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I just finished my first play through. Awesome experience, by the way! I wanted to comment on the unresolved plot line of what happened to the Earth. I read online various theories, that generally agreed that the lack of replies from Earth, the missing frigate, and the decreasing frequency of interstellar freighters meant that Earth was destroyed somehow. I’m thinking that these theories seem a bit deus ex machina and not quite in keeping with the focus of the plotting on the corporate misrule of Halcyon, as opposed to some sort of mysterious off screen apocalypse. It seems that applying Occam’s Razor to the problem of Earth may work best: whatever government or colonial authority now rules on Earth simply cut off Halcyon, writing off the colony, seized the missing frigate and wrote off their investment and all the people there. The gradual reduction in shipping reported on the Groundbreaker could simply reflect the diminishing value of trade and quality of goods the colony was producing. After all, what self respecting merchant wants to spend years traveling to a failing colony to sell stuff to broke people who only have toxic fake Saltuna to give in trade? Earth would’ve figured out by the time of the game that the HHC Chairman had deposed and detained or killed its legate and was sending fake news and fraudulent reports back in his name. Returning traders and maybe spies would’ve reported the horrific and failing conditions in Halcyon. They probably even figured out that the colony would soon starve, and they may even have deduced the HHC’s genocidal master plan. The “missing” frigate could’ve arrived safely on Earth, made irrational demands in HHC’s name and just gotten themselves arrested and charged with crimes against humanity, for supporting the HHC regime. The cost of sending an invasion force to attempt to retake a failing colony ruled by a madman, and enough aid to make a difference, would likely be politically prohibitive, especially given the “loss” of hundreds of thousands with the disappearance of the Hope, a couple generations earlier, so writing off the colony might be the most politically expedient thing to do. There was a bit on one of Groundbreaker side missions about communications from Earth being encrypted, before they just ceased several months before the game begins, which appears to support such a political, instead of an apocalyptic, theory. Also, word of an apocalypse on Earth would’ve reached other, better off, colonies that are hinted at, and interstellar shipping and communications from those other colonies would’ve related that news or even rumors to Groundbreaker. The idea that Earth wasn’t destroyed, but just so disgusted and indifferent toward its “lost” colony of Halcyon that it decided to abandon it within bothering to tell them, just ghosting them, would fit best with the world building bleakness of the Halcyon setting, I think. So, yea, I’m guessing that Earth wasn’t destroyed. It just doesn’t care.