By the 2030's, the nations of Earth no longer supported space exploration. Instead, an international corporation known as Hyperion conducted all missions and explorations into space. If any company, nation or individual wanted research conducted in zero gravity, or satellites launched, or even research in other worldly atmospheres, they had to hire Hyperion. The UN thought this monopoly in space was necessary to ensure the peace outside of its jurisdiction. On occasions the UN also made use of Hyperion's resources, supporting an international settling of the first Martian colony Zephyr in 2030, and the second colony Demeter in 2036.

In the 2030's, a change from fossil fuels to a nuclear alternative had been slowly evolving in the past decades, and intensifying greatly in the past five years. By 2035, 90% of the world was powered by nuclear power, most of it being supplied by the united powers of Greece and Italy. The following year, an Australian based company known as IV/HC began drilling in Antarctica for oil. Within months, record low priced for oil began overturning the markets for nuclear energy, causing a global shift in power. Many nations of Earth began claiming rights to drill in Antarctica to keep from having to use outsourced electricity from Greece and Italy

By 2038, a large community of miners had emerged that resided in Antarctica year round. Most of them lived in the international city of Favon, established the preceding year as the first city with no national boundaries based in Antarctica. The UN regulated Favon to keep order in the city and ensure no nation claimed more rights to the international lands of Antarctica than another.

In order to boost positive relations between the nations competing for oil claims in Antarctica, it was decided by the UN to host the 2040 Summer Olympics in Favon. Talks between all nations would take place in Favon during the games, and Greece and Italy would be allowed to bargain for a reasonable share of the oil market, as the reemergence of oil had destroyed most of their monopoly on electrical power outsourcing. It seemed that for a time, the nations of the world would still be able to peacefully balance the world's power.

A few days into the games, a nuclear explosion detonated from somewhere in the Olympic stadium, destroying the entire city. The various nations of Earth bickered over the responsibility of the devastation, but no culprit could be found. All had something to lose and something to gain by the destruction of Favon, and no single nation trusted another. By late 2040, the UN was in rapid decline, with some of its strongest members boycotting meetings or withdrawing from the UN entirely.

By late 2040, the United States retained only one remaining claim site for oil operations; the rest had been sold to Australia and Madagascar. A commander by the name of Abraham Blair was placed in charge of defending this last site from foreign aggression. In October 2040, a dispute over the boundaries between the American site and a neighboring Australian site resulted in a military confrontation. It is not clear who fired first, but the battle resulted in the complete annihilation of the Australian force. Nations opposed to the United States around the world saw this as an aggression on behalf of the economical giant, and soon many other nations around the world joined Australia against the United States.

World War III, often referred to by the generations since as the Last Great War, was the climax in hostilities between the nations of Earth that feuded over economical resources. The war spread like a plague, engulfing any neighboring nations that attempted to remain neutral. The alliance systems that were formed on the impending doom of the UN only helped to fuel the war. Unstable nations around the world fell into civil disorder, and civil wars that would last over a decade. And the most lingering images from the war were the fire and ash of nuclear weapons. Bombs were dropped on cities and bases, some nations going as far as to destroy their own troops with the enemy's if the odds were overwhelming.

By 2046, the surviving nations of the world that had not plunged into civil wars or had been obliterated by the heat of the bombs, came together to seek a final resolution to world conflict. For several years they had warred out of fear of their own annihilation, but now they needed to find a way to end their animosities before their fears became a reality. It was unanimously decided by all nations concerned that in order to ensure their safety in the future, they needed one government to rule over the entire world. In August of 2046, the Global Council was formed, ending the Last Great War.

The path to recovery was slow in the beginning, but in 2050 a new technology known as replication made the reconstruction of former cities go by a hundred times faster. The company that developed this technology was given full control over reconstruction efforts in the world and even a few of the GC's drop-ships; relics of the war that had scourched the land. By 2054, Earth had recovered most of its former prestige.

During the early stages of the Last Great War, Hyperion ran out of funds for their space explorations. The colonies on Mars and the space lab on Titan lost their flow of supplies and ceased communicating with Earth shortly after the war broke out. The Globex Project was formed in 2056 as Earth's first expedition into space since the war began. Under the orders of the Government, five of the Earth's largest companies worked together to bring this project into space and discover what had happened to the Martian colonies and Titan.

When the expedition arrived in Mars, they found no remains Zephyr and only the desolate remains of Demeter. On Titan, they found the body of only one of the three scientists that had remained there and no information about what had happened to the others. Among the many experiments that lingered unattended for years on Titan, the expedition discovered a model of a Transport Gate. Upon the expedition's return, the corpse and mystery surrounding the disappearance of the others from Titan was well publicized, but the information about the model Transport Gate never reached the Government's ears.

Colonization appealed to the people of Earth that were disgusted with their blackened past and wanted their children to grow up with wars of Earth as only a distant memory. In 2063, five years after the expedition returned to Earth, the companies that had worked together on the Globex Project united into one corporation. With an economic empire greater than any other in the world, Globex became the first in a new wave of planetary colonization. They first created a new colony on Mars, then moved to various planets in other systems before establishing the first colony on Saltus in 2071. In 2072, largely due to Globex's monopoly in the majority of space exploration, the Government passed a law limiting Earth-based corporations from retaining colonies on any more than 3 different planets, forcing Globex to sell most of their colonial assets to competitors.

In 2077, the Free Trade Alliance was formed as a government sanction to back Earth's noble ideals for colonists. The FTA was given special access to the resources of any planet that had been colonized and was even given the jurisdiction to intervene and confiscate the resources of competing companies if they were infringing on the rights of the colonists. By 2082, the FTA maintained a presence on most planets with a high population, but especially on Saltus that had far more resources than any other colonized planet at the time.

By 2085, Globex had become almost entirely based outside of Earth. The company had sold all of its other assets except for the Martian and Saltus colonies, and had moved the majority of their headquarters to Saltus. In 2090, during the construction of the fifth Martian city, it was revealed that the colony Zephyr had somehow managed to survive and somehow mask their presence on the planet to avoid discovery up until that point. Globex, who owned privileges to all Martian resources, demanded the survivors of the colony give up the secrets of their new technology. The old colony refused and a small war broke out that ended in the surrender of Zephyr. The Government that had sought to eliminate all war, was alarmed by this unauthorized conflict that had broken out close to home. The Government took quick action against Globex, forcing them to sell all of their assets on Mars to the FTA or have them confiscated. With the loss of its Martian colonies, Globex became entirely Saltus based.

In order to keep future conflicts from breaking out, the Government ordered FTA to maintain a strong presence on Saltus to show Globex a strong arm, and intimidate it from causing further trouble. Beginning in 2092, the FTA started disbanding its smaller outposts and concentrating stronger military forces on Saltus to keep Globex under control. It was perhaps this policy more than any that would determine the fate of Saltus in the years to come.