Four-hundred years in the future, humanity has evolved to the point of space exploration and has developed intricate relationships with other space-faring species. Along with other highly advanced civilizations, Earth creates a federated Planetary Union for the purposes of exploration, scientific development, colonization of new worlds, and defense. By the year 2419, the Union is a rapidly expanding power in the galaxy, and boasts a fleet of 3,000 ships and numerous colony planets. In the early 25th century, the Union divides the Milky Way galaxy into quadrants, though the Union has colonized only one of them.[n 2] Union ships chart space as they explore, so the edge of explored space is known as the frontier. Strange and dangerous uncontacted worlds can be found there, and the frontier is a mysterious territory left to Exploratory-class vessels and intrepid opportunists like miners from the Vega Mining Consortium. On the edge of the frontier are the star J-2837 and a bio-ship, an ancient colony transport from a faraway, empty pocket of space.