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3781-4053CE
The reign of Empress Jena represents the Empire at its height of vitality and
power. The era began with three more wars against the Grand Federation of
Races, cumulating in a final victory that would eventually establish peaceful
coexistence for the duration of the Empire. After a period of postwar
adjustment marked by economic turmoil and some sporadic piracy, the Empire
entered a period of peace and prosperity that stretched through the 40th century
to beyond the end of Jena's reign. While known for what became the Jenan
style of elegance, sophistication and usually tasteful extravagance, Empress
Jena will always be known for her pronouncement at the 3968CE Imperial
Exposition at Madrid, "No one within the Empire is poor or ugly or sickly,
except by choice." This statement was almost true.
The long Second Federation War of 3780-3810CE was a halfhearted fight on the
Grand Federation's side. The war started over trade disputes and quickly
spread into a revolt of the B'dr'rak and !Tak worlds. With the Kith'turi
leading the initial Federation attacks, only their patrons Primary races, the
Eenikiti, Fontan and Tze't, participated directly in the struggle, assisted by
other border Secondary races. Imperial Regent Margrette brought back Orlan
D'Juma to lead the Navy against the Grand Federation and he mostly managed to
stem the Grand Federation attacks and subdue the revolts. The first phase
of the war ended with a ceasefire in 3798CE that would probably have resulted in
an armistice or peace treaty had not B'dr'rak suicide raiders attacked Antares
and Nachen, starting a renewed struggle.
The second phase of the war saw harder fighting, including the use of Hellkings
against the B'dr'rak world of Tsh'tk, killing two billion. During the war,
the Empire developed the first worm drive interstellar vessels and primitive
stasis cannons. In 3805CE, Hornan Deng achieved fame with his raid on the
outskirts of the Focus system and he later became a leading admiral in
subsequent wars. The war ended with the Antares Armistice in 3810CE,
granting slight border adjustments in the Empire's favor and beginning an
Imperial reoccupation of the resentful B'dr'rak.
Empress Jena came of age during the war and in 3800CE assumed the duties of
Empress. In that same year, she married King Ivan Kamarov of Paradise,
cementing her relationships with the major Nobilis houses. Her husband was
her third cousin and four hundred years her elder, but they maintained a good
relationship throughout their reign, with no hint of scandal.
Eenikiti support for B'dr'rak piracy led to the Third Federation War of
3818-3222CE, a conflict mostly confined to the border regions and fought by
Grand Federation Secondary races with only minor patron support. The war
saw D'Juma again use Hellkings against renewed B'dr'rak resistance, this time
killing nine billion in the destruction of Rr'tk'ku in 3820CE. The Broital
surrendered to Admiral Deng, and with Imperial fleets backed by planetbusters
closing on Kith'turi and Salvaatiki population centers, the Grand Federation
hastily agreed to an immediate armistice, ceding control of the Broital worlds
and sections of Sectors 698 and 699, including some Kith'turi and Salvaatiki
worlds. With a separate Treaty of Tandaarom, the Grand Federation agreed
to stop piracy in Imperial Space.
In nearly two decades of peace, marred only by the brief Revolt Against
Tradition in 3838CE, worm drive technology spread to the Grand Federation and
into the civilian market, revolutionizing starship design.
The Fourth Federation War of 3840-3856CE began over continuing Kith'turi piracy
and unresolved border issues. This war resembled the scope of the First
Federation War and featured mobilization of all Grand Federation Primary Races
and the imposition of a total war economy within the Empire. While Admiral
D'Juma stubbornly held a few strongpoints, the Grand Federation line of
occupation moved to within 340 light-years of Sol by 3845CE and raiders
penetrated the Empire, striking the Old Colony world of Ghandi in the following
year. Eventually, Jena's willingness to allocate the full might of the
Imperial economy to the war effort turned the tide against the advance. By
3849CE, Imperial forces had retaken their own worlds and had begun attacks
against Grand Federation border races. The war saw the use of Hellkings
against five planetary targets, killing twelve billion B'dr'rak and three
hundred million Kith'turi. In 3852CE D'Juma launched Operation Sword,
which cumulated in the largest engagement in Known Space history at the Great
Battle of Focus in 3854CE, a triumph which secured Imperial victory.
The treaties signed at Nachen in 3854CE established an Imperial border at the
"Five Sector Line" a plane 500 light-years from Sol. The Kith'turi,
Salvaatiki, Yerman, Fak, Mormargrs and Kraz enter the Empire as Major Races,
subject to a century of martial law. Within a few years, the Empire
annexed the Federation Human enclave at Zhantlas, the Balloonites and the
Iceworms. Jena also elevated the Quadrons, Turgil, Khaddahl and Brennar to
Major Race status in 3856CE in recognition of their long Imperial membership.
In 3872CE, the Imperial economy began its first downturn in centuries,
eventually demonstrating the limitations of Chinist analysis and leading to the
adoption of the Ibrahimite scholar Sir Fazzi Turuk's Universal Economy theorems,
first put forward in 3889CE. Within a few years Turuk's analysis and
policy recommendations, adopted by Minister of Commerce Janys Trebelli, returned
the economy to growth and stability, though at a cost of vitality and innovation
that persisted throughout the rest of the Imperial era.
In the Coreward areas annexed after the Treaty of 3854CE, Humans began settling
uninhabited and fallow worlds, with the Khabaderans beginning their Great
Retreat from sixty worlds amidst scattered piracy and attacks on Imperial
settlers. Over the course of the next two centuries, over fifty billion
former Grand Federation residents migrated back to Grand Federation.
Relations with the Grand Federation improved dramatically the 40th century and
beyond. The Zhretran Drift City Crisis of the mid 40th century was settled
peacefully and Jena mothballed the remaining Hellkings in 3954CE at Grand
Federation request. In 3975CE, the Empress lifted martial law restrictions
on the Kith'turi systems and by the fifth millennium, Grand Federation cross
border travel and cultural exchanges began to increase.
With Imperial Science funding remaining flat despite the increasing economy,
more forward looking citizens, including adherents of the Technologist and
Mechanist church, founded the Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge (IAK)
at Prometheus in 3977CE, and in the early 41st century, Sir Jon Gades and the
crew of his starship Endeavour were famous for their exploratory voyages far
beyond the Trailing, North and South frontiers.
By 4053CE, when Empress Jena, King Ivan, Imperial Mother Margrette and Princess
Melena Hu of Mercury died after the Imperial yacht Exeter succumbed to a breach
endemic in early Class B worm ships, the Imperial settlement radius extended
beyond 518 light-years and encompassed 13,000 colonized worlds. Two dozen
races shared Major status with Humanity, which accounted for half the Imperial
population of six hundred billion member sentients.
The Jenan Age was a period of harmony within the Empire. The wars
against the Grand Federation added to a sense of unity among Human factions and
with the established Imperial Major Races. Jena's wedding to King Ivan
Kamarov of Paradise cemented relationships with the Great Houses of the Empire,
and continued good feelings from the Declaration of Tolerance kept peace between
religious movements. The only exception to this internal harmony was the
brief and futile Revolt Against Tradition, led by Count Alik Despanja of Tripoli
and the Golden Stasis founder Harlo Dilman, who had diverged from his original
philosophies and impatiently sought his new ideal through revolution.
While the aftermath of three wars with the Grand Federation produced eventual
reconciliation and good relations, they did lead to what was in effect a racial
cleansing of the Coreward extremes, with non-absorbed Alien races retreating
back into Federation Space. The Protocols of Antares signed in 3859CE
established rules of war for conduct between the Empire and Grand Federation,
basically adopting the Grand Federation restrictions against biological or
nanomechanical plague agents and against the targeting of civilian population
centers. Though the protocols did not mention planet busters specifically,
Jena did eventually secretly consent to the mothballing of the remaining
Hellkings during the settlement of the Zhretra Drift crisis in 3950CE.
Militarists, including D'Juma and Deng, criticized the Empress for conceding the
Hellkings, especially after refusing to recommission them against the Tyre comet
in 3982CE, but Congressional efforts at impeachment came to naught, and Jena's
decision helped build lasting trust and goodwill with the Grand Federation.
The Empire first faced the responsibilities of a mature multi-racial state after
encountering the expansionistic fusion era Rootjalik in Sector 430. The
proud race refused to submit to Minor Race status and was reluctant to submit to
Imperial quarantine. In 3886CE, Rootjalik gravstar vessels attacked the
Serlians, an advanced isolationist race long under Imperial cultural protection
quarantine. The Empire responded by coming to the Serlian defense and
imposing a strict quarantine on the Rootjalik. In 3915CE, Rootjalik
macrojump vessels broke the quarantine and escaped to establish colonies along
the Trailing frontier. Imperial actions eventually subdued the Rootjalik
and reestablished the quarantine, but efforts to resist the aspirations of the
race caused mixed feelings in the Empire and led to much discussion over the
long term obligations of quarantining hundreds of intelligent species of
primitive technology or views divergent from the Empire.
The next four emperors came of age during the Jenan Age. While the future
Cleon II and Olav III showed little interest in the mechanics of rule and became
known as hunters, carousers and playboys, the future Olav II and Cleon III began
service within the Imperial government, becoming high profile ambassadors and
Ministers of State.
With the Empire expanding and most growth occurring on the frontier, Jena began
ad hoc use of the Viceroy position for the Coreward, Trailing and eventually
Spinward Regions. By the 41st century, most new colonists came from
established New Colonies, which accounted for over half the Human population.
The Second Federation War accelerated research programs in quantum materials
and propulsion, leading to the development of the worm drive in 3804CE.
Though worm vessels and primitive stasis cannons had a mostly psychological
effect in that war, worm drive technology led to a revolution in ship design
after it became publicly available in the 3830s. The Jenan style and the
freedom from the constraints of spherical design led to a variety of innovative,
artistic and often bizarre starship designs, especially after the wars. By
the 3940s, Class B worm drive vessels, capable of traveling over 25 light-years
per day, entered the market and allowed vehicles to cross a thousand light years
of Imperial space in less than two months.
Human-machine integration efforts advanced after the Mechanists introduced the
first soulbox prosthetic backup unit in 3815CE, though after problems with
insanity among early Incarnates and continuing religious debates, the devices
reverted to exclusive Mechanist use even after the resolution of most technical
issues. With extreme cyborgization suffering a decline, moderate genetic
transformation technologies improved, producing the Futaris and Chimeratic
Chameleon Variants. More advanced techniques produced the Titans, adapted
for cold nitrogen worlds.
