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The Late Small States Era

5154-5346CE

Overview

Existing interstellar nations across the old Imperial region strengthened and differentiated during the Late Small States Era.  During this period, technologies for vacuum distillation and improved macrojump drive engines spread throughout many of the civilized states, greatly increasing the viability of trade and enhancing the bonds between worlds within the rising interstellar states.  By the end of the era, no wormships remained, the few functional imperial era artifacts were worth a fortune, and only the remaining twenty-five billion Eternals, a billion and a half Nobilis and mere millions of Ibrahimities with access to the Elixir could even remember the old Empire.

During the nearly two centuries between the Red Khalif's War and the Third Paradise War, the major interstellar states remained fairly stable, some slowly expanding, some static and often introverted.  The period saw increasing cultural differentiation, with many non-Human realms reverting to isolation and to culture traditions that were pre-Imperial, and often pre-Grand Federation in origin.  Even between Human states, cultures diverged significantly as existing social and religious structures ossified.  The Bengali Dominions magnified this trend when Emperor Talon denied Dominions membership to the Brennar to maintain the purity of his empire's Human Variant caste structure.  Only the Alimeen bucked this trend, opening up Drifts and encouraging diplomatic contact between Human states and the Swarm.  In the far rimward regions, the Betelgeuse Union also maintained an open society, keeping good relations with the Khald'aron and Cubics, a policy whose foresight was evident when those races came to the small Human state's aid during the 5296-5301CE Grim War against the Bengali Dominions.

The Merchant Guild continued to dominate the Coreward region during the era.  Other than the Zhantlas Union, only non-Human, former Grand Federations Races maintained an interstellar civilization in the region: the Kith'turi-Salvaatiki Union of Worlds settled into a static, slowly evolving culture; the Yerman and the Cargomen retreated into xenophobic isolationism and nativism; the B'dr'rak reverted to their pre-Grand Federation language and culture with remarkable ease for a race that had spent eleven thousand years under alien cultural domination.

The conflicts between the Mendam Codominium and the Dragon States continued to dominate interstellar civilization in the Spinward Region.  Two more Dragon Frontier Wars occured during the period, but cooperation between the Codominium and the Zhantlas Union became more sporadic and the Merchant Guild began to gain some influence over Codominium policy.  After the abortive Operation Defender spread anti-Dragon weaponry, though not enlightened rule through the region bordering Mendam space, the Rouge Defenders, originally led by Captain Malcolm Heath, began their semi-piratical campaign against continuing Dragon Raiding.

The Trailing Region continued to be dominated by the Star Kingdoms Confederation, though the Bengali Dominions began a slow expansion into some rimward Trailing Sectors.  With the death of King Adam of Markham in 5229CE and the ascension of Martin II as King of Tannberg five years later, the Star Kingdoms entered a period of deteriorating ties, often erupting into trade wars.  A crisis, resolved by Olav II of Lanander, nearly led to full scale warfare in 5244CE.  With worsening trade relations, often encouraged for profit by the Merchant Guild, the Star Kingdoms grew further apart for the remainder of the 53rd century and into the 54th century, stagnating growth and development.  During this period the Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge regained influence as a cross-Kingdom non-partisan organization and took the lead in establishing the Recontact Service in 5294CE, beginning the first tentative attempts to rekindle contact with distant Trailing worlds.

In the Rimward Region, the Betelgeuse Union grew to encompass over a dozen worlds.  The secular, democratic Union established firm relations with the Khald'aron, Cubics and Swarm states.  Conflict with the Bengali Dominions over the theft of vacuum distillation technology from Luminous led to the Great Rim War, or Grim War of 5296-5301CE, a conflict fought mostly in Sectors 391 and 392 and marred by bio-warfare and indiscriminant attacks on civilian targets.  The Treaty of Karnak ended the Grim War and established lasting protocols of war, banning biological and civilian attacks throughout the Rimward region.  After the war, the Betelgeuse Union continued its slow steady expansion, establishing the Vanguard service in 5327CE to support exploration into uncontacted space and contact with non-Human races.

The Central Region saw tensions between the Terran Khalifate and its rimward and coreward neighbors, the Bengali Dominions and the Reconstruction Federation.  All three states grew by almost 50% during the two centuries of this era, each mostly carefully incorporating willing worlds, often after a long courtship.  The Khalifate under Mohammed II spent much of the period consolidating its hold on the worlds of the former Kalmar Union, slowly overcoming dissent and rebuilding economies.  The Khalifate also continued its slow expansion and missionary work, often coming into conflict with the Dominions or the Federation, but diplomatic resolutions and a desire to avoid another destructive war kept a fragile peace for the remaining years of Mohammed II's reign.  After Mohammed's death in 5339CE, his once estranged son Ibrahim became Khalif and, as described below, Ibrahim increased tensions to force a conflict with the Bengali Dominions.  The resulting Third Paradise War of 5342-5346CE ended with little change in territory, but it established firm borders between the Khalifate and the Dominions, paving the way for both states to concentrate expansion efforts in different directions.  The Treaty of Vulcan, signed at the end of the Third Paradise War, solidified Vulcan as a neutral arbitrator of the Central Region and formed the small non-aligned League of Vulcan out of border worlds unlikely to thrive in either the Dominions or the Khalifate.

The Northern and Southern Regions remained locked in a Dark Age, with only small portions of the nearer Southern Region coming under the influence of the Bengali Dominions.  For these Regions and for the Rim-Spin expanse, the dark ages would continue for another millennium.

Political

All the existing states within the sphere of Human Space continued to evolve along divert paths during the Late Small States Era.  The Central Region saw continued expansion of civilization within the three interstellar states, but elsewhere, save for the small Betelgeuse Union and for the racially motivated recontact missions of the growing Swarm Republic and Khzraut States, most civilizations remained fairly static islands of civilization in a sea of pre-interstellar systems. 

For the Terran Khalifate, the absorption of the Kalmar Union and the suppression of dissent marked most of the period.  Mohammed II's first son, Ibrahim Hassani, born in 5172CE, eventually became the dominant force within the Khalifate.  Though his father's displeasure at his marriage to a secular wife stripped initially Ibrahim of his influence, his military leadership against rebels on Mars forced his reinstatement.  With the full support of the Order of Purity and much of the clergy, Ibrahim demanded his own reinstatement as heir, forcing his father to murder his own his second wife and younger son in 5224CE.  Gaining the title of Grandmaster of the Order of Purity, Ibrahim became responsible for internal security throughout the Khalifate and led the efforts to decisively suppress the Martian and Kalmar rebellions. 

Ibrahim was a patient man whose planning horizon spanned decades.  During the 53rd and 54th centuries, he slowly amassed internal power and developed trade and diplomatic contacts with the Star Kingdoms.  These contacts neutralized the Reconstruction Federation's relationship with the Kingdoms and, by offering access to the markets of the Khalifate, Ibrahim was able to acquire the biological technology he used to suppress dissent.  After his ascension as Khalif, he forced the Third Paradise War upon the Bengali Dominions, not to recapture Paradise again, but to acquire the technology and hardware to strengthen his military and to further develop his relations with the Star Kingdoms.  The Third Paradise War ended with the Khalifate's Rimward flank secured by Treaty and the Star Kingdom's neutrality secured by trade.  Now the troublesome Reconstruction Federation lay open for his eventual conquest.

