It's the year 3152. Several hundred years before, humanity was enslaved by a race of aliens "for our own good", who were concerned we were getting too big for our britches. We eventually overthrew them and initiated a galactic purge of alien species, forcing them to the outer rim, while we humans took over the much happier, wealthier galactic core. Execution in orbit of stellar masses is outlawed, and the gameplay focuses around Tartarus Inc., a prison corporation that makes its profit by taking the galaxy's worst criminals (for a fee) and "disposing" of them outside interstellar law. The best and brightest criminals, however, get put into Tartarus's highly-illegal REKT division (REquisitional Knowledge Troops), who are then blasted to the darkest hellholes in space to retrieve valuable artifacts, materials, and technology. These characters are the ones that the players play.