The Era of Piracy and Chaos

5535-5780CE

Overview

The era between the end of the Star Kingdom Confederation Succession Wars and the death of Star King Otto IV in 5780CE marked an era not of sustained or widespread warfare, but of piracy, conflict and occasional bursts of violence. The period was one of social, political and technological turmoil. The piracy for which the period was most well know was concentrated in the Coreward Region, but extended into spinward, trailing and near northern and southern sectors as well. Though the Bengali Dominions would disagree, the Green Fist and Abolitionist activities in the rimward sectors were more limited and not related to the four major waves of raiders that swept the periphery of civilized space between about 5540 and 5770CE.

The spread of late macrojump technology through recivilized space greatly improved standards of living and communications between worlds as the cost of interstellar travel dropped, but it also increased the availability of advanced technology to unscrupulous and dissident groups, allowing factions, gangs and powerful individuals to prey on worlds at the periphery of civilization. At the heights of the second and third pirate waves, perhaps a thousand privateer starships infested Coreward Space.

Most pirates arose from established interstellar groups, whether dissident Ibrahimites, fallen Rouge Defenders, remnant Knights of Alexander or disgruntled Merchant Guild captains. The B'd'rak, !Tak, Khaddahl, Rootjalik and Octopods added to the mix, with decentralized states and martial traditions encouraging external raids on Human systems. Pirates often raided out of fortresses on moons, distant icy worlds or other hidden bases, but bolder and stronger bands took over whole systems, often forming short-lived mini-empires that collapsed under concerted attacks or internal dissension. Arguably, the two greatest pirates of the era were Tariq the Merciless and his son, Garmin the Black who raided from their bases at Basra and Nachen. Tariq, a renegade Order of Valor captain, sought to emulate the long fallen Khanate of Heguz and hoped to carve out an Ibrahimite state with himself as Khalif, but his son Garmin was a pure raider king, killing and raiding for nothing more than loot and glory. Convinced of his own greatness, Garmin even raided deep into the Grand Federation, finally falling in battle at the Coalsack against a massed Dantum battle fleet in 5654CE.

The Coreward Region suffered the bulk of pirate activity, but the era also marked the maturity of the coreward-based Merchant Guild. Through influence within the Star Kingdom Confederation, exploitation of the Grand Federation troubles, monopoly on the tsrill trade and ties with the Osiran exiles, the Guild became the dominate power in Coreward Space, eclipsing the influence of most political entities. In the southern core, B'dr'rak and !Tak raiding continued and the First Rootjalik Empire collapsed into chaos, while Merchant Guild influence expanded in the more peaceful pockets. The northern core remained locked in dark ages and rarely visited, even by raiders.

The Central Region saw continued and often forceful expansion of the two largest interstellar states: the Terran Khalifate and the Bengali Dominions. Reaction to two more Mechanist Crusades led to the expansion of the Khalifate into sectors outside the Central Region, overrunning the Crusader Autarchy of Asarte, and it led to the disastrous Counter Crusade of Admiral Fal Aziz, ending with his decisive defeat at the Battle of Mryland in 5584CE. From the fallout of that failed campaign arose both the radical wing of the Ibrahimite faith, led by future Khalif Fahd Hassani, winner of the Khalifate Civil War of 5675-5681CE, and also the radical Crusaders led by Arlo Gundaran, who converted the Citadel of Heaven into the planet buster Pavl's Revenge, destroyer of New Rome and Amaterasu.

Responding to alleged threats and the Khalifate's own proactive annexations, the Bengali Dominions also forcefully annexed near-rim worlds, shoring up porous borders that aggravated tension associated with the Abolitionist movement and Servant Race resistance. The Dominions continued to struggle with Servant Race issues as it expanded, and though the ruling Imperial family privately supported the Abolitionist cause, the majority of the Nobilis still supported the Sovereign Rights Movement, and the adoption of Android servants did little to mollify many influential families.

On the far rim, the Federation of Orion continued to expand in the region between the Dominions and the Khald'aron Republic. After failed unity talks, the Rigel Annexation Treaty of 5586CE led to the Federation's absorption fifty-eight Human worlds within expanding Khald'aron space and to closer border and trade ties between the states. The Federation of Orion continued to play a leading role as a "liberal democratic" Human state, supporting the rights of created races and minority philosophies, even electing a Goblin president in 5668CE.

In the Spinward Region, The Mendam Codominium fought another frontier war with the Dragon states, the tenth since the destruction of Draco, and engaged in numerous skirmishes against both the Dragons and against the degeneration of many Rouge Defenders, who had become the Doubly Rouge Offenders, or DRO, no more than pirates raiding under the banner of "protection".

The civilized Trailing Region remained under Star Kingdoms dominance, especially as the Confederation expanded its presence into neighboring sectors to suppress piracy. After the troubles of previous centuries, internal relations between the Star Kingdoms had become cordial, with coordinated foreign and economic policies. The Merchant Guild came to dominate trade between the Star Kingdoms and coreward markets. Turgil Commonwealth, Alimeen Confederation and Federation of Orion merchants dominated trade between the Star Kingdoms and trailing or rimward regions. In the corner nearest the Central Region, the Star Kingdom of Orpheus clashed with the expanding Khalifate, establishing a turbulent border region over two hundred light years from Sol.

Political

The dominance of the Merchant Guild to the rim and the domination of the Terran Khalifate by hardliners represented the major developments of the period, outside of the piracy and chaos percolating on the edge of recivilized space.

The Guild became the glue that bound the vast near planar coreward area from the Mendam Codominium to the Star Kingdoms Confederation to the borders of the Terran Khalifate to deep within the turbulent Grand Federation of Races. Through the trade of emerging late macrojump technologies and a monopoly over the age-retarding tsrill extract, the Guild increased in wealth and influence. Maintaining ties to the surviving Osiran exile ships, the Guild established bases in most planar and southern coreward sectors and developed trade routes stretching from Thera to Focus to Talendir to Tashera. The Guild readily helped worlds reach the fusion age, but refused to share interstellar technology with worlds that had not achieved the capability, officially to prevent the spread of antimatter production, but effectively to maintain a monopoly on trade with otherwise isolated systems. Guild Masters became wealthy potentates, richer than rulers of worlds, Guild patrols fought pirate kings and maintained order on the coreward star lanes, and Guild conspirators placed rulers on planetary thrones and dominated the politics of the Star Kingdoms. During the first half of the 58th century, the Guild even served as arbitrator, broker and economic lifeline to parts of the Grand Federation of Races, racked by a failed socio-economic conversion.

After the Sack of Karnisky, the Terran Khalifate had been ruled by mostly moderate leaders appointed by Ishmahil II. As the Khalif's health declined, his slightly more conservative son, Mohammed, gained influence, and upon Mohammed III's ascension as Khalif in 5630CE, his own eldest son, Fahd gained prominence. Fahd was strictly a hardline Ibrahimite, who strove for aggressive expansion and conversion of unbelievers, both willing and unwilling. While Mohammed was alive, the Khalif sought to balance the hardline views of the his elder son Fahd with the moderate, gradualist positions of his younger son, Khalid. Eventually Fahd became Grandmaster of the Order of Valor and the Order of Truth began to send more aggressive missionaries further from Sol. In the last years of Mohamed III's reign, the moderate Khalidates, as they become known, seemed to have the upper hand within the vast Khalifate bureaucracy, dominating many Sultanate governments as well. In 5674CE the Mechanist assassination of Mohammed III brought the hardliners to prominence, and Fahd's more powerful fleets had won the fractious Khalifate Civil War by 5681CE, subsequently purging the last Khalidites, replacing the Sultans with appointed loyal governors and forcing orthodox Ibrahimite practices upon more liberal worlds.

Khalif Fahd allowed his Orders to forcefully annex worlds, completing the domination of the coreward half of the Central Region and extending Khalifate rule into the nearer spinward, coreward, trailing and northern sectors. What little tolerance for non-believers remained within the Khalifate vanished after Pavl's Revenge destroyed New Rome, and by 5779CE, following the destruction of Amaterasu and Pavl's Revenge's flight from Vulcan, the Khalif had declared the extermination of Mechanists to be Ibrahimite doctrine. As a result of his aggressive policies, other states reduced economic and political relations with the Khalifate, and by the end of the period, the Khalifate remained a technological backwater, the only major state still at early macrojump technological levels.

Technological

The era represented a transitional period from early to late macrojump-level technology for most of recivilized Human space outside the Terran Khalifate. The "flagship" technological change was the reemergence of Type IIb macrojump travel, increasing the range, reliability and grid size of macrojump vessels. Travel costs dropped by over four-fold, greatly increasing trade and communication between systems and facilitating deeper cultural ties between interstellar states. Improvements in fabrication technology, medical procedures, computing capacity and the reemergence of short-range flatspace teleportation and point disintegrators also occurred during the period. Trade between most states soon spread these technologies across much of the non-Khalifate Human recivilized space, though the Merchant Guild continued to limit technological access to isolated systems in the Coreward Region.

