Not Our Finest Moment..... Some moments in history are too painful to remember. But their memory serves as a necessary reminder for us to be better than we are now. In the year 2455, Earth Force made first contact with a pre-space industrialised civilisation on Targus IV. To these aliens, we were the first proof that they were not alone.....in a tragic turn of events, the Earth Force Destroyer, Proxima, mistook the contingent of approaching aircraft as hostile and opened fire, obliterating what was later learnt to be a welcoming party of jets. In a moment of panic, the Targans, although a peaceful race by nature, activated their aerial defences and launched their surface-to-air missiles at the menacing-looking Earth Force Vessel that was hovering ominously over their capital city. However, their technology was no match for the Earth vessel and the missiles impacted harmlessly against Proxima's class 10 interdiction shields. This act only escalated the Human response, which was swift and relentless. The end result left half the Targan capital city in flames in a matter of minutes. This truly, was NOT Earth's finest moment. In an act of contrition and atonement, the Earth Force Fleet Admiral resigned in a moment of shame, taking full responsibility over the actions of the crew of the Proxima. Reparations were offered to the Targans.....but it seems that forgiveness and charity are values held in high regard by their culture, and all animosity was forgiven, but possibly not forgotten. To date, all attempts to offer technology transfers have been politely declined by the Targans. In a continuing effort to make silent reparations to the Targans, Earth Force has assigned a battle group to quietly patrol Targan Space in order to protect her peaceful race from other aggressors. Far enough from Targan sensors, Earth Force tirelessly makes amends till this day.