As the Ministry of Science struggled under the size of Empire and from Universal
Economic curtailment, a multi-partisan futurist group including private
universities, Technologists and Mechanists founded the Institute for the
Advancement of Knowledge (IAK) on Prometheus in 3977CE. In addition to
funding the famous expeditions by Sir Jon Gades, the IAK established research
centers on dozens of worlds. The IAK Wexler Research Station on Salamander
hosted Rand Djurma's parallel dimension work, but despite initial optimism over
the possibilities of inter-dimensional communication and possible parallel or
linear time travel, the destruction of Salamander in 4031CE proved that a full
understanding of macro multidimensionalism was still far away.
The Jenan Age was known for the Jenan style, a mixture of elegance and
intricacy focusing on extravagancy in pseudo-biological, crystalline and
metallic form. The Jenan Age saw worm drive starships take the shape of
swords, birds, dragons and sleek aerodynamic racers. It saw cosmetic
cybernetic and biological enhancements taken to new heights in personal
expression. It saw flying cities, multi-tiered planetary rings and deep
space castles. With wealth and leisure prevalent in the 40th century and
beyond, beauty and art became prime drivers of cultural expression.
The Plain Human reaction to the Jenan Style flourished for less than two decades
in the 3870s and 3880s with the ideas of flaunting a natural human appearance
collapsing in ridicule after the 3884CE parody, The Apemen. Even among
Ibrahimites, beauty in art and architecture, though not in personal enhancement,
was universally encouraged.
The Jenan Age saw a tenfold increase in Mechanist adherence, with soulboxes
eventually overcoming early problems and acquiring their standard form by
3874CE. With famous followers like Jon Gades and the Salamander
Incarnates, the church sponsored numerous IAK facilities and established its
colony on Myrland in 4041CE.
The Golden Stasis movement suffered a shock when its founder, Harlo Dilman,
abandoned his gradualist approach, published Joining the Machine and supported
the Revolt Against Tradition in 3838CE, an act that led to his execution in the
following year. Traditional Stasists maintained Dilman's original
doctrines and in 3899CE, Dona Emane emerged as the mainstream movement's High
Priestess. In 3911CE, Emane underwent genetic transformation to become the
first Futaris Variant, sporting a golden hairless body with the high forehead of
an expanded cranium.
Increased wellbeing and emphasis on travel and outdoor activities led to near
universal starship ownership by the wealthier segments of Imperial society.
A personal worm drive starship, even if owned with a pool of several families,
represented a person's standing above the Post-Materialist standard. The
rich traveled, partied and hunted among the stars in the later Jenan Age, and by
the time of the 3932CE Dragonfly Imperial Exposition, the Star Nomad lifestyle
was prevalent among a large subset of the elite.
Personal cosmetic enhancements were nearly universal outside the Ibrahimite
Church. By 4000CE, almost a quarter of the Human population had gone
beyond cosmetic changes, and accepted genetic or cybernetic enhancements.
Though standard Eternal transformation and Low cyborgization accounted for over
half these enhancements, a number of Variant transformations, including not only
the long established Mermen and Belters but also Mesomorphs, Chameleons and
Futaris, had over a billion converts.
| 3781 | Kith'turi raiders continue strikes against the Imperial frontier and begin supplying arms to B'dr'rak rebels. Admiral Tan leads a strike into Kith'turi territory, but quickly retreats, suffering heavy casualties and triggering a Federation response from Salvaatiki and Eenikiti forces. The Regent requests Orlan D'Juma to return to service to unite the Navy and fight the Grand Federation; he agrees, becoming Naval Chief of Staff and taking personal control of the Coreward Command, sending Admiral Tan to secure loyalty in the Trailing Command. |
| 3782 | Grand Federation fleets from the Tze't and Fontan join forces pressing into Imperial territory. Elements of the Eenikiti-led Combined Fifth Fleet besiege Nachen, withdrawing after a counterattack by D'Juma. Regent Margrette uses mostly Bengali household troops to put down continuing Noble resistance to her rule and completes a purge of the Imperial Guard. Crown Prince Tor of Kalmar reiterates his support for the Regency. The Fifth Combined Fleet retreats to Federation territory after loosing the Battle of Antares to D'Juma. The aging Hellking fleet begins combat readiness preparations at Ultima Thule. |
| 3783 | A general uprising in B'dr'rak Space results in a massacre of Human settlers and the retreat of surviving Naval units. B'dr'rak raiders begin attacking Imperial Space as the Khabadera join the Federation combat forces fighting to open a corridor to B'dr'rak Space. Flanking Federation squadrons occupy a number of Imperial worlds, including Erta. The Regent, secured by a loyalty vote in the Imperial Congress, orders a full war mobilization. |
| 3784 | The !Tak collapse into civil war, a substantial part of their forces defecting to the Federation cause. A dozen Federation fleets join up with B'dr'rak raiders and begin an envelopment of the Coreward Command. D'Juma concentrates his forces and requests reinforcements. Kith'turi deep strike forces briefly capture Heshar, but retreat as Admiral Tan leads elements of the Trailing Command against them. Margrette strips fleets from all other regions to relieve D'Juma. Kumar suffers through maximum particle flux from the Betelgeuse supernova. Federation commerce raiders flood the Coreward Region. |
| 3785 | A major Eenikiti-led Federation force shreds the Spinward Command, destroying hundred of ships in a series of engagements including the Battle of Khruzi and the Battle of Mendam, where Command Admiral Charka Khrubattal falls defending his headquarters. D'Juma escapes a pincer attack at Namerin in Sector 312 and then defends against a major Federation attack at the Second Battle of Nachen. The Hellking Anubis squadron joins up with D'Juma, representing the first relief from the Central Region. |
| 3786 | Relief forces, including five more Hellkings, reach D'Juma at New Sicily in Sector 690. D'Juma begins counterattacks to liberate lightly occupied Imperial worlds and establishes secure communications with the Central Region. A small Kith'turi raiding squadron reaches Kalmar, where Prince Tor leads the local defense forces to a decisive victory, destroying all but the single ship he manages to capture. Imperial forces begin operations against commerce raiders and restricting all commercial and private traffic to escorted convoys. |
| 3787 | Aggressive patrols by the Imperial Navy and liberation missions by the Coreward Command combine to create a secure war front. The Regent receives a requested 20% increase in GDP allocations. The Hellking Persephone falls to an ambush at Standish. The Baroness of Nokara, Darla Berg, liberates her world and assists Imperial forces in liberating Erta. The Regent officially cancels the '88 Imperial Exposition at Orpheus. |
| 3788 | Sector Admiral Sir Nauzi Kamerinsky defeats a superior Federation force at the Battle of Hollis Lun in Sector 373. The !Tak civil war ends in a victory for the pro-Federation forces and !Tak worlds issue a formal proclamation, withdrawing from the Empire. |
| 3789 | D'Juma names Kamerinsky to lead the Spinward Command and assigns him Operation Tandem, a coordinated campaign along the Spinward Regions backed by three Hellking squadrons. A B'dr'rak suicide raid against D'Juma's headquarters at Nachen fails under the bombardment of the Hellkings Anubis and Mara. !Tak raiders begin attacks against the relatively lightly defended Southern Frontier. Jena makes her first public appearances in Imperial Millennial ceremonies at Byzantium that are understandably muted by the war. |
| 3790 | Kamerinsky's forces liberate Khruzi and Mendem, fighting the pitched Second Battle of Khruzi and loosing the Hellking Seth, but firing at retreating forces at the Rout of Mendam. D'Juma begins Operation Charm, an offensive aimed at retaking the B'dr'rak worlds. Noticing that half the Primary Races are still abstaining from the war, the Alimeen send diplomatic missions to Focus and to Un'aa'gram, beginning a cease-fire dialogue. A severe winter blankets Terra's northern hemisphere. |
| 3791 | Federation fleets begin a major offensive against the Coreward and Northern fronts, killing Admiral Tan aboard the Hellking Pluto at the Battle of March Fifth in Sector 69. The Federation offensive falters after the bloody Battle of Tangir in Sector 74 and the Battle of Alsace in Sector 102. Imperial raiders strike deep into Kith'turi space, targeting major worlds and industrial centers. |
| 3792 | The war front stabilizes as Imperial forces continue the push against B'dr'rak worlds. Dressed in an elaborate living gown, Jena makes her first public address at the opening of the Imperial Exposition at Melbourne on Terra. A Swarm fleet under the command of Sector Admiral Clear Pattern Emerges joins the Coreward Command. |
| 3793 | With the campaign to liberate Imperial worlds proceeding slowly, Regent Margrette requests and receives another 20% increase in GDP taxation despite heavy opposition in the Imperial High Council. The pro-Imperial !Tak leader K'tak'k'k the Bold liberates himself and thousands of followers from a detention camp on P'dak'ta and reignites the !Tak civil war, receiving limited aid from Imperial raiders. |
| 3794 | D'Juma ends Operation Charm by abandoning efforts to control the B'dr'rak core and concentrates his forces on liberation of occupied worlds. Kamerinsky completes the liberation of Spinward territory and turns his forces toward the !Tak worlds. A major Grand Federation offensive along the Coreward front falters after the bloody Third Battle of Nachen and pyrrhic Battle of Sandsea, where the Hellking Kali succumbs after destroying five Grand Federation capital ships. Alimeen negotiators leave Focus after achieving no success in peace talks. Command Admiral Sir Olibar Oswald begins strikes into Salvaatiki territory. |
| 3795 | Imperial raiders begin selective strikes on Eenikiti and Khabaderan military and economic targets deep within Grand Federation space. The Regent authorizes long range scouting mission to explore the possibility of opening a second front near the Tze't worlds on the Federation's Spinward flank or against the Federation's Rift border. The Coreward Command continues a steady campaign of liberation. |
| 3796 | The Imperial liberation campaign triumphs, recapturing all but twelve high-population B'dr'rak worlds and seven !Tak worlds and overcoming light Grand Federation counterattacks. Alimeen negotiators return to Focus. |
| 3797 | Armistice negotiations begin in earnest as fighting subsides and the Imperial Hellkings form three battle groups, advancing on B'dr'rak, !Tak and Salvaatiki regions. |
| 3798 | Grand Federation and Imperial diplomats agree to a temporary ceasefire after negotiations at Antares. The final status of rebel B'dr'rak and !Tak worlds and occupied Salvaatiki systems hinders a permanent settlement. Backed by Imperial forces, K'tak'k'k the Bold captures the major !Tak world of !!T'kan. |
