Humans

Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) the only extant species of the genus Homo — anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. They are the most populous species in the Themis Omega.

History
2076  After decades of unrest WW3 breaks out after Russia invades many neighbouring countries. Unlike the previous two this war was for resources rather than political ideologies (although they were involved). As such alliances were constantly changes with multiple factions being involved at any one time.

2083  After the destruction of most of Africa and the Middle East WW3 finally ends, after Great Britain and India come to a head to sign a peace treaty. They make plans to ration what recources are left and fund multiple space flights to leave earth.

2108  The spike drive is discovered by crank scientist Dr. Tiberius Crohn. Humanity moves almost overnight from a handful of science stations on the solar system’s inner worlds to all-out interstellar exploration. Numerous Terran governments seek the resources of new worlds.

2110  Several scout craft are lost while learning the limits of the spike drive. The dangers of excessive frequency climbing are recorded by survivors. 2113 The first habitable extrasolar world is discovered by the scout ship Magellan. The Magellan’s patrons promptly claim the world for Greater Europe and name it Renaissance.

2120  Pranashakti, the first life-bearing alien world, is discovered by a Pan-Indian scout ship. The organisms consist solely of plant analogues and some primitive marine life, but a generation of xenobiologists finds work in analyzing it all.

2130  The development of asteroid mining technology provides vast amounts of raw materials to Earth’s orbital shipyards and factories. Ship prices plunge, and numerous smaller organizations and states become capable of stellar exploration. 2150 The ruins of an advanced alien species are discovered on Typhon, an otherwise unremarkable gas giant moon. Archaeologists date the ruins to approximately 40,000 BCE. Dubbed “the Watchers” for the eye-like circular motifs on the ruins, few details are learned about the species.

2200  The First Wave of human expansion reaches its peak. Most habitable planets within a year’s travel time from Earth have been successfully colonized, many by small religious or ideological groups. Terran nations begin to forbid further exploration for fear of being unable to maintain control over their offworld colonies over such distances. The Terran Mandate is organized by Earth’s superpowers in order to ensure that Terran control of the colonies continues.

2240  “Metadimensional Extroversion Syndrome” begins to manifest in certain fifth-generation spacers. Occurring most often around puberty, the abilities exhibited by MES victims seem flatly impossible by normal scientific measure- telepathy, teleportation, precognitive flashes, and other abilities that defy understanding. The syndrome is inevitably fatal unless the victim avoids all use of their abilities.

2260  Some colony worlds begin to grow restive, and there are incidents of skirmishing and piracy on the frontier. Few disputes are over resources, but ideological and religious conflicts become more common. The Terran Mandate struggles to deal with the four-month message delay between Earth and the farthest colony worlds.

2275  Researchers on several deep-space colonies begin to develop methods for controlling the advance of MES, allowing its victims to use their abilities without inflicting permanent brain damage on themselves. The lives lost in this research are never fully numbered, but Terran governments rapidly move to control the research and training under the aegis of the Psionic Authority.

2280  Properly-trained MES carriers, known commonly as “psychics”- or more casually, as “messes”- begin to use their abilities to assist governments and private enterprise. Numerous fields begin to benefit from the assistance of MES subjects, ranging from telepathic mental health providers to precognitive industrial managers. The Psionic Authority begins to experiment with more focused, industrially-useful psionic disciplines. Again, the cost in lives is undisclosed.

2315  The Psionic Authority perfects the first jump gate. A massive ring of psitech placed at the periphery of the solar system, the gate employs a choir of over fifty adept teleporters to instantly translate ships to a matching gate at Renaissance. Gate dispersal is slowed by a lack of master teleporters, but eventually the transit time between Earth and the frontier is reduced to two days. The Earth nations lift the ban on further exploration now that their effective control is enhanced.

2330  The Second Wave of human colonization begins. Spike drive ships become all but unknown within the core worlds as the jump gates allow cheaper system ships to travel between the older colonies.