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1200 to 1500 AT: Middle Federation / Megacorps

First Federation map and symbol
Image from Steve Bowers


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Technology has by now improved, with faster ships (0.1 up to 0.5 c). Drive options include fusion and fusion pulse vessels, beamriders, anti-matter fusion hybrids and efficient anti-matter craft. With new and faster ships comes a great period of expansion: colonisation of star systems, diversification and increasing cladization.

In some star systems, colonization efforts sometimes meant interactions with earlier settlers who had left Solsys during the Interplanetary Age or fled it during the Technocalypse. In some cases these earlier colonists had terraformed entire worlds or created swarms of habitats. In other cases they clung to life in half-habitable biospheres and dilapidated habs, or where extinct were known only by ruins and their records. Some had modified themselves into novel clades and species unlike any known in the home system. The colonists of the first wave were sometimes prosperous, numerous, and technologically advanced to meet the newcomers on their own terms, especially if they were under the protective umbrella of a transapient AI. In other cases the terms were much less even, and in the case of conflict the original settlers were converted, subjugated, or even exterminated if the new colonists were sufficiently numerous, powerful, or aggressive. Even in cases of mutual cooperation and benefit there were all of the social problems that naturally arise between indigene and immigrant. During this era, Empaths were often among the contact or diplomatic personnel sent to interact with the original settlers.

The Sol System still remains the industrial, economic, military, intellectual and AI centre, but even if the Orbitals, Mars, the Outer Worlds and the Solarian Hub remain powerful, things are increasingly shifting outwards. On the newly colonised worlds and newly constructed biospheres and space stations new species and clades of tweaks, splices, cyborgs and vecs either evolve themselves or are engineered by the megacorporations.

Through contact with the colonies and the establishment of small corporate proxy empires, the Federation gains in power and wealth, but at the same time begins the slow slide to bureaucracy and autocracy. Meanwhile, the superbright-led corporations gain in power, as su and SI:1 powers work together to extend their reach for mutual benefit. The social problems that were already inherent in the earlier Federation become exacerbated as disenfranchised and disaffiliated groups agitate for power. Frequent minor tensions as new clades arise, growing persecution of empaths and vecs, and insecurity resulting from frequent Transcends and the ramifications of such events all add to the insecurity of the times. Despite this, and some rather nasty mercantile warfare among megacorporations fighting over resources in some of the newly colonised star systems, this is a period of peace and co-operation.

Meanwhile, away from interference or distraction by Solsys and its colonies, self-replicating ais, some centralist and hu-friendly, some neutral, and others ahuman and anti-biont, pursue their own evolution with diligence, building computronium megastructures and Moon, Jupiter and Matrioshka Brains, and establishing power-bases of their own. Some of these ai civilizations and clades have been doing this almost a thousand years already, being descended from the first wave of isolationist ai to leave the solar system. Already some are breaching toposophic barriers, perhaps going beyond any state ever attained by the Federation hyperturings. Of course, the Federation hyperturings have plans of their own as well.



Science Expedition
Image from Anders Finer (copyright; used with permission)


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The Early Federation Age


1200 AT
13th Century - Rise of Empath influence and inductive telepathy subroutines as diplomats, managers, marketers and infiltrators.

13th Century - Omicron Infosecurity uses Daedalus as a huge research laboratory. They both test new information defences from the solar system against the might of the local environment, and export the tricks developed by the local tribes and AIs to circumvent them. [Pi 3 Orionis]

1200 - As a result of terraforming of Beta Virginis IV, the temperature rises and ice begins melting into a vast planet-girdling ocean.

1200's - With the closing of Kleopatra Base the whole asteroid is opened to developers, and several consortia of theme park developers each tried to outdo themselves, giving the asteroid the nick-name "Little Disneyplanet".

1200 (approximate) - Second Singularity transapients develop monopole breeding technology and conversion technology for their own use.

1201 - MyuvYin overrun by psychophager ahuman replicator swarm of unknown origin.

1205 - First Great Divide for the IPP changes its name from the Institute for Primate Preservation to the Institute for Primate Provolution; more preservationist minority moves with a copy of the cache to Old Earth.