| 3799 | The scout cruiser INS Potaski returns to Imperial Space after completing a three year, 7,000 light-year circumnavigation of the Grand Federation border. The Imperial Navy begins shifting units from the Coreward to their home regions, but maintains a wartime state of alert. B'dr'rak and Salvaatiki negotiators withdraw from talks at Antares. Imperial patrols in Sector 685 encounter the aloof Octopods, a militaristic race, retreating after several skirmishes. |
| 3800 | The Imperial High Council and Congress convene to overwhelming confirm Jena as Empress on her 21st birthday. Margrette steps down as Regent, but her daughter asks her to act as Chief of Staff and to assume the post of Minister of Defense; she also becomes Princess of Bengal, a ceremonial ruler of the democratic world. Empress Jena marries Ivan Kamarov, King of Paradise in a public ceremony at the Imperial Exposition in TransVeeder on Paradise. The Empress lowers the GDP tax by 20%. B'dr'rak suicide raiders strike in a coordinated stealth attack, crippling the Antares Station and killing four thousand, including most of the assembled diplomats, and simultaneously striking populations centers on Nachen, killing over 250,000. The Empire breaks off armistice talks and begins raids against B'dr'rak and Grand Federation targets. |
| 3801 | Federation squadrons open a corridor to the B'dr'rak core worlds and reinforce defensive positions. Admiral Kamerinsky and K'tak'k'k the Bold combine forces and retake the !Tak worlds; K'tak'k'k the Bold proclaims himself !Tak Primus and enforces loyalty to the Empire. Promethean researchers develop a small portable stasis generator, able to create 10cm stasis spheres. The Time Travel Society emerges at their main facility in Australia; faced with the war, no old members drop out, but defections by the 3601 membership lead to the closing of three subsidiary centers. |
| 3802 | Cleon Kamarov, future Emperor Cleon II, is born on Terra to Empress Jena and King Ivan. Admiral Kamerinsky and the Hellking Erebus fall at the Battle of November First during a deep penetration mission into Kith'turi space. The Empress reverses previous tax cuts to pay for the ongoing war. |
| 3803 | Bengali Technics produces a prototype stasis missile and wins an Imperial contract to produce a suitable weapons system. An Eenikiti-led fleet group begins a major push through Sectors 374 and 148, faltering under heavy counter attack by the Trailing Command and turning back after defeat by Command Admiral Lord Stafan Singh at the Battle of Yasmin. |
| 3804 | Alimeen and Atlantian engineers complete the first prototype worm drive starship, the XP-1 at the Promixa Proving Grounds. The Imperial Exposition on the Swarm homeworld of Megahive receives low attendance but both the Empress and her mother attend. The Coreward Command defeats the last regular Federation units in B'dr'rak Space. The Empress authorizes D'Juma to use the remaining five Hellkings on planetary targets at his discretion. |
| 3805 | Construction begins on Viper class worm drive escorts. Two B'dr'rak worlds surrender under threat of Hellking bombardment. Negotiations resume on Antares. A deep penetration squadron led by Captain Hornan Deng attacks shipping at the outer edge of the Focus system before retreating under heavy pursuit; after he returns to his base with no casualties, the Empress knights Deng and promotes him to Commodore. |
| 3806 | Construction begins on larger worm drive vessels, including Broadsword class cruisers armed with stasis cannons. Under command of Admiral D'Juma, the Hellkings Loki and Kronos destroy the B'dr'rak world of Tsh'tk, killing over two billion sentients. Some B'dr'rak raiders begin accepting amnesty in return for surrender, and under threat of Hellking attack, the Empire occupies three more B'dr'rak worlds. Lydia Kamarov is born on Terra to Empress Jena and King Ivan. |
| 3807 | The Grand Federation begins another concentrated offensive, pushing through Sectors 101, 107 and 127, attempting to cut off the Spinward Command and pushing toward Khruzi from the North. With only the B'dr'rak home system still resisting, D'Juma moves his Hellking-backed fleets North into Kith'turi Space, pressing toward the Kith'turi homeworld. |
| 3808 | The first Viper class worm vessels join the Coreward command in scouting and penetration missions. The Hellkings Anubis and Mara destroy the Kith'turi industrial complex at Jitar's End. The Grand Federation Spinward offensive falters after the indecisive Battle of September Seventeenth in Sector 349. |
| 3809 | Command Admiral Dame Grace Fatzi-Tanner-Fink threatens the B'r'dr'ak homeworld with Hellking destruction, prompting the Great Battle of B'dr'rak, resulting in the crippling of the Hellking Immat, but devastating B'dr'rak resistance. The Empress authorizes the construction of five Skull class worm drive Hellkings. D'Juma leads the Coreward command against Kith'turi and Salvaatiki resistance, crushing their combined fleet at the Battle of Binder's Horn. The remnants of the Grand Federation Spinward offensive cross back into Federation space, pursued by a squadron of worm drive vessels led by the first two Broadsword cruisers and a group of Oberon class frigates. |
| 3810 | The Grand Federation sends a delegation to Antares to negotiate an immediate armistice based on current fleet positions and an end to all Federation aid to B'dr'rak and other occupied worlds. Empress Jena accepts the terms with a few minor modification to ensure a defensible Imperial border and orders an end to all hostilities. The Second Federation War ends with the signing of the Antares Armistice by all Grand Federation Primary races; Margrette and Orlan D'Juma sign for the Empire. |
| 3811 | Resistance ends on B'dr'rak. Empress Jena reduces taxes to pre-war levels, but orders a major Naval shipbuilding and modernization program to develop a worm drive based Navy. Attempts by civilians to declassify worm drive technology meets with fierce Imperial resistance. Queen Randi of Asia suffers a severe CID attack and abdicates in favor of her granddaughter Melena. |
| 3812 | The Imperial Exposition on Callisto celebrates a return to peace and emphasizes the extravagant styles of the Jenan Era. Martial law ends on the !Tak worlds, with K'tak'k'k the Bold attending the Exposition and apologizing to the Empress on behalf of his people. James Farrar, King of Africa dies in a teleport accident near Kampala, at age 1056; he leaves his realm to his great-great-great granddaughter Hanna. |
| 3813 | The Ministry of Colonization repeals wartime restrictions on Coreward settlements and lifts the moratorium on settlements near Betelgeuse twenty years ahead of schedule. |
| 3814 | A mixed group of Sapiens seeking life without Nobilis rule settle Lanander and a few surrounding worlds in Sector 320. The first Skull class Hellking, Apollyon, enters service. |
| 3815 | Mechanist researchers on Karinsky perfect the soulbox, a portable recording device for a Human personality pattern; while allowing for easy storage and reincarnation, a Mechanist finding disallows multiple Incarnates based on the same pattern, citing the indivisibility of the soul and wanting to avoid a legal and philosophical morass. The Mechanists begin offering Backup services to protect the personalities of people expecting mortal danger. |
| 3816 | Ibrahim denounces the soulbox, rejecting the notion that a soul can be transferred to a machine; he calls for the excommunication of anyone who undergoes a reincarnation procedure and refuses to recognize the "Humanity" of the Incarnates. Deseret hosts the Imperial Exposition, with the moderate Mormon majority displaying a mostly secular world to visitors. |
| 3817 | B'dr'rak piracy resumes in scattered Coreward systems. Prince Cleon marries Queen Melena of Asia in a public ceremony at the Black Palace on Mercury. Empress Jena reconfirms the Imperial citizenry and rights of restored Mechanist Backups, but bans Nobilis Backups. Margrette resigns as Minister of Defense, but retains her position as Chief of Staff of her daughter's household. Admiral D'Juma agrees to continue on as Supreme Imperial Commander, a post reporting directly to the new Minister of Defense, Sir Tarn Shakvilli. |
| 3818 | The Primal of Mechanism restricts soulbox use to members of his movement and enforces a mandatory tithing to wearers of the soulbox. The Empire declares war on the Federation after intercepting a Eenikiti transport at a B'dr'rak pirate base, beginning the Third Federation War. |
| 3819 | The Imperial Navy begins an advance into the generally unprepared Federation border regions, encountering resistance from Kith'turi and Salvaatiki forces and provoking a counterattack by Broital battle fleets in Sector 310. D'Juma divides the Coreward Command into two fleet groups, leading the southern flank against the B'dr'rak and giving Sector Admiral Sir Hornan Deng command of the northern flank against the Kith'turi, Salvaatiki and Broital. |
| 3820 | Admiral Deng defeats the Broital main battle fleet at the Battle of Orcus and occupies the Broital systems. D'Juma wins the fierce Battle of Rr'tk'ku, losing the Hellking Mara and four battleships; he orders the Azazel and Anubis to destroy the world, killing nine billion B'dr'rak. Melena Farrar, daughter of Prince Cleon and Queen Melena, is born on Mercury. Despite the war, the long delayed Imperial Exposition at Orpheus takes place as scheduled, with opening ceremonies conducted by the eighteen year old Crown Prince Cleon. |
| 3821 | The B'dr'rak surrender unconditionally and generally begin to cooperate against their own renegade pirates. Admiral Deng besieges the Salvaatiki homeworld of Tandaarom. |
| 3822 | The Grand Federation agrees to an immediate armistice, ceding control of the Broital worlds and sections of Sectors 698 and 699. Both the Kith'turi and Salvaatiki surrender, with their home systems now on the Imperial border. The Grand Federation promises to stop aiding piracy in a separate treaty signed at Tandaarom. |
| 3823 | Terran planetary engineers report a successful return to "normal" climatic conditions on the planet, eliminating the fear of an ice age. Admiral Deng becomes the military ruler of the B'dr'rak Pacification Zone. |
| 3824 | The Imperial Navy begins an aggressive decommissioning of microjump vessels, flooding the commercial market with surplus ships. Imperial patrols eliminate the last B'dr'rak pirate bases. |
| 3825 | The Broital enter the Empire as a Major Race. Empress Jena formalizes all annexations and accepts the new Imperial border over Grand Federation objections. The four hundred year old Hellking Loki is decommissioned at Ultima Thule at a ceremony commemorating the war effort. |
| 3826 | King Ivan of Kalmar dies of complications from his mental condition and a degenerating nervous system; his son becomes Tor II, King of Kalmar. |
| 3827 | The Imperial Racing Federation resumes the Kumar-Nachen Rally, last run in 3780. Imperial scouts encounter the information era methane-breathing Latra in Sector 945. |
| 3828 | After evidence that the Grand Federation has produced prototype worm drive vehicles, the Ministry of Defense allows commercial development of worm drive technology. |
