UCC Cerebus, one of the few TSA ships equipped with a
hyperspace engine unit. Before her disappearance from
the Sol sytem two years ago, her ongoing mission was to
establish contact with new lifeforms in distant regions
of the Universe. Until just a few hours ago all contact
with the ship had been lost. At 23.6.2244 8:06 PM,
UCC Cerebus waspicked up on radar in close proximity to
Space Station Nothing. All communication attempts from
the residentTSA garrison at SSN have failed.

Space Station Nothing's executive TSA officer has decided
to send out small Frontiersmen unit to investigate the
situation. You now find yourself in the company of these men,
sitting in a dropship bound for the UCC Cerebus. Peering out
through a visual in the dropship a gargantuan asteroid can be
seen, embedded in the hull of the seemingly lifeless ship.
You glance up at the scanner readout as initial data from the
ship flashes up on the screen:

-REACTOR STATUS: NOMINAL-
-ESCAPE POD STATUS: TOTAL DESPATCH-
-HYPERDRIVE STATUS: INACTIVE; POWER AT MAXIMUM-
-OXYGEN CONTENT: NORMAL-
-ATMOSPHERE: BREATHABLE-
-NO LIFE FORMS DETECTED ON BOARD-

As you look around all you see are blank faces, masks painted
from an indelible monotone palette and cut from the archetypal
mould that is a Frontiersman's basic training. Their purpose is
to give the impression that this is just another routine operation,
but you know that behind each facade is the same c**ktail of emotions
that's being shaken up inside you. The anticipation, the excitement,
the fear.

Docking clamps awkwardly shunt into position around you jolting
this tin can claustrophobia in which you've found yourself imprisoned.
But it won't last long, you tell yourself as your eagerness to break
the tedium rises up inside you like a bloodlust. You can almost taste
the challenge that lies ahead, that which you have dreamt for for so
long. As you take your first steps out onto the deck of the
UCC Cerebus -adrenaline coursing through your veins- you know what
it is to be a Frontiersman.


Background story written by Stephen "Kobayashi" Etheridge, based on
an original concept by Rudolf "Rendy" Klenovsky.