commonwealth. They drew the Commonwealth's attention by attacking a small courier ship called the Alacritous Missive. The pilot of the ship issued a distress beacon that was picked up by the High Guard ship, the Andromeda Ascendant, who responded to the call and went to the Hephaistos System under the belief that they were rendering aid to refugees. When they arrived however, they found a massive fleet of 10,000 Nietzschean ships waiting for them. Captain Dylan Hunt deployed battle drones to combat the incoming fighters, but even though the Andromeda was the flagship of the Commonwealth, it was no match for such an overwhelming force. Ultimately, Dylan was forced to order his crew to abandon ship. Only his pilot, Refractions of Dawn, refused the order and stayed by Dylan's side.

Adding to the intensity of the matter, Hunt's first officer, Gaheris Rhade - a Nietzschean, seemingly betrayed Captain Hunt by killing a gunnery sergeant, a security officer and the pilot. Hunt and Rhade faced one another on the bridge of the ship, but as their personal battle wore on, the Andromeda Ascendant drifted closer to the event horizon of the black hole. Dylan managed to get a fatal shot against his opponent, but it was at that moment that the gravitational time dilation effect of the black hole overwhelmed them and the Andromeda was frozen on the edge of the singularity.

With the Andromeda incapacitated, the Nietzscheans achieved a clear victory over the Commonwealth and thus began a series of intense conflicts that would ultimately bring the millennia-long glory of the Systems Commonwealth to an end.

Systems Commonwealth

 * Dylan Hunt
 * Rommie
 * Refractions of Dawn
 * Stam
 * Thompson

Nietzschean Empire

 * Gaheris Rhade

Starships

 * Andromeda Ascendant
 * ES-115 Oracle heavy sensor/attack drones
 * ES-14 Janus light sensor/attack drones


 * Alacritous Missive
 * Nietzschean battle ships (10,000)