History and Lore Eclipse

The Basics

The story of the Northern Light and her crew takes place 300 years in an alternate future timeline, in which humanity has taken to the stars and encountered various alien civilizations. Capitalist ideology and organizations have spread across the galaxy, and despite nominal governance by governments, mega-corporations often hold influence equal to or greater than the governments from which they were spawned - with certain exceptions.

Life is horribly, horribly cheap in this universe. The advent of cloning, cellular reconstruction, and other medical breakthroughs means that, for the corporate wage slave of sufficient value, death is little more than a temporary setback which their employers will not allow to persist for long; and the ones who don’t have sufficient value, well - they’re hardly considered people at all. For them, a gruesome, grisly death without hope of resuscitation is often just a turn-of-a-corner away.

The Northern Light is jointly operated by members of six corporations, all of whom have some stake in either its explorative mission or in the nature of the anomalous ship itself. Most of her passengers and crew are simply held in cryostasis over long periods of the journey; only a skeleton crew is awake to witness the monstrous horrors which frequently assail their journey both from without and within. Cockroaches which have mutated to sizes larger than dogs and sometimes as large as an elephant. Spiders whose venom ignites blood or sends electrical currents coursing through the nerves. A biomechanical infection that consumes equipment from within, and stranger things and worse.

And the ship itself seems to thrum with a rhythm that puts the crew ever-on-edge - lowering their mental thresholds to the point that even a bit too much dust on the tiles could send the most stoic of crewmen into a violent, raging fit.

And to boot, the ship seems to have a will of its own.

Chronology

The background provided isn't nearly complete nor should it ever be. Significant portions of information are hidden across the game itself, and a player should search for more to receive more.

The Galaxy

Date	Description
2133	Discovery of Bluespace's faster-than-light/teleportation capabilities. Creation of the first Bluespace tunnel. A tomato was elected as the first test subject, moments after entering the first wormhole, it appeared out of the second one, fried to a crisp. However, emergent technology of energy shields seemed to prove effective against more abrasive effects of Bluespace travel.
2139	First public commercial Bluespace gateway opened, connecting high orbits of Earth and Mars. Boom of business and infrastructure growth on Mars.
2140	Neu-Königsberg founded. At the time of founding this was the most remote and isolated colony under SolGov's control. And was a poster child for humanity's growing colonization efforts.
2157	First Bluespace drive is created, allowing for more freedom in Bluespace travel, instead of being confined to using bluespace gates and slings. The drives themselves are rather large and require heroic amounts of power to perform "jumps" between two points, leading to them being installed exclusively on rare and expensive Goliath-class ships.
2165	Humanity learns that they are not alone in the universe, first contact is made with the Unathi when ships from each nation meet in a remote system. As these ships destroyed each other and left no survivors, it is unknown exactly what happened, however historians tend to agree that the lack of a common language likely caused both sides to be unable to find common ground, leading to the battle that would begin the First Contact War.
2170	After five years of stalemate and ineffectual war, an armistice is signed, ending the First Contact war. The colony of Neu-Königsberg, having been abandoned by SolGov at the outset of the war, rechristens itself The Oberth Empire after its miraculous victories against the Unathi, and declares independence from SolGov and refuses to acknowledge the ceasefire, forcing SolGov to create a DMZ between Oberth and Unathi space, a move the Unathi accept begrudgingly.
2211	Advances in biochemistry and genetics have delivered the first in the world prototype of rapid human cloning. One's body could be rebuilt in a matter of two months from their full genetic sequence. This is considered a major breakthrough, although the process itself is prone to errors, carries over close to no memory and is very expensive.
2217	Xavier Trasen founds Trasen NanoMed on Mars, a small medical and research company, specialized in providing gene-therapy to less wealthy population.
2221	Trasen NanoMed secures patent on a revolutionary cloning techniques, allowing to shorten growth time of a clone to several days, instead of months. This made the process much cheaper, making it an affordable luxury to middle class citizens.
2290	An alliance of independent human and alien nations forms in an attempt to stop the Oberth Empire from swallowing them up in its ever-growing and unchecked expansion. By this time the Oberth Empire encompassed nearly as much territory as all of SolGov combined. This alliance petitioned SolGov for aid against the stellar tyrant, but SolGov hesitated, not wanting to get drawn into what its people called a "foreign war." At the behest of the Unathi, SolGov compromised and withdrew its troops from the DMZ, formally dissolving it and allowing the Unathi to declare war on the Empire. This proved disastrous for the Unathi. While they fought well, they were no match for the numbers and tech that Oberth fielded, and were quickly pushed back on all fronts. Within only two years, Oberth had captured the Unathi home world, Moghes, and forced the surrender of their leadership. The remainder of the Unathi fleet retreated to SolGov space, and finally, with no other choice, SolGov declared war on the Empire of Oberth
2310	The Oberth-Unathi war, as it has been called, raged for twenty years. Losses were immense on all sides, with entire systems being wiped out, but the Unathi, with SolGov's assistance, eventually defeated the Oberth Empire, dismantling it and punishing the remnants with a devastating treaty that dismantled their military and crippled their economy.
2312	NanoTrasen purchases several frontier systems, considered by prospectors to be rich in Phoron. Main focus is a gas giant, located in [REDACTED] system. Jesse Stewart, a high-ranking NanoTrasen official, is appointed to oversee the operations.
2317	Jesse Stewart resigns from his position as regional overseer and passes down the position to James Trasen.

