History of the UESS Pioneer
In the year 2378. . .
The United Earth super long range colony vessel UESS Pioneer departs from Earth on August 6 2378 with 5 million colonists and crew aboard, bound for a habitable system at the farthest reaches of human explored space. The first fold drive equipped colony vessel built by humans. Capable of traversing the vast gulf of space almost instantly, faster than any hyperspace capable ship in the United Earth fleet, the Pioneer was intended to usher in a new age of exploration and colonization for the human race. But this was not to be. At this time, an extremist group, who believed humans should not leave the cradle of the Sol system, had infiltrated Pioneer's dockyard and sabotaged her drive systems, intending for the vessel to be destroyed and all aboard to perish as a divine sign that humans had gone too far and should stop their expansion into the cosmos.
As Pioneer reached the outer most boundary of the Sol system, with her colonist passengers in hypersleep, she engaged her fold drive and vanished in a spectacular bust of energy as the drive annihilated itself, and appeared, to her escort star cruisers, to be destroyed. But Pioneer exited fold space outside of known space, having been shot across the galaxy by her sabotaged fold drive. Though heavily damaged the Pioneer was not destroyed, nor did her crew or passengers perish, as had been the plan for them. The colony ship was left without a functional FTL drive, her fold core utterly destroyed and irreplaceable and with no supplementary hyperspace drive alternative. In an unknown part of space, with no way to find, let alone contact or get back home to Earth, the crew and colonial leaders were left with little choice but to find a new world to settle on that was in close enough range for the Pioneer to reach at sub-light speeds before supplies ran out or the ship deteriorated to the point of no longer being functional.
After long searching of the cosmos using the Pioneer's long range telescopes and observatory, a nearby candidate system was eventually located. Two of the four hyperspace capable star-frigates attached to the Pioneer, UESS Hawking and UESS Tyson, were provisioned and crewed with volunteers for a journey that would take nearly ten years round trip, even at the speed of light, were sent to explore and report back on the system for signs of a planet that could be colonized. Even as the frigates departed, the Pioneer set course for this system, it's journey would be much longer and even without knowing if the system was suitable, needed even the ten year head start.
It was a dangerous journey with no guarantee any of the ships would make a trip that far intact. Both frigates did make it to the system though and began their survey, looking for a home for the colonists they had no idea if were still alive back on the Pioneer.