What Is Star Conquest?
Star Conquest is a text-based roleplaying game with a pulp science fiction theme, drawing influences from 50s/60s-era space age optimism and space opera. Players in Star Conquest take on the role of civilian starship pilots, and can expect to encounter many varieties of heroes and villains, humans and aliens, and new and strange technologies as the game's story advances. We aim to hold a major event that moves the plot forward every one to two weeks, in addition to numerous minor events in between. We strongly emphasize roleplaying, and we're willing to interact with players on an individual basis for an immersive experience.
Star Conquest's history diverges from our own in the 1970s, with all Apollo moon landings being completed as originally scheduled. NASA is then petitioned by the public to continue exploring the solar system and to abandon its near-Earth shuttle program. By the 1990s, space technology is booming and other projects (most notably information technology) have been shoved aside. Thematically, Star Conquest projects the space age of the 1950s forward 300 years from our present time, creating a universe with ray guns (in the form of sonic weaponry), lasers, vast space stations, mysterious aliens, and space itself always just a quick hop away. Things that weren't imagined in the 50s and 60s, like our vast advances in computing and the existence of the internet, have no place in the Star Conquest world.
Star Conquest has four alliances that players can initially join.
Alliance of Extrasolar Unions, or AEU
Summary: The AEU is an alliance with high ideals and a thirst for exploration and discovery. They are not known for their fighting prowess, and their starships in battle often take a support role. Their sensory and spacedrive technology are superior.
History: Between the years 2142 and 2165, the members of the United Nations on Earth combined their efforts and settled a number of colony worlds. The first of these was also one of the most lush planets ever settled, and became known as New Earth. The effort ended abruptly in 2165, when the space development bubble suddenly burst, sending Earth into a worldwide depression. Without resupply or even much in the way of contact, the colony worlds were left to fend for themselves. In 2186, the colonies recognized their common interests by forming the first multi-world government, known as the Alliance of Extrasolar Unions. The homeworld did not take well to their news, and by 2188, a desire to assert control became the impetus for Earth's return to space. By 2194, this tension had exploded into the first interstellar war, subsequently won by the AEU. In 2197, the AEU became the first recognized sovereign interstellar government.
League of Old Earth Democracies, or League
Summary: The League is an old government, tracing its roots back to the members of the United Nations on Earth. For this reason, corruption has taken hold in many aspects of the League government. Despite this, the League remains strong, and is renowned for its skill in trading and shipbuilding. The League builds the most durable ships, often carefully balancing between offensive and defensive capability.
History: By 2165, the United Nations on Earth had each expended their resources on expansion into space, and the bottom abruptly dropped out of their economies. Full recovery took almost 20 years, and was not complete until the prospect of war against the newly-formed Alliance of Extrasolar Unions spurred a return to space. Unfortunately, Earth lost this war within three years, and faith in the United Nations governments continued to decline. Seizing the moment, the Hispanic bloc was elected into power and quickly instituted a series of reforms. By 2200, the Earth governments were newly reformed into the League of Old Earth Democracies, an interstellar government ironically modeled after the AEU. Though the balance of power has shifted several times since then, the government itself has endured, and has successfully retained control over Old Earth's few remaining extrasolar colonies.
Confederation of Fringe Worlds, or Fringe
Summary: The Fringe Worlds are not a wealthy alliance, but they make up for it with hardiness and ferocity in battle. Led by a dictator who came to power in a military coup, and who has a rather forgiving attitude toward piracy, the Fringe is not the most stable government but it has nonetheless endured many hardships.
History: In 2209, the League of Old Earth Democracies had formed in the wake of global depression on Old Earth. The world government, dominated at this time by the Hispanic bloc, launched a new expansion into space, settling many colony worlds. But in 2233, the effort ended abruptly as the American/European bloc again strove to assert its dominance. With a newly unsympathetic government in place on the homeworld, the colony worlds drew together, forming an interstellar government known as the Confederation of Fringe Worlds and declaring their independence. The League predictably responded by launching an attack, but the Fringe Worlds, despite their scant resources, responded with unexpected ferocity. When the AEU sided with the new government in 2242, the war was all but won. In 2245, the Fringe Worlds were formally recognized as a sovereign interstellar government.
