Farscape/I

Ilanics
Ilanics are a space-faring extraterrestrial species from the Ilanic Sector. They are characterized by twin sets of tentacles; one pair which hangs down down from each brow and another pair that is located farther back upon the skull and is usually obscured by an Ilanic's hair or are otherwise fastened behind their heads. They also possess two tentacles that hang down below the chin. Physically, Ilanics bear a strong resemblance to Luxans, which is appropriate since the two races are genetic cousins to one another.

Three cycles prior to the escape of Moya from Peacekeeper custody, the Ilanics suffered an unprovoked attacked by a rival race known as the Scorvians, who conducted a surprise siege on one of their colony outposts in the Ilanic Sector. More than two million Ilanics lost their lives. From that point forward, the Ilanics waged a steady war with the Scorvians.

An Ilanic scientist named Verell designed a massive weapon that his people intended to use against the Scorvians. He succeeded in containing a quantum singularity and developed a way to weaponize it. The Scorvians genetically altered one of their own to resemble an Ilanic and sent her to spy on Verell's work. The spy, Matala, pretended to act as a colleague to Verell, but her true mission was to steal the weapon and bring it back to the Scorvians.

During a trek across the Uncharted Territories, Matala arranged to meet with a Scorvian party that would be piloting an Ilanic ship. Due to the instability of the quantum singularity however, their ship's phase couplers overloaded and they risked exploding in space. Fortunately, the Leviathan ship Moya came upon them and offered them passage. Verell and Matala brought their weapon aboard their shuttle and docked on Moya.

John Crichton, the only Earth human aboard Moya, experienced an electrical discharge aboard the Ilanic ship and began experiencing precognitive flashes of possible futures wherein he saw Matal murdering Verell and the crew of Moya. John's insights altered from vision to vision, but all of them shared one thing in common -- Matala was a traitor. John eventually convinced crewmate Ka D'Argo of this and the two went to confront her. Matala murdered Verell and tried to escape with the black hole weapon aboard her shuttle. Before dying, Verell deactivated the cargo's containment field, thus destabilizing the weapon. As the shuttle sped away, the energy from the singularity opened up consuming the ship, killing Matala.

Ilanic Sector
The Ilanic Sector is a region of space not far from the Uncharted Territories, but outside the jurisdiction of the Peacekeepers. It is populated primarily by members of the Ilanic race.

Three cycles prior to the escape of Moya from Peacekeeper custody, the Ilanics suffered an unprovoked attacked by a rival race known as the Scorvians, who conducted a surprise siege on one of their colony outposts in the Ilanic Sector. More than two million Ilanics lost their lives. From that point forward, the Ilanics waged a steady war with the Scorvians.

International Aeronautics and Space Administration
The International Aeronautics and Space Administration (IASA) is an agency of several global governments (in particular the United States and Australia) responsible for the world's growing space program. Based out of Cape Canaveral in Florida, the IASA has acted as the forerunner to the space program and launched a series of high-profile missions which included space walks, lunar exploration, extra-vehicular activity (EVA) and scientific experiments. In its heyday, one of the IASA's most celebrated astronauts was Colonel Jack Crichton, a contemporary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

In 1999, Jack's son John Crichton followed in his father's footsteps towards greatness. Along with his childhood friend Douglas "DK" Knox, John developed a theory which involved using the Earth's gravitational pull to increase propulsion on a spacecraft. To put his theory to the test, John designed the Farscape-1 space module. A shuttlecraft carried the Farscape-1 into Earth's orbit and John began circumnavigating the Earth's globe. IASA mission control picked up signs of a radiation storm and tried to warn John to abort the mission, but it was too late. The Farscape-1 entered the radiation cloud and was pulled through a wormhole, transporting John thousands of light years into another galaxy.