The year is 1872. After Swedish scientists discover trans-newtonian elements in Norrland, the new King Oscar II of Sweden reforms the Kalmar Union of old. This is followed by detonating many nuclear warheads over China and America, wiping out the anglo and sino plague. 
The genocide of the Anglo and the Chinaman has left only about 550 million humans left on planet earth, but the good news is that the remaining humans are now poised to explore space as part of the glorious Scandinavian Empire.
The first order of business is to conduct a mineral survey of the solar system. His Royal Swedish Majesty's Astrogation Corps currently have three vessels available for this task: the Copernicus, the Linnaeus, and the Newton.
The Linnaeus and the Newton set out on their mission to survey gravitational anomalies past the first asteroid belt, while the Copernicus begin their geological survey on Luna. Establishing a colony on the moon is one of the first tasks for the new Kalmar Empire.
After a heated battle for funding, the scientist Daniel Gyllenhammar successfully convinces his Royal Majesty that Railgun technology has the most promise as the backbone for the future Royal Kalmar fleet. However, a functional warship is still at least a decade away.
The first commercial space vessel is the Scania model Atlas freighter. With a speed of 1007 km/s, three standard cargo holds, and several orbital cargo shuttle bays, it is hoped the Atlas will be a workhorse for the first stage of solar system colonization.
After discovering a "jump point" near the orbit of Mars, the newly built HMS Pythagoras is given the honor of being the first ship to test humanity's new experimental FTL drive.
On the other end of the system is a small and extremely low luminosity D4-VII class sun, with one dwarf planet in orbit. An almost barren system.
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