Escape Velocity Nova Timeline Preamble (Additional supplementary background stories)
Part I: Nova History[]
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-1800 NC (980 AD) - A group of humans with great telepathic powers, led by the former Indian prince Vell-os, leave Earth using their Psi abilities.
0 NC - Approximately 2780AD. The death of Omata Kane who developed the hyperspace jump formula and gates. Her gates enabled construction of the galactic grid; a system of relay points and jump gates that made hyperspace travel possible. At about this time a great expansion occurred
57 NC - The newly formed independent colonies each selected a representative and the Colonial Council was formed.
118 NC - The first confirmed sighting of the Hyperioids.
230 NC - The ‘first’ contact with the Vell-os. Over the past 2000 years they had developed certain technologies far beyond Earth’s, and their telepathic abilities covered everything else. Their nano-technology was very advanced; they had almost forgotten that it was anything but an extension of their powers. This nano-technology was also the main reason behind the small physical differences between them and the rest of humanity.
242 NC - The Vell-os join the Colonial Council. With their wisdom and psi powers they quickly become influential members.
380 NC - Kerell Polaris, a member of the Colonial Council, proposes an expedition to explore and colonize a region of space from Earth in the direction of the star Polaris.
382 NC - The Colonial Council, despite Vell-os support, rejects the proposed Polaris expedition on the grounds of expense.
397 NC - Kerell Polaris resigns from the Colonial Council to attempt to organize his expedition using his own funds.
420 NC - Vell-os throws its support behind the Polaris expedition boosting the launch timetable by roughly 30 years.
430 NC - 3 days after the death of Kerell Polaris, the expedition leaves Colonial Council space in the direction of Polaris. Over the next 110 years the expedition colonizes around 30 systems and forms its own system of government, and start thinking of themselves as Polarans. It becomes very isolated and makes no contact with the rest of the galaxy.
480 NC - The Polaris make their first contact with another species, the Wraith (as they later become known). It ends in bloodshed, and further enforces Polaris isolationism.
540 NC - The first contact between the Colonial Council and the Polaris expedition since it left Colonial Council space. The Polaris make it clear that any interference in their affairs by the Council will not be tolerated.
552 NC - The Colonial Council sends a diplomatic mission to the Polaris government. Due to the slightly hostile nature of the Polaris toward the Council, they send along a military escort for protection. The Polaris refuse the diplomatic mission entry into Polaris space, but the leader of the delegation decides to continue on instead. The Polaris view this as a precursor to invasion, and fire on the delegation, destroying it utterly.
The Colonial Council is enraged and calls for a military expedition into Polaran space. The Vell-os object to the action saying that the Polaris were well within their rights to refuse the delegation entry and that therefore the delegate had in fact committed an act of invasion. However, they are shouted down and outvoted. The Vell-os withdraw from the council in protest.
553 NC - The Colonial Council sends in a large fleet of vessels, allegedly to bring the Polaris to justice. However the Vell-os intervene on the behalf of the Polaris, stopping the Council’s fleet before they do any real damage.
555 NC - The Colonial Council launches a full-scale invasion of Vell-os in an attempt to force them back into the Council. However, the Vell-os, despite being relatively weak in numbers, prove to be very skilled in the ways of war, and their telepathic abilities prove to be devastating in the field of battle. The battle rages on for approximately 50 years before the leader of the Vell-os decides to surrender in the hope of ending the destruction. The Colonial Council immediately enslaves the entire Vell-osian race using the many anti-telepathic devices that have proliferated during the war. In order to retain something of their former lives, six of the most powerful Vell-osians, members of the Vell-os ruling council known as the Krypt-tokh, imbue their minds into their nanites before they are captured.
610 NC - Due to the enormous economic and social strains placed on the Colonial Council during Vell-os war, many outlying parts of Council space had become largely forgotten by the council. In this year the first of these areas, led by a man called Vanadian Aurora, declares its independence.