| 3829 | The Technologist Review Board dismisses the soulbox as the wrong path for Humanity, proclaiming that the brain must remain an essentially organic device and decrying what is lost during a soulbox melding. The Latra join the Empire as a Minor Race. |
| 3830 | Martian miners discover the compressed remains of an 800 million year old alien complex beneath the floor of the Hellas Sea. |
| 3831 | Several manufacturers showcase the first commercial worm drive vehicles at the Dragonfly Fair. |
| 3832 | The Imperial Exposition on Delphi features the return of !Tak athletes, a massive Swarm cultural center and a showcase of extreme fashions and Human cosmetic modifications, both biological and cybernetic. |
| 3833 | The Kumar-Nachen Rally features the first worm drive vessels, with Lady Sheela Drang piloting the Hammertooth to victory in the worm drive event with a time of 53 days, 7 hours. The Imperial Racing Federation decides to hold the Kumar-Nachen Rally annually and race exclusively worm drive vehicles. |
| 3834 | Negotiations between the Empire and the Grand Federation over a permanent peace settlement and formal border agreement collapse over disagreements on border buffer zones and customs procedures. |
| 3835 | Prince Cleon of Mercury leads a delegation to Focus, intent on restarting permanent peace negotiations, but departs after two months, citing infighting among Grand Federation Primary Races. |
| 3836 | The Empire loosens marital law restrictions in the B'dr'rak Pacification Zone and allows the Broital to begin rebuilding a self-defense fleet. Empress Jena introduces the modified Human Valkyries as her personal bodyguard. |
| 3837 | The Solar system suffers a series of unexplained violent solar flares causing the destruction of three space vessels and a world-wide radiation alert on Venus. The Golden Stasis philosopher Harlo Dilman publishes Joining the Machine a manifesto calling for acceptance of soulboxes and melding technologies by all Humanity, including Nobility. |
| 3838 | Count Alik Despanja of Tripoli issues a proclamation entitled Revolt Against Tradition and declares himself White Emperor, advocating a revolt by the Nobility over issues of Artificial Status and Mechanist Prohibition. The Imperial Central Command crushes Alik's revolt and destroys his ragtag fleet of his household forces and a scattering of Nobilis supporters. An Imperial Marine force occupies Tripoli and installs Alik's cousin Lerana as Countess. |
| 3839 | The Imperial Guard arrests Harlo Dilman for propaganda in favor of Alik's revolt. The Kith'turi begin supplying arms to Kith'turi and Salvaatiki rebels within the Empire. After a special Ministry of Justice trial and a failed appeal to the Empress, the Imperial Guard executes Alik Despanja, Harlo Dilman and three others for treason. |
| 3840 | Kith'turi pirates attack and destroy the Imperial colony of Wanda in Sector 689 and attack several Naval outposts along the border. The Imperial 689th Fleet responds with a raid on the Kith'turi homeworld of Kith'tas. D'Juma requests the activation of the Hellking fleet. The Grand Federation declares war on the Empire, beginning the Fourth Federation War. |
| 3841 | The Grand Federation displays a united front at Focus and calls for a full mobilization against the Empire. B'dr'rak pirates using worm drive raiders strike at scattered commercial targets deep within the Empire, reaching all regions but the Rimward. Jena orders a full mobilization and increases taxation by 30%. |
| 3842 | Prince Cleon of Mercury dies of CID at the Black Palace at age 1038; after a private cremation ceremony, his daughter Melena, becomes Princess of Mercury, and his wife, Queen Melena returns to her palace at Xian. Grand Federation Battle fleets from all Primary and many Secondary races mass near the Imperial border and reinforce Kith'turi and Salvaatiki positions. Zhretra raiders initiate attacks on Imperial supply centers. |
| 3843 | The Grand Federation begins a methodical advance into Imperial Space, bypassing pockets of resistance, like D'Juma's Battle Groups at Nachen and Antares, and pushing to line within 380 light years of Sol. Empress Jena authorizes the use of soulboxes for non-religious members of the Order of the Emperor's Sword and the Order of the Gryphon to encourage bold actions by heroes. D'Juma organizes twenty defensive strongpoints and harasses the Federation flank, slowing the advance of their fleets. |
| 3844 | The Grand Federation fleets occupy most worlds within a line 350 light years from Sol and begin flanking maneuvers to the Trailing, Spinward, North and South of Sol. Imperial forces continue a fighting retreat, launching raids against Federation command centers. Kith'turi, B'dr'rak and Zhretra raiders force the Empire to group all civilian shipping into convoys. Admiral Deng launches a major raid against the Fontan command fleet at the Battle of Sidon in Sector 106, destroying six Fontan capital ships and withdrawing with few losses. |
| 3845 | Federation raiders reach even the Rimward region, with Zhretra ships destroying the Tavis Beta mining settlement in Sector 392. The Grand Federation main offensive stalls at a line 340 light-years for Sol and D'Juma begins counterattacking along seams between the disparate Federation racial fleets. Hundreds of minor battles and skirmishes illuminate the Coreward regions. Nokaran and Ertan forces retake Erta. |
| 3846 | Troubled by the course of the war, Jena increases taxes by a further 20% over loud protests from the Council of Advisors. After a deadly Kith'turi attack on Old Colony world of Ghandi, the Empress declares martial law across the Empire and mobilizes for total war. Large elements of the Imperial Guard leave Sol for the Coreward Front. D'Juma defeats a Un'aa'gram-Zhretra fleet at the Battle of Din Gatara in Sector 341. Under increasing attacks by Imperial forces massed in the Central Region and suffering strikes from the rear by D'Juma and Deng, the Grand Federation fleets begin concentrating around prize worlds, abandoning lesser systems in an attempt to duplicate D'Juma's strongpoint strategy. An Eenikiti-Khabadera fleet destroys the Hellking Anubis at the Battle of Chundahar in Sector 338. |
| 3847 | Allowing the Grand Federation to keep their strongpoints, D'Juma launches Operation Cactus, designed to encircle Kith'turi and Salvaatiki Space and open up the Grand Federation interior for deep raiders. Admiral Deng launches Operation Tahiti against B'dr'rak and Yerman positions. Deng sacrifices the Hellking Kronos in the process of destroying the B'dr'rak world B'tr't'tu and then presses on to annihilate H'pt'tuk with the the Beelzebub and Satan, killing twelve billion B'dr'rak on the two worlds. B'dr'rak resistance ends and B'dr'rak piracy drastically declines as the victorious Deng enters the B'dr'rak system. |
| 3848 | D'Juma begins offensive operations against Kith'turi and Salvaatiki worlds and begins a flanking attack into Fak Space. Deng launches attacks against Yerman industrial centers and probes the Mormargr frontier. Grand Federation occupation forces begin mass executions of Human civilians at their strongpoints in response to actions against the B'dr'rak worlds. The Imperial Navy begins deep strike attacks on Grand Federation population centers, especially Eenikiti and Khabaderan worlds, in response to the civilian slaughter. Imperial forces begin liberation campaigns aimed at the Grand Federation strongpoints. The Empress attends the Imperial Exposition on Cyclops under extraordinary security; Imperial Guard vessels defeat a Zhretra squadron bound for Cyclops, but the Empress refuses to cancel the festivities. |
| 3849 | Imperial forces under Command Admiral Lady Ami Strand liberate the last Grand Federation strongpoints, defeating the Eenikiti Grand Admiral Master of Silent Strength at the Battle of Tanadanda. D'Juma and Deng withstand waves of Grand Federation counterattacks. Deng threatens the Yerman homeworld with Hellking destruction and the Yerman capitulate after an outer moon is turned into a cinder as a demonstration. The Fak surrender to forces under Sector Admiral Dame Wynda Fratelli. |
| 3850 | The Hellkings Apolllyon, Azazel and Lucifer each destroy one Kith'turi colony world. The Grand Federation begins negotiations aimed at establishing Rules of War to govern conduct against civilian targets. Imperial forces occupy Zhantlas, the homeworld of Federation Humans. Raids against Imperial shipping and outposts greatly decrease as the Zhretra recall their raiders. Imperial researchers at Hercules develop a Mode V microjump drive that theoretically offers a 7% performance increase over Type A worm drives, but the Imperial Navy declines to pursue the technology. |
| 3851 | The Kith'turi homeworld Kith'tas surrenders to D'Juma under threat of Hellking bombardment. D'Juma presses into Salvaatiki Space, forcing the capitulation of Tandaarom after a failed attack on the Azazel by desperate defenders. The Mormargrs surrender to Admiral Deng. |
| 3852 | Admiral D'Juma personally leads Operation Sword, a combined fleet led by three Hellkings and five Oberon class battleships, deep into the Grand Federation Core. At the Battle of October Thirteenth, D'Juma defeats the First Grand Federation Battle Group, loosing the Apollyon and the battleship Siegfried in the struggle and barely escaping with his life. Admirals Deng, Strand and Fratelli secure the Imperial Front to a line 500 light-years Coreward from Sol and withstand multiple Grand Federation counterattacks. The Empress attends the Imperial Exposition at Helena in Sector 158, promising, despite the heavy security and marital law, that the end of the war is in sight. |
| 3853 | D'Juma defeats a Grand Federation Armada at the Great Battle of Eenititee, and then again in pursuit at the Great Battle of Sisyphus, leaving much of the Federation Core open and causing the collapse of Grand Federation offensive operations along the frontier. Admiral Deng dispatches Fratelli with four full battle fleets and a Hellking squadron to reinforce D'Juma's forces. Imperial forces occupy the Kraz worlds. |
| 3854 | Admiral Orlan D'Juma wins the largest engagement in the history of the Empire or the Grand Federation at the Great Battle of Focus on June 3-7, loosing the Hellking Satan and Admiral Fratelli, but soundly defeating the combined might of the Grand Federation's finest Admirals and leaving their capital exposed. The Grand Federation sues for peace, accepting a dictated permanent border line 500 light-years coreward from Sol and agreeing to sign a Treaty of Friendship and Economic Cooperation on Imperial terms at Nachen on December 5. The Empire formally annexes territory including the Kith'turi and Salvaatiki homeworlds, all of Yerman, Fak, Mormargrs and Kraz Space and Zhantlas. The Kith'turi, Salvaatiki, Yerman, Fak, Mormargrs and Kraz enter the Empire as Major Races subject to a century of martial law. |
| 3855 | Empress Jena honors the end of the Fourth Federation War with a Celebration of Heroes, including ennoblements and knighthoods for for thousands of decorated veterans. The Empress also ends martial law, lowers taxes to prewar levels and recalls the Rimward and Central Commands and the Imperial Guard from the Grand Federation Frontier. The Federation Humans of Zhantlas agree to Imperial rule after Jena proclaims Sector 365 the Zhantlas Autonomous Region. Imperial forces occupy and incorporate the Balloonite home systems in Sector 801 and incorporate them as a Major Race. Khabaderans begin abandoning their sixty worlds now under Imperial administration; over the next fifteen years, over 16 billion Khabaderans, 96% of those in Imperial space, resettle within the Grand Federation. |
