In the far future, Earth is a distant myth. When mankind gained the means to transit the vastness of space safely and quickly, a great human wave extended across the galaxy, and humans soon inhabited thousands of worlds.
Communities of worlds formed alliances; alliances became federations, and eventually a galactic empire was born. That empire existed for millennia, growing and consolidating, bringing most of the inhabited worlds under its control.
Despite its size and apparent success, though, all is not well in the Galactic Empire. There are rebels, usurpers, those who want to create empires of their own, and aliens of every imaginable form. Over the long millennia, even the form of man is taking a new shape with genetic engineering.