For millions of years, humanity thrived and flourished, billions enjoying and occupying their earthly home on the planet Vandar. Evolution led to an extremely advanced technological society on this planet. However, this all changed at the turn of the 22nd century.
In the spring of 2102, researchers at VSEA (Vandar Space Exploration Administration) discovered that an asteroid that was not anticipated for nearly another hundred and fifty years would strike Vandar in only about 2 months time.
Ill-prepared for the situation, the scientists were obviously in quite a scramble to conceive a solution. While many researchers had known about the asteroid for years beforehand, they'd assumed they'd have years to plan a well thought out fix to the problem.
However, despite the best combined efforts of VSEA, the organization determined the most effective solution was to tip the asteroid off course. The celestial object would be in range in only 3 weeks, so they needed to prepare quickly.
The scientist in charge of leading this operation was Dr. Thomas Watson. He was selected by the council that leads VSEA for his valiant pioneering in the past. Not only did he develop what is currently the only known cure to HIV, but he also led multiple lunar missions and headed up the construction of the first moon colony, MB-0.
At this point, the entire planet was aware of the pressing situation. VSEA and the international governments were flooded with scared phone calls and emails on the daily. So, as you might expect, it felt almost as if some of the pressure of this excruciating situation was eased off with the announcement of Dr. Watson as the leader of the project.
The scientist and his team got straight to work, designing an unmanned rocket to be launched at the asteroid, tipping it off course and allowing it to narrowly miss Vandar. Within a few days, the design phase was done, and construction began.
With multiple crews working rapidly around the clock, it was no shock that they finished the project with nearly a week to spare before the asteroid struck. With this extra time, they perfected the angle at which the rocket should be launched.
Or so they thought.
As they'd soon come to discover, Dr. Watson and his crews had made a massive flaw in their calculations. They'd set the rocket to launch on the complete opposite side of the planet than the asteroid would be hitting.
However, by the time they realized this, it was too late. The rocket was already mid-launch, when field agents noticed the asteroid was not even visible from the rocket's cameras. According to Watson's plan, the asteroid should've been in plain view by now. When the agents got this intel to VSEA headquarters, the teams there accessed other satellite cameras, and soon discovered their fatal mistake.
The asteroid was barreling its way towards the other side of the world. In fact, towards one of the most populated cities on Vandar. When Watson realized his flaw, he quickly went into hiding, and was never heard from again. Considering VSEA headquarters was in that populated area, it has been the common presumption that he's dead for many years.
The entire situation became known as the Watson Incident, and left the world in a decimated state. The immediate area where the asteroid hit was completely decimated, while the rest of the world quickly fell into an impact winter.
Thus began the start of the New World, and the rise of heroes.