2259

It is a time of war.

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, mankind began its relentless conquest of the stars. With the realization of infinite resources came infinite greed. What is the point of difficult compromise and drawn out negotiations when strength could gain anything a nation, corporation, or unaligned military force could desire? What need for a minority population to bend to the will of the majority when they could just as easily forge a nation of their own on a virgin world? 

Human space is dominated by intense nationalism, rampant balkanization, and brutal competition. Only the Watch keep man from tipping into a new dark age and utter self destruction.

And man is not the only predator in space...