"They say obsession is the cancer of mental illness, but if you ask me, anyone who can ignore his gut was never sane in the first place. Ten years ago, Captain Nathan Bridger and the crew of "seaQuest" disappeared off the face of the Earth, and for ten years I've been trying to find her. Following the economic summit of 2026, the UEO lifted the ban on colonial deregulation, putting more than a hundred thousand square miles of undeveloped basins back on the market. Overnight, hundreds of new colonies sprang from the sea, but without "seaQuest", the UEO was unable to control the explosion of commerce, or the fallout of wealth, power and greed. They found themselves outgunned and outmanned. I could have retired, but they offered me triple the pay and any boat I wanted. The problem was, the only one I wanted was missing. (Secretary General) McGath hit the roof when I took command of his UEO supply hauler, but I had my reasons; if "seaQuest" was out there, a slow-moving, long-distance hauler was my best chance of finding her. Besides, the way things were going, I knew they'd get their money's worth out me. The Alliance of Macronesia (formerly New Australia); they engineered this ridge and a dozen more like it. They got rich fast and it went to their heads. The UEO calls this a trade embargo against a non-aligned nation. I call it war."—Captain Oliver Hudson.