The Early Consolidation Period

2483-2609CE

Overview

The Early Consolidation period marks the initial Kalmar Pact era from its founding to the eve of the First Libertine War. For the thirty Human members of the Pact, this era marked the beginning of recovery and reintegration into an interstellar society. For those hundred systems outside a roughly sixty light year radius centered near Kalmar, the Dark Age would continue for decades or centuries, with barbarism and disaster overtaking more worlds. Atlantis reinvented macrojump drive in 2538CE, and after struggling for a few decades to act as a counterweight to the Pact, King Karl recognized that the costs of conflict were greater than the benefits of competition, and the four worlds Atlantian Economic Sphere joined the Pact in 2572CE, bringing macrojump drive to all its members. Libertas independently redeveloped macrojump in 2578CE and recontacted its old colonies of Aeneas and Freedom, incorporating them with its new client state of Olympus into the Libertas Union in 2602CE, an act that signaled renewed interstellar competition.

In the Solar system, planetary states took shape, with Mars united under the Crimson Banner of Albert Kagnon-Mellon's Empire, whose territories stretched from Mercury out into the Kuiper by the end of the 26th century. The Belt formed a loose confederate government, defeated by the Martian Empire in the war of 2519-2527CE and tarnished by semi-official piracy until the 2560s, but still able to reindustrialize and remain the shipbuilding powerhouse of the Solar system. Venus developed a federalized, though feudal, state with transportation and data links unifying its growing population, which topped one billion before 2610CE. Luna built a unified Nobilis Republic, linked by trade to the other Solar states.

Terra continued to suffer from disease, disaster and warfare, but the levels of the two former effects subsided, and the latter did serve to build larger feudal states, lowering the number of "independent" Terran governments from over the three thousand noted at Quito in 2489CE to the roughly seven hundred identified in 2600CE. Most notable during the period was the growing stability in Africa under the Central African Economic Union, and the growth and conflicts of major states throughout Asia. Australia was effectively united, but Europe and the Americas suffered from endemic balkanization and frequent destructive feudal conflicts. The one constant on Terra was the institutionalization of the feudal Nobilis Nobility, who ruled over all but the Mormon Deseret Republic of Utah. The early life and ascendancy of Rogar Farrar as Baron of Pasadena in 2609CE was little noted at the time.

Political

The growth of the Kalmar Pact from an association between that single Human world and the Alimeen systems to a economic association spanning nearly forty star systems was the major political accomplishment of the Early Consolidation period. The association's charter was purely economic, with a common exchange currency and tariff agreements, and members retained full local autonomy, but they tended to cooperate in diplomatic and, later, military policy. The Pact charter also called for technology sharing between members, which greatly assisted more primitive worlds like Tripoli and Felix and later spread macrojump drive technology to all members. The original Advisory Council included the King of Kalmar and the Alimeen Ambassador to Kalmar, as well has three human and three Alimeen appointed representatives. An amended charter in 2605CE gave Human representatives three more seats on the Advisory Council, effectively turning the Pact into a Human-controlled organization, a fact that did not faze the Alimeen, who were then focusing on providing faster gravstar service to their own worlds and on developing trade routes to the Solar System, not on growing Human political concerns.

The personal relationships between King Tor of Kalmar, King Karl of Atlantis and King John of Libertas fueled rivalries between their worlds and factions. All had known each other during the Confederation but there was little love lost between Tor and Karl, and both of them considered John to be untrustworthy, greedy and corrupt.

The Kalmar Pact was primarily an economic entity, and as it surpassed thirty members, King Tor recognized the strains of continued expansion and he actively discouraged efforts to utilize the Pact's small scout force to recontact distant colonies. Tor saw from efforts on Isis that the costs of redeveloping fallen worlds would be great and he believed that trade between established Pact members and the huge market of the Solar system were the best uses of scarce Pact resources. Tor reminded his critics that the entire Pact population of Humans was barely fifty million in 2600CE, comparable to just the Solar Belt population and a fraction of the nine and a half billion Humans residing in the solar system. His critics decried "Tor's Ostrich Policy", and accused him of allowing willful ignorance of the plight of people on a hundred uncontacted worlds to be an excuse for taking no action to aid them. With macrojump starships all in the hands of the Pact Advisory Council or large merchant combines, there was no impetuous for "unprofitable" ventures into the unknown, and both expansionists and the "Sympathetics" would have to rely on occasional forays by the small Pact scout fleet to recontact new worlds.

Politics within the Solar system were dominated by the growing power of the Martian Empire. After Albert Kagnon-Mellon crowned himself Emperor of a reunited Mars in 2516CE, he began to build the system's strongest naval force, which he used to protect his interests on Mercury and the Outer System. After the Mars-Belter War of 2519-2527CE, the Martian Imperial Navy was the undisputed ruler of the Solar space lanes, despite Mars having only a quarter of the population of an equally prosperous Venus. Emperor Albert was clearly a megalomaniac, intent on building monuments to his rule and to Martian prowess, but he remained popular while Mars was strong and prosperous.

Venus was united under King Joseph I in 2512CE. Under its third ruler, Joseph II who was crowned the first Venusian Emperor in 2557CE, it began to develop an infrastructure which was much less flashy than the Crimson Pyramid and Great Martian Canal projects of Mars, but which served to unify and and improve the lot of all Venusians. With his father's Maxwell Biogenics exporting Constructs, regeneration treatments and NB technologies to the Solar System and beyond, the younger Joseph's Venus was growing in stature and influence.

