Timeline

This is the timeline of the Burning Suns universe. 

All dates are given as ATA (after the Assembly) or BTA (before the Assembly).

Following contains spoilers for Burning Suns - Conflagration

Table of contents

1. Prehistoric times (unknown - 84,000 BTA)
2. Pre-Assembly times (84,000 - 1 BTA)
3. The Assembly Era (0 ATA - 83 ATA)
4. Era of Peace (88 ATA - 999 ATA)
5. The war of the Burning Suns (1000 ATA - ?)

Prehistoric times (unknown - 84,000 BTA)

The following events are not referenced in the Assembly Archives (TAA).

Unknown

• Xion is born.

Unknown

• The Guardian race appears: The guardians establish their first outpost outside their home system of Aluxi.

Unknown

• Arkaion is born.

Unknown

• The Daybreak War: The first war in recorded history describes a series of hard fought battles on the guardian homeworld of Aluxi, where the guardians fought off a race of arachnids hatched from a nearby belt of asteroids. The arachnid eggs had been under observation by the guardians for centuries, but as they had presented no immediate threat the guardians had elected to leave them alone. After the war, a faction of guardians called Ronins chose to pursue and eradicate the last remnants of the arachnids.

Pre-Assembly times (84,000 - 1 BTA)

The following events have official records and reference data contained in TAA.

84,000 BTA

• The Leviathan race appears: Although no independent sources can confirm it, the leviathans claim that they were a space-faring race long before this time, but due to their limited ability to colonise or terraform new planets, they couldn't expand beyond of their own system (Aquila Peleus) for millennia.

50,000 BTA

• The Templar race appears: The templars conquer and subjugate several minor races in systems close to their home system (Phoenix).

43,974 BTA

• Arkaion is appointed a Captain of the Fraternity.

21,107 BTA

• Shad'ir'ion is quickened.

14,000 BTA

• The Giant race appears (leviathan origin): Though similar in features, the giants outmatch their brethren by being almost twice as large. The giants have little interest in the other races of the galaxy, to such an extent that even the leviathans share no real alliance with them.

3500 BTA

• The Ercinean race appears: A huge griffin-like race begins terraforming planets in several systems near their home system (Panacea). The ercineans are peaceful and live in symbiosis with the less-developed races of their systems. A faction called Farseers secede from their home civilisation for religious reasons and settle in the Saetorae system, seeking to be closer to the center of the galaxy and "the creators".

2800 BTA

• Zath'ir'ae is quickened.

1113 BTA

• The Phantom race appears and the Phantom Wars begin: The unknown and vicious Phantoms initiate an all-out assault on the entire galaxy, stopping at nothing. The initial surprise attacks drastically weaken the majority of the other races.

1051 BTA

• The Phantom Wars end: The Guardians and Ronins launch a suicide attack on the phantom homeworld (location remains unknown). They succeed in completely destroying the planet, but at a devastating cost to their own population, which is depleted beyond easy recovery. The templars spend the next 11 years cleaning up the remaining phantoms, while preventing the other races from expanding further.

1047 BTA

• The Guardians and Leviathans collaborate to create an adaptable AI capable of deep-space exploration with the purpose of locating and eradicating any remaining phantoms and protecting the already inhabited systems of the galaxy. 10 pods are launched from Lem (each with 20 prototypes).

1040 BTA

• The empire of the Psyonic Templars of Eternity rises: Bolstered by their victories in the Phantom wars, the templar race establish an empire that dominates 30% of the known galaxy. Resistance is dealt with harshly and swiftly.

873 BTA

• Two of the original AI pods report a brief encounter with a humanoid race before heading into deep space.

212 BTA

• The center of the galaxy is discovered and documented: The galactic center is shown to consist of 2 huge suns half-merged. The stellar structure creates an abnormally high amount of antimatter, a phenomenon never previously observed. It is theorized that the suns' radiation is what causes the galaxy to be so diverse and chaotic.

210 BTA

• The Hundred-Years War begins: A galaxy-wide rebellion begins against the galaxy's rulers, The Psyonic Templars of Eternity, whose empire now controls more than 40% of known space. It is said the rebellion was ignited by the discovery of the galaxy's center.

109 BTA

• The fall of the Psyonic Templars of Eternity: After a series of crucial defeats at the hands of the rebellion, the galactic rulers are overthrown, ending the Hundred-Years War. Many templar artefacts are lost or destroyed during the rebellion, especially some of the most powerful devices that were crucial to their control.

