The Black Marker, a strange artifact found in the deserts of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico by Michael Altman. Altman, the sole survivor of the expedition, broadcasts the existence of the marker to the public and is then believed to have been executed by corrupt government officials. Riots break out for the short term and the religion known as the Church of Unitology spreads quickly before becoming the largest religion of mankind. This remains the case for centuries while Earth experiences a prolonged period of neglect and suffering. Soon, Earth has gone through catastrophic levels of resource depletion resulting in the possibility of the dreaded sixth extinction: mankind.

Largely due to previous conflicts such as the Bering Sea Conflict and armament stockpiles between countries such as the United States and the Russian Federation, technological advancement and modernization of industries have come at a price. The Global Warming Epidemic quickly became an issue with widespread pollution, causing large coastal floods in hubs such as New York City all the way to Venice which forced many to migrate inland. This led to a host of new problems, mainly mass depletion of resources as prices skyrocketed and supply plummeted. The Sovereign Colonies (SC), Earth's original nations, wage war against pro-independence Secessionists in a conflict known as the Secession War. SC Armed Forces were massed and launched in a covert expedition to Tau Volantis, a planet presumed to contain the source of necromorphs and the marker. Their goal is to locate the marker and harness the technology and energy in order to regain power over the Secessionists.

Soon after arriving and deploying, icy conditions on the backwater planet quickly halt or slow all forms of travel for researchers and soldiers due to strong winds, freezing temperatures and thigh-high snow. Eventually, the research teams unearth alien corpses before succumbing to unknown complications. Contact is lost with several outposts, entire units and eventually most of the operation three years later in 2314. The Sovereign Colony forces on the planet are then lost for unknown reasons, resulting in the loss of most military personnel and a Secessionist victory. The power vacuum is quickly filled and the Secessionists form the Earth Government Colonial Alliance, centralized on Earth. The Moon had already been colonized first in 2045 followed by outer planets such as Mars before spreading to other star systems. By now, colonies now comfortably hold roles as entertainment hubs, military strongholds for the Earth Defense Force and business hubs for trade and food production. This wall all made possible, of course, due to strides in technology and lower population densities per area. For around a century, humanity slowly depletes its resources whilst expanding into space.

The Resource Wars, a series of armed conflicts between nations and corporations over the scraps that remained, occurs a century and some change later in 2446. As societies began to crumble under the pressure of war, famine and industrial failure, world leaders begrudgingly consented to forming a worldwide political administration to keep everything in check. The Earth Government reforms from the Colonial Alliance and gets to work, breaking up nations and territories into sectors whilst quickly working to merge and learn from pre-existing plans from planet sectors regarding space expansion and travel. Stability is slowly regained, though the issue of resource depletion is still the key concern for humanity and Earth.

Despite the rebound and productivity of humanity, some well-off colonies began to seek independence from the Earth Government. Mars was a main contender, leading to the Mars independence riots that led to thousands of deaths of protesters and police. This caused heavy policy changes more towards idealist politics, a win for the protesters despite the casualty rate. Humanity still lacked an abundance of resources for several more years until 2508, one of the most important years for mankind due to the invention of planet-cracking. Ships made to break planets apart in order to extract resources. Several ships were made to perform the task under the CEC (Concordance Extraction Corporation), namely the USG Ishimura, USG Castle and USG Perseus.

Set in 2509, the USG Perseus is engaged in a planet-cracking operation on the isolated world of Proxima Centauri. The players will either be crew members of the USG Perseus, colonists/workers at a planetary work site on Proxima Centauri or a ship crew responding to the USG Perseus.

(Self Note: Remember Rail Shooter Lore/Story)