In a desolate outpost, a group of forsaken individuals with low-powered, self-harming 'F-class' cores bonds over a shared meal. They reveal their tragic histories: a dishonored soldier, a blind outcast, an orphan with weak healing powers, and a disgraced former heir. The man who fed them, Xavier Grant, listens to their stories and declares he did not come to this deadly planet to die. He proposes an alliance, offering the food as a down payment. He promises to lead them off this rock and, defiantly, to bring their oppressors 'to their knees'.