Since before recorded history, the Human race has gazed up at the stars and dreamed of all the wondrous possibilities that might exist beyond the heavens. In 1969, when the Apollo 11 spacecraft embarked on its mission to successfully land on Earth’s moon, Humans were given a glimpse of a future where eventually nothing would be beyond their reach.
During the mid to late 21st century, advancements in new propulsion engines allowed them to explore their home system of Sol. With the introduction of nuclear fusion drives, the first interplanetary spacecrafts were capable of reaching velocities of up to 20 percent of the speed of light. Electro-Magnetic Shielding was also developed to protect ships and their crews from cosmic radiation, solar flares, and minor debris while traveling in space.
By the early 22nd century, gravity generators were installed in most large vessels to provide artificial gravity for the passengers onboard. This breakthrough technology was later used to provide starships with an inertial compensator to protect crews from the intense pressures of rapid acceleration. These advancements were soon incorporated into all new ship designs; making centrifugal-force models nearly obsolete. Major corporations had, by this point, established numerous bases on the Moon, five permanent colonies on Mars, several mining operations throughout the main asteroid belt and a handful of outposts on the outer planets’ moons as well. Communications between these settlements continued to be problematic due to time delays until the development of ERT technology gave them the means of sending and receiving transluminal signals across these great distances.
In 2129, the development of the Dark Matter Drive finally allowed faster-than-light travel to become a reality. Four years later, this innovative propulsion engine made it possible for the colony transport vessel, BIC-61 ULYSSES, to reach the Alpha Centauri system in only 48 days and establish the Human race’s first interstellar colony. With the added reinforcement of a structural integrity field to protect a vessel from gravimetric stress, nine other star systems were permanently colonized in less than two generations; including Sirius, Epsilon Eridani, 61 Cygni, Procyon, Epsilon Indi, Tau Ceti, Gliese 876, Groombridge 1618, and the Altair system.
As Humans continued to venture even further into the cosmos, they began to encounter other intelligent races from distant alien worlds. After a fateful confrontation with the Zendathu in 2182, the Human race acquired several new technological advancements which included a Quaniton Accelerator Drive (QUAD). This interstellar propulsion engine enabled them to navigate the infinite number of multi-dimensional corridors within Netherspace and decrease the travel time between the stars exponentially.
A century after reaching Alpha Centauri, the most distant colony that Humans have established at this time is located 29.9 light years from Earth in the Kappa Ceti star system. Although many of the colonies have their own long-range vessels to explore the uncharted regions of space, they continue to encounter other alien races and unclaimed systems with any real value have become increasingly scarce. Still, in less than three centuries, the Human race has expanded their territory further than any other known species in history.