Exodian Fleet

Pre-foundation
The Exodian Fleet's history begins about six years before its foundation, when the first Alcubierre engine was first successfully tested in a quick trip between Earth and Mars in 2133. Almost immediately, several large habitats in the Sol Asteroid Belt were refitted for interstellar travel, and millions of cryopods were installed to facilitate spreading humanity to the stars.

The Gate opens
When the wormhole opened and started disrupting the orbits of the Sol system, panic quickly overtook humanity. Life on Earth suddenly had an expiration date, and it was far sooner than anybody would have liked. The Great Arks, the centerpieces of the Exodian Fleet, were quickly flooded with people looking to escape the looming catastrophe. Even though each of the nine had an immense capacity of 80 million sleepers, it was nowhere near enough to stem the tide of billions. Priority was given to members of smaller nations and cultures, to ensure that their ways of life would be preserved when life on Earth was no longer viable, and asteroid shipyards opened up to build ships for any group that could scrounge together enough members to establish a viable long-term colony.

The controversial decision was also made to send most of the ark ships through the wormhole, as scientists predicted that its gravitational effects would be felt for several hundred light-years, far beyond the capacity of even the fastest ship to carry somebody before they succumbed to radiation poisoning from potassium-40 decay in their very bones.