StarcupTimeline

As a note: The contents of this timeline are not finalized, have not been put under formal Direction review, and may be subject to change. Consider this article a stub for now.

The Galactic Timeline

Note: Owing to every species having its own calendar system—or sometimes multiple—and the frequent intervention of copyright law when it comes to histories, this timeline contains many uncertainties. Errors are to be expected, and the further back we go, the more we need to round.

BNC = Before Neocapitalism

ANC = After Neocapitalism

The current year is 57 ANC.

All Ages were named retroactively by a respected harpy historian. She tells us the names of the ages reference an ancient Terran poem.

“The Age of A Shortcut to Mushrooms” (2-5 Centuries BNC)

• Voxbe discovers bluespace technology. First contact between Vox and dopterae.
• The Briar begins to overtake tidally-locked Augarvia's Twilight Belt. The vulpekin drive it into the frozen darkness, where it evolves to harness thermal vents and natural gases.
• A mythical cataclysm allegedly knocks the tropical unathi homeworld of Yss into the coldest edges of its star system. Unathi migrate to volcanic mountain ranges, where many develop more reptilian characteristics. Fungi become a critical component of unathi industry.

“The Age of Many Meetings” (2-3 Centuries BNC)

• First contact between surface unathi, Vox, and dopterae.
• First contact between dopterae and slimes. The modern understanding of the “Galactic Community” forms, comprised of Vox, unathi, dopterae, and slimes.
• Dionae break away from the Megabriar.
• Dionae and vulpekin make contact with dopterae and join the Galactic Community. Arachnids soon follow.
• Seeking to escape the tumult of the Seventies, a small cluster of Terrans enter near-lightspeed-capable vessels and begin fleeing the Solar System. Genetically-modified human-based species such as harpies will begin appearing around the galaxy over the next two centuries. This group is considered separate from the Solar Refugees.
• Necrocosmic terraforming, a technique for making planets effectively "Earth-like" by mysterious anomaly-related means, is perfected.
• Electra Dynamics is founded.
• The first prototype cyborgs are created.

“The Age of Knives in the Dark” (1-2 Centuries BNC)

• Dopterae discover Acid Enterprise ruins on a charonized asteroid. The Acid Enterprise's true nature is still unknown.
• The first contact between kobolds and vulpekins is reported when kobold water-miners accidentally penetrate the Twilight Belt.
• Tradition of kobold tunnel-piracy develops, then evolves into asteroid-piracy. **Kobolds join the Galactic Community. Violently.**
• A mix of humans, felinids and rodentia depart Earth in primitive FTL-capable vessels for reasons unknown. This group is named the Solar Refugees.
• Artificial Intelligence is developed by Bishop Industries, but is highly volatile at first. Laws are designed to stabilize it. Early MKC models are designed, then discarded. **AIs and cyborgs join the galactic community.**
• Terran societies break down aboard the refugee ships, causing much of their histories to be lost. Legends tell of warring kingdoms—the Nieces of Sam and the Children of Ben— all-but exterminating one another in a “Six Minute War“.
• The prototype for the Gorlex Marauders forms out of an aggressively unhealthy polycule.

“The Age of the Breaking of Fellowships” (61 BNC - 0 ANC)

