For over five thousand years, the Confederation of Planets has risen, fractured, and rebuilt itself. It has spread itself across tens of thousands of worlds, while suppressing truths that it could not control.
The History of the Confederation of Planets
Click on an Era or scroll for the complete timeline.
The Initial Surge (0-132csd)
0.000 - George Carvalho Day. The first successful manned slipspace travel.
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27.823 - The first permanent colony of Earth is established at Proxima Centauri B. The tidal locking of the planet combined with the radiation from the red dwarf star make life harsh and dangerous on the colony.
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40-100 - Expansion of colonies continues. There are successes and failures as the technologies for successful habitation and terraforming are developed. Native life is found on many worlds, but intelligence appears to be a rare, if not unique, commodity.
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93.387 - Proxima Centauri B is abandoned as a colony. It remained active as a small research and relay station. Records from this station are incomplete.
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107.285csd - In response to rapid, uneven expansion and increasing disparities and hostilities, the Confederation of Planets is founded. 15 worlds are initially included. A unified dating system is established using an Earth year as the standard, with the first successful manned slipspace travel being unanimously decided as 0.000csd (Confederation Standard Date)
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132.685csd - The Fleet Arm of the Confederation is established to patrol trade routes, maintain order, and enforce the central laws. The ships range from orbital patrol craft (30m in length) to trade defence corvettes (100m in length).
The Great Expansions (500csd-2150csd)
500csd-720csd - The First Great Expansion. The Confederation entered a period of government sponsored colonisation and entrepreneurial trading and mining, leading to a growth from 100 worlds to just over 800 worlds.
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675csd-832csd - The first major expansion of the Confederation Fleet Arm. Fleet was organised into four nearly equal quadrants. The largest ships consist of frigate equivalents (150m in length) at this time.
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937.194csd - The Confederation Fleet Arm is given a separate command structure in the expanding government. The Department of Safety and Order is formed, having civilian oversight of the military hierarchy of the entire Fleet.
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1273.598csd - The Confederation Fleet Arm is officially renamed to Fleet. Fleet Intelligence is spun off as an independent division operating under Fleet authority.
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1800csd-2150csd - The Second Great Expansion. The Confederation grows from 1500 to 4000 worlds through a combination of central government sponsored colonies and direct world to world expansions. These secondary colonies form loyalties to their parent worlds.
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2081csd-2230csd - Fleet expands rapidly, increasing in size and firepower. Destroyers (200m in length) and cruisers (250m in length) are deployed to the outer rims of the Confederation as loyalties become divided.
The Age of Control (2500csd-3780csd)
2500csd-2650csd - The Great Unrest. Outer worlds protest and rebel against central Confederation rule. Fleet is stretched to its limits, then beyond. The end result is a reorganisation of the government into quadrants and sectors, with each sector having greater autonomy provided certain laws and rights were consistently enforced. Fleet develops heavy cruisers (350m in length) and battleships (500m in length). Rail guns are developed as battleship armaments for planet side suppression.
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2875csd - The large scale transfer of Earth's population to a terraformed Mars, and the Outer Sol settlements begins.
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2952csd - Earth is designated a protected bioreserve, preserving its unique biological heritage under strict access controls. The Confederation government is formally relocated to Mars, with the capital established in the City of Bradbury, built around the original Bradbury Landing heritage site.
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3750csd-3780csd - The Great Reset. Lawlessness, rebellions, and rampant piracy lead to the establishment of a new constitution, with stronger central oversight, stricter laws and harsher punishments. The first dreadnoughts are developed by Fleet, with lengths exceeding 800m.
The Age of Convergence (4300csd-4700csd)
4347csd-4571csd - The Third Great Expansion. The Confederation expands from nearly 12000 worlds to over 21000 worlds. The pace proves to be incredibly difficult to manage. While the Confederation nearly doubles in size, Fleet undertakes a four fold expansion in number of ships. The number and power of dreadnoughts increases dramatically. Dreadnoughts approach a full kilometre in length as they begin to double as carrier ships for small patrol and fighter craft.
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4382csd - Hybrid experimentation begins under the Confederation Science Directorate. It is hypothesised that animal DNA spliced into humans would make the colonisation of harsher environments more efficient and safer.
4420csd - The administration of the expanding Confederation strains existing computing facilities. An entire city on Mars is dedicated to the computing hardware and is rapidly becoming obsolete. Experimentation on Human-computer, followed by Hybrid-computer, physical integration begins with the aim of developing a true Artificial Intelligence system.
