The ship is a newly launched assault carrier, one of a new class of light warships. With a crew of less than 100 and guns to match a small cruiser, the assault carrier differs from most ships its size in that it has a small flight deck and space for a squadron of 12 fighters in addition to torpedo tubes. Most warships carry enough supplies for a month or two without resupply, but the assault cruiser was designed to operate alone for extended periods of time in an anti-piracy role. As such, one entire deck is dedicated to an automated hydroponics plant and it carries enough sealed foods to last the best part of a year. At the time of the attack on Tyra, the ship only had a skeleton crew of around 30, so those supplies will last even longer. In addition only a handful of fighters had been shipped on, so the CAG's strength is around 4 fighters at the moment.

The ship's weapons broadly fall into three categories; kinetics, energy weapons and torpedos.

Kinetics come in two flavours; deck guns and flak cannon. Deck guns are large, multi-barrelled cannon capable of firing huge shells at high speeds, similar in design and function to those seen on WWII battleships. They are excellent at short range, but due to the nature of space combat are unreliable at a distance. Flak cannons come in batteries of several small calibre guns and are used mainly as point defence, although at knife-fight ranges can be a viable ship-to-ship weapon.

Energy weapons are fired in banks and can be used at extreme range. Due to the low diffusion rate on laser technology, they don't do a huge amount of damage but are useful for hitting small targets with extreme accuracy. Their main tactical use is to snipe at enemy ships before they reach kinetics range, weakening their defences by burning through armour and overloading shields.

Torpedoes are large, self-propelled missiles that pursue locked targets. Excellent at medium range, they are nevertheless very vulnerable to enemy point-defences and interception by enemy fighters. They are the only weapons that can reliably deliver nuclear warheads and as such, are generally used as a last resort or a crippling first strike.

All capital ships are fitted with electromagnetic shielding. These have two functions; first they can be used to manipulate the trajectory of kinetic rounds, arcing them around the ship to sail harmlessly off into space and two, they can interfere with the cohesion of laser beams, effectively weakening the beam and reducing the damage done. Shields take enormous energy and are generally run off batteries to avoid draining the ship's reactor. On the flipside, this means that they have a finite energy source and must be recharged if they fail.

Ship combat generally goes through three phases; first, the combatants snipe each other with lasers and fighters, intent on weakening each others defences before closing to kinetics range. Second, upon reaching kinetics range, they begin to maneuver around each other to give their guns the best chance to hit while avoiding the the arc of the enemy's weapons. Thirdly, after sustaining significant damage most ships will attempt to disengage and warp out, leaving the victor a very short window of opportunity to finish them with kinetics and torpedoes. Many engagements end with one side fleeing before they can be destroyed. Of course this is all in theory; no amount of planning can predict what a captain will do with their back against the wall.

The history of the galaxy stretches back thousands of years, through the collapse of countless empires and republics. The current political situation is the result of a cataclysmic civil war in the old Imperium which brought about the death of that empire and the rise of the revolutionary People's Army of Freedom. There are three main political powers in the galaxy and a large number of independent planets known collectively as the Unaligned Systems.

Controlled by the Committee of Freedom and Equality, the PAF is a hyper-socialist state dedicated to uniting the galaxy as a single great socialist republic. The PAF, after conquering most of the Imperium, has set about exporting its politic system across the galaxy, invading hundreds of planets in the Unaligned Systems. The PAF controls the industrial heart of the old Imperium and has access to some of the most advanced military technology available at the time of the revolution; their fleets are vast and well-equipped but often suffer from bad leadership and morale. The PAF is currently at war with the remains of the Imperium and has been slowly annexing planets in the Unaligned Systems to expand its influence.

The remnants of the Imperium are still a formidable force, controlling a fifth of the known galaxy. The Imperial Navy, once the mightiest force afloat, is a shadow of what it once was, but even now holds its own against the PAF. Where PAF forces are numerous, Imperial forces are wily and well-trained. Each ship is the personal domain of a feudal lord and is crewed by only the best recruits from their families' holding on their home planets. The Empress is well-regarded as a benevolent and fair ruler, loved by her soldiers for leading from the front in her own warship. The systems still controlled by Imperial forces were once considered the backwater of the Imperium, but after an aggressive program of industrialisation and investment have become a universal hub of research and development. The new Imperium, while much reduced from its former glory, is the most technologically advanced state in the galaxy and uses that advantage ruthlessly.

The Republican League is the largest of the three political factions, controlling almost a third of the galaxy. It is a chaotic union of a thousand planets under a single federal government, where politics and profit are the driving force behind everything. The Senate elects a single Consul from among hundreds of thousands of senators, but this is not a position of leadership; the Consul is little more than the mouthpiece of the Senate, with no authority to act without a consensus. The planets of the League are generally rich and prosperous, able to fund their own planetary forces in addition to the Combined League Navy. The League has a long and bloody history with the old Imperium and views the revolution as nothing more than karma biting them in the rear. However, some elements of the Senate and Combined Navy have begun to realise the threat posed by the PAF and have started quietly preparing themselves for war.

The Unaligned Systems are a vast collection of independent planets with little to no political unity. Each planet governs itself and generally avoids getting involved in the politics of its neighbour. There is no real regularity in the Systems, with governments ranging from tyrannical dictatorships to anarchic communes. Every planet maintains its own military forces, but they are generally small and badly equipped. With piracy being the only threat faced by Unaligned planets in the last few centuries, few are prepared for full-scale war.

Situated along the border with the old Imperium, Tyra was once loosely affiliated with them as an independent trade hub. Since the fall of the Imperium, the planet has seen an surge of investment as traders settled there after fleeing the growing PAF. Controlled by a dozen national governments, Tyra has no central authority and as such, no planetary defence force. Several of the largest corporations and national governments have come together to finance a private navy, mainly to police the space lanes and fight piracy. The Tyran Space Guard is little more than a collection of privateers and mercenaries, but has nevertheless developed a culture of loyalty and camaraderie. Tyra maintains cordial relations with all three political factions, but anti-PAF sentiment is on the rise as planets continue to fall across the Unaligned Systems.