Barbarians at the Gates

Federation of Humanity Timeline

2030: Establishment of Armstrong Base on Luna. First shipment of lunar HE3 to Earth.

2031-35: Establishment of Japanese, Russian, European and Chinese mining bases on the moon. Launch of first asteroid capture missions.

2037: Launch of first Mars mission.

2038: Effective collapse of the Middle East owing to the replacement of oil by HE3

2040: First large-scale colony ship launched to Mars. First military bases established on the moon.

2045-50: Third World War pits Americans and Europeans against Russians and Chinese, fighting it out for control of NEO and access to space-based resources. War ends in orbital bombardment of China and Russia, followed by unconditional surrender.

2051: Terran Federation established by victorious powers as a replacement for the discredited United Nations. Mars population booms as seven new colony ships are launched towards Mars.

2051-2100: First Expansion Era. Settlements on all planetary bodies and thousands of asteroids. New political units form, including the Kingdom of Titan and the RockRat Association. Most of Earth’s industrial base is steadily being moved into space as a response to increasing security problems on Earth.

2070: Free Mars movement formed in pursuit of an independent Mars-based state.

2090: Hundreds of generational arks—mainly formed from asteroids and crewed by RockRats—start heading out, seeking freedom from an increasingly repressive national security state.

2097: Doctor Irene Asimov deduces the presence of “gravimetric points” within Sol’s gravity field.

2103: Discovery of the first Asimov Point, leading to a nearby Sol-type star.

2104: Discovery of Sol’s second Asimov Point. This one leads to a system that includes an Earth-like world, which is named Terra Nova.

2105-07: Settlement begins on Terra Nova. The process is an uncomfortable one as the Federation finds itself compelled to include an even mix of Earth’s nationalities and religions.

2107-30: Second Expansion Era. Fourteen Earth-like worlds are discovered. Settlement of Kennedy, Novaya Rodina, Britannia and others. Earth-based governments start offering settlement incentives, hoping to push as many people into emigrating as possible. First orbital tower completed.

2132: Discovery of Graveyard, a world that was apparently destroyed in a nuclear war.

2134: Zion, a solely Jewish world, is colonised over the objections of various parties in the Federation. The State of Israel—which has constructed three frigates as part of its contribution to the Federation Navy—announces that it will defend their right to a homeworld.

2140-60: The First Interstellar War. The Snakes emerge from an undiscovered Asimov Point in the Zion System and attack the Jewish world. Planetary bombardment is followed by invasion, forcing the settlers to resort to insurgent warfare to remain alive. The Snakes follow up their advantage by pushing through the other Asimov Point, but fail to detect the Type-3 Asimov Point in the Marianne System that would allow them to punch through to Earth. The Federation mobilises for war, military forces are united and political differences are forgotten. Zion is liberated in 2052, followed by a military campaign that takes humanity into the heart of the Snake Empire. When the Snakes refuse to surrender, planetary bombardment is used to depopulate their worlds. The sole remaining Snakes are transferred to a marginal world at the end of a chain of Asimov Points and barred from developing any form of space travel or indeed high technology ever again.

2161: The Federation is reconfigured under the leadership of President Vane. The Federation Protocols are signed, creating the united Federation Navy and Federation Marines.

The Brotherhood of Humanity is founded by the survivors of Zion. In the following centuries, the Brotherhood provides a disproportionate percentage of recruits for the Federation Navy, before becoming a quasi-underground secret society.

2161-3005: Third Expansion Era. Humanity settles over five hundred worlds by moving through Asimov Points. Several new alien races are discovered, not all of them friendly. Owing to prevailing xenophobia after the First Interstellar War, aliens—even those living within the Federation—are not enfranchised or regarded as equals. At least two alien races are exterminated by human settlers.

Unluckily for the Federation, the Protocols did not envisage such massive expansion and tensions within the Federation started threatening to tear it apart. Foremost among them is a growing secessionist crisis among the border colonies, led by the Colonial Alliance.

2610: Professor Bainbridge produces his theory of collapsing gravity points. The Federation launches the Bainbridge Initiative in response. Eventually, the research leads to a way of travelling FTL without Asimov Points.

3006: The Inheritance Wars begins with the Colonial Alliance’s declaration of independence.

3007: The Battle of Spider (later renamed Spider Bite). The first use of Compressed Antimatter in combat sends the Federation Navy reeling back.

3008-3109: The Inheritance Wars effectively stalemate with neither side being able to gain a significant advantage. War rages as both sides try to break out of the stalemate. As time goes on, both sides start resorting to atrocities and terror tactics.

3110: Development of the Continuous Displacement Drive by the Federation.

3112: Battle of Athens. Use of CDD by Federation Navy (bypassing the Asimov Point network) allows the Federation to score a decisive victory.

3114: Colonial Alliance surrenders, ending the Inheritance Wars. Thousands of unrepentant Colonists take starships and head out into the great unknown; others try to make what peace they can with the Federation.

3115: The Conference of Earth settles the question of the restructured Federation and future expansion. The defeated worlds are treated relatively well, but the question of representation in the Senate—which the Colonial Alliance fought the war over in the first place—is not up for discussion.

3116-4024: Fourth Expansion Era. Conservative, Socialist and Imperialist factions develop within the Senate. The position of the President is reduced to a mere figurehead, while real power rests with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet—subject to the Senate’s approval. Political dynasties come into open existence.

4001: Marius Drake born on Mars.

4017: Marius Drake reports to Luna Academy.

4021: Marius Drake commissioned as a Lieutenant and assigned to Frontier Fleet.

4025-29: The Blue Star War. The Imperialist Faction provokes a war with a newly discovered alien race in order to seize control of Sapphire, a blue giant with an unprecedented number of Asimov Points associated with it. Expecting an easy victory, the Federation Navy commits a blunder and divides its forces in the face of the enemy, resulting in two disastrous defeats. The overpowering might of the Federation eventually prevails, by which time the Imperialist Faction has been badly discredited and effectively absorbed by the other two. Marius Drake sees action in the war.

4070: Marius Drake is promoted to Commodore and given command of a battle squadron.

4072: Roman Garibaldi is born on Isogloss, a RockRat asteroid habitat.

4073: “Outsiders”—a ragtag bunch of pirates, rebels and aliens—start raiding along the Rim, the outermost edge of Federation territory.

4077: Marius Drake is promoted to Vice Admiral and sent to wage war on the Outsiders.

4087: Roman Garibaldi wins a prize scholarship to Luna Academy.

4091: Marius Drake is recalled to Earth for “consultations.”

4092: Admiral Justinian launches his coup.