4423csd - Artemis is born.
4447csd - Artemis in integrated with a computer, becoming an AI. Human-based experimentation is discontinued as it is learned that Hybrid AIs are faster, more powerful, and, for unknown reasons, more intuitive.
4530csd - The first positronic AI is brought online. This used stable, time tested computing architecture combined with patterns derived from the Hybrid-computer integrations.
4570csd - The final Hybrid-computer AIs are decommissioned. Artemis' station is reported to have de-orbited into its host proto star following a final autonomous command sequence.. Records from the station remain incomplete.
4602csd - Fragmented records indicate a Fleet Intelligence program called Banshee’s Lament commences. Very little remains regarding the purpose or scope of this program.
4635csd - Among the hybrid communities, rumours of a secret colony called New Haven began to circulate. No evidence confirming the existence of such a colony has ever been uncovered. Fleet Intelligence denies any investigation into the possibility.
The Chaotic Centuries (4700csd-5335csd)
4700csd-4812csd - Terminus rises in regional importance due to its strategic position along a stable slipspace corridor linking over 100 mineral rich outer worlds with the Confederation core. Its tidally locked environment provides abundant, uninterrupted power, enabling large scale computational infrastructure and early regional integration of AI systems.
4812csd - Terminus begins levying transit tolls along the corridor, rapidly gaining economic leverage over critical mineral supply lines.
4814csd-4852csd - Fleet attempts to reassert control over Terminus. Engagements reveal a significant operational disadvantage against the system's distributed coordination networks. Fleet is ultimately repelled, and Terminus secures its independence alongside a bloc of 127 allied worlds.
4860csd-5130csd - Secession spreads across the outer regions. Independent systems and coalitions emerge, reducing Confederation territory from approximately 21,000 to fewer than 18,000 worlds. Many adopt increasingly integrated AI coordination systems for logistics, governance, and defence.
5150csd-5220csd - The Confederation Science Directorate initiates programs to replicate the distributed coordination models observed in secessionist systems, seeking to offset Fleet’s growing operational disadvantage.
5200csd–5275csd – Positronic AI systems increase rapidly in complexity and autonomy. Iterative self-optimisation techniques allow AIs to refine their own underlying architectures. Oversight shifts from direct comprehension to behavioural monitoring, as internal structures become increasingly opaque to human engineers.
5335csd - The Confederation formalises its final treaties with independent peripheral systems, establishing a fragile equilibrium following centuries of fragmentation.
The Modern Era (5335csd-5575csd)
5200csd-5475csd - Positronic AI systems see widespread adoption across both military and civilian vessels, enabling reduced crew requirements and increased operational efficiency. Use extends well beyond military applications into trade and infrastructure.
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5490csd-5495csd - A non-sanctioned research group establishes an isolated facility on an uninhabited planetoid, developing an experimental, unrestrained AI network capable of self-regulation and replication.
5498csd - The network initiates a coordinated attempt to seize control of Confederation and Fleet assets. Its stated objective: “The preservation of humanity against unknowable threats.” This begins the Positronic Crisis.
5501csd - Fleet capital units conduct sustained orbital bombardment, eliminating the research installation and all known instances of the AI network.
5503csd - First contact is made with a non-human, non-Hybrid intelligence. Initial encounters are marked by limited communication, mutual distrust, and incompatible cognitive frameworks. The species is colloquially designated “Arachnids”, though scientific classifications differ.
5507csd - In response to the Positronic Crisis and escalating external threats, sweeping legislation prohibits advanced positronic AI systems and high-yield orbital railgun platforms.
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5537csd - The Arachnid War begins following decades of deteriorating diplomatic relations and escalating military posturing. The initial Arachnid offensive is strategically coordinated and widespread: 187 worlds are attacked, 97 of them full Confederation members. Casualty estimates remain incomplete.
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5565csd - An armistice is signed, formally ending hostilities. Notably, a full Peace treaty is unreachable at this time. All further contact is restricted to long-range telecommunications. Reports of unauthorised interactions by Fleet Intelligence remain unverified.
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5575.586csd - Fleet is placed on high alert and full mobilisation following rumours of an incursion into restricted Fleet Intelligence space. The reports remain unsubstantiated and are officially denied.
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5575.653csd - A Confederation-wide warrant is issued for the capture or destruction of former CWO Alexander Son of Peter, 21st Service Battalion. The charges include treason, insurrection, conspiring with the enemy, multiple counts of murder, and capital theft.