The Andromeda Ascendant is the last surviving ship of the long-dead Systems Commonwealth interstellar empire. Its captain, Dylan Hunt, along with the crew of the Eureka Maru, has been trying to contact outlying planets who might rejoin the revived Commonwealth. But one such planet responds to the Andromeda's friendly advances with an all-out attack that cripples the Andromeda. Fleeing on the limited power that the ship can muster, Hunt, Beka Valentine...