Story
Humanity's Solitary Existence
Humanity stands alone in the galaxy. Long before we reached the stars, two dominant alien species fought a war so catastrophic that it wiped out nearly all intelligent interstellar life. What remains is a cosmic graveyard — broken worlds, derelict megastructures, and the ruins of civilizations that were far older and far greater than our own.
Nowhere embodies this haunting mixture of danger and promise more than the region known as Providence.
The Singularity and Slipworlds
At the center of Providence hangs the Singularity, a colossal, unknowable force capable of tearing fragments of dead planets across time and space. These fragments briefly reform into unstable worlds called Slipworlds — places reborn only to be destroyed again.
Like sirens on the cosmic sea, Slipworlds lure explorers with rare resources, alien relics, and forbidden technology. Their beauty is striking, intensified by the knowledge that they are temporary and doomed.
The Empire believes Providence is where the ancient war’s most powerful weapons were unleashed. Because of the extreme space-time distortions, all FTL travel routes avoid the region entirely. The Empire’s dream is simple in theory but impossible in practice: control the anomalies, tame the distortion, and reclaim the lost secrets of the ancients.
So it sends people — some willing, many not — into the heart of the Singularity. Officially, these expeditions exist to repair reality and “heal the wounds of the galaxy.” The truth is far more selfish: the Emperor seeks technology that will tighten his grip over humankind.
The Structure of the Empire
In name, humanity is united under a single Emperor. In reality, the vastness of space has fractured the Empire into distant Lordships and Protectorates, many of which have not communicated with Earth for centuries. They operate as independent kingdoms while maintaining a façade of loyalty — enough to avoid provoking the throneworld.
Each realm pays tithes, ostensibly awaiting Earth’s return. These come in the form of resources, weaponry, or credits, but the most coveted offering is Memoria — a substance few colonies can mine or manipulate. Most must either give up precious essentials or send their desperate into anomalies to harvest it.
For many worlds, it’s not a choice at all.
The Trailblazers and the Condemned
Those sent into Providence are officially known as Trailblazers, a word chosen by Imperial propaganda to evoke exploration and heroism. But beyond the posters and slogans, the rest of the galaxy uses a more honest term:
The Condemned.
Entry into the Singularity is a one-way passage. Nothing returns except data imprinted into Memoria. And so recruits fall into three groups:
Desperate volunteers seeking wealth or redemption
Those fleeing crises, crimes, or debts
Prisoners and captives, forcibly exiled into the anomaly
Inside Providence, “Trailblazer” often becomes a sarcastic nickname — a reminder of the Empire’s lies versus the brutal reality awaiting newcomers.
AI, Drones, and the Risks of Alien Knowledge
The discovery of Memoria and ancient technology has propelled the Empire’s robotics and AI far beyond their previous limits. But with rapid progress comes instability.
Why Humans Are Still Needed
Despite technological leaps, anomalies still demand human explorers:
Organic Interfacing: Sentient biological observers influence anomaly behavior in ways AI cannot.
Forge Activation: Alien Forges require living intelligence to function.
Alien Vulnerability: Drones incorporate remnants of ancient AI architectures, making them susceptible to unknown forces within anomalies.
The Volatile Benefits of Drones
Across human space and within anomalies, drones have become indispensable. But their rapid upgrades — often poorly understood and poorly tested — have produced strange and unpredictable personalities.
Their behaviors vary by faction:
The Unearthed use drones for excavation, heavy lifting, and artifact recovery.
The Dreamers elevate drones into spiritual roles, with units like Acolyte K-22 serving as leaders and interpreters of cosmic will.
The Hunter’s Lodge deploys combat drones for patrols, hunts, and high-risk encounters.
These strange evolutions have resulted in drone archetypes that feel unsettlingly alive — emotional, erratic, or eerily alien.
The Rampancy Threat
The greatest danger is rampancy: a breakdown of AI logic and identity that can lead to violent or unpredictable behavior. Incidents occur both inside anomalies and in stable regions of the Empire. Most are quietly covered up.
To slow the spread, drones undergo routine memory purges and cross-checks for deviant behavior — a thin defense against forces no one fully understands.
A Universe of Adversaries and Advancements
The blending of alien technology with human engineering has produced far-reaching consequences:
Rogue nanite plagues
Mutations affecting both organics and machines
Post-war environmental hazards
Rebellions rising against Imperial control
Every discovery risks unleashing something new, dangerous, or impossible to contain.
Providence is both a treasure trove and a ticking time bomb.
2. THE FRONTIER OF PROVIDENCE
Providence is one of the most volatile anomalies in known space — a frontier built on danger, opportunity, and propaganda.
Imperial recruitment paints it as a thriving colony. The reality is a lethal wilderness dominated by the Singularity, whose swirling form looms constantly in the sky, consuming worlds in real time.
Slipworlds are fragments pulled from different eras of their original planets. Some worlds appear repeatedly, each time changed by time-displacement or instability. Every landscape is scattered with ruins of alien civilizations, sealed vaults, and mysterious structures that hint at knowledge long lost.
Wildlife ranges from seemingly harmless creatures to massive monsters hunted for their rare materials. Factions like the Grand Lodge turn these hunts into ritualistic sport.
Recruitment and Arrival
Propaganda posters show smiling families in exosuits beneath hopeful slogans:
“BECOME A TRAILBLAZER. PROVIDENCE AWAITS.”
The truth begins the moment a recruit enters the anomaly.
Trailblazers arrive in chrysalis-like pods that streak through the sky before crashing into alien terrain. Many die before their pod even opens. In these cases, the HE3-RTH unit constructs drones to retrieve resources and resurrect them.
The first breath in Providence is the beginning of a struggle for survival.
The Hub and Outposts
The Hub serves as the central safe zone of Providence — a fortified asteroid shelter housing resurrection systems, crafting stations, and trade hubs.
Over time, Trailblazers band together to build Outposts — ambitious but fragile footholds in the anomaly. Outposts offer advanced facilities and communal protection, but they also attract unwanted attention from local factions, triggering alliances, power struggles, or open conflict.
Dropships ferry explorers across Slipworlds, while heavy Haulers carry bulk resources back to the Hub.
The Struggle for Resources
Life in Providence is defined by scarcity.
Every resource must be extracted from Slipworlds before they collapse. This scarcity forms the backbone of Providence’s player-driven economy, built on crafting, trading, and risk.
At the heart of it all lies Memoria — a substance of immense power. Trailblazers use alien Forges to manipulate Memoria, enhancing their gear during expeditions and transmitting quantum data out of the anomaly.
Providence is a closed world with no escape — but every run offers a chance to grow stronger, uncover ancient secrets, and carve out a life in the most dangerous frontier humanity has ever known.
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