The (100% hypothetical) Firefly Timeline by Hans

Quote:
Originally posted by Sarahetc:
Cool, too, that Io gets terraformed and that there's a turning point in system population. I'd like to read more details should you invent any.

I'm a dying breed who still believes, haunted by American dreams. ---Neko Case

Actually, someone in another thread mentioned that Io is a good candidate for terraforming. It stuck in my head, so if it was you then I tip my 10 gallon hat (actually 5 gallon sou'wester is probably more my style).

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Friday, January 9, 2004 9:23 AM

ZAPHODB

Of all the moons of Jupiter to terraform, Io has got to be the worst (Volcanic activity and Jupiter's intense radiation belts). Europa and Ganymede are much better candidates. Aside from that minor quibble, good timeline.

Industrial Looniee & Madness - http://www3.telus.net/vchrusch

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Friday, January 9, 2004 11:15 AM

ANJIN

That's very cool. I right have to steal it!

---
Raven's Prayer
http://webpages.charter.net/anjinm

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Friday, January 9, 2004 11:32 AM

SARAHETC

Quote:
Originally posted by Hans:
Actually, someone in another thread mentioned that Io is a good candidate for terraforming. It stuck in my head, so if it was you then I tip my 10 gallon hat (actually 5 gallon sou'wester is probably more my style).

Wasn't me, sorry. I was actually thinking along the lines of Zaphod there, like, "Why Io and not Europa?" but am usually not one to quibble. It's orbiting Jupiter. You're close.

I can also invent complex rationalizations like, "Well, they terraformed Io because they knew the process of terraforming Europa would be much like terraforming Luna and wanted to perfect techniques blah blah blah."

I'm a dying breed who still believes, haunted by American dreams. ---Neko Case

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Friday, January 9, 2004 11:51 PM

DRAKON

Io? I have my doubts, strong doubts about that.

First is the radiation problem. Dose levels on the surface are lethal in about a week. You got the strong magnetic field of Jupiter, knocking particles all around. That makes it pretty uninhabitable right there.

Second is the tides. Because of its orbits, the orbits of the other satellites, and Jupiter's mass, the poor thing essentially recycles its surface ever Century. Imagine the entire world's surface being changed that fast. Not an ideal place.

Not that it can't be done, just that I don't see how it can be made safe for humans at present, without a massive investment. And I don't see that massive investment coming because, well, why?

Mars, Venus, even Titan are better candidates.

"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"

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Saturday, January 10, 2004 7:37 AM

LTNOWIS

Quote:
Originally posted by ZaphodB:
Of all the moons of Jupiter to terraform, Io has got to be the worst

I hate to be a nitpicker, but Jupiter has like 25 moons. Wouldn't at least one be a worse candidate than Io?

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Saturday, January 10, 2004 7:38 AM

ZAPHODB

Yeah, Amalethea

Industrial Looniee & Madness - http://www3.telus.net/vchrusch

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Monday, January 12, 2004 2:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anjin:
That's very cool. I right have to steal it!

Thanks, and steal away. I am currently working on the "100% hypothetical political history of the Alliance", and have also completed a map of the system where Firefly takes place, which I want to tweak before posting...

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 2:14 AM

Hans you are a genius! After reading the timeline I decided to come up with a detailed history based on your timeline with some changes. I'm going to be up front, I HEAVILY borrowed from other postings on this site and a little bit from other sites. I changed the Io Colony to Europa because I think that would be a more plausible colony. So here it is...

By the year 2060, global warming had caused severe environmental damage across the earth. Scientists, worried about continued environmental degradation, began to look for solutions to the problem.

A prototype Ion drive managed to accelerate a probe to one tenth the speed of light in the year 2069. Then in 2085, the first prototype Orion drive accelerated a probe to one quarter the speed of light. Finally, in 2099, the Galaxy Explorer Program launched eight unmanned deep space probes, equipped with updated Orion drives, towards nearby stars. A permanent colony was established on Mars ten years later. Research on terra-forming led to the first attempt to transform Mars' atmosphere.

