Lore.txt

In 2083, several technologies with FTL implications are developed. One of these, a prototype worm-holing experiment, attempts to send an automated construction ship to another location. The experiment fails, engulfing both the ship and a nearby research station inside an unstable wormhole, transporting them to an unknown location. The technology is declared dangerous and expensive, interest is lost in favour of the more reliable quantum tunneling and is not pursued further. The ship and crew of the research station are declared dead and over time, they become forgotten.

In reality, the crew and ship survived the journey with minor damages. Long range scans revealed only one star system nearby. The stations mainframe was unable to recognize any of the star formations and thus it was impossible to determine the exit location of the wormhole. With no options left and stranded in unknown space, the crew of the station boarded the experimental ship and headed towards the planet.

After landing on the surface they quickly realized that the planet was not only lacking a breathable atmosphere but also resources of any kind.
Salvaging parts of the ship and the station, the scientists and engineers created a shelter and settled, although uncomfortably, on the first planet inside the star system.
Without quantum communication relays allowing instantaneous communication, they were unable to send a message back to the Earth Empire, a regular transmission needing centuries just to get to Earth. 

In 2214 one of their mining ships discovered an ancient artefact located on an asteroid. It appeared to be part of a facility of unknown origin, and possessed technology very advanced in the field of inter-dimensional communication and study. Nomad scientists researched this artifact extensively and eventually they were able to reverse engineer technology to create controlled interdimensional rifts allowing near instant transport over interstellar distances. Resources were scarce on their new home star system, and the colonists began to build ships to seek out more. The Nomads were born.

In 2308 the Nomads start spreading throughout the neighbouring systems, living mostly in artificial space stations and ships due to a lack of habitable planets, the Nomads gradually adapted to their life in space. Because of their time spent in fleets, a clan like culture developed where each fleet is its own faction. Limited communication between the fleets is maintained, but disagreements and competition over resources leads to occasional fights and piracy between various fleets.

This competition between different ships and a lack of centralized government, coupled with an unending search to acquire more fuel and resources to repair their ships results in the Nomads pace of development to stagnate; quantum tunneling technology is not pursued in favour of interdimensional rifts.

Gradually, advancements are made in the fields of nanofabrication and efficient spacecraft construction; genetic engineering and symbiont alternatives are not researched and developed. Interdimensional drives are improved and their efficiency increases dramatically. These technological advancements lead to more unification between the Nomad fleets and ship blueprints are shared collectively, culminating in a standardised fleet being established.

The Nomads begin to expand rapidly, no longer hampered by inter-fleet competition. Habitable worlds are discovered however, due to their now space oriented culture not many wish to colonize them. The ones that do colonise planets, establish spaceports for the Nomad fleets and form their own "Planet bound" societies, separate to the Nomads but friendly due to frequent trading of supplies.

Each individual inhabited colony is independent and there is little to no need for expansion. Frequent visits of Nomad ships are able to cater for the Planet bounds needs, in return for steady supplies of fuel and repairs. Unification of the colonies is forgone and the Nomads maintain their relationship with the Planet bound societies. 




The relative stability of the Nomads and the colony states they left behind, as well as technological advancements in the areas of space travel and automation leads the Nomads to pursue a new goal: Find Earth.

A number of expeditionary fleets is assembled and set to explore further across the galaxy. Their main purpose is to find signs of human activity, but any areas of interest are reported to the Nomad community, leading to a rapid expansion and colonization.

In 3831 an expeditionary force notices strange radio signals in an unexplored system. They are sent to investigate, hoping to find the rest of the human civilization. Arriving in 3834 they land on the planet and attempt to make contact. The UEF commander stationed on the planet attempts to capture the crew of the ship, in order to find out more about the currently unknown Nomads. The Nomads escape, killing the commander in the process before reinforcements can arrive. (Mission 1)

The UEF fails to recognize the Nomads, believing the raid was a Cybran incursion and does not investigate much further. (debatable)

While escaping the Nomads captured some UEF technology and databanks, from them they gain limited knowledge of the infinite war and the other factions, as well as locations of colonies and planets of interest. 

The Nomad fleets declare the UEF and by extension Aeon and Cybran as an existential threat and extensive research is carried out by them as well as the planet states in order to devise methods of combating them.

An alternative to the UEF ACU is developed, instead of being teleported into combat directly, it uses existing Nomad command ships to be transported to a target planet and dropped there to better engage on the ground. Multiple Nomad technologies are adapted from space faring to ground combat, as there is a lack of space-borne targets for the UEF.

Over the course of the next few years, the Nomads send many scout ships in the area but try to avoid any combat or interaction with the factions, while gathering as much intel as possible. In some systems they also construct observation posts on moons or uninhabited planets.