It is the year 3001.
During the past year, the Solar Consortium has been rocked by revolution and catastrophe. The Martian Republic declared its independence. Xenophobic human terrorists detonated plasma bombs on Earth, killing millions of people and rendering the surface of mankind's homeworld inaccessible for at least two years.
Now, Gustav Eiger, the mind behind Earth's bombing, is on the loose. A cold-blooded psychotic with a penchant for torture, the former Guardian Fleet prison camp warden is blamed now for the serial killings of Specialists - cloned humans designed for servitude - on Sivad and Mars.
Out on the fringes, in the independent worlds, the former stronghold of Lord Fagin the Pirate King - Tomin Kora - has been reborn under the guidance of notorious crimelord Boss Cabrerra. Blood sports and colorful holovision programs are the order of the day.
But the ascenscion of Tomin Kora doesn't sit well with Lord Boromov on Ungstir, who for decades has enjoyed a monopoly on shady dealings in the Independent Worlds.
Tensions rise. Plots form. It's only a matter of time...