after the war ended, many of the colonies to the south seceded from the council and formed a loose confederation known as the auroran empire. once again the council was thrust into war, this time to regain the lost colonies. although they did not defeat all of the groups which made up the aurorans, one group known as armetis eventually turned to terrorism. one former council member who was disenchanted with the colonial council gave armetis the codes to the hypergate system. armetis destroyed earth's hypergate, which sent shock waves throughout the entire hypergate system, crippling it and isolating many of the former council worlds.