User Guide

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OTHER CONTROLS
ACTION KEYBOARD
Open the in-game help screen
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Pointer
A BRIEF GALACTIC HISTORY
After two centuries of conflict, Humankind’s three races – the Progen,
Terrans and Jenquai – had achieved an uneasy balance of power by dividing
known space between them.
The Terrans claimed Earth, headquarters to their massive trade corporations.
The genetically engineered Progen, bred for perfection, commanded the
wastes of Mars. The Jenquai, ever seeking knowledge, created great space
stations to orbit the moons of Jupiter.
Peace was shattered when the first Stargate, an ancient artifact built by an
unknown race, was discovered. Coveting its secrets for their own, the
Jenquai hid the Gate from the other races. However, their efforts were in
vain. Within months, a spy employed by the Terran conglomerate InfinitiCorp
revealed the Gate’s existence to the outraged Terrans and Progen. Humanity
was suddenly thrust into conflict, an epic battle over control of the Gate.
The three races fought a devastating nine-year war, known as the Gate War,
using weapons far deadlier than any previously conceived. Millions of lives
were lost, and millions more would have perished had the Terrans not
surprised their foes with a sudden cease-fire proposal. After months of
negotiations, the three civilizations agreed to share the Gate, and declared
an uneasy peace.
However, InfinitiCorp had plans of its own. Under utmost secrecy, its
scientists had reverse-engineered the Gate’s technology, and within a few
short years the mighty conglomerate announced to the astonished worlds
the genesis of the Infinitigate. The rush to colonize the galaxy was on.
Fifty years have passed since the invention of the Infinitigate. Progen,
Jenquai, and Terrans alike have thrived, spreading their civilizations across
two dozen star systems, exploiting their riches. However, though the races
are at peace, acrimony remains. Tension and distrust govern galactic
relations and every citizen fears the day when the spectre of war will again
raise its shadow.
Something else, something even more frightening, clutches at the minds of
the humans. The aliens who built the Gate – aliens with clearly superior
intelligence and technology – have yet to return. Where did they go? Will
they be coming back? And will they be pleased to find an upstart Humanity
colonizing what once belonged to them?
The next chapter in human history is about to begin, and you will play a
pivotal role.
*Earth and Beyond_PC 8/15/02 6:25 PM Page 6