Before Mankind ascended to the stars, there was constant political and military strife on Earth. Great wars that lasted decades and destroyed millions of lives occurred frequently. Hunger and disease ran rampant through the streets of every metropolis covering Earth. Together, these struggles scarred our atmosphere. The end was near. Then, from the sky, came the Traveller, a mysterious figure of unknown origin. Peace soon followed, for it was believed that the Traveller was a celestial being. In reality, he was a Varanasi, a space-faring race that had uplifted countless civilizations to the stars. With the technology in hand to explore space, the nations of Earth disbanded their borders and worked together for the first time in a millennium. Technology advanced tenfold, and humanity prospered under a Golden Age. In the year 2137, humanity discovered the Oculus, an ancient and derelict object buried beneath Mars. It was brought back to Earth and studied. From it came the technology to travel through space and time at speeds faster than light. This artifact mesmerized all, even the Varanasi, who had already discovered faster-than-light speeds. As friends, humanity shared this great gift with the Varanasi, as a token of gratitude for not only uplifting them, but for culturally unifying them.

The year is now 2437, and three centuries have passed since the discovery of the Oculus and the bestowal of its gifts upon humanity. Things are better than ever before. The Human Systems Alliance has spread throughout the galaxy, conquering and colonizing new worlds, and when need be, abandoning old ones. They share this vast galaxy with the Varanasi, who they're long standing friends with. But an evil is coming, an evil that threatens to destroy everything these two species have ever built.