Though Belter shipyards continued to produce most Solar interplanetary vessels, overall Belter influence declined during the period, first from the defeat against Mars and the continuing troubles with semi-sanctioned privateering, then from competition with Pact products and technologies. The weakening central government and corporate influence on politics did little to strengthen the Belter Republic.

The Lunar Republic faired better, continuing to dominate the remaining NEAR habitats and remaining a neutral trading partner and gateway to the emerging markets of Terra itself. Though dominated by a small group of Nobilis plutocrats, Lunar standards of living improved for Nobilis and Sapiens alike.

On Terra, fragmentation was still the major political factor, though the Terran General Assembly at Quito in 2489CE had at least set the framework of independent states under Nobilis rule. After the Panamanian nuclear strike on Cartagena in 2513CE and the subsequent Bogotá Declaration, weapons of mass destruction became recognized components of a Noble's household armaments, and both nuclear and Wexler devices saw use in a number of conflicts. Despite the frequent warfare between Terran states, the overall trend was toward reintegration, and the campaigns of James Hu in China and Fernando Santos-Brennar in South America saw the emergence of the Chinese and Incan states. Continued peace and integration in Africa raised that continent's standard of living to the highest on Terra.

Technological

The first century of the Early Consolidation period was dominated by the reintroduction of gravstar travel, a technology which built the Kalmar Pact and allowed worlds to regain interstellar contact. Until supplanted by macrojump across the Pact after 2572CE, graceful gravstar scouts and traders plied the depths on voyages lasting up to fifteen years. By 2609CE, the Kalmar Pact had recovered well into the early macrojump era, with maturing technologies comparable to those of the 2230s. Member worlds often lagged behind current technologies as they improved their infrastructures, but elites on Pact worlds benefited from current levels of physical, data and medical technologies within a decade of recontact.

The Solar system was still in the mid to late fusion age during the 26th century, though the Pact reintroduced HSPG propulsion to the major planetary states in the later half of the century, leading to a revolution in Solar interplanetary ship design. Venus led the way in biological technologies, producing treatments and bio-organisms that equaled even Kalmaran products. Venusian corporations, led by Maxwell Biogenics, soon came to dominate Solar and Pact bio-commerce. Late in the period, Mars began limited exports of military products, mostly to warring Terran states. Martian high energy and mass driver weapons were superior to Pact imports and far more advanced than any weapons produced on Terra itself.

Terra struggled through the period with a small mid fusion level technological base wholly inadequate for the needs of its growing billions. While Noble households often possessed Pact, Venusian and Martian imports, the small Sapien middle class was often mired in the information age, and the peasant underclass was still coping with industrial or at best atomic era manufacturing and health services.

Cultural

The cultural trends of the Early Consolidation period were mostly continuations and reinforcements of existing Dark Age trends. The emergence of the Kalmar Pact, did lead to some cultural mixing among member worlds, but the initial impacts of (at best) quarterly arrivals of a single macrojump trader, limited the development of a specific "Pact" culture, though it did make culture on Kalmar itself more cosmopolitan.

Late in the period, Libertas brought Aeneas, Freedom and Olympus into its Union, and it quickly imposed or encouraged duplication of Libertine society, including a Nobilis landowning class, Sapien merchant class and a large disenfranchised peasant or AS underclass.

In the Solar system, Venus and Mars trended towards centralization and reinforced their cultural trends, with Venusians focusing on trade and science, and Mars on marital prowess. The stereotypical 26th century garb for Venusians was a pastel toga; for Martians it was blood red body armor. Belter society tended towards decentralization and regional variation, especially after the Mars-Belter War. Belters gained reputations as an individualistic, often roguish people. On Luna, Venusian cultural influences began to dominate, especially among the Nobilis elite, who often maintained strong relations with Venusian traders.

Terran society continued to fragment into regional cultures. In Asia, James Hu's blend of western and eastern philosophies provided a glue to hold his growing Chinese empire together. Africa's growing unity led to a flowering of arts and music and a return to colorful dress and local traditions. Australia remained mostly xenophobic, a response to waves of refugees from the North, and the balkanized nations of Europe and the Americas retreated to what were often parodies of their nationalist pasts.