| 3856 | Orlan D'Juma resigns his commission and accepts appointment as Viceroy of Antares, a post created by Jena to coordinate rule on the Grand Federation border. Command Admiral Hornan Cheng accepts appointment as Supreme Imperial Commander. The lavish Imperial Exposition at Athens on Terra celebrates seven thousand years of recorded Terran history and the peace that the Empire hopes will finally last. In recognition of their service, the Empress declares the Quadrons, Turgil, Khaddahl and Brennar Major Races. Imperial forces occupy the Iceworm homeworld and incorporate them as a Major Race. |
| 3857 | Jennifer te Fallos publishes the Tigarvati Prize winning The Age of Gods and Heroes, an account of the exploits of enhanced commando fighters during the Fourth Federation War. The Imperial Navy begins a demobilization campaign that retires all remaining microjump vessels. |
| 3858 | Growing evidence of of a high incidence of insanity among Incarnates severely restricts the popularity of soulbox Backups among non-Mechanists. Admiral Cheng puts down a uprising on the Salvaatiki world of Challadorom, threatening the rebels with the Azazel. Imperial scouts encounter the fusion era Rootjalik in their home system in Sector 430. |
| 3859 | Crown Prince Cleon marries Princess of Mercury Melena Farrar in a public ceremony at Byzantium. The Empire of Humanity and the Grand Federation of Races sign the Protocols of Antares, banning attacks on civilian targets and the use of biological or quantum-mechanical agents. |
| 3860 | Empress Jena and Mechanist Primal Valter Kandall issue a joint proclamation banning all use of soulboxes outside the Mechanist faith. Mechanist conversions fall sharply as reports of insanity among Incarnates continue. Crown Prince Cleon and Princess Melena host the Imperial Exposition on Mercury. |
| 3861 | The Rootjalik formally decline an invitation to join the Empire as a Minor Race, but agree to participate in cultural and trade relations, sending a small delegation to Sol. |
| 3862 | Princess Margrette travels to Focus with a formal diplomatic delegation and then continues on a tour of newly incorporated worlds and races on the coreward border; the Imperial Guard thwarts an assassination attempt on Kith'tas. |
| 3863 | At Byzantium, Princess Melena and Crown Prince Cleon give birth to their son Olav, future Emperor Olav II. |
| 3864 | The Imperial Exposition on Hercules showcases new technologies and intricate art compositions; Crown Prince Cleon competes in several shooting events at the Exposition games, but is never in medal contention. |
| 3865 | Construction begins on the Winter Palace on Bengal; the Empress and her mother envision a sprawling complex of crystal with galleries open to the public and a new Great Mall. |
| 3866 | Crown Prince Cleon attends the Drangonfly Fair and purchases an elaborate yacht, the 70,000 m3 Dancing Gryphon, to carry himself and his entourage on hunting expeditions across the Empire. |
| 3867 | An abortive coup on Murukan in Sector 32 comes to a bloody end with !Tak mercenaries fighting Imperial Marine reinforcements requested by the local Nobility; over thirty thousand civilians die in the struggle before the rebels and their hired guns surrender. |
| 3868 | The Imperial Exposition is held in the Dorian system, with new sporting events for Majestic Fliers and hunters on Dorian Minor; Crown Prince Cleon receive a silver medal in the horned tashir hunting competition. |
| 3869 | Princess Melena and Crown Prince Cleon give birth to their son Orlan, future Prince of Bengal, aboard the Dancing Gryphon. |
| 3870 | At the invitation of Countess Tanda of Titan, a delegation of Iceworm diplomats establish an enclave on the surface of the Saturnian moon. |
| 3871 | The Winter Palace opens on Bengal, with Empress Jena and Princess Margrette attending the ceremonies and exhibitions. The "Plain Human" movement, a reaction to cosmetic enhancements, begins on Mars and soon spreads among growing cliques throughout the Empire. |
| 3872 | Unsettled economic reverberations from the war, demobilization and altered economic relations with the Grand Federation lead to the start of the first serious Empire-wide recession in three centuries, demonstrated by a sharp decline in information transfer and innovations. |
| 3873 | The Ministry of Commerce implements a tax cut to stimulate the faltering economy and suggests a series of Chinist economic manipulations. |
| 3874 | The Mechanist soulbox acquires its modern form: a 100cc molecular box attached to the base of the skull, containing a running brain pattern backup and a small clone tissue sample. Increasing reliability of Incarnate restorations begins to improve Mechanist conversion rates. |
| 3875 | An abortive revolt on Kith'tas falters after the Kith'turi fail to gather Grand Federation support. Admiral Deng quickly imposes a blockade of Kith'turi systems. Empress Jena orders a complete disarmament of the Kith'turi and institutes a century of martial law. |
| 3876 | Queen Tabitha opens the Imperial Exposition on Venus and survives an assassination attempt that kills her husband and two children; an investigation leads to the arrest of four prominent Ibrahimite radicals who face trial, then execution. Queen Tabitha's grandson Joseph becomes her heir. |
| 3877 | The economic decline slips into a fifth straight year, with Chinist policies failing to correct imbalances. Budget allocations dominate Imperial Congress debate. |
| 3878 | The Imperial scout frigate Orange encounters an extremely hostile fusion era race, dubbed the Warmongers, in Sector 318 and retreats after suffering heavy damage. The Warmonger system is placed under Imperial Naval quarantine. |
| 3879 | Empress Jena celebrates her hundredth birthday in a lavish month-long party that brings some disparaging remarks, based on current economic conditions. |
| 3880 | Admiral Deng retires after one hundred years of active duty; the post of Supreme Imperial Commander remains unfilled. "Plain Human" protestors complaining about economic stagnation disrupt the Imperial Exposition on Tyr. |
| 3881 | Princess Margrette steps down as Chief of Staff of the Empress's household, but remains her daughter's chief advisor, though she spends half her year on Bengal. |
| 3882 | After ten years of overall decline, the Imperial economy appears to reach an overall equilibrium, but many worlds and regions suffer from increasingly chaotic economic fluctuations. Chinist theorists concede that the current pattern defines their analysis. |
| 3883 | The Minister of Commerce, Lord Jonas ver Baldisar, resigns at the Empress's request; his successor, Sir Henrico Stavi of Nova, resigns after six months. |
| 3884 | After a searing parody, The Apemen, cascades across the Empire, the "Plain Human" fad dies, replaced by a resurgence of outlandish cosmetic biological and cybernetic enhancements. |
| 3885 | Formal treaty agreements signed on Zhantlas allow Federation-born Humans to travel freely between the Empire and the Federation; they soon become the major traders between the two states. |
| 3886 | Rootjalik gravstar vessels enter the Serlian home system and occupy outlying outposts before besieging the Serlian homeworld of N'Cheeta. Imperial observation forces monitor the situation, but do not interfere. |
| 3887 | After Rootjalik ships begin a nuclear bombardment of N'Cheeta, the Empress orders a quarantine of the Rootjalik system and offers aid to the Serlian. The Serlian request Imperial protection for N'Cheeta and its two outsystem colonies; the 430th Fleet complies, engaging the Rootjalik attackers and garrisoning the two colony worlds. |
| 3888 | After destroying the Rootjalik attack force and intercepting and capturing gravstar vessels emerging in the Serlians' two colony systems, the 340th Fleet proceeds to the Rootjalik home system and offers an ultimatum; the Rootjalik comply, stand down their navy and accept Imperial quarantine. |
| 3889 | Sir Fazzi Turuk, a noted Ibrahimite economic historian and philosopher, perfects the models needed to achieve economic stability and publishes a set of general theorems for the "Universal Economy". |
| 3890 | Dame Janys Trebelli of Terra becomes the tenth Minister of Commerce in as many years; she begins an aggressive implementation of Turuk's economic theorems. |
| 3891 | After putting into action Turuk's theorems, the Imperial economy regains stability, but growth is muted and innovation continues to suffer. |
| 3892 | The Dragonfly Fair begins holding its Outlandish Design contest; the first winner: the Golden Wing, designed by Roberta Yen, a ship in the form of a giant swan. |
| 3893 | Private explorers discover a ruined Gatebuilder complex in orbit around red dwarf binary stars in Sector 482; the Imperial Southern Command declares a quarantine on the system. |
| 3894 | Strong economic growth resumes in the Coreward and Central Imperial regions. Dame Janys Trebelli turns down an offer of ennoblement and announces her conversion to Ibrahimism. |
| 3895 | Archeologist Sir Mikal Romne publishes Ancient Martian Gods, a popularized account drawn from decades of careful analysis on the Hellas Sea find; he postulates an ancient star-faring race of centipede-like creatures that once tried to modify Mars' climate. |
| 3896 | Vulcan, long a backwater, hosts the Imperial Exposition, a major step in the world's revitalization as a research hub and tourist destination. |
| 3897 | Crown Prince Cleon narrowly escapes death while hunting a blitzenbeast on Gwydion; for the rest of his days, he regards his regenerated right arm as a source of pride; the blitzenbeast got away. |
| 3898 | Quadron renegades begin piracy against isolated outposts and ships on the extreme northern frontier. |
| 3899 | The Golden Stasis philosophy regains some of its former appeal with the ascension of Dona Emane as self proclaimed High Priestess; her teachings emphasize a return to Dilman's core teachings and acceptance of a pseudo-Nobilis appearance in the cause of reaching uniform prosperity and contentment. |
| 3900 | The !Tak homeworld of A!Ta'pak hosts the Imperial Exposition, the first for a former Grand Federation race. The Empress celebrates her one hundredth Jubilee at three events, on Terra, Kalmar and Bengal. |
| 3901 | The Time Travel Society emerges in Australia and subsidiary locations; though few members leave the program, they institute a set of reorganizations that will scatter subsidiaries to other worlds within the Solar system after the next awakening. |
| 3902 | Dame Helena Chavik receives the Tigarvati Prize for her work defining and treating the psychoses of aging. Floods damage much of lowland Tellus on Venus, displacing millions. |
| 3903 | Sir Carlos Sanchez becomes Minister of Colonization and begins an aggressive program to colonize the frontier regions, especially the Coreward areas gained by the wars. |
| 3904 | Sir Fazzi Turuk wins a belated Tigarvati Prize for his Universal Economy work and receives recognition from Jena for restoring the Empire to economic wellbeing. |