Sovereign Mutuality of Disparate Freemen, or Mutuality
Summary: The Mutuality is by far the newest alliance, only recognized in 2306. With a fierce independent streak and a difficult existence on the edge of Known Space, its members are known for a no-nonsense attitude, a resentment of control, and a strong will to survive.
History: Throughout the history of the AEU, League, and Fringe, there were many people who ventured away from their homeworlds not just seeking profit, but also independence. Renouncing their citizenship and retreating into uncharted space, these people lived difficult but often satisfying lives on antique starships and unstable space stations. They eventually formed into clans and alliances, with constantly shifting allegiances, but to the people back in charted space, they all were known only as "the unregistered." In 2306, with the Outsider War raging, the alliances gained the unexpected help of several unregistered clans and cartels, who had banded together in order to conduct the war. Grateful for the assistance, the alliances quickly recognized this group as a sovereign government, which began calling itself the Sovereign Mutuality of Disparate Freemen. Unfortunately, much of this gratitude dissipated when the Mutuality retreated before the end of the war, but it is still recognized as an alliance in its own right.
For more information on Star Conquest, both its background and events that players actually experienced during the game, please read the detailed timelines below.
Timeline: From Earth to the Stars
This timeline tells the story of humanity's transition into space, and from single-nation governments to alliances of worlds that stretch across lightyears.
- 1945 - 1969 - In the wake of a worldwide war, rocket engineering suddenly emerges as a new way for nations to prove their power. Two nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, quickly race to prove their superiority over one another with ever more audacious missions in space. The moon becomes the unofficial finish line.
- 1969 - Humanity reaches Earth's moon for the first time, two American astronauts landing and staying for only a few hours.
- 1969-1975 - Moon landing missions proceed as planned, with only one (fortunately non-fatal) failure. The American space program turns its attention toward developing a near-Earth shuttle.
- 1975 - With the public dissatisfied with missions in Earth orbit and clamoring for more exploration, the United States and the Soviet Union agree to schedule joint missions to the moon.
- 1975 - 1985 - Space funding ramps up yet again. Several other projects are quietly cancelled, including ARPANET and a separate initiative being pushed by one Seymour Cray.
- 1985 - 1995 - Many moon landings take place, each setting new records for duration and area explored.
- 1995 - 2005 - Many ambitious missions in space are planned and executed. The space industry remains the fastest growing field.
- 2005 - Moonbase Mir is established, jointly owned by the Russian and American space programs. Within a year, the facility is being manned permanently.
- 2012 - With great fanfare and many references to a past Kennedy speech, the American president announces plans to land a joint mission on Mars within a decade.
- 2022 - Humanity succeeds in landing on Mars, barely hitting the self-imposed deadline.
- 2033 - A tiny wormhole is opened for .039 seconds in a California lab. Theorists suspect that a wormhole can directly connect two arbitrary points in space, but they must be held open with "negative matter," which has yet to be actually observed.
- 2039 - The moon has now been settled permanently by several nations. Atmospheric generators begin the process of terraforming.
- 2044 - A laboratory working in materials science manages to produce both antimatter and negative matter.
- 2047 - Using a ring of injected negmatter, a wormhole is opened long enough to transport a single atom
over several feet.
- 2054 - Much as the moon was, Mars has now been settled permanently. Using the knowledge gained from the moon project, terraforming begins promptly.
- 2059 - A sublight flight to Alpha Centauri, carrying a crew of 12, is launched.
- 2069 - Humanity reaches Alpha Centauri.