"Antimatter is a girl's best friend", Karmela Marr, DRO (Doubly Rouge Offender) Captain and conqueror of Hastan.
The corollary to cheaper interstellar travel and the Guild's public excuse for limiting technological progress was the resultant cheaper production and wider dissemination of antimatter. The bombing of Mecca by a Crusader terrorist and antimatter blackmail by pirate bands did little to contradict the Guild's view that access to antimatter and technologies such as vacuum distillation and advanced fabrication were dangerous in the hands of hostile or unstable governments and individuals. Among other states, even those as progressive as the Federation of Orion, access to interstellar age technology usually required political incorporation.

Cultural

Though the vast majority of Human-settled worlds remained mired in isolation during the period, the more than one-third of the Human population that lived on the ten percent of the worlds within interstellar states mostly prospered during the period. Pirate attacks, occasional wars and the destruction of two whole planets notwithstanding, the period saw a general increase in prosperity among interstellar states and increased levels of communications, that, while not leading to any sort of common Human culture, at least propagated certain basic norms, including the widespread adoption of the Orion Calendar and agreement on standard interstellar mail formatting and routing protocols.

The Bengali Dominions continued to struggle with the issue of Servant Race freedoms, with the Abolitionist and Sovereign Rights movements staking out opposite positions on the issue. The Imperial family and Altaran Golden Stasis Church supported a moderate Abolitionist position, calling for the replacement of Servant Races with Androids and most non-Nobilis supported the Abolitionist view. However, the Bengali Dominions social hierarchy remained predicated on Nobilis rule, and many older families jealously guarded all their rights against the encroachment of the Futaris and Sapiens-dominated bureaucracy, preventing a resolution of the issue during the period. Android ownership and acceptance did increase during the era and the Emperor's long view towards an eventual settlement prevented tensions from risking anything approaching civil war.

As hardliners led by Fahd Hassani took control over the Terran Khalifate, the expanding Ibrahimite state fell further into isolation. Forceful annexations, an aggressive missionary and patrol posture and eventual calls for the extermination of the Mechanists by Khalif Fahd led other interstellar states to limit trade and cultural contacts with the Khalifate. But for medical cooperation in the wake of the Lerman Flu, no interstellar state was willing to share any late macrojump technology with the Khalifate, and internally, scientific innovation was not encouraged, not even within the Order of Enlightenment. As the Khalifate became more centralized, the Order of Ibrahim infiltrated further into the military and bureaucracy of the Khalifate, dominating the governorships and enforcing strict Ibrahimite doctrine, banning all but necessary nanomedical treatments, universally enforcing the veil, and killing or exiling dissidents an non-believers.

In contrast to the rigid nature of Ibrahimite rule, the Federation of Orion and the Zhantlas Union continued a tradition of liberalism and multiculturalism that saw the acceptance of Heretics as citizens and an influx of Servant Race citizens. The Federation of Orion even elected a gracile Goblin, Gholman Vandal, as president for two terms. The Federation of Orion worked to incorporate far rim Human worlds from the increasingly monocultural Khald'aron Republic and from the periphery of the growing Bengali Dominions. In the far core, the tri-racial Zhantlas Union accepted an influx of refugees from pirate ravages and later from the unrest within the Grand Federation of Races, adding to the cultural mix of the Zhantlas worlds. Outside the largest states of the Dominions and the Khalifate, many smaller states, including the Star Kingdoms Confederation adopted some elements of Orion or Zhantlian culture, including freedom for all sentient races, Variants and Constructs, with the exception of pure robots and Androids.

The Disentropic Way emerged as a new religious movement during the period. A reaction to the rigid Fzuki Way and incorporating T'zet Radicalism and ancient Human mysticism, Herio Baen's movement began on Tetraluna within the Mendam Codominium and soon spread beyond his core Human and Khruzi adherents to develop followers across Coreward Space and among the Zhretra and T'zet. By 5750CE, the hundred year old faith, with its inclusive approach toward Transcendence, had a billion devotees.

During the era, both the the Federation of Orion and the Bengali Dominions began staging periodic interstellar sporting and cultural events. The Orion Expositions were direct descendants of the old Imperial Expositions. Prompted by the dropping costs of interstellar travel, these events rotated though major Orion worlds every six years and focused mainly on cultural rather than sporting exhibitions. The Dominions Games were sponsored by the Imperial Family in an attempt at social engineering meant to wean the public off popular Servant Race blood sports like Goblin Bowl and The Great Hunt. Eventually duplicating or even surpassing the cruelty of traditional blood sports with various Android games, the Imperial family hopped to ease the Abolitionist agenda into broad public acceptance and build support for use of Android servants by more moderate Nobilis families. Soon, the Dominions Games, also held every six years, came to include more cultural events, competing with the Orion Expositions held three years apart.

