History

Estimated reading: 3 minutes

Earth is a volatile planet, frequently reshaped by catastrophe. The biosphere is the result of rapid expansion and adaptation by all forms of life in brief grace periods between times of ecological disaster: the history of Earth’s inhabitants is one of trial, error, and change.

A -556 to -470: Earthling explorers landed their first manned spacecraft on Luna, Earth’s only natural satellite, marking a key milestone in local space travel. Earth went on to establish colonies on Luna and on neighbouring planets Mars and Venus in 2046, 2051 and 2055 respectively.
A -450 onwards: despite initial promise and heavy investment in spaceflight, Earth turned inwards. Space exploration is halted in A -440, leaving colonies in the Sol system to fend for themselves. Conflicts over resources, environmental decay and social pathologies caused a global societal “death spiral”. Human populations sought shelter in underground bunkers and in newly-built habitats at the planet’s poles, and much of Earth’s geography was rewritten in the transition.
A -412: an Earthling probe launched in A -558 was intercepted by an Omdua vessel in the Vista arm of the galaxy. Scanning of the onboard record revealed Earth’s relative location and technical capacities as of the probe’s launch, but MOTHER’s presence in the Spur region swayed the Alliance towards non-interference. The probe, “Voyager 1”, was released on its original trajectory, and was last seen passing into THRONE-controlled space.
A -375 to 300: The environment slowly stabilises from the brink of absolute collapse over the course of the century. Earthlings – for there are now two sentient species on the planet, Humans and early Anthroids – emerge from their shelters at its end, and begin to heal the planet’s deep and myriad wounds.
A -275 onwards: Earth received a faint but unmistakable signal sent via slow radio communication by the Omdua. Using blueprints encoded in the message, the people of Earth assembled their first manifold collapse FTL craft, and sent it on a 10 year one-way mission – an act of “desperate, beautiful hope”, to borrow a phrase from the oft-quoted speech given at the launch – toward the signal’s point of origin.
A -240: Earth’s mission reaches its destination and is met by Alliance scouts. This unexpected encounter introduced Earth (along with humans and Anthroids) to the galactic community.
A -200 onwards: Earth’s story of perseverance and co-operation in the face of overwhelming odds struck at the hearts of the Alliance, and Earthlings found themselves thrust to the forefront of galactic politics. Over the next two centuries, the fragile Earth finds a new lease on life as a diplomatic and legal hub, far from the hurly-burly of the galaxy’s industrial powerhouses.