The world changed in the year 2046, with space exploration being the rage and every major country fighting for dwindling resources, space became the hope of all.
An endless universe of untapped resources for the taking and all they had to do was get there or so they thought.
On the 16th of September 2046, the first live trial for Project WarpGate Genesis began. Lead Scientist Neil Graham turned on the Rift Generator which was supposed to open a parallel gate which was stationed on Mars, allowing easy transportation of resources like minerals. But there was a slight miscalculation in their coordinates, their gate opened correctly but it lead to the Otherworld- a realm filled with a mysterious energy which became aptly known as 'Aether'.
This energy imvaded the world and mutated every living organism on the planet, making both domestic and wild animals go rabid, attacking everything in sight. But the worst was not over, because the worst was not over.
A humanoid alien species known as 'Delphinians' also invaded earth from the Rift and slaughtered humans for no known reason, and all attempts to communicate failed. To the horror of the military, guns and grenades and all sort of mundane weapons had little effect on the invaders. Being forced to the brink of extinction, humanity resorted to the kings of warfare: nuclear warheads.
Driving back the invaders temporarily, the then United States of America had to give up the state where the Rift was located as not even nukes could close the Rift and the Delphinians kept sending reinforcements.
With humans being on the losing side, with them being relegated to passive defenders, with no information on the enemy or their numbers or even their home planet, hope was lost. Until the first ability user rose to prominence, humanity had finally discovered how to wield Aether and with this new weapon in their arsenal, they fought the Delphinians to a stalemate.
And so humans and the invaders came to a impasse in the war. The conflict has been reduced to a semi cold war but once in a while they were still small skirmishes. But with most of the Earth rendered inhabitable by the warheads, mankind built colonies in space and Earth was abandoned till centuries later.
Now with the Delphinians and humans controlling most of the Milky Way, money and political power meant less in the face of absolute power. A new society was built from the ashes of the old, where people revered the strong and despised the weak.
Earth had become vibrant once again after it's abandonment, the planet had recovered and with Aether bloomed towards a new high. But most areas had become death zones where no human or Delphinian dared step as terrifying creatures now walked the planet. With some effort, safe cities were established and Earth became a gathering place of the elite.
The human federation was at the helm of power but they only took action in matters concerning the fate of the entire race. Factions were still split into countries and humans still fought over resources.
Gaining power was of the utmost importance to humans as it guaranteed a high standing in society. And so, academies no longer focused on purely educational material, they were better known for raising warriors who would defend humanity once the war resumed.