Chronology Table

5535	The Star Kingdoms Confederation begins to organize a semi-privatized Merchant Marine to counter Merchant Guild dominance in trade.
5536	Great King Otto III of Lanander dies in a suicide assassination attack blamed on the Knights of Alexander. The Star Kings and local Electors choose Otto's cousin Kasha as Star Queen of Lanander and elect her Great Queen of the Confederation. Severn Starship Systems (S³) on Irmingham tests a prototype Type IIb macrojump engine.
5537	The Osiran exile ship Last Oasis reaches the independent Tyrell Drift, near a white dwarf star in Sector 761 and establishes a codominium with the Zhretra and Human-dominated Tyrell Consulate. The Osiran exile ship Water of Life reaches pre-industrial world of Rattapindi in Sector 367, establishing tentative contact with the warring nations of the environmentally degrading world.
5538	The Terran Khalifate establishes an exile colony on the long abandoned Sector 5 world of Sparta, populating it with religious dissidents, Human Variants and other undesirables; to enforce the world's isolation, technological developments remain limited to the industrial age.
5539	The Osiran exile ship Midnight Wind reaches the isolated settlement of Shuldra Drift, now nestled near a brown dwarf and intermittently visited by Grand Federation and Merchant Guild traders.
5540	The first wave of coreward pirate attacks begins with a raid on the Alimeen world of Mist Curtains in Sector 121, an attack that destroys the Human orbital habitat and the starport. The Osiran exile ship Deepest Well reaches the thriving fusion era world of Lordabaelis in Sector 338; the world's leadership council invites the Deepest Well to join the world's government as a federal state.
5541	Pirates attack the Morris system, capturing two Guild freighters in the outer system and destroying the Tate High spaceport. The Sector 1 world of Markduk joins the Khalifate in return for the mass ordination of the local political elite into the Order of Ibrahim.
5542	The Star Kingdoms disband their united Merchant Marine, transferring ownership of the authority's vessels to corporations within each Star Kingdom.
5543	Raiders under the command of former Knights of Alexander leader Aaron Burzh begin attacks on the ships and stations of the Merchant Guild's Northern Route.
5544	Severn Starship Systems markets a product line of 40m Type IIb macrojump vessels, capable of jumps up to twenty-five light-years. The Merchant Guild begins purchasing patrol frigates direct from S³.
5545	B'dr'rak raiders attack Turin, looting the White Mountain, bombarding the Osiran settlement and capturing a Guild freighter before retreating.
5546	The Order of Truth missionary Abu Kales manages to convince the once Hindu and secular world of Ghandi to join the Khalifate and embrace Ibrahimism. Herio Baen, founder of the Disentropic Way is born on Tetraluna.
5547	A second B'dr'rak raid on Turin meets Guild resistance in an orbital battle that ends with a B'dr'rak withdrawal and that causes severe damage to the White Mountain.
5548	The Osiran exile ship Dream of Morning reaches the system of Tjeckmapah in Sector 179, encountering and fighting off a !Tak raiding party extorting goods from the late industrial era world; a subsequent !Tak raid kills tens of thousands on the Dream of Morning, rendering large portions of the vessel uninhabitable and forcing a wholesale evacuation to the planet's surface.
5549	A group of raiders, calling themselves Lords of the North, begin attacking Bengali shipping and outlying worlds in Sectors 19 and 4.
5550	The defense forces of the Dream of Morning fight off a major !Tak raid, destroying four starships and capturing a fifth, but severe damage forces the complete civilian evacuation of the exile ship, which the Osirians convert into a makeshift orbital defense platform and starport. The Bengali Dominions annexes Hina, marking the realm's expansion into Sector 23.
5551	A Lords of the North raid on Beowulf kills tens of thousands when the raiders destroy a Bengali ammunition depot during their retreat; Emperor Talon orders the Bengali Navy to exterminate the pirate threat, replacing his general staff to drive home his point.
5552	The Osiran exile ship Falcon Home reaches the Sector 366 early fusion era world of Yarvallis, home of a disreputable Rouge Defender rearward base; after standing down a threat of attack and gaining a Guild alliance, the Falcon Home decides to depart for the Lordabaelis system to rendezvous with the Deepest Well. The Bengali Dominions lands Guardian Marines in support of the faltering Nobilis rulers on Kourou in Sector 155, establishing an outpost in the distant sector.
5553	After capturing a raider vessel at Kannon, the Bengali Navy learns the location of two Lords of the North bases at Dumuzi and Anasazi and promptly destroys both bases, killing all pirates and uncovering evidence of assistance from the Green Fist. Moving into Sector 138, the Bengali Dominions absorbs the Republican government of the planet Alcmene, the local elite accepting Nobilis rule in return for technological assistance.
5554	The Merchant Guild adopts the Orion Calendar for official record keeping, eventually spreading the new calendar to hundreds of worlds.
5555	Former Bengali Prime Minister Margrette Stark-Theissum dies on Glorious in an accidental drowning; the Emperor, Prime Minister and High Priestess attend her lavish funeral and dedicate her pyramidal tomb.
5556	A pirate raid on Ocelot destroys two Un'aa'graum vessels at the orbital starport; in response, the Grand Federation begins aggressive anti-piracy patrols up to one hundred light-years rimward of the old Imperial border.
5557	Merchant Guild volunteers scour the Laryukor system in Sector 311, searching for the lost Osiran exile ship Vaulted Sky, now fifteen years overdue for an expected arrival in the system; they find no trace and begin a sporadic decades-long search of neighboring systems along the Vaulted Sky's projected route.
5558	The Osiran exile ship Ship of Hope reaches the Guild-controlled Urschma Drift in Sector 760, establishing itself in orbit around the small gas giant Lavbrada.
5559	A band of Rouge Defenders under the command of Karmela Marr conquers the Sector 377 early fusion era world of Hastan, converting the system into a raiding hub and earning for themselves the moniker Double Rouge Offenders, or DRO.
5560	Baron Aaron Hu-Ve'eri-Stark, the Bengali Prime Minister's son, dies in a Goblin hunt on Mare during festivities celebrating the marriage of his nephew Count Almon Domikal to Lady Leia Hoosh, daughter of the Duke of Murukan.
5561	The Sector 26 world of Nineveh becomes the first non-Central Region world to join the Terran Khalifate after a pro-Ibrahimite revolution overthrows the aging Eternal leadership.
5562	Sayvan Gaadera, formerly a Guild patrol captain and anti-pirate fighter, leads a fleet of twenty ships from Myrland on the Third Mechanist Crusade.
5563	The fleet of the Third Crusade reaches Asarte, planning to resupply; Sayvan Gaardera overthrows Autarch Jelig Bathustar and installs herself as ruler of Asarte. The Third Crusade abandons its effort to retake Karinsky as Autarch Gaardera announces plans to build a small interstellar empire in Sector 38 to prepare the way for a larger crusade against the Khalifate.
5564	Federation of Orion President Olmar Resturin resigns after he is implicated in a corruption scandal; his Vice President Lena Holman pardons him after assuming the Presidency, but vows not to run in the next election.
5565	Grand Federation forces destroy a major pirate operation at Kappa Scorpii in Sector 763, ending major raider activity along the trailing border region. The Bengali Dominions intervenes in a local civil war on Barca, annexing the world under Nobilis leadership and marking the Dominions expansion into Sector 210.
5566	Naval and Marine forces from the Crusader Autarchy at Asarte seize control of Helene and Ariel in Sector 38, forming the core of Sayvan Gaardera's empire. Former Vanguard commander Talman Horn becomes President of the Federation of Orion.
5567	A Khaddahl raid on the Order of Truth mission on Harmony prompts Order of Valor patrols throughout Sector 27 and a punitive strike on a refueling station in the Khaddahl system.
5568	The Timbuktu conglomerate Agana begins marketing Androids, biological beings with programmable semi-sentient mechanical brains, circumventing local laws against the subjugation of Servant Races and traditional biological Constructs. Aaron Domikal is born on Mare; son of Count Almon Domikal, he receives the vacant title of Baron of Theissum from his deceased namesake great-uncle.
5569	Mjolnir joins the Crusader Autarchy; Sayvan Gaarda dispatches Captain Leyda Vanag and six ships to begin a diversionary pirate operation out of Altair to divert Khalifate attention from Asarte.
5570	The Khald'aron Republic begins discussions with the Federation of Orion on closer relations, especially concerning Human worlds within the Republic.
5571	Kukulcan and Garibaldi join the Crusader Autarchy; the pirates of Altair stage a daring raid on Nova, destroying the Order of Valor orbital base.
5572	By a narrow margin, Lena Holman wins election as the President of the Federation Orion. A sweep by the Order of Valor fails to locate the pirate base at Altair. A courier from Asarte reaches Myrland, asking for reinforcements to support the Crusader Autarchy.
5573	The Osirans of Turin finish the abandonment of the damaged White Mountain, converting the remaining usable sections into an orbital starport. Nubia becomes the seventh world of the Crusader Autarchy.
5574	The sixteen ships of the Fourth Crusade set off from Myrland, arriving at Asarte late in the year. Union talks between the Khald'aron Republic and Orion Federation begin on Kumar and quickly stall around joint-system sovereignty and bilateral settlement rights. New Africa, in Sector 27, joins the Khalifate, which quickly establishes a forward Order of Valor base to guard against Khaddahl raiders.
5575	The Osiran exile ship Falcon Home arrives in the Lordabaelis system, becoming a federal state and a close ally of the Deepest Well.