Chronology Table

2483	Duke Albert of Hesperia conquers the Martian County of Xanthe, also seizing control of Mercury through Xanthe's ownership of the Gupta Station.
2484	Kalmar completes the Norge gravstar ship and launches it on a nine year voyage to the Solar System and Alpha Centauri.
2485	European Nobles meet at Strasbourg, forming committees to attempt to deal peacefully with border disputes; this pseudo-parliament has moderate success in Northern Europe, but not in Iberia or the Balkans, where warlordism and conflict persists.
2486	Kalmar completes the Danmark and Sverige gravstar ships.
2487	The Sverige sets off for Alimeen, the Danmark for Libertas.
2488	An AIDS-like immune disease, Rio Fever, begins spreading in Brazil's urban slums.
2489	The Nobility hold the first Terran General Assembly in Quito. The delegates confirm the independence of the multitude of Terran nations and pledge to uphold Homo Nobilis rule. A commission drafts formal rules of precedence and establishes a framework for the non-violent resolution of disputes; the latter is largely ignored outside Africa.
2490	Duke Albert of Hesperia signs an agreement with local Nobility on Callisto, gaining joint sovereignty over the moon and legitimizing his rule of Ganymede.
2491	The Alimeen develop a 4C (F3) gravstar ship engine and begins building a fleet of six new vessels.
2492	The CAEU intervenes in the Algerian Civil War, forcing a peace treaty on the participants and demonstrating its dominance over African, Indian Ocean and Antarctic affairs. The Asteroid Belt Confederation annexes Jupiter's moon Amalthea and establishes a gas mining base at Metis.
2493	The Norge enters the Solar System, visiting Terra, Luna, Venus and Mars, and establishing trade with the Belt. The first 4C gravstar ship, Vapor of Life, leaves Alimeen for Kalmar.
2494	Ostensibly to police a civil war in Argyre , Hesperia launches the Southern Campaign, quickly occupying Argyre, Acnia, Cimmeria and Promethei. The Norge leaves the Solar System for Alpha Centauri.
2495	Maxwell Biogenics develops a cure for Rio Fever and begins marketing it aggressively on Terra, effectively ending the epidemic.
2496	The Norge visits Atlantis and trades Kalmaran genetic patents for Atlantian microelectronics devices and designs, but diplomatic efforts founder when King Karl refuses to send a delegation with the Norge.
2497	The remaining Martian polities form the United Martian States to counter Duke Albert's Hesperian hegemony. The Vapor of Life leaves Kalmar for Delphi with a combined Pact crew. The last survivors on Vishnu die during a severe winter.
2498	Lord Rogar Farrar is born in Pasadena; he is the grandson of the Baron of Pasadena, a cousin of the late Duke Arnam of California. Kalmar completes two 4C gravstar ships, Amundsen and Nansen. The Amundsen heads for Thor, the Nansen for Utopia. The Pact Advisory Council authorizes all gravstar captains to act as ambassadors, offering Pact memberships to any worlds that sign the Pact charter.
2499	The Vapor of Life reaches Delphi, establishing trade and diplomatic relations with the ruling Nobilis oligarchy.
2500	The Black Plague again devastates Asia, spreading from Mongolia into China, India and Indochina. The Danmark reaches Libertas and comes under fire from Freehaven's city defense systems. The ship responds with an ineffective drone bombing run before continuing on to Vulcan.
2501	An elderly David Travers greets the Time Travel Society upon its centennial emergence; he returns to hibernation for a century; no other members are willing to venture outside the complex.
2502	After a failed assassination attempt on Duke Albert, Hesperia declares war on the United Martian States. Delphi enters the Kalmar Pact shortly after its ambassadors reach Kalmar on the Vapor of Life. The Amundsen arrives at Thor, which immediately joins the Kalmar Pact. The Danmark arrives at Vulcan and meets with the Planetary Council before beginning the return voyage to Kalmar.
2503	The Australian Wars begin as a new horde of refugees from Indochina and China overrun Indonesia and push south, occupying New Guinea and the Northern Territories. The Nansen arrives at Utopia, which enthusiastically joins the Kalmar Pact.
2504	Hesperian amphibious forces win the Battle of Eddie Harbor, giving Duke Albert control of the Martian Northern Ocean, and beginning an arduous pacification campaign in Elysium.
2505	Hesperia and the United Martian States agree to the Peace of Korolov after Albert's troops occupy Herschel and threaten the Tharsis. Australian naval and marine forces occupy Timor and launch raids into Sulu Sea, embroiling the Vietnamese Navy in the wars. The Norge leaves Kalmar for Aphrodite.
2506	Emboldened by the three new Pact members, Kalmar begins a gravstar shipbuilding campaign to provide dedicated routes between member worlds and to develop a smaller class of contact vessels. An Australian raid on Jakarta disperses a refugee fleet and sinks half the Vietnamese Navy.
2507	The Count of Melbourne retakes Darwin and drives the last refugees out of Australia. The Amundsen leaves for Osiris.
2508	Hesperian Marines launch a suprise sub-orbital assault on Pavonis Mons, beginning a protracted campaign in the southern Tharsis and Lucus Planum regions.
2509	The Archduke of Guangzhou invades the Republic of North Vietnam, seizing the Guangxi province. The Nansen leaves Kalmar for Paradise.
2510	Duke Albert of Hesperia purchases the God's Children operated Uranian Gas Mining Corporation, giving him effective control of Miranda and atmospheric operations on Uranus. The Amundsen arrives at Osiris, where local leaders enthusiastically embrace the Kalmar Pact, later the Amundsen continues on toward voyage to Apollo. The McKnight and Turki, first of the smaller Kalmaran contact gravstar ships reach completion. The McKnight sets off for Cyclops, the Turki for Tripoli.
2511	The Count of Cartagena attacks the Panama Canal, instigating the Panama War. The first Kalmaran 24,000mt gravstar freighter, Enterprise, enters service and begins an inaugural mission to Delphi; the Pact maintains control of contact gravstar vessels but contracts out freighter service to private corporations to ensure profitable trade.
