Encyclopedia of the Terran Empire

American Second Revolution begins with Militia attacks across North America. The infighting eventually stalemates in 2015 with the formation of the United States Provisional Government.

Second Neo-Soviet Civil War ends with the surrender of the last Old Guard ICBM site to Loyalist forces. British Prime Minister calls for a "new alliance of Western nations."

NATO and the ECU are dissolved in favor of the Western Alliance. The seven independent Russian Republics and the United Canadian-American States begin a ten year probationary period, after which the Western Alliance would consider making then full members.

Working on a prototype fusion reactor at MIT, professors Thomas Kearny and Takayoshi Fuchida notice anomalies with the known laws of physics. Over the next three years they publish a series of papers on the subject: What Happened to the Universe When Einstein Wasn’t Looking, Einstein’s Theories: The Cooked and the Raw, We Have Fusion--Now What?, and Pan-Dimensionality: Exploiting the Einstein-Rosen-Prodsky Bridge.

Harvard, MIT, and General Motors complete the first full-scale fusion reactor.

Takayoshi Fuchida marries former lab-assistant Katherine Kurita after being laughed out of his profession. Thomas Kearny commits suicide later that year. GM patents the first commercially available Fusion Reactor. Arasaka Corporation simultaneously declares itself an independent nation and a nuclear state.

China and United Korea form the New Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Both the Western Alliance and the NACPS court Japan and Arasaka to join their respective conglomerates.

A Chinese blockade of the Japanese islands results in mass starvation. Relief supplies are airlifted in, but not in tome to stave off the collapse of the Japanese Government. The Arasaka Corporation assumes control. A scout submarine sent with the Western Alliance relief convoy out of Pearl Harbor is rammed by the Chinese cruiser Iron Flower. Japanese forces come to her aid, but are likewise attacked. Japan joins the Western Alliance. Emperor Arasaka releases the Japanese Defense Force from its strict rules of engagement and the JDF immediately begins military actions against the NACPS.

Intense negotiations result in the Melbourne Accords--allowing China and United Korea full membership status into the Western Alliance.

The Russian Republics and United Canadian-American States are accepted as full members into the Western Alliance.

First working Fusion Drive developed.

The first fusion powered spacecraft, the TAS Columbia, voyages to Mars in just under fourteen days.

The Western Alliance Parliament authorizes funding for the Magellan Project--a program of eight fusion-powered starships designed to explore other start systems. Magellan One is launched from Crippen Station in 2030 with the others following suit during 2031 and 2035. Over the next thirty years all probes but Magellan Six report back, having discovered habitable worlds around Tau Ceti, Epsilon Eridani, and Epsilon Indi.

The Western Alliance establishes major bases on both Luna and Mars, with scientific outposts at Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Asteroid Belt.

The Western Alliance is renamed the Terran Alliance, reflecting the unification of the planet. Only small dissident groups off of Terra balk at the change, but are quieted by a combination of both supply restrictions and increased trade agreements. Strikes and violence becomes commonplace as the poorer nations struggle with the rich nations for social and economic equality.

Small brushfire wars are an almost daily occurrence, being dealt with harshly by the increasingly less benevolent Terran Alliance Military. Massive amounts of money being poured into the terraforming of Mars and Venus spark widescale riots across the planet. The TAM responds by temporarily declaring Martial Law and enacting Sanctuary Districts in most major cities to contain both the rioters and any unwanted members of the population. This practice continued until 2116 with the creation of the first non-Terran colony.

Terran Alliance scientists confirm the anomalies first noted in papers by Kearny and Fuchida with the successful manipulation of hyperdimensional motion in sub-atomic particles. Team scientists quickly put together plans for a faster than light spacecraft.