5576	Driven off Altair by an Order of Valor offensive, Leyda Vanag arrives at Asarte with her two surviving ships; with support from the Fourth Crusade, she stages a coup, killing Sayvan Gaarda and declaring herself Autarch. The Khalifate Order of Valor raids Kukulcan, destroying several cities before being driven off by Autarchy ships. The Autarchy forms an alliance with the Khaddahl military leadership. Bengal annexes the struggling world of Nitra in Sector 140, marking the Dominion's expansion into that sector.
5577	Leading twenty fighting ships, Leyda Vanag attacks and conquers the Khalifate world of Janus after a brief skirmish; abandoning the devastated world, the fleet and allied Khaddahl strike Devonia, Bolivar, Leda and Gardenia before overwhelming the weakened defenses at Karinsky. Lady Margrette Domikal is born on Mare, second child of Count Almon and Lady Leia.
5578	Pirate Commodore Jens Truvail sacks Nachen and installs himself as Lord President; Nachen again becomes a center for pirate activity with the Osiran vessel Lady of the Night housing a base for Truvail's fleet. The Federation of Orion Supreme Court rules that Lena Holman may run for a second term as President, clarifying the constitutional limit of two terms; she wins reelection handily. After failed negotiations and the arrival of a sixty ship Khalifate fleet, Leyda Vanag abandons Karinsky and retreats, suffering heavy casualties at the subsequent Battle of Janus, before arriving back at Asarte with seven ships.
5579	After a journey of two hundred and ten years, the Osiran exile ship City of Crystal arrives at Guild-dominated Magraveh in Sector 687; a Guild sponsored delegation with representatives from eleven other Osiran ships meets the last arriving exile ship as it settles into a geosynchronous orbit opposite the world's orbital starport. Khalifate Order of Valor Admiral Fal Aziz leads his fleet to victory at the Battle of Asarte, dispersing the Autarch's fleet and conquering the world after an orbital bombardment.
5580	The Order of Valor conquers and occupies the remaining worlds of the Crusader Autarchy and continues sweeps to search for the fugitive Leyda Vanag. Union talks between the Khald'aron Republic and Federation of Orion completely break down, despite personal intervention by President Holman.
5581	After a punitive strike on their homeworld, the Khaddahl sign a non-aggression treaty with the Khalifate, promising to end all raiding against Khalifate worlds, vessels and emissaries.
5582	Admiral Fal Aziz sets off from Nova with a fleet of thirty ships and hundreds of antimatter drones, intent on striking Myrland itself. Remnants of Leyda Vanag's Crusader forces begin raids on Khalifate worlds and bases.
5583	Renegade royal guardsmen assassinate Great Queen Kasha; the Star Kings install her nephew Otto IV on the thrones of Lanander and the Confederation. Otto IV reaffirms Guild rights to trade across the Confederation and sends warships to aid the Guild in its conflicts with pirate bands.
5584	Traveling through Sector 161, Admiral Fal Aziz's Counter Crusade Fleet encounters the !Tak raiding fleet of Z!tu P'zk and looses eight vessels, including Aziz's flagship Saladin at the Battle of Undigo Varm; regrouping, Aziz continues toward Myrland, losing another two ships overcoming the Rouge Defender stronghold at Lesser Valmo. At the Battle of Myrland, forewarned Mechanist defenders with Guild, Zhantlian, Defender and Zhretra allies utterly destroy Aziz and his fleet. Haris Vek becomes President of the Federation of Orion. Leia Hoosh becomes Duchess of Murukan upon the death of her father and gives birth to her third child, Lord Jonas Domikal.
5585	Otto IV adopts the Orion Calendar for official Star Kingdom Confederation records and for the Star Kingdom of Lanander; most other Star Kingdoms quickly follow suit.
5586	Turgil traders offer Agana Androids for sale at Tywyn, introducing the products into the Bengali marketplace. Orion President Haris Vek negotiates the Rigel Annexation Treaty, granting the Federation of Orion sovereignty over fifty-eight Human world formerly incorporated in the Khald'aron Republic, nearly doubling the size of the Federation and establishing clear borders and free trade between the states.
5587	Leyda Vanag dies in a raid on Vega after the Order of Valor destroys her ship and launches the crew's soulboxes into the star.
5588	Larn Murgo, a Mechanist from the Fourth Crusade, detonates a gram of smuggled antimatter at Mecca on Terra, killing himself and over three million Ibrahimites.
5589	The Order of Purity begins a purge of "Mechanist sympathizers" killing or exiling all non-Ibrahimites Humans within the Khalifate; the Star Kingdom Confederation and Merchant Guild curtail all trade activities with the Khalifate.
5590	On news of the Mecca suicide-bombing, Mechanist Primal Ustan Ghavanaran refuses to accept calls by Crusaders to condone Larn Murgo's action and he sentences the man's renegade Third Incarnation to hard labor in absentia. The Sector 29 world of Tane joins the Khalifate.
5591	Local biochemists on the Sector 727 world of Tation discover the anti-aging properties of tsrill, an extract of an aquatic kelp-like planet native to the world's Crater Sea.
5592	A Crusader band led by Arlo Gundaran purchases the Citadel of Heaven exile ship from the Osirans in return for a fifteen year plan to resettle the remaining million and a half residents both on Khandor and throughout Guild-influenced Coreward Space. Bengali Emperor Talon celebrates his five hundred year jubilee in a yearlong celebration that spans the Dominions.
5593	The Federation of Orion Congress bans the importation or manufacture of Androids, calling them "disrespectful representations of sentience."
5594	A conference at Faztulu Drift establishes a common mail routing protocol for use between the Guild, Mendam Codominium, Zhantlas Union, Star Kingdoms and Alimeen Confederacy, greatly facilitating long distance interstellar communication.
5595	Pro-Abolitionist Bengali Nobilis establish the failed world of Ramal Lun in Sector 391 as a Servant Race sanctuary.
5596	Zhantlian hospital facilities begin to offer Restoration regeneration therapy as an optional paid service for its Human citizens.
5597	White Wind Drift hosts a failed reconciliation conference attended by Khalifate officials and representatives from the Star Kingdoms and Merchant Guild; the Khalifate representative calls for the extermination of all Mechanists.
5598	After a few decades of relative calm, raiding activity begins to increase in the coreward sectors; a pirate band lead by Doubly Rouge Offenders seizes control of Leona in Sector 366.
5599	Jens Truvail leads his forces from Nachen on raids against Guild bases and vessels, including the capture of the 65m freighter Pfat Olav out of Shuldra Drift. The Khalifate annexes Tesub in Sector 14, encouraging natives to kill minority Variants in a month long purge.
5600	The Zhantlas Union accepts Heretics as citizens and approves Heretic conversions at Union medical facilities.
5601	A Guild raid on Nachen fails to overthrow Truvail's pirate regime, but recovers some Guild ships, including the Pfat Olav, and many captured personal; the Lady of the Night suffers heavy damage during the raid. Barong, in Sector 1, becomes the 100th system incorporated in the Terran Khalifate.
5602	B'dr'rak raiders attack the Outilak system, crippling the orbiting Osiran Vessel of Dawn, killing over two hundred thousand and forcing an evacuation onto the unfriendly information era world. The Osiran Wars begin, fought between and among the nations of Outilak and the Osirans, with occasional interference from B'dr'rak, Guild, Khabaderan and assorted Human raiders, traders and rouges.
5603	The Bengali Imperial Household establishes a settlement for freed household Goblins on the fiery world of Tantalus in Sector 8. The Khalifate annexes Sakhmet in Sector 29, killing all incarnate Mechanists and stripping soulboxes from the rest.
5604	The Khalifate annexes Dione in Sector 30 after a local revolution; the feeble information era space forces of sister planet Rhea attempt to blockade the world, but retreat under Khalifate pressure. The Federation of Orion Supreme Court overturns the ban on the importation and manufacture of Androids, citing technical limitations that exclude Androids from constitutional protections of sentients.
5605	Technologist leader Kyrin Lambda dies on Albus after a failed sixth regeneration; the outcry over inadequate regeneration treatments leads to the introduction of Guild-supplied Restoration therapies in the Star Kingdoms.
5606	Pirate raiders attack Amada, triggering a combined Guild and Grand Federation response that destroys three pirate outposts but nets few pirate vessels. After threats against resident missionaries, the Khalifate Order of Valor besieges Rhea, destroying military installations and encouraging an Ibrahimite uprising. The Bengali Dominions annexes atomic era Coronado, moving into Sector 152.
5607	The provisional revolutionary government of Rhea joins the Khalifate, accepting Order of Purity troops to maintain their grip on the non-Ibrahimite majority. Captain Bello Rosario's Guild trader Liquid Trance visits Tation and establishes a monopoly on the offworld trade of tsrill extract.
5608	Arlo Gundaran's Crusader band completes renovations on the Citadel of Heaven, renaming it Pavl's Revenge and equipping it with dual disintegrator arrays, heavy vacuum distillers, hundreds of drone bays and long-term hibernation chambers; with stowed escort and support ships, dozens of lancers and fighters, the Pavl's Revenge and a crew of ten thousand, mostly sleepers, heads toward the Central Region. The Bengalis Dominions annexes the struggling world of Bactria in Sector 156, marking expansion into that sector.
5609	The Grand Federation resumes deep patrols, twenty years after discontinuing most anti-piracy sweeps; Jens Truvail withdraws from Antares after a skirmish with an Eenikiti squadron.
5610	The future Khalif Mohammed IV is born on Terra. The Khalifate annexes Jefferson in Sector 2. Sales of Guild-supplied tsrill extract, which when taken regularly nearly doubles even nano-assisted Human lifespans, begin in the Star Kingdoms.
5611	A prominent group of anti-Abolitionist Bengali Nobilis form the Sovereign Rights Movement to counter calls for the discontinuing of Servant Race subjugation.
5612	!Tak raiders attack Armaghillis, damaging the orbital Osiran Western Sun and destroying the major population center of Shurman, before retreating from Guild reinforcements. The Khalifate annexes Nebo in Sector 15 after a century long peaceful missionary conversion program.