2512	At Venusian reunification ceremonies in Ishtar City, Duke Joseph of Maxwell becomes King Joseph I, a constitutional monarch responsible to a parliament of Nobility; the constitution confirms the feudalization of Venus. Archduke James Hu of Beijing completes the pacification of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria and crosses the Amur to attack outposts of Central Asian raiders from Nikolayevsk to Mongolia. The Kalmar Pact gravstar freighter Intrepid begins its first dedicated cargo run to Utopia on an eleven year circuit.
2513	After an air strike shuts down the Panama Canal, Count Alberto retaliates with a tactical nuclear strike on Cartagena, killing the Count and ending the Panama War. The Kalmar Pact contact gravstar ships Hermann and Crawford reach completion, setting out for Artemis and Odin, respectively.
2514	After years of limited warfare between fortified positions, the Hesperian Army pacifies Lucus Planum and launches a massive armored raid into Solis Planum, ending in the Battle of the Labyrinth. A council of Nobles convened in Bogotá declares that Count Alberto's use of weapons of mass destruction was justifiable; the Bogotá Declaration starts a Terran arms race where most major Noble houses acquire a small arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, mostly tactical nuclear fission bombs. The gravstar freighter Excalibur begins its first fifteen year circuit run to the Solar System (arriving 2521CE) and Atlantis (arriving 2523CE).
2515	Duke Albert of Hesperia seizes full control of Phobos and begins a massive naval expansion project. The Amundsen arrives at Apollo, negotiating with the local Nobilis government which sends a delegation back to Kalmar. An unknown assassin kills Count Alberto of Panama; his sister, Martina, becomes Countess, but makes no attempt to restore the canal.
2516	After the final defeat of his rivals at the Battle of Tharsis Tholus, Albert Kagnon-Mellon declares himself Emperor of Mars, and begins his autocratic rule from the Crimson Throne in Lowell. The wet navy of the Archduchy of Guangzhou begins patrolling the China Sea and suppressing pirates in the Philippine Archipelago. The Danmark begins regular service between Kalmar and Delphi on a seven year loop, the Enterprise begins a regular nine year loop to Thor. Pavel Karinsky has his personality transferred to machine as his body dies of old age on Karinsky.
2517	The ion-propelled heavy cruiser Ares reaches completion at Phobos, the first of a class of nine heavy cruisers that form the backbone of the Martian Imperial Navy. Kalmar completes two additional contact gravstar ships, Armstrong and Aldrin; they set out for Horizon and Helicon, respectively.
2518	Central Asia mobilizes an army to assist eastern Nobles in their skirmishes with the Archduchy of Beijing. The Norge arrives at Aphrodite, initiating contact that cumulates in the world joining the Kalmar Pact.
2519	The Mars-Belter War begins over the disputed control of the Jovian Trojans. Martian forces quickly defeat the regular Belter navy at Hector, Troilus and Patroclus, but remain unable to operate effectively inside the main Belt.
2520	Venus begins a Construct-aided re-colonization effort of its lowlands, coupled with a network of weather control satellites and surface installations. A Beijing nuclear air strike destroys the Central Asian base at Irkutsk and prompts a retaliatory strike on Harbin. A Martian Imperial Navy squadron led by the Ares seizes control of the Belter installation on Janus and drives Belter forces from the Saturn system. The major solar powers, including Mars, Venus and the Belt, sign the Terrajoule Treaty arms limitation treaty at Sinus Medii, Luna, but peace talks between Mars and the Belt quickly break down.
2521	Martian Marines occupy Charon, taking control of remaining surface facilities and solidifying effective control of the Outer System. The Nansen arrives at Paradise and finds the locals bent on independent self-reliance; the gravstar ship leaves for Amaterasu after a few months shore leave. The ruling military government on Tripoli joins the Pact after the Turki's arrival. The Pact freighter Excalibur enters the Solar System and establishes diplomatic relations with the Belt, Mars and Venus.
2522	Belter raiders destroy the Martian naval base on Ganymede, destroying the cruiser Aetila, crippling the Barsoom and disabling the Ganymede defense grid. Belters successfully counter a Martian attempt to capture Ceres and Flora. On Terra, Archduke Hu defeats the Central Asian army at the Battle of Kyren by Lake Baikal; the ensuing armistice gives Hu control of Mongolia. A new wave of Indochinese, Indonesian and Philippine refugees head toward Australian possessions. The McKnight arrives at Cyclops, meeting with local officials and surveying damage from a recent asteroid strike on the far side of the planet.
2523	Belter defenders destroy the Martian cruiser Marduk during an unsuccessful Martian strike on Vesta. Spanish warlords besiege Lisbon, retreating only after the defenders salvage a Confederation Era disintegrator and destroy the headquarters camp of the besiegers, killing the Count of Madrid and six barons. Apollo joins the Pact in ceremonies on Kalmar. The McKnight sets off for Kalmar with a delegation from Cyclops aboard. The Excalibur establishes diplomatic and trade relations with Atlantis.
2524	Martian strike units destroy Belter cannons built in violation of the Terrajoule Treaty, foiling an attempt to bombard Mars. The Count of Melbourne dies in a skirmish against refugees in New Guinea. The Duke of Normandy orders a commando strike on Lisbon, bent on recovering its disintegrator, but the device is destroyed in the ensuing firefight; the Count of Lisbon rallies support of other Portuguese Nobles to have himself proclaimed Duke of Portugal and launches naval and air strikes on Normandy, cumulating in the W-bomb destruction of Caen. The Amundsen begins regular service between Kalmar and Osiris on a seven year loop. The gravstar freighter Valiant reaches completion and begins dedicated service to Apollo on a fifteen year loop.
