A recent, unexplained retreat of the Miasma from the edges of the known galaxy revealed rich new sources for mining and harvesting. The Royals opened up these newly reachable territories for prospecting in a deal they hoped would maintain the factions’ ultimate allegiances to the Empire while granting them the freedoms they demanded.
Not surprisingly, this sparked a race for land and resources, pitting the factions against each other more than ever rather than inspiring any fealty to the Royals.
Garrison Commander Alfredo Ricci, at the helm of a Sniper class battleship, was serving as escort for several scout and harvesting units making their way through the New Territories. The Sniper’s engine malfunctioned and the decision was made for the rest of the units to travel ahead while the Sniper made repairs. Before long the Sniper’s sensors picked up several nearby Arbeiter scout ships who’d been tracking the Garrison ships.
Knowing the Sniper was vulnerable in a prolonged ship-to-ship battle, Commander Ricci ordered his crew to use rockets to maneuver the ship behind a nearby asteroid. The Arbeiters saw the crippled ship limp out of sight and went in for the easy kill.
When the Arbeiter squadron came around the asteroid, every ship was showing its widest cross-section to the Sniper. The Garrison commander took full advantage of his own superior positioning, attacking with everything the Sniper had. Its pre-programmed lasers targeted in on rocket exhaust nozzles and exterior mounted weapon systems, then fired with deadly accuracy. Missiles streamed from the Sniper’s launch bays and split into hundreds of warheads before converging on their targets from different angles.
The sweeping attack utterly devastated the Arbeiter ships and earned The Sniper and its crew many accolades as well as the designation: Lone Wolf.