Millennia ago, planet Helios held a grand technological civilization. But the Cataclysm tore the land apart, and the survivors were forced to flee to the Six Stations, the artificial planetoids that orbited Helios. It did not take long for their society to devolve into a virtual medieval world, with barely enough technology to survive the harshness of life in space.

The stations were governed by royalty and the elite nobility. The ruling class lived on the Surface, the merchant class occupied the Middle Decks and the working class languished in the Lower Decks. Each subject had his or her place, destined to live out his life as determined by his birth.

Out of this culture arose a line of monarchs called the Reign of Four. Alexis Teirmont was the First. He was a visionary, a warrior and a tyrant who was not immune to egotism, cruelty, and revenge. He would change the very fabric of the System. His reign would be remembered throughout history for both the good – and the bad.