- When humanity first invented stardrives
and started expanding into the stars, initial colonization was rapid. But
after this initial of small colonies, the funidng for colonies was cut
short due to political squabbling and petty wars. Planets were developed
independantly by Earth nations, corporate concerns, and fringe groups.
But no large interstellar government ever formed.
That was until an alien entity called the "Overmind" was discovered by one of the colonies. Before this, psionics were feeble among humans. The Overmind awakened these abilities in some of the more sensitive humans. But it did so at the price of dominating those it awakened.
The Overmind started selective breeding programs among humans to nurture their psionic abilities. When it was ready, the Overmind sent its psionic agents into the universe and slowly used them to politically maneuver all human worlds into an Empire under its control, called the Interstellar Empire.
The Overmind was not very sensitive to it's subjects needs, and horrifying attrocities occurred under the Overmind's rule. This eventually led to a revolt in which many worlds tore away from the Empire. In the later stages of the insurrection, the entity called the Overmind was injured or detroyed in one of the squabbles, for the Overmind followers lost contact with it and lost many of their more potent abilities. This devastating blow bought the rebel worlds time to form the Confederation.
The Empire and the Confederation have had several wars since the rebellion called the Post-Insurrection Wars. But the Empire still exists, and certain Empire sympathizers exist in the Confederation who strive to re-awaken the Overmind, and the relations between the two states is stressed.
The Overmind Empire has had a lasting effect on the confederation and humanity. The breeding program the overmind started has led to a large amount of psionic individuals in the SP6 setting. The Confederation, fearful of the damage that the Empire's psionic agents caused in the past has placed extensive regulations on psionically sensitive individuals and the use of psionic abilities.