THE UNIVERSE STORY
Early Space
Exploration (2100-2252)
In the year 2178, humanity finally succeeded to travel long distances in
space due to the invention of Fulcrum Jump technology. Fulcrum Jump devices
could fold space across two points, allowing spacecraft to travel rapidly
across vast distances. This quickly resulted in the colonization of much of
the Sol sector, including the gas giant Jupiter, which was colonized by
building stations just above its atmosphere. Most larger countries on Earth
formed an alliance that united for the pursuit of space exploration in an effort to avoid war in space. The new faction was named the Terran Alliance.
Over several decades, the Terran Alliance expanded their exploration efforts
many light years away from Earth. They reached the Orion sector in 2205. In
2207, the first drones were sent to the Orion sector to begin building
Fulcrum Gates there.
The Orion sector was quickly colonized and the Alliance declared it part of
its territory. However, unrest about the Alliance control started to rise
with one of the colonies of the Orion sector. The colony separated from the
Alliance over what they viewed were their rights of exploration and
ownership of systems they settled. They wanted exclusive colonial control
over planets and systems they lived in, inluding the abundant resources they
provided. This led to political disagreements and increasing hostilities.
Several other neighboring colonies decided to unite for the same reasons and
formed the Colonial Federation around 2229. But it wasn't until about a
dozen different colony groups formed together in the mid 30's that the
Federation truly became a united faction.
Some colonies refused to unite with either the Alliance or the Federation.
This lead to a number of 'Rogue' clans and the conflicts that followed began
an arms race with the development of the first true space-optimized weapons.
Rogue clans wanted the resourses in the Orion sector and often attacked
indiscriminately in their efforts. Attacks from Rogue clans became weekly
news and colonies often spent much of their time defending their interests.
The threat from Rogue clans eventually started to spread back to territory
firmly in Alliance control. Over the next several decades, several conflicts
occured in the Orion sector and Sol sector. But a greater threat was growing
involving the Alliance and Federation.
Initially, the Alliance did little to keep colonial territories in their
control, since the disputed areas of space were too remote to risk devoting
so many resources to confronting the distant rebellion... it left the
majority of Alliance space in the region vulnerable to attack. The
Federation took advantage of the situation and quickly expanded its empire
to neighboring solar systems. As territorial and political disputes
continued to increase as each side claimed ownership of newly discovered
regions, threats eventually lead to conflicts which eventually lead to war.
By the mid-50's, the Alliance-Federation war had begun and continued until
the early 70's. Although no formal declaration of war or peace was ever
made, both sides eventually haulted aggressive military actions and agreed
to keep their distance from each other.
Rise of the
Mercenaries (2220-2300)
The increasing
threat from Rogue clans against the Federation and Alliance resulted in new
opportunities for lone spacecraft pilots. Some were retired fighter pilots,
others adventurous explorers. They privately owned their own spacecraft and
made their living on providing services to anyone willing to pay. As
conflicts increased, so did the need for outside help and this group of
independent pilots willing to provide assistance eventually became known as
'Mercenaries'. Initially, they numbered in the hundreds, but as word spread
of high pay for risky work, their numbers quickly grew into the thousands.
Mercenaries became known for the effectiveness, often taking chances
military forces refused while commanding customized ships that were better
suited to certain challenges.
With the independence of Mercenaries also came risks of unreliability
and loyalty. So to improve their reputation, the Mercenaries voluntarily
formed the 'Mercenaries Guild'. The Guild was a network of leadership
spanning numerous systems where Mercenaries operated. They established
operational guidelines and technological standards, one of which included
the incorporation of tracking devices in every spacecraft, station, city,
and carrier where Mercenaries operated. When a Mercenary failed to follow a
rule or complete an objective, it would be recorded on their permanent
record. With no escape from the reputations Mercenaries earned for
themselves, a code of honor and standards quickly formed. Mercenaries soon
became a dependable option for civilian and military factions in need of
their services.
The Lexington
(2254-2284)
In 2245, the Alliance built the first super carrier in secret at the Enigma
Asteroid base. The ship was kept classified for nearly a decade while tests
were conducted on its new mobile long range Fulcrum Drive and advanced
weapon systems. Few knew of the Lexington project until the year 2254.
At the same time, the Alliance also started building other large combat
carriers named Bismarck, Zenith and Victory, which would be completed by
2259. The Lexington and its crew was credited as being one of the primary
reasons the Alliance-Federation war eventually ceased by the 70's. Its
overwhelming firepower and squadron carrying capacity made it a virtually
unstoppable force in the later years of the war. After a massive battle in
2272 involving roughly 10 squadrons of fighters and nearly a dozen capital
ships, the Lexington proved it could defeat whatever the Federation had in
its fleet. Recognizing the futility of engaging the Lexington, the
Federation began to back down from its aggressive actions following this
battle. By 2277, the war had effectively ended in favor of the Alliance.
