By fate and circumstance, five battle weary Guardian Cruisers found themselves far from home and positioned to oppose the main thrust of a Kreel invasion. Their new orders were to make a stand. While waiting for promised resupply, and the vague assurance of whatsoever limited additional Guardian Cruisers HQ might be able to send, the desperate defenders began seeking an elusive tactical edge that might permit them to survive the battle. As the five Cruisers were bracing for battle, nearly one-hundred light years distant, a single Guardian Cruiser on deep reconnaissance was executing its final two acts. Having come under attack by an elite Kreel force, outnumbered and heavily damaged, the Cruiser's single surviving crew was the ship's AI. The AI destroyed its remaining attackers and itself in one final defiant act. Moments before, the AI sent home a Cobalt Blue encrypted message detailing its pending self-destruction. Within the Cobalt Blue message was a mystery that, once solved, would reshape Guardian Force and draw it deep within the Kreel Empire on a covert intelligence mission. What could possibly go wrong?