Among most states, from the liberal secular technologist Betelgeuse Union to the increasingly idiosyncratic Zhantlas Union and the traditionalist cultures of the many non-Human races, divergence remained the major theme of the period.  Even with the strengthening of interstellar contact between most of these states, many observers during the period noted that any reintegration of Imperial Space would be very difficult, as few could imagine common ground between most Human states, let alone between the non-Human governments.

Technological

The reintroduction of vacuum distillation and improved, Type IIa, macrojump drives changed the dynamic of interstellar travel.  Easy access to antimatter greatly decreased the cost of interstellar travel, and though it rendered large antimatter generating stations obsolete, those stations often converted into way stations and bases for the growing fleets of macrojump vessels.  Between 5150CE and 5350CE, the number of macrojump vessels operating in former Imperial Space more than doubled, to over 3,600 vessels, and most of vessels these were newer Type IIa vessels, capable of longer jumps and more robust operations.  The range of travel improved in the 54th century, with voyages of two or three hundred light years becoming economically feasible and jumps to remote systems and smaller stars becoming more reliable.

An interesting side-effect of cheaper and more robust interstellar travel was the first hints of emerging pirate activity, most notably the Rouge Defenders operating against Dragons on the Spinward Frontier and the philosophical grandfather of Coreward pirates, Harold Destructor, conqueror of Nachen harrying the Merchant Guild.

Another marvel of post-Imperial technology was the successful completion of the Symmetry Project.  HSPG generators finished moving Mercury and Venus into stable orbits in resonance with the Terra-Luna system and later, moved Mars into a closer, more circular orbit, stabilizing that world's climate as well.  The success at improving Venus's climate had the most long-term effect, saving the faltering ecosystem that was home to over eight billion people.

Cultural

Most of the divergence of Human cultures during this period had antecedents in philosophies and religions of the Imperial Era.  For non-Human states, the origins of their distinct cultures often had much deeper roots.  The former members of the Grand Federation of Races had spent thousands of years under the cultural domination of that society prior to their thousand or more years of Imperial Rule.  The Grand Federation encouraged the use of standardized languages and institutions to support integration between the races, and since none of the races absorbed in the Empire of Humanity was a Primary Race or even a particularly ancient Federation race, the culture of the Federation contained few influences from those races.

The Kith'turi and Salvaatiki, long allies, regressed the least, their ancient cultures all but subsumed by millennia of Grand Federation influence, but even in these two cultures, the inherent matriarchal dominated social structures strengthened, though the culture and language remained essentially Grand Federation-based.  For the B'dr'rak, a proud people never comfortable with Grand Federation cultural trappings, the regression was almost complete, with a return to the language, dress and ostentatiousness of their pre-contact past.

The Cargomen and Yerman both regressed into isolation.  The Cargomen returned to a pre-contact culture, readopting their old religious rites and their ancient language and regressing all but their transportation and power technologies to an industrial era level.  The Yerman did not regress in language or technology, but they became extremely xenophobic and developed a new, distinct culture based on native, Grand Federation and Imperial elements.

Among the "Human raised" major races, the Khzraut and Swarm both returned to more nativist roots, but maintained some relations with Humans and other races.  The chronically decentralized Khzraut developed a series of independent states, bound by trade and racial bonds, while the Swarm developed a closely knit interstellar government across much of the Rimward region.

The Alimeen became more open and gregarious towards other races, striving to become arbitrators of Human conflicts and establishing Human colonies and stations within their systems.  The Human enclaves allowed the Alimeen to acquire symbiotic interstellar trade routes, overcoming the race's intolerance of macrojump drive by using human crews to travel between Alimeen systems, much faster than gravstar travel would allow.

Less numerous Major races in the civilized Rimward region enjoyed economic contact with major states, with the Brennar and Turgil becoming Associate States of the Bengal Dominions and the Cubics developing ties with the Betelgeuse Union.  These associations provided technological and trade benefits, but did little to hamper independent cultural evolution.

Along the fringes of recontacted space, the Rootjalik, !Tak, Khaddahl and Octopods redeveloped their own technological civilizations, cultures that would soon impact the civilized states as raiders returned to interstellar space in the ensuing centuries.