- 2071 - A wormhole transports a tiny steel ball bearing over five miles, shattering previous records for distance.
- 2075 - The first FTL communication system is developed, using wormholes kept constantly opened between two points.
- 2084 - A Chinese lab discovers a method of inducing temporary paralysis using carefully tuned sonics.
- 2090 - A wormhole transports a live mouse, proving that instantaneous transport is harmless to living flesh.
- 2094 - A second flight to Alpha Centauri is launched, carrying a large crew on a much faster ship, though the flight is still sublight.
- 2096 - While various ethics committees debate the issue, a scientist goes ahead and transports herself via wormhole.
- 2098 - Wormholes declared to be safe for humans, with no short- or long-term effects evident.
- 2099 - The second arrival at Alpha Centauri. This second flight brought a wormhole generator, and small objects
and messages are transported via wormholes to and from Earth. The wormholes generated, unfortunately, are too small to carry people.
- 2101 - China develops its sonic subduing technology into a hand weapon. Other nations begin to develop the same type of weaponry.
- 2105 - Terrorists smuggle a large wormhole generator into Los Angeles. They open the wormhole's opposite end into space, and atmosphere promptly disappears for a radius of several blocks, killing hundreds, until the shoddy machine abruptly breaks down. Seeing the danger, wormhole generators above a certain size are almost immediately banned from operation within an atmosphere.
- 2117 - A manufacturer discovers a means of quickly and cheaply producing exotic matter.
- 2122 - Terraforming of the moon has been completed, the atmosphere requiring constant maintenance, but breathable.
- 2133 - After many years of painstaking design and testing, a prototype ship with a self-contained wormhole generator manages to transport itself instantaneously to Jupiter and back.
- 2135 - With a joint initiative from the United Nations members, a starship program is launched. The first few missions are a return to Alpha Centauri, but more ambitious exploring is planned. Talk begins of settling other solar systems.
- 2138 - Scientists develop a "reactionless drive" as another application of negmatter, greatly increasing sublight travel speeds.
- 2142-2165 - The UN exploration program continues to grow. Colonization efforts also begin, and several extrasolar planets are settled. Notably among these is New Earth.
- 2153 - With an unparalleled level of international cooperation taking place, the UN resolves to make Esperanto the official language of Earth for greater ease of communication. Within a decade, every child in an industrialized country is able to speak the language.
- 2165 - With many nations having poured a startling amount of resources into the colonization program, and with many of their best engineers now on other planets, the space boom abruptly ends. Nation after nation falls into a sudden depression.
- 2169 - The UN is forced to cease resupply flights to the colonies, except the nearest one in Alpha Centauri.
- 2183 - After many hardships, and a few colonies dying out completely, the remaining colonies finally stabilize and find themselves able to slowly expand.
- 2186 - Recognizing their common interests, the colonies (except for Alpha Centauri) form the Alliance of Extrasolar Unions, a government designed as an alliance of sovereign worlds.
- 2188 - With Old Earth's pride at its lowest and its confidence greatly shaken, there is an increasing clamor to go to war and win the colonies back. The United Nations begin to recover from the depression as they gear up for interstellar war.
- 2192 - AEU explorers find a set of mysterious objects that are clearly not of human origin. They become known simply as The Artifacts. Little else can be determined about them.
- 2194 - The UN of Old Earth suddenly launches its war effort. The AEU, forewarned and prepared, meets the Earther fleets in battle and struggles for its independence.
- 2197 - Interstellar war proves too difficult for the United Nations to maintain. Reluctantly, Old Earth withdraws its forces and agrees to recognize the AEU as a sovereign government.
- 2199 - The Torus, a large floating space station which appears to be of the same origin as the Artifacts, is discovered by the AEU.
- 2200 - On Old Earth, with the United Nations reeling, the Hispanic bloc seizes the moment and is elected into power, quickly instituting a series of reforms ironically modeled after the AEU's own government. By the end of the year, the UN has been remade into an interstellar-style government, known as the League of Old Earth Democracies.