108 BTA

• The Stalkers appear: Enraged by their people's failure to maintain the empire, a small templar faction that come to be known as Stalkers breaks off all communication with the templar civilisation. Determined to never fall prey to the treachery of lesser species, the stalkers begin to eradicate all developed species within the few systems they control.

92 BTA

• First galactic market appears: The abandoned templar system of Asgard thrives in the aftermath of the war due to its abundance of natural resources, and quickly becomes a hub of interstellar commerce.

18 BTA

• Negotiations concerning the creation of a galactic council dedicated to resolving conflicts begin in the neutral system of Kyzar. The negotiations are led by the guardians.

9 BTA

• The Terran race appears: The terrans achieve their first flight beyond their own solar system with the use of antimatter.

2 BTA

• The terrans have their first encounter with a sovereign alien lifeform when they discover an Ercinean Farseer colony near the system Bronwen. The Farseers claim to have already visited Earth, for religious purposes, almost 3000 years ago.

The Assembly Era (0 ATA - 83 ATA)

* the Assembly timeline begins from the equivalent date of 2815 CE(or AD) on Earth.

[insert map]

The ongoing Assembly Era after 83 ATA is generally referred to as the Era of Peace.

0 ATA

• The Galactic Assembly of Sovereign Civilizations is established: The Assembly is formed by the guardians, templars, leviathans, and ercineans.  
• A constitution (the Assembly Charter) is signed to secure individual rights for all races living within Assembly-controlled space.  
• The construction of a space station to serve as a permanent home for the Assembly begins in the Kyzar system.  

60 ATA

• Terrans meet the Assembly races for the first time at Sielle Speren.

67 ATA

• The Terrans are accepted onto the Assembly: Assembly space is expanded to include the terran systems.

81 ATA

• The Perseus War begins: The stalkers launch an attack on terran space with the intent of eradicating newly established colonies on the Perseus Arm.
• The first terran colony within Assembly space is wiped out. Since the stalkers' brethren the templars are Assembly members together with the terrans, the Assembly is hesitant to intervene militarily and tries in vain to negotiate a ceasefire .
• A bitter border war begins between the stalkers and terrans. The Terrans begin researching antimatter weaponry in the neutral system of Bedingrade.

83 ATA

• The Perseus War ends: The Stalkers are defeated in a final battle in Bedingrade. The system, left riddled with dark matter pockets from failed antimatter research, is a perfect ambush site, and the Terrnas deploy nuclear bombs in the dark matter pockets to obliterate the stalker fleet. The surviving stalkers are exiled from Assembly space. The terrans are sanctioned for their use of weapons of mass destruction and forbidden to expand their military forces.
• The terrans abandon the Perseus Arm and establish a new border around the Orion Spur.

Era of Peace (88 ATA - 999 ATA)

While there have been minor conflicts, no conflict ever reached beyond a single system.

88 ATA

• Galactic peace: Five years after the Perseus War Envoys from all the Assembly races confirm that borders are only being expanded upon naturally, with no use of force.

114 ATA

• To increase effective trading within the Assembly two new systems are colonized with the goal of creating huge galactic markets. The chosen systems are Ice Serpent and Bronwen.

123 ATA

• The Terran business conglomerate Cryo Corp expands their portfolio from transportation technology and builds a prototype prison facility in Lord's Assembly. Offering to take all kinds of aliens under Assembly custody, cryogenic custodial sentences are rapidly adopted by the member races for the most serious crimes, and the facility quickly grows to cover an entire moon and most of its core.
• Within ten years Cryo Corp. becomes the first truly intergalactic corporation with operations in more than 100 systems.

301 ATA

• The Changeling race appears: The changelings are recognized for the first time as a unique race. Nobody knows how long they have been present beyond their own borders, mimicking other races, and their population is therefore also unknown.

303 ATA

• The Changelings are accepted onto the Assembly: To avoid having to deal with a potential threat of an unknown race capable of almost undetectable infiltration, the changelings are offered membership of the Assembly in exchange for an agreement to keep their own people under control and to share more detailed information about their race, population, and history.
• Assembly space is expanded to include the changeling territories.

304 ATA

• The Sentinel Rebellion begins: Shortly after the changeling's acceptance onto the Assembly a renegade faction strikes at their own homeworld. The Sentinels declare themselves free of their changeling brethren and unbound by the restrictions put in place by the Assembly.

308 ATA

• The Sentinel Rebellion ends: The changelings manage to put down the rebellion with the help of Assembly resources. The Sentinels disband as a military insurgency and are outlawed as an organisation, with known members being hunted down/kept under surveillance by changeling security services.