In 2140 Galaxy Explorer Seven arrived in the Gliese 876 Solar System, 15 light years away, and began to transmit information back to earth. Fifteen years later, images from Gliese 876 reached Earth, showing a multiple star system with three G-Class stars with four Earth-like planets around each and a total of 58 Mars-like planets along with several gas giants around each star, each with at least two dozen moons that could be terra-formed and given an earth-like gravity field using Orbital Gravity Control satellites. The Destiny Program sent a manned mission towards Gliese in 2181. Destiny arrived at the Gliese system in 2215 then and set up a colony on one of the Earth-like planets.

Terra-forming was completed on Mars in 2216. Images of humans on the planet Sihnon in the Gliese system reached the Sol System in 2230. With the earth continuing to decay, enthusiasm for travel to the new system exploded. Three years later, the United Worlds, the successor to the United Nations, was formed.

Earth's moon was finally terra-formed in 2245. Then from 2250 to 2270 "The First Leap Outward" took place, during which several huge colony ships were launched towards Gliese.

In 2253, Jupiter's moon Europa was terra-formed. Finally, in 2275 scientists determined that without a massive effort, Earth would be uninhabitable in less than 150 years. A huge debate erupted between Expansionists who wanted to focus all of Earth's resources on the new system, and Homesteaders who wanted to focus on making Earth viable in the long run.

The first wave of millions of colonists arrived in the Gliese system from 2280 to 2300. These new colonies were set up on three of the Earth-like worlds (Sihnon, Londinium, and Ariel). More than a billion people left the Sol system for Gliese from 2310 to 2320 during "The Second Leap Outward". They settled the other nine Earth-like planets. From 2340 to 2350 "The Third Leap Outward" took place. By this time Earth's population had dropped to less than two billion, with the rest of the population either now living on Mars or on their way to the Gliese system.

An asteroid struck Mars in 2341, killing several million people. Conspiracy theorists said that the expansionists let the asteroid strike the world, to encourage people to abandon the Sol system for Gliese. Whatever the truth, after the asteroid strike the population of the Sol system for the first time dropped below that of the Gliese system.

By the year 2370, with the population of the Gliese system exploding, the colonists who had been on the planets for decades began to resent the newcomers. The Blue Sun mega-corporation won the contract to begin terra-forming the scores of smaller planets and moons in the system. Blue Sun would employ a special greenhouse gas that traps the heat in a planet or moon's atmosphere making the place warm enough to sustain life even at far distances from the sun. That would be combined with the gravity-control satellites, nanomachines released into the atmosphere, soil, and water, plus some industrial sized atmospheric processors along with gigantic orbital mirrors for extra heat and light. The orbital mirrors would be used to focus light on each moon or planet, thus little problem with sunlight and distance.

Many colonists were upset when they arrived in the system, expecting to live on one of the lush central planets, only to be forced to colonize one of the marginal worlds out on the rim. This was mostly because they knew that while terra-forming would make those planets and moons very similar to Earth, they would never be as lush or comfortable as the twelve Core Worlds on account of being so far away from the suns.

In 2374, China and the United States, two leading powers in the Expansionist movement, withdrew from the United Worlds. The new Anglo-Sino Alliance, which controlled many of the worlds and corporations in Gliese, became the de facto main governing body of the system. With the two biggest superpowers out of the United Worlds, attempts to restore the Earth's environment collapsed in 2380 and the planet was officially declared uninhabitable.

The United Worlds was officially dissolved in 2391. While there were still viable colonies on Mars, Europa and Luna, the Sol system suffered under a boycott from the Alliance. Many of the few who remain in the Sol system gave up and headed for Gliese. The last colony ship arrived in the Gliese System from Earth in the year 2429. Radio contact with the handful of people left in the Sol system soon broke off. It is unknown if there are still colonies there.