The Voyage of the Northern Light

Date	Description
2319	NanoTrasen purchases a defunct mining colony on planet [REDACTED], located in the neighboring solar system [REDACTED], with plans to rebuild it into a corporate hive-world.
Jan 1, 2320	A Bluespace wormhole opens in space near [REDACTED] and ejects a mothership-class vehicle, which subsequently crashes on the surface of the planet. None of the identification markings belong to any of existing factions or corporations, but they do identify the ship as the Northern Light. Initial surveys of the vessel fine no surviving crew, and teams report that the on-board machinery appears to have different connection protocols and ports to modern technology. subsequent investigations find that some devices do have compatible ports, mostly with either state-of-the-art or in-development protocols. NanoTrasen claims the ship, referring to SolGov legislation on scavenging on owned territories. SolGov sanctions NT to invite third parties for ship's repairs and research.
Mar 14, 2320	The NEV "Northern Light" leaves drydock to commence its voyage into unknown space three weeks ahead of schedule. Complaints from SolGov inspectors that the deadline was pushed up in order to avoid mandatory inspections fall on deaf ears as the populace celebrates this remarkable feat of engineering and corporate cooperation. The first jump proved disastrous, and several systems were heavily damaged, including the Cryo-Oversight Computer, The Bluespace Drive, And the Bluespace Communications beacons. The crew, lacking the resources and expertise to repair the damage, are forced to patch the systems as best they can, and carry on with their mission.
Oct 17, 2320	After weeks chasing bad leads, the crew finally managed to cobble together a relay system, allowing them to contact home for the first time. While the system proved to be unreliable and broke down after a short time, NanoTrasen began working on a permanent solution to re-establish communication with their lost vessel.
Nov 22, 2320	After an attack from Serbian Mercenaries, The crew of the Northern Light mounts an expedition to a well defended exoplanet to rescue their kidnapped crewmate, the CSO Mitsuji Kira
Mar 12, 2321	With enhanced communication with NanoTrasen, the Crew of the Northern Light was able to assemble a bluespace wormhole generator, allowing them to return to civilized space. They docked with a remote, NanoTrasen-owned shipyard on the edges of known space to conduct vital repairs. Fearing retribution from SolGov, NanoTrasen declines the request from the crew to return to SolGov space, ordering them to return through the wormhole as soon as vital systems are back online. This means the repairs to the Northern Light were not as extensive as previously hoped for. The wormhole generator unfortunately did not survive the trip back, and was rendered completely inoperable.
Mar 25, 2321	Following a massive data breach by a disgruntled member, the revelation that Mekhanite Cruciforms could be hacked and used as monitoring devices shook the popular religion to its core. The Mekhanite Council worked diligently to ease the concerns of the galactic community by introducing a new Cruciform Luminaire, that lacks the capabilities of the standard cruciform, and the potential for harm. As part of these reforms, The Grand Architect announced sweeping changes in the core structure of the Mekhanite faith, from now on, those who took the cloth must be loyal to Mekhane, first and foremost.
Jul 29, 2321	For unknown reasons, communication with NanoTrasen, and indeed all of known space, has been severed. Whether this is due to an internal fault on the Northern Light, or something external remains to be seen, but the ship's navigation also appears to be affected, and can no longer be relied upon to plot accurate jumps, sometimes landing several lightyears off target.
Jan 15, 2322	A fault in the Northern Light's Bluespace Drive erupted, causing time and space to warp around the vessel uncontrollably. For some inexplicable reason, instead of tearing the ship apart across all seven dimensions, the crew escaped relatively unscathed, but the ship's decks, corridors, and rooms had been rearranged, forcing the crew to rearrange their departments to fit haphazardly in the new layout.
Aug 08, 2322	Still stuck within this Bluespace deadzone, The Northern Light stumbled upon a pirate fortress, seeming to be the staging area for one of Captain Sateelie's Lieutenants. A battle was fought aboard the asteroid complex, and while the crew of the Northern Light was repelled, they did enough damage to thwart whatever dastardly plot Sateelie had planned.
May 28, 2323	Jumping into an otherwise unremarkable sector, the Northern Light came under fire from a Syndicate Destroyer called the Leviathan. Helmed by Commander Ivanov Wise, the Leviathan launched an all-out assault on the Northern Light, but that was not his only goal. The IHS Atomos, a NanoTrasen vessel, had been tailing the Northern Light as well, trying to remain hidden from the Leviathan, was captured by Wise. The Crew of the Northern Light repelled the boarders on their own vessel, and aided the Atomos' crew in retaking theirs. The Atomos' commnet relays were damaged, but repairable, and the Northern Light now has the potential to re-establish contact with their home. The Atomos and the Northern Light were both badly damaged in the fighting, however, and repairs would be slow, requiring the crews to work together.