410 ATA

• A deep-space survey expedition disappears near the Acheron system after having observed an unknown race on one of its planets (the last record mentions "Phantom" genes).

430 ATA

• Kiith Kohath is assembled.

461 ATA

• The Cyborg race appears: After many centuries of silence from the AI sent into deep space, a terran reconnaissance team is pulled out of a jump on their way to Lost Ramos. A huge moving space station (Korxonthos) populated by millions of mechanical animates and cyborgs and accompanied by a huge fleet warns the team not to continue to Lost Ramos. The reconnaissance team refuses to listen and re-engage their jump engines. No one ever hears from the team again.

497 ATA

• The Insectoid race appears: A young race with only two colonies in Melgaria Prime is discovered to have traveled beyond their own system when observed by ercinean scientists. While no verbal contact can be made, the insectoids are observed for 6 months, after which their population is estimated at a mere 10 million individuals.

500 ATA

• The Assembly relaxes the restraint on Terran military strength in recognition of the fact that the Terrans can no longer adequately defend their expanded territory. The Terrans duly begin to build up their forces, but continued tension with the Templars means the bulk of their deployment is restricted to the territories around Modeus.
• The Nexus Massacre takes place.

621 ATA

• Formal first contact occurs between the Ercineans and the collective Insectoid colonies of Melgaria Prime.

680 ATA

• Praetorius is assembled.

707 ATA

• The Assembly's observers are no longer able to give an accurate estimate of the insectoid population. Every single system near Melgaria Prime has been densely colonized by the insectoids and a new flying breed called Acarids.
• Saephir is born.

715 ATA

• Concerned by the rapidly growing population of insectoids and acarids, the giants decide to close their borders on that side of their territory.

901 ATA

• Selina Kronosius is hatched.

915 ATA

• Dolos is assembled.

936 ATA

• Lau Lawinson is born.

945 ATA

• Ongoing neglect by the Terran government leads to growing dissent among the outlying terran colonies, who feel they are not being adequately protected. The various colony militias, always present in fact if not in name, begin to organize officially, provoking reprimands and sanctions from Modeus, which are largely ignored since they are unenforceable.

947 ATA

• Saul Mendieta is born.

949 ATA

• Commander Esther Montford, a retired Terran naval officer, assumes de facto command of the Oceanhill colonial militia. She begins to expand her forces, recruiting personnel and requisitioning ships and arms from the other colonies with the stated goal of building a force that can adequately defend all the colony systems. Within five years, "Montford's Marauders" have assimilated all the local militias and become an effective, disciplined, and battle-tested armed force.

950 ATA

• Sofia Stecchi is born.

955 ATA

• The Neomorph race and Champion race appear: A nomadic race called the neomorphs appear aboard an extensive fleet near Polihandreon. With them they have a genetically altered sub-race, brethren they call champions. First contact with them indicates that they have arrived (possibly fled) from another galaxy. Due to their very specific dietary requirements they can't settle in Polihandreon or any other nearby system.
• It turns out that neomorph ships are highly maneuverable and capable of FTL velocities at least two times faster than those achievable with the technology of any other known race.
• The neomorphs are soon recognized as having some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy, and neomorph tech becomes a coveted rarity on both the open and black markets.

• Timo Honold is born.

958 ATA

• The Oceanhill Incident takes place and The Marauder faction appears: Ongoing efforts by the Terran government to quell the activities of Esther Montford's forces continue to cause internal conflict within the Terran civilization. Attempts to disband the Marauders by force backfire disastrously when the landing of troops on Thalassa causes a civil uprising in Oceanhill, Sol Deuterion, and half a dozen other colony systems. The timing of the operation proves equally disastrous, as the populace of the colonies wields the power of their democratic rights in the congressional elections a week later by refusing to vote for any candidate to represent them. With forty percent of the congressional seats unelected, no party or coalition can form a government, and a constitutional impasse arises.
• In the wake of the election, Montford acts. After close consultation with Oceanhill's governor, she deploys her entire command to the system, declares martial law and her intent to create a new terran state. She dispatches the governor, Jorge Oliveira, to the Assembly with a request for arbitration, and the resulting negotiations lead to the recognition of the Commonwealth of Free Terran States as a state, with a government seated in the newly colonized Sol Deuterion system.
• Due to escalating pressure on the Assembly borders and a desire to retain a degree of control, the Marauders are accepted onto the Assembly in a matter of months.

