In 3028, humanity has mastered deep space travel and interacted with several alien species. A human invention called "Project Titan" alarms the Drej, a pure energy-based alien species. As the Drej start to attack Earth, Professor Sam Tucker, the lead researcher for "Project Titan", sends his son Cale on one of the evacuation ships with his alien friend Tek while Tucker and other members of his team fly the ''Titan'' spacecraft into hyperspace (science fiction). The Drej mother ship arrives and fires a directed-energy weapon into the planet that completely destroys Earth, while debris from the explosion also destroys the Moon. The surviving humans become nomads, generally ridiculed by other alien species.