Terran Parliament authorizes the extremely risky and expensive Deimos Project despite protests and civil unrest. The prototype was constructed over the next four years and consisted of little more than a modern jump-core with some attached control equipment and a minimal life-support pod. The ship was charged by an external link to the TAS Volga. By it’s completion, the poorer member states were ripe for revolution and were under a state of constant Martial Law. Gabriel Bell leads a failed escape from Sanctuary District A in San Francisco, resulting in the deaths of over three hundred rioters.

On September 3^rd, Mission Commander John Chriton was the first human to travel via Hyperspace--traversing between Terra’s Zenith and Nadir point in mere seconds. In his own words, "arrives a little off target, but intact… Kearny and Fuchida should have lived to see the day." From that time on, the Deimos Drive would be known as the Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive. The success of the mission quells the fears of many member states.

Mission Commander Norm McKenna leads a crew aboard the newly rebuilt prototype, taking the renamed TAS Pathfinder on the first successful manned mission to another star system. Finding the conditions on Tau Ceti IV to be virtually identical to Terra, the planet is quickly named New Earth. The crew returns triumphant, bringing along a recovered survey probe from Magellan One. Upon return to Terra, the Pathfinder is resupplied and over the next six years surveys all stars within 30 light-years of Terra. This region is officially dubbed "The Core" by the Terran Parliament.

Private companies leap at the publicly-available JumpShip design plans, producing a fleet of colony ships. The first, TAS Ark, is finished in 2116 and carries 500 colonists to New Earth under a Terran Alliance appointed Governor.

Terran Space Navy is formed by special appropriation, over the next few years they adopt the unofficial title of "Peacekeepers". Their first of six jump warships is built in 2122, named the TAS Charger. These vessels form the testing platforms of what will later be called the Class One WarShips.

With new colonies springing up almost monthly, the Terran Alliance discovers difficulties in directly controlling their expanding population. The tide turns however with the loss of the colony ship TAS Liberator to a misjump. In the wake of the disaster, the Terran Alliance Parliament passes several laws requiring all outbound ships to have a Terran Space Navy escort as well as appointing Alliance governors in control over all colonies in The Core.

The First Grand Survey records 108 registered colonies in a 40 light year radius around Terra.

Wealthy entrepreneur Rudolph Ryan employs a combination of slowboat tugs and jumpfreighters to transport entire comets to the fledgling colonies for fresh drinking water. Despite the best intentions of the Terran Alliance Parliament, the Ryan Cartel remained an independent operation until the Imperial Commerce Edict of 2242.

The New Earth Trading Company is formed, reaping huge profits off the exodus from Terra. The NETC also remains an independent operator until the Imperial Commerce Edict of 2242. By the year 3000 it was shipping the bulk of operational supplies to over 80% of the Imperial Peacekeeping forces.

The Terran Alliance Parliament in Geneva is so weakened by political infighting that it splits into two separate parties: Liberals and Expansionists. Both sides vie for power on Terra and her colonies in The Core.

The Terran Alliance delegates some member planets to the status of Regional Capitols. In addition, they organize the regions outside of The Core into the Hesperus, Dieron, Northwind, and Centauri Frontier Zones. This had the further effect of distancing Terra from all but her Regional Capitols and those planets closest to her.

The increased authority allowed by the Regional Capitols in the four Frontier Zones leads to closer ties and the formation of loose alliances. The first of these, the Centauri Republic and the Free Worlds League both begin making public calls for independence from the "Terran Alliance yoke".

Revolution fever flairs to a head when the colony on Denebola declares formal independence. It was weeks before the Alliance Global Militia could be mustered to put down the revolution--meeting a strong local resistance. Plagued by tenuous supply lines and lack of local support, the AGM were forced off world. Pulling the task force back into The Core, the Expansionists in the Alliance Parliament calling the police action a stalemate. The Liberals were quick to take up the opportunity, rallying for a vote of no confidence against the Expansionists in the 2237 election.