647 NC - The Colonial Council goes to war against the Aurorans (as they had become known), and the other five outer territories (Moash, Vella, Tekel, Dani and Heraan) that had declared their independence. Naturally they fought back. One group that was defeated by the council were known as the Armetis, and they quickly became very adept at terrorism. The war continued on and off for the next 23 years.
670 NC - The Colonial Council, in a very tight vote decides to escalate the war against the outer territories. The councilors from the worlds against the proposal storm out and withdraw their support from the Colonial Council's actions. One of the councilors makes contact with the Armetis terrorists, and gives them classified information on where the Colonial Council's hyperspace jump gates are, and details about the security surrounding them. In one swift blow, the Armetis destroy the Colonial Council's ability to use hyperspace. Unfortunately, the action caused a huge energy wave to travel through the jump lanes and destroyed the jump gates for nearly all of human civilization. The only group to survive with a relatively unscathed gate system was the Polarans. The remaining Vell-os were retained as slaves but were scattered throughout what had been the core worlds of the Colonial Council. For the next 200 years, they are the only means of communication between these worlds except light speed messages.
780 NC - The Aurorans regain the knowledge to build hyperspace jump gates. They immediately move to take over the surrounding worlds.
783 NC - The Aurorans were brought to a standstill by the other five former outer territories: Moash, Vella, Tekel, Dani and Heraan. These other five territories do not have hyperspatial capabilities, but they retain a fair amount of their weapons technology. The five territories continue to fight against the Aurorans for the next 130 years. Over that time each territory was conquered, but always rebelling and regaining their independence, and relearning or recapturing some hyperspatial technologies.
876 NC - Earth scientists, reconstructing old designs, build their first hyperspace capable spacecraft in over 200 years. They journey to the nearest system and re-contact their neighbors, the Centaurans. They are given a cautious but friendly welcome. Over the next two decades, Terrans revisit the nearest dozen systems and re-establish physical contact.
881 NC - The Centaurans agree to join with Earth in return for Earth’s technology.
905 NC - The Aurorans make contact with two of the outer systems that have been re-contacted by Earth. In typical Auroran fashion they attack and conquer.
906 NC - The other systems that have been re-contacted by Earth beg to join with them in the hope that they can be protected against the Aurorans. Earth agrees, but only if they can use the resources of these systems to build warships.
907 NC - The Aurorans make contact with the Canopus System and are met with Earth based resistance for the first time, and are defeated with the help of the Vell-osian slaves.
908 NC - The Earth based forces strike deep into Auroran territories to attempt to make them leave Earth and its allies alone. In these raids, the Earth forces inadvertently attack systems owned by the other five territories.
912 NC - The Aurorans ask the leading families from Moash, Vella, Tekel, Dani and Heraan to join with them to destroy the Earth’s forces. They agree, and an attack plan is formed, and the forces trained and marshalled.
914 NC - The forces under the command of the Aurorans take the Earth forces by surprise and quickly smash through the Tichel, Gateway and Alphara systems before Earth’s forces can react, and stall the Auroran advance.
915 NC - In a conclusive battle in the Vega system, the Earth forces, despite being outnumbered, with their technological advantage and the aid of enslaved Vell-os telepathic powers, destroyed the Auroran forces, with great cost to themselves. The remaining Auroran forces limp back to Auroran space while Earth forces remain behind, incapable of pursuing.
916 NC - On return to Auroran space the leading families from the Moash, Vella, Tekel, Dani and Heraan territories assassinate the Auroran leaders and take over themselves, vowing to rebuild the military so as never to be embarrassed in battle again
920 NC - Many of the core systems surrounding Earth start rebelling against Earth rule, and many succeed due to the reduced capabilities of the Terran navy, and the uncooperative attitude of many of the Vell-os slaves.
935 NC - The Earth government after losing over half their systems decides that it cannot afford to offend too many of its nearest neighbors. The decision is made to allow those systems still controlled by it a hand in their governance, and so the Federation is born.
