Catastrophic ecological collapse marks the end of the Anthropocene epoch via irreversible mass extinction and climate change. Historians typically identify this as the point at which the Fall became inevitable for Old Humanity.
a Brief History of Union
The events in this timeline have been recreated from materials in the Lancer core book and the Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies, and edited for consistency.
Before Union
c. 6000 bu to 1 bu
-
c. 6000 bu
Beginning of the Fall
Era beginning/end -
c. 6000 bu
Launching of the Apollo
Population Migration / TravelApollo – the first of the Ten, a series of massive generation ships--departs for an Earth-analog exoplanet.
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c. 5800 bu
Confirmation of Apollo's Planetfall
Discovery, ScientificApollo confirms planetfall and establishment of a colony on the planet Karrakis; sequential launches of the next nine ships begin thereafter.
-
c. 5650 bu
Launching of the Āyāt
ExpeditionThe last of the Ten, Āyāt, departs for the stars.
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-5500 bu
-150 bu
The Dark Age
Era beginning/endThe human population of Cradle (formerly Earth) falls from a peak of around 15 billion to less than 500,000 humans. All contact with the Ten ceases.
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-5500 bu
The Long Deep Quiet
Era beginning/endCommunication between Earth and its diaspora ceases after Earth's Notice of Independent Mandate. Karrakis is offered as a refuge for anyone who can reach it. Earth's planetary government formally abdicates in the face of ecological collapse and generalized revolt.
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c. 5505 bu - 4900 bu
The Melee
Military actionThe Planetary Governor of Karrakis, following Earth's Notice of Independent Mandate, issues a Standing Order of Emergency Administration and seizes control of the Karrakin government, dissolving the Citizen Advisory Council. Numerous civic departments are shuttered, and special administrative districts are carved out and given to business and finance leaders. In response, the Karrakin people revolt, and martial law is declared. The planetary government is eventually toppled by the Karrakin popular front. Several special administrators step into the power vacuum before power can be consolidated, establishing petty fiefdoms and brutally crushing any dissent. For the next six hundred years, these neo-feudal lords squabble with each other until an equilibrium is reached.
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-4899 bu
-3000 bu
Early Passacaglian Period
Era beginning/endPassacaglia I unites Karrakis. Scholars under his rule reverse-engineer orbiting cargo ships left over from the original settlement of Karrakis, leading to the development of the first Karrakin spacecraft. Arrudye, Karrakis' moon, is colonized; Ispahsalar, a nearby exoplanet, is colonized in later years. Archives are recovered and reconstructed across Karrakis, leading to numerous scientific and engineering rediscoveries, chief among them "mirror creches", cloning devices which ensure succession for the new nobility.
-
2999 bu - 1 u
High Passacaglian Period
Era beginning/endFollowing the death of Annorum Passacaglia LII, Karrakis enters into a golden age of scientific discovery, infrastructure development, wealth, and cultural expression. Khayradi is colonized, and Ispahsalar is developed further. Karrakis develops offworld mining capability, and spaceflight becomes more common.
-
-150 bu
Discovery of the Massif Vaults
Discovery, ScientificThe discovery on Cradle of Massif-A, the first of several pre-Fall vaults, prompts global societal rejuvenation. Additional vaults are identified using data preserved inside , and extant powers race to control them.
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-53 bu
The Little Wars
Military actionThe Little Wars begin – a polarity struggle between Cradle's major powers fueled by the discovery of the Vaults. The accumulation of regional conflicts that followed hurled Cradle into a global war.
Union Era
0 u and on
-
0 u
2000 u
Foundation Period
Era beginning/endThe conclusion of the Little Wars leads to the founding of Union and the establishment of the First Committee of Union (FirstComm; retroactively named by the Second Committee).
-
1 u
1908 u
Low Passacaglian Period
Era beginning/endFaced with the challenges of managing an interstellar empire without the benefit of empire-wide real-time communications, the Annorum Passacaglia begins its long, slow decline.
-
1400 u
The First Trauma
Discovery, ScientificLong-range communications systems are reactivated, enabling the recovery of countless archived, Fall-age SOS transmissions. The Union Space Program (USP) is announced shortly thereafter.
-
1430 u
Landing on Luna
Scientific achievementA USP expedition lands on Cradle’s moon, Luna, and reactivates ancient installations, including the Theseus shipyard.