5613	Raider attacks on outlying Star Kingdom worlds resume, with some ships still carrying the banner of the Knights of Alexander; Star Kingdom navies conduct deeper patrols and start fleet modernization programs.
5614	The Khald'aron Republic prohibits a Vanguard expedition toward the Orion Nebula, citing security concerns; after diplomatic wrangling the Federation of Orion and Khald'aron Republic agree on a broad arc demarking an exploration exclusion zone to the rimward and trailing of the Khald'aron frontier.
5615	The second wave of pirates reaches a peak when raiders under Captain Tariq the Merciless seize Basra in Sector 313 and converts the world and its moons into a major base.
5616	The Mendam Codominium begins aggressive anti-pirate patrols, concentrating on DRO activity.
5617	Bengal holds the first Imperially-sponsored Android Games at Donnersburg, competing with the concurrent Goblin Bowl finals at New Kolkata.
5618	Tariq the Merciless attacks Harma Lun and cripples the Osrian Nome of the Sceptre before retreating with prisoners and booty.
5619	Guild forces overrun Nachen, killing Jens Truvail and installing a friendly Lord President, but a second Guild expedition fails in its attempt to besiege Basra.
5620	The Mendam Codominium drives the DRO from Leona, installing a civil authority and establishing an orbital patrol base.
5621	The Combined Star Kingdom Expeditionary Fleet destroys the Knights of Alexander pirate base at Baalbek in Sector 105.
5622	A Cargomen military fleet sterilizes the Sector 342 world of Ushan, a base of Human pirate activity, killing over seven million.
5623	Orphean Star King Rundal dies and is succeeded by his grandson Arnos, also a grandson of Great King Otto IV.
5624	Altaran High Priestess Jessica Kamarov, the Bengali Emperor's daughter, denounces the use of Servant Races within her Church, and begins a program to free the Church's Servant Races and replace them with Androids.
5625	DRO raiders attack the industrial complex at Gimli, owned by the Dragon Hrashah Coalition; Dragon forces respond by attacking the Mendam base at Ogden and the Tenth Dragon War begins.
5626	Dragon raiders strike all across Mendam space in dozens of raids and skirmishes; Admiral Bezan Lanmar becomes Mendam Naval Chief of staff after her predecessor is forced to resign. The Bengali Dominions annexes the Eternal-ruled world of Austurias in Sector 782, establishing a Nobilis governor in the distant system.
5627	The Mendam Codominium Navy launches counterstrikes against Hrashah Coalition bases in Sector 735, and occupies Gimli. Dragon raiders attack Guild and Defender outposts on the Mendam border and launch an unsuccessful terror raid on Tigarvati.
5628	The Mendam Navy evacuates Gimli and loses the Battle of Tinagal Rock as the First Fleet retreats back into Mendam Space. The Merchant Guild begins coordinated military operations with Mendam patrol craft, thwarting several Dragon raids.
5629	Mendam Admiral Bezan Lanmar wins the Battle of Ozru, defeating a marshalling Dragon force, but dies in an ambush that destroys the Second Fleet at the Battle of Hellshore. Dragon and Mendam skirmishers exchange raids across their frontiers, causing major damage on over three dozen worlds.
5630	Khalif Ishmahil II dies after struggling with a degenerative nervous system disease; following a forty day mourning period, Khalif Mohammed III succeeds his father in an orderly and lavish forty day transition celebration. The Mendam Codominium begins a "defensive trigger" patrol system, quickly reacting to Dragon raids with overwhelming force, defeating a major incursion at the Battle of Perreni.
5631	After Dragon raiders strike along the southern Mendam border, the Mendam Codominium occupies and protects seven Defender worlds in Sector 403.
5632	The Tenth Dragon war ends in a negotiated settlement brokered by the Zhantlas Union, with the Mendam Codominium promising to aggressively combat Rouge Defender and DRO raids into Dragon territory. Mendam formally annexes the seven Defender worlds in Sector 403. The Bengali Dominions expands into Sector 363 with the annexation of the broad stepped world of Palouse.
5633	The Merchant Guild, Mendam Codominium, Zhantlas Union and Star Kingdoms begin the Great Sweep, a coordinated effort to destroy pirate bases throughout Coreward Space.
5634	The Federation of Orion's Special Council on Sentient Rights submits for peer review its draft Sentience Tests, designed to determine qualifications for rights for any created beings.
5635	Khalif Mohammed III calls upon the Order of Truth to engage in longer missionary journeys, especially into the neglected Northern, Southern and Spinward Regions. Tariq the Merciless loses three ships at Namerin and retreats to Basra, fending off a Guild attack. After a devastating plague, the world of Iord accepts Khalifate rule to bring it out of its pre-industrial decentralized stagnation.
5636	Cargill Defense Systems of Markham begins production of its first Striker system patrol vessels, long ranged interplanetary warships designed for patrol, anti-piracy and counter-strike roles.
5637	Disintegrator-armed B'dr'rak warships attack the Aushani Drift, looting the ancient complex before being driven off by a Grand Federation patrol; the Grand Federation establishes a permanent presence at Aushani.
5638	Tariq the Merciless is assassinated by his son, Garmin the Black, who quickly consolidates his hold on Basra, rallying scattered raiders from across the Coreward Region to his banner.
5639	The Khalif's heir Fahd Hassani becomes Grandmaster of the Order of Valor and retires several top commanders for "timidity". To demonstrate his leadership, Fahd "assists" in the semi-forced annexation of Demeter.
5640	Garmin the Black defeats a Guild expeditionary force near Farris killing Prince Malcolm, the eldest son of Otto IV. Garmin's fleet seizes control of the Osiran Promised Land, expelling most of its residents to the surface of Farris. The Star Kingdoms Confederation mobilizes an armada to crush the pirate fleets.
5641	The Primary races of the Grand Federation propose the Metamorphosis Project to convert from a monopoly-based economy to a egalitarian post-Materialist society, reestablishing pre-Plague cultural and economic norms.
5642	Garmin defeats Star King Otto IV's Great Armada at the Battle of Antares after a sudden flare engulfs the Star Kingdom's inner flank.
5643	Grandmaster Fahd Hassani authorizes the Order of Valor to raid "Mechanist" and "Guilder" outposts in coreward space, inaugurating an era of Ibrahimite privateering. A Guild expedition retakes Farris, scattering Garmin's raiders and retaking the damaged Promised Land.
5644	The pirate stronghold of Basra falls to an orbital bombardment by Guild and Star King forces that destroys Basra's outer moon, but Garmin and much of his fleet escapes toward the Central Region. The Bengali Dominions annex the prosperous information era world of Azure in Sector 63, which readily accepts a Nobilis figurehead in return for access to Bengali technology.
5645	Star Queen Schmeagan of Tannberg resigns under a cloud of scandal and accepts exile on Lanander; her niece's husband, Admiral Pon Reval, a fleet commander at the Sack of Basra, becomes Star King of Tannberg as a compromise candidate elected on the fifth ballot.
5646	The Federation of Orion formally adopts the revised Sentience Tests as determinates of citizenship, freedom and status within the Federation.
5647	The third wave of inner system raiders moves into Coreward space, and dozens of Ibrahimite captains join forces with Garmin the Black. Garmin's combined fleet seizes the populous and prosperous world of Thera in Sector 104 and regroups for a strike further coreward.
5648	Herio Baen founds The Disentropic Way on Tetraluna, combining elements of T'zet transcendentalism, Fzuki discipline and ancient Human faiths.
5649	Garmin the Black seizes Nachen and declares himself Emperor of the Coreward March. Unable to mount another major expedition and beset by continued raids on all sides, the Guild offers tribute to Garmin in return for a permanent truce; Garmin accepts the conditions and begins to consolidate his hold on neighboring worlds, raiding primitive planets without mercy. The Sector 178 world of Bellevue joins the Bengali Dominions, giving the Dominions a foothold in the sector in return for rebuilding the world's faltering atomic era chemical infrastructure.
5650	Rootjalik Imperial forces attack a Turgil trading outpost on the atomic era Human world of Bannerzane in Sector 374, killing the Turgil and extracting tribute from the Human government.
5651	The Mendam Codominium Navy begins installing radiant shields on its front line warships, trading the technology to the Guild in return for access to Type IIb macrojump technology. Garmin's Ibrahimite allies, led by Admiral Izak Kabril, defect and begin attacking Guild shipping, reoccupying Basra.
5652	A Merchant Guild fleet kills Admiral Kabril and destroys his base on Basra. After a further adaptation of the Sentience Tests, the Federation of Orion accepts Heretics as citizens, treating Avatars as part of the whole person.
5653	The Khalifate annexes Enlightenment after the death of a missionary prompts an Order of Valor attack on the world; following a bloody purge, the population undergoes a forced conversion to Ibrahimism. The Futaris mystic Helena Vandalis composes the epic sense poem Infispiralis on Aethon.
5654	Garmin the Black forms his Great Armada of fifty warships and sweeps into Grand Federation space, sacking six major worlds in Sectors 1283 and 1284 before a squadron of Dantum battleships hunts him down and destroys him near the Coalsack.
5655	After Garmin's defeat, the Guild and the Star Kingdoms begin another sweep of the Coreward Region destroying most pirate outposts and establishing patrols throughout the region. Nachen elects a civilian government under a new liberal constitution.
5656	The Star Kingdoms of Tannberg and Markham begin patrols on their southern frontier in response to Rootjalik scouting and raiding expeditions.
5657	Markus Hu, Count of Singhstan on Glorious dies; his son Colin Hu-Stark-Turrel, the Prime Minister's grandfather, becomes Count and moves to Glorious, vowing to revitalize the local tourist economy.
