Timeline

**-WARNING-**
This page contains
**unmarked spoilers**
 for *ASTRAL CHAIN*. Proceed at your own risk.

The following is a timeline of events that occur within the *ASTRAL CHAIN* universe. The information found on this page is a combination of information transcribed from the official timeline in the artbook, which comes as part of the Collector's Edition of the game, the in-game IRIS information/Database, and other information found throughout the game.

## Pre-21st Century

* **Approx. 22,000 BCE:** End of the First Extinction.
	+ The Prophets estimate the First Extinction to have occurred around 22,000 BCE. They believe that humanity at the time had attained a level of social and technological progression similar to that of the current era's Middle Ages.
* **Approx. 7,000 BCE:** End of the Second Extinction.
	+ The Second Extinction is estimated to have occurred around 7,000 BCE. The Prophets believe that human culture and technology at the time rivaled that of the early 21st century; however, the appearance of the gates on Earth brought ruin overnight.

## 2020s

### 2023

* **November 07:** Jena Anderson is born.

## 2030s

### 2030

* **March 28:** Maximilian Howard is born.

### 2035

* *Humankind weathers a tumultuous early 21st century to arrive at a period of relative worldwide prosperity.*
* **November 09:** Yoseph Calvert makes his first contact with the Prophets, who warn him of a looming extinction-level event.
* **???:** Under the guidance of the Prophets, Yoseph convinces the nations of the world that humanity must take drastic measures to survive impending disaster.

### 2036

* **July 07:** The UNION world government is formed. Construction begins on the Ark.

## 2040s

### 2043

* **February 17:** A meteor impact in Antarctica opens the first gate, starting the Third Extinction.
* **February 24:** Gates appear across all continents. Redshift rapidly spreads throughout the planet.
* **June 18:** Within six months of the meteor impact, 90% of all land on Earth is rendered uninhabitable.
* **July 23:** Yoseph verifies the existence of chimeras. He and the UNION government decide to keep this information classified.
* **???:** The construction of the Ark is complete. It begins accepting residents right away.
* **???:** Maximilian Howard evacuates to the Ark along with his parents.
* **???:** Jena Anderson evacuates to the Ark.
* *Now the last remnants of humankind, the Ark dwellers finally settle in to peaceful lives in their new homes.*

### 2046

* **April 07:** Shinjiro Hattori is born.
* **May 28:** Alicia Lopez is born.

### 2048

* **July 10:** Jin Wong is born.
* **August 01:** Brenda Moreno is born.
* **November 22:** Tabitha Bernard is born.

## 2050s

### 2050

* **January 17:** Billy Williams is born.
* **February 03:** Hisayoshi Kijima is born.
* **February 08:** Ted Garcia is born.
* **March 16:** Leona Murphy is born.

### 2051

* **April 07:** Roy Stewart is born.
* **December 23:** Kay Watson is born.

### 2052

* **February 14:** Olive Espinosa is born.
* **February 23:** Li Fang Meyers is born.
* **May 31:** Julia Rockfield is born.

### 2053

* **July 07:** Avery Powell is born.
* **September 24:** Carlos Kajioka is born.
* **October 11:** Gates begin to appear on the Ark, shattering the uneasy peace.
* **???:** Yoseph establishes the laboratory that will later become the ARI, focusing his research on ways to destroy the gates. He comes to believe that further evolution is necessary, if the human race is to truly survive the Third Extinction.
* **???:** Jena begins working at Yoseph's lab. They begin researching redshift together. Yoseph begins work on Project Noah in secret.
* **???:** Max joins the Ark police.

### 2054

* **April 04:** Joey Wood is born.
* **April 21:** Shizu Miyamoto is born.
* **June 05:** Mike Boone is born.
* **September 11:** Sarah Bennett is born.
* **November 03:** Richard Morgan is born.

### 2055

* **May 26:** Yoseph's research leads to the development of a powerful anti-gate weapon: the X-Baton.
* **June 01:** A disaster response unit is established within the police to combat the spread of gates and redshift.
* **August 19:** Alan King is born.
* **September 14:** Mitsuru Aiba is born.
* **October 08:** Marie Wentz is born.
* **???:** Max is transferred to the disaster response unit due to his hotheadedness.

### 2058

* **March 01:** Jena develops an effective anti-redshift drug, which is distributed to the people of the Ark. Behind her back, Yoseph begins adapting Jena's discoveries for his own clandestine research.
* **August 23:** Akinori Tabuchi is born.
* **November 24:** A massive outbreak of redshift occurs in Ark Zone 09. The entire zone is sealed off from the rest of the Ark.
	+ Max's unit is sent into Zone 09 to deal with the outbreak. He loses his left eye, but survives. He is the unit's only survivor.
* **November 25:** Max rescues a badly wounded woman in Zone 09, who soon gives birth to twins. She dies shortly thereafter. Max promises to raise the newborns as his own.
	+ The protagonist of *ASTRAL CHAIN* and Akira Howard are born as twins to a redshifting mother.
* **November 27:** Yoseph and Jena begin development of active counter-chimera weaponry.
	+ Differences in philosophy spark an increasingly bitter feud between Yoseph and Jena.
* **December 29:** Jena abruptly goes missing. Yoseph seals her in the Astral Plane to prevent her from interfering with his work.

## 2070s

### 2076

* **May 04:** Lappy is "born".
* **September 07:** The Legion project is completed, along with the IRIS and Legatus system.
* **September 21:** The counter-chimera task force Neuron is established within the Ark police.
	+ Yoseph appoints himself Neuron's commander. He uses this position to gather chimeric data for use in his evolutionary experiments.
	+ Max is brought into Neuron as its first captain. He recommends his former colleagues Alicia Lopez and Jin Wong for the task force.

### 2078

* **April 06:** The Howard twins become police officers, following in Max's footsteps.
* **June 21:** All members of the Ark police are mobilized after a major gate outbreak.
	+ The Howard twins are drafted into Neuron due to their natural compatibility with the Legions.

* Jena Anderson, missing for almost 20 years, reappears on the Ark, determined to put an end to both the Astral Plane and Yoseph's machinations.
* Jena attacks the ARI. She destroys the Legion production plant and steals the Legion cores, then uses them to create the homunculus.
* A disaster in the Astral Plane costs Neuron four of their Legions and leaves Max missing in action. One of the Howard twins awakens as a true Legionis, maintaining their control over the only remaining Legion.
* Neuron is severely weakened by the loss of Max and the Legions. Akira Howard is badly wounded while pursuing Jena.
* Yoseph discovers changes in Akira's body, spurred by their injuries, that serve to further his evolutionary project. He begins to produce clones of Akira.
* Jena hijacks the Ark's communication network to spread panic. Under cover of chaos, she attacks Yoseph, but the Howard twins stop her.
* The older Howard twin, on the verge of death after their battle with Jena, merges with their Legion. Jena gives her life to stop the resulting rampage.
* Yoseph realizes that the Howard twins' ability to fuse with their Legions is the final key to realizing his ambitions. He puts Project Noah in motion, sacrificing his Akira clones and his own body in the process.

* **July 07:** The Howard twins defeat Noah, stopping Yoseph at last.

## Post-21st Century

### 2199

* **December 25:** End of the Third Extinction.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 ASTRAL CHAIN Official Artbook
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 IRIS Character Information / In-Game Database