Chronology Table

5154 Khalifate naval assets assist Order of Valor troops in maintaining order on Kalmar and Libertas through orbital bombardment of rebellious regions.  Lucas Ve'eri is born on Hera and given the title Baron of Theissum, formerly held by his late grandfather.
5155 Concentration camps open on former the Kalmar Union worlds, with Unionists and non-Ibrahimites segregated for "religious instruction" that kills millions.  Khalif Mohammed II marries Trina, a daughter of the late Khalif Abdullah.
5156 Merchant Guild traders visiting Krypton, controlled by the Khzraut "Humanist" faction, agree to trade the principles of Plague-proof macrojump drive technology for an exclusive trade agreement.
5157 Strains from continuing occupations of former Unionist worlds cripples the Khalifate's already faltering economy, trigger scattered unrest.  Within the Armpit Nebula, the Betelgeuse Union annexes Sutherland, a barely habitable world, regressed to pre-industrial conditions.
5158 A Merchant Guild council meeting at Faztulu Drift results in a ban on trading macrojump technology at any price and forcibly retires Byron Odnes, the fleet captain of the Krypton expedition.
5159 Star King David IV of Irmingham abdicates in favor of his nephew Martin (I), after health concerns limit his effectiveness.  Khalif Mohammed II orders the sterilization and eventual "discontinuation" of Servant Races and Constructs across the Khalifate.
5160 "Religious Instruction" camps close on Avalon and Utopia with forced converts returning to society in acolyte forced labor roles; full-scale Khalifate military occupation continues on Libertas and Kalmar.
5161 Jon Gades enters his fourth Incarnation after his third dies in an orbital accident around Myrland; he devotes new life to continuing Mechanist philosophical studies.
5162 Venus reaches a stable 4:3 resonance orbit at .8255AU from Sol, marking the successful completion of the Symmetry Project.
5163 The Reconstruction Federation devises the Aurora Proclamation, beginning a program of aid, assistance and trade with worlds in the coreward half of the Central Region, countering activities of the Khalifate Orders of Truth and Generosity.
5164 Careful Bengali expansion resumes with the absorption of Nobilis-dominated, late industrial Tyr in Sector 3.
5165 The "Religious Instruction" camps on Kalmar and Libertas close; local Order of Purity troops take over security of the former Kalmar Union worlds from the Order of Valor.
5166 The Than begin a careful emergence from their self-imposed exile, officially joining the Star Kingdom of Orpheus in return for strong autonomy guarantees, opening an orbital starport and building their first starships.
5167 Lyra Ve'eri is born on Hera to Duchess Margrette and Lord Paldrin.  The Merchant Guild establishes a major trade hub at Durmtaran Drift in Sector 797.
5168 The B'dr'rak government mandates the use of their traditional language in all legislation and official documentation, beginning a phase-out of Grand Federation J and Human symbolic languages and marking the beginning of the B'dr'rak cultural renaissance.
5169 The Betelgeuse Union inaugurates the Verne Drift in the Armpit Nebula and begins large scale transuranic mining for export.
5170 The Kith'turi-Salvaatiki Union of Worlds expels Khabaderan traders after an incident of piracy, lodging a formal complaint with the Grand Federation.
5171 To combat sporadic Octopod raids, the Zhantlas Union establishes a forward station in orbit around the regressed industrial world of Talendir.
5172 Consort Trina gives birth to Khalif Mohammed II's heir, Ibrahim Hassani, her first live birth after four miscarriages.
5173 Fermian Prime Mister Urban D'justan detonates a suicide bomb, killing himself, Telsan Star Queen Almeria, her heir, three members of her family and a dozen dignitaries and guards.  After a pro-forma confirmation, Admiral Basil Remba-Tyrl becomes Star King of Tesla and orders a punitive strike on Fermi, beginning a prolonged period of repression and marital law on the restive world.
5174 Zhantlas expels a Khabaderan trade mission for suspicion of espionage; the repercussions reach into the Grand Federation as the Dantum convince the Un'aa'graum and Eenikiti to order a further restriction of Khabaderan external travel for three dozen Grand Federation years.
5175 The Bengal Dominions annexes Magellan in Sector 44 after a coup institutes a local Nobilis-ruled junta.
5176 Tripoli joins the Reconstruction Federation and agrees to the presence of a naval base in the system.
5177 Anti-Ibrahimite rebels (branded "Mechanists" in the Terran media) briefly seize control of the city of Malmo on Kalmar, holding it until the Order of Purity orders a chemical attack, killing over one hundred thousand civilians.
5178 The Sector 3 world of Virgil voluntarily joins the Terran Khalifate after years of missionary activity.
5179 Coordinated attacks on Order of Purity bases kill thousands on Libertas, marking the beginning of the Inback Insurrection against Ibrahimite rule on the world.
5180 The Order of Valor deploys two brigades to Libertas, beginning a series of harsh reprisals against Inback settlements.
5181 The Orphean manufacturer Risa sells the mind controlling drug Benalfira to the Telsan government for use in "reeducating" the hostile Fermian populace.
5182 The Merchant Guild establishes trade stations at Tashera and Ocelot, marking the trailing extreme of Guild trade routes.
5183 Four additional Order of Valor brigades deploy to Libertas to sweep the Inback while assassinations, bombings and sabotage against Khalifate interests continue.
5184 The Reconstruction Federation assists the Turellian League of Heimdall to achieve dominance over the world's information era nations and then inducts the world into the Federation.  Bengali Marines assist Nobilis rulers to gain control of New Canberra, later incorporating the world into the Dominions.
5185 After a massive buildup, a hundred thousand Order of Valor and half a million Order of Purity troops occupy Libertas to fight rebels across the Inback.
5186 A brief conflict between the B'dr'rak and Yerman over an antimatter plant in the Hoorgooli system ends in a border treaty between the two races, wherein the Yerman retain control of Hoorgooli, and exclusion articles reinforce continued Yerman isolationism.
5187 Khalifate forces seize an arms depot at Ramos Gap on Libertas, killing or capturing significant insurrection leaders; though touted as a major victory, the rebellion continues nearly unabated.  Colin Hu-Stark-Turrel marries Lady Shia Breveri of Dhakaland in an outdoor ceremony on Bengal that is conducted by High Priestess Princess Jessica Kamarov.
5188 The Merchant Guild establishes a trade base on the mostly desolate and ruined orbital Ring of Nachen.
5189 The Campaign of Fire begins on Libertas, with Khalifate fusion beam weapons scorching Inback regions under rebel control.
5190 The Order of Valor commander on Libertas, General Bashir Mutari, declares victory over the rebellion, though some sporadic attacks continue.
5191 Khalif Mohammed II begins construction of the Great Palace, soon known as the Red Palace, on the northern outskirts of Byzantium; after the Khalif's consort Trina dies during a stillbirth pregnancy, he orders her entombed in a crypt beneath the cornerstone of the emerging Palace.  General Bashir Mutari becomes governor of Libertas.  The Bengali Dominions absorbs the atomic era world of Adam in Sector 7, siding with the Nobilis and Eternal elite against a growing Ibrahimite movement and expelling all Order of Truth missionaries from the world.
5192 The Dragon seizure of the Mendam liner Amurhsa out of Tetraluna sparks the Fifth Dragon Frontier War.  Mendam attack squadrons strike forward Dragon bases in Sectors 769 and 771, triggering Dragon commerce raiding that brings the Zhantlas Union into the war.
5193 Mendam forces under Admiral Jurakas Berilli win the Battle of Leading Kurmian, scattering the main Dragon fleets.
5194 Mendam forces defeat a major Dragon strike at the Battle of Far Orlando.  Zhantlas Union squadrons reoccupy their berths at Ruszhane, marking a return to dual Codominium-Union administration of the base.
5195 After deep strikes against populous Dragon frontier worlds, the major Dragon nations agree to end hostilities and reaffirm the terms of the Treaty of Far Orlando, ending the Fifth Dragon Frontier War.
