(2100 to the 2200s)

By the early 2200s mankind had taken to the stars albeit confined to the cradle of our solar system. Immense efforts divided along national boundaries who by this point were mostly along either geographic lines (See United Americas) or socio-political ones (imagine an Anglo Commonwealth Superstate). Earth was no longer a patchwork of smaller nations but a handful of superstates driven by the ever present need to acquire ever dwindling raw materials, all driving to acquire the resources the solar system offered.

This resulted in a divided solar system, firm borders and claims drawn by the mightiest often leaving the lesser or lower tech powers to scramble for whatever was left. Fertile ground for disputes, brushfire wars, and proxy conflicts often led by the various private enterprises that made up the bedrock of any given faction’s economy. These always seemed to settle, never blowing up beyond any one gravity well.

(June 2252)

Spurred on by the discovery of an exotic element on a remote Oort Cloud Object, a small consortium of Scientists with factional and corporate support have journeyed out and established a mining operation for it. Through modeling and testing they’ve discovered it doesn’t quite behave like it should according to the standard model, further delving into its properties revealing it has the potential to enable the creation of an FTL drive. Earlier efforts in working with the mineral having enabled a form of FTL communications albeit with a low bandwidth. However their efforts are overshadowed by a growing crisis further within the Sol gravity well.