In the early 22nd century a space probe finds an ancient derelict spaceship out on the fringes of our solar system. Investigation of the spaceship is at first difficult because it is lieing in a band of heavy radiation, however after robots are sent to explore the spacecraft, several things become obvious:

1) The spaceship was built by humans, and it is approximately 100,000 years old.

2) From the ships damaged databanks it is realized that Earth is not the cradle of Humanity, rather it was colonized by the humans from the spaceship: for some reason they purposely left the spaceship in a radiation belt and travelled down to Earth with literally the clothes on their backs.

3) The reason the original colonists left all their technology behind is that approximately 100,000 years ago something happened to the space-aged human civilization which effectively knocked all of humanity scattered throughout the galaxy back to the Stone Age (this event was caused by a stealth computer virus - think Skynet from Terminator).

4) The spaceships hyperdrive is intact, as are a fare portion of the spaceships starmaps.

5) It is agreed by the governments of Earth to build replicas of the ancient spaceship, and to send out heavily armed science/ colonizing expeditions to several of the nearby solar systems listed in the starmaps, and to begin the exploration/ re-conquest of the Worlds of Man.

6) But something happens after your expedition (and the expeditions belonging to the other governments of Earth) is dropped off on your planet: the expected follow-up wave of colonists and scientists never arrives, and as time progresses and no further word is heard from Earth, you come to realize that something has happened, and that you are on your own. You as the Administrator of your colony now hold the future of your people in your hands.

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