Today, throughout human space, is Remembrance day the anniversary of the beginning of the Alpha Wars more than five centuries ago. The Alphas were genetically engineered soldiers, with superhuman agility and intelligence, and a complete lack of compassion or empathy. At the height of the War, dozens of planets had been enslaved by the Alphas.

Remembrance Day commemorates the beginning of the war, rather than its end, as a perpetual reminder that the war is not over: although the Alphas were defeated, some of them escaped and remained in hiding, and they and their offspring are presumed to still be present in the galaxy today.