The year is 2172 and the world is dying. Ten percent of the environment and animal kingdom remains. The world is running out of food. As such, a good chunk of the human population has gone sterile during these hard times. There has been massive inbreeding and genetic distortions. With few options, a group of scientists and military personnel are confronted with a possible opportunity to save humanity: a signal has been sent to Earth from an exoplanet four light years away. It is a signal from the long-forgotten probe, Pioneer 10. This re-contact with Pioneer 10 sparks a series of probe missions surveying the planet--all leading to the discovery that a new species has arisen on Arca-45672. Governments and militaries scramble as they see potential salvation for their dying species in this exoplanet. But should humanity be content to merely survive? Or go down the ethically-fraught road of trying to build a new, galactic empire?