Long before rising to the rank of Archon, Erastus Drake made a name for himself as a committed member of the Sullan Order. Unlike many of the other interstellar nations of humanity, the Nexonian Republic was highly receptive to, and permissive of, the Order’s beliefs, which were integrated among Nexonian institutions. By the time Drake had ascended to the rank of Archon — a governor and member of the ruling elected council of the Republic — the Order and the Nexonian government were, in many respects, indistinguishable from one another. 

When Primarch Acheron launched the Nexonian Trial of Succession, it was in part premised on the need to purge the Order’s influence from Nexonian society. Unfortunately for Drake and many other Nexonians, a fervent commitment to republicanism does not necessarily translate to martial strength. The early years of the war did not go well for the Republic, and as time went on it became clear that a Precentor victory was inevitable. Some senior commanders planned for an extended asymmetrical guerilla campaign; others entrenched themselves in various redoubt fortress worlds, preparing for long sieges. But Drake was no soldier. So he made plans to do what he could to keep the smoldering embers of republicanism alive.

In the waning years of the war, as Precentor forces began occupying and annexing Nexonian space, many Nexonians opted to resettle in the Antares Reach. It was there, in 1375 AT, that Drake took control of the old Nexonian trade colony of Gregos Alpha. Even as Nexonian Redoubtists continued their battle against Precentor occupation forces, the war was all but settled and the remaining members of the Nexonian government capitulated. Meanwhile, Drake was confronted with a Herculean humanitarian crisis, as Gregos Alpha was beset by a flood of refugees, including a veritable legion of children orphaned by the war’s depravations. 

So Drake turned his attention away from his old idealism and towards the practical demands of governance, growing the planet’s eminence and influence and establishing the Gregosian Academy. At first, the school catered specifically to the dispossessed and forgotten Nexonian youth, but later grew in stature and standing such that even Precentor elites began sending their children to be tutored by the famed Archon. It was against this backdrop of an emerging Gregosian Renaissance that Drake’s teachings of the Sullan Order’s tenants found the ears of a most unlikely pupil: Titus Teuthus, the Primarch’s own son. 

After the Nexonian Trial of Succession formally ended, Teuthus found himself torn between his newfound obligations as the Praetor Tetrarch, and his increasing fealty to the old Precentor principles of republicanism. When Teuthus rebelled, many in the Tetrarchy blamed Drake and recalled their children from the Gregosian Academy. However, many still remained, serving as a significant testament to the Academy’s scholastic reputation. More surprisingly, following Ultimo’s victory over Teuthus and the rebels, the Primarch refrained from any reprisals against Drake and the Nexonian enclave — a decision that still perplexes many to this day.

In the years since the end of the Titus Rebellion, Gregos Alpha’s importance and prestige have only further expanded under Drake’s watchful eye. The planet continues to serve as a center of intellectual influence and, increasingly, as a key economic hub linking the Precentor Tetrarchy and the Isterian Magistracy to major trade routes and strategic resources within the Antares Reach. Still, the shadow of the Titus Rebellion looms large in the collective memory of the Tetrarchy, and many, including Ultimo and Tetricus, wonder whether the Archon’s influence isn’t overdue for some pruning.