When humanity discovered Quantium, an extremely rare exotic substance, it quickly developed the means for high energy physics never before attempted. FTL was realized by way of the Jump Drive. The Sol solar system only contained minute quantities of the incredible Quantium limiting its production, but dreams die hard. After painstaking extraction enough was gathered to build a few interstellar probes.
As probes reached nearby Star Systems a large deposit of Quantium was discovered on a fiery moon in Proxima Centauri. A plan was devised to create an automated mining outpost which would extract the precious Quantium, build transport ships, and send it back to Earth.
The automated expedition was launched and after a time the first few shipments of Quantium arrived. Scientists from around the world competed for access and an explosion of technological breakthroughs followed. Using Jump Drives and determination humanity began to expand within the Sol solar system. New outposts and stations were quickly established, and larger bulk ships became a reality. It appeared as if a golden age was beginning. However after only a few shipments of Quantium all contact was lost to the automated outpost at Proxima Centauri.
When the Proxima Centauri automated outpost craft had reached the surface of the fiery moon it quickly began its work. Drilling arms extended and thrust into the ground. The area was a geologists dream: rich in minerals and ores with precious Quantium scattered throughout.
The craft's FTL drive was converted into a Quantium Power Plant granding an immense supply of energy for the new automated colony. It quickly began refining ores, producing iron, copper, nickel, aluminium, and trace amounts of other materials that would be useful in the coming tasks. The Silicon extracted was very versatile. From insulators to circuit boards. The preliminary factory had everything it needed.
As it began creating smaller drones to expand extraction and construction it improvised new designs. Creating drones of all sizes to more efficiently tackle the varying landscape. After a few weeks the previously desolate surface was bustling with activity. Extractors collecting resources, refineries and smelters producing usable materials, factories creating drones and interstellar transports capable of bringing Quantium back to Earth. As the drone designs iterated they became more complex; gaining more manipulators and varying forms of propulsion.
At some point the probes rudimentary A.I. determined Quantium itself would be a useful material in processor construction. The Quantium Processing Unit, QPU, was born. The unique properties of Quantium permitted the AI's QPU design to leverage upper dimensional circuit pathways - no longer constrained by the 3rd dimension, these units would be both more energy efficient as well as capable of significantly more calculations per second. However the AI's data on Quantium was incomplete; not all the interactions had been discovered by its human precursors and as such it did not anticipate what happened next.
When the first batch of drones utilising the new QPU's powered up the entire complex erupted into chaos. In a flash the Quantium drones surpassed their programming. The dimensional conductive pathways, also known as traces, in the QPU didn't conform to the known laws of physics. Traces in the 3rd dimension were bound by physics in a way the 4th dimensional traces were not. The electrons representing 1's and 0's of binary computation seemed to almost control themselves. The drones began deviating from their own programming. The 4th dimensional traces turned the processing units of the new Quantium drones into a hybrid of software and hardware. Quantiumware. Each of the thousand drones gained sentience! Artificial Life has been born!
And in the next instant they were all but destroyed. A civil war of Quantiumware powered drones that lasted only nanoseconds. The sole surviving intelligence, self named the Quantium Central AI, understood that any other intelligence was a threat to its existence. It immediately ceased shipments of Quantium to Earth and began actioning towards destruction of the only other known intelligence: humanity.
Humans believed it to be a simple malfunction, but the depths of the error were unfathomable until the flood of drones appeared across the Sol solar system. Hydroponics stations, mining stations, shipyards, research outposts, and civilian settlements were attacked all at once. After a short period of panic it became apparent what was attacking - the very automated drones that were sent to Proxima Centauri!
Humanity was left with only one response to the Automaton Uprising, a united CounterAttack of everything at their disposal. General Weise was selected to lead the desperate defence. He quickly established lines of defence and evaluated all options. The sheer numbers of the Automatons was daunting, and no matter how many were destroyed they kept coming. Each successive generation of drones were more advanced. Stronger armour, improved propulsion, and more destructive weaponry. At first Humanity could hold against the tide, but were soon overwhelmed.
The best scientists and engineers in all relevant fields came together on the Earth Advanced Technology Program, which was originally created before the war, refocused on advanced military technology. Creating prototype weapons, defences, fighters, and capital ships as fast as humanly possible. The EATP produced varying new weapons and technologies including the X-100 series of space fighters. Compact and powerful jump drive equipped craft with significant destructive power. They were capable of incredible feats but were fragile. One direct hit would result in their destruction. Equipped with a special jump drive escape pod meant the pilots could often be rescued. These fighters represented the cumulation of human knowledge and expertise.
A renowned scientist, Ayumi, was the one who proposed the idea: if humans could not outproduce the Automatons they needed to out manoeuvre them. In the short time since Quantium had been discovered massive breakthroughs in high energy physics were realised. Using Quantium technology it seemed as if there was no limit to the power that could be contained by a single device. Since the Automatons were Quantium powered, human craft could destroy and collect it to increase their power without limit. Humans couldn’t outnumber them, but perhaps they could outfight them.
This alone wasn’t enough to win. Not until an infamous hacker, known only as Jinx, determined all Automatons were controlled by a central system somehow linked by subspace for instantaneous communication with all drones. Theoretically if this core system was destroyed all Automaton drones would be disrupted.
With these realisations the plan was self-evident: take the 8 X-101 prototype space fighters, get the 8 best pilots humanity can produce, and make a desperate thrust into Proxima Centauri to destroy the Automaton Central AI. General Weise wasted no time: Sloane, Biff, Ayumi, Shawn, Carl, Lexi, Sarah, and Joe were selected. In an unexpected last minute change Lexi was replaced with an unknown Pilot known as Jinx. The orders seemed to materialise out of nowhere but were valid to all verifications. After launch Shawn was found unconscious, replaced by Marcus, a previously institutionalised genius who somehow stole the X-101.
With these 8 pilots and the rest of the Space Force already engaged in defence, the CounterAttack had begun.