-
1450 u
Launching of the Nearlight Ships
ExpeditionThe first Nearlight-class interstellar ships – based on plans preserved in the Massif vaults and built using Theseus – are launched, seeking Gaia worlds identified in legacy star charts.
-
1700 u
1999 u
Repopulation of Cradle
ExpeditionExpansion within Cradle takes place. Union mounts expeditions across the worlds and moons of the Cradle system, repopulating old stations, installations, and colonies.
-
1908 u
1999 u
The Antiannorum
Political eventKhayradin, a colony of the Karrakin Annorum Passacaglia, declares independence amidst weakening imperial control and rampant corruption.
-
1998u
Contact with the Aun
Discovery, ExplorationThe USP Anthem, a Nearlight C.8 vessel associated with the Boundary Garden mission, reports first contact with distress beacons from two of the Ten – the Rihla and the Armstrong – and those descended from their original crews: the Aunic peoples, organized under the Aun Ecumene on a nearby habitable world.
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2000u
Discovery of the Oracle Chorus
Discovery, ScientificThe Oracle Chorus installation is discovered under the Vastitas Borealis of Mars. The installation is reactivated, and the Five Voices – advanced machine minds capable of predicting the future with near-perfect precision – are identified. This creates the foundations for what would later become Forecast/Galactic Simulation.
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2000 u
2003 u
Khayradin War
Military actionGeneral Tyran is sent to squash the rebellion on Khayradin, but ultimately withdraws after a protracted insurgency and political chaos on Karrakis, de facto granting Khayradi independence. Tyran returns to Karrakis to attempt to manage the security situation, eventually declaring himself Anno in 2000u.
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2001 u
2997 u
First Expansion Period
Era beginning/endSeveral Old Human colonies are discovered beyond Cradle – some derelict, others inhabited. The Union Administrative Department (UAD) is created to oversee interstellar expansion efforts and the reintegration of all rediscovered exclaves.
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c. First Expansion
Manifestation of Metat Aun
Religious eventMetat Aun appears above the Aunic homeworld, beginning the Aunic “First Dawn” period. This marks the first human contact with what would come to be called a MONIST entity, although Metat Aun remains classified as MONIST-2 (despite manifesting prior to MONIST-1).
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2003 u
2017 u
Karrakin Succession War
Military actionThe recently-enthroned Anno Tyrannus consolidates power over the Karrakin Concern.
-
2025 u
2089 u
The Dynasticlade
Political eventIn 2025u, Anno Tyrannus of Karrakis officially announces the forthcoming reign of his daughter, Calendula. As a corollary to this declaration, Tyrannus also lays the foundations for the New Federation of Karrakis, a project which Calendula carries out from 2089u, at the New Federation's official founding, to her death. After her death, Hagiographer Tagetes retains his ceremonial title, but does not ascend the throne. The New Federation carries on managing the Karrakin Concern until the end of the Union-Karrakin War in 2998u.
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2805 u
Contact with Karrakis re-established
Discovery, ScientificContact between Karrakis and Cradle is re-established, the first since the Fall.
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2880 u
3000 u
First Distal War, PISTON-1, and the end of the First Committee
Military actionDiplomatic friction between the Aunic peoples and Union colonies in Boundary Garden leads to the First Distal War. Hardline Anthrochauvinist elements in Union launch PISTON-1 – a mass “shotgun”-style kinetic strike – toward Aunic space. The First Committee is dissolved, replaced by the Second Committee (SecComm). With Union already stretched thin, the Deimos Event quickly forces the Second Committee to agree to a truce.
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2885 u
2998 u
Union-Karrakin War
Military actionKarrakin Hagiographers destroy the UNS Pilgrim, a Union diplomatic yacht sent to tour Karrakis. Union responds with an overwhelming attack on the Karrakis system, and launches several kinetic-kill strikes aimed at Karrakin worlds. The Karrakin admiralty splits their fleets to intercept the strikes, and are defeated in detail. One strike lands near Dellamar on Karrakis, ruining the city and resulting in millions of casualties, and causing ecological fallout for decades. The Union fleet, under orders to return to Cradle to respond to what would become known as the Deimos Event, abandons its campaign. Karrakis is left in disarray, and the New Federation is dissolved and replaced by the Federal Karrakin Monarchy.
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2998 u
Manifestation of [REDACTED]
Discovery, ScientificDuring the course of [REDACTED], the [REDACTED] (also known as [REDACTED]). [REDACTED] is retroactively classified as the first NHP.
