It happened on January 12, 833 of the Common Era, just as the "special reconnaissance fleet" formed by the Scarlet Throne and the Blizzard entered the New Continent.
The star system at the New Continent exit of the Gate of Glory had originally been a barren system, with no naturally habitable planets—not even any terrestrial planets that could be terraformed. Still, it was the exit of a stargate, a natural transportation hub. So the Empire had built a medium-sized defensive fortress there, two space cities that could house five hundred thousand people each, a giant space agricultural farm, and an orbital freight hub equipped with docks, warehouses, and plenty of ship-maintenance facilities.
Of course, like every stargate, it also had a research center fully outfitted with all sorts of vital scientific equipment.
...And then, needless to say, it all fell into the hands of the Marauders who just happened to be passing by.
To be fair, the Marauders had been surprisingly "honorable thieves" this time. They hadn't launched a single attack on the two space cities, each of which housed hundreds of thousands of people—not even a warning shot.
They'd naturally helped themselves to the food in the agricultural farm and the supplies in the freight hub.
But they hadn't spared the research center, either. A single round of long-range main-gun fire from a dreadnought had reduced the priceless facility—and the more than thirty researchers on duty there—to ashes.
The Marauders really were in a hurry. Otherwise, given their usual ways, they'd have taken those researchers with them, even if they left the food and supplies behind.
If they couldn't take them, they'd destroy them. The Marauders truly were practical-minded, and knew exactly where to strike to make the enemy hurt the most.
More than a thousand ships of all