The Early Small States Era

5011-5153CE

Overview

The Early Small States Era was marked by the continuing spread of macrojump technology through the region of old Imperial Space and short but often brutal local wars that accompanied the emergence of macrojump-linked states. With vacuum distiller technology still unavailable within the region of Human Space, interstellar travel remained limited and expensive, with massive fusion-powered antimatter stations supplying the fuel to maintain interstellar contact. Civilization existed in pockets, peripherally linked by trade relations, but for all but a few thousand worlds, a dark age of near total isolation persisted throughout the era.

In the Central Region, the Early Small States Era corresponds to the span of Director Ronal Hassani's Union of Kalmar, the moderately Ibrahimite successor state to the Twin Kingdoms of Kalmar-Libertas. Ronal tried to position himself as a moderating influence on Ishmahil's Khalifate and married into the Khalif's family, giving birth to Mohammed (I) Hassani. Mohammed, supported by his father's growing macrojump navy, vied for rule of the Khalifate after Ishmahil's death in 5119CE. The Khalif War of 5120-5126CE was an ostensive victory for Ronal, with his son Mohammed I supplanting Abdullah as Khalif and with the moderate Ibrahimite Clergy forming an ever closer alliance between the Khalifate and the Union; but Ronal's triumph was short-lived.

A Khalifate base in the Coman home system triggered the The Second Paradise War of 5129-5132CE between the Bengali Dominions and a Khalifate-Union alliance. Bengali concerns over the alliance and continuing agitation by the Nobility for the recovery of the key Central worlds of Paradise, Atlantis, Libertas and Kalmar played a major part in pushing a minor incident at Coman into full-fledged warfare. The war featured unrestrained warfare and widespread atrocities by both sides, resulting in billions killed in the effective sterilization of Yathrib and in the orbital bombardment of Delphi; millions died in raids and fighting on Paradise, Aeneas and Libertas. The war ended with Yathrib a dead world, with the damaged world of Delphi falling to the Khalifate, and with Paradise returning to Dominions control. Vulcan, captured by the Dominions, rejected Nobilis rule and became a demilitarized neutral border world. The war severely weakened the Central Region and polarized the Khalifate Orders. Bengal lost its Crown Prince at Aeneas and much of the Delphian branch of the family in the fall of Delphi.

Director Ronal Hassani's family takeover of the Khalifate failed him when his grandson, Mohammed (II), later known as the Red Khalif, became increasingly radicalized under the influence of Shan Bendazi. After Bendazi's death in detention, the younger Mohammed assassinated his father, seizing control of the Khalifate and forcing through his confirmation in 5138CE. Relations between the Union of Kalmar and the Khalifate deteriorated rapidly as hardliners took control of the Ishmahili Orders and began repressing moderates and Hammedians across the Khalifate. Finally, Ronal Hassani struck against his grandson, starting the Red Khalif's War of 5146-5153CE. Contrary to Ronal's expectations, the initial attack on Mohammed II's fleet at Mars did not weaken the radicals, and the Khalifate initiated a massive shipbuilding campaign, building enough warships and troop transports to systemically defeat the Union and rebel moderates, conquering Unions worlds piecemeal until the Sack of Kalmar ended the war. Mohammed II had his grandfather executed for heresy and treason, and the Union of Kalmar ceased to exist, absorbed into an increasingly fundamentalist Terran Khalifate.

Elsewhere in the Central Region, the Bengali Dominions, exhausted by the Second Paradise War, slowed its expansion, preferring to build up its economy through trade and development. The Reconstruction Federation grew to nine worlds during the period, absorbing some former Kalmar Pact worlds and developing closer relations with the Alimeen. By establishing macrojump-linked habitats colonies in Alimeen systems, the Reconstruction Federation helped the Alimeen maintain better contact with their settled worlds than gravstarship links would allow. Contact with the Star Kingdoms faded as attempts to establish a viable macrojump trade corridor foundered.

The Coreward Regions saw some return to civilization through the efforts of the Merchant Guild, who developed trade links throughout the era, mainly between the Grand Federation border and the Star Kingdoms, but also along the Coreward border regions to the Zhantlas Union and the Mendam Codominium. The trade stations developed by the Guild to provide antimatter and refitting along the trade routes helped developed the local economies of their host systems. Guild traders finally uncovered Khabaderan aggression in the border regions and prompted the Grand Federation of Races to intervene and effectively end Khabaderan interstellar activity for most of the period.

The Mendam Codominium and the Zhantlas Union continued their Dragon border cooperation though a period of increased Dragon raiding. Four Dragon Frontier Wars raged between 5039CE and 5099CE, and though few Human worlds were liberated, relations along the border slowly improved as Dragon slaver raiders subsided, at least along the civilized border.

Macrojump civilization also slowly returned to the civilized Rimward regions during this period. The Swarm Republic and the Betelgeuse Union received macrojump technology from the Bengali Dominions and the Betelgeuse Union in turn traded the technology to the Khald'aron and the Cubics. Much of the Rimward Region, as well as the Spinward, North and South, remained isolated, deprived of even the occasional merchant or pirate visit. Despite a few disputed successions, the Star Kingdoms remained a large pocket of civilization in the Trailing Region, but the Rootjalik Consulate began to dissolve as it lost its last wormship.

Four centuries after the fall of the Empire, most systems remained isolated and backward.

Political

The Early Small States Era was not marked by growth as much as by the consolidation and differentiation of states that would mostly persist for millennia. The growth of the Bengali Dominions from eighty-two to one hundred and twenty systems during the era was the only exception to the pattern of consolidation, and Emperor Talon put breaks on this expansion soon after his ascendancy in 5093CE, realizing the economic and social strains of continued outward growth.

The Treaty of Delphi, signed in 5020CE, built steady relationships and borders between the Khalifate-Union alliance and the Dominions that would persist for over a century. The major political evolution during the era was within the Khalifate, with early growth, including the spiritual union with New Rome, and slow missionary expansion throughout the Central Region setting the stage for future integration. Director Ronal Hassani of the Kalmar Union was the clear powerbroker in the Central Region in the later 51st century, slowly growing his influence though marriage, patronage and a strengthening macrojump fleet. His marriage to Ishmahil's granddaughter Shadia Mustafa and subsequent birth of Mohammed (I) followed by Mohammed's marriage to Fatima Mustafa and the birth of Mohammed (II) in 5077CE, greatly increased Ronal Hassani's influence with the Khalif and with moderate members of the Ishmahili orders. Seeing the Union's growing military strength as a counter to the Dominions, Ishmahil, his economy tied down by environmental problems on Venus and Mercury, was happy to moderate his policies in return for stability.

When Ishmahil and his announced heir, Hussein, died on Mars in 5119CE, Director Ronal Hassani saw his chance to promote his son Mohammed as the new Khalif, and when the Clergy picked Ishamhil's last surviving grandson Abdullah as Khalif, the Director was not above using his superior war fleet to support his son's claim in the Khalif War. A moderate Khalifate, with Ronal as puppetmaster might have persisted if not for the radicalization of the Clergy and the military Orders during and after the Second Paradise War. The destruction of Yathrib created a world of martyrs and became a rallying point for radicals like Shan Bendazi and his most notable pupil, Mohammed (II) Hassani, the Red Khalif. The assassination of his son by his grandson effectively sealed the fate of Ronal Hassani's attempt to moderate the Khalifate. Ronal's attempt to duplicate his successful Khalif War strategy of using military force to dominate the Khalifate failed against the response of a radicalized Red Khalif. Soundly defeating his grandfather, Mohammed II declared a fundamentalist Terran Khalifate, whose harsh doctrines would continue to dominate the Khalifate long after his reign.

Technological

Except for a handful of carefully protected ships in the Mendam Codominium and a sprinkling of freighters and light escorts among the Kith'turi and B'dr'rak, Human Space was devoid of wormships by 5153CE. Macrojump vessels spread throughout Human Space civilization during the era, from the Guild ships plying the Grand Federation border to the nascent fleet of the Khald'aron Republic beyond the Rimward frontier.

But the new type Ib macrojump vessels suffered from more than their limited sixteen light-year jump range. The lack of viable post-Plague vacuum distillation technology in Human Space limited the availability of antimatter, forcing the development of terawatt fusion plants dedicated to producing the quantities of positrons necessary for interstellar travel. Reliability of injectors and fuel storage constraints limited the effective operating radius of these vessels to little more than one hundred light years. Furthermore, the limitations of franduzu-based superconductors restricted the size of macrojump vessels to no more than forty meters diameter, the size of a frigate or light freighter. A single macrojump ship could carry no more than 15,000m³ cargo (200 standard containers) or 1,600 very cramped troopers. With less than two thousand macrojump ships, only four hundred of maximum size, in all of Human Space, both trade and warfare remained limited.

While most states concentrated on developing their worlds back into the fusion era or to the early macrojump era, the Symmetry Project stood out as the major triumph of engineering during the era. With Venus continuing to suffer from violent weather and from degrading tectonic and ecological stability and with Mercury wandering in a chaotic orbit dangerously near the Terra-Luna system, Grandmaster Fazhi Reyshan of the Order of Enlightenment devised and supervised an ambitious effort to alter the orbits of Venus and Mercury in stable resonances with Terra, placing Venus at a more manageable 0.8255AU, 4:3 resonance orbit and Mercury at a safe 1.13AU, 5:6 resonance orbit. The manufacture and maintenance of large HSPG generators and their supporting power planets strained the Khalifate's economy for the entire 51st and 52nd centuries, and Reyshan died before Venus was saved, but the project was an astounding success, given the limits of technology, and Venus would surely have become uninhabitable without the effort.

Cultural

Civilized regions continued to develop their unique cultures in relative isolation during the Early Small States Era. While most cultures, such as the distinct characteristics of the Mendam and Zhantlas regions and the Khalifate and Bengali states, had the precursors in Imperial sub-cultures, the culture of the Star Kingdoms was a unique evolution in the post-Imperial Age. The concept of a Sapien monarchy was new and the rules of succession and the cultural lives of the Kingdoms' inhabitants evolved in directions unlike their Imperial antecedents.

Star King succession took some time to work out, especially since the original Star King Adam DeJulius-Brening of Markham, whose writings and commentary continued to define custom and law, was still alive and reigning. Succession tended to be within the family of the ruling Star King, usually falling to the designated heir, who might or might not be the firstborn child, but in all cases, the heir faced confirmation by Electors of a realm, chosen from representatives of all a Kingdom's worlds, though by varying methods and composition. When the Mechanist Star Queen Myra of Timbuktu died in 5025CE, she tried to resume the throne in her second Incarnation, but the Electors of her realm balked, and in the bloodshed that followed, she abdicated in favor of her grandson. When the Mechanist Otto I of Lanander died twenty years later, his succession was orderly, first because his third Incarnation was required to serve the Church, and second because he wished to avoid the troubles of Timbuktu. After the ascension of Otto II, Star King Adam of Markham suggested a ban on subsequent Incarnation Mechanist succession, and the rule has held for nearly two thousand years.

The Star Kingdoms were careful to separate church and state, but otherwise very tolerant of religion. As King Adam wrote, any religion which respected the authority of the state and the rights of non-believers, could practice whatever consensual rites they wished, even ritual sacrifice or cannibalism, though such examples were nearly nonexistent. Most Star Kingdom residents practiced their religion, whether Ibrahimism or Mechanism or obscure mystical cultism in moderation and privacy, and religion was considered strictly a personal issue. The Star Kingdoms were likewise tolerant of cyborgization and Human Variants, controlling only weaponized cyborgs and allowing even Nobilis to settle as private citizens. Non-Humans also found the Star Kingdoms fairly accommodating, though the Than still shunned contact and though few starfaring races, other than the Zhretra, Tze't and B'dr'rak settled in Star Kingdom systems in any great numbers. Uniquely, the former Servant Races of Goblinoids, Casaps, Leonoids, Amazons and Warriors also enjoyed full citizenship rights in the Star Kingdoms, though locally produced artificial beings, called Bioids and Mechoids, to avoid the baggage of the Construct label, were treated as property within the Kingdoms. In general, Star Kingdom society of the era was private, respectful and moderate, with citizens living their fairly prosperous lives without any great upheaval.

The major economic development of the Early Small States Era was the growth of the Merchant Guild from a few independent captains to an organized league of over one hundred seventy vessels and over two dozen trading bases. The Guild's main trade routes connected the markets of the Grand Federation border region with the Star Kingdoms. To support the three hundred light-year journey, the Guild established two separate routes, each with six way stations to support the four to six month journey. The northern route, from Amada to Timbuktu, traveled though Sector 314 to skirt Cargomen space. The southern route stretched from Faztulu to Irmingham along a corridor south of Cargomen and north of B'dr'rak space. These routes, with their way stations providing maintenance and antimatter fuel every four jumps, provided the bulk of Merchant Guild revenues. Later in the period, the Guild established routes along the Grand Federation border to Zhantlas and Mendam, though the former route developed political difficulties and the latter was fraught with risks of Dragon raids. While the Kith'turi-Salvaatiki Union welcomed Guild merchants to a few authorized trade worlds, other races, including the B'dr'rak, Cargomen and Yerman were not open to commercial contact and reacted with hostility or resistance to any attempts at trade. The Guild did send one expedition into the Central Region to explore trade relations, but a follow-up expedition foundered at Yggdrasil, and the Guild soon abandoned further attempts as unprofitable.

Chronology Table

5011	The Union of Kalmar destroys a Nobilis rebel camp in the outer Alpha Mensa system over objections from local Delphian authorities. Delphi appeals to the Bengali Dominions for protection, and Emperor Garth dispatches a squadron of macrojump frigates to the Alpha Mensa system, turning away both Union patrols and rebel vessels. The Union of Kalmar establishes a naval outpost at Arcturus.
5012	Union of Kalmar Director Ronal Hassani officially abolishes feudalism on Kalmar, Libertas, Osiris and Avalon, stripping the Nobilis of titles and property. Ronal appoints Sapien governors on all four worlds and tasks them with implementing standard federalized constitutions. Nobilis rebels destroy the Union outpost at Arcturus and raid the outer Kalmar system.
5013	The Union of Kalmar establishes reservation camps for Nobilis on each world and begins freeing detained Futaris and other Variants who pledge fealty to Union authorities. Emperor Garth's great-granddaughter, Princess Jena Kamarov, marries the exiled Libertine Count Jonas Dirksen-Barr.
5014	Ronal defeats the last Twin Kingdom Nobilis raiders at the Battle of Denebola and begins deportation of Nobilis from the Union of Kalmar, aided by Bengali relief ships.
5015	Director Ronal Hassani takes a second wife, Shadia Mustafa, a granddaughter of Khalif Ishmahil Mustafa. Roban Travis-Roosevelt-Kamarov, great-grandson of Emperor Garth and considered by many the exiled King of Kalmar-Libertas, and his wife Princess Thena give birth to a natural daughter, Princess Amanda.
5016	The Merchant Guild uses family connections with the House of Lanander to secure exclusive rights to the Grand Federation-Star Kingdom trade route, beginning annual macrojump trade convoys along the three hundred light-year route.
5017	Pope Pius XLI receives his commission report and accepts the narrow majority opinion, calling for union with the Ishmahili Ibrahimite Church; civil war breaks out on New Rome.
5018	The Order of Valor assists Pope Pius XLI in suppressing New Roman rebels, using W-bombs against several cities and killing over five million before major fighting ends. Pius XLI and over a hundred cardinals travel to Terra to join the Ishmahili Clergy. As word of the Pope's conversion spreads to the Dominions, Stefan Rhodas of Aquila declares himself Pope of the United Catholic Church and receives endorsements form most bishops with the Dominions.
5019	Scholars at Mercury's Caloris Ishmahili University perfect fusion powered HSPG thruster arrays suitable for planetary orbital manipulation; Ishmahil orders immediate construction of HSPG arrays on Mercury and Venus.
5020	Dominions and Unionist negotiators sign the Treaty of Delphi, wherein Delphi joins the Dominions as a Principality under the rule of Roban Travis-Roosevelt-Kamarov, who renounces his claim to the Twin Kingdoms in return for the release of surviving member of his House.
5021	Hammed Mustafa dies of old age on Nasser at the age of 1,194; his followers bury him in a crypt underneath the Higuna Mosque.
5022	Mohammed Hassani, the child of Director Ronal and Shadia, is born on Kalmar. Prince Rogar Travis-Roosevelt-Kamarov, natural child of Prince Roban and Princess Thena, is born on Delphi.
5023	With construction of HSPG elements continuing, Mercury passes within five million kilometers of the Terra-Luna system, its disk easily visible from both worlds.
5024	Khabaderan forces land on the Sector 762 world of Malth and occupy the late industrial era world's three major cities, but face resistance from Human partisans fighting from the rugged countryside.
5025	Queen Myra of Timbuktu, a Mechanist, dies of Syfan's Fever; when her ministers attempt to bring her Incarnation to the throne, a majority of Electors protest, prompting a bloody coup, resulting in Myra's abdication and the appointment of her grandson Peiter as King.
5026	The Merchant Guild establishes a trade depot at Amada, a Grand Federation-absorbed Human world in Sector 726, and develops long-term export contracts for Grand Federation goods, including antimatter.
5027	A Merchant Guild trader stumbles upon the Khabaderan occupation forces in the Malth system and jumps to the Faztulu Drift to alert Grand Federation patrol forces.
5028	Promethean engineers develop a macrojump drive from Star Kingdom designs, revitalizing the moribund Reconstruction Federation. A Grand Federation task force helps local partisans liberate Malth and intelligence officers uncover rumors of Khabaderan occupation and atrocities on other Human worlds.
5029	Grand Federation naval forces evict Khabaderan occupiers from Zhablandogna and Sharlendernas and order the abandonment of the colony on Turmaburan. The Grand Federation Primary Races ban all independent Khabaderan interstellar travel for a gross GF years, or until 5143CE and exile several Khabaderan leaders to various penal worlds.
5030	The Mendam Codominium reestablishes a naval base at Far Orlando and begins limited strikes against outlying Dragon-occupied worlds.
5031	The Promethean prototype macrojump ship Eagle travels to Hercules and Alimeen in missions to support the Federation and strengthen ties with the Alimeen.
5032	The Union of Kalmar and the Khalifate sign a series of treaties, cooperating in external patrols and deepening cultural exchanges. The Union of Kalmar bans all genetic transformation procedures and all Construct production.
5033	Osiris withdraws from the Union of Kalmar rather than receive Order of Truth missionaries; after a mobilization crisis, the Director lets the secession stand, but withdraws all macrojump vessels, effectively isolating the world.
5034	The Reconstruction Federation and the Alimeen sign trade and friendship agreements designed to increase Human habitat occupation in Alimeen systems and spread macrojump trade to the nearer Alimeen worlds; Prometheus shares its macrojump design specifications with Hercules and Nova.
5035	Utopia accepts an invitation to join the Union of Kalmar; Thor and Helicon reject similar offers, but they do accept both Union and Khalifate traders.
5036	The Merchant Guild begins construction of six bases along the "northern route" of the Star Kingdom run, from Amada to Timbuktu. Earthquakes, plagues and storms batter Venus in the worst year in decades; Grandmaster Fazhi Reyshan concedes that some quakes likely resulted from the Symmetry Project, now slowly altering the worlds orbit, but receives orders from Ishmahil to continue the project.
5037	The orbital Guild base at Morris reaches completion, establishing trade with the three Morris system worlds of Morris, Campbell and Tate and serving the northern Star Kingdom route.
5038	After years of consolidation, the Ishmahili Glorious Peoples Movement gains control over the nations of atomic era Nike and appeals successfully for membership in the Khalifate.
5039	After a Dragon raid on Ruszhane, the Mendam Codominium and Zhantlas Union begin a series of attacks on Dragon strongholds, known later as the First Dragon Frontier War.
5040	A Dragon raiding force again destroys the Mendam base at Far Orlando. A Zhantlas strike squadron destroys the Dragon Jaraslav base.
5041	Mendam and Zhantlian squadrons defeat a massed Dragon fleet at the Battle of Ectobanis and liberate the occupied world of Firenze in Sector 767.
5042	King Ari I of Tesla dies and his son Ari II succeeds him as Star King, prompting a quickly suppressed revolt on Fermi and subsequent low-level guerilla action on the world.
5043	The First Dragon Frontier War ends with an armistice agreement signed by seven Dragon nations and Mendam and Zhantlas, establishing defacto borders. Tripoli joins the Union of Kalmar.
5044	A Fermian assassin kills King Ari II; Teslan Electors appoint his niece Almeria Star Queen and authorize troops to pacify Fermi; after a Star Kings conference, troops from Irmingham, Lanander and Markham form a peacekeeping force to restore order on Fermi.
5045	Star King Otto I of Lanander dies; a Mechanist, his third Incarnation begins and he devotes himself to the Church; his grand-nephew succeeds him as Otto II.
5046	Poseidon joins the Bengali Dominions and Emperor Garth appoints Jonas Dirksen-Barr as the Earl of Poseidon; Jonas and his wife, Princess Jena, move into the newly constructed floating palace of Sylrain to begin their benevolent rule over the mostly Merman population.
5047	Hammedian Ibrahimites on Aphrodite begin protests against the Order of Purity that leads to violent repression and a low-level guerilla struggle on the world.
5048	The Osiran gravstarship Karnak reaches Odin, requesting membership in the Reconstruction Federation.
5049	Three Reconstruction Federation macrojump ships visit Osiris and negotiate the world's admittance into the Federation.
5050	In a speech before the Council of Oregador, Emperor Garth proclaims the principles of religious freedom and multiracial tolerance across the Dominions, but he emphasizes the benefits of Nobilis rule and the Altaran Golden Stasis philosophy of racial specialization; the Oregador Proclamation of 2746NE (5050CE) in effect formalizes the Dominions government's acceptance of caste-based divisions, and it institutes mandatory Guardian transformation for military recruits.
5051	The seven world Reconstruction Federation convenes a constitutional convention on Odin, agreeing to a two-year rotating presidency, starting with Aurora and proceeding alphabetically.
5052	The governing council of Felix invites the Khalifate to absorb their world, a marginally information era society with large areas of more primitive settlements and nomads outside central control; the Order of Purity dispatches thousands of troops to supplement local forces in subduing marauding bands and outlaw settlements.
5053	The Mendam Codominium rebuilds its base at Far Orlando for the third time. Princess Amanda Travis-Roosevelt-Kamarov marries the much older Lukas Stark, Duke of Hera, in ceremonies on Hera.
5054	The gravstarship Rydell arrives at Caldera from Kumar, carrying a shipment of stable transuranics and offers to trade the goods for access to macrojump technology; King Anton dispatches a courier to Bengali with the offer.
5055	The Bengali Dominions agrees to trade macrojump technology to the Betelgeuse Union in return for a long-term contract for stable transuranics sales and dispatches a macrojump trader to Kumar to finalize the arrangement.
5056	The Merchant Guild begins construction of six bases along the "southern route" of the Star Kingdom run, from Faztulu to Irmingham. Princess Lyra Stark is born naturally to Princess Amanda and Duke Lukas of Hera.
5057	The Bengali Dominions trades macrojump drive construction techniques to the Swarm Republic in return for trade access to its worlds, but contact with Swarm society is limited to trade enclave regions and authorized offworld installations.
5058	The rebellion on Aphrodite effectively ends after the local Ishmahili leadership agrees to allow Hammedian mosques to operate freely and to release thousands of prisoners.
5059	A Merchant Guild expedition to Kith'turi-Salvaatiki space initiates trade contact between the Guild and four authorized Union trade worlds.
5060	At the Emperor's direction the Bengali Dominions begins a steady expansion, absorbing willing client states in the Rimward Region and installing Nobilis Houses to rule the worlds in conduction with local constitutions. The Betelgeuse Union's first macrojump ship, Orion, makes its inaugural voyage to Luminous.
5061	Spreading disease and failing infrastructure leads to dozens of riots and hundreds of thousands of deaths on Venus, forcing the Order of Purity to declare large sections of the world under martial law and to enforce strict curfew restrictions.
5062	The Confederate government of Hector requests absorption into the Bengali Dominions and accepts Emperor Garth's appointment of Gwenell Turki-Furza as Queen.
5063	The old Sector 35 capital world of Ionia, a stable late information era society ruled by a Sapien-dominated oligarchy, joins the Bengali Dominions.
5064	After a Mendam raid against Dragon Slavers, a Dragon coalition attacks and destroys Far Orlando, precipitating the Second Dragon Frontier War. The Mendam Codominium mobilizes its fleets and attacks four Dragon outposts, but Zhantlas attempts to mediate a truce.
5065	Three more Dragon nations join the war against Mendam and strike three Codominium worlds, including Tertraluna. Star Kingdoms peacekeepers leave Fermi after a twenty-one year occupation has reduced tensions and hostility toward Tesla.
5066	After a Dragon squadron attacks Ruszhane, the Zhantlas Union joins Mendam in fighting the Dragon coalition. Princess Katrina Stark is born naturally to Princess Amanda and Duke Lukas of Hera.
5067	After the indecisive battles of Vordabon and Shurnmala, the Dragon coalition agrees to an armistice and signs the Treaty of Ruszhane, agreeing to end slaver raids in eight border sectors.
5068	The Betelgeuse Union trades macrojump technology to the Khald'aron Republic in return for broad border guarantees and favorable trade agreements.
5069	The Mendam Codominium rebuilds its Far Orlando base for the fourth time, incorporating deep hardened defenses to protect the naval installation.
5070	B'dr'rak warships attack a Merchant Guild trading expedition in Sector 370, ending early Guild attempts to establish trade relations.
5071	The world of Somerset rebels from Orphean authority, killing Prince Michael and seizing control of the local defense forces. Star Queen Lysia mobilizes her navy to retake the world, but receives little aid from the other Star Kingdoms.
5072	Srinagar joins the revolt against Orpheus, forcing the Queen to split her forces; after regaining control of space in the rebel systems, the Orphean Navy begins bombardment of both Srinagar and Somerset, lacking the troops to retake either world.
5073	The Sector 2 world of Diana, long a stable Ibrahimism-influenced world, voluntarily joins the Khalifate in return for aid to bring its industrial era civilization into the fusion era. Star King David II of Irmingham offers to mediate the Orphean revolts to lift the sieges on Srinagar and Somerset, but rebel forces refuse to agree to return to Queen Lysia's rule.
5074	Admiral Ross Banik assassinates Queen Lysia of Orpheus and seizes control of the Star Kingdom government, calling for a negotiated settlement with rebel forces; the other seven Star Kingdoms refrain from recognizing King Ross until after he completes a purge of the Queen's supporters and peacefully reintegrates the two rebel worlds.
5075	The Merchant Guild establishes a trade outpost at Myrland, beginning a close relationship with the Mechanist Church and remnants of the IAK.
5076	Bengali Crown Prince Talon narrowly escapes assassination by anti-Nobilis dissidents while traveling to Palmer to oversee the world's induction into the Dominions; three Guardian bodyguards die defending Talon and receive the highest honors for their sacrifice.
5077	Mohammed Hassani marries Fatima Mustafa, a young great-granddaughter of Ishmahil, technically his half-second cousin, in ceremonies on Terra. Fatima dies ten months later of complications from giving birth to her son, Mohammed, who later becomes Mohammed the Red Khalif.
5078	A Merchant Guild expedition to Zhantlas Union Space establishes a trade route that eventually brings Zhantlian products to the Star Kingdoms.
5079	Princess Lyra Stark marries Lord Yuri Turrel of House Gidzenko of Gagarin.
5080	The world of Norada joins the Betelgeuse Union in return for technical assistance, beginning the slow expansion of the far Rimward state.
5081	The Dragon Vrashma Pride attacks and destroys the Codominium base at Far Orlando with a dozen warships, seeding the ground with radioactives as they retreat.
5082	Mendam forces hunting the Vrashma Pride stumble into a battle with the Dragon nation of Oshku, precipitating the Third Dragon Frontier War.
5083	After a Dragon raid on the Kraz world of Rtakka, the Zhantlas Union enters the war, attacking two Dragon nations.
5084	The last Khalifate wormship, the converted yacht Ishmahil's Hope, disintegrates in a suspected Mech hull breach, leaving the Khalifate fully dependent on its ninety ship macrojump fleet. A fleet led by the Vrashma Pride attacks and cripples the joint Mendam-Zhantlas base on Ruszhane, retreating after heavy losses. Mendam forces attack the Oshku capital of Ruhlmann and liberate the world from Dragon domination.
5085	A Mendam deep raid strikes the Vrashma Pride homeworld of Tarmin, destroying their fleet and instigating a revolt by Humans against their Dragon overlords. Thor accepts an invitation to join the Reconstruction Federation and receives access to macrojump technology.
5086	The Third Dragon Frontier War ends in an uneasy truce, with several Dragon nations agreeing to an amended Treaty of Ruszhane. Dragon forces put down the Human revolt on Tarmin, but refuse to restore the Vrashma Pride to dominance. Princess Arlena Stark is born Artificially to Princess Amanda and Duke Lukas of Hera. Princess Cynthia Stark-Turrel is born naturally to Princess Lyra and Lord Yuri on Gagarin.
5087	Stubbornly cleaning up radioactive contamination, the Mendam Codominium rebuilds its base on Far Orlando for a fifth time; the joint Mendam-Zhantlas base on Ruszhane undergoes extensive repairs and upgrades.
5088	The Merchant Guild begins regular contact with the Mendam Codominium and accepts Mendam military escorts when operating near Dragon-occupied space.
5089	The Fairwind Plague spreads on Venus from the arcology of that name, killing over three million before effective countermeasures control the disease.
5090	After a century of missionary activity, the desert world of Arakis accepts membership in the Khalifate in return for recognition of local religious variances and guaranteed rights for the Ion minority.
5091	Commodore Tarn Bradik becomes commander of the Mendam base at Far Orlando and fends off a raid by a dozen Dragon starships.
5092	Bengali Dominions Emperor Garth dies in a repulsor car accident on Bengal, leaving as his legacy an Empire of over a hundred systems. The Council of Oregador convenes to confirm Emperor Talon and to bestow the title Prince of Aeneas on his heir, Prince Albert Kamarov. After his daughter, High Priestess Jessica of the Markon Cathedral, crowns him, Emperor Talon makes the ancient Winter Palace his seat of power, transferring the massive blue Diamond Throne from Donnersburg.
5093	Princess Katrina Stark marries Baron Jamis Theissum of Theissum on Hera at his Braddock mountain estate. Rear Admiral Tarn Bradik assumes command of the joint Mendam-Zhantlas base at Ruszhane.
5094	The Bengali Dominions enters a period of economic recession; statistics show little overall financial benefit from long range macrojump trading. Emperor Talon appoints the Futaris Henri Alba-Neeri as High Commissioner of Trade.
5095	Based on a Trade Commission report, Emperor Talon curtails the Dominions' expansion policy of "cherry-picking" suitable worlds and orders the Commission of External Affairs to begin planning for the absorption of less suitable but nearer worlds to reinforce the Dominions' existing thin "Web of Influence".
5096	The revitalized Vrashma Pride leads a Dragon raid on Ruszhane, triggering the Fourth Dragon Frontier War; Admiral Tarn Bradik defends the outpost and accepts command of the First Combined Fleet to strike at Dragon raiding bases.
5097	At the Battle of Tigarvati, Dragon forces destroy the Mendam Second Home Fleet and bombard with world with fusion weapons. King David II of Irmingham dies; his two grandsons, David and Aldon vie for confirmation as the new King, leading to a campaign of assassination and intimidation as Electors are unable to decide between the claimants.
5098	Admiral Bradik defeats a Dragon battle fleet at the Battle of Far Orlando, relieving the besieged base and effectively ending major fighting in the war. After the assassination of Aldon, David III takes the throne as Star King of Irmingham. The Bengali Dominions incorporates the industrial era overpopulated world of Cyclops, beginning limited technical assistance to the Nobilis kingdoms of the world after they elect Helen duChave as High Queen of Cyclops.
5099	At the Treaty of Far Orlando, the Dragon Coalition of Nations and Prides agrees to a general armistice and defined patrol boundaries. Princess Jena Stark-Turrel is born naturally on Gagarin.
5100	Venus reports it best meteorological year in two centuries, with few Great Storms and milder temperatures, a sign the Symmetry Project and biological environmental improvements are working.
5101	The last Star Kingdom wormship, the converted Orphean merchantman Nur Ramos, fails, limping back to the Orphean system on HSPG thrusters after six months of deep space travel.
5102	The Swarm Republic expels Bengali traders, beginning a renewed period of isolation.
5103	Karla Dang-Zhou, widow of a murdered Elector, assassinates King David III of Irmingham and dies fleeing the scene; David IV takes his father's throne by unanimous election.
5104	Mercury settles into its 6:5 resonance orbit with Terra, 1.13AU from the sun, in a triumph of engineering vindicating Fazhi Reyshan's Symmetry Project.
5105	The Cargomen rebuff Merchant Guild attempts to establishing trading outposts or way stations within Cargomen space.
5106	The Khald'aron Republic establishes a diplomatic mission with the Bengali Dominions at Caldera and invites Bengali diplomats to open an embassy on Khald'aron.
5107	Hardliner Ibrahimites gain control of the government on Arakis, closing local sect mosques and effectively driving the Ion minority underground or into the desert.
5108	The Bengali Dominions incorporates Nasser, allowing great autonomy and missionary rights to the Hammedian Ibrahimite church. A Merchant Guild conference at Faztulu Drifts ends with plans for the Guild's hundred ship fleet to extend operations into other civilized regions of Known Space.
5109	The Rootjalik Consulate begins to disintegrate after the failure of their last wormship leaves their scattered worlds reliant on sporadic and infrequent gravstarship travel.
5110	A Merchant Guild Trading expedition traveling from Orpheus reaches the Central Region, establishes trade relations with the Reconstruction Federation, but the Central Expedition gets a cool welcome from the Union of Kalmar and the Khalifate allows only a single ship to enter its territory to visit Terra.
5111	The Guild Central Expedition visits Delphi, receiving permission to conduct limited trade with the Bengali Dominions.
5112	Two ships from the Guild Central expedition reach Bengal and meet with the High Commissioner of Trade before receiving a brief audience with Emperor Talon. The Dominions incorporates the struggling world of Isis, beginning assistance in development of Isis's underground cities.
5113	Ibrahimite extremists assassinate Galmin Turner of Aurora, rotating President of the Reconstruction Federation, prompting the Reconstruction Federation to ban Ibrahimite missionaries and shut down some local extremist mosques.
5114	The Betelgeuse Union establishes diplomatic and trade relations with the jovian Cubics, granting macrojump technology in return for transit and basing rights in their systems.
5115	A damaging computer virus dubbed Lambda Boy infects the Terran datanet, crippling major communications and power networks for weeks and causing thousands of collateral deaths; the Order of Purity blames the virus on "agitator Mechanists" and shuts down most independent data operators.
5116	The first scheduled Merchant Guild Central Convoy from Orpheus to Thor suffers multiple drive failures and limps into orbit around Yggdrasil, establishing contact with the world's many feuding late industrial nations; after returning to Orpheus for resupply and rescue, the Guild abandons the route to the Central systems as unprofitable.
5117	Queen Storm of Albus abdicates, citing ill health; her daughter Rain succeeds her her as Star Queen.
5118	A Merchant Guild contact mission to Yerman space ends in hostilities and the six ships withdraw under fire.
5119	Khalif Ishmahil and his heir Hussein die in a shuttle landing accident on Mars. The Khalifate Clergy convenes to choose a new Khalif, favoring Ishmahil's last surviving grandson, Abdullah, but Director Ronal Hassani of the Kalmar Union presses claims for his son Mohammed, child of Ishamhil's granddaughter Shadia. Bengali Princess Margrette Stark-Theissum is born Artificially on Hera.
5120	The Clergy of the Khalifate narrowly select Abdullah over Mohammed as the new Khalif. Ronal Hassani continues to support his son's claim to the Khalifate and starts the Khalif War by invading Vulcan with his major macrojump fleet, overwhelming Khalifate opposition at the Battle of Vulcan and forcing Abdullah's reinforcements to retreat to Sol. The Union of Kalmar mobilizes a war economy, building warships and conscripting troops on all five worlds.
5121	Order of Purity ships loyal to Khalif Abdullah defeat Mohammedan supporters in the outer Solar Belt at the Battle of April Ninth, and the Khalif begins a purge of Mohammed's adherents. Ronal's forces capture Daedalus after a brief skirmish and receive a favorable welcome from the populace.
5122	After a failed attack on Vulcan, the loyal Order of Valor launches the Libertas Raid, destroying Freehaven and several major industrial centers in W-bomb attacks. Mohammed leads a Union squadron on the daring Luna Raid, killing millions on an attack in the Tyco region and retreating with minimal losses. Bengali Emperor Talon's grandmother, the former regent Marva, dies at her estate on Selene, a probable suicide.
5123	Director Ronal Hassani begins the Siege of Atlantis, cutting off the world from Khalifate relief. Union raiders destroy Khalifate bases at Aphrodite and Amaterasu and push most of Abdullah's ships back into the Solar system.
5124	Atlantis surrenders after continued Union bombardment and recognizes Mohammed as Khalif. Director Ronal Hassani declines an offer of support from the Dominions that is predicated on Bengali suzerainty over Atlantis.
5125	With Union raiders attacking Solar shipping and the Orders of Purity and Valor divided, Abdullah offers a temporary truce and begins negotiation with Mohammed and his father, Ronal Hassani, through intermediaries on Helicon. Anti-Ibrahimite rebels on Paradise begin an insurrection, diverting some loyalist forces to the system.
5126	After negotiations fail, pro-Mohammed Union forces invade the Solar system, defeat Abdullah loyalists at the Battle of Callisto and lay siege to Terra, forcing Abdullah's abdication. Mohammed lands on Terra and calls for peace, appointing his supporters as Grand Masters of the Orders, but allowing the respected Fazhi Reyshan to remain Grandmaster of the Order of Enlightenment. Martial law begins across the Khalifate, enforced by Mohammed's Order of Purity troops and the Union navy.
5127	The purged Khalifate Clergy, renaming themselves the Order of Ibrahim, confirms Mohammed Hassani as Khalif; he signs treaties of defense and cooperation with his father, Director Ronal Hassani, closely binding the Khalifate and the Union of Kalmar and establishing joint control over Atlantis, Daedalus and Vulcan. The Order of Purity sends reinforcements to battle rebels on Paradise.
5128	Emperor Talon and his entourage travel to Sol to reaffirm treaties between the Khalifate and the Dominions and to witness Mohammed Hassani's official ascension at the rebuilt Golden Palace in Byzantium. Bengali Princess Cynthia Stark-Turrel marries Count Markus Hu of Singhstan on Glorious.
5129	Reacting to the Khalifate's establishment of a base in the Coman system and the expulsion of a Bengali contact team from the Coman homeworld, Emperor Talon dispatches a fleet to expel the Order of Valor, resulting in a skirmish and declaration of hostilities. A Bengali strike fleet attacks Khalifate forces over Paradise, officially starting the Second Paradise War. After the extended Siege of Paradise, Bengali forces capture the world with local partisan support and hold off attacks from Khalifate and Union forces.
5130	The Kalmar Union formally entering the war against Bengal. Khalifate and Union raiders strike Delphi, Aeneas, Freedom and Hera and launch two failed efforts to retake Paradise. Khalif Mohammed authorizes the Order of Valor to conduct raids on commerce and civilian targets. A W-bomb raid on Aeneas kills Crown Prince Albert and Princess Salis, elevating their daughter, Jena Kamarov, to be Princess of Aeneas and the recognized Bengali Imperial heir. A Bengali revenge attack devastates Yathrib, killing hundreds of millions with Wexler and nuclear attacks. Bengali forces bomb Libertas and overrun defenses on Vulcan, occupying the world and repulsing a Union counterattack.
5131	Union forces destroy the Bengali flagship Tierra del Fugeo, the last functioning Central Region wormship at the Battle of Freedom, but withdraw without attacking the world. A major Khalifate-Union force wins the Battle of Delphi and bombards the world, killing millions, including Prince Roban Travis-Roosevelt-Kamarov, his wife Thena and their son, Rogar. Order of Valor soldiers occupy several population centers on Delphi.
5132	In response to continuing high causality attacks on Delphi and a failed bio-weapon attack on Paradise, Bengali forces effectively sterilize Yathrib and launch commerce raiding attacks throughout Union and Khalifate systems, also launching a major strike at Libertas. With their economies in ruins and their fleets devastated, Ronal and Mohammed agree to an armistice with the Dominions, ceding Vulcan and Paradise and evacuating the few survivors from Yathrib in return for control over the remnants of Delphi. Queen Lydia triumphantly returns to Paradise, welcoming Delphian refugees to her world. The Central Region falls into recession as the exhausted powers attempt to recover from the war.
5133	The Zhantlas Union turns inward to deal with a corruption crisis that forces the resignation of a majority of its High Council. A Vulcan plebiscite overwhelming rejects even symbolic Nobilis suzerainty; after extended negotiations and treaties with the Khalifate, Kalmar Union and Reconstruction Federation, Vulcan becomes a demilitarized neutral world, acting as a meeting place for Central Region delegations.
5134	A Zhantlas Union investigation blames the Merchant Guild for it corruption crisis and expels traders from its territory. Suffering budgetary shortfalls, Zhantlas cedes dual control of the Ruszhane base to the Mendam Codominium.
5135	Mohammed the Red travels to Terra to study at Mecca, quickly coming under the influence of the fundamentalist preacher Shan Bendazi.
5136	The Bengali Dominions absorbs the pre-industrial Nobilis ruled world of Horizon, mainly to establish a military outpost; Emperor Talon forbids further expansion, citing the continued economic downturn and the needs of existing member worlds.
5137	After Shan Bendazi's public condemnation of Khalif Mohammed's "weak" policies and calling for a jihad against the Bengali Dominions for the atrocity of Yathrib, the Khalif's personal guard arrest him; Shan Bendazi commits suicide in his prison cell after Mohammed the Red fails to convince his father to release him.
5138	Mohammed the Red assassinates his father, Khalif Mohammed, and assumes the Khalifate as Mohammed II with the backing of fundamentalists within the Order of Purity. Kalmar Union Director Ronal Hassani reluctantly accepts his grandson's ascension, but does not personally attend the ceremonies.
5139	Khalif Mohammed II installs hardliners as the Grandmasters of the Ishmahili Orders, finally forcing the retirement of Fazhi Reyshan. Star King Davan of Tannberg dies and electors appoint his grand-nephew Orlan ("the Weak") as his successor.
5140	The Order of Purity begins a purge of disloyal members and strengthens control over the restive populations of the four A's: Atlantis, Apollo, Aphrodite and Amaterasu.
5141	Former Grandmaster Fazhi Reyshan vanishes from his home on Venus, allegedly abducted by hardline Order of Purity enforcers, though an investigation blames "Mechanist agitators".
5142	A Khald'aron delegation opens its embassy on Bengal. Order of Purity troops scour the Martian southern highlands searching for "Mechanists" but mostly repressing the remaining independent Martian media and building resentment against the Khalifate.
5143	The Grand Federation of Races releases interstellar restrictions on the Khabaderans, but retains monitoring equipment on Khabaderan vessels. Bengali Lord Colin Hu-Stark-Turrel is born to the Count and Countess of Singhstan on Glorious.
5144	A Merchant Guild delegation officially apologizes to the Zhantlas Union High Council for earlier transgressions; the Guild pays a large fine and receives rights to resume limited trade with the economically struggling state. Helicon joins the Reconstruction Federation.
5145	Khalif Mohammed II orders the closure of all Hammedian mosques in the Solar system, calling them "nests of Bengali intrigue". After rioting spreads across Tannberg and eight of the Star Kingdom's other worlds in response to abuses by King Orlan's oligarchic advisors, Lanander and Irmingham dispatch peacekeepers to Tannberger space. A skirmish between an Irmingham frigate and two Tannberger defense boats over Tannberg nearly leads to war between the Star Kingdoms, but Lanander and Markham meditation and a purge of King Orlan's cabinet restores an unsettled peace.
5146	After continuing repression in the Solar system, Director Ronal Hassani's Kalmar Union First Fleet attacks his grandson Mohammed II's fleet at the Battle of Mars. Mohammed's forces rally to defeat the incursion and strike at Kalmar itself, beginning the Red Caliph's War between the Khalifate and the Union.
5147	Mohammed's fleets route Union forces at the Battle of Atlantis, but retreat in defeat at the Battle of Amaterasu. Commerce raiding commences between the two realms as Apollo and Aphrodite erupt into full-scale revolt against the Khalifate. The Khalifate begins a massive shipbuilding campaign in the Solar Belt and at reconstructed Martian shipyards. Lanander and Irmingham patrol ships leave Tannberg space at the request of King Orlan.
5148	Rebels on Aphrodite seize control of the world and declare for the Kalmar Union. The Khalifate wins the First Battle of Utopia, retreating after an orbital bombardment kills tens of millions. The former Pope Pius XLI and several of his converted cardinals disappear into Order of Purity detention after they suggest dialog with the Union.
5149	The Khalifate wins the Battle of Avalon, conquering the world and holding it under nuclear blackmail. An attempt by the Union to liberate Apollo ends in failure. Union forces retreat after losing the Battle of Proxima. Lucas and Amanda Stark, Duke and Duchess of Hera, die along with their three daughters and two sons-in-law when their repulsor castle falls into Hera's Braddock Mountains after a maintenance-related general systems failure. Margrette Stark-Theisen becomes Duchess of Hera after her cousins Cynthia and Jena Stark-Turrel renounce the title.
5150	Supported by fleet troop carriers, the Khalifate Grand Fleet wins the Second Battle of Utopia and conquers the world. A Union raid on Sol ends in failure at the Battle of October Seventh. Tripoli withdraws from the Kalmar Union and declares its neutrality and independence.
5151	Winning the orbital Battle of Libertas, Mohammed's forces capture the world after a concentrated assault supplemented by an indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction; the Order of Valor occupies the devastated world.
5152	Aphrodite surrenders to Mohammed's Grand Fleet under threat of bombardment. The Grand Fleet meets Ronal's forces at the Battle of Tartarus in the 82 Eridani system late in the year; Mohammed's forces crush the opposition and occupy Amaterasu, but resistance continues on Dante. Duchess Margrette of Hera marries the adventurer Lord Paldrin Ve'eri of Balder.
5153	Mohammed II leads his Grand Fleet in the Sack of Kalmar ending the Red Khalif's War in an orgy of destruction. The Khalif dissolves the Union of Kalmar, incorporates its worlds into the Terran Khalifate and executes his grandfather Ronal Hassani for heresy and treason. Former Khalif Abdullah is found smothered in his bed at his home-in-exile in Paris on Terra.