Humans were the second independently evolved group of sophonts in the galaxy to be encountered by bug ferrets, though unlike avians the myriad of human species had been created by genetically modifying fellow humans, not evolutionary separation.
Following the development of their first working fusion reactor in the year 2000, humans began to colonize their local moon and star system. Looking to escape civil unrest and global heating caused by industrial reliance on CO² emitting energy, many wealthy humans left their homeplanet during this period. But these young space colonies were not totally self-sufficient, and their life lines tied into the same broken systems they were hoping to avoid. These tensions came to a head during WW3, when powers on Mars attempted to quell unrest on Earth, and the conflict resulted in the shattering of several world powers between Earth, Mars, and the Jupiter system.
First contact happened during post WW3 peacetime with the Jupiter system; bringing wormholes, advanced terraforming technology, and alien influence to human culture.