The first contact with alien life in the 27th century has shaken humanity to its core. The state of Martial law that was declared on Earth with the approach of the Alien ship became permanent. The inaction of all worlds when Earth was under threat brought a toughening of Earth’s policies towards the other worlds. Old rivalries resurfaced, and arms buildup commenced. Mercury and Venus quickly sided with the Earth, mainly because they were still directly dependent on Earth. As Mars and Earth escalade the show of force, the Outer Worlds stand idly by, considering the matter as petty bickering between Earth and Mars.
After a deadly war, Mars is conquered, and Earth reassesses its position of power. The Media corporations become propaganda machines for the Earth Military, now the reigning totalitarian power. The Outer Worlds are given an ultimatum: bow down or be conquered, Earth will not be threatened…
The Outer Worlds mount a massive offensive against the forces of the inner solar system, but the myriad of worlds beyond Neptune do not feel concerned. Their isolation makes them safe from the deadly war around the sun. Refugees from the inner worlds flee always outwards, towards the Kuiper belt, and most find refuge on the outermost large world: Yggdrasil, which quickly grows to be one of the most populated center of humanity outside of Earth itself.
As the totalitarian forces of Earth expand their influence, the Kuiperans try to organize, and develop new technologies to travel faster between their worlds. Yggdrasil become the “shining beacon of hope” (yeah, very Babylon 5, but it’s just the buildup towards the 30th Century situation…), where resistance to the Advancing Terrans is organized. Earth’s influence reaches Jupiter, then Saturn, then stops it’s expansion, stretched too thin to efficiently move outwards. Yggdrasil takes on the role of the rebel, the troublemaker, the disobedient child, and Earth is the monolithic totalitarian power. Neither can move forward, neither can step down, so after a century of warfare, a stalemate is reached.
That stalemate between the two factions is the situation at the end of the 30th Century, a stalemate that has now lasted two centuries. Each keeps to his own, each builds up military power, and no one gains the necessary edge to annihilate the other without being annihilated itself. All humans alive are born of parents that are born of parents that have known nothing but the war. All humans have lost close ones, and have vowed revenge on the monsters of the other side.
What was a rebellion for freedom, a resistance to a totalitarian and oppressive regime two centuries ago has degenerated and corrupted into a chaotic mess where warlords reign, and what was a militaristic totalitarian regime degenerated and corrupted into a chaotic mess of debauchery. Uranus and Neptune, which stayed relatively neutral during the whole conflict are still relatively organized, and are making efforts to bridge the gap between worlds.
The worlds that the colonists who left in 2654 return to in 2979 is very very different, and the colonists find themselves in the middle of the conflict, while holding the secret of Alien technologies that all sides covet to gain the edge they need in the war.