These struggles of the war lead to new research into spacecraft fighter
technology. A new all-purpose fighter/bomber craft was introduced in 2278,
the F-144A StarWraith. Several advancements were made on this new fighter,
ranging from the original A type up through the last E version introduced in
2285. During the same time, they also developed the Raven, Shadow, Quasar
and Lamprey.
The Federation also advanced their spacecraft technology with the
development of the Vengeance and the Richton class battle carriers along
with the UFA-80 fighter.
Enigma (2285-2287)
In 2285, the Federation's flagship, the Richton, was mysteriously attacked
and destroyed while on route to a peaceful colony establishment meeting. The
ship was carrying many elite political and military leaders of the
Federation. Because the ship was so heavily armed making it nearly
impossible to destroy and was so close to Alliance space, the Federation
blamed Alliance forces for the ship's destruction. The Alliance denied the
accusations and pleaded for an immediate investigation. War was immediately
declared by the Federation and the forces of the Alliance were dispatched to
secure the borders from attack. Mostly minor engagements took place over the
next two years with little or no casualties, neither side seemed willing to
fully engage in battle as what had been so destructive in the previous war.
As forces from both sides spread into the Orion system, the Alliance battle
carrier Becker approached from the nearby Rucker Asteroid field.
The Becker was attacked on April 14, 2287. It was apparently destroyed in a
matter of a few seconds, something Alliance intelligence believed would be
impossible for any Federation force to accomplish. Rumors began to spread
about a 'super weapon' being used by one of the rogue clans, but no evidence
could support the theory. 48 hours after the attack, several Wraith pilots
from the Becker who were on patrol and survived the attack arrived at the
nearby AH-104 starbase. They reported seeing a massive dark gray vessel that
attacked the Becker from the side.
They also reported that the vessel fired a series of energy blasts before
the Becker was destroyed. The weapon used was apparently powerful enough to
penetrate both the shields of the carrier and the heavy armor plating. The
end result was the Becker blew apart with no chance to respond.
The mystery of the Becker's destruction and continuing reports of Federation
casualties had raised suspicions of a new faction with advanced technology.
The Lexington, flagship of the Alliance and veteran of the
Alliance-Federation war, had been dispatched to the Orion system to
investigate and hold back any advancing Federation forces.
It turned out the Federation was sustaining significant casualties from
attacks by an unidentified force. Over the following weeks, information
about an highly-developed, alien race started to reach Alliance Intelligence
and after joining forces with clans from the Alpha Centauri system, they
decided to counter the attack.
The Alien race was dubbed the Vonari and they seemed capable of destroying
entire carriers in a single salvo. Their main-fighter, dubbed the A-50,
could overpower the Star Wraith and the UFA-80. The Vonari made a push for
Earth itself on July 1st, 2287. Earth's Naval forces intercepted the Vonari
attack force, which consisted of numerous large ships matching the
description of the spacecraft that attacked the Becker.
In a massive battle, two Lamprey pilots escorted by a wing of StarWraiths
succeeded in reaching a Vonari vessel and planted several hull charges. The
hull charges proved effective and four explosions rocked the dark vessel and
tore it apart. The explosion was large enough to also destroy the
surrounding vessels flying in close formation.
Reviction (2288)
After sustaining losses against the Vonari in Orion, Rucker, Deneb, and
Sierra, the success of Earth's defense finally gave the Navy much needed
time to regroup and redesign many technologies to confront the new alien
threat. Humanity knew it was just a matter of time before the Vonari would
strike again, and next time, they would have the advantage of knowing our
capabilities. So Alliance Command decided to maximize whatever time remained
to transform the military to a technology level capable of resisting any
future attacks. At the top of the priority list was the Star Wraith space
superiority fighter, which would receive several improvements to its weapon
systems and shielding.
On 12 October of the year 2288, during a routine patrol, the Lexington was
attacked by a Vonari capital ship. The Lexington had no time to launch
fighters to defend itself and a nearby patrolling squadron of F-144E's (80th
Squadron) was too far away to come to the ship's defense. The Lexington was
quickly torn apart by the destructive energy blast of the Vonari ship. The
80th Wraith Squadron returned to find only debris remaining.
Shortly after the attack on the Lexington, Alliance and Federation forces
agreed to a cease-fire. The Vonari had advanced very rapidly, and the civil
war between the Alliance and Federation had left both sides unprepared for
the new threat. They joined together to fight against the Vonari.
Riftspace
(2274-2288)
An ancient Vonari artifact was discovered in December 2287, telling a story
of an outsider who would find a paradise world hidden in a realm called
'RiftSpace'. The outsider would come from a distant place and posses great
wealth and powerful machines to find the planet which would bring safety to
a dying race.
