History
The Imperial Vestige was a group of Empire-controlled stars, dating back to before the formation of the Alliance. It maintained a strong martial prowess, modelling itself on the distant Empire of Achenar and considering itself one of the foremost colonies of the Empire. In 3230, the Alliance of Independent Systems was formed, and through the rest of the century expanded to its current state. Until 3290, the Vestige managed to hold off the forces of the Alliance. A strong indoctrination of the people to Imperial ideals and animosity to the Alliance, combined with a sizeable military allowed their survival.House Duront held the throne of Manktas, one of the many systems within the Vestige. In 3290, Lord Duront was assassinated by his wife Xeria. She claimed all his assets, and conquered the Vestige for herself. Soon she opened slave mines on a resource-rich moon, ignoring the noble ideal of Imperial slavery, abusing her subjects. These mines eventually became the sole reliable source of income for Vestige. Jakken Eardley, the brother of Lord Duront, led the lesser line House Eardley. On the assassination of his brother, he fled to Alioth having long harboured secret ties to the Alliance – though in the rush to escape, his wife and sons were murdered, with his daughter Lyria assumed dead. Instead, Xeria had her captured and thrown into the slave mines. Over the next 10 years, the extorsion of the people demolished the steadfast indoctrination, and the Alliance began to overrun the Vestige. During this time, Lyria grew up and gathered a rebellion of slaves within the mines, and led them to escape, stealing a fleet of short range fighter craft, Imperial GU-97 fighters, and Eagles and Couriers lacking in jump drives. A long series of skirmishes across the surface of the planet lasted months, and with all the mines shut down Xeria was forced to bring the entire Vestige fleet to the planet, including a pair of Majestic Class Interdictors. Her forces engaged the rebels; the Alliance took advantage of this, dropping their own fleets in above the Interdictors. The battle quickly turned in the favour of the Alliance, and Xeria employed her last trick. Dropping an experimental Wake Mine, her flagship jumped from the system, its FSD wake providing immense amplification to the explosive and devastating Alliance and Rebel fleets alike. Few survived, including Lyria, who flew her Imperial Eagle into a canyon to avoid the blast. The war was over, and the Vestige had fallen.
Unaware of the survival of her father, Lyria found transport to a Federal world, where she began her journey. She learned the truth of the Alliance, and found herself inclined to their ideals, as her father had long before. Lyria and Jakken rediscovered each other, when she was tasked by the Alliance to hunt down her mother, who had continued illegal development of the Wake Mine. She killed Xeria in combat, and destroyed all information relating to the weapon.
The recent events involving the Thargoid advances was of great concern to the survivors of House Eardley. Discussing with the Alliance, a new fleet commission was issued by the Council of Admirals, in a grant entitled the Spearhead Charter. This name was quickly adopted as the faction’s title. This document provided permission for a force, independently provided in its entirety by House Eardley, to officially stake Jakken’s de jure claim to Lordship of Manktas. This would benefit the Alliance, as the military strength of the systems once part of the Vestige could be rekindled, providing a considerable asset for potential war against the Thargoids.