2525	A second Belter raid on the Jupiter systems results in a Martian victory and a pursuit into the main Belt that ends in the destruction of two Belter naval outposts. Alimeen gravstar colony vessels settle Sweet Vapor, thirty light years from Alimeen. The colony on Minerva begins suffering from a deteriorating climate, resulting in the extinction or abandonment of five of its eight villages over the next few decades.
2526	The Grand Khanate of Central Asia begins a push into Afghanistan, with Crown Prince Ali capturing Kabul and the Khyber Pass. Archduke James Hu of Beijing occupies Korea in an effort to drive out Japanese pirates. Continued Belter commerce raiding causes Venus to declare support for Mars in the war, launching an embargo against Belter goods. The Nansen arrives at Amaterasu, where it receives a warm reception, though the locals have no interested in joining the Pact; it then sets off on its return voyage to Kalmar. The Hermann arrives at Artemis and the Crawford at Odin; both worlds choose to join the Kalmar Pact. A second devastating solar flare strikes Isis.
2527	The Martian blockade and bombardment at the Siege of Vesta forces the capital of the Belt to surrender under the threat of starvation and suffocation. The terms of the Peace of Vesta give Albert control of Outer System, including the Jovian Trojans, but scattered Belter piracy continues to plague Solar shipping for decades. Competing Venusian biomedical companies begin offering Ultra regeneration therapies at clinics on Venus, Terra and Mars.
2528	Guangzhou attacks an Australian blockade on Bali, prompting a series of naval and air engagements in the Indonesian Archipelago.
2529	Terran Mormon forces of the Deseret Republic of Utah defeat the Duke of Colorado in a series of skirmishes in western Colorado and Wyoming, resulting in the Treaty of Boise, which recognizes Mormon rule throughout the Great Basin of western North America
2530	An Australian naval hovercraft engagement crushes the Guangzhou Navy at the Battle of Makassar to end the Australian Wars. The Armstrong reaches Horizon and takes aboard a diplomatic mission for a return trip to Kalmar. The aftermath of a comet strike shatters the colony on Tanith, reducing the population by half and rendering the civilization pre-industrial.
2531	The Helicon Republic joins the Pact after brief negotiations following the arrival of the Aldrin.
2532	A joint African task force reestablishes order in the Sudan and provides relief supplies to end a famine and epidemic. The Pact freighter Exeter begins dedicated service to Aphrodite on a nineteen year loop.
2533	The Turki suffers a fusion reactor shutdown as it decelerates toward Kalmar, triggering a successful rescue mission. A third massive solar flare strikes Isis, reducing the surviving population to 12,000 primitive people.
2534	A scandal involving undisclosed illegal personal genetic enhancements forces the abdication of King Joseph I of Venus, who is succeeded by his brother, Alexander; Joseph's son, Joseph II, becomes Duke of Maxwell. The former Venusian King becomes the Chairman of Maxwell Biogenics. The refitted Turki sets out for Prometheus. The Pact freighter Excelsior begins dedicated service to Tripoli on a twenty-five year loop.
2535	After assassinating the Archduke of Guangzhou, a group of southern Chinese Nobles establishes the Guangzhou Federation. Cyclops joins the Pact in ceremonies on Kalmar. The McKnight sets out for Dayan.
2536	The Excalibur makes its second pass through the solar system; it is harassed by Belter pirates and rescued from an ambush by a Martian task force. The Pact freighter Endeavour begins dedicated service to Cyclops on a twenty-five year loop.
2537	Vesta Shipyards begins producing high thrust MSMH fusion engines, but refuses to sell them to the Martian Empire.
2538	Atlantis completes a functional Type Ib macrojump drive vessel, the 25m Harmony; the crew of the Pact freighter Excalibur witnesses the Harmony's test flight to Proxima. Excalibur first officer Jonas Martin accompanies the Harmony crew on a mission to Kalmar. Atlantis begins construction on a fleet of six 30m armed exploratory merchantmen with 8,000mt cargo capacity. Construction begins on the new Martian capital of Alberta at Schiaparelli.
2539	Katrina, Princess of Kalmar, is born in New Bergen. Maxwell Biogenics establishes a trade office and clinic on Vesta. The Harmony visits the Solar System, Paradise, Vulcan and Amaterasu.
2540	The Harmony visits Vulcan, Amaterasu and Paradise to formalize diplomatic relations.
2541	Grand Khanate Crown Prince Ali survives a nuclear assassination attempt that levels half of Kabul. The Harmony visits Kalmar for diplomatic consolations, but Atlantis declines to join the Kalmar Pact or share macrojump technology. Martian Imperial naval and marine forces destroy the pirate Omega Base in the Belt. Vesta shipyards begin construction of a fleet of fusion-propelled Venusian fast frigates. The Pact freighters Eagle and Essex begin dedicated twenty-seven year circuits to Artemis and Odin, respectively. The Pact explorers Hermann and Crawford set out for fifteen year voyages to Avalon and Ishtar. Atlantis completes the Marco Polo, Pinzon and Hudson macrojump merchantmen.
2542	Atlantis, Paradise, Vulcan, and Amaterasu form the Atlantian Economic Sphere (AES), which begins to compete with the Pact in interstellar and Solar trade. Atlantis completes the Verrazano, Frobisher and Champlain merchantmen. The Harmony travels to Fomalhaut and contacts the surviving colony, starting a series of biannual supply runs to the 900 inhabitants of the nearly terraformed deep rifts.
2543	The Grand Khanate of Central Asia begins simultaneous campaigns in Pakistan and the Ukraine. Horizon joins the Pact in ceremonies on Kalmar.