| 3905 | The Solar Belt High Council approves The Glittering World Project, a plan to redevelop Psyche as a showcase of new art and technology. |
| 3906 | A Majestic Flyer assassin kills Juan deSalva, the elected King of Luna; prompting a massive manhunt that spreads from the Solar system to thousands of worlds. |
| 3907 | A team of bounty hunters identifies deSalva's assassin as Sarl Hadley, but the fugitive eludes them on Orpheus. |
| 3908 | The Imperial Exposition on Mars, sprawled across five major sites, begins a trend of increasingly elaborate Expositions, with a wide variety of official and unofficial games and exhibit pavilions showcasing the growing extravagance of the Jenan Age. |
| 3909 | Prince Olav Kamarov, grandson of the Empress and the future Olav II, marries Princess Alexandra Anderson, a descendent of the King of Libertas. Sarl Hadley assassinates the Count of Maya, Jorj Hadderas, and escapes offworld. |
| 3910 | Kith'turi pirates begin scattered attacks against civilian settlements in the Coreward regions, prompting increased naval patrols. |
| 3911 | Dona Emane announces her transformation as the first Futaris Variant, starting a trend among the Golden Stasis followers. Sarl Hadley dies on Kadesh during a battle with his pursuers. |
| 3912 | Rama hosts the Imperial Exposition on a specially created artificial island that mimics Vedic myths. |
| 3913 | The sun of the world Manitou in Sector 42 begins an erratic phase, dimming over most of the year, then producing a massive flare; the Empress dispatches stellar engineers and equipment to help stabilize the situation. |
| 3914 | Prince Olav and Princess Alexandra give birth to the future Emperor Olav III at the Golden Palace. Prince Orlan Kamarov marries Princess Tabitha deAres, granddaughter of the Queen of Mars. |
| 3915 | Rootjalik forces overrun the Imperial quarantine fleet and and launch seven macrojump vessels toward the trailing frontier; the 430th fleet mobilizes to reestablish the quarantine and asks for Trailing Command assistance to hunt down the escaping vessels. |
| 3916 | Prince Orlan and Princess Tabitha give birth to the future Emperor Cleon III at Lowell on Mars. Stellar engineers stabilize Manitou's sun. |
| 3917 | The Imperial Navy captures four Rootjalik macrojump vessels in Sectors 430 and 842. The officers of the frigate Chryse face court-martial after allowing two Rootjalik vessels to escape. |
| 3918 | The Nebular Armada sets off from Khald'aron toward the Orion Nebula; consisting of worm drive warships, including three Imperial frigates, the fleet heads toward the Nebula, dropping beacons every twelve light years and sending back couriers every thirty-six. |
| 3919 | The Nebular Armada disappears after setting beacons 420 light-years from Khald'aron; the Khald'aron Republic creates an armed quarantine zone beginning 396 light-years from Khald'aron and extending across the Republic's entire Rimward and Trailing frontiers. |
| 3920 | Northern Command forces root out the last Quadron renegades from their cometary and rouge world bases, ending the threat of Northern piracy. |
| 3921 | A patrol squadron discovers a Rootjalik colony in Sector 842 and deports its inhabitants back to their homeworld. Empress Jena appoints Baroness Admiral Chani Resnik Viceroy of the Trailing region to coordinate relations with non-human races in the region. |
| 3922 | Six vessels in the Kumar-Nachen Rally are destroyed when a rouge planet crosses the path of the racers in Sector 132; an investigation results in development of better mass detection equipment for worm drive vessels. |
| 3923 | The Bandar, a gigantic race of from the jovian world of Banshi in Sector 347, achieve repeatable orbital spaceflight capability; monitored since their discovery in 3505, the Ministry of State offers them membership in the Empire as a Minor Race, and they accept. |
| 3924 | The Solar Belt hosts the Imperial Exposition of '24 on the Glittering World, the newly transformed asteroid of Psyche. |
| 3925 | Empress Jena ends martial law in all but the eight sectors encompassing Kith'turi portions of the Coreward region. |
| 3926 | The Rootjalik military attacks an Imperial delegation negotiating a relief of the quarantine of their world, killing six diplomats and ten guards; the Viceroy retaliates by ordering the bombardment of military targets on the Rootjalik homeworld and increasing quarantine patrols. |
| 3927 | A group of radical Khabadera attack a Ministry of Colonization expedition to the abandoned world of Singlatadra in Sector 795, destroying three vessels and killing eighty crew; a dozen Imperial survivors hide out in abandoned cities until a Naval patrol intervenes, killing or driving off the Khabadera intruders in a running battle. |
| 3928 | Zulu hosts the '28 Imperial Exposition, highlighting the distinctive music and culture of the world. |
| 3929 | Empress Jena authorizes the installation of military offensive and defensive weaponry on vessels of the Ministries of Science and Colonization vessels. |
| 3930 | An Imperial Naval patrol disables and boards a Kith'turi pirate vessel in Sector 394 and finds evidence Khabaderan collaboration, prompting a diplomatic incident with the Grand Federation and sanctions against Khabadera living within the Empire. |
| 3931 | The Hewannas, a methane-breathing race in Sector 317 achieves spaceflight capability and gladly accepts an offer to join the Empire as a Minor Race. |
| 3932 | Dragonfly hosts the Imperial Exposition, highlighting personal starship and habitat designs and popularizing the Star Nomad lifestyle. |
| 3933 | Researchers on Manitou develop a workable forecasting model for main sequence star instabilities that correctly describes the behavior of Sol and the more erratic stars of Manitou and Isis over a period of centuries; the Standard Stellar Chaotic Model wins its five authors the following year's Tigarvati Prize in physics. |
| 3934 | Khabaderan renegades attack a transport convoy bound for the abandoned world of Zhablandogna in Sector 797, destroying two escorts and damaging a colony ship, killing over four hundred people. Retaliatory raids by Imperial forces destroy a Khabaderan camp on Sharlendernas, also in Sector 797. |
| 3935 | Researchers at Hercules develop a Mode VI microjump drive that almost reaches production status, but is eclipsed by the slightly faster Class B Worm drive research ongoing at Alimeen. |
| 3936 | The Imperial Exposition on Terra covers the region of Oceana, with highlights including artificial mechanical and living islands, undersea cities and exotic recreations of sea monsters. |
| 3937 | Imperial scouts encounter the cold-nitrogen late fusion era Tooldu race in Sector 232 and establish preliminary relations. |
| 3938 | Researchers from Kalmar's Imperial University at New Bergen attempt a series of time travel experiments by dropping stasis missiles into artificial wormholes in a research reserve in Sector 28; after repeated attempts result in the loss of the projectiles, the Ministry of Science ends funding, calling the wormholes "expensive waste disposal units". |
| 3939 | The Coreward Command launches a series of preemptive strikes against Kith'turi and Khabaderan renegade bases, including three within the Grand Federation border; despite diplomatic fallout, these raids effectively end piracy with the Empire. Negotiations resume between remote Imperial envoys and the Rootjalik central government. |
| 3940 | After ritual negotiations, the Tooldu enter the Empire as a Minor Race. The Imperial Exposition on Io emphasizes the world's extensive underground caverns, its harsh surface terrain and the dominating presence of Jupiter on the planetward hemisphere. |
| 3941 | The Kith'turi government agrees to fuller inspection and monitoring of starport facilities, a step toward relaxing martial law restrictions. |
| 3942 | Alimeen researchers perfect the Class B worm drive, capable of nearly 30% better performance than Class A drives and beginning a new surge of military and commercial shipbuilding. |
| 3943 | The Rootjalik government agrees to full monitoring of all interstellar vessels in return for reduced quarantine restricts, but resists efforts to join the Empire and futilely continues to demand the right to establish colonies beyond the expanding Imperial frontier. |
| 3944 | Heaven hosts the Imperial Exposition with a theme of emphasizing the biodiversity of the garden world. |
| 3945 | The Empress relaxes restrictions on Khabaderan residents of the Empire, but does not grant the race Major status. The first Class B Falcon class frigates begin operation along the Coreward border. |
| 3946 | The Class B racer White Lightning, captained by Lord Ranas Bjarti completes the Kumar-Nachen Rally in 40 days, 18 hours. |
| 3947 | Shayla deGalba wins the Tigarvati Prize for her morphing Chimeratic Chameleon body transformation technique. |
| 3948 | Crown Prince Cleon visits Erta, becoming friendly with the second Lord Bylen and hunting equatorial mountains and southern jungles. |
| 3949 | An Imperial Naval patrol discovers Aushani Drift, an undisclosed Zhretra deep space city within Imperial territory in Sector 798, prompting a diplomatic crisis and mobilization along the Coreward Frontier. Later, Imperial Naval patrols discover a second and third drift in Sectors 797 and 760. |
| 3950 | The Grand Federation and the Empire of Humanity reach a diplomatic settlement to the Zhretra Crisis at Aushani Drift, prompting a demobilization and the opening of all five Zhretra Drifts to Imperial inspection and jurisdiction. |
| 3951 | Prince Olav (II) Kamarov travels to Focus as the new Ambassador to the Grand Federation. |
| 3952 | Queen Anna II of Mars dies suddenly from what investigators determine to be a subtle poison; her eldest child Alexandra becomes Queen, but a continuing investigation aided by the Imperial Guard determines Alexandra's complicity in her mother's death and her brother Albert deposes her, taking the throne as Albert III. Alexandra and four conspirators stand trial for murder; all are found guilty, the others receive death sentences but Alexandra gets permanent imprisonment at Ixion in the Kuiper Belt. |
| 3953 | The future Cleon III, having completed an advanced degree in Government from the Imperial University at Byzantium, sets out on his Great Journey to learn the dynamics of planetary governments and Imperial institutions throughout the Empire. |
| 3954 | Empress Jena announces a further tax cut and begins a 20% reduction in Imperial Navy fleet sizes, retiring many older Class A vessels and mothballing the three surviving Hellkings. |
| 3955 | A team of Technologist researchers publish the Universal Decline, a critique of Universal Economics, which they claim is a politically minded plan to stiffly growth and innovation in support of both Golden Stasis and Ibrahimite philosophies. |
| 3956 | The collapse of Invention, one of the massive artificial islands built for the Imperial Exposition on Europa leads to a massive evacuation that disrupts the Exposition, but causes only twenty deaths. Sir Fazzi Turuk and Dame Janys Trebelli publish a series of essays in rebuttal to the Universal Decline, but focus mainly on differentiating Ibrahimite economic policies from Golden Stasis philosophies. |