Bolstered by the successes on Denebola, a coalition of planets in the Northwind Frontier Zone declared independence from the Terran Alliance. This time, the Expansionists did not deal so lightly with the rebels, calling in the WarShips of the Peacekeepers as well as their elite Colonial Marines. Attacking the coalition’s capitol of Northwind, the Terran Alliance military nearly wiped out the forces of Clan Stuart--devastating the main colony at Kearny and eventually establishing a major military presence at on the southern continent.

Continued grand success during the campaign against the severed Northwind Coalition led to sweeping victories for the Expansionist Party in the general elections. The influx of raw materials from occupied worlds began to help suppress the ongoing political turmoil on Terra, allowing the Expansionists the opportunity to persuade the increasingly ineffective Parliament to continue the campaign against the rebellious Centauri Republic.

Successes against the mineral-rich worlds of the Centauri lead to unprecedented personal wealth for the people of Terra.

Centauri forces respond to the loss of their capitol world with thermonuclear attacks against Peacekeeper forces in the Epsilon Indi system. On Terra, popular support for the continued war effort reaches an all time high--citizens sign up for the Terran Space Navy in record numbers, all chanting the phrase "Remember the Whitestar".

During the general elections, the Liberal party receives a unanimous vote of no-confidence from the Parliament, effectively destroying their political ambitions once and for all. Then, in a surprise turn, popular Expansionist Party Leader Armando Luchesi promptly disbands the Parliament--declaring himself Imperator of the new Terran Empire. The population, lured by the wealth the Expansionists have been bringing to the planet, follow their new leader whole heartedly. This same year the Imperial Commerce Edict nationalized many of the mega-corporations that were deemed "Vital to the military infrastructure of the Terran Empire."

The Free Worlds League declares formal independence from the Terran Empire. Imperator Luchesi prepares his new troops for a two front war.

A joint FWL-Centauri force attempts to hold the Terran forces on a line between Wasat and Liao. After a prolonged campaign of "planet-hopping", the Imperial forces push through the blockade.

The Centauri Republic falls to the Terran Imperial Navy in a series of orbital bombardments.

Imperator Luchesi is assassinated outside his summer villa in Piza. His 20 year old son Lieutenant Augustino takes the title of Imperator and declares a period or mourning.

Temporary peace accords allow both the Free Worlds League and the Empire to rebuild their forces. The war begins twice a savagely as it left off.

The Duchy of Andurien succeeds from the Free Worlds League, declaring itself neutral.

The Free Worlds League falls to a concentrated nuclear and biological attack against her more prominent worlds. The remaining planets surrender unconditionally.

The colonies on Zeti Reticuli fall silent.

Fleet Admiral James McKenna, veteran of the Reticulan War, leads a failed coup attempt against the Imperator. McKenna’s ship, the TIV Dreadnaught, is destroyed over Terra after attempting to bombard Imperial military installations from orbit. McKenna’s cousin, Officer Michael Cameron of the Imperial Reserves, spoke openly against the errant Admiral--praising the Imperator for his swift actions. In the next twenty years Michel led his family line into positions of power throughout The Core and the Empire at large.

Lucien Davion forms the Crucis Pact, a mutual defense treaty between thirty colony worlds past the Northwind Frontier Zone. Unable to adequately deal with them immediately, the Imperator prepares his military.

Bolstered by the surprising survival of the Crucis Pact, the Alliance of Galedon is formed between the Ozawa Mercantile Association and the colony of Galedon by governor Nathaniel Imura.

Peacekeeper forces move out against the Crucis Pact, capturing or rendering uninhabitable 50% of their colony worlds in the first six months of the campaign.

The Crucis Pact falls. The captured Lucien Davion is publicly executed on Terra, it is the first airing of the immediately popular Imperial Propaganda Channel.

Davion’s allies, the Hasek family of New Syrtis, lead the survivors of the Crucis Pact deeper into the periphery. Over the next five hundred years they steadily build Davion’s dream of the Federated Suns into a viable reality--secretly constructing colonies and warship construction yards on planets far from the forces of the Empire. It was only until recently that the Imperator learned of their presence and began glorious military preparations against them.