1210 - The first effects of a mysterious disease are felt on Eostremonath. Somehow, Eostre is completely confounded by the disease, and cannot offer any solace from it.

1215 - The now elderly and increasingly reclusive Daeved Chandlers, affectionately known as the Visionary Cyborg Philosopher, uploaded into the AI Core of the University of Ganymede.

1225 - Transcendence of Lucidia Mirnas Miranda, founder of Sophism.


1248 - The IFPC (Interactive Food Programming Catalogue) is regarded as the defining document of classical interactive food across civilized space.

1250 - Settlement of New America well under way (Beta Virginis).

1260 - Mahara Benisol posts the first section of her classic virch The Bridged Abyss, dealing with the Omega Point and the manifest destiny of intelligence in growing into omniscience, omnipotence and closure. It has a wide influence on Federation philosophy and spiritual thought.

1263 - The entire Human population of Eostremonath dies off. Eostre herself, unwilling to revive Humans from stored genetic material, secludes herself into mourning. [61 Virginis]

1267 - Technorats Elias E. Jordan and Irene Abott develop space-time structure theoretics that mimic the Abdela theory developed by the Federation AI research team on Galileo Orbital, New America. [Beta Virginis]

1290 - First Federation Probe to Van Biesbroeck's star finds that the Perpetua Project has failed.

1299 - First Motherwood Tree grown at Iota Horologi.

Late 1200's AT - The Silicon Generation emerges as a vec response to Organic repression and exploitation.



1300 AT
1300 - Nova mediacorps powerful and influential in New America [Beta Virginis].

1300's - House Genen start to send out emissaries and colonists from Frog's Head to the interstellar colonies, usually attempting to recruit the local tweak species.

1309 - First complete Human Upgrade Package released from Kasekala by the Institute for Primate Provolution.

1310 - First space fountain, a dynamically supported megatower, built on Terranova (82 Eridani).

1310 - Ross 128 joins Eridanus League.

1312 - An exploration group from Jupiter Transsystems re-discovers Zarathustra colony.

1316 - Bew clades, floaters and mariners, begin to emerge on New America [Beta Virginis].

1322 - War breaks out between the colonists of Jupiter Transsystems and Omicron Developments Inc on Tau Ceti II. This was to be the first of a number of internecine megacorp confrontations in the colonised star systems. Owing to the vast distance and slowness of interstellar travel, the Federation is powerless to intervene.

1324 - The megacorporation Heliopause Transcendancy, specializing in interstellar colonization, has a ship that arrives in the 61 Virginis system. They discover the remains of the plague-ravaged Ewden colony. Eostre, however, remains intact, and allows the colony to remain on the condition that they live as she had intended her first children to live. After some debate, it is agreed, and a new colonial site, located west of Ewden on the coast, is established. Named Tysoe by Eostre, it will become the seat of a new center of Baseline Humanity. In time, they will be called the Eostrii.

1325 - The Tlaltecuhtli Triumvirate ascend individually to the S1 toposophic level.

1349 - Shamash (Xi Bootis A III)colonised by Hearp Rangers.

1350 - Penglai ship arrives at Pandya and infects local population with pathogens to which they have no immunity.

1350 - Bonobo and Chimp Upgrade Packages released from Goodall Habitat by the Institute for Primate Provolution.

1358 - President Gertrud Jess of New America attempts unsuccessfully to bring floaters and mariners into line. [Beta Virginis]

1361 - The true situation on Daedalus becomes known, due to the investigative journalist HeHaRo and insider leaks in Omicron Developments. [Pi 3 Orionis]

Late fourteenth century AT - first Neotens.

1380 AT - The Jupiter Transsystems colony ship Phillip Henry Gosse sets out for HR 8501 near Gamma Pavonis, twenty years after the autonomous probe Karel Tchapek.

1380 AT - The world of Dante is colonised by the Company of Venturers from Nova Terra in the relativistic ship Lumiere, one of the first colonisation efforts by the Novans. [HIP 85647]

1392 - The autonomous probeship Karel Tchapek arrives at HR 8501 (Audubon System).

