Expanded Timeline

4200 years from now you’d think we had gotten our act together, yeah right, we’re still squabbling and still blowing things up over religion and color. Except now we’ve dragged other races into the problem [or they’ve dragged us into their problems] and are trying to keep from getting blown up because of their racists and religious nut bags.

Dozens of Star Nations and races, hundreds of thousands of inhabited systems and worlds and it still comes down to who has the bigger di….. Er gun.

In the Merc.NET campaign setting you can be everything from a human bounty hunter to a shape shifting ambassador, you can be furry you can be cybernetic, you can sling magic and Esper powers around like gunfire your choice, your decision, just hope you don’t get what you wish for.

The date is January 1st 6200 C.E. the final treaties have been signed between the various factions of the 7th Pan-Galactic; the Independent System’s League is shattered and has had large chunks taken out of it by the Silverfield Republic, the Hagerman Empire, the Confederacy Of United Systems, the Tantalan Hive Mind and the Quisling Quarantine Zone as well as several smaller multi-system polities.

Tensions are still high as various parasitic races raid the various borders and ships of Coalition space; the New Emperor of the Neo-Prussian Empire 22 year old Nathan IV rules from his new capitol world New Hamburg [New Bavaria now being part of the Quisling Quarantine Zone] and has industriously gotten back into the business of Genetic Slavery.

The Claremont Confederacy has been busy quashing the resurgence of piracy in its systems as the war pulled most of their guard ships out of their duties, the Elharnian Combine is still reeling from a bloody but unsuccessful coup by the Blue Society that has left at least one planet shattered by the use of Nuclear weaponry; the Hegeran Hegemony is starting to take a more active role in Galactic Politics; the Independent Systems League is down to about 200 systems from its former 500+; the Malkenet Nebula is continuing to turn its single system into a stronghold and the Pirate Guild is still pissed about losing part of its systems to the Gaul Empire an act that was perpetrated by Jean DuFromm a cousin to the royal family.

The Silverfield Republic and Theban Cluster are working to stabilize their various systems with the Thebans lending a hand to the undermanned Silverfield Navy to patrol their now burgeoning 300 system government.

The Tunnel Union has gotten back to what it does best and providing the galaxy with raw materials, the United Council of New Avalon is as aloof as it ever was although it is licking its wounds after the loss of three systems during the war.

The United Nations Solar Federation is running around trying to tell everyone what to do and failing miserably at it, the Fantan-Tyerian Republic has become a member of the Watch Dog Alliance which is now strained by suspicion.

And everyone is afraid of the rumors of new types of parasites turning people into animals and the Tantalans who’s Emperor can infect a person with a touch.

That is the current climate of the known galaxy at this time, fear, greed, distrust, and a whole basketful of other emotions is about to tip over and possibly cause another war.

Will you be the cause of it, the deciding factor against it, or just some poor bastard that gets sucked along on the tide of galactic machinations?

Senator Polonius Augustine marries Lilius Andrius and they have a son Ajaxus Augustine. Lilith infects the RWOs with a sleeper program.

Before the final military forces evacuate the planet a cloaking/defensive shield is activated to hide the planet from all sensors.

The attack on the facility succeeds but not without cost, they capture the facility and a single small ship and its crew.

Various portions of the fleet dock at the colonies; Venus and the Jovian/Saturnyne colonies are overrun but Mars holds out beating back the invaders.

The use of fossil fuels starts to dwindle.
Ship builders start to implement this fuel source into the production of ships and the new ship power sources are referred to as Reflex Furnaces and the HBT power cell is also developed a few months later for use in vehicles and air and spacecraft, HBT quickly replaces dwindling fossil fuel resources.
With the introduction of HBT advancements in the C-Y drive are realized and the second generation engines enter production.
The UCNA makes contact with the Esper Society a secret society consisting of persons with psychic abilities.
Dr. Erskine Sikorsky while running an archeological dig at Olympus Mons uncovers advanced technology and an abandoned child, shortly afterwards a low-yield nuke is detonated at Cidonia killing Erskine and his entire dig team.

Angela Di’Eriqua y Sikorsky and Aireal Di’Eriqua are killed in a strange automobile accident.

Unfortunately the intelligence level of the AI’s is limited to that of around the intelligence of an attack dog. Only five units are built and dubbed; Frick, Frack, Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod.