- 2202 - First contact with the Galactic Egalitarian Alliance of Sentients occurs. A text-only message is received, inviting representatives of humanity to the Torus. Representatives from the AEU and League are sent, and are confused to find the Torus abandoned yet with life support systems running.
- 2204 - A second text-only message from the Galactic EAOS invites a small selection of humans (mostly scientists and philosophers) to form their own human chapter of the EAOS. These people move to the Torus permanently and quickly create their own set of laws. Thus a third alliance is formed.
- 2209-2233 - The League begins a new colonization initiative, settling a series of star systems well away from territory held by the AEU.
- 2219 - The League Shipyards are completed in order to construct larger, better starships to support the colonization effort.
- 2233 - On Old Earth, the American/European power bloc stages a (mostly) bloodless coup, deposing the Hispanic bloc. Many ongoing initiatives are cancelled, including the colonization effort.
- 2236 - With an unsympathetic, unsupportive government now in place on Old Earth, the newest colonies, still barely self-sufficient, draw together in order to ensure their own survival. The Confederation of Fringe Worlds is founded.
- 2238 - The Fringe Worlds formally declare their lack of ties of the League and their existence as a sovereign alliance of worlds. The League, predictably, responds by launching an attack.
- 2242 - The war is dragging on, with the Fringe Worlds exhibiting an unexpected fierceness in battle. Hoping to draw the war to a swifter, less deadly close, the AEU enters the war on the side of the Fringe.
- 2245 - League forces withdraw from Fringe space, agreeing to recognize the new alliance.
- 2246 - The EAOS, appalled at the levels of mortality in the recent war, make two declarations: first, they will take military action against any alliance which uses deadly hand weapons in space. Second, they will fully subsidize any person or company that can submit a design for a failure-proof rescue system in the event a starship is destroyed.
- 2247 - An engineer, one Edward Masterson, submits a design for a "rescue pod" system for starships. The EAOS, keeping to their agreement, provides the funds for Masterson to create his own shipbuilding company.
- 2248 - The AEU is making significant income from space salvage. To increase its revenue, it agrees to allow private, properly licensed citizens to own and operate starships. These citizen pilots can make significant income, even though fully 95% of it is taxed by their alliance.
- 2250 - As thousands of citizen pilots flock to space, Masterson's Intersector Shipbuilding Company emerges as the premier shipbuilder.
- 2252 - The Fringe quickly follows suit, though these citizens are less interested in making money peacefully, and more interested in pirating successful AEU ships.
- 2254 - With tensions rising, AEU military forces attack a gathering of Fringe citizen pilots, believed to be active pirates, in one of the Fringe's populated star systems. The Fringe lodges a formal protest, but the level of piracy drops for the time being.
- 2260 - The League, following the example of the AEU and Fringe, begins to produce ships for private citizens.
- 2265 - With relatively few debris-heavy sectors having been charted and provided with a beacon (a device that allows FTL-capable ships to immediately locate the sector), competition for space salvage grows fiercer as space fills with privately-owned starships. Soon, the flitter emerges as the most popular ship, as a balance between a small warship and a cargo ship.
- 2267 - The EAOS, interested in providing a haven for harried starship pilots, declares two sectors to be free from any violence, again backing this up with the threat of military force.
- 2268 - The EAOS launches its own program of private starship ownership. As its own people tend to be of a purely intellectual bent, it seeks to induct pilots from other alliances.
- 2269 - It is noticed that a great many citizen pilots are dropping off the radar, both figuratively and literally. Eventually it is determined that many pilots are striking out on their own, independent from their alliance, and finding a new life on the very fringes of Known Space. These pilots and their unknown numbers of family members become known as "unregistered."
- 2270 - Though the League economy is held afloat by the success of the Intersector Shipbuilding Company, it finds its revenues suffering due to a lack of planetary colonies. The government begins weighing its options.