Groups from several systems hunted for the paradise planet in RiftSpace. In
their search, another artifact was found near the planet Sierra B. This
became universe-wide news and the hunt for RiftSpace started to grow. A
series of artifacts were eventually discovered and one ambitious searcher
was able to locate a final artifact and decode its message. The message lead
him to the planet of Thuban, where he found what looked like a sparkling
point of light in open space. It activated as he approached and transported
him to the planet in RiftSpace referred to in the original message. However,
Vonari ‘guardians’ referred to in the story were also there and attacked the
mercenary as soon as he arrived. The mercenary was successful at defeating
the Vonari ships.
Evochron
(2288-present)
In November of 2288, the Alliance discovered a new system that included an
Earth-like planet. Although lifeless, the world had an abundant supply of
water along with the right gravity and atmospheric conditions for
terraforming. The planet was named 'Sapphire' after its brillant coloring
and nearby solar system were linked together through a network of jump
gates. The entire quadrant of space was then named after the exploration
satellite that discovered the central solar system, Evochron.
The Beacon Trail (
2408 - 2415 )
After nearly ten years, a shocking discovery was made on Sapphire. An object
emitting an encrypted message was located partially buried in the terrain.
The object was declared harmless by the guilds, and was confirmed to be
created by the Renegades after their downfall in late 2363. Several
mercenaries believed the beacon to be the first in a trail and embarked on a
quest to find others, none of them returned. Interest in the beacon quickly
fell as no explorers seemed willing to risk the same fate for a hypothetical
treasure.
In 2407, a lone mercenary embarked on a journey to uncover the secret of the
beacon and succeeded in finding a Fulcrum Gate that lead to the Riftspace
system. Surprisingly, he found it filled with Renegade forces. In a beacon
communication, Michael Garrett explained that Riftspace was attacked and any
resistance soon crumbled against the might and numbers of Renegade forces.
Bitterly, he added that requested Alliance backup never showed up, although
they had promised reinforcements, namely the battle carrier Phantom. His
communication ended with Michael hoping that they would make it back to the
Fulcrum Gate. Whether he made it is unknown. The mentioning of the Phantom
implies that the recording was made directly prior to the Arvoch conflict -
most likely in December 2407.
The Arvoch Conflict
( 2402-2408 )
The Arvoch Conflict started on January 7, 2402, when Federation forces threw
up blockades in the Evochron sector, leading to renewed tensions between
Alliance and Federation. The Alliance dispatched the experimental Phantom
carrier and large numbers of the new Wraith and Evoch fighters to control
the situation. They uncovered a Vonari influence in the battle after the
first two weeks of the conflict. The Vonari invaded the Evochron sector once
more and this time, they succeeded in progressing rapidly even with the
resistance of the Alliance. The Phantom, however, proved effective.
Acquiring victory after victory, it turned out to be the key factor in
winning the war.
In late February 2408, a fighter squadron of the Phantom succeeded in
locating and obtaining a powerful Vonari weapon, an upgraded version of the
weapon the Vonari tried to use against Earth. Using the wormhole in Pisces,
humanity attempted to retake the Arvoch system from Vonari control. Final
messages from the carrier's transmitted activity log indicate the crew
attempted to activate the Vonari weapon. The fate of the carrier was unknown.
Significant Events
By 2288, humanity controlled 3 primary regions: Sol , Orion, and Evochron.
The Aros Assault was and is described in any modern History book, both
Alliance and Federation. The Alliance built a monument at the former
location of the Aros base on Jupiter in 2260.
In memory of the Lexington and it's crew, a monument was built in
Washington, where it firmly stands since it was presented on October 12th,
2289.
The Enigma squadron returned to their starbase near the Orion Nebula. They
would remain there until it was turned into an research station.
The Federation Flagship Richton is remembered yearly in Federation space and
also has a memorial monument. 2 minutes of silence is held every 21st of May
at 2:41PM UST.
The chain of natural wormholes in the Evochron sector was named the 'highway'.
The solar systems nearby were named the "Quay's".
Many Rogue clans now live mostly in exile at secret locations. Rumors
indicate that larger clans have hidden bases throughout Evochron.
The Orion Sector has remained an unstable location in human space.
RiftSpace remained a neutral, hidden paradise until early in the 24th
century, when suddenly, it would become the central point of numerous wars
and conflicts.
In early February 2292, Dr. Adam Shefeld developed a new warp device that
could open a temporary fulcrum field pathway capable of transporting an
entire ship from one region of space to another without the need for a
receiving gate. This was revolutionary and his technology was built into one
specific gate, the so-called Shefeld Gate near the Rucker asteroid field.
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