Battle of Benjamin: Forces returning from the Crucis campaign misjump into the Alliance of Galedon. Angered by the loss of their regional capitol Ozawa sixty years earlier, the Galedon military attacks in force. Both sides call in reinforcements, protracting the battle into a total war.

The Alliance of Galedon is destroyed.

Skandian Colonies near the planet Tukayyid take the opportunity to rebel. Formerly a subject people of the Alliance of Galedon, they attack all non-Skandian ships. War begins almost immediately.

Alliance of Galedon reforms as the Draconis Confederation under former Alliance General Warren Kurita.

The Tamar Pact forms, and allies with the Empire against the Skandians--claiming that the Skandian forces had been raiding their shipping for generations.

Weary of the toll caused to his people by the ongoing conflict, the Imperator orders all Peacekeeper warships to destroy the enemy through any means necessary. The war ends that very year with 94% of all enemy planets bombed into submission from orbit with nuclear weaponry. The Skandian Wastes are formed.

Outrage over the barbarous actions during the Skandian war, the Core world of Skye rebels against the Empire. Soon, one third of all Imperial planets back Skye.

Aided by First General Alexander Kerensky, Senator Richard Cameron of Skye captures Terra and assumes the title of Imperator.

Recovery Period begins. The Imperator reorganizes the Empire into a more modern political arrangement based on the existing military command theatres: The Core, Hesperus Inner Ring, Dieron Inner Ring, Northwind Inner Ring, Centauri Inner Ring, Almach Frontier Zone, Benjamin Frontier Zone, Lyra Frontier Zone, Solaris Frontier Zone, Sarna Frontier Zone.

The Encounter at Lyra. Imperial Peacekeeping forces engaged and were destroyed by a hostile warship over the regional capitol of Lyra. (Details classified, Terran Imperial Navy). This engagement lead to the development of the Class Two warship currently being fielded by all line units in the Imperial Peacekeeping service. This incident is also the root of the illegal "Cult of the WarShip", who’s members mistakenly believe that the aforementioned warship came from some mystical "other dimension". Please report all suspected members of this Cult to your nearest Psi Corps officer or information terminal.

The New Grand Survey begins, surmounting in a detailed accounting of all known military forces friendly, allied, and enemy. Scouts are sent into the deep periphery to search for possible threats against the Empire--and for the first time rediscover the Federated Suns.

Inconclusive battles fought between Peacekeeper and Federated Suns forces in the Uncharted Territories.

The Federated Suns and the Draconis Confederation sign a formal military non-aggression pact and trade alliance.

War against the Andurien League (formerly the allied Duchy of Andurien) begins after a sneak attack against Peacekeeper forces stationed on Sarna.

The Federated Suns and Draconis Confederation sign a formal alliance against the Empire. Small brushfire wars erupt along the border to both their nations. The Peacekeeping forces are rallied for major offensives.

Imperial attack sent to destroy the Federated Suns ship-yard at Kentares IV is routed by the arrival of a massive warship. The allied forces push the Peacekeepers back out of system.

Membership in the illegal "Cult of the WarShip" rises dramatically.

Slowboat missile attack secretly launched from Ozawa against the supposed Federated Suns capitol of New Davion.

Concentrated Peacekeeper attacks ordered on the Draconis Confederation, nearly splitting the FedSun/DraCon alliance.

The Empire is fully engaged in a two front war versus the Andurien League and the Draconis Confederation. The forces of the Federated Suns take the opportunity to raid shipping as deep as the Northwind Inner Ring.

Slowboat missiles manage to destroy over half the ecosystem of New Davion, rendering the planet uninhabitable. Reports indicate a possible Second Encounter near Ozawa, Peacekeeping vessel sent to investigate (further information classified, Terran Imperial Navy).