Hephaistos System

The Hephaistos System is a fictional stellar system featured in the science fiction television series Andromeda. It first appeared in the series' pilot episode, "Under the Night" and played a provincial role in setting up events that would provide the backdrop for the entire series.

History
The Hephaistos System was located in the Perseus Arm, the major spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It is known to include at least four planets within its system, most notably, the fourth planet from it's sun, Hephaistos IV. The Hephaistos System was one of several hundred star systems under the jurisdiction of the Systems Commonwealth. The dominant life forms of the system were Nietzschean colonists.

In CY 9784, a rogue black hole had emerged in the Hephaistos System and the Nietzscheans chose this as their opportunity to stage an attack on the Commonwealth. For several years, the Nietzscheans had been preparing to rebel against the Commonwealth due to their opposition to the Treaty of Antares, in which the Commonwealth made peace with the savage Magog race. The Nietzscheans drew the Commonwealth's attention by attacking a small courier ship called the Alacritous Missive. The pilot of the ship issued a distress beacon that was picked up by the High Guard ship, the Andromeda Ascendant, who responded to the call and went to the Hephaistos System under the belief that they were rendering aid to refugees. When they arrived however, they found a massive fleet of 10,000 Nietzschean ships waiting for them. Captain Dylan Hunt deployed battle drones to combat the incoming fighters, but even though the Andromeda was the flagship of the Commonwealth, it was no match for such an overwhelming force. Ultimately, Dylan was forced to order his crew to abandon ship. Only his pilot, Refractions of Dawn, refused the order and stayed by Dylan's side.

Adding to the intensity of the matter, Hunt's first officer, Gaheris Rhade - a Nietzschean, seemingly betrayed Captain Hunt by killing a gunnery sergeant, a security officer and the pilot. Hunt and Rhade faced one another on the bridge of the ship, but as their personal battle wore on, the Andromeda Ascendant drifted closer to the event horizon of the black hole. Dylan managed to get a fatal shot against his opponent, but it was at that moment that the gravitational time dilation effect of the black hole overwhelmed them and the Andromeda was frozen on the edge of the singularity.

With the Andromeda incapacitated, the Nietzscheans achieved a clear victory over the Commonwealth and thus began a series of intense conflicts that would ultimately bring the millennia-long glory of the Systems Commonwealth to an end. This provincial conflict came to be known as the Battle of Hephaistos.

Points of Interest

 * Hephaistos IV
 * Hephaistos black hole