The Corporations of the Northern Light Agreement

These are the six corporations that together make up the signing bodies of the Northern Light Agreement, and at least one of them you (probably) work for.

• NanoTrasen: The primary sponsor and owner of The Northern Light. It is their shareholders who are assigned to the Captain's Board of this vessel, and they've supplied the engineering expertise to keep this mysterious hulk spaceworthy.
• Aegis Security Solutions: NanoTrasen's subsidiary security and policing force. NanoTrasen employs Aegis personnel on almost every ship, station, outpost, and colony to provide security and policing services.
• Lazarus Foundation: The youngest and smallest of the Northern Light Corporations, The Lazarus Foundation is a long time rival of NT. But the two have made an unprecedented move towards peace with the signing of the Northern Light Agreement, with Lazarus being the sole provider of medical care and research aboard the ship. Why NanoTrasen would agree to such a concession remains to be seen
• Free Trade Union: A conglomerate of wealthy business people who've banded together to protect their interests and wealth, their primary business is resource acquisition and logistics, and so they were an obvious choice to handle the same on board. But the FTU isn't picky about what business they're in, and their name is one of the most recognized brands in SolGov space
• Children of Mekhane: A massive and rapidly growing religion that preaches the adoption of technology and the betterment of all species through its advancement, The Children of Mekhane have enjoyed the open support and sponsorship of NanoTrasen, and so when approached to help on the mission, gladly accepted.
• Xingyun Engineering Corps: Xīngyún Engineering Corps is a rising star in the SolGov engineering scene with headquarters in Tiandi. They are propelled by their work with the remnants of OneStar technologies that they have reclaimed and reverse-engineered.
  

Other Factions

In addition to the five corporations that funded the Northern Light, you'll soon learn that there are other organizations, nations, and corporations that, while they're headquartered thousands of lightyears from wherever the Northern Light is now, still have a hand to play in the universe she inhabits.

SolGov

Headquartered on Sol, the cradle of humanity. Solgov is a union of several human interstellar nations that together rule the vast majority of human space. There are over 80 member states, ranging in size from a single world to several star systems, listed here are some of the most influential, or at least the most well-known, examples:

• The Core Worlds: Comprised of the Human colonies in Sol and Tau Ceti, the Core is the shining beacon of humanity's greatest accomplishments, and home to its greatest landmarks and people.
• The Techno-Russian Federation: Techno-Russia is a technocracy led by The Directory. Techno-Russia’s primary goal is the advancement of human technology and humanity itself through technology.
• The Oberth Republic: Despite the Republic's youth, Oberth holds a long history of imperial governance, and had at one point held a much larger territory than the Republic now holds. Some of the influence of that history has carried over into Republic culture, and the Republic's split along the political structure largely coincides with whether its citizens emphasize re-militarization or demilitarization of the state.
• United Colonies of Predstraza: One of the wildest of the member states of SolGov; less a nation and more a relatively contiguous galactic space whose residents speak the same language and hate the rest of the galaxy slightly more than they hate each other.
• Tiandi: At once both highly conservative and highly progressive in different respects, this interstellar state with roots in Earthly Asia has recently begun to increase its influence on the rest of SolGov through a combination of leveraging their historic cultural assets and, somewhat paradoxically, encouraging emigration from its borders.

Alien Nations

Humanity is not the only intelligent species in the galaxy, only the most numerous. There are too many alien species out there to name, and more are discovered each day, but here are the most common and most significant:

• Akula:
• Nevreans:
• Unathi:
• Sergal:
• Skrell:
• Tajaran:
• Teshari:
• Vulpkanin:

Minor Corporations

From weapons manufacturers to drink vendors, These are the companies whose products you'll see on board the Northern Light:

• Frozen Star: Frozen Star is the most prominent firearms manufacturer in the galaxy, focusing on producing ballistic firearms, though they offer a small lineup of energy weapons as well. They are the primary weapons dealer for Aegis Security Solutions.
• Serbian Arms: The manufacturing wing of the mysterious Serbian nations of Predstraza produces specialty weapons and armor of ancient designs for their populace. Nobody really knows how the Serbian Arms vendor ended up aboard the Northern Light, but it provides the crew with affordable protection in times of need.
• NanoTrasen Arms: NanoTrasen has only recently expanded into the realm of small arms manufacturing, focusing primarily on energy weapons. However, their very first pistol, the Mk58, is still a popular (if slightly more expensive) firearm found across SolGov space.
• Mekhane Armories:
• Excelsior Manufacturing: The extreme isolation of the Excelsior communist faction has forced them to pursue their own weapons development, typically by acquiring or stealing weapons. They tend to retrofit and reuse old, but reliable, ballistic firearms for their own purpose. Nonetheless, their alternative weapons have a rare tendency of making their way into the general market.
• Chiropteran Arms: A relative newcomer to the arms manufacturing game. Chiropteran Arms specializes in low-cost, reliable ballistic firearms, which has made them very popular with frontier colonies. Recently they've started breaking into the energy weapon market with their Maverick line.