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c. Neo-Anthropocene
Aunic Schism
Religious eventThe Aun experience an intense civil–religious conflict, the Aunic Schism, leading to the creation of the Aunic Ascendancy. The Aun Ecumene is formally dissolved and the Ecumenical Aun flee to Boundary Garden, in Union space. Most take refuge on Cornucopia, now the capital world of the sector.
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2998 u
3199 u
Neo-Anthropocene Period
Era beginning/end -
3000 u
Deimos Event
Celestial[REDACTED], bringing about the Deimos Event – the complete disappearance of Deimos from known space. The study of paracausal science becomes possible. The disparate ships, shuttles, and force organizations of the USP are reorganized into the Union Navy.
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3002 u
[REDACTED]
Diplomatic actionThe [REDACTED] are signed in negotiations with [REDACTED] following the [REDACTED]. The concept of “non-human persons” is defined and applied to the anomalous machine minds left behind. The shackling process is developed to constrain NHPs.
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3007 u
New Prosperity Agreement
Political eventAfter Union's UND, newly fitted with NHP capabilities, far outpaces Karrakin flotillas in several out-system skirmishes, the New Prosperity Agreement is signed between the Federal Karrakin Monarchy and Union's Second Committee.
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3130 u
3200 u
Piercing the Blink
Discovery, ScientificBlinkspace is identified and pierced. The technology to create blink fields is developed, and the first blink station is built. The UAD is dissolved and replaced with the Union Colonial Mission (UCM).
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c. 3150
Karrakin Trade Baronies
Diplomatic actionThe Karrakin Federal Monarchy begins to be known as the "Karrakin Trade Baronies".
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3200 u
4599 u
Second Expansion Period
Era beginning/endThe Second Expansion Period begins, as the Second Committee begins a massive, Union-wide colonization and expansion effort throughout the Orion Arm of the galaxy. The blink network is grown through rapid construction of gates, and billions of colonists are sent out to tens of thousands of worlds over this time. This period represents the single largest movement of human life in recorded history.
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4500 u
4560 u
Hercynian Crisis
Military actionsee Hercynian Crisis Union fights a protracted war with an aggressive alien species, known as the Egregorians (née "bugs"). During the course of the conflict, the efficacy of hardsuits and mechanized chassis (“mechs”) is demonstrated: in particular the Genghis. Union’s state manufacturer, General Massive Systems, begins galaxy-wide production of mechanized chassis.
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4560 u
4591 u
Union Civil War
Military actionMounting discontent with the great expansion, the growing need to address PISTON-1, and the acute criminality of the Hercynian Crisis boil over into widespread popular revolution across Cradle and some Galactic Core worlds. Union is gripped by civil war.
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4591 u
Third Committee Period
Era beginning/endThe remaining Central Committee members of the Second Committee agree to terms of surrender in 4591u. A new stable government is formed in 4600u: the Third Committee (ThirdComm). The Union Colonial Mission is immediately dissolved and the Union Administrative Department is reconstituted. Expansion is halted. In 4600, Harrison I and a number of loyalists flee to Ras Shamra and establish Harrison Armory.
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c. Second Expansion
Settlement of Ras Shamra
ExpeditionRas Shamra is settled and begins its Temperate Ages.
-
c. 4600 u
Interest War
Military actionHarrison Armory and the Karrakin Trade Baronies engage in the Interest War; Union acts as a neutral party, ultimately securing peace. Harrison I returns to Cradle and faces justice in exchange for the Armory’s continued sovereignty; the Baronies agree to become a member state of Union.
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4601 u
Ungrateful Rebellion
RevolutionA revolt on Ludra's World (formerly Sanjak), a moon of Khayradin, leads to an ongoing blockade of the moon by the House of Stone.
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5000 u
Second Distal War
Military actionThe presence of an Aunic crusade fleet in Boundary Garden is confirmed. For the first time, a blink gate is lost to hostile state actions. The Second Distal War begins.
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5019 u
Second Interest War
Military actionTensions between the proxies of Harrison Armory and the Karrakin Trade Baronies in the Dawnline Shore spill over into armed conflict in what would quickly become known as the Second Interest War. Union intervenes by shutting down the Shore's blinkgate and maneuvers to position itself as peacekeeper. However, split between the Second Distal War and this and other brushfire wars, Union is unable to contain the conflict with decisive enough action, and HA and the KTB wage an explosive war.
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5190 u
Present day
Miscellaneous