Editing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (section)

===Setting===
Space-race victories in the ''Civilization'' series conclude with a journey to [[Alpha Centauri]].<ref name=Shah2000p1>[[#Shah2000|Shah (2000)]], p.1.</ref> Beginning with that premise the ''Alpha Centauri'' narrative starts in the [[22nd century#Video games|22nd century]], after the [[2060]] launch of the United Nations colonization mission "Unity" to Alpha Centauri's planet Chiron ("Planet").<ref name=SMACManual1999p2>[[#SMACManual|Reynolds (1999)]], p.2.</ref> Unbeknownst to humans, advanced extraterrestrials ("Progenitors") had been conducting experiments in vast distributed nervous systems, culminating in a planetary biosphere-sized presentient nervous system ("Manifold") on Chiron, leaving behind monoliths and artifacts on Chiron to guide and examine the system's growth.<ref name=Shah2000p3>[[#Shah2000|Shah (2000)]], p.3.</ref> Immediately prior to the start of the game, a reactor malfunction on the Unity spacecraft wakes the crew and colonists early and irreparably severs communications with Earth.<ref name=SMACManual1999p3>[[#SMACManual|Reynolds (1999)]], p.3.</ref> After the captain is assassinated, the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers, conflicting agendas for the future of mankind, and "desperately serious" commitments.<ref name="SMACManual1999p3"/><ref name=Rosen1999>[[#Rosen1999|Rosen (1999)]]</ref> As the ship breaks up, seven escape pods, each containing a faction, are scattered across Planet.<ref name=Tito2005p1>[[#Tito2005|Tito (2005)]], p.1.</ref>

In the ''Alien Crossfire'' expansion pack, players learn that alien experiments led to disastrous consequences at [[Tau Ceti]], creating a hundred-million-year evolutionary cycle that ended with the eradication of most complex animal life in several neighboring inhabited star systems.<ref name=Primap286>[[#Prima|McCubbin (1999)]], p.286.</ref> After the disaster (referred to by Progenitors as "Tau Ceti Flowering"), the Progenitors split into two factions: Manifold Caretakers, opposed to further experimentation and dedicated to preventing another Flowering; and Manifold Usurpers, favoring further experimentation and intending to induce a controlled Flowering in ''Alpha Centauri''{{'}}s Planet. In ''Alien Crossfire'', these factions compete along with the human factions for control over the destiny of Planet.