Plans are forged and they immediately start attacking Sol starting with the listening post at Pluto.
By the time the Scultor reach Thebes thousands have been evacuated and the rest are put into stasis bunkers with the defensive shield being reactivated.
The rebuilt Ancient Theban vessel now christened the SDN-001 TNS Thermopylae puts up a valiant fight along with five refurbished Ancient Theban Battle Cruisers and a ragtag flotilla.
Ultimately the fight is futile; the flotilla is decimated and the *TNS Basilisk, TNS Gorgon, TNS Maedir*, and *TNS Kraken* are all destroyed. The *TNS Thermopylae* and the last remaining battle cruiser *TNS Medusa* split company and jump out system.
Bypassing the now protected Thebes the Scultor head for Earth the last remaining bastion of humanity.
However with the aid of New Avalonian allies a psionic and magical shield is erected around the planet and the Esper Society makes itself known.
The Scultor continuously pound Earth for several months with little effect and then they start raiding the system for what resources they can.
Beginning of the Human-Scultor War.
After a desperate hyperspace jump the Thermopylae finds itself in an uninhabited system but as they move inwards they detect a power source.
Just inside the safe zone past the suns corona is a massive space station of Ancient Theban design.
An initial party is sent to investigate and is wiped out by automated systems.
A second rescued party is sent in with the aid of the robots Frick and Frack and are able to shut down or disable most of the defensive systems.
Aboard the station they find a lone Ancient Theban Survivor Ahlviernah who has melded memories with the station’s AI.
Ahlviernah offers refuge and the civilians are evacuated from the super dreadnought to the space station.
During their search of the station an ageing [even at the time of the station being built] cruiser is found aboard and refurbished as much as possible and renamed the *TNS Delos*.

The planet’s technology level has slipped to that of an era reminiscent of Earth in the 1960s with chemically fueled spacecraft.
First contact with those on the planet is with one of the factions which is a socialist regime that demands their surrender and that they turn their vessel over to them.
In response Jack Sikorsky orders the socialists to evacuate their vessel. Of course the order is refused and the vessel is almost completely destroyed by a single shot from one of the Delos’ turrets.
Very few of the vessel’s crew survive and are taken captive aboard the Delos.
Contact is made with a republic style government on the planet which they become quickly become allies and overwhelm the planet’s other two factions.u

The fleet confronts the Scultor and a massive battle rages across the entire system. Several hundred vessels give their lives to allow the Thermopylae and the only Gun Monitor in the fleet the TNS Triskelion close with the Scultor flagship.
The Thermopylae is heavily damaged and falls out of line with the bridge detaching and docking with the Triskelion.

Thebes’s shield system is deactivated once more and people r-+

The scout mission inadvertently awakens them causing the vessels to lift off but not before the mission takes a Tyerian Female Clone captive.

Theban and UNSF fleets are hard pressed to keep them from actually invading their main planets and the outlying colonies fall under the rule of the Tyerians.

9th Fleet is sent to investigate the loss of communications; they are attacked and reinforced by 8th fleet and both retreat gathering battle data as they go. No sign of any survivors of the space station is found.
**April –** Several Tyerian colony ships enter orbit around Claremont and attack the main civilian spaceport believing it to be a military target; the sport is destroyed and the Tyerian forces pushed off planet but the colony ships remain in orbit.

**March –** Public morale worsens; political leaders have a hard time calming the angered and frightened population.
**June –** The order for 1st and 2nd Fleets to immediately attack the orbiting colony ships is given; both fleets are wiped out to the last man.
**September –** Tyerian Personnel are actually captured intact and testing shows that they are clones.

The *TNS Scota* and several escorts are destroyed; the *TNS Hoplite* takes heavy damage.

The systems fall to the Hegerans fall but not without a fight having been reinforced due to the fact that they are research and development centers for military use.

Along with the ships the Theban Cluster also brings in a dozen planet busters to the system as a last ditch offensive weapon.
The combined forces take near 50% losses before the release for the missiles is approved.

The mercenaries are attacked by an unknown xenomorphic race and their equipment takes heavy damage until they manage to escape the planet’s surface and call in for backup.

During the final battle with Abernathy he mutates into a massive creature the size of a planetoid; he’s killed by the Ghosts of War and it is later found out that Lilith was behind the mutation.
Anaheim Arms Begins production of the MG955

Average citizens panic at the prospect of people being cloned and replaced; several small brush wars break out over this fact and several planets break from major Star Nations and join the ISL.
The Anti-Clone War rages until 3769 C.E. until the involved star nations halt all cloning experimentation.

Following even more leads the Howling Spirits to investigate a building at Duke University from there they head for the Mars Scientific and Technology Institute. At the MSTI they find out that a supposed Progenitor probe was discovered at the Cidonia site.
Originally the probe was transferred to Duke University for study. This causes another trip back to the university to find the remains of the probe which seemed to have been cannibalized. Returning to Mars they investigate the Cidonia site and find a hidden chamber under where the probe was found.
Inside the chamber they find a stasis cylinder along with an unknown Ancient Theban Console. Investigating they accidently start a countdown and deactivate the stasis pod to find that it holds a KATI unit from the last days of the Ancient Thebans.
The KATI unit is able to figure out what the countdown is for and tells them they must leave the planet immediately.
They evacuate only to watch as a giant spire shoots from the site and a disc unfurls from it tearing a hole in reality at the edge of the solar system.
A massive amount of unknown vessels being to spew from the tear and the mercenaries immediately hop into hyperspace dropping their full load of probes before leaving.
Reaching their destination; Kalabasa III they activate the probes transponders and receive the data via hyperspace communications array. They watch as the Black Council’s massive flagship leaves the portal and starts launching smaller vessels and attacking the Sol System’s defensive fleets; both UNSF and TC.

Anaheim arms begins production of the SR355

**Add in Sinveck/falcra timeline**

**Add in Sword Alliance Timeline**

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