- 2272 - The League declares the Fringe Worlds government invalid, citing contracts signed by the captains of each colonization starship back when the planets were first settled. The League launches a war effort.
- 2274 - The Fringe world Campeche is held under seige by League.
- 2275 - The EAOS unexpectedly intervenes, freeing Campeche. The League opens another front against the EAOS, but is startled and unsettled by the strange technology of EAOS starships. After a bare two months, the League signs a treaty with the EAOS.
- 2276 - The war between the League and Fringe Worlds ends. The League is again forced to recognize the sovereignity of the Fringe government.
- 2277 - A group of citizen pilots, now known as the Centauri Seven, use their vast wealth to buy every fusion reactor available in Outland City, and sell them at a much inflated price. When the pilots are successful in their scheme, other pilot groups in other alliances begin running rampant, doing much the same on planets all across Known Space. The problem remains greatest in the economically challenged League.
- 2278 - With the League economy weakened and tensions still high all around, the AEU sees an opportunity and launches a war effort against the League.
- 2280 - With private pilots seemingly more interested in their moneymaking schemes than supporting the war effort, cities begin to respond by banning pilots from entering at all, or at least selling products at greatly inflated prices. This soon becomes a policy widespread across all of Known Space. Private pilots begin to be thought of as rather unsavory characters. Membership in the pilot leagues dwindles, while more pilots disappear and become "unregistered."
- 2281 - AEU forces gather in Alpha Centauri, preparing for a massive push for Old Earth itself.
- 2282 - EAOS forces unexpectedly appear, entering the war on the side of the League. They drive the AEU ships from Alpha Centauri.
- 2283 - The AEU's interest in the war effort wanes. A treaty with the League is signed. It has become evident that the EAOS have taken a role as peacemaker.
- 2285 - In the wake of a rise of pirate activity, the Fringe Worlds are reprimanded for secretly promoting pirate factions.
- 2287 - Levels of membership in the pilot leagues have largely stabilized. Citizen pilots are still regarded mostly negatively by the general population, and the banning from most spaceport-less cities continues. However, becoming a pilot is still an attractive prospect for those who desire independence, wealth, or a simple desire to explore.
- 2295 - Amidst accusations of deception and outright fraud, Robin Domon and Courtney Brown are controversially reelected in the Confederation of Fringe Worlds.
- August 2296 - Acting Vice-Marshal Nina Thomas leads a successful coup against the Domon administration. Thomas proceeds to declare a state of emergency which, as of this writing, has not since been lifted.
- 2287-2304 - Interstellar commerce between the four alliances continues to expand and evolve.
Timeline: Expanding Horizons
This timeline tells the story of humanity's first contact with other species, including the peaceful but powerful Jinu, and their future overlords, the Outsiders.
(This timeline also describes major events from the time of the game's opening to players till its long hiatus.)
- January 2297 - First contact with the Jinu. A representative named Hrahk Mununtra lands and attempts to communicate with various alliance pilots, quickly developing a rudimentary pidgin language. It is quickly apparent that the Jinu are friendly.
- March 2297 - The first instance of hybrid human/Jinu technology is developed: the expedition starship Percival Lowell. The new ship leaves on a long journey toward Jinu space.
- March 2297 - Fleets of unregistered ships begin appearing in large numbers and threatening alliance pilots. Analysts are at a loss to explain where their new production capacity is coming from.
- April 2297 - Shipbuilders complete a new starship design based on hybrid human/Jinu technology, called the battlecruiser. Within days, before any alliance pilot has been able to fly one, an unregistered battlecruiser appears, constructed from intercepted information. Again, there is no explanation for how this was possible.
- April 2297 - Jarvis Cocker makes an appearance as the leader of the unregistered fleet, which he refers to as "the Renegades." Other important figures in the Renegades also appear, including Steven Peterson and Candida Doyle. These names are almost certainly aliases.
