Beyond The Rim - Prologue

The Galaxy is a different place from what it once was. With the discovery of Faster Then Light drive (FTL) humanity finally unified under the flag of the Empire of Terra. What was to follow was Pax Terran, an unbroken line of centuries of peace, exploration and expansion. The Empire of Terra organized an ever expanding ring of colonization under the charter to explore the galaxy, expand and strengthen the empire and find new life. These golden years resulted in the discovery of hundreds and thousands of new worlds and habitable planets. Earth and its sister planets were paradises and there was no want within the empire. When two sides of that ring of expansion encountered the galactic rim and no other sentient life had been found, the scientists of the Empire came to a conclusion, there was no other sentient life to be found, humanity was alone. This discovery was a blow to the grand visions and missions of the Empire. Expansion slowed to a near crawl and for the first time in generations there were riots on Earth.

Pax Terran was over. The Empire was destroyed from the inside out by an almost simultaneous galactic rebellion. Humanity blamed the Empire for that which it could not be blamed, the destruction of a dream. For that the Empire was destroyed, a tragedy. As with the fall of any grand political entity every effort was made to put any and all memory of that entity behind us. The first move was to change the units of time; while names changed the measurements for the most part remained the same. However one thing could not be tolerated, years, measured by "Years of the Terren Empire", YTEs was changed to "After Pax Terran" units, or APTs. The calendar was restarted as a grand symbol of humanity starting anew.

From the ashes of the Empire rose new factions and governments, idealists at conflict with each others ideals. Old Terran Warships, un-powered and unused for ages, were awoken again, each faction sought dominance over the other. After years of war only three governments survived, warily eyeing each other. Then came a new discovery, Rim Manna. When the universe formed the rich material that was brought into existence coagulated into galaxies, that process had not yet completed, just outside of the galaxy was a rich source of resources of all kinds.

The year is 220 APT, beyond the galactic rim are resources of great value and the separate governments of the galaxy will not share them. A new generation awakes to the stars at war.