In Stellar Year 2086, the humans of Old Earth discovered an alien device buried deep beneath the polar ice caps of Antarctica. By 2089, Earth was uninhabitable. This time became known as the Cataclysm.
Over 500 years have passed since, and knowledge of the events that transpired is either lost to the annals of time or forbidden to all but a select few. What fragmented records remain speak of an unimaginably powerful piece of alien technology that predated human civilization by over a hundred millennia. They called it the Eternius.
Ferrying only those deemed worthy, the Arcs abandoned their devastated homeworld and hastened toward their salvation. As the last of the Arcs passed through the portal and vanished into the darkness of the Eternium, it closed behind them, making any chance of return impossible. The colonists were not heard from again... until now.
For five hundred years, we lived in complete isolation, separated from those who left our ancestors to die in the frozen radioactive wastelands of Old Earth. They believed survival here was impossible. We proved it was inevitable.
From the ashes of humanity, our ancestors founded the Order of Ancient Terra, prioritizing intelligence, innovation, and creativity above all else. We cultivated the brightest minds to guide us into a prosperous future. For the last five centuries, we worked tirelessly to turn our devastated world into a beacon of life against the backdrop of an unforgiving universe. We developed bioremediation methods that neutralized the radiation in our once-poisoned atmosphere, allowing sunlight to bathe the lands with its life-giving energy once again. We restored entire ecosystems, and through advancements in genetics, once-extinct species were reborn and reintroduced to the land and oceans that were once barren. We accomplished vast feats of engineering, developed medicines that prolong and enhance life, worked in unison with nature, and turned our once-devastated homeworld into a thriving oasis of life, culture, art, and innovation.
And now, five centuries after the Cataclysm, the Eternium has reemerged, and with it, a threat to all we have strived to build. Our surveyors detected three signals emanating from within the darkness of the Eternium. This can mean only one thing: the barbarians that once fled our world will return, and our way of life and all that we have built will be destroyed. We cannot, and we will not allow this future to come to pass.
This is Ancient Terra. We will persevere as our ancestors did, we will protect all that we have built and sacrificed for, and we will purge the uncivilized from the Galaxy.
Soon after the Eternius' discovery, humanity set out to unravel its secrets and wield its power for themselves, but such power was never meant for so young and arrogant a species. Studying the Eternius led to technological advancement at an unprecedented rate, revealing secrets of the universe that had only ever been dreamt of. But before long, the nations of Old Earth waged war for ownership of the Eternius. In their desire for dominance and blind in the face of their ambition, humanity utilized these new technologies against one another and, in so doing, unleashed a devastating power upon their world.
Nations fell overnight; entire continents were set aflame, and cities were reduced to charred rubble. Human history was purged from existence in the blink of an eye. In the aftermath of this devastation, radioactive clouds transformed the once clear skies black, shrouding Earth in perpetual darkness. Cut off from the sun, ecosystems collapsed, the once diverse landmasses of Earth became a singular frozen wasteland, and the oceans, once teeming with life, turned barren. Billions died, and extinction seemed inevitable.
The survivors, mere hundreds of thousands of what was once billions, combined their knowledge and fleeting resources in a last attempt to save their dying world. But such efforts proved futile. Their greatest minds concluded that Earth could not be saved, so they turned their attention toward the stars. Having no other choice but to utilize the Eternius once more, their scientists used it to search the stars, where, miraculously, they detected a stable transdimensional portal within reach of Earth: the Eternium.
The Eternium was a nexus through space, with no singular destination but the possibility of many, and where exactly it led was a mystery. With their last remaining hope of survival in sight, the remnants of humanity used what resources they had remaining to build seven Arcs, vast colony ships capable of traveling through the Eternium in search of new worlds. But many were left behind. With resources stretched thin and to ensure the species' survival, only the strongest, most talented, and intelligent were permitted aboard the Arcs: Leaders, soldiers, scientists, and even historians. The old, sick and weak, the young and frail, and those deemed liabilities were left behind to perish.