Freelancer

Eight hundred years before the beginning of our history, a bitter conflict divided the entire human race. A handful of colonists set out on their own to make a fresh start - far from Earth and its troubles. Several ships took off with enough equipment and supplies to give the hundreds on board a chance - but since the area around distant Sirius had never been explored, no one really knew what to expect. What they found was a new frontier of free-flowing natural resources, unexplored territory, great wonders and lurking dangers. Each ship, representing groups of people and their earthly place of origin, settled in different parts of the galaxy, selected by the ship's computer to give them the best chance of survival. Life was hard at first, but over the course of 800 years, the various colonies thrived and expanded their territories, claiming more and more systems for themselves. Survival and multiplication eventually led to growth and profit as each of the colonies developed specialties and promoted trade. As the colonies grew and time passed, their ties to their roots on Earth faded and they lost their memories of past conflicts. Soon their attention was dominated by new, more immediate conflicts. The sense of having lost their connection to their ancestors fostered anachronism in the appearance of the major cities and created a somewhat distorted image of the cultural heritage of each colony. In the ever-expanding outskirts of the territories, lawlessness reigned on the frontier. The Houses: each shipping colony that left Earth carried in its name a reminder of its origins. The Liberty brought Americans, the Bretonia came from the United Kingdom and surrounding territories, the Kusari from Asia, and the Rheinland launched with Germanic cargo. As each ship settled and the colonies began to expand, they knew little about each other and their progressive development. Eventually, the individual colonies gradually found each other and began to establish trade routes to link their systems for trade and solidarity. Today, each colony is firmly rooted in its respective corner of the galaxy. Colonies rely heavily on each other for trade and industry, but also compete for resources and new territories on frontier worlds. The colonies mandate member governments in the "New Alliance" in the Sirius sector. To contain conflict, each colony has formed alliances and treaties with others as they have grown. However, competition remains fierce. There is a struggle for dominance in economics, trade, resources, power and control. A tenacious peace may prevail between the political agendas of the colonies, but the pursuit of vested interests continually shakes the volatile border.