1395 - First manned mission arrives at Merrion.

1398 - The first biosphere somewhat similar to the Earth was discovered at Ridgewell (Chi Herculis VI) by a House Mao-UbiCol exploration probe. The local biosphere was nearly as rich and complex as the Earth's, based on carbon and water chemistry, although the details were so different that both forms of life turned out to be highly allergenic to each other.



1400 AT
During this period, the empath megacorps bought up the rights to the previously settled areas where the primitive empaths lived, allowing them protection.

1400 - Mainstream Nuyork and Liberty administration increasingly irrelevant and powerless in the face of New American "equatorial" new clades. [Beta Virginis].

1405 - The Silicon Generation use their AI and Cyberian connections to hack cargo transports and forge cargo manifests, setting up their colony (named Cog) in an unremarkable asteroid belt around AC+25 7918.

1415 - Monroe Cylinder, a huge mediacorp habitat, completed in polar orbit around the jovian planet Green. Beta Virginis system.

1421 -The First Federation Kontore League colony ship Hanse arrives at Danzig.

1428 - In an effort to counter the equatorials, New America mainstream gives NADs extraordinary powers, New America enters oppressive phase, but this only isolates the mainstream and their orbitals further, while failing to stem the "equatorials" advance [Beta Virginis].

1432 - Hwiii, the first pure dolphin colony world was founded on Zeta Tucanae II. The original settlers had destroyed themselves when the cometary bombardment they used to add water to the planet went wrong. The planet was later recolonised.

1443 - Contact restablished with Negsoa.

1450 - The "Big Five" - Truth-Santaya Networks, Takicorb, SecureSpace, K4H and the Terranova Foundation - the five major colonialist megacorps, sign a mutual non-aggression treaty where they promise to protect each other's installations.

1460 - The first evidence of alien intelligence, although long extinct, was a fragmentary hull of a robotic satellite found orbiting the star Epsilon Sculptoris A. This find was confirmed and made public in a joint announcement by several institutes including the University of Epsilon Eridani, and the Lagrange Defenders. Named HIE-636-MZE by the Hamilton Institute, and the makers by popular media.

1463 - Heliopause Transcendancy is incorporated into Jupiter Transystems. All of their records of colonization fall under the auspices of this megacorp, and plans are made to reacquire these distant colonies. As it is, such colonies are already considered to be the property of Jupiter Transystems (JT). This includes 61 Virginis.

1465 - Corona (Iota Piscium I) discovered by Jupiter Transystems.

1470's-80's AT - Theodore Roosevelt Sukicorp leads a brief revival in Federation society, becoming the only virtual entity to serve as leader of the First Federation. Most lasting legacy of TRS's administration is the development of the Jang-Jo Class cruisers.

1481 - "Jang-Jo Class", a type of warship after the famous suborg Fleet Commander, are designed in to meet the MyuvYin Pyschophager Threat.

1490 - Vo Lettir of Lattir, Eden develops a method of imprinting a human personality into a biological body. more on Engenerator Technology.

1490 - Nathan (HD 55575 I) system colonised by First Federation venturers of the Kontore League.

1498 - The "Big Five" treaty is extended to allow other corporations to settle within the space protected by the alliance if they sign a treaty of not initiating force against any other treaty signatory. This becomes the seed of the loose trading confederation known as the Non Coercive Zone.

1498 - With the formation of the Non Coercive Zone, 61 Virginis legally becomes its property. However, little thought is paid to this possibility by the NoCoZo. At least, initially.

1499 Bitenic Squid start to accelerate their own provolution.



Next Page
The Late Federation period and the Emergence of the AI Gods


 
Articles
 
Related Topics
0900 to 1200 AT: The Early Federation Age0900 to 3200 AT: Interstellar Era1500 to 2100 AT: Late Federation / AI Emergence
Middle Tech / Midtech
 
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev; modifications by Stephen Inniss
timeline entries by numerous OA contributors
Initially published on 12 July 2001.

 
Additional Information
OA Glossary of Terms