Terran Empire

Introduction
Somewhere out there in the vast nothingness of space, Somewhere far away in space and time, Staring upward at the gleaming stars in the obsidian sky, We're marooned on a small island, in an endless sea Confined to a tiny spit of sand, unable to escape, But tonight, on this small planet, on earth We're going to rock civilization...
 * - Pendulum, Hold Your Colour, 'Prelude'

The Terran Empire was the dominant Empire in the Galaxy during the First Age

Early History
The Terran Empire was born from the Homesystem of Sol. After their initial period of discovery they stumbled across a Crit-Gate. Controlling this, and discovering that the Helios Network had no apparent power controlling it, the Terrans claimed it was their own and set out on the First Terran War of Expansion, assuming control of the Helios Network.

The Terrans expanded for roughly four centuries, as far as their technology would allow them. On the way, they colonised vast swathes of the galaxy, and also encountered the first non-Terran races, which they forcibly subjugated to Terran rule. However, they expanded too far for their own good. Their empire became too large to manage effectively, and realisation that the Terrans were diminished in effective power led to a number of systems seeking independence. Some wished to be free from the harsh yoke that held them, others merely wished a modicum of independent power.

Fragmentation
As the Terrain Empire fragmented, many of the subjugated races decided to rise up against them. What began at first as an irritation soon turned to full scale war, as systems were captured and recaptured by both sides. Even those races fighting side by side against the Terrans often turned on one another, and Chaos consumed the galaxy.

Then came the plague. No one was sure where it came from or how it spread, but anyone or anything, flesh or machine, which it came into contact with, fell victim. Its effects were horrific. Flesh, or any organic matter, was altered to a strange, brittle, metallic form, while normal metal seemed to just waste away.

The results were devastating. Already weakened by war, many races were infected, some driven to extinction completely. But still the war raged on. The Terrans, having suffered horrendously from the plague, were driven back to Terra itself. Many races converged on the Sol system for the final battle.

Isolation
And then the Helios Network shut down for the first time in recorded history...

This led to the Second Age.