The Universe

The Seven Fathers

In the 22nd century, Earth was nearly destroyed during the Great War, and with it, most of human civilization. After the Great War, humanity fell back into the Dark Ages, as most technology was wiped out. A group of seven clerics from a secluded monastery that survived the fallout gave humanity back the knowledge that they had saved before the war. By a strange turn of events, they became the new leaders of humankind. They are now known as the Seven Fathers.

The Gates

With great effort, Earth began the colonization and terraforming of Mars, while also looking for ways out of the Solar System. Deep-space scans revealed an anomaly close to Jupiter's orbit. The anomaly proved to be a naturally occurring wormhole.

By researching the wormhole, scientists pioneered a new technology that allowed faster-than-light travel between two points in space, and successfully developed the jump gates—large structures fixed at Lagrange points with the sole purpose of acting as permanent jump drives between two locations many light-years apart.

The Core

The development of the jump gates was of critical importance. People were able to explore new planets, colonies started to pop up near the newly installed jump gates, and humankind was full of hope once again—now a spacefaring race.

But with this rapid development, the strategic importance of the jump gates became obvious, and the Seven Fathers formed the Core, practically the Terran Space Navy, to keep order around the Lagrange points and protect humanity from potential invaders.

The Seven Fathers have relocated to Argonite, in the heart of the Core, and turned the entire Argonite Lagrange point into a fortress, protected by the Highguard and the mighty Titan supercruiser.

Separate Ways

However, not everybody embraced the Terran Republic and the Seven Fathers. A few scattered colonies that rejected their dominion formed the Borderworlds. They are, in practice, a trading association: each settlement has its own administration, but with trade agreements between them to help counter the economy of the Terran Republic.

With the Borderworlds setting up their own security force, the Core lost its grip on some of the most remote areas, enabling the rise of rogue groups not controlled by any administration. Collectively, they call themselves the Rising Hand, but in reality, they are split into many groups and factions, each pursuing its own agenda. They are perceived as modern-day pirates by both the Core and the Borderworlds.

Visitors

Nearly 100 years have passed since the wormhole was discovered. Many planets have been explored and colonized, jump gates to new systems were built by deep-space expeditionary forces, and everything was quiet... or so it seemed.

In the Fomalhaut system, the Core has detected the arrival of a strange alien mothership, accompanied by many smaller ships. A team of scientists has been sent to study the ships, and the Highguard has been deployed to protect the site. It is currently unknown whether a communication channel with the aliens has been established, and what their intentions are.