In the 24th century, humanity under a united government, reached the stars using a device called the Tachyon Field Effect Drive. Over the course of 1200 years, an interstellar empire was carved from the most distant stars. Life was found on other planets, including several sentient races. Even so, humans, with their superior technology, remained the major power in the galaxy.

At the apex of the Empire's expansion, colonists of Tengni IV found the ruin of an ancient, alien city. The architecture and writing found there was like no other species in the known galaxy. Someone had been here before and left technologies that humanity could not produce. The most striking legacy left by the Teng was a device that came to be called the WORM.

The WORM was studied in the hopes that its purpose could be discerned. Scientists managed to activate the device which created a hole in space. This hole permitted one-way travel to a point approximately 70,000 light years away.

The Emperor developed a plan called the Relocalization Initiative. Through this initiative, people and families that were poor, owned no land, were discontent with the government, incarcerated or considered to be a "disruptive influence" were offered a new life if they traveled and settled on the other side of the Wormhole.

Over the course of 150 years, the Local Group flourished, but still the shadow of the powerful Old Empire loomed over its small child. Communication was infrequent as even the Flickered Tachyon Beam communicators could only send messages at the speed of 20 LY/D. However, supply ships with valuable goods and rare elements still came each month. The economy of the Group was strong, but its growth was dependent on the ships. But then, the shipments stopped coming and a depression resulted. At first, the people thought the Old Empire had simply abandoned them, but ten years later, when no communications were received, they realized that something had happened to the Empire. They were alone in the galaxy.

500 years later, the Old Empire has faded into memory. The New Empire (now just called the Empire) became a self-sufficient entity, slowly growing until it controlled over half of the stars in the cluster. The expansion was a difficult one. Technology that had once been produced by Earth could not be repaired. Larger ships, especially warships were too big to service in the Local Group ports. The incredible technology one would expect to find in the Group is still being built or has crumbled due to lack of maintenance.