The Next Generation is an era of 22nd history beginning in 2454. This year saw the entry of several legacy cadets into the fleet's service, as children and other relatives of previous 22nd crew began their own stories. The opening of this era began with something old and something new, as the USS Adagio was pulled from mothballs and crews worked to bring the ship up to date and return to service. At the same time, the USS Stardancer was completed and launched on a mission into the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The initial mission for the Stardancer was both to continue exploration of the cluster and to revisit several cultures that were initially contacted by other ships. Most notably, a large collection of legacy cadets served aboard the Stardancer, enabling a new generation to obtain valuable working experience.
Meanwhile, a selection of ensigns were pulled from the Adagio's potential crew and assigned to undergo specialized training. This training was an attempt to produce more rounded officers who were capable in a variety of missions In connection to Project Janus.
2455 continued the training of cadets, the first group of which graduated during this year. The year also saw the relaunch of the Adagio, with the aforementioned training group being merged into Adagio's crew and assigned to that ship's Hazard Team.
The Stardancer encountered several new species in the region known as the Black Ocean. Among these were the Primacy, a large organization that dates back to a time before the dark created the black ocean.