962 NC - The first pirate uprising occurs when the only surviving member of the Auroran ruling family unites the pirates and attacks ships primarily in Auroran space, but also in Federation areas. After 7 years of notoriety, he is killed when he finally is caught in a pitched battle with a Moash family task force.
980 NC - The Federation's sphere of influence matches that of the old Earth Empire's, at its height more than 100 years before.
989 NC - The First Auroran Civil War begins when the Moash, Vella and Tekel families band together to wipe out the Dani and Heraan families. However before this can occur an alliance is made between the Dani and Vella families, and soon all the families are fighting each other. The war ends after 12 years of bloodshed.
1024 NC - The second Auroran war begins as the five leading families of the Auroran Empire join together long enough for them to challenge the Federation. They consistently defeat the Federation military by sheer weight of numbers over the next 4 years. In a cunning move, the Federation only attacks ships belonging to the Moash, Tekel and Dani families. These families become suspicious of the Vella and Heraan families, and they start bickering and, after careful use of the Vell-os slaves’ mental abilities to warp perception, they begin to fight amongst themselves. This allows the Federation to drive them from their space. The Federation then begins to build its military might so as not to be as vulnerable to attack again.
1047 NC - The Federation attempts to move into Auroran space after 12 years of anti-Auroran propaganda. The Federation is met with fierce resistance, and is continually beaten back with little change in the borders between the two governments.
1050 NC - The general populace of the Federation is told that the reason the Aurorans hold their own is because of an incredible spy network throughout the Federation. To combat this, the Federation creates the Bureau for Internal Investigation (‘the Bureau’ for short), they quickly become all-pervasive, and trials of supposed spies and traitors become more frequent. They also use supposed ‘Vell-osians’ for telepathic ‘truth-telling’ to reveal the lies of various traitors.
1061 NC - The discovery of TCTLIDS in deep space. Scientists, in attempting to see if using the TCTLIDS induction pores could be used to create new medicines and create FATE; a highly addictive narcotic.
1078 NC - The second pirate uprising occurs when the Federation secretly funds the pirates in an attempt to weaken the Aurorans to the point where the Federation might be able to launch a decisive offensive against them. When the Bureau learns that this information is becoming common knowledge the Federation locates the ‘leader’ of the pirates and executes him.
1103 NC - Because the Aurorans stopped them from advancing into their space, the Federation starts to push outward elsewhere and recontacts the Polaris for the first time in 550 years. The Polaris have advanced greatly technologically, still value their solitude, and bluntly tell the Federation to stay away from their space. While they have kept to themselves, they have been able to keep track of galactic affairs and they send a message to the Federation stating that they will not tolerate being treated in the same manner that the Federation has been treating the Aurorans.
1121 NC - The Federation send a military task force into Polaris space, but they never hear from it again. The Polaris defeated them so quickly that they never had a chance to send a message back to their superiors.
1137 NC - The Aurorans suffer their second civil war, with all five houses fighting against each other for 3 years. The war only ends when the Federation tries to take advantage of the confusion by invading. The five families ally together long enough to fight off the Federation.
1154 NC - The Aurorans launch a full-scale attack on Polaris, only to be quickly beaten back by combination of superior technology and quick and devastating strikes to the five leading family’s homeworlds.
1156 NC - In anger at the ease of their defeat, the Aurorans launch another massive attack on the Federation. The Federation tries similar tactics as employed by the Polarans and strike behind Auroran lines, but the Aurorans merely retaliate by striking behind Federation lines. Slowly the war becomes more stable as both the Aurorans and the Federation are forced to employ more and more of their forces guarding the worlds they already hold. After 17 years, the war peters out into occasional border conflicts. The Aurorans, after capturing several Federation ships try to gain the services of several Vell-os slaves, but fail.
1167 NC - The third pirate uprising occurs as the pirates once more band together under one leader, and harass the Federation, Auroran and, to a lesser extent, Polaran space. The pirates withdraw after 6 years only after a Vell-os slave using her psi powers locates the pirate leader who is then assassinated by a Federation agent.
1177 NC - The present day.
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