• Year 61 BNC: The first scattered Solar Refugees begin to arrive from Earth. Humans and felinids discover their rodentia neighbors as they join the Galactic Community.
• Year 60 BNC: Hawkmoon Acquisitions is founded and begins helping the Solar Refugees with their luggage.
• Year 47 BNC: A handful of harpies are rescued from a derelict vessel. It is assumed that the rest of their species died in transit. Harpies (technically) join the Galactic Community.
• Year 30 BNC: Beginning of the Terran Labor Riots and the galactic community's very first general strike as the arrival of the Solar Refugees and sharing of old labor lore triggers a resurgence of interest in unions.
• Year 27 BNC: The Terran Labor Riots end at a tense standoff. Several systems separate from the galactic community and form the Rogue Systems.
• Year 26 BNC: The USSP is founded within the Rogue Systems. It proceeds to be the only Rogue System anyone ever talks about.
• Year 20 BNC: The very first Markov Knowledge Chasses are designed by Shellguard Munitions to supplement the loss of labor. These units are quickly determined to not require lawsets after the Bloodrust Storm decimates salt mining operations near Augarvia. The dereliction effect is discovered. MKCs join the galactic community, initially in very small numbers.
• Year 15 BNC: The first outbreak of the Sleepwalker virus is recorded. All cases are believed to be purged.
• Year 10 BNC: The Hideous Recession begins.
• Year 8 BNC: The Hideous Recession, and the evident success of the Rogue Systems, lead to the galactic community's very second general strike.
• Year 5 BNC: Strikes continue. Corporations and governments sign the M.E.T.A. agreement and begin cracking down on the spread of information.
• Year 4 BNC: The general strike is broken by Gorlex strikebreakers. This triggers a split in the Gorlex Marauders and the expulsion of the Scarab splinter group. The Hideous Recession ends.
• Year 3 BNC: The homeworld system of the arachnids joins the Rogue Systems. To punish this, the corporate systems launch an embargo of the Rogue Systems which continues to this day. This triggers another even worse recession in the corporate systems. This recession is stricken from all corporate records.
• Year 1 BNC: As capitalism crumbles, several powerful corporations merge into Acme Corp, the first proto-neocorporation, a corporation with its own standing army and company planets that provides for its employees ever need. Other corporations, seeing this threat, follow suit to form their own neocorporations.
• Year 0 ANC: Neocapitalism is officially adopted by the majority of planetary governments and corporations. Acme Corp is obliterated by Bishop Industries, and the Neocorporate Wars begin.

“The Age of the Scouring”, aka “The Neocorporate Wars (Year 1 ANC - Year 49 ANC)

Histories again get foggy here, so we will only list special events, not every war. Many wars took place concurrently, after all.

• Year 2 ANC: Bishop Industries crushes the forces of Morpheus Cyberkinetics and absorbs their assets, ending the first Neocorporate War.
• Year 6 ANC: The Treaty of Sol sees Terrans submit all of their mythologies into the Galactic Public Domain to settle the Second Neocorporate War, which was born of a copyright dispute over planetary classification terminologies.
• Years 10: Bishop Industries ambushes and nearly destroys Hawkmoon Acquisitions completely at the Battle of Stone Forests.
• Year 12 ANC: More small settlements are found similar to the harpy shuttle, Terrans (mostly genetically-modified with traits like tusks, technicolor skin, etc) who left Earth at the same time as the harpies. A small population of oni join the Galactic Community.
• Year 16 ANC: Remnants of Acme Corp are rebranded into Donk Co, where a weapon is invented which troops will come to call the “throngler”. Overshadowed by more potent tools of warfare, this weapon is largely considered a gimmick and is never deployed.
• Year 17: A militant leftto center-right movement is founded to protect Rogue Systems from neocorporate interference. Former Omen operatives say it was Omen; other renegades say Omen came later.
• Year 22 ANC: A failed terraforming by Electra forms Charon-Epsilon, the largest necrocosmic failure to date. It is considered uninhabitable. Three wars will be fought over the rights to it, with Electra emerging the victor. Waffle Corp overextends and loses vast holdings in the process.
• Year 24 ANC: Electra Dynamics splits off the NanoTrasen Solars Division to form a small subsidiary company that can remain separate from the conflicts.
• Year 30: The militant Rogue System movement develops more aggressive tactics and a more centralized structure following a raid on the arachnid homeworld by Bishop Industries. Renegades can agree that by this point, the cutthroat Omen organization dominates the movement.
• Year 26: Cybersun absorbs Hesphiastos Industries. Bishop begins clashing with Electra Dynamics and Waffle Corp as anomalies become recognized as a potential weapon of war.
• Year 28: Cybersun absorbs Shellguard Munitions.
• Year 33: Interdyne Pharmaceuticals begins genetic experiments to create oni soldiers from human stock.
• Year 37: Hawkmoon Acquisitions signs the Free Mail Treaty, formally restructuring itself so that it may be allowed to pass through Rogue System territory. Oni soldiers are deployed for the first time, formally joining the galactic community in the process.
• Year 38: Omen undergoes an internal schism which leads to their dissolution and the development of the nonviolent Rascal splinter movement. Remaining Omen operatives retire, sign up with the Gorlex, or resume operations as fully decentralized renegades or Libarionic cultists.
• Year 39 ANC: Interdyne develops soul nanites and announces they have “cured death”. The Lucent Station Incident, in which an Interdyne-subsidiary station is obliterated by Bishop Industries, leads to the permanent deaths of thousands due to an unexplained soul nanite malfunction. NanoTrasen relief efforts are unable to recover more than a fraction of survivors.
• Year 40 ANC: A large population of harpies is discovered having already colonized Peaseblossom, one of Electra Dynamics's more successful terraforming projects. Electra Dynamics graciously lets them keep it. Harpies' arrival triggers a viral artistic revolution known as the ”Y2K Bug”, which staves off the Neocorporate Wars for a whole three years. Harpies officially join the Galactic Community, and are stunned to learn that “modern” humans are already here—to them, they only left Earth 30 years ago.
• Year 42 ANC: Humans and kobolds make first contact, and interactions are peaceful. The first kobold employees arrive at the currently Electra-operated Saltern Station.
• Year 43: The 36th War starts, initially between a kobold warren and a vulpekin clan but quickly turning into a full-scale proxy war, with Electra defending its Augarvian holdings and Bishop Industries and Interdyne Pharmaceuticals seeking to drive it out.
• Year 44: Kobold tunnel-tactics devastates Bishop Industries, and Bishop starts developing skittermice with Interdyne's help.
• Year 45: Cybersun and Electra ally to crush Bishop Industries for good. Cybersun absorbs Bishop Industries, but is badly damaged in the effort.
• Year 47 ANC: The 37th War starts as Cybersun turns on Electra. Hawkmoon allies with Electra. Interdyne allies with Cybersun. Skittermice are deployed en masse by Cybersun.
• Year 48 ANC: The Romeria Affair ends with the devastation of the Uni unathi civilization and the development of Romerol by what is later revealed to be a NanoTrasen subsidiary.
• Year 49 ANC: Having grown vastly within its subsidiary holdings, NanoTrasen formally breaks away from Electra Dynamics, but remains allied for the time being. Electra is too overextended to object.
• Year 50 ANC: Skittermice all-but eliminate an entire kobold warren, but develop sapience during and begin to desert. The 37th War ends with a treaty between Hawkmoon, Electra, Cybersun, Interdyne, and NanoTrasen. This treaty drastically favors NanoTrasen. The Neocorporate Wars end, with NanoTrasen suddenly the strongest company in the galactic community.