5658	Thera overthrows its Ibrahimite pirate rulers and invites the Merchant Guild to establish a presence in the system.
5659	Rootjalik Emperor Hurotunishka Bra Rushzbo dies, starting a period of dynastic squabbles and infighting that turns Rootjalik efforts inward.
5660	The Subaru Drift begins operating short range teleportation transports among its scattered subsidiary nodes. The world of Halcyon accepts Khalifate membership under economic and military pressure.
5661	!Tak raiders attack Tjeckmapah, destroying the faltering Dream of Morning and driving the world's population back into the industrial age.
5662	The Bengali Dominions annexes Saladin, marking expansion into Sector 137. Baron Aaron Domikal overcomes the hostility of his family to marry Lady Senia Lunkana, a noted young artist from a minor house on Kush.
5663	The Vanguard of the Federation of Orion inaugurates service of its Horn class 25m Type IIb scout vessels and begins the Trailing Survey Project, mapping routes and recontacting worlds in a score of sectors between the Federation and the Star Kingdoms.
5664	A brawl between Order of Truth missionaries and Promethean exiles on Khronos ends with twelve deaths and causes a major diplomatic crisis for the League of Vulcan, leading to the permanent recall of the Khalifate's ambassador to Vulcan.
5665	Zhantlian clinics incorporate Android technologies in Heretic avatars, creating outwardly biological extensions of the Heretic personality.
5666	A Mendam and Guild raid on the DRO stronghold of Hastan kills Karmela Marr and effectively ends the third wave of major pirate activity in the Coreward Region.
5667	The Turgil merchantman Vjarnar Bjeshii returns from a trading expedition to Hortense, reporting that the world is the capital of a fledgling macrojump state of six systems; the aging Henna Rorsham sends greeting back to her family.
5668	Gholman Vandal, a gracile Goblin, becomes President of the Federation of Orion, triggering a diplomatic crisis and the recall of the Bengali ambassador.
5669	The twins Malcolm and Melena Domikal are born into the family of Baron Aaron Domikal and Lady Senia. The Bengali Dominions dispatch Baron Jose Cardenas as the new Ambassador to the Federation of Orion.
5670	The Swarm Republic and the Federation of Orion sign an agreement allowing Vanguard utilization of Swarm facilities in return for Swarm access to Type IIb macrojump technology. The Osiran Wars end on Outilak, with the confederate government allowing a Guild military presence to help defend the world against raiders.
5671	The Lerman Flu first appears on Tetonhaus in the Star Kingdom of Lanander; the lethal mutating virus kills thousands and spreads offworld before the imposition of an effective quarantine.
5672	Eight Presidential guardsmen die protecting President Gholman Vandal from assassination at the hands of the Futaris Jens Hikuri-Shah; the would-be assassin commits suicide before the start of his trial. The Khalifate annexes Harmony in Sector 27, establishing a Order of Valor base in orbit.
5673	Octopod raiders strike at Talendir and other Zhantlian outposts in the Triangle, marking a period of renewed raiding after the breakdown of central Octopod authority.
5674	Three Crusader suicide agents assassinate Terran Khalif Mohammed III; his sons Fahd and Khalid quarrel over the succession, with the majority of the Orders of Ibrahim and Valor supporting the elder Fahd, but most of the Orders of Truth and Purity supporting the more moderate Khalid. Gholman Vandal wins reelection as President of Orion by a narrow margin.
5675	The Khalifate Civil War begins after the Order of Purity restricts clerical movement and the election of Fahd as Khalif fails to find a quorum; Fahd loyalists attempt to arrest Khalid, who flees from Sol after a firefight on Mars. The Sultans of Atlantis and Apollo declare their support for Khalid, who appears at the head of a fleet that seizes control of the naval base at Vega. While most worlds and the Orders of Generosity, Benevolence and Enlightenment declare neutrality pending a full Khalif election, riots, skirmishes and all-out battles between Fahd and Khalid's supports erupt on Terran and scores of worlds. The Merchant Guild imposes a quarantine on the entire Star Kingdom Confederation to control the spread of Lerman Flu.
5676	Warfare spreads across fifty Khalifate worlds, from Terra to Asarte, as the Orders battle each other and Sultans line up behind Fahd or Khalid. A series of riots and skirmishes on Venus kill over seven hundred thousand people before the Order of Enlightenment leadership secures a truce and pumps calming agents into the arcologies. The Battle of Vega ends with Khalid retreating to Apollo and rallying his supporters. Fahd's supporters gain effective control of the inner Solar system after bloody streetfighting on Luna and Mars. Establishing a presence in Sector 389, the Bengali Dominions annexes the struggling pre-industrial Nobilis-ruled world of Cavendish.
5677	Fahd consolidates his hold on the Solar system, driving the last of Khalid's supporters into the Kuiper after gaining control of Callisto and Titan. Khalid's forces gain control of Kalmar and most of Sectors 1 and 2, defeating a fleet of Fahd's forces at the Battle of Prometheus and killing Fahd's son Faruk. The Orphean bioengineer Ralf Durghas develops the cure for Lerman Flu, a disease that had killed six million and damaged the brains of twenty million more across the Star Kingdom Confederation.
5678	Fahd's Order of Valor forces defeat Khalid's fleet at the Battle of Atlantis and route reinforcements at the Battle of Delphi. Khalid's supporters launch uprisings on Mercury and Europa, forcing Fahd to divert ships back into the Solar system to put down the revolts and fight raiders from the Outer System.
5679	Khalid's attack on Amaterasu falters and Fahd's forces win victories at Libertas, Ishtar and Macoraba. The Order of Generosity officially sides with Fahd, lending support to his vessels and seizing Khalid's assets.
5680	Khalid appeals for foreign aid from Bengal and the Alimeen in his struggle against his brother, further weakening his support as Fahd's fleets win the Battle of Apollo, bombard the world and force Khalid's retreat.
5681	The Khalifate Civil War ends after Khalid's death at the Battle of Ares and the surrender of the Orders of Truth and Purity to Fahd's authority. Khalif Fahd declares martial law across the Khalifate. Queen Lydia of Paradise dies at the age of 1,875, leaving scattered distant relatives vying for her throne; Emperor Talon intervenes, naming Prime Minister Malcolm Hu-Ve'eri-Stark as the King of Paradise.
5682	The Purification Campaigns begin as Khalif Fahd purges and executes his enemies; Fahd dismisses all planetary Sultans, arresting dozens of Sultans and their families, and appoints governors to rule systems in his name.
5683	Khalif Fahd's forces hunt Khalid's remaining loyalists, causing dozens of warships to flee coreward, northward and southward. The Order of Ibrahim begins a systematic review of its membership, purging disloyal elements with executions, internal exiles and imprisonments. The Khalifate establishes exile camps on five marginal worlds.
5684	A ragtag fleet of Khalidites launch The Last Revolt, an attempt to assassinate Khalif Fahd during his tour of Libertas; the attack ends in failure and the surviving Khalidite vessels flee for the frontier.
5685	The Purification Campaigns end with order and civil law restored to the worlds of the Khalifate. The Order of Ibrahim gains supreme authority on Khalifate words, acting as an advisory council to the Khalif-appointed governors.
5686	The Zhantalian Navy completes its sweep of the Triangle region, defeating the last major Octopod raiding force at Vastas Aurilas.
5687	The Gardens of Knowledge, a vast entertainment complex set amid the mountains of northern Singhstan on Glorious, opens to the public after an Imperial dedication.
5688	The fourth wave of coreward piracy begins as fleeing Khalidites attack Thera and several other near-coreward world.
5689	The Mendam Codominium Navy completes the Exterminator, its first 60m battleship; the disintegrator-armed vessel becomes the core of the First Attack Group.
5690	Herio Baen travels into Grand Federation space on a pilgrimage to see the Founders, but the Vandar turn him away at Hallowed.
5691	Baron Aaron Domikal becomes the Bengali Ambassador to the Federation of Orion, bringing his household with him to the Great Nebular City.
5692	Bengali Emperor Talon frees the remaining Servant Races of his household as part of his six hundred year jubilee celebration, encouraging other Nobilis houses to follow his example and begin utilizing Android servants.
5693	Fearing pressure to join the Khalifate, the secular leaders of Thoth successfully petition to join the League of Vulcan.
5694	Khalif Fahd annexes the remaining eleven independent worlds in Sectors 5 and 6 and commands to Order of Valor to enforce Khalifate rule; only Han and Ch'in offer real resistance to the occupation, but quickly surrender after orbital bombardment of their industrial centers. The Alimeen Confederation and League of Vulcan protest the Khalifate's annexations, tightening economic sanctions on the Khalifate and restricting missionaries.
5695	The reformed Order of Purity begins occupation of the eleven forcefully annexed central worlds. The Green Fist organizes a peaceful blockade of the Bengali Ambassador's residence at the Great Nebular City, protesting the continued enslavement of Servant Race; after thirty days, local police break the blockade, arresting a dozen prominent protestors, including two daughters of former president Vandal.
5696	Citing piracy, tax evasion and unspecified security threats, Prime Minister Malcolm Hu-Ve'eri-Stark orders the annexation of the twenty-five remaining independent worlds of Sectors 35, 44, 46, 48 and 59, drawing huge protests from the Federation of Orion, Alimeen Confederation and League of Vulcan. At the Great Nebular City, Ambassador Baron Aaron Domikal avoids a war and arranges for the expatriation or reservation of dissidents and free Servant Races from the newly occupied worlds.
5697	A Merchant Guild fleet destroys the Khalidite base at Heguz, scattering the raiders.
5698	The Mendam Codominium registers The Disentropic Way as an officially sanctioned religion, giving the movement regulatory privileges.