| 3957 | Representatives from Hercules, Prometheus and several other liberal Members introduce legislation calling for the Empress to abolish capital punishment throughout the Empire; the measure receives a substantial, but minority vote, and begins a renewed interest at abolishing the death penalty at the planetary level. |
| 3958 | Ambassador Prince Olav (II) Kamarov signs the Border Convention Treaty with the Grand Federation, opening up cross-border travel between the two states and developing improve visa and information sharing protocols. |
| 3959 | A design team led by Professor Anton Helsing at Alberta College on Mars unveils a practical blueprint for the construction of a ringworld system and begins work on a Dyson Sphere design project. |
| 3960 | Nova hosts the Imperial Exposition, emphasizing data services and the Novan vision of a benevolent bureaucratic utopia. |
| 3961 | The Empress expressly denies a request by the Ministry of Science to conduct exploratory missions toward the Sagittarian Arm or up the Orion Arm. |
| 3962 | At Crown Prince Cleon's urging, the Imperial family establishes a palace compound in Exeter on Erta that eventually evolves into the Spring Palace complex. |
| 3963 | King John of Libertas, the undisputed oldest Human, celebrates his two thousandth birthday in a massive year-long festival on Libertas that results in numerous monumental structures and considerable public debt. |
| 3964 | The Imperial Exposition on Bifrost attracts a large contingent of Grand Federation visitors and leads to discussions on creating a "multi-race" category of games with open competition between different species. |
| 3965 | The Empress refuses to support an Amendment on capital punishment, calling it an issue for planetary courts and reserving the right to use the punishment for Imperial crimes; however, the number of death sentences begin a decline within the Imperial legal system. |
| 3966 | A Census Office study indicates a continuing rise in mental disorders and suicide in the rapidly growing millennial (age 1000 and over) population. |
| 3967 | Venusian engineers begin construction of a series of 200km high vents to stabilize long term pressures on the crust of the planet. |
| 3968 | The Imperial Exposition at Madrid on Terra dedicates a pavilion to Grand Federation artistic and cultural exhibits. The Empress makes her trademark statement for her reign, "No one within the Empire is poor or ugly or sickly, except by choice." |
| 3969 | In defense of the Empress's pronounce on health, the Ministry of Science increases funding to deal with the diseases of aging, including CID, strokes and mental instabilities. |
| 3970 | An archivist uncovers Jena's secret 3800 pardon of her mother all crimes related to the death of Rogar II, prompting a vocal but ineffectual call for the Empress's impeachment. |
| 3971 | Sir Jon Steward resigns as Minister of Science over a "too many old people" remark; Empress Jena appoints Lady Sharyn Estaban, a vocal Golden Stasist to replace her. |
| 3972 | In Sector 717, Imperial scouts encounter the Schingtahar, a atomic era race of burrowing city dwellers who have just begun space exploration. The Schingtahar join the Empire as a Minor Race, welcoming visitors to their cavernous metropoli. At the Imperial Exposition on Ganymede, contestants from twenty species compete in a series of demonstration events designed to develop medaled multi-racial contests. |
| 3973 | The Empress elevates the Stygians to Major Race status, lauding a thousand years of progress and integration. |
| 3974 | The Imperial household takes delivery of twin 90,000m3 royal yachts, the Exeter and the Callicut. |
| 3975 | Empress Jena, citing the near elimination of piracy, ends martial law in Kith'turi space, granting the race full Major Race status. |
| 3976 | The Imperial Exposition on Reich, with noted irony, includes the first medaled multi-specied Olympic events as well as a diverse set of cultural exhibits. |
| 3977 | The private, nonpartisan Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge (IAK) is established on Prometheus with some funding from the Technologist and Mechanists churches and private Universities and corporations as a counter to the increasingly bureaucratic Ministry of Science and Imperial University system. |
| 3978 | Prince Albert, the dashing and popular heir to the throne of Mars, dies after drowning in a sailing accident during a storm on the Northern Ocean of Mars. |
| 3979 | The self-proclaimed Michael III, a descendant of Michael II, attempts to seize power from the Grand Senate of Nobles on Apollo; Michael, six senators and forty others die after a bloody siege in the Senate Chamber. |
| 3980 | The Ministry of Science issues a warning based on the marked fading of the Terra's magnetic field and begins fitting the inner Terran Ring with magnetic coils to control a possible field collapse. The Imperial Exposition on Tellus highlights the diversity of the world's rich native and imported ecosystem and increases Grand Federation participation in the games and exhibitions. |
| 3981 | Prince Olav (II) resigns as Ambassador to the Grand Federation and moves into the Black Palace on Mercury, working to establish Cleon's Library. |
| 3982 | The Imperial Navy mobilizes the 125th Fleet to destroy a large comet heading for the planet Tyre; Empress Jena denies a request to remobilize a Hellking, forcing the Coreward Command to use antimatter missiles against the fifty kilometer diameter comet. |
| 3983 | Several Imperial High Councilors demand an investigation and a vote on impeachment in the Imperial Congress after uncovering a secret protocol with the Grand Federation that calls for the permanent retirement of the remaining Hellkings; Empress Jena retorts with a speech lauding peaceful relations with the Grand Federation, and her approval rating remains high. |
| 3984 | The Imperial Exposition at Lusaka on Terra focuses on game hunting sports, with a Eenikiti hunter winning four medals; other highlights of the Exposition include a series of environments dedicated to ten million years of hominid evolution and a Cretaceous theme park. |
| 3985 | The Ashanti, a 100,000m3 Class B passenger liner with over 600 passengers and crew suffers a hull failure and disintegrates shortly after leaving New Africa, killing all aboard. |
| 3986 | Cleon's Library, a vast information nexus and museum, opens to the public on Mercury. |
| 3987 | Prince Olav (II) becomes Minister of State and he appoints his nephew Cleon (III) as Ambassador to the Grand Federation. |
| 3988 | The Imperial Exposition on Callisto showcases wintry events and the glittering caverns of this cool Jovian moon; a small group of protesters disrupts the Grand Federation exhibition halls in the Valhalla Caverns. |
| 3989 | Baron Torvald Jarnes, Kalmar's representative to the Imperial Congress, attempts to assassinate the Empress on Kalmar, but is gunned down by the Empress's Valkyrie guards. |
| 3990 | The Ministry of Science begins clinical trials of Estaban Juice, an enzyme therapy to counter age-related psychosis; the results are dramatic enough to allow early adoption of the NB necessary for the therapy in a broad population. |
| 3991 | Lady Galena Ustinov, a professor at the Imperial University at Moscow on Terra publishes a definitive statistical analysis of birth patterns of the Nobility for the last millennium, demonstrating a strong bias that indicates illegal sexual selection of first born male children. After discussions within the Ministry of Justice, Empress Jena declines to toughen Imperial Law against sexual selection, arguing that statistics cannot convict any particular family. |
| 3992 | Atlantis hosts a planet-wide Imperial Exposition, with the opening ceremonies occurring in the Centauri Ring Hall where the first extra-solar Olympics were held over six hundred years before. |
| 3993 | Undercover operatives of the Imperial Guard infiltrate and arrest a ring of discontented minor Nobility plotting a coup against the Empress; eight Nobles charged with treason are sentenced to death and quickly executed; another twenty-five receive lengthy sentences to be served at Fomalhaut V. |
| 3994 | The Terran magnetic field collapses, prompting a massive effort to quickly reverse the field via the orbital ring system. Within six months, engineers manage to stabilize a new magnetic field with minimal disruption to Terran surface and orbital dwellers. |
| 3995 | The Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge establishes the Wexler Research Station on Salamander, a moon of Prometheus's outer gas giant, with the stated goal of developing spatial and temporal portal technologies. |
| 3996 | Erta hosts the Imperial Exposition, with Crown Prince Cleon opening the events at the impressive Spring Palace compound; Federation War veterans attempt to blow up the Eenikiti Pavilion, but are thwarted by Imperial Guard security forces. |
| 3997 | The Empress authorizes the Ministry of Colonization to allow regular settlement into the sixth ring of sectors, beyond five hundred light years from Sol. |
| 3998 | The neo-Existentialist poet Jayn Shannon wins the Tigarvati Prize for the body of her work, especially the epic Sands of Timelessness. |
| 3999 | A group of Millennialism Christians, the Family of the Fifth Sun, seizes control of the Kenyatta Power Station on the Inner Terran Ring, intent on using it to destroy Jerusalem; Imperial Guard special forces retake the station in a bloody assault, killing most of the two hundred zealots and severally damaging the facility. |
| 4000 | Empress Jena celebrates her bicentennial Jubilee, coinciding with the massive Imperial Exposition, dubbed Millennium Five, at Byzantium. Jon Gades retires after a fifty year Ministry of Science exploration career and joins the IAK on his native Prometheus. |
| 4001 | With Pope Pius XXXVI assuming leadership, New Rome celebrates the beginning of the fifth millennium of Christianity by sponsoring a yearlong festival and sponsoring the colonization of a dozen Christian worlds. The Time Travel Society emerges in Australia and other Terran locations and takes part in millennial celebrations; the remaining thirty original members continue their journey at upgraded local facilities, but most newer members move to sites on Luna, Mercury, Mars and Venus. |
| 4002 | The artificial Nobilis of Caldera receive Jena's permission to colonize two worlds in Sector 392: Kane and Anton. |
| 4003 | Captain Jon Gades sets out from Prometheus with four vessels on the IAK sponsored Trailing Orion Expedition, traveling into the unexplored Trailing sections of the Arm, including the first exploration of the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Sector 636. |
| 4004 | Former Queen Alexandra of Mars is found dead in her cell compound on Ixion, an apparent suicide. At the opening ceremonies of the Imperial Exposition on Titan, Empress Jena elevates Tanda from Countess to Duchess of Titan, emphasizing the world's continuing influence in the Solar system. The Imperial Exposition on Titan includes a number of cold nitrogen events at the site of the expanding Iceworm enclave at Mount Huygens. |
| 4005 | The Trailing Orion Expedition returns to Prometheus, having surveyed a loop up to one thousand light years from Sol. |
| 4006 | Prince Cleon (III) Kamarov leaves his post as Ambassador at Focus to return to Terra and succeeds his uncle Olav (II) as Minister of State; Olav becomes Chairman of the Imperial University System. |
