The Silent Era

Can you imagine it? All the lights of the galaxy doused, and each voice muffled or silenced completely?

The several centuries immediately following the Visitation, in which humanity's former society and hegemony amongst the stars broke down in its totality due to widespread destruction and death, as well as the complete unraveling of the interstellar trade networks. Whole systems starved as no longer could food be brought in, and even in the places that had plentiful food; the introduction of anomalies and Visitors crumbled the remains of society away, leaving situations to be rather comparable.