Leaving the Solar System
In
the year 2188, humans developed faster-than-light (FTL) warp drive
technology that allowed them to finally explore and colonize beyond the
solar system. The governments of Earth, distracted by regional
conflicts and political infighting, failed to lead in this new era of
galactic exploration. Several powerful corporations seized this
opportunity, building FTL-capable fleets and setting out to stake their
claims away from the meddling bureaucracies of Earth. A massive land
grab ensued, with the corporations claiming key planets and systems
throughout the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Corp Wars
Although
this new galactic frontier was vast, some aggressive corporations
engaged in territorial armed conflicts over the more valuable planets
and solar systems. The biggest corporations, such as Mei Corp. and
Northworks, built up their own armies, while some of the smaller
corporations hired independent military contractors to defend their
claims. Absent any central government authority, and with so many
valuable natural resources at stake, small territorial conflicts between
corporations quickly devolved into full scale war. The Corp Wars, as
they came to be known back on Earth, continued uninhibited for well over
a decade.
The
governments of earth, fearing their extinction, came together in 2203
to establish the Terran Union, the first galactic governmental body.
Its goal was to unify mankind by reigning in the warring corporations
and establishing official law and order throughout the newly-populated
galaxy. The corporations, however, had invested a lot of blood and
treasure in their conquests, and the most powerful refused to acquiesce
to the Terran Union’s authority. The Terran Union officially entered
the Corp Wars in 2205, when the newly formed Terran Expeditionary Force
clashed with APEX forces at the Battle of Winnecke Minor.
The
Battle of Winnecke Minor was essentially fought to a draw. Terran
Union forces had a significant manpower advantage, as a decade of war in
the remoteness of space had seriously depleted the manpower of APEX and
the other corporations, but Terran Union technology and tactics were
far behind that of the seasoned space-faring corporations. Dragmor
Industries, not one of the biggest but one of the most technologically
advanced corporations, saw an opportunity and approached the Terran
Union with an offer: Dragmor Industries would provide the Terran Union
with cutting edge military and space-faring technology in exchange for
amnesty and manpower to replenish their diminished ranks. With advanced
technologies from Dragmor Industries and a plentiful supply of fresh
troops from Earth, the Terran Union defeated the remaining corporations
and established its authority throughout the Orion Spur. After nearly
two decades, The Corp Wars were over.
We Are Not Alone...
As
part of the deal it struck with the Terran Union, Dragmor Industries
was allowed to continue its stellar exploration and space weapons
development programs. In 2227, during a routine exploratory mission in
the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, Dragmor scientists unearthed
remnants of a battle between two alien races that had long been buried
on an un-inhabitable planet, Omicron II. Although finally discovering
evidence of sophisticated alien life would have been a significant event
for the human race, Dragmor Industries decided to keep the discovery
secret. Instead, Dragmor established a top-secret research facility on
nearby Omicron III where it studied and attempted to recreate the alien
technologies.
iMech
Dragmor
staff at the research facility took to calling the two alien species
the Orvions and the Herulians. They studied the remains of mechs,
weapons, cloaking devices, and advanced targeting systems, trying to
learn what they could about these mysterious alien species along the
way.
In
2239, Dragmor scientists succeeded in reverse-engineering and bringing
online the first of the Orvion mechs. Testing of these new and unproven
technologies became top priority. Mech test-pilots were needed, but
despite the best in safety technology, it was dangerous work, and
secrecy was imperative. Dragmor intelligence operatives carefully
scouted the galaxy for POWs, unsettled Terran Union veterans of the Corp
Wars, and criminals with military or mech piloting experience and
offered them a deal: Come work for us on an exciting new project, and
you will live like star athletes, but you will be cut off from all
contact. Many signed up, eager to leave prison or looking for a new
sense of purpose, and moved to the lavish new crew quarters on Omicron
III.
The
new test pilots engaged in live combat simulations, experimenting with
different mech configurations for military applications. Various
environments were constructed on Omicron III, such as an urban
metropolis, to better facilitate these combat tests. Legacy Terran
Union mechs, Dragmor Industries prototypes, and reconstructed alien
mechs were pitted against each other in various weapons trials and
combat scenarios. The tests eventually led to the integration of human
and alien technology. This classified program was officially titled
Industrial Mechanized Applications. Among the test pilots, it was known
as iMech.