2544	The Excalibur returns to Kalmar. The Kalmar Pact begins a scientific effort to build a macrojump starship, working to overcome a weakness in material sciences. The Pact freighter Defiance begins its first twenty-eight year circuit to Horizon. The Armstrong sets out for Olympus. Inbreeding and primitive conditions contribute to the deaths of the last surviving humans on New Armenia.
2545	The Atlantian merchantman Pinzon jumps to Cyclops, but receives a strained welcome after attempting to entice the world to leave the Pact and join the AES.
2546	The Chinese Unification Wars begin when Archduke James Hu crosses the Yellow River to assist local Nobles resisting the expanding Guangzhou Federation. James Hu's daughter Hanna is born in Beijing. The Pact freighter Monitor sets of on a twenty-eight year circuit to Helicon. The Aldrin sets out for Aeneas.
2547	The AES Pinzon and Verrazano travel to Libertas to open trade, but receive a frosty reception from King John when they fail to share macrojump technology. Atlantis retires the Harmony after discovering stress damage.
2548	The Pact gravstar ship Turki arrives at Prometheus, with the Atlantian merchantman Frobisher arriving three weeks later. The Promethean government deliberates before deciding that the offer of full Pact membership is preferable to trade opportunities offered by the AES. After a similar failure to entice Apollo to leave the Pact, the Atlantian Economic Sphere concentrates its resources on internal, Solar and Pact trade. The Atlantian merchantman Pinzon is ambushed by Belter pirates en route to Mars; the crew abandons ship and destroys the Pinzon rather than allow it capture. The pirates capture surviving Pinzon crew members and hold for ransom until a rescue by Martian Imperial Marines.
2549	Grand Khan Ali II becomes ruler of Central Asia on the death of his father, Ali I. The new Grand Khan arranges a truce line with the Ukrainians along the Don River and concentrates his forces in Pakistan. Atlantis completes three additional merchantmen: Cabot, Vespucci and Leon. The ramscoop Gaea leaves service after being replaced by macrojump vessels on the Proxima run.
2550	Emperor Albert officially inaugurates his capital of Alberta. The gravstar ship McKnight reaches Dayan, where the crew receives a friendly reception, though the world declines to join the Pact.
2551	The Central Asian Grand Khanate conquers most of historical Pakistan, taking Karachi and controlling the west bank of the Indus river. The Kalmar Pact adds the freighter Potempkin to the Sol-Atlantis circuit.
2552	During fighting in eastern China, both Beijing and Guangzhou use tactical nuclear weapons, resulting in the destruction of large parts of Wuhan and Nanjing; thereafter both sides reach an understanding to prohibit weapons of mass destruction in their ongoing war.
2553	The Kalmaran attempt to construct a macrojump drive starship ends in failure when the prototype 13m Quantum disintegrates on its uncrewed test flight. A failed attack by Beijing on the neutral city of Shanghai results in Shanghai joining the Guangzhou Federation. The last sterile descendants of the survivors of the nuclear meltdown on Napoleon die.
2554	Belter pirates raid the Saturnian moon Phoebe, destroying a Martian naval outpost and three gunboats.
2555	Tensions over the Atlantian monopoly on macrojump drive lead to an AES conference on Paradise where Atlantis retains its monopoly, but offers additional aid and technical assistance to the other member worlds, including access to Ultra regeneration therapy and better NB treatments.
2556	The gravstar ship Hermann arrives at Avalon, which agrees to join the Pact. The Crawford reaches Ishtar, which also joins the Pact after prolonged discussion and negotiation produces a confederate government on the planet.
2557	On Venus, Duke Joseph II of Maxwell leads a coup against his uncle, King Alexander. The Venusian Parliament names Joseph II Emperor of Venus, and agrees to the liberalization of the Genetic Laws, but retains ultimate law-making authority.
2558	A coalition of Indian Nobles crosses the Indus to attack the Grand Khanate's positions in Pakistan. The Atlantian merchantman Leon disintegrates during a jump from Sol to Vulcan, killing the crew of forty and six Martian passengers, including the Count of Xanthe, the Emperor's nephew. A fourth destructive solar flare strikes Isis, reducing the surviving population to less than 6,000.
2559	The Pact gravstar ship Armstrong arrives at Olympus, finding a fairly primitive, fractious world unable to agree on a government able to negotiate for Pact membership.
2560	At the Battle of Multan, Ali II uses trickery and superior tactics to regain control of all of Pakistan west of the Indus; he begins collecting an annual tribute from the cities of the Punjab. Construction begins on the kilometer-high Crimson Pyramid on the plain of Schiaparelli Crater, north of Alberta on Mars. After loosing three crew to factional fighting on Olympus, the Armstrong heads back to Kalmar.
2561	The Pact gravstar ship Aldrin reaches Aeneas which has little interest in joining any interstellar organization that does not include its parent world, Libertas. Atlantis completes three more merchantmen: Peary, Henson and Byrd, the first with HSPG drives.
2562	Archduke Hu captures Shanghai from the Guangzhou Federation, resulting in an armistice that guarantees him control of northern China. Martian Marines raid and destroy the Bifrost Hold, the last pirate stronghold in the Belt.
2563	A Conference in Copernicus establishes the Lunar Republic; only the Nobility have full citizenship, but the government is no more authoritarian than the Lunar regime during the Confederation. The Republic bans natural human slavery, but allows the Nobility nearly complete control over their Construct servants. Luna begins importing Constructs from Venus under an exclusive agreement with Maxwell Biogenics. The Pact gravstar freighter Merrimac sets out for Prometheus to begin a thirty year loop.
