From Introduction: Spinward along the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, beyond the fringes of the Core Systems and the Cerberan Gulf, there awaits a cluster of biologically fertile and mineral-rich star systems, a remote region of space called the Western Frontier. Robotic probes first surveyed the Frontier ages ago, and what followed was a handful of colony ships packed with exiled cultists and homesteaders willing to endure decades-long stints in cryosleep — and with them went the Core’s overflow of violent convicts, who had no choice in their mode of transport.