Originally formed by veteran pilots of the Imperial Navy, Vanguard Squadron was considered to be one of the Empire's elite, based out of Mouchez Orbital in the Beta-2 Tucane system. As the years passed, the original cadre of pilots began to slip away, either into death or retirement. Eventually the squadron was disbanded entirely, those remaining pilots going their seperate ways into bounty hunting and mercenary contracts, exploring or even some venturing into a trading lifestyle. That was until, the outbreak of the Thargoid War and the return of the Squadron as a dedicated group and operating out of their command flagship, the Victory-class carrier 'Ark Royal'.