Location: Vortex Infernalis, 1.1 AU from Nova Capitalis
Date: 176.01.22

An unspoken truth of the Interstellar Imperium is that Emperor Victus II - for all his pomp and circumstance - is merely a figurehead ruler. The real leaders of the golden faction, in all but title, are a trio of ultra-intelligent AI entities that call themselves gods.

However, this had not always been the case. Before Victus II was Emperor Augustin, revered today as the political mastermind who stalled the Hegemony's wrath long enough to develop the Titan: a mass-produced weapon of such destructive power that - through the promise of mutually assured destruction - has ensured the Imperium's survival to this day.

Shortly after the Imperium unveiled their Titan above the skies of Eventide, the Church of Galactic Redemption delivered a scathing rebuke to the entire Imperium: a vast embargo agreement entered into by most of the Persean Sector, intended to choke out production of the planet-killers. While this effort ultimately failed to stop the Imperium, the anti-military proselytizing reached the ears of the Luddic Path.

The Pathers so moved by this call to smash the Imperium's bomb-making machines organized an immense, protracted raid of Nova Capitalis: the only place in the entire sector where, under Vulcan's direct supervision, Titans can be produced. The Pahter's hoped to achieve a Morton's fork: either halt production of the Titans to focus on defense first, or continue production but inevitably lose Nova Capitalis to incessant raids.

Augustin, ever the shrewd leader, already had a plan for this. In response to the attacks, he activated elite reserve units - built, crewed, and trained in absolute secrecy - that would wait, dormant, in the Vortex Infernalis, for a chance to destroy foreign interlopers. In such hostile terrain, the raiders' debris would be scattered without a trace, entire fleets simply disappearing, lost to the inferno.