Borderlands is set in the distant future, at a time
when mega-corporations seek control of planets
to colonize and mine for their mineral wealth. In
the past, the Atlas Corporation, one of the major mega-corporations,
uncovered an ancient alien vault filled with advanced
weapons technology on another planet,
allowing them to rapidly overtake their competitors.
Finding similar alien architectural ruins on the planet Pandora,
Atlas sought to settle the planet, but were forced
to abandon their plans due to their failure to find any alien technology
on the surface,
and being unprepared for the dangerous wildlife coming
out of its winter hibernation during their stay.
After Atlas’ departure, the Dahl Corp., another mega-corporation,
colonized the planet to secure its vast deposits of minerals,
using a large population of convict labor for the
mining operations (and while initiating their own search for a vault.)
Their research team found proof that a vault existed
on Pandora. This news was intercepted by the Atlas Corp. ,
who sent its private military force, the “Crimson
Lance”, find the vault's location. Faced with an invasion by Atlas,
Dahl abandoned the planet, taking only the wealthy
colonists, and leaving the remaining population to scavenge for a living
amongst the barren wastelands and industrial trash
heaps across the planet. To make matters worse,
the convict labor was allowed to go free, leading
them to form gangs of bandits that terrorize the local populace.
