In 819 A.S, after returning from a hunt in Liberty, a group of old friends met in Alcatraz's Bar to make plans for organizing a vast group of mercenaries under the leadership of Crimson, a brave, skillful and decisive young man. They proceeded in their successful business of destroying the Liberty Navy and intercepting Liberty's corporate vessels until Crimson met an unknown fate and was found dead in his ship near Barrier Gate Station in Coronado, with the cause a mystery to those who discovered him.
From the words of Capt. Daniel O'Brian:
“I met Crimson the day before his death. He was nervous and seemed to be hiding something from those around him, including his friends. Despite his protests, I insisted upon flying along with him to Barrier Gate Station. Upon docking at Barrier Gate Station, he rushed to the Medical Center, saying he needed pharmaceuticals. Trying to determine the cause behind his illness, I grabbed the keys from his coat and went to his cockpit. As it opened, what I saw shocked me; there was blood everywhere - the walls, the floor of the cockpit, and the control panel, were all covered with blood. As I checked his cargo hold I discovered several bodies, all of which I searched and found Liberty Navy ID's. Horrified, I exited the ship, locked it, and waited to sneak the keys back into his pocket when he returned. After an hour had passed, I went to Medical Center and asked for the man named Crimson, to which they replied, to my dismay, that they had not seen him. Wondering where he might be, I entered the bar in search of his coat before returning to the dock to see that his ship was gone."
Private log by Zoner pilot Capt. Daniel O’Brian
When the rest of the Flares learned of Crimson's demise, they were stricken with grief. Believing his death was at the hands of the Liberty Navy, many determined Flares vowed to avenge him and convinced the others to join their cause.
Some agreed, however the rest departed from Liberty as they ventured beyond the reach of the Liberty navy. A small portion of the fleet remained, whose pilots trained with discipline, becoming "The Blood Hunters", thirsty for revenge against the Liberty Navy.
They were finally ready. They established a new group in the name of "The Crimson", and built a positive reputation with nearby allies. Soon the Flares again began launching attacks against the Liberty Navy, destroying skilled pilots and killing highly ranked officers.
With the revitalization of their organization, those who had left returned to once again fight alongside the Flares in the honor of Crimson. Keeping the Crimson's name in their hearts forever, the Flares agreed not to assign a new leader.
Low on resources after their unsanctioned missions against the Liberty Navy, they needed new ships, new equipment, and repairs to what they still had, all of which would require credits. Looking for contractors to pay them for what they were already doing, they signed a contract with the Liberty Rogues, a widespread unlawful organization in Liberty which often came to clash with the Liberty Navy.
Hunting bounties, the Flares collected dozens of heads from Liberty Navy pilots daily, collecting a substantial amount of funding to support their effort, buying the necessary equipment for each pilot to perform with his full potential.
As their success grew and the Rogues began to even run short of contracts to offer, the Flares began to explore other areas of Sirius in search of new contracting unlawful factions to align with. Expanding into Bretonia, the Flares came into contact with the Mollys. As their work for the Rogues had already built a reputation, they immediately began pursuing contracts against pilots of the Bretonia Armed Forces.
After sudden heavy attacks against Bretonians, the Flares found that there were less surviving pilots for them to carry out contracts against. Moving into the Taus, they found a group of the Outcasts who were discovered to be followers of the Nomads, a terrifying group of aliens who were a threat to all of humanity.
The Flares didn't yet know of the Outcast's involvement with the Nomads. Crimson had always despised them, but until then they had no idea why.
A private log was Given by John “Soup” Mactavish to the Flares, describing their first encounter:
"When we first entered the Taus, the first thing we saw were a few pilots of the Outcasts who seemed to be waiting for something. We knew the Outcasts were an unlawful group and expected to get a quick contract from them. We didn't get along with them very well, but we needed the money. To our horror, a fleet of Nomads appeared out of nowhere. The Outcasts seemed to be praising them. I'd never seen a nomad before, but I had heard rumors of what they were: terrible blue aliens that wanted nothing but to exterminate our kind. How could the Outcasts worship such things?
A convoy then emerged from the asteroid field, with pilots who, according to their affiliations, were employees of IMG and EFL, which are mining and hauling organizations. What we didn't expect was for the pilots of IMG to engage the Nomads and for the pilots of EFL to engage the Outcasts. This wasn't exactly the alliance we were expecting, but we approached to assist them and quickly destroyed the Nomads and the zealous Outcasts.
Impressed by our effective elimination of the dangerous enemies, the convoy brought us back to their station to establish what they called a "Long-term Contract" in which we would continue to destroy the Outcasts.
This just goes to show, there's no telling who you'll end up working for when you have the same enemy."
A private log by pilot John ”Soup” Mactavish
After this, the Flares had no doubt in their minds that the Outcasts would remain their enemies.
The present-day Flares are well-organized, and although still contain a desire to avenge the Crimson, most of their recruits are mercenaries who are merely carrying out paid contracts for the sake of profit.
Follow the money, deviating from its path only in search of a drink at the bar.