The Starlight Trader - Timeline (Patreon)

Hello ! Since literally nobody voted no for the lore files, here's the first one, the timeline of major events within that universe. Keep in mind that, as with every lore file, this is subject to change.

Also, the vote has been pretty clear, and I will keep the story in reserve until ten or so chapters are written. I have finished chapter 3 currently.

Notes that this does not contain any major spoilers, though some things (like Katya's naval rank and reason for dismissal) are kept relatively vague for the first few chapters.

Timeline

Format :

Gregorian calendar / Imperial calendar date (from year zero onwards) : Major events.

2 089 : The Europa Incident spirals out of control, and Sol undergoes a massive strategic exchange, nuclear and biological. The Terran Federation is formed of the ashes of what remain.

2 133 : Discovery of faster-than-light travel at the Terran Federation exotic physics laboratories orbiting Nepture. Interstellar exploration begins.

2 138 : The first interstellar colony ship, the Marathon, sets down in Alpha Centauri Prime, starting the Age of Expansion.

2 695 : The first sign of alien life is discovered with the Asiimov plankton in comet 88-93-55-91's ice while it transits through the Kavar system. Its trajectory is traced back to the Urikor system, which is promptly placed under quarantine.

3 059 : The First Federation Civil War begins. Emergency powers are given to the Federation High Council, and never relinquished. The Federation begins its fall into tyranny.

3 073 : Federation cybernetic researchers, in partnership with Arcadia Systems, combine several human neural patterns into a new stable AI pattern, the KTY 'Kitty' class artificial intelligence. The AIs are profficient with logistics and administrative tasks, and the series is rapidly mass produced to limit the rampant corruption within the navy and its myriad of programs. KTY 83-36 'Katya' is activated in Arcadia Systems production center 9 in Paris.

3 098 : The Federation authorizes the deployment of genetically enhanced super soldiers against the Malkadaan rebellion, breaching its own foundational edicts and treaties after the Europan War.

3 112 : After an increasingly vicious cycle of religious insurgencies, the First Purge begins, and the Federation removes freedom to worship from its constitution, and declares state atheism.

3 145 : The Federation virus bombs Urikor Prime.

3 154 : The Wave hits terran space, causing the Fall and the collapse of the Federation. Most advanced technology ceases to function as the laws of physics are altered forever. Hyperspace disappears altogether, and most computers cease to operate as electrical conductivity changes and energy state circuitry vanishes. Famine sweeps human space as agricultural equipment stops working, hydroponics bay go silent and food processing plants grind to a halt in the same cataclysmic instant.

3 163 : First documented appearance of a monster on Terra, the warg, a magically mutated abomination born out of wolves and domesticated dogs. Throughout human space, recovery from the Wave crashes to a halt as monsters explosively multiply through the parsely populated, but still terraformed worlds, who were bereft of predators and pest, and quickly begin attacking human settlements.

3 195 : Madrigal Vitali becomes the first recorded mage on Terra. Taming magic, she gathers disciples and begins delving into the arcane.

3 637 : Mages from all over the world gather in Naples, near Madrigal's place of rest, creating the first Academy (now the Imperial High Academy of Magic) to systematically research and apply magic with the scientific method, record its findings and propagate them.

3 898 : The Helios solar orbiter restores the Federation Sublight Defence Ship (FSDS) 'Khar-Toba' to be space worthy with the help of its mages, and sends it to humanity's homeworld to re-establish contact. Interplanetary travel is restored in Sol.

4 071 : Terra forms the United Nations of Earth and Sol (UNES), an organization meant to unify humanity's homeworld and eventually the entire solar system. The UNES includes nations on Terra, Luna, Mars, Vesta, Ceres and Pallas.

4 095 : Hygiea is conquered by the UNES. The campaign is bloody and results in the orbital habitat becoming uncapable of sustaining human life. The Decree Passif is signed at unanimity by the newly elected UNES security council, forbidding the expansion of the UNES through military conquest bar the most extreme circumstances, and prioritizing diplomacy and economic pressure. This decree is still technically in force under Imperial law, though it has long since passed into tradition.

4 138 : Unification of Terra, Jupiter and Venus under the Solar Triumvirate, dissolution of the UNES. Beginning of the Unification of Sol proper.

4 143 : Sol is declared fully unified after the peaceful absorption of the Belter Republic and the Helios Conglomerate with the treaty of Vesta.

4 181 : The ley lines are discovered, linking star systems together, experimentation begins on stardust as its relationship to the ley lines is discovered.

4 189 : The first Stardrive is built, and the Triumvirate Exploration Ship (TES) Starborn jumps to Alpha Centauri. Interstellar travel is restored, and Triumvirate ships set out towards the stars.

4 353 / 0 : On the eve of the twelve hundred anniversary of the Wave, on the 31st of december, the Solar Empire is formed, with the inner Core Worlds of Sol, Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Eridiani, and the Fall pronounced over.

4 364 / 11 : Emperor Maximilan Antilles decrees that it is the Empire's responsability to reach out to the forlorn and abandonned worlds throughout the old territories of the Federation, and give them back the light of interstellar travel and trade. The First Imperial Edict is signed into being and stardrives enter mass production on a yet unheard of scale.

4 623 / 270 : Imperial mages and artificers find a way to reactivate Federation AI cores, by substituting their energy state matrix with computation crystals and mana soul-links. AI cores begin reactivation in Sol for use by the Empire..

4 639 / 286 : KTY 83-36 'Katya' is reactivated at Imperial cyberarcane research facility 'Ian Banks' in high lunar orbit. She is promptly enrolled within the Imperial Navy's Logistics Corps.

4 973 / 620 : Vice Admiral Katya is arrested for high treason, but charges are dismissed, partially in exchange for assisting Naval Fleet Security (NFS or FleetSec) in its investigations. Katya is asked to retire from the navy in exchange for a promotion to Fleet Admiral, a full pension commensurate with her new rank and the burying of any enquiries concerning multiple corruption allegations. In the midst of the purge of Cataryn the Pretender and her supporters within the Imperial Navy, Katya takes the offer and begins looking for investors to launch herself as a free trader.

4 974 / 621 : Katya is contacted by the Imperial Interstellar Security Agency (IISA) and offered a deal. The COV-996 (Covert Operations Vessel) Starlight, officially a civilian Lumen-class fast trader vessel, finishes its space trials and is launched with Katya as captain.

4 986 / 633 : Present day.