[ooc]This section contains the outline for the Fall of the Empire and the Dark Age that followed.[/ooc]
Fall of the Empire (4300-4500)
1. The Fall
a. When the last Emperor dies in 4322 childless, it leaves a vacuum that various factions scramble to fill. Within 10 years, open warfare between factions races across the Empire.
b. 4340, the Taurus Republic is invaded by the Kal’Shak once again. However the might of the Empire is turned inwards and within 30 years, the Republic falls to the Kal’Shak.
c. 4360, The Obsidian Alliance, fearing invasion of what little holdings they have turn to the Ursae Republic for assistance. They are rebuffed.
d. 4362, The Obsidian Alliance turns to the Trit’ikk’it for assistance. The Trit’ikk’it offer slight aid, specifying unknown dangers on the far side of their space. The Obsidian Alliance turns to fortifying their holdings as best they can.
e. 4375, The Kal’Shak begin to pick up outlying holdings of the Alliance. In desperation, the Alliance turns to the nearest faction in the Empire for aid. Seeing a chance to use the cybernetic technology of the Alliance to catapult himself to the Throne, the leader of the faction Pyotr Alexsimov agrees to aid the Alliance against the Kal’Shak.
f. Alexsimov’s faction absorbs and easily holds off the Dominion. The Dominion takes this event with great anger.
g. 4415, The Kal’Shak Dominion invades a majority of the Empire. Caught by surprise, most of the outlying worlds are snatched up by the Dominion. Attempts are made between factions to resolve things between themselves to face the Dominion, however with nearly 600 years of factionalism built up, most of the factions see the invasion as an easy means to rid themselves of hated rivals.
h. By 4500 a majority of the Empire is under Dominion control, leaving the Sol system under Inquisition control. Human holdings under direct Human control number the Sol System and the Ursae Republic.
Age of Darkness (4500-6000)
1. Dawning of the Darkness
a. The 46th Century opens with most of the known galaxy under Kal’Shak control. Non-Kal’Shak entities include the Ursae Republic, the holdings of the Trit’ikk’it, and the Sol System.
b. Most systems are restricted on travel to Dominion ships only. Smaller systems are ignored and gradually lose contact with the galaxy as a whole.
c. By 4650, Dominion control is ironclad in the systems they maintain. Outside of the Dominion controlled systems, the smaller systems begin to backslide as their technology begins to fail.
d. The Inquisition has a strong grip on the Sol system until a reformation movement begins in the late 4700’s. The Solar Reformation gradually begins to wean the Sol system out from under the Inquisition. This process will take nearly 1000 years.
e. The Obsidian Alliance citizens are all AI or heavily cybernetic organics. Organic “hosts” are grown in cloning centers and cybernetic enhancements are begun before a year in age.
f. The Ursae Republic maintains their silence and self-imposed internal blockade. No new information has come from the Ursae systems in over 200 years.
2. The Deepest of the Dark
a. By the 51st Century, Dominion control over humanity’s former core systems is nearly absolute. Outlying systems are left to their own devices, to fall into the darkness or maintain what civilization they can.
b.With the Reformation picking up speed in the Sol system, the Inquisition finally become aware of what is happening and tries to take steps to prevent losing their powerbase.
c. The Obsidian Alliance, now simply calling itself the Alliance moves further from their organic roots. Each planet has its own information net that each citizen, AI or cybernetic is connected to all of the time.
d. An Alliance probe attempts to gain entry to the Ursae Republic’s home system. The ship sustains heavy damage from what seem to be automated systems.
e. The Trit’ikk’it have been reducing the size of their enclaves for nearly 700 years. By 5150, the only remaining enclave is on Mars, in the Sol system.
3. The Twilight of the Darkness
a. By 5600, the Reformation has all but replaced the Inquisition in the Sol system. The civilian government and most non-military functions are now out of the hands of the Inquisition. The Inquisition still has a firm hold on the upper ranks of the military, though this grasp is weakening as younger officers move their way up the ranks.
b. The Dominion has control over just a few systems in Human space by this time; Nova Terra in Alpha Centauri, Elysium in Barnard’s Star, Stronghold in Alpha Mensae, and Lupus in Wolf 359, and Novaya Ruskaya in 82 Eridani. All other systems have been abandoned by the Dominion and left to their own fate.
c. The Alliance mounts a major probe of the Ursae Republic system 61 Ursae Majoris. A fleet of nearly 200 ships crewed by AI and cybernetic crew invade the system. After a long, fierce battle in which the Alliance loses nearly 75% of their ships, they break through the defensive perimeter and find the system uninhabited. No one in the Alliance is certain as to how long the system has been abandoned, but from xenoarchaelogical studies performed in the next 100 years, at least 1500 years have gone by since there were any inhabitants.
d. A broken, limping ship enters the Sol system in late 5890. The ship is identified as Trit’ikk’it. It has suffered major damage in combat. Once the ship is in a stable orbit around Mars, the remaining crew of the ship joins the enclave. They tell stories about the entire Hegemony being engulfed in war and destruction. As far as they are aware, the entire Trit’ikk’it race is gone, except for the enclave on Mars.