- May 2297 - With the Renegade fleet apparently unassailable, the alliances instead decide to make an assault upon their new forward base, called New Beginning. With the Renegades mysteriously resistant to stun weapons, lethal weapons are authorized for the assault, for the first time since 2246. The assault is a success and the base falls.
- May 2297 - The Renegade fleet remains, with Jarvis Cocker still at large. Though the Renegades are less able to organize, the fleet must be destroyed. The alliances storm a Renegade fleet command center and detonate a fusion bomb inside its communication wormhole. With direct links to every ship in the fleet, the explosive force is immediately communicated to them all. The Renegade fleet falls.
- May 2297 - Even before the debris has cleared, another alien species known simply as the Outsiders emerges. It is revealed that they hoped to control humanity through the Renegades, thus explaining the source of the latter's advances in technology. With that now impossible, the Outsiders announce that they will subjugate humanity directly. In the confusion, Jarvis Cocker escapes and is not seen again.
- 2297-2298 - The Outsiders institute a series of restrictions on human/Jinu activities, but their touch remains relatively light. They begin to use human and Jinu labor to augment their own production capacity.
- April 2298 - The Outsiders transport a group of human and Jinu pilots to a distance area of space. They tell the pilots that this space belongs to the Interstellar Federation of Species, a group of aliens which has discovered humans and Jinu and have plans to attack. The Outsiders recommend a preemptive strike. The pilots present comply, and attack the IFS. Thus war begins.
- June 2298 - With the frequency of IFS invasions growing, the Outsiders suggest a tighter alliance between humans and Jinu, with, of course, oversight from themselves. The three species form the Coalition. The Outsiders contribute a new hybrid ship design, a large starship called the juggernaut.
- 2298-2299 - IFS invasions continue. Unregistered ships also begin to appear in alliance space once more, but their unity is fractured and most are not hostile.
- June 2299 - Human pilots undertake a long journey to the Galactic Core, and there discover a supermassive black hole, as well as hints about the origin of the alien species behind the Egalitarian Alliance of Sentients.
- 2299 - 2303 - The IFS and the Coalition continue to develop technology in opposition to each other. Humans specialize in combat wasps and temporary space structures, while the IFS make use of long-range lasers and small responsive fighters.
- April 2303 - Humans travel to the Opposite Rim hoping to discover more hints of the EAOS, but find nothing of significance.
- 2303 - 2304 - The Outsiders, acting through the Coalition, continue to tighten their grip on the alliances and integrate the alliance governments into the Coalition Command's political structure. On a handful of occasions, minor incidents cause the Outsiders to declare warships forbidden, but the restriction is always lifted soon after.
Timeline: The Fall of the Human Interalliance
This timeline tells the story of the Outsider War and humanity's eventual occupation by these powerful aliens.
(This is a list of events taking place during Star Conquest's downtime and redevelopment.)
- June 2304 - Several unregistered pilots are sighted in alliance space, seemingly friendly. After some discussion, alliance leaders, notably EAOS leader James Korie, meet with them behind closed doors. The outcome of this meeting is not known, but it's counted as a sign of certain things to come.
- July 2304 - The famed expedition starship "Percival Lowell" unexpectedly launches after a complete refitting. The ships heads Rimward under phased wormhole drive.
- July 2304 - James Korie vanishes from public view and is not heard from again.
- October 2304 - Several Outsider warships arrive. The Outsiders declare that the Coalition has violated some term of the occupation agreement. They declare human and Jinu independence over. The "Percival Lowell" expedition is blamed.
- October 2304 - The long-range beacons (also known as "munroujuhk") are destroyed by the Outsiders, cutting off wormhole travel between human and Jinu space. An organized defensive fleet attempting to protect the beacons is also lost in the process.
- December 2304 - No human has had contact with any Jinu individual for two months. The Coalition attempts to restructure itself with an all-human leadership, putting it into turmoil.