5196 A Merchant Guild expedition to Thanatos marks the beginning of the distribution of Than art and culture throughout the Star Kingdoms and coreward Guild trading areas.
5197 The atomic era world of Khronos joins the Reconstruction Federation in return for technical assistance.
5198 Libertine rebels claim responsibility for the destruction of the shuttle carrying General Bashir Mutari and his entourage into orbit; Mutari's successors finish the Libertine rebellion through application of overwhelming force against all non-secure Inback regions in the Rain of Fire, killing over ten million, but completely ending the rebellion.
5199 The Bengali Dominions absorbs Enlil in Sector 4; the closure of an Order of Generosity trading base and the expulsion of all Khalifate residents from Enlil brings a rebuke from the Khalif and starts an anti-Bengali propaganda campaign across the Khalifate.
5200 Amanda Hu-Stark-Turrel is born on Glorious.  Former Irmingham Star King David IV dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in his home.
5201 Telsan marines withdraw from Fermi, ending a period of martial law marked by reconstruction and a drug-enhanced reeducation that largely erases Fermian hostility.
5202 Bengali forces put down a violent Ibrahimite revolt on Paradise, killing ten thousand rebels and destroying several mosques.  Mohammed II orders the mobilization of his fleet and sends forty warships to the Paradise system.  Negotiations between the two equally matched fleets avoid a war and result in a compromise agreement in which Bengal retains control of the system but guarantees Ibrahimite rights and compensates the families of the victims.  The restrictions on Khabaderan external travel end and the Eenikiti succeed in ordering an end to all monitoring of Khabaderan merchants.
5203 The Khalifate's Order of Enlightenment announces plans to shift Mars into a 9:5 Terran resonance and circularize its orbit, hoping to improve crop yields and moderate seasonal extremes; the proposal meets with widespread opposition on Mars, as it involves massive land seizures by the Order to support the required HSPG generators.
5204 Khalif Mohammed II requests a ten year review to minimize the costs of a Martian Resonance Project and orders additional taxation on Mars to support the project entirely with local funds.  High Priestess Princess Jessica marries Baron Lucas Ve'eri to Baroness Selene Henendes of Urpia, Bengal at the Markon Cathedral; the couple settles at her estates at Urpia.  Gladsheim joins the Reconstruction Federation.
5205 Flares destroy the remnants of the Drift and the abandoned stations around Antares, marking the beginning of a stage of shell expulsions and instability for the red supergiant star.
5206 The Guild Merchant master, Flavu Tourach publishes Among the Fire-Breathers, an account of his harrowing trading expedition into Dragon Space.
5207 Khalistan joins the Terran Khalifate in return for technology assistance to lift the world into the fusion age.  Bengal annexes Gwyendd in Sector 44.
5208 The Zhantlas Union officially annexes Talendir, continuing to strengthen its military facilities on the world and throughout the system.
5209 Lyra Ve'eri takes vows to become a Altaran Mystic Priestess under the tutelage of High Priestess Princess Jessica Kamarov at the Markon Cathedral.  Torn Hu-Stark-Turrel is born on Glorious.
5210 Kumar hosts a trade fair, drawing merchants from the Bengali, Khald'aron, Swarm and Cubic states.
5211 Bengali traders contact the Brennar homeworld of Dushtunigar, opening trade with the fusion era world.
5212 Anti-Khalifate rebels from the Martian highlands, termed "Mechanists" by the authorities, though mostly secular or even Hammedian in background, begin sabotage and and weapons raids against Order of Purity and Order of Enlightenment installations.  Bengal annexes Ganesa in Sector 4, placing severe restrictions on Ibrahimite missionary and trade activities.
5213 Sheik Ibrahim Hassani, the Khalif's heir, leads a brigade of Order of Purity ground forces against the Mechanist rebels, fighting and winning a pitched battle at Doanus Vallis against superior forces.  The "Mechanist" rebels retreat into scattered cells, beginning a campaign of terrorism and kidnapping from bases on Mars and in the Belt.
5214 Leading a strike into the Belt, Ibrahim Hassani rescues Joan Ratlif, daughter of a wealth industrialist, from Mechanist terrorists and soon marries her without receiving his father's permission.  The Order of Purity begins seizing property on Mars to support the Martian Resonance Project, now officially authorized by the Khalif.
5215 Khabaderans quietly reestablish their colony on Turmaburan, establishing a mostly underground settlement and building planetoid military installations in far orbit around the world.
5216 During ceremonies marking the completion of the Red Palace, Khalif Mohammed II marries Alma Ali, a descendant of Ibrahim Mustafa; Sheik Ibrahim Hassani and his wife Joan are not invited.  The twins Marin and Lorin Ve'eri are born on Bengal to Baron Lucas and Baroness Selene.
5217 Ismahil Hassani is born to Sheik Ibrahim and Joan at their home on Mars.  Ali is born to Mohammed II and Alma on Terra and the Khalif proclaims the boy as the new heir to the Khalifate, publicly distancing himself from Ibrahim.
5218 The Martian Resonance Project officially begins with the completion and activation of the first of three sets of HSPG generators.  Sheik Ibrahim Hassani forms his own militia out of a core of former Order of Purity loyalists.
5219 The Bengali annexation of Jizo in Sector 7 stirs up Ibrahimite protests on the world, put down with local troops despite a protest from the Khalifate.
5220 Khalif Mohammed II seizes all assets of the Ratlif family, effectively cutting off Ibrahim from any source of income.  Ibrahim and Joan name their second son Abdullah and go into hiding in the Belt, fearing assassination by the Khalif's supporters.
5221 Traveling aboard Bengali transports, Brennar delegations visit the two of their colony worlds within Bengali influenced space and sign an agreement with Rathmann Lines for trade and travel between the worlds.
5222 A second "Mechanist" revolt erupts on Mars.  Khalifate forces loose control of Lowell and the entire Hellas Rim after months of bitter fighting; several Order of Purity units refuse to fight unless Ibrahim is restored as heir.  Mohammed orders the execution of an entire recalcitrant regiment, but the Khalifate Army fails to retake the "Mechanist" holdings.  Continuing sabotage effectively derails the Martian Resonance Project.
5223 The Bengali Dominions absorb Lorraine in Sector 44, suppressing the small Ibrahimite community.  Raids by the  Order of Valor fail to capture Ibrahim Hassani in the Belt.
5224 As the "Mechanist" revolt spreads to Europa and Luna and threatens to become a general tax revolt; Khalif Mohammed II appeals to his estranged son Ibrahim for assistance.  At Ibrahim's insistence and with his throne in danger from a growing Order of Purity mutiny, the Khalif executes his wife Alma and son Ali, and restores Ibrahim as heir.  The Khalif names Ibrahim Hassani as Grandmaster of the Order of Purity and Ibrahim crushes the "Mechanist" rebellion across the Solar System within three months.
5225 Eighty people die in a bombing that mars the bicentennial jubilee of Timbuktu's Star King Pieter; rumors of a Irmingham-inspired plot circulate, though no arrests follow.
5226 The Martian Resonance Project resumes operation, with supporting taxation now spread across the Solar system.
5227 A Goblin revolt on Jagannath kills thousands, prompting new Dominions-wide guidelines in conditioning for Goblin fighting lines.
5228 The Great Wars begin on early industrial Ishtar, with Order of Truth Missionaries supporting the League of Righteous Nations and the Reconstruction Federation providing aid to the Freedom Coalition.
5229 Star King Adam DeJulius-Brening of Markham dies of complications from regeneration at the age of 941, ending the reign of the last of the original Star Kings; Markham Electors name his great-grandniece Rebekah as Star Queen of Markham.
