The Imperium controls one spiral arm while the Federation of Planets controls the other. Recently, the two skirmished on the outer edges of the spiral arms where each arm was close to the others, at witnessed by the attack on Ashford-5's fuel refinery on one of their moons. In 1270, full-scale war broke out between the two and Ashford-5 or Tierra finds itself in the middle of galactic warfare. Josh pilots a Federation transport ship filled with commandos to destroy the Imperium fuel refinery on their moon. After setting off the massive explosion, the transport is hit by fire and crash lands on the plains of the Midlands. In the time leading up to this crash, Wystan, now believing he was a human, Damiano Donatello from the frozen wastes of Domei, Easterlings, began conquering the world. Ruthless and vicious, he began eliminating the tax collectors, sending the spoils back to the villages from which his fighters came. Within a couple of years, he conquered all of the Easterlings and headed off into the heart of the Midlands. At each town he conquered, he conscripted all able-bodied men into his army, most of which died in the next battle, while he remained unscathed. He had an uncanny ability to heal his own body and withstood a dozen balls of fire cast upon him, though those around him perished. In short, he became an unstoppable force, threatening all of Tierra. Once he left a conquered country behind, women began to pick up the pieces. In effect, his action of wiping out an entire generation of young men forced a change in the Easterling custom of physical binding of women. In order to survive, they abandoned their traditional bindings. In Turda and the Arad, women and the Sisterhood retook the lands, becoming the new rulers. With the threat of a war with the Federation of Planets, Sector ID Minister Emeryk was forced to request a replacement governor for Ashford-5, since he was desperately needed elsewhere in the sector. With war looming and considering the strategic location of Ashford-5, the Imperium needed to position a large space fleet and soldiers on this world, but that was prohibited by the five hundred year lease. To get around that difficulty, he insisted the new governor get Ashford-5 to appoint a Senator to represent them at the Imperium Senate, where others could negotiate a new lease. The new governor was Konrad Burkhardt, the son of a prominent Imperium Senator from their world of Otto-4 in the Sirius Cluster. His wife was the famous linguist, Nadja. Konrad was a driven man, who wanted to become the most famous governor in Imperium history. Nadja wanted to study primitive languages, to work out their grammars and pronunciation guides. Hence, their marriage was one of convenience. Both knew that no matter what the culture or practices on these primitive worlds were, both had to undergo them, to endure them, so she could learn their language properly and so he could then rapidly earn the local's respect, get what the Imperium desired from that world, and then move on to another world, allowing other bureaucrats to take over. Just as the pair was about to embark on their grand plan, his Senator father told him about the telepathic society on Ashford-5. Both now set their goals for that world.