- February 2305 - Outsiders begin systematically destroying human technology in space, including the League Shipyards and EAOS Experimental Research Structure. Every alliance rouses defensive fleets in response, but all are defeated.
- July 2305 - Most non-residential space stations are now blasted, dark, and lifeless. The remnants of the Coalition declare the defense a failure and abdicate leadership to the four sovereign alliances.
- September 2305 - The Outsiders begin systematic orbital bombardment of planetary factories and shipyards. Individual alliance resistance fleets have some limited success in reducing the rate of damage. Several minor planets are occupied by the Outsiders. Human production ability wanes.
- March 2306 - As the resistance flags, a large fleet of unregistered vessels emerges from Rimward space and augments the defense. They bring with them the cheaper weaponry and electronics that they have invented out of necessity. They provide this assistance unconditionally, declaring that the preservation of the species is more important than old animosities.
- August 2306 - All four alliances now officially recognize the Sovereign Mutuality of Disparate Freemen, a new alliance of formerly unregistered individuals.
- December 2306 - The Martian Defense is broken, surviving ships scattering to the AEU and Fringe. Old Earth is bombarded thoroughly and subsequently occupied by the Outsiders. A few forays on the surface against the Outsiders result in failure.
- February 2307 - The Outsiders find the Torus virtually abandoned, and spend several days bombarding the massive space station. They do relatively little damage and eventually abandon the attack.
- April 2307 - The elite Candelarian Navy is defeated. All ships were destroyed in its last stand, refusing to surrender or retreat. Several more Fringe planets fall to the Outsiders. Outsider ships push toward Chetumal, which is defended constantly by the now-famous Chetumal Orbital Defense.
- May 2307 - The Mutuality fleet has sustained heavy losses throughout the resistance. A handful of survivors fall back to their distant home sectors, hoping to remain hidden from the Outsiders.
- May 2307 - New Earth falls. Much of humanity fears a chain reaction has started and that defeat is imminent.
- June 2307 - Chetumal Orbital Defense is crushed under overwhelming force. More ships have not been seen in one sector before or since. The Fringe capital falls.
- July 2307 - Several attempts at launching new defensive fleets are destroyed from the surface by weaponry of the Outsider occupation. Only a handful of warships remain in human hands, and none are spaceworthy.
- July 2307 - An Outsider virus is unleashed into all major planetary networks, erasing nearly all human research. Information is frantically transferred to hardcopy or offline storage, but much is lost.
- August 2307 - The Outsiders tighten their grip on the human worlds, cracking down on independent research, controlling production, putting humans to work for their own ends.
- November 2307 - Limited interplanetary trade is allowed to resume. A handful of humans are granted the right to fly clunky supply shuttles. Many of these pilots formerly flew for the Coalition.
- 2307-2309 - Things continue in this state. Nothing is heard of the Jinu. The fate of the EAOS is unclear. IFS invasions are repelled efficiently by the Outsiders. The alliances have little contact with one another, especially the Mutuality, from which nearly nothing is heard.
- Early 2309 - Groups of humans are seen muttering to each other, then drifting apart when an Outsider enforcer wanders near. There have been rumors, alleged sightings of a ship. Something has thrown the Outsiders off-balance. Everywhere, humans seize on the idea that perhaps, finally, things are about to change.
Timeline: The Resistance
This timeline tells the story of humanity's resistance against the Outsiders and its emergence from the underground.
(This timeline also describes major events taking place after the opening of Star Conquest: Catalyst, the game's second major iteration.)
- Mid-February 2309 - The military of the AEU, League, and Fringe are certain that the timing is right. They contact a handful of civilian pilots and give them disguised armed ships, in direct defiance of the Outsiders. They hope that the ships will go unnoticed until an event they call "the Catalyst," which will set off the counterattack.