2564	The Lunar Portective Service is formed to protect the Republic, its dependant habitats and commerce. The Pact gravstar ships Turki and McKnight set out for Daedalus and Hermes, respectively. The Atlantian starships Peary and Henson travel to Medusa in an attempt to open trade negotiates with the Khzraut but local forces destroy the Peary without warning and damage the Henson, which limps into the outer system for repairs.
2565	The crippled merchantman Henson jumps back to Atlantis to announce the failure of its mission. Construction begins on the Great Martian Canal Project, with planned links between the Northern Ocean at Iani Bay, the Argyre High Sea and the Hellas Low Sea.
2566	Complaining of restrictive patent and trademark practices in Solar trade, the Kalmar Pact begins to place punitive tariffs on Atlantian goods. The Excalibur trades HSPG drive technology to Mars in exchange for assistance in enforcing the Pact tariffs within the Solar system.
2567	Archduke Hu invades Japan from bases in Korea on the pretext of piracy suppression.
2568	The Martian Imperial Navy begins a modernization drive, authorizing a new fleet of HSPG cruisers, frigates and gunboats.
2569	Marines and army units from the Archduchy of Beijing overrun the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku.
2570	Fernando, Duke of Peru, gains control of Ecuador through marriage and proclaims himself the King of the Incas, establishing his capital in Cuzco. The Incas begin to develop economic ties with the rest of South America. The first Martian HSPG cruiser, the 250,000mt Thalia enters service.
2571	Atlantis sends a delegation to Kalmar to discuss trade issues and a possible union, the Pact puts a hold on further gravstar travel as the negotiations continue.
2572	The Atlantian Economic Sphere joins the Kalmar Pact in a deal that ends economic tariffs and shares macrojump drive technology. The Pact begins constructing a fleet of 30m freighters to make annual contract voyages to all member worlds from the Pact hub at Kalmar and works with Atlantis to coordinate Solar trade.
2573	Fearing domination by larger worlds, the Kalmar Pact votes to exclude all Solar members after considering a petition by the Emperor of Mars for membership.
2574	Archduke James Hu subdues Japan with the surrender of the Duke of Sapporo at the Battle of Akita. Shifting forces to the Chinese armistice line, Hu resumes his drive into southern China by skirmishing with the Guangzhou Federation while coercing, invading or subverting independent warlords in central China. The first Pact macrojump trader Alimeen, sets off for Alimeen. Later in the year, the Delphi and Thor enter service.
2575	Pact macrojump service to Utopia, Osiris and Apollo begins.
2576	North American Nobles mark the eight hundred year anniversary of the founding of the United States with a ceremony in Washington that ends in the assassination of Duke of Maryland, a duel were the Count of Columbus kills the Baron of Eire, and a disagreement thatcauses a short border war between the Carolina duchies. Pact macrojump service to Tripoli, Aphrodite and Cyclops begins.
2577	The Grand Khanate of Central Asia annexes the Punjab then attacks and conquers Delhi. On Venus, construction begins on the PARVATT parabolic vacuum transit tunnel system to link the continents of Ishtar, Aphrodite and Lada. At a Kalmar Pact conference, Atlantis agrees to the privatization of trade with the Solar System and non-member worlds. The Pact forms a exploratory service and agrees to procure four 20m contact scouts. Pact macrojump service to Artemis, Odin and Prometheus begins.
2578	Pact macrojump service to Horizon, Helicon and Avalon begins.
2579	Pact macrojump service to Ishtar begins. Pact merchants sell HSPG thruster technology to Venus and the Belt in return for trading concessions, prompting an angry reaction from the Emperor of Mars.
2580	The first Pact scout vessel, Shepard, enters service. The Shepard and the Byrd travel to Daedalus to meet the Turki as it decelerates into the system. The combined fleet makes contact with the primitive local population, whose quarrelsome warlords are clearly unready for Pact membership. Leaving the Turki in orbit around the major gas giant, the Byrd brings the crew of the Turki back to Kalmar.
2581	Libertas rediscovers macrojump drive technology, and begins construction of the 20m Stellar Clipper. Maxwell Biogenics establishes trade offices on Atlantis and Kalmar. The Pact scouts Grissom and Glenn enter service. The Grissom and Cabot meet the McKnight over Hermes orbit. Hermes agrees to Pact membership, with ambassadors and the McKnight crew traveling back to Kalmar while the Grissom's crew mothballs the McKnight and continues contact with the locals.
2582	The Pact scout Carpenter enters service but funding for two additional Pact scouts founders. The Glenn travels to Nike, which has weathered the Dark Age very well, and whose governing Nobilis parliament quickly agrees to join the Pact. The Shepard visits Deseret, a thriving world that values its theocratic isolation and chooses not to join the Pact, though it opens itself for trade relations.
2583	The Count of Buffalo declares himself Duke of Western New York, and annihilates Albany to solidify his independence; Jefferson, son of the old Duke of New York, proclaims himself Duke of Eastern New York and establishes his capital at West Point. The Carpenter arrives at Felix, a world that has stagnated and regressed during its isolation. After negotiations on Kalmar, Felix joins the Pact.
2584	Atlantian engineers build a practical vacuum distillation plant; patent licensing quickly spreads the technology through the Pact. The newly launched Libertine starship Stellar Clipper visits the Sol System and Atlantis. Libertas begins construction of four 30m armed merchantmen. The Glenn and Grissom travel to the re-contact the distant Kalmaran colony of Gladsheim, whose 27,000 residents eagerly join the Pact. The Shepard arrives at Asgard to discover the remains of the failed colony; the Pact annexes Asgard as a protectorate and dispatches the Shepard and Carpenter to investigate the extinction.
