Lord Ruben Carter-Graydale, a great entrepreneur and inventor from the early days of space colonization, was a true visionary of his era. And like many geniuses, he was a rather unique individual. Lord Graydale’s eccentricity took the form of a particular phobia: the fall of mankind.

He had little faith in humanity’s self-control—and, unfortunately, history gave him plenty of reasons to doubt. What he feared most was the terrifying imbalance between mankind’s destructive capabilities and its fragile foothold in the stars. With the press of a single button, humanity could destroy an entire planet, yet only a handful of worlds had been colonized. To Lord Graydale, more colonies meant more chances of survival.

Driven by this belief, he founded an organization into which he poured his entire fortune: the Graydale Foundation. Its mission was simple—to secure as many colonized planets as possible and to transform each one into a seed for future expansion. If a colony could go on to colonize other planets, humanity would spread across the galaxy more quickly and sustainably.

To achieve this ambitious goal, careful planning was required.

Thus, the so-called “Graydale Method” was developed. Unlike conventional colony ships designed to transport populations, these seed ships had a singular purpose: to spread humanity. Structurally, they were little more than vast containers housing terraforming equipment, management AI cores, essential frontier infrastructure, and cloning vats—all built around a Johnson-Tanaka drive. Their simplicity made them far cheaper and easier to produce than traditional colony vessels.

Upon arriving at a target planet, a seed ship would wait for terraforming systems to render the environment habitable. Then, it would begin producing clones. These clones, educated and conditioned during gestation, would emerge as loyal employees of the Foundation, tasked with constructing a functional colony—and, eventually, building a new seed ship. Once the sowing line had been extended, the colonists left behind would be free to live as they wished.

To support this cycle, the Foundation preloaded each ship’s database with blueprints for a wide array of tools and equipment, selected for durability and ease of maintenance. These ranged from farming tools to heavy weaponry. Colonists often continued using Foundation-standard gear even after their settlements matured. To this day, it's not uncommon to find tools or weapons bearing the Graydale seal tucked away in the corners of forgotten colonies.

Although Lord Graydale passed away before the Foundation launched its first seed ship, the mark he left on humanity was indelible. According to projections by Ordo Historia, approximately 8.5% of all human colonies trace their origins back to the Graydale Foundation.

Behold—the lasting legacy of one man's fear.

“To Ensure the Survival of Humanity”
—Excerpt from the preamble to the Graydale Foundation Staff Manual, 5023 Edition