The intersystem United Worlds is founded in Norway, partly in response to the growing discourse over planetary territorial rights in this new colonial age. With many Earth states now so beholden to the corporations that fill out their contracts, the idea of a citizen feeling more loyal to their chosen corporation and its internal culture rather than a flag truly takes root. The arrival of more compact fusion technology and fourth-generation AI frameworks built on quantum computing advances, means that robotic exploration of nearby systems is finally within our grasp.

Early third-generation AI framework "Hercules" transmits its findings after an initial survey of the Alpha Centauri system. It knows that any response from Sol is nearly ten years in the future, but time is immaterial to an AI. It begins to fabricate primitive robotic workers from local minerals before moving onto colony structures and an accompanying support network. The first solar system beyond Earth is colonised for humankind, but not at all by human hands. Sibling AI frameworks reach their destinations over the coming century, each very slowly communicating their findings to one-another and to a future Sol.

A startling discovery seems to come out of nowhere. Most people seem to believe that the most recent AI frameworks are responsible, and this is as good an explanation as any, with several corporations all claiming to have manufactured the first Cascade Core almost within days of one-another. Cascade technology meant that gravity could essentially be negated or amplified per source object, with none of the adverse effects of inertia, and it quickly led to a revolution in human space travel. With most shipyards now situated in higher orbit, vessels were free from traditional restrictions on mass and aerodynamic profile, and coupled with modern ion thrusters for orbital adjustment, cascade-fitted ships represented the dawn of a new era for humankind: the Escalation.

The Starbound generation ship arrives at Proxima Centauri to discover a populated world, renamed Haven. The shocked and elderly crew were introduced to the new cascade technology that could tear through space-time to reach neighbouring solar systems in mere hours compared to the Starbounds' arduous 116 year voyage. Not that breach space was without dangers itself, with a number of ships failing to re-emerge into normal space, or displaying system failures and psychological concerns for those of a weaker temperament. Breach exits could also impact the system itself, disrupting gravity and frying electronic components. Fusion drives seemed especially susceptible, and would ideally need to be shut down for the duration. A similar fate was in store for the crews of countless other generation ships, pioneers no more, relegated to second-rate citizens on worlds largely controlled by opposing corporations.

Open hostilities arise between Galactic North and Carbon, leading to the first Galactic War. Despite virtually unlimited colonisation potential in every direction beyond Sol and the Near Earth Territories, fewer and fewer habitable worlds begin to be discovered, resulting in an alarming downturn in expansion prospects. Many of the worlds reported back by the AI swarms ceaselessly building gates way out in the Fringe are found to be lifeless or littered with the ruins of other long-dead alien races. Terrestrial planets in the Goldilocks zone are suddenly prime real estate once more, with proxy wars between opposing corporations taking place wherever their interests clashed. An Atlas-backed United Worlds rose to true prominence in the following decades, assembling an impressive fleet of peace-keeping vessels that sought to spread goodwill and shared ideas rather than the close-minded segregation of established corporate sub-culture.