| 4007 | The Empress personally denies permission for an IAK expedition to the Spinward, suggestion a Southern Expedition instead and knighting Jon Gades for his previous achievements. |
| 4008 | The Imperial Exposition at Champa celebrates the world's distinctive cultural traditions and showcases the historical periods of the old Confederation and the Dark Age. |
| 4009 | After three pirate attacks, the Imperial Navy occupies the former Khabaderan world of Malthtalkondras and evicts the Khabaderan squatters occupying the planet, opening it up for eventual colonization as the human colony world of Malth. |
| 4010 | Captain Sir Jon Gades sets out from Prometheus on the Southern Expedition at the head of six vessels, including his new flagship Endeavour. |
| 4011 | The Falzi, a semi-humanoid race in Sector 99, achieve spaceflight capability and are approached by Imperial diplomats with an offer of Minor Race membership; the Falzi Confederation of Nations collapses in to conflict, then open warfare over the proposal. The Southern Expedition discovers a massive derelict Gatebuilder deep space complex, soon named the Gades Matrix, a thousand light years from Sol. |
| 4012 | The Southern Expedition returns to Prometheus after completing a fifteen hundred light year survey loop into the Southern Thick Disk. The Imperial Exposition at Uma showcases artifacts returned from Gades' Southern Expedition and attracts a visiting delegation of Founders. |
| 4013 | Sir Jon Gades leads a scientific expedition of ten IAK and Ministry of Science vessels to the Gatebuilder complex that bears his name. |
| 4014 | A sequence of explosions rock the Gades Matrix, killing over thirty researchers and crew and forcing Gades to evacuate the rest on the seven surviving vessels; returning to Prometheus, the damaged Endeavour undergoes extensive refurbishment and the Ministry of Science ends cooperation with the IAK, though an investigation blames MoS scientists for instigating the disaster. |
| 4015 | After Crown Princess Anna commits suicide, Princess Tabitha becomes heir to the throne of Mars; Tabitha and her husband, Imperial Prince Orlan Kamarov move to Mars, occupying the renovated palace of Albert I at Escalante. |
| 4016 | After a bloody war involving nuclear weapons and numerous atrocities, the Falzi Forward Alliance establishes a world government on their world and accepts the Imperial offer of Minor Race status. The Imperial Exposition at Karachi on Terra emphasizes the world's ancient river valley civilizations and the culture heritages of the Indian subcontinent and Mohammedan Islam. |
| 4017 | Captain Sir Jon Gades and the Endeavour set out on the North Halo Expedition, planning to travel three thousand light years above the galactic plane. |
| 4018 | Returning from observations above the Galactic plane, the Endeavour encounters the ruined machine civilization of the world Asimov, at least five million years dead; the entire system, twelve hundred light years from Sol, is littered with derelict machines from nano constructors to complexes stretching tens of thousands of kilometers across free space. |
| 4019 | Ministry of Science vessels converge on Asimov prompting a tense standoff with IAK researchers returning to the system; only lengthy negotiations between Gades and representatives of the Ministry of Science, arbitrated by Imperial Navy Captain Zeta Donvan, prevent armed conflict; the Empress approves an agreement to split research responsibilities between the parties and to allow Grand Federation participation in the archeological investigations. |
| 4020 | The Imperial Exposition at Oberon highlights the exploration and exploitation of the outer Solar system in earlier ages and opens the cavernous shrines of God's Children to the public for the first time. |
| 4021 | Lady Penolyn Kandra of Venus becomes the new Minister of Culture; she begins her Heritage Campaign, which essentially designates nearly every pre-Imperial structure or facility an Imperial Heritage Site. |
| 4022 | The Angry Young Ones begin a mostly peaceful cultural revolution on Megahive that spreads though the Swarm worlds, overthrowing old restrictions against genetic engineering and opening up society to democratic values and acceptance of Imperial societal norms. |
| 4023 | The Empress signs the Terran Heritage Edict, greatly restricting new construction on all of Terra's continents but Antarctica. |
| 4024 | The Shiners, a races that communicates exclusively be reflective skin surfaces, establish an orbital base above their homeworld in Sector 106 and accept an offer of Minor Race membership in the Empire. The Imperial Exposition on Camelot includes exhibitions simulating the world's legendary namesake and hosts large numbers of Swarm participants for the first time. |
| 4025 | The first Titan genetic Variants step onto the surface of their frozen world. With flagging participation in the Kumar-Nachen Rally, the Imperial Racing Federation sponsors the first Antares-Rigel Rally, a 1400 light year race, won by Dame Fatima Abbas and her Golden Crescent II in 55 days, 23 hours. |
| 4026 | The Endeavour, with Captain Sir Jon Gades and a crew of 350, vanishes during a survey of the Coalsack, victims of a collision with a dense field of metallic dust debris. |
| 4027 | Professor Rand Djurma experimentally demonstrates the existence of parallel dimensions at the IAK Wexler Research Station on Salamander, a feat for which he receives next year's Tigarvati Prize in Physics and a knighthood. |
| 4028 | The Imperial Exposition on Dawn is housed in a set of arcologies showcasing the innovations of the urbanized world; the Olympic Games feature Swarm sporting events for the first time and even attract a group of Khzraut tourists. |
| 4029 | A private salvage vessel, the Venture Pelican, discovers the Endeavour deep within the Coalsack and salvages the vessel; a third of the crew, including Captain Gades are Mechanists and are reincarnated through their soulboxes. |
| 4030 | Protesters in Denver on Terra block construction of a new domed Boulder stadium complex for the Imperial Exposition, forcing the a waver from the Ministry of Culture to renovate the twenty-third century Davidson Memorial sports complex near Colorado Springs. |
| 4031 | A massive explosion at the IAK Wexler Research Station shatters the moon Salamander and kills all seven thousand resident researchers and dependents, including Sir Rand Djurma. |
| 4032 | The Imperial Exposition at Denver on Terra showcases the history of the Plains Indians, the United States of America and the unifications Wars of Rogar I. Over twelve hundred Mechanist victims of the Salamander disaster are reincarnated from stored backups. |
| 4033 | Suffering under lawsuits from the Salamander Incident, the Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge focuses its resources on smaller projects and research stations and on gradually increasing its fleet of Endeavour class exploration cruisers. |
| 4034 | Captain Sir Jon Gades resumes command of the refurbished Endeavour, setting off on a three year astrographic mission beyond the Trailing Frontier. |
| 4035 | Zhretra researchers at Asimov discover the fate of the system's mechanoid civilization: in a religious construct barely decipherable even to the Zhretra, the Asimovs lie dormant in wait for a shift in the metastatic fabric of the universe, ushering in an era of mechanoid omniscience. |
| 4036 | Prince Olav (II) Kamarov opens the Imperial Exposition on Triton at the historic Poseidon Hold; exhibits include an expanded facility at Neptune, allowing visitors to interact with the Tune Variant colonists. |
| 4037 | The 500,000m3 bulk freighter Blue Horizon and its crew of ninety vanish out of Themis; an investigation determines that the vessel disintegrated for unknown reasons. |
| 4038 | After returning and refitting from his astrographic mission, Captain Gades enters the Endeavour in the Rigel-Antares Rally, winning the race in a record 55 days, 10 hours. |
| 4039 | The Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge takes over the Ministry of Science's compartments at the Rigel Station, as the Ministry struggles with expanding responsibilities and a stagnant budget. |
| 4040 | The Imperial Exposition at Tanith puts on a credible showing despite major corruption scandals; a Khzraut team demonstrates the previously secret rituals of ceremonial Shade Fighting. |
| 4041 | The Mechanist church, flush from new conversions after publicity from the Incarnates of Salamander, establishes a colony on Myrland in Sector 393. |
| 4042 | The IAK establishes one of a growing number of specialized branches on Lanander, this branch focusing on socio-economic sciences. |
| 4043 | The Endeavour and four other vessels head off on Gades's South Halo Expedition, a loop stretch three thousand light years below the galactic plane. |
| 4044 | The Imperial Exposition on Mendam solidifies the world's position as the effective capital of the Spinward Sectors and includes Jena's coronation of the Khruzi aristocrat Duke Arrleshon Koormarvom as the first Viceroy of the Spinward region. |
| 4045 | Returning from the successful South Halo Expedition, Captain Sir Jon Gades accepts the Astrographics Chair at the IAK Institute on Prometheus. |
| 4046 | Cleon (III) Kamarov resigns as Minister of State after forty years at the post; Empress Jena appoints his protégé, Lord Ian Damasq, noted for his Golden Stasist views, as the new Minister. |
| 4047 | Prince Orlan and Princess Tabitha chair a committee to revitalize the stagnate society and population of Mars, suffering from what the Princess declares as a "cultural malaise". |
| 4048 | Quito hosts the Imperial Exposition on Terra, emphasizing the region's Inca past and the future multi-cultural Empire and including a Khald'aron pavilion. |
| 4049 | A group of like-minded settlers establish a colony on New Genesis in Sector 938, trying to combine a Neolithic society with "Methuselan" longevity. |
| 4050 | The Alimeen Industrial Council establishes ties with the Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge, gradually severing a thousand year relationship with the Ministry of Science. |
| 4051 | Lady Kordia Ramoz resigns as Minister of Commerce in wake of an influence scandal that claims four Vice Ministers; the Empress appoints her grandson, Prince Orlan, as Minister, ordering a complete reorganization to root out corruption. |
| 4052 | The Imperial Exposition opens at the sprawling Ice Palace on Pluto, with venues on Charon and scattered through the vast space of the Kuiper Belt, causing some complaints among participants, though worm shuttles whisk patrons between worldlets in minutes. |
| 4053 | Empress Jena, King Ivan, Imperial Mother Margrette, Princess Melena and over 300 crew die when the Imperial yacht Exeter suffers a hull breach and disintegrates on a return voyage from the Spring Palace on Erta. Crown Prince Cleon, on a hunting expedition beyond Betelgeuse, becomes Emperor Cleon II upon confirmation in absentia by the Imperial Congress and High Council. At his command, the Emperor's eldest son, Olav, becomes Crown Prince and Prince of Mercury, the Emperor's second son, Orlan becomes Prince of Bengal, and the Emperor's sister Lydia, becomes Queen of Paradise. |
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