2585	The Guangzhou Federation surrenders to Archduke Hu after the Battle of Foshan; the Archduke declines the offer of the Imperial Throne of China, arguing that he must first reunify the entire nation. The Pact scout Grissom arrives at Diana to find a world divided into two small and belligerent industrial era nations currently at war. Captain Jonas Martin negotiates a peace treaty that also results in Pact membership for the world.
2586	The Pact gravstar freighter Endeavour returns to Kalmar from Cyclops and reports for decommissioning, ending the gravstar ship era. The Glenn arrives at the devastated planet Isis and makes contact with the surviving population. After some debate, the Pact declares Isis a protectorate and begins planning a relief mission.
2587	Archduke Hu begins land campaigns in Tibet and Xinjiang aimed at reuniting China. The Grissom contacts the planet Hercules, whose thriving information age democratic government overwhelming votes to join the Pact.
2588	The Shepard re-contacts the planet Champa, whose surviving population is eager to join the Pact. The Glenn arrives at Sparta to find an extinct colony. At a Pact conference on Kalmar, King Tor toasts the twenty-eight human and seven Alimeen members, but suggests that the discovery of two dead and three failing colonies indicates that the Pact should pause in its aggressive expansion, lest it overextend itself.
2589	Negotiations concerning Libertine entry in the Kalmar Pact break down over Libertine protective tariffs. The Stellar Clipper contacts Aeneas and continues on to re-contact the Libertine colony on Freedom.
2590	After a series of construction delays, Libertas completes two merchantmen, Liberty and Justice, which begin trading with Sol, Aeneas and Freedom.
2591	The Venusian PARVATT system becomes fully operational, allowing sub-hour transits between the three continents. The Alimeen adapt the Hiss of Freedom to carry vacuum distillers, allowing it to operate at 6C and begin to adapt their remaining gravstar ships to continue passenger service between Alimeen and its colonies.
2592	After finishing the pacification of Tibet and Xinjiang and seizing Taiwan, Archduke Hu proclaims himself Emperor James of China and founder of the Hu dynasty, ending the Chinese Unification Wars. In India, a Central Asian hovercraft army sweeps down the Ganges to capture Varanasi and begins to extract tribute from all of northern India.
2593	A dynastic marriage between the King of Vietnam and the Duchess of Laos forms the Kingdom of Indochina. Libertas completes the merchantmen Victory and Triumph.
2594	The Pact scouts Glenn and Carpenter travel to Niagara, establishing contact and negotiating the world's admittance into the Kalmar Pact.
2595	Libertas establishes a trading base on Olympus, quickly gaining influence over King Harko of Illios, a local warlord.
2596	With Emperor Albert aboard, the Imperial yacht Victory becomes the first surface ship to travel the length of the Great Martian Canals system, from Argyre to the Northern Ocean to Hellas.
2597	The Kingdom of the Incas peacefully annexes most of Columbia. Libertas begins construction of a fleet of 40m frigates.
2598	The Chinese Empire and the Grand Khanate of Central Asia formalize their borders with the Treaty of Bangkok, sponsored by the Kingdom of Indochina and the Thai Electorate.
2599	Maxwell Biogenics begins breeding Mermen Constructs for work in Venusian coastal waters.
2600	The Kingdom of Indochina intervenes in a Cambodian succession struggle and occupies the region, annexing it. The King of Illios completes the conquest of Olympus with Libertine support.
2601	The Pact scouts Shepard and Grissom contact the inhabitants of Arakis, a nomadic, cave dwelling people surviving on their desert planet. The Pact declares the world a protectorate and begins planning aid, including a new desalination plant. The Time Travel Society emerges from another century of hibernation; six members, including David Travers, travel to Alice Springs to meet with the local Nobility before reporting back to their hidden complex. Only one member decides to reenter society; another member's chamber had failed during the interim, leaving sixty-four members, including Travers, to continue their journey into the future.
2602	In competition with the Kalmar Pact, Libertas forms the Libertas Union with Aeneas, Freedom, and Olympus; Libertine advisers soon dominate the subservient worlds' governments. The first two of seven Libertine frigates, the Vigilance and Prowess, enter service.
2603	The Chinese Empire occupies Guangxi province over the protests of the Kingdom of Indochina.
2604	Decades of low-level warfare subsides after eight rival European duchies sign the Treaty of Paris. A series of volcanic upwellings damage the climate on Khronos, leading to two decades of poor harvests that kill over half the population.
2605	After continual complaints from Atlantis and Paradise, the Pact Advisory Council adds three more human seats to its body and authorizes construction contracts for private starships to operate independent of the subsidized Kalmar and Alimeen centered hub and spoke trade system. The expanded Pact advisory council authorizes the construction of seven 40m frigates to match the Libertine fleet.
2606	On Mars, the Crimson Pyramid opens to the public. After Indochinese troops skirmish with border guards of the Thai Electorate, Chinese Imperial troops invade Indochina, beginning the Asian Consolidation Wars.
2607	Indochinese defenders use four tactical nuclear weapons to stop the Chinese advance at the Battle of Hue; in retaliation, Chinese troops occupying Hanoi retreat from the city and devastate it with a W-bomb.
2608	Chinese troops occupy Vientiane. The first Kalmar Pact frigate, the Blue Horizon, enters service with Jonas Martin as Fleet Captain.
2609	Rogar Farrar becomes Baron of Pasadena on the death of his father and older brother in a helicopter accident. Chinese troops defeat the Indochinese army at the Battle of Kampong Cham and occupy Phnom Penh. The Pact scouts Glenn and Carpenter contact the colony world of Macoraba, whose religious leaders refuse to join the Pact, but allow a Pact trading outpost on the island of Aziz.