History: 12017-12117 (Earth Time)

## Moon Anomaly: ‘The Temple’

Not long after the beginning of the year 12017, a chinese orbiter set around the moon discovered an anomaly on the far side of the moon. The strange sighting, a perfectly square marking that was utterly black and absorbed all light, had not been present in previous photos and maps of the moon. It was concluded that whatever it was had appeared recently.

Further study showed that the object was three dimensional; a cube that was exactly 2.5 kilometers on all sides. The high resolution photos and measurements prompted a cooperative attempt between then US, Chinese, EU, and Indian astronautical organizations to send an expedition to the object. Subterfuge from Russian and Iran attempted to sabotage the project, named ‘Project  Ascension,’ but was ultimately foiled. Both nations were hit with heavy embargos, and ostracized from the global community.

A team of seven astronauts, taikonauts, and other spaceflight participants successfully placed their lander a third of a kilometer from the object, and were awed by its immense size and utter perfection in form. The Ascension team approached the object, whom some in social media and news outlets came to call ‘The Temple,’ and studied its surface and the surrounding area. One taikonaut, Lo Fen Yang, discovered a doorway that opened up to him as he passed by it.

Inside, the structure was completely dark, despite sunlight streaming into the doorway. They entered, and discovered a hologram-like entity calling itself Vigil, who spoke to them in perfect English, as well as Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Hindi, Spanish, and Italian. It did this all at once, in a voice that was described and recorded on video as, “a thousand ghostly voices, all speaking at once, with your language standing out among them.”

Vigil disclosed numerous technological advances and scientific principles to them, laying them out in easy to understand schematics and texts, all of which could be read by the team members in their first language. Vigil urged them to bring the discovery home, saying, “If your kind has the skill to find me up here, then take what I have and find me out there.” It had pointed out in the general direction of Jupiter.

## The Uplifting, A Time of Great Advancement

Post Project Ascension, there was a sudden burst of technological development. Plans for interplanetary drives, new weapons that could shoot nigh forever, medical advancements that eradicated thousands of common diseases, and many others flooded the world and changed it overnight. The apparent benevolence of this alien instructor awed many, but left others suspicious.

In the time it took to send a second expedition out to Jupiter, where a second anomaly was found under the surface of Europa, a schism formed in the world between those who embraced this new future, and those who feared we were only toys to some hidden evil. The second anomaly taught us about interstellar travel, shrinking a trip that would take tens of thousands of years, down to a week per lightyear. FTL communications sprung up, with communication buoys set up across the solar system and between nearby star systems. Suddenly, the internet and its uses were accessible across the newly born human empire. It was not long before humans had colonized a good portion of the Milky Way, discovering alien life far and wide.

None of that life was intelligent, however. The most complex things were on par with animals. What they did find, though, were ruins. A handful of worlds that had once hosted civilizations, ranging from Roman level technology to something that could have competed with man before the ascension. All of them had been cut short, their buildings and cities ravaged and shredded, all seemingly by the same thing. The mystery of this did not unfold until years later.

## Founding of the Confederacy, and the Rebellion

In the year 12057, the many worlds of the human empire had voted for a confederacy based on the old United Nations of Earth. The nations on each world would unite under a singular banner of their planet, and those planets would exist as a council of worlds, with two delegates serving as their representatives.

Many did not agree with this, but they held the minority and thus were ousted from their respective worlds. This led to a large scale uprising across most of the planets, which took nearly twenty years to quell. Remnants of the movement still linger on the edges of the human systems, though they know better than to try and fight with the vastly superior confederate forces.

## The Deep Space Storms and The Veil

Despite the speed at which mankind colonized the skies, there was one section of space that impeded him. The veil, which deep field scan had discovered, is a large swath of space covering nearly half the galaxy. Any ships that have tried to pass through its border have reported strange lights, an eerie, green fog that is not visible from a distance greater than five light years, and sensor disruption. These ships usually vanish, are torn to bits and their pieces flung back into known space, or randomly appear elsewhere in known space, unharmed.

The cause of the downfall of alien civilization had also been discovered. In 12101, just sixteen years ago, the outer colony of Griswald was struck by a sudden electrical disturbance in the form of a massive storm. The nebulous cloud of electricity and plasma descended on Griswald c, shredding buildings and habitats. It seemed only to target right angles, perfect geometrical shapes, and objects that were taller than a typical tree. Scientists theorize that these storms are some sort of civilization culling tools, that attack only signs of artificial construction. The outer systems have had storms skirt through, though luckily only a couple worlds ended up being hit.