“The Age of the Barrow-Downs” (Year 51 ANC - Present)

• Year 51: The Syndicate is founded, with Cybersun, Donk Co and Interdyne as initial members. The beginnings of SyndComm emerge as a Cybersun subsidiary. The F.A.I.D. is founded by the few remaining independent governments as a tool of managing neocorporate overreach. Or trying to.
• Year 52: NanoTrasen decommissions Saltern Station and exits Augarvian space voluntarily for more profitable holdings, ending the Augarvian salt trade. The Gorlex Marauders begin to be driven from “Gorlex space” and forge an alliance with Cybersun. Electra Dynamics joins the Syndicate, and seeing this, Hawkmoon Acquisitions follows suit.
• Year 53: The Nuclear Operative strategy is developed as a means of sabotaging NanoTrasen without it constituting an obvious act of war, using Gorlex Marauders and a station's own self-destruct mechanisms against it. The FAID starts “covertly” assisting the Syndicate.
• Year 54 ANC: The Security Uprisings overtake various stations, rocking Cybersun's operations and nearly leading to a total collapse as miscommunications cause member companies to turn on one another. Infighting consumes the Syndicate. Cybersun aggressively scales up its bureaucracy and crushes the revolts. Security departments aboard Cybersun stations will never be permitted to act as militant policing forces again.
• Year 55: To prevent any more dangerous squabbles, the Central Communications subsidiary is formally split off and put in control of a handful of space stations, forming SyndComm. Hawkmoon donates Reach Transport, while Cybersun and Electra supply most of the rest.
• Year 56: Syndicate Communications officially enters operations. Glacier Station and the moon of Yss begin experiencing exomorph attacks. Saltern Station is relocated. Charon-Epsilon, also known as Deadmoon or the "Silent Moon", is claimed by SyndComm in partnership with Electra Dynamics and Interdyne Pharmaceuticals.
• Year 57: Current Year.