- One Week Later - An unexpected patrol by a manned Outsider ship uncovers the humans' armed shuttles. The pilots are seized and thrown into a human space station since converted into a prison. There they also find several Mutuality members, who have been imprisoned since before the Mutuality's general retreat during the war.
- Late February - The alliances decided that they must throw their plan into action and cannot wait for the mysterious Catalyst. They offer a small stockpile of armed, Coalition-era starships to their pilots. Corin Shea, the de facto leader of the Resistance, then leads an assault against the Outsider prison with the assistance of a Mutuality command carrier. There, the prison station and everyone aboard was threatened by the mothership Zmnyi Mmyaz. At that moment, the Percival Lowell abruptly reappears, commanded by James Korie, and fights the Outsider mothership to a standstill. In the meantime, the prison is assaulted and the prisoners are freed.
- Mid-March - James Korie again makes contact the the alliances, though most of his time must be occupied with keeping the Outsider mothership at bay. He reveals that he has the secret to a shield that will block the Outsiders' superweapon, the phased destabilizing beam, and hands over the data to be analyzed. Around the same time, Benjamin Masterson announces that he has developed "battlesuits" that might be employed for assaulting Outsider bases on the ground. The Resistance appeared to be going well.
- Late March - The EAOS and the Mutuality both make separate reappearances. The EAOS suddenly manages to reprogram its flight control beacons, seizing control of their sectors from the Outsiders. The Mutuality activate a "quantum skim accelerator," which provides quick access to their distant section of space.
- Late March - AEU President Chris Sheffield exiles AEU pilots who had dealt with the Mutuality, and declares war on the Mutuality itself. The EAOS responds by sponsoring a coup which results in Sheffield's removal from office.
- April - The battlesuit system goes live and proves hugely successful, catching the Outsiders completely by surprise. Pilots begin liberating their planets one by one, driving the Outsiders off.
- April - Warren Garner becomes President Pro Tem of the AEU. The AEU rejoins the resistance effort. But elements of the AEU Navy are not pleased at this turn of events, and continue to carry out Sheffield's orders, harassing ships in the Mutuality space.
- Late April - Every human planet has been freed of Outsider bases, though everyone is well aware that the war is not won until the Outsider mothership is destroyed. Regardless, pilots and alliance leaders gather at the Resistance Headquarters to celebrate. The celebration ends abruptly as the Zmnyi Mmyaz itself appears, and destroys the nearby, historic planet Grenwold apparently simply to locate the hidden Resistance Headquarters. With the HQ threatened with imminent destruction, Benjamin Masterson manages to hold the station together long enough for everyone to evacuate. Masterson himself, however, dies when the Outsiders open fire.
- May - With the mood of the Resistance now very dark, the rogue ships formerly of the AEU Navy made themselves known once more. Led by someone calling herself Fleet Admiral Kendra Janus, they demanded that the Mutuality surrender (or that the other alliances force them to surrender). If they did not, Janus went on, she would activate a beacon they had planted in Mutuality space, which would draw the Outsiders to the last hidden population of humanity, allowing them to proceed with the extinction of humanity. She gave the alliances one week's time to respond.
- One Week Later - A desperate signal has drawn James Korie back to Known Space. With their deadline looming within 24 hours, Korie and the Resistance made last-ditch plans to try to turn Janus's beacon into an ambush for the Outsiders.
- Beacon Day - As promised, Kendra Janus activates the beacon in Mutuality space. Predictably, the mothership Zmnyi Mmyaz responds within minutes. Three alliance cruisers, manned by civilian pilots and protected by Korie's shield against the Outsider superweapon, quickly began drawing the Outsiders' fire. After a few minutes, the pilots transferred to their ground combat delivery vehicles and rammed them into the mothership, beginning a full scale assault. Within an hour, the mothership had been partially disabled, the beacon destroyed, and the alien warlord Zmnyaz was captured. The resistance had succeeded.