961 ATA

• Shan'Chael is born.

968 ATA

• After 13 years of searching the neomorphs find the first system that they can colonize (Nomius).
• Wai-Mei Xox is born.

969 ATA

• Tamal Nasiri is born.

970 ATA

• Gina Bell is born.
• Thaddeus Jones is born.

973 ATA

• Jennifer Bronwen is born.

977 ATA

• Darya Solinas is born.

978 ATA

• Laenan Estris is born.

979 ATA

• Orden Snake-Eyes is born.

981 ATA

• Keera Naraymis is born.

988 ATA

• The Reaver faction appears: After locating a series of potential colonization targets near Lost Ramos the neomorphs send a dreadnought to explore, and, if viable, seed a new colony. A cyborg fleet intercepts the colonists and with their previous failure to dissuade the Terrans in mind, the Legislature orders an attempt to board the dreadnought in order to prevent it from continuing towards the outer rim. The neomorph crew, mistaking the cyborgs' intent, fights to the last being to prevent the boarding, and sabotages the ship when they cannot prevail, killing everyone aboard along with the thousands of eggs in cryostorage intended for colonization. The mass loss of life presents a paradox with their core programming that the Legislature debates internally. Caught in an unresolvable dilemma, the Legislature fractures. Three dissenting platforms withdraw from the Synergy, running a series of infiltration programs that rewrites the core directives in one-third of the animates on Korxonthos. The corrupted platforms depart en masse, forming a new faction.
• Mercer Darkstar is assembled.

991 ATA

• Several ercinean freighters report reavers raiding their outposts leaving nothing of organic or material value behind.  
• Jennifer Bronwen enlists in the Marauder Marine Corps.  

992 ATA

• The Wraith race appears: Signs of a new evolution, termed Wraiths, within in the Phantom race are discovered through the cyborg's long-distance observation outposts. Nothing can be confirmed by contact, as there are no return signals from outer rim explorers or outposts.

• A mixed-species pirate clan called the Hellfires (originated from Vexation) captures several planets in Hydatus Teign.

993 ATA

• The Hellfire Campaign begins: The Assembly dispatches a fleet under the command of the neutral Admiral Kohath to liberate the Hellfire-controlled planets in Hydatus Teign. The pirates are dealt with through a series of decisive but hard fought engagements and Hydatus Teign comes under Assembly control.
• Sanctuary space is established: The Hellfire campaign marks the first time the Assembly has taken control of a system as a unified body, it's established as sanctuary space directly under the law of the Assembly with no single-species government involvement.
• The ercineans develop a method to restore atmospheres to already dead or dying planets.

994 ATA

• Keera Naraymis leaves home to attend university on Eva Amarian in the Eva Arielle system.

995 ATA

• The Hellfire Campaign ends: Unnerved by the Hellfires' ongoing capability to wage large-scale war an Assembly expedition fleet with Admiral Kohath in command is sent to Vexation to investigate. Here it's discovered that the Hellfires have gained control of a synthesize platform that is used to bolster their forces. A short battle occurs followed by the destruction of the platform and the rest of the pirates' flight.

996 ATA

• Limited in their colonization options the Neomorphs finally find new systems to colonize (Valhalla and Mendillo). However the Giants (also limited in potential colonies) have already stationed outposts in both systems in preparation for colonization.
• Seeing the potential conflict the Assembly offers both races seats in the Assembly, but only the neomorphs accept.
•  After two further failed attempts at getting the Giants to join the Assembly, the Assembly decides to invite the Insectoids to join the Assembly as well, in order to extend the borders of the Assembly space to include the Giants' territory and thereby indirectly influence them. The templars object to the addition of both races, but are overruled by the majority.  

997 ATA

• The Mendillo Conflict begins: The giants begin to colonize Valhalla and Mendillo without warning. Concerned about the situation the neomorphs hastily deploy their forces in Mendillo to grab the system for themselves. A few skirmishes occur without any decisive outcome. After several abortive encounters, Kiith Kohath is employed by the neomorphs to develop and train their forces.
• Keera Naraymis joins the changeling Diplomatic Service, and after a few immersion missions, is posted to Geonova to begin her long-term infiltration of the Marauder government.

999 ATA

• Outlying Terran and Marauder colonies begin to experience the first Reaver raids.
• The events of Conflagration take place.

The war of the Burning Suns (1000 ATA - ?)

An all consuming conflict that threatens to engulf the entire galaxy in war. 

Following contains spoilers for Burning Suns - Conflagration

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