Terra-forming continued to push the human colonies further out into the system by 2440. Almost all the worlds other than the Core Worlds were officially declared colonies (whatever their populations), which meant they had no voting rights in the Alliance. All those planets and moons terra-formed towards the end of colonization were much more primitive than those that were settled early (the Core Planets) because they hadn't had ample opportunity to establish new levels of high technology the central worlds have.

In 2485, the border moon Calembel experienced extreme weather patters due to poor terra-forming. More than a million people died in floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Official Alliance response was slow, and it was more than three weeks before relief ships arrived. Many border planets were angered by the slow response, and the phrase "Remember Calembel!" became a rallying cry among the anti-Alliance forces. "The Freedom Petition" was issued in 2493. In it 49 border worlds signed the petition demanding increased representation in the Alliance. The Alliance responded by arresting the leaders of the movement and instituting martial law.

From 2493 to 2506, terrorist activity against Alliance targets grew on the border worlds. The Alliance responded, often brutally. In 2506, the Alliance tax offices on Shadow were burned to the ground by an angry mob, and all Alliance officials were kicked off the moon. The Cruiser Munch was dispatched to the colony in order to restore order. When the captain of the Munch refused an order to bombard the moon, another Alliance Cruiser, the Kelp, was sent to Shadow. The Kelp was destroyed by the Munch, in what is considered the first act of the Civil War that would come to be known as the War to Unite the Planets.

One by one, the various moons and planets on the rim declared themselves pro-Independence. Some Alliance military forces joined the rebels, but the majority remained loyal. The war was long and bloody, with the Independents also known as Browncoats generally worse off as the Alliance forces slowly pushed their way out in the system.

In late May of 2511, Alliance and Independent forces met in battle in a place called Serenity Valley. Located on Hera, the valley was considered a key position by both sides, and was bitterly fought over. The Independent Faction, with sixteen brigades and twenty air-tank squads, held the valley against Alliance forces for almost two months, until superior numbers and a brilliant deep-flank strategy by General Richard Wilkins led to an Alliance victory in what would become the most devastating and decisive battle of the war. Nearly half a million people lay dead on that field at day's end, about a third of them Alliance troops. With the strategically important planet of Hera fallen into Alliance hands, the Independents began to accept terms of surrender.

Those who had fought for independence and so bloodily lost had no choice but to live by Alliance law. Some never would, and those few found themselves drifting--flying to the furthest reaches of the system, to the border planets, worlds less civilized, some barely settled, where the Alliance might not control their lives. These are hard worlds, and work is where you find it. Those who get buy lived by a simple creed: Any job, anywhere. The motto of the few remaining disorganized Independents is "We Shall Rise Again".

The culture of 2517 is heavily influenced by the relationship between the West and East embodied in The Alliance. There are many Eastern influences including speech (Cantonese / Mandarin), dress (Chinese styles often worn by women), newspapers, etc. The other culture influencing the Gliese 876 system is the Western Frontiersman. As well as the dialect this is shown again in terms of dress, the lower end of the technology spectrum (coach and horses), etc.

The Central Planets are the home of modern civilization with every imaginable technological achievement on display. Life on the borders of colonized space is very different. Without easy assess to modern conveniences, the sparse populations make due with more antiquated tools. These worlds have come to resemble the old American frontier, in look and attitude. Self-sufficiency and hard work are the rule. However, even on those worlds, the "Earth That Was" is not a place people talk about going to.

CrevanReaver

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 4:26 AM

I like your updates! Hopefully the movie won't 100% contradict what we've written... (which is the curse of fandom - you build up in your mind how you think things should be, and are then disappointed when a new TV show or movie comes along and it turns out different. Happened a lot back when I was a star trek fan. I'm not too worried about that happening with Firefly, since I have faith that Joss will be much more imaginative and creative then I am...)

Hans

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 5:21 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

I doubt they will have the time in the movie to severly contradict anything you have so far. Any small thing they might