5699	Protestors disrupt the Goblin Bowl finals at New Kolkata, leading to street riots and an unsanctioned pogrom against free Servant Races on Bengal and other Dominions worlds.
5700	The Grand Federation suffers a general economic collapse as the Metamorphosis Project falters, hampered by racial infighting and unequal technological access; an enduring recession and declining interstellar trade spreads across the Grand Federation and into Zhantlian and Guild-controlled space.
5701	The Federation of Orion holds the first Orion Exposition at the Great Nebular City; modeled after the Imperial Expositions and planned for every six years, the Exposition draws millions from hundreds of worlds.
5702	Baron Aaron Domikal returns to Bengal and becomes Minister of State for the Dominions; his great-grandfather, the Prime Minister, transfers the title Duke of Hera to Aaron.
5703	Khabaderan raiders take advantage of faltering Grand Federation patrols to strike at Guild and independent worlds near border, including an abortive raid on the Faztulu Drift.
5704	Bengal hosts the Dominions Games, an Olympic-style competition that excludes all blood sports; the event that draws much official promotion, but lackluster attendance and reviews.
5705	A revolt of nearly a dozen Secondary races, led by the Zreem, Bekna and Gulkan tears across the Grand Federation, leading to open warfare between the Primary races and their rebellious clients.
5706	A massive flare at Antares and uncertain supply lines leads the Grand Federation to withdraw its research base from the red supergiant's system. Kith'turi and B'dr'rak volunteers aid the Grand Federation rebel races, though the B'dr'rak as often raid Merchant Guild facilities as well as Primary race outposts.
5707	The Great Nebular City hosts the second Orion Exposition; the Federation adopts plans to begin rotating the venue, assigning a permanent Exposition Council and awarding the 5719 Exposition to Kumar.
5708	Jon Gades dies in a Khabaderan pirate attack on the Guild liner Reshmol Glory out of Faztulu Drift; he enters his Fifth Incarnation on Myrland after the recovery of his soulbox by Salvors.
5709	Responding to continuing piracy, the Star Kingdom Confederation completes the Timbuktu External Protocol Agreement, which authorizes the establishment of permanent bases in the fifty-six surrounding sectors, placing seven sectors under the supervision of each Star Kingdom.
5710	The addition of the bloody Android games of Death Ball, Rampage and Rundown make for better attendance at the second Dominions Games on Bengal.
5711	The Zhantlas Union offers its territory as a neutral ground for Grand Federation diplomacy, though Federation Human support for the rebellion leaves the Primary races hostile to the proposition.
5712	After a clash with Order of Valor patrols at Santiago, the Star Kingdom of Orpheus agrees to share patrol responsibilities with the Khalifate in Sectors 28 and 30.
5713	The original Heretic, Gordoman Sanjez, becomes demonstratively criminally insane and murderous, triggering a Guild Security Forces hunt across several sectors that ends with Sanjez's death on Tashera.
5714	The governments of Tashera expel the Merchant Guild, citing widespread death and damages incurred in the hunt for Gordoman Sanjez.
5715	Lerman Flu strikes Terra, quickly spreading throughout the Solar system, killing millions and sickening billions; the Star Kingdoms agree to break their trade embargos and provide treatment for the disease. The Khalifate completes a peaceful annexation of the populous world of Vantage in Sector 14.
5716	Jonas Dirksen-Barr, Earl of Poseidon and consort of the Princess of Aeneas, dies in a drowning accident on Poseidon; his wife, Crown Princess Jena, assumes the Earldom. The Emperor attends the Dominions Games on Bengal, dedicating them to the late Earl of Poseidon. Order of Enlightenment Initiates spread through the inner Khalifate systems, controlling the spread of Lerman Flu; before the epidemic subsides, it kills ninety million people and permanently damages another four hundred million.
5717	The Star Kingdom of Orpheus establishes a permanent military and scientific presence at Heshar; a development reluctantly accepted by the Khalifate.
5718	With the adoption of the Understanding of Amada, The Merchant Guild receives rights to conduct internal trade among Grand Federation border worlds.
5719	Ustan Ghavanaran refuses to stand down as Mechanist Primal after a traditional term of three hundred years; prompting protests from both the Progressive and Crusader factions. Kumar hosts the Orion Exposition, an event marred by a Green Fist attack on the Bengali pavilion that kills three and injures hundreds.
5720	Jon Gades chairs the Conference of Mryland, a conclave of Mechanist leaders from all factions; faced with spreading protests even within his own Traditionalist faction, Ustan Ghavanaran steps down as Primal in favor of his protégé Alana Rezsha.
5721	The Terran Khalifate annexes Yggdrasil in Sector 28, promising to save the few remaining giant tree groves from exploitation and environmental degradation.
5722	After defeat of the rebel main fleet at the Battle of Kuntar, the Grand Federation emerges from outright civil war, though piracy and economic collapse continue as the Primary races begin a period of reconstruction. Poseidon hosts the Dominions Games, including a series of Deep Mermen events and the morbidly popular Android Drowning Bowl competition.
5723	B'dr'rak raiders commanded by Br'tra'kr'k attack Turin, destroying the White Mountain and devastating the Osiran community, driving the world back into the pre-industrial era.
5724	Br'tra'kr'k's raider fleet attacks the Tyrell Drift, crippling the Last Oasis and damaging the Drift before a Guild attack force and a T'zet squadron counterattack, killing the B'dr'rak leader and annihilating his ships. Dragon ships from the Vatsva Pride begin raids on Defender worlds in Sector 347.
5725	The Goblins of the Sector 144 world of Vladimir overthrow their Nobilis rulers and eat them; forming a Goblin-led totalitarian dictatorship; the soon notorious atomic era Goblin state eventually exterminates all Sapiens and Human Variants on the world. Luminous host the Orion Exposition where Goblin-related issues cause some unrest, but no major disruptions spoil the events.
5726	A Eenitiki fleet attacks the Kith'turi-Salvaatiki Union of Worlds for harbouring renegade Gulkan warships; after destroying three starports and defeating a Union fleet at the Battle of Thiklabik, the Union declares itself open to "refugees" from the Grand Federation civil wars, but forces all new arrivals to disarm.
5727	Responding to slaving activity, a Mendam battle fleet destroys the Vatsva Pride base at Jurman Lun, triggering an angry reaction from the Pride and its allies, but not tiggering a new war.
5728	After continued conflicts with Mechanist Primal Alana Rezsha, Jon Gades and his wing of the Progressive faction establish themselves on Talendir at the invitation of the Zhantlas government. Glorious hosts the Dominions Games.
5729	!Tak raiders attack Armaghillis, retreating after stiff resistance from Osiran forces based on the Western Sun. A second B'dr'rak raiders attack Armaghillis, but a Guild task force comes to the aid of the atomic era world and its ragged Osiran defense fleet and the Guild establishes a permanent station on the Western Sun.
5730	The deaths of rival imperial claimants in a duel marks the effective end of the first Rootjalik Empire, with worlds slipping into autonomy and interstellar traffic reducing to a trickle.
5731	Vessels of the Fifth Crusade begin scouting operations in Khalifate Space to prepare for Pavl's Revenge. Norada hosts a heavily policed Orion Exposition, the first to see visiting Merchant Guild traders and travelers from the Mendam Codominium. The Khalifate peacefully annexes Suleiman in Sector 12, marking expansion into the sector.
5732	The Disentropic Way establishes its first missionary temple on Zhantlas after a visit by Herio Baen gains local converts.
5733	The Khalifate absorbs Destiny in Sector 28, a world with a substantial Orphean expatriate presence; after increased tensions between the Khalifate and the Star Kingdoms, the Star Kingdom of Orpheus and the Khalifate sign a bilateral treaty, dividing Sector 28 into spheres of influence, acknowledging Khalifate influence over Sector 30 and allowing supervised Khalifate access to Heshar.
5734	Khabaderan raiders seize control of the Sector 394 world of Tashborush, a late industrial world of over one hundred million Humans; from orbital battle stations and surface strongholds, the Khabaderan overlords begin creating a slave-based society. Paradise hosts the Dominions Games, the Games now becoming an expected and anticipated staple of Dominions culture, with sporting events for Humans and for every Variant, and featuring Android blood sports that draw huge crowds.
5735	Fifth Crusade raiders infiltrate the Dionysus system, supporting anti-Khalifate rebels in their guerilla war against the government.
5736	Markham-based trader Captain Rudulv Sharin leads a trading expedition to Hortense, establishing a trade office on the homeworld of the small interstellar state.
5737	Sutherland hosts the Orion Exposition, weathering a protest by the world of Tudor who lost the bidding for both that event and the next. The Khalifate annexes Goddard in Sector 19, increasing tensions with the Dominions presence in the northern sector.
5738	The Pavl's Revenge emerges at the red dwarf ISC0003-531886-1 in Sector 3, rendezvousing with the scouts of the Fifth Crusade. Fifth Crusade raiders attack Aurora, destroying an orbital station.
5739	The Khalifate blockades the League of Vulcan world of Gladsheim after Fifth Crusade vessels resupply at the world; subsequent diplomatic maneuvering reaffirms the neutrality of the League, and the Order of Valor fleet reluctantly withdraws from Gladsheim's system.
5740	The Dominions Games on Aeneas are disrupted by a Green Fist assassination attempt on Crown Princess Jena and an outbreak of Lerman Flu that kills five million and prompts a six month quarantine of the system before the plague succumbs to a massive eradication effort.
5741	The Merchant Guild destroys the last Gulkan renegade vessels at their jovian moon base at Fajak Breenla in Sector 341.
