[quote=@FortunesFaded]
[@User] Probably, and I'll allow the latter -- someone who, perhaps, used to work there, or was just on leave back on Earth, or something. 

[@DeepestApology] Absolutely!

Politics: Humanity is still fractured along the lines of her nations on Earth, and this nationalism has translated to most colonies, with a few exceptions (the B.A.S.S. being one notable one; see "The Universe"). Essentially, certain governments lay claim to areas of, say, Mars or the moon, and have developed those properties into thriving cities which may be connected to the cities of other nations through an extensive system of airlocks. Immigration is about as common on other planets as it is on Earth, and most nations encourage it to an extent. As a result, each city or colony distinctly belongs to one nation, though the population is certainly not homogeneous.

Aliens: If we're talking strictly sentient species, then no, humans have not discovered anything that appears to be on par with their own intelligence. They have found "life", but that comes in the form of bacteria found on distant planets. At this point, that's the extent; although the human race has not gotten too far into the spacefaring age: they've really only explored the Milky Way, and had just begun to explore Ursa Major and other nearby galaxies. Just because aliens aren't in this at the start, doesn't mean they aren't coming.

Characters: Ideally, a mix of both. Probably primarily government employees or soldiers sent to investigate, but if someone's character has a certain skill-set that would aid the mission, I imagine that they'd be hired to accompany the team. That would include mercenaries or skilled civilians, such as a scientist.
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Wonderful, thanks for the insight. Also, has the EU become a federation in this universe or not? I'm planning on making a naively optimistic government offical from there :P