THE GREAT PLAGUE THREATENED NOT ONLY CRADLE, BUT THE UNIVERSE.
A GREAT DUALITY THROWN OFF BALANCE,
THE BEAUTY OF LIFE TURNED CANCEROUS, THE CONCLUSION TO EVOLUTION UNCHECKED.
LIKE TUMORS, WHEN THE GREAT ONE SEALED IT, IT WAS NOT DESTROYED,
INFINITESIMAL FRAGMENTS WILL COELESCE INTO ORGANISMS,
WHICH WILL SPELL RUIN FOR CRADLE'S FUTURE.
COMPLETE THE INHERITANCE. IT IS IN YOUR HANDS.
The Ruin is a superorganism believed to be over 300,000 years old, and is classified by the United Systems and other Civspace empires as the greatest threat to the galaxy following the events of Earthfall, a tragic event in which the Ruin destroyed the Human homeworld of Earth, killing billions of people in the process and scattering humanity across the galaxy.
Following Earthfall, the Ruin began its spread across the galaxy, targeting major United Systems colonies such as Proxima Centauri and frontier worlds of other Civspace empires. It also spread to and targeted planets in the Fringe such as Dakka and the Silent Bastion.
The Ruin itself is more accurately described as a taxonomic domain, typically referred by the classification 'goetia'. It is considered to be its own domain separate from typical eukaryotic or prokaryotic organisms due to how different its biology is. Specific organisms that belong to the Ruin are colloquially called 'ruinlings'. The Ruin is especially dangerous due to its ability to adapt; Ruinlings can undergo a process of forced evolution in order to adapt to essentially any biological niche possible, allowing the Ruin to cement itself in any environment; ruinlings made of phase matter has been observed, as well as ruin microorganisms and even ruinlings that exhibit anomalous effects. Sapience in ruinlings has yet to be observed.
Archaelogical teams from the Gaia University have identified the fossilized remains of ancient Ruin hive worlds dating back 300,000 years ago to the Ancient War. For some reason, all Ruin activity was driven to a halt until the events of Earthfall.
June 17th 3284, the Sol War- the eighty year long effort to contain the Ruin within the Sol system- failed after the Mars Technocracy evacuated the system following the Ruin's destruction of the Technocracy's antimatter defense grid. The Jovian Pirate Confederacy followed soon after, and soon the Ruin was allowed to begin its spread across the galaxy.
February 6th 3286, the planet of Dakka, home to the Dakkma people and a centerpoint of Apex rebel activity in the Fringe, is taken over by the Ruin. Millions of Dakkma refugees flee the system. After the evacuation, the Haven Expeditionary Force gains control of the Genesis Coil.
March 5th 3286, the Ruin begins its assault on the Silentia system, controlled by the Haven Federation and home to the Silent Bastion. The Haven Federation begins its first conflict against the Ruin since the Dakka Evacuation.
March 16th 3286, the Second Battle of Silentia begins, also known as the Golden-Red Assault as Atlas and Haven join military forces to fight against the Ruin.
March 21st 3286, combined forces of the Haven Federation, Atlas Empire, and Visitant Administration face off the Ruin in the Fall of Bastion. An unknown Ruin ship, seemingly a hijacked Precursor ship, suddenly leaps past the defensive formation of the combined forces and enters the Silentia System. The Ruin ship destroys the Dave-class destroyer, the HSS Big Sexy Beast, in one powerful shot, instantly killing all on board. General Markus Aleksandr rams the Tartarus, the flagship of the Atlas Empire, into the Ruin vessel, giving ground forces time to move into the Silent Bastion. Forces enter Silentia to rescue the Governor of the Bastion District, Aeris Webb, and to recover the coffin of the Minstrel, a religious figure in the Silent Bastion. They destroy the ruinling Belial and escape Bastion, leaving it under Ruin control.
August 8th 3286, a core United Systems colony, Proxima Centauri, was lost to the Ruin. USCM forces pull back to defend Betelgeuse in conjunction with naval forces of the Stargazer Theocracy. Avos' spread forces has allowed the Black Empire to begin a siege on the Theocracy-protected system of Ectos in an effort to gain control of the Ectoweaver Court, a Glitch hivemind present in the system.
August 28th 3287, on the same day as the Haven Federation's Founding Day, a group of heroes making up Atlas, Haven, and Visitant forces engage in a suicide mission to board the Ruin flagship in Silentia and attempt to destroy its singularity reactor using a themonuclear bomb, an operation called Operation Forlorn Hope. In the middle of their attack, the flagship made a sudden jump to the Haven system, sparking mass panic among the civilian populace. The bomb was deployed and the forlorn hope escaped at the very last moment, detonating the bomb and destroying the flagship along with four brave individuals that stayed behind to defend the bomb from encroaching Ruinlings. The Haven guard EBS-7 was killed by the bomb, his sacrifice making the operation a success.
March 21st 3288, the Occasus Sect of Celestial Truth publishes a scientific paper explaining many aspects of goetic biology.