5742	B'dr'rak raiders attack the Lamadon system, seizing control of the Osiran exile ship Rebirth and using it as a geosynchronous weapons platform to intimidate the early fusion era world.
5743	Herio Baen begins a second pilgrimage to Hallowed, traveling with an armed entourage into still chaotic Grand Federation Space. Kanpur hosts the Orion Exposition, drawing attendance from the entire recivilized region, including a few representatives from Khalifate.
5744	The recivilized Human regions, from Mendam and Zhantlas, the Star Kingdoms, Khalifate, Dominions and Federation of Orion, all agree to begin a coordinated inoculation campaign against the Lerman Flu and to establish diplomatic medical liaisons to prevent future outbreaks of deadly diseases.
5745	Herio Baen is again turned back by the Vandar guardians of Hallowed and he begins his return to Tetraluna. A Merchant Guild task force enters the Lamadon system to suppress B'dr'rak pirate activity in Sector 368, attacking the Rebirth and chasing off the remaining B'dr'rak, the Guild remains in system to help evacuate the crippled exile ship, establishing it as the anchor of a beanstalk system.
5746	The Dominions Games on Hera proceed under heavy security and offer cultural events for the first time; the Duke's attempt to emulate the Orion Expositions is well-received, though attendance from beyond the Dominions remains limited.
5747	Aboard the Venturer, the Fifth Incarnation of Jon Gades and his crew of eighty departs from Talendir, heading for Cygnian Space, never to return.
5748	Star King Anson of Markham hosts the Conference of Heth, where the Star Kings, senior Guild officials, and representatives of the Alimeen, Khzraut and Turgil all agree to work to contain the growth of the Khalifate through diplomatic and economic means.
5749	The Orion Exposition at Tudor, awarded on political rather than technical merits, proves disappointing and disorganized, and leads to the fall of the world's long-ruling United Progressive Party.
5750	The Focus Revised Protocols establish a slightly devolved structure for the Grand Federation, giving more privileges to Secondary and Tertiary races and developing a new staged plan towards post-Materialism; the Zhretra effectively support the Radical cause in the talks, siding with the T'zet on most issues and the Reformists emerge as a third faction; a section on trade confirms the rights of Merchant Guild and other non-Federation entities to engage in commerce within the Grand Federation.
5751	A Markham patrol penetrates deep into Rootjalik space, surveying the ruined Empire and providing some aid to occupied worlds; two of the patrol's six vessels are destroyed at N'Cheeta after a skirmish with Rootjalik occupation forces, and the patrol retreats to Markham space.
5752	Caldera hosts the Dominions Games; the event features Monster Wars between specially engineered Calderan Androids and bioconstructs.
5753	The Merchant Guild establishes a permanent trade mission on Focus and begins to develop trading stations on major Primary and Secondary race worlds. The Star Kingdom Confederation chooses not to launch a relief expedition into Rootjalik territory, though several privateering missions set out to aid and liberate Human worlds in the region.
5754	Raiders from the Fifth Crusade begin multiple attacks on Khalifate worlds along the coreward and southern frontier.
5755	The Orion Exposition returns to the Great Nebular City after a revamped bidding system awards the event to the capitol on merit. Star Kingdom privateers liberate Aaron from Rootjalik rule and establish the Freedom League on the world, vowing to liberate more Human and Serlian worlds.
5756	Orpheus completes its first 65m Fleet Carrier for its Raptor class strikers and announces the Carnivore class of Battleships based on the same hull template.
5757	A Merchant Guild "Peacemaker" Fleet sweeps through B'dr'rak space, neutralizing five privateering bases and discouraging B'dr'rak raiders from continuing action in Guild-dominated space.
5758	Pavl's Revenge emerges deep in the New Rome system, rendezvousing with scouts and raiders from the Fifth Crusade; the huge battle station defeats a panicked assembly of fifty Khalifate ships at the Battle of New Rome and reduces the planet to ash, killing over six billion people; it then retreats out system and into gravspace. Aethon hosts the Dominions Games, drawing more crowds from outside the Dominions.
5759	The Khalifate declares a permanent state of emergency, increasing patrols and crushing all dissent while nearly doubling its military budget; relations with the Dominions worsen after the realm refuses to sell modern (late macrojump) equipment or technology to the Khalifate.
5760	Shel Gavrin gains control of the Sanjez Clinic on Amada, beginning a campaign to restore legitimacy to the Heretic transformation.
5761	Tashera's nations reluctantly allow the Merchant Guild to reestablish a presence on the world. Kumar hosts the Orion Exposition, weathering an attack on Mechanists by a small Khalifate delegation.
5762	The Mendam Codominium reorganizes its fleets into Battleship and Battlecarrier squadrons, debuting 70m Fortress Class Battlecarriers, capable of holding up to a dozen Sabre class strikers.
5763	The Merchant Guild establishes an outpost on Tjeckmapah, helping the Osiran-dominated population into the fusion age and using the system as a base in its "Southern Expansion" into new markets in surrounding sectors.
5764	Rona hosts the Dominions Games, with a large pavilion on the neighboring methane world of Shalimar hosting games and events for non-oxygen breathers; with the Rona Games, cultural events receive equal billing with sporting events, and many events demonstrate an Abolitionist bias.
5765	Orphean and Khalifate vessels clash at Turney's World, a Heshar site in Sector 12; a diplomatic settlement establishes spheres of influence across the sector. The Khalifate constructs a large military base at Suleiman.
5766	After freeing seven worlds, the Freedom League gathers its dozen starships into a makeshift fleet and attempts to liberate N'Cheeta, fighting a pyrrhic battle with the Rootjalik occupation forces; N'Cheeta is liberated by the attack and a coordinated revolution, but only three functional Freedom League starships survive, and the League effectively ceases to exist.
5767	A Bengali Nobilis tied to the Sovereign Rights Movement, Lord Farvo Belmont-Ustero, assassinates Federation of Orion president Lynda Almont at the opening ceremonies of the Orion Exposition at the Great Nebular City; Shan Turcik becomes President of the Federation of Orion in a solemn ceremony attended by Bengali Minister of State Aaron Domikal.
5768	The Bengali Dominions bans the Sovereign Rights Movement. Baroness Lena Timmins, wife of Prime Minister King Malcolm Hi-Ve'eri-Stark, dies on Paradise; the title of Baroness of Ostrum on Tyr passes to their daughter, Malena.
5769	An Order of Valor raid on a mining base in the outer Gladsheim system that is suspected of aiding the Crusaders triggers a diplomatic crisis; only after the Dominions pledges to support the League's neutrality does the threat of conflict between the Khalifate and the League of Vulcan subside.
5770	Federation of Orion President Shan Turcik fails to win reelection because of "character issues" and Besindra Belmont-Ustero, widow of the late president, succeeds him. Hermes hosts a lackluster Dominions Games plagued by Abolitionist protests.
5771	With the Treaty of Glorious, the Bengali Dominions and the Federation of Orion sign a comprehensive border and trade agreement, including a clause on freed Servant Race travel rights.
5772	The Merchant Guild establishes a trade outpost on Aaron and begins trading expeditions to the former worlds of the Freedom League and to N'Cheeta.
5773	Pavl's Revenge emerges at Amaterasu, triggering a Khalifate-wide mobilization and the running Battle of Amaterasu, where the Khalifate loses seventy-three starships and Amaterasu suffers severe ecological damage, eventually causing over two hundred million deaths; the Crusaders lose twenty-two ships and Pavl's Revenge suffers severe damage and three thousand casualties before it escapes into gravspace. Karnak hosts the Orion Exposition, marked by President Besindra Belmont-Ustero's call for the banning of planet busters. The Bengali Dominions marks the thousandth anniversary of its founding in ceremonies on Bengal presided over by Emperor Talon.
5774	The Khalifate begins a massive evacuation of the surviving seventy million residents of Amaterasu to Dante and out system as the devastated world slips into a severe ice age; ecological control projects begin on the world's surface.
5775	B'dr'rak raiders attack the Rootjalik capital, destroying most remaining Rootjalik starships and continuing to raid various Rootjalik settled or dominated worlds.
5776	Aeon hosts the Dominions Games, an orderly event highlighting the world's neoFractal tower cities; a speech by the Prime Minister denounces the Crusaders and calls for a universal ban on planet busters.
5777	Pavl's Revenge limps into the Vulcan system, requesting asylum and demanding negotiations with the Khalifate for the freedom of Karinsky or at least Vulcan League membership for the world; the Khalifate mobilizes for war against the Vulcan League, triggering another diplomatic crisis.
5778	Negotiations at White Wind Drift over the Pavl's Revenge crisis break down and the Khalifate Retribution Fleet strikes the Vulcan system, driving off the Pavl's Revenge at the loss of thirty ships; Khalifate forces bomb Vulcan and raid Khronos, Levant and Deseret before concerted diplomatic efforts by the Alimeen, Swarm, Dominions and Federation of Orion end the fighting and enforce a tense truce.
5779	Luminous hosts the Orion Exposition; considerable cultural and diplomatic tensions dampen the festivities, including attacks on Mechanist citizens and League of Vulcan delegates by Ibrahimite extremists. Khalif Fahd declares the extermination of Mechanists an Ibrahimite's duty, but despite a few skirmishes, the truce with the League of Vulcan holds.
5780	Star King Otto IV dies, replaced by his granddaughter, Elayne in an uncontested election that names her Star Queen of Lanander and of the Star Kingdom Confederation. An agreement signed at White Wind Drift restores peaceful relations between the Khalifate and the League of Vulcan.