5230 Olympus joins the Khalifate after the election of an Ibrahimite-dominated government; two brigades of Order of Valor troops arrive to assist local forces in suppressing minority protests to the union.  Lincoln joins the Bengali Dominions; the world's government has a long established elected Sapien council and an Eternal judiciary to balance the powers of its hereditary Nobilis rulers.
5231 Reconstruction Federation merchants begin regular convoys to the Star Kingdoms, establishing a base in the Alimeen Wafting Breeze system to support the trade route.
5232 Amanda Hu-Stark-Turrel marries the young Marin Ve'eri to strengthen the Travis branch of the Bengali royal family's claim to the throne and the couple takes the family name Hu-Ve'eri-Stark.
5233 Mendam Codominium naval forces destroy a Dragon military depot in Sector 771, defusing a planned attack on Far Orlando.
5234 Martin II becomes Star King of Irmingham after a hunting accident claims the life of his father, Martin I.
5235 The Bengali Dominions reorganizes its bureaucracy on a Sector basis, with Emperor Talon appointing Sector governors and with the Dominions Ministries creating Sector sub-ministry bureaucracies. The last functioning military wormship, the Kith'turi frigate K'tiktu! suffers irreversible hull fatigue.
5236 The longstanding Truce of Lanander breaks down as Star King Martin II of Irmingham begins commerce raids into the weakened Star Kingdom of Tannberg.  Merchant Guild researchers develop a Type IIa prototype macrojump drive and circuitry capable of supporting vessels up to 55 meters in diameter.
5237 An antimatter generator accident destroys the Kutari Power Station in orbit around the Betelgeuse black hole, killing all five hundred station personnel and straining the resources of the Verne Drift.
5238 Lord Malcolm Hu-Ve'eri-Stark is born to Amanda and Marin on Bengal.  The governing council of the world of Shikoku voluntarily joins the Khalifate in return for two brigades of Order of Valor troops to consolidate their hold on power.  The Merchant Guild gains effective economic control of Urschma Drift in Sector 760.
5239 The gravstar cityship Black Wraith, over twelve hundred meters in diameter, reaches completion over Alimeen; the prototype F3 vessel begins journeys to support the inner ring of Alimeen worlds.
5240 The first Guild 55m Type IIa macrojump drive bulk carriers reach completion at Faztulu Drift and Amada.  Citing cultural differences, Bengali Emperor Talon denies a Brennar request for membership in the Dominions, but suggests that the Brennar form an "Associate State", granting them access to macrojump technologies, full autonomy and the protection of the Dominions Navy.
5241 Electors on Tannberg depose Star King Orlan and place Rohan Merki on the throne, prompting a hypocritical call by Martin II for support of rightful succession processes.
5242 The Star Kingdoms of Tannberg and Timbuktu form an alliance against Irmingham, beginning a spiral of increased hostility, trade barriers and recriminations between the Star Kingdoms.
5243 A conference co-hosted by Otto II of Lanander and Rebekah of Markham fails to end hostility between the states; the Star Kingdoms of Tesla and Orpheus join the anti-Irmingham alliance, while Albus joins Irmingham in opposition.
5244 Full scale warfare threatens to emerge in the Star Kingdoms after Markham joins the Irmingham alliance, but a second conference called by Otto II of Lanander lessens tensions, though border raids by "privateers" continue for a few months.  Growing trade barriers begin to hobble Star Kingdom economic activity.
5245 Khald'aron scientists redevelop a Plague-proof vacuum distiller device on their homeworld.
5246 The arid, industrial era world of Ares voluntarily joins the Khalifate after over a century of Order of Truth missionary work.
5247 Borrowing from the Charter of Lincoln, Bengali Emperor Talon forms the Adjudicator Corps, a cadre of Eternals empowered to arbitrate conflicts throughout the Dominions.
5248 Khabaderan militants attack and conquer the mid industrial world of Ramamarshumar in Sector 396, enslaving the twenty million surviving Humans and reclaiming the isolated system.
5249 After encountering an Irmingham "customs patrol" after leaving Tesla, the Merchant Guild begins establishing bases on the perimeter of Star Kingdom space, re-importing goods to avoid the direct tariffs and intimidation ruling inter-kingdom trade.
5250 At Kumar, the Khald'aron present the Betelgeuse Union with the specifications for their vacuum distiller as a gift for providing macrojump technology to the race centuries earlier.
5251 The Grand Federation establishes a small research outpost in the Antares system to monitor the unstable red supergiant.
5252 Alarmed by the explosive growth of Goblin population, Bengali Emperor Talon decrees restrictions on Goblin breeding, establishing a mandatory quota system.
5253 The Mendam frigate Ollaris triumphs in an epic battle with four Dragon raiders at Kanggorda Belt; Captain Furumashan Bulmaran and his surviving crew of Khruzi and Humans receives a heroes' welcome after they limp back to Ruszhane.
5254 Merchant Guild engineers develop or reverse engineer a workable vacuum distiller at Faztulu Drift and begin construction of distillers at Guild trade bases; the Guild begins retrofitting distillers on its larger and newer vessels.  The Khalifate annexes the late industrial world of Daphne in Sector 1.
5255 Protests over Ibrahimite rule spread across Kalmar with dissidents demanding greater civil and religious freedoms; after a crackdown on public demonstrations, underground cells begin a campaign of sabotage against data and power networks.
5256 Grandmaster Ibrahim Hassani arrives on Kalmar to supervise the Order of Purity efforts to suppress dissent, instituting "strike teams" to gather intelligence and eliminate dissenters with minimal collateral damage.
5257 The Cargomen expel all B'dr'rak and Kith'turi traders and expatriates from Cargomen worlds in an effort to recapture the spiritual purity of their precontact culture.
5258 Salvagers on Luna uncover an old sealed Imperial Navy chamber deep beneath the surface and accidentally introduce the Mech Plague, causing a cascading antimatter reaction that leaves a twenty kilometer crater and kills over two million Lunar residents.
5259 After more than three hundred pinpoint raids eliminate dissident activity on Kalmar, Grandmaster Ibrahim Hassani declares his operations a success and returns to his estates on Mars.  The Bengali Dominions annex information era Logos in Sector 35.
5260 A three thousand year celebration of Venus's terraformation highlights the progress of the Symmetry Project in restoring the world's ecosystem; Khalif Mohammed II elevates former Grandmaster Fazhi Reyshan to martyrdom, despite persistent rumors that the Khalif himself had ordered Reyshan's disappearance over a century earlier.
5261 The Terran Khalifate annexes the watery world of Calypso after a bitter local war pitting Ibrahimite and secular island states ends with the establishment of an Ibrahimite government. The first Merchant Guild vessels reach Erta, now a pre-industrial world of few natural resources.  The world of Scott joins the Bengali Dominions.
5262 Dissidents operating out of the Kuiper Belt attack the Order of Purity traffic control and training facilities on Saturn's moon Phoebe, killing fifteen thousand and triggering a massive anti-terrorist patrol effort across the outer system.
5263 The Mendam Codominium launches Operation Dragonkiller, a preemptive attack on six worlds of two Dragon Nations known for supporting attacks and raids into Mendam or independent Human territory.  Five Dragon nations respond to Codominium aggression, beginning the Sixth Dragon Frontier War.  The Battle of Colin Deep propels the victorious Furumashan Bulmaran to the position of Admiral of the First Mendam Fleet.  Codominium Marines liberate the world of Palantir from Dragon domination.
5264 The Zhantlas Union refuses to join Mendam in its war against the Dragons, but provides material aid.  At the Battle of August First (Or First Red Eyes for its dwarf binary system location), a combined Dragon force defeats the Second Mendam Fleet and destroys two troop carriers, killing a brigade of Marines.  The Bengali Dominions annexes Isabella after supporting the world's beleaguered Nobilis rulers against a popular revolt.
5265 Admiral Furumashan Bulmaran counterattacks the Dragon forces at the Battle of February Second (or Second Red Eyes), destroying thirteen vessels at a loss of five of his own and destroying the Dragon outposts in the system.  Dragon commerce raiding envelopes much of the Mendam Codominium, prompting Merchant Guild assistance to the nation.  Mendam marines subdue resistance on the long Dragon-occupied world of Havren.  The Zhantlas Union unveils a prototype macrojump frigate equipped with Type IIa drives and a vacuum distiller.
5266 The Merchant Guild provides the Mendam Codominium with improved macrojump and distiller technology in return for greater protection against Dragon raiders and a perpetual trade agreement.  A Dragon attack squadron armed with anti-matter warheads destroys the Mendam Codominium base at Far Orlando with the equivalent of one hundred gigatons of explosive power, rendering hundred kilometer-wide craters of glowing magma.  Mechanist philosopher Jon Gades departs Myrland with Joshua Revarri, one of the first Ninth Incarnates, on a pilgrimage voyage to Karinsky aboard a chartered Merchant Guild vessel.
5267 The Mendam Codominium wins the Battle of Razi against a Dragon task force and bombards the world with antimatter warheads, killing the Dragon occupiers and devastating the Human slave population.  The Zhantlas Union brokers a truce between the Dragon Nations and the Mendam Codominium, ending the war with an armistice agreement signed at Zhantlas.
5268 After an arduous journey, Jon Gades and Joshua Revarri arrive on Karinsky, just weeks after the death of the Primal Shamanda Jones; they are instrumental in the succession of Primal Almon Derga.
5269 The Merchant Guild begins construction of the Tyrrell Drift in orbit around a primordial world circling an A6V star in Sector 761.  A guerilla war, covertly supported by the Bengali Dominions, erupts against the Khalifate government on Calypso.
5270 The Mendam Codominium begins rebuilding their fortifications on Far Orlando for a sixth time, situating installations deep within the congealed magma of the world's cooling craters.
5271 B'dr'rak raiders strike Durmtaran Drift, attacking Grand Federation and Merchant Guild installations and stealing technologies for vacuum distillation, improved macrojump drives and advanced quantum computers.  Order of Valor naval patrols intercept a Bengali freighter supplying Calypsan rebels, triggering the tense Calypso Incident, a diplomatic crisis that is eventually resolved when the Dominions agree to end support for the rebellion.  The Bengali Dominions annexes Themis after the information age world develops a moderate Nobilis-ruled constitutional government under Duke Henri II.
5272 The Mendam Codominium begins Operation Defender to discourage Dragon raiding, eventually distributing advanced anti-spacecraft weapons to over one hundred Human worlds along its borders and to the spinward.
5273 The Alimeen open the Alimeen Drift; the large Human-compatible habitat in the outer Alimeen system becomes a neutral Vulcan-administered settlement and trade center.  Rebel activity in the Kuiper Belt essentially ends after the seizure of the two main rebel bases and the capture and execution of most rebel leaders.
5274 A major nuclear conflict erupts on the balkanized atomic era world of Dionysus, killing hundreds of millions and starting a slide into pre-industrial savagery.  The Eternal dictatorship ruling the world of Baal agrees to join the Bengali Dominions and begins limited social reforms under a figurehead Nobilis ruler.
5275 Order of Truth missionaries on a relief mission to Dionysus come under fire from locals, prompting the wholesale abandonment of missionary efforts on the collapsing world.
5276 Starting with a hunt of "surplus" Goblins on Aeneas, the decades-long Great Culling begins, as Nobilis across the Dominions begin aggressively controlling their Goblin populations.
5277 The Sector 6 information age world of Gardenia expels Ibrahimite missionaries and traders, voting to enter the Reconstruction Federation.
5278 The Merchant Guild strengthens its strained relations with the Zhantlas Union and establishes a trade base in orbit around Talendir, which becomes the spinward extreme of the Guild's range.
5279 Bengali agents successfully undermine the Order of Truth mission on the Sector 4 world of Nammu, leading the ruling confederation to expel the missionaries and suppress the Ibrahimite minority.
5280 The mixed Human/Variant oligarchy ruling the atomic age world of Athena votes to join the Bengali Dominions, appointing Franseen Zhu as Duchess of Athena.
5281 After nearly two centuries of careful missionary work, the Order of Truth establishes a theocracy on Chiron, prompting the Sector 1 atomic age world to join the Terran Khalifate.
5282 The Bengali Dominions absorbs Cambria in Sector 35 and Darien in Sector 60, the former after a long diplomatic process, the later in response to appeals from the Nobilis nations facing nuclear blackmail from a Sapien coalition.  Lord Malcolm Hu-Ve'eri-Stark marries Baroness Lena Timmins, heir to the Duchy of Tyr.
5283 Grandmaster Ibrahim Hassani convinces his father the Khalif to authorize a trade mission to the Star Kingdoms; the difficult mission across two hundred light years of hostile and primitive systems ends in an economic failure, but it establishes tentative ties with Orphean and Irmingham corporations and their governments.
5284 Irmingham announces the independent rediscovery of vacuum distiller technology; industrial espionage soon spreads the knowledge across the Star Kingdoms.
5285 The Grand Federation research station at Antares succumbs to a massive flare; the staff narrowly escaping aboard two research vessels.  The industrial era feudal society of Heather joins the Bengali Dominions in return for technical assistance.
5286 After an investigation determines that a majority of Defender worlds have fallen under the military control of their Defenders, the Mendam Codominium discontinues the program, continuing to maintain and support only the three dozen worlds where the weapon systems remain under benign civilian control; though, while raids continue, not one Defender world ever suffers Dragon occupation.
5287 Tannberg agents steal the blueprints of Lanander's prototype Type IIa cruiser and sabotage the King Malcolm Shipyard, delaying production by a full year.  Malena Hu-Ve’eri-Stark is born on Bengal, eldest child of Lord Malcolm Hu-Ve’eri-Stark and Baroness Lena.
5288 The Sector 3 world of Timmins, an iron age Nobilis oligarchy with a large Sapien barbarian outback, joins the Bengali Dominions and becomes a training ground for Guardian special forces.
5289 Decrying the abandonment of many spinward Defender-dominated worlds, retired Codominium Captain Malcolm Heath, a veteran of the Ollaris and a Sixth Dragon Frontier War hero, leads a squadron of four privately financed ships on raids against Dragon slavers; Heath and his successors become known as the Rouge Defenders.
5290 Star King Ross of Orpheus dies; his Chief of Staff, the Honorable Janar Tuploe succeeds him as Star King after an unanimous Election.
5291 The Sector 6 late industrial world of Coatlicue joins the Terran Khalifate after an Order of Truth-inspired coup installs a religious dictatorship.
5292 Rouge Defenders under the command of Malcolm Heath free the Dragon-occupied world of Nabeth in Sector 773.  In a series of face-saving diplomatic protocols mediated by Lanander's Star King Otto II, all Star Kingdom governments agree to share Type IIa macrojump and vacuum distiller technologies.  During celebrations of his bicentennial Jubilee, Bengali Emperor Talon appoints Duchess Margrette Stark-Theissum of Hera as Prime Minister of the Dominions, beginning the Emperor's less involved role in government policy and his routine of spending half his year at Aethon and Glorious.
5293 The Grand Federation reestablishes a research station at Antares, constructing a radiation-hardened installation inside a burnt-out comet core.
5294 The IAK founds their independent Recontact Service at Orpheus, launching the first of a small fleet of 20m scouts, the Renaissance.  The Bengali Dominions establishes a foothold in in Sector 32 by annexing the late industrial era world of Numenor.
5295 Bengali agents steal blueprints for a vacuum distiller from a Betelgeuse Union industrial complex on Luminous.  The Khalifate annexes Honshu in Sector 6, essentially bribing the industrial era world's elite into joining the Order of Ibrahim.
5296 The Betelgeuse Union First Fleet attacks Caldera, destroying the Bengali Naval base and eight warships and starting the Great Rim War, often known as the Grim War.  Union squadrons attack and besiege Anton and Kane, with the Union government demanding payment and reparations for the theft of distiller technology.  The Bengali Dominions mobilizes for war, sending three fleets to the Rim.
5297 At the Battle of Anton, Bengali forces dislodge the Union occupation fleet and begin a fierce ground campaign to retake the world.  The Union defeats a Bengali strike fleet at the Battle of Norada.  The Betelgeuse Union trades distiller technology to the Cubics in return for the support of a squadron of Cubic warships.  The Martian Resonance Project successfully finishes with Ibrahim attending ceremonies marking the stabilization of the world's circular orbit at a 9:5 resonance with Terra.
5298 The Bengali Dominions begins production of vacuum distillers under a government military monopoly.  Lord Admiral Torn Hu-Stark-Turrel leads the Dominions First Fleet at the Battle of Kane, liberating the world after a space and ground campaign.  With Bengali territory liberated, the Bengali and Union war fleets clash at the First Battle of Kumar, where Cubic and Khald'aron reinforcements force the withdrawal of battered Dominions forces.  Lord Aaron Hu-Ve’eri-Stark, younger child of Malcolm and Lena, is born on Bengal.
5299 Betelgeuse Union scientists at the Verne Drift develop a Type IIa microjump prototype and begin a crash program to produce enhanced warships; the Union trades Type IIa specifications to the Khald'aron and Cubics in return for greater military support.  The Bengali Dominions release a Calderan bio-plague against the Union world of Tudor, then occupies the devastated world with inoculated Guardian Marines.  Reinforced Bengali squadrons attack in the Second Battle of Kumar, a bloody battle where each side looses over a dozen ships and Lord Admiral Torn Hu-Stark-Turrel dies aboard his flagship, Gwandalhar.
5300 A Bengali raid on the Verne Drift results in heavy casualties and Bengali acquisition of Type IIa technology.  The Betelgeuse Union begins negotiations with the Swarm Republic, offering to trade technology for entry into the War against the Dominions.  The Bengali Dominions launches a bio-attack on Norada, but withdraws after an orbital skirmish.  Khald'aron diplomats make the first overtures for an armistice.  A Cubic-Union raid on Anton kills millions of Bengali citizens.  Rouge Defender Malcolm Heath dies at the Battle of Turcana Lun, a skirmish near a Dragon base in Sector 737.
5301 The Swarm Republic agrees to threaten the Dominions in return for vacuum distiller and Type IIa technology, prompting the Conference of Karnak where the Bengali Dominions agree to a general armistice and withdrawal from Union territory; additional protocols ban bio-warfare, indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets and grants the Dominions access to Type IIa technology in return for reparations, medical assistance and Union access to Calderan genetic science.
5302 The Betelgeuse Union annexes the world Karnak after the official signing of the Treaty of Karnak.  After replacing many top military commanders, Bengali Prime Minister Duchess Margrette names her grandson Lord Lorin Ve'eri as the Minister of Defense.
5303 The confederate government of Nammu votes to join the Bengali Dominions, agreeing to a constitutional Nobilis monarchy in return for technological assistance.
5304 The Recontact Service scouts Valencia and Ruthford set out from Markham on a four hundred light-year journey to recontact the IAK world of Hortense far out in the trailing expanse; they do not return.
5305 Using technology borrowed from Zhretra researchers, radical Technologists and rouge Mechanists, Merchant Guild Captain Gordoman Sanjez, an elderly Eternal with failing health, becomes the first Human known to have a complete personality transferred into a starship quantum processor array.
5306 The Risa Corporation of Orpheus signs a multi-decade agreement to provide the Terran Khalifate with sales of the mind-controlling drug Benalfira for use in its prison system.  The Khalifate annexes Odysseus in Sector 1 after the Ibrahimite-dominated republic comfortably passes a plebiscite on Khalifate membership.
5307 The Bengali Dominions formally annexes the ramshackle Subaru Drift, now directly accessible by Type IIa vessels jumping to Alcyone; restorations begin on the Mech Plague-damaged facility whose population had dropped to less than fifty thousand.
5308 After a public uproar, Orphean Star King Janar bans further sales of Benalfira to the Khalifate, fines the Risa Corporation and cancels all government contracts with the firm.
5309 The Alimeen establish White Wind Drift as a Vulcan-administered neutral habitat around their Sector 7 world, hoping to establish better diplomatic dialog between the Dominions, Khalifate and Swarm.
5310 A Rouge Defender raid wipes out the ruling prides of the Dragon Nation of Vrasma in Sector 1381, causing a permanent collapse of the six-world state and starting a period of localized Dragon civil wars and disorganized raids into Human Space.
5311 B'dr'rak raiders intercept a Merchant Guild convoy at the Guild's Turban Station in Sector 342, destroying the base and two vessels and capturing three starships.  Gordoman Sanjez perfects robotic avatars to crew his vessel and interact with other sentients.
5312 The Bengali Dominions annexes Pandora in Sector 36 after supporting the Nobilis Kingdom of Westeros in its war with the Sapiens and Goblins of the Back Steppes.
5313 A Merchant Guild military expedition led by its first 50m cruiser Enterprise, secures the Turban Station and its surrounding system, then raids and destroys B'dr'rak starports at R'trakka and B'drumba in Sector 370.
5314 The trailing world of Dandelion joins the Bengali Dominions in return for technological assistance; Countess Lyra Bedoma becomes the constitutional ruler of the Sector 32 world.
5315 After failing to secure macrojump drive technology in return for trade concessions, the governing council of Nachen expels all Merchant Guild traders and begins an ultimately unsuccessful project to develop indigenous HSPG and gravstar technology.
5316 The Treaty of White Wind Drift formalizes border, customs and travel arrangements between the Bengali Dominions and the overlapping territory of the Swarm Republic, setting aside systems with "fallow" habitable worlds of over 1.25 gravities for Swarm sovereignty.  The Order of Enlightenment reengineers the mind-control drug Benalfira at labs on Venus.
5317 The Guild cruiser Enterprise leads its squadron to victory against B'dr'rak forces at the Battle of Alatria Station in Sector 342, prompting a formal agreement on security and rights of passage between the Guild and the B'dr'rak.  Moving into Sector 34, the Bengali Dominions annexes Dagan, appointing Lord Bendris Roma as Count of the late industrial era world.  Lady Malena Hu-Ve’eri-Stark marries Landru Domikal, Prince of Mare.
5318 Octopod raiders attack Talendir, damaging the Guild station and the Zhantlas naval base and triggering a joint punitive expedition into Sector 685 that destroys two forward Octopod bases.
5319 The Betelgeuse Union establishes a permanent embassy at White Wind Drift and negotiates a Treaty of Understanding with the Swarm Republic on trade, borders and exploration.
5320 The Zhantlas Union signs a formal non-aggression treaty with Octopod government; the treaty diminishes, but does not end occasional Octopod raids in the old Triangle Region.  The Recontact Service scouts Fairweather and Rimsom enter the Baltimore system in Sector 402 and encounter Rootjalik forces that cripple both vessels; the gravstar freighter Groosmaka takes both hulks and the surviving crew on a twenty-six year voyage to the Rootjalik homeworld for further analysis.  The Bengali Dominions expands into Sector 58, annexing the atomic era world of Enki.
5321 Khabaderan militants seize the planet Charmanbandara in Sector 797, conquering the balkanized mid-industrial Human nations piecemeal.  Lord Alman Domikal is born on Mare and invested by his father as Count Vedero.
5322 Bengali Emperor Talon submits to Goblin welfare advocates and discourages widespread and "unusually cruel" culling of Goblin populations throughout the Dominions, but he refuses to establish free Goblin reserve worlds, reiterating the property status of all Servant Races.  The Bengali Dominions annexes the Sector 3 world of Valiant at the request of its half-Nobilis/half-Sapien leadership council.
5323 The Sector 2 world of Asgard erupts into a nuclear war between pro-Ibrahimite and pro-Reformation Federation factions.  The Bengali Dominions annexes mid fusion-era Diancecht in Sector 35 after the world reluctantly agrees to appoint a Nobilis figurehead as Count and accept Bengal's increasingly rigid caste system, at least in principle.
5324 The Order of Valor intervenes on Asgard, defeating the Coalition of Freedom, forcefully annexing the devastated world and beginning relief operations.
5325 The Bengali Dominions annexes Kennedy, a Sector 46 late industrial era world recovering from decades of warfare.
5326 Unknown assassins kill most of Teslan Star King Basil's family in a suicide attack; Basil survives and, blaming Fermian extremists, he beings a crackdown on economic activity on Fermi; later in the year, King Basil marries his grandniece Leann, his only surviving relative.
5327 The Betelgeuse Union forms the paramilitary Vanguard exploratory service, authorizing the construction of four armed 20m scouts.  The Bengali Dominions intervenes in favor of the beleaguered Nobilis oligarchy of Savannah in Sector 58 and annexes the world.
5328 Trade wars and low-level conflict intensify within the Star Kingdoms after Teslan investigators uncover an Albian connection to the attack on Teslan Star King Basil.  Lady Alena Domikal is born on Mare and invested by her father as Countess Westeron.
5329 B'dr'rak and the Kith'turi-Salvaatiki Union of Worlds formalize improved trade and diplomatic relations with the Treaty of Umba Tural, witnessed by Grand Federation representatives.
5330 The cyberneticist David Daniel Dumas is born on Kumar.  The Bengali Dominions annexes the Sector 7 world of Narmer, placing restrictions on the Ibrahimite minority.
5331 A junta of pro-Ibrahimite military officers overthrows the Nobilis oligarchy on the Sector 1 world of Flora and invites the Khalifate to occupy and annex the world; Order of Valor troops and Order of Purity special forces subdue the world with targeted detentions and selective use of Benalfira.  The Bengal Dominions annexes Haven, initiating protests as the local government expels all Ibrahimite missionaries.
5332 Facing censure for attacks on Merchant Guild shipping to rival Irmingham, Timbuktu Commander Harold Demarko becomes a renegade with his frigate Sahel and crew, eventually taking the moniker Harold Destructor, pirate captain of the Dark Harrier.
5333 The Kith'turi wormship freighter Kitu !tak'ka suffers a Mech Plague infection to its processor cores, rendering the last functional wormship in Known space fully inoperable.
5334 Harold Destructor begins raiding Merchant Guild shipping in the Antaran region, starting a prolonged campaign of piracy and destruction of worlds within forty light years of Antares, and quickly seizes three additional ships for his pirate fleet.
5335 Dragon forces attack the Rouge Defender bastion on the asteroid Hedron in Sector 373, retreating after the bloody and epic Battle of Hedron Rock, where the Dragons loose six vessels, the Rouge Defenders loose four and Captain Savan Reynar emerges as their de facto leader.
5336 The Bengali Dominions reaches an agreement to annex Eternal-ruled Utica in Sector 48, incorporating the early fusion era world with only minimal cosmetic changes to its governing structure.
5337 Harold Destructor leads five starships on a raid of Guild facilities orbiting Amada, seizing the 55m transport Passionfruit and destroying three Guild frigates without losing a single pirate ship.
5338 The Turgil government of the race's Sector 32 homeworld signs treaties forming an Associate State relationship with the Bengali Dominions along the lines of the Brennar worlds, opening up the Turgil worlds to free trade and Dominions military protection.
5339 Khalif Mohammed II dies after a massive brain aneurysm; his son Ibrahim Hassani becomes Khalif by acclimation of the Order of Ibrahim.  The Bengali Dominions annex Tannenbaum in Sector 60.
5340 The Khalifate Order of Valor seizes control of the Sector 3 world of Hestia after repression of the Ibrahimite minority on the information age world; Order of Purity special units subdue the restive population with Benalfira.  A Merchant Guild Council bribes Harold Destructor into forsaking anti-Guild raids and encourages him to seize power on Nachen.  Khalif Ibrahim has his mother, Trina, disinterred from the Red Palace and reburied in a state ceremony at the Taj Mahal-inspired Tomb of Trina.
5341 Khalifate Order of Valor operatives seize the Bengali merchantman Omar Tanzig in the outer Nammu system, dissecting and disassembling the vessel for transport back to Sol.  The Bengali Dominions annexes Imra after a disputed election victory by pro-annexation parties, staring a civil war on the world as Ibramimite insurgencies battle Bengali Guardians supporting the local military.
5342 At the head of his eight ship fleet, Harold Destructor seizes Nachen, executing thousands of government officials and their families; the fusion era world becomes a base for raids on neighboring systems, but Harold keeps his word and avoids further attacks on Guild shipping.  The Third Paradise War begins after Bengali agents learn of the Khalifate's seizure of the Omar Tanzig; diplomatic negotiations at White Wind Drift collapse and Terran Khalifate battle fleets strike Paradise, Poseidon and Imra; a Bengali counterstrike destroys the Khalifate naval base and antimatter faculties at Thebes.
5343 The Siege of Paradise ends after Bengali reinforcements sweep the Khalifate fleets from the system, though ground fighting with insurgents opposed to Queen Lydia's rule continues into the next year.  Bengali Guardian gunships penetrate defenses to bomb surface installations at the Battle of Libertas, but the Dominions Second Fleet withdraws under fire after failing to establish a foothold on the world's surface.  Khalifate raiders strike dozens of Bengali worlds in the Central Region, disrupting trade and capturing civilian vessels.  Using data from the Omar Tanzig, the Khalifate Order of Enlightenment reengineers prototype vacuum distillers and Type IIa macrojump drives.  A Khalifate trade delegation to Irmingham secures an order for sixty A4 Lancer gunships for use in the war with the Dominions.
5344 The Bengali Dominions begins a major offensive, besieging Amaterasu and Daedalus and launching commerce raids into the Sol, Atlantis and Kalmar systems.  In response to sporadic attacks by Order of Valor raiders, the Reformation Federation puts its military forces on alert and masses a reaction force at Osiris.  At White Wind Drift, the Alimeen begin rocky negotiations for a cease fire.
5345 The Khalifate First Attack Fleet, complete with modern frigates and the first batches of Irmingham-provided Lancers, launches the Great Battle of Paradise, overwhelming Bengali defenses and beginning a sustained bombardment of the world.  The Bengali Second and Third Fleets arrive at Paradise to continue the battle, eventually forcing a Khalifate withdrawal after both sides loose over twenty starships and dozens of gunboats.  Bengali and Khalifate representatives reach a tentative cease-fire agreement at White Wind Drift and agree to convene a peace conference on Vulcan.
5346 The Treaty of Vulcan ends the Third Paradise War and establishes a agreed border between the Khalifate and the Dominions across the Central Region; the Khalifate annexes Lenin, but agrees to stop further expansion into the Rimward half of the Central Region in return for recognition of its dominance in currently held systems and in the coreward half of the Region.  In supplemental documents within the Treaty of Vulcan, the worlds Deseret, Levant, Solomon and Dayan join the neutral League of Vulcan.  The Rootjalik gravstar freighter Groosmaka reaches its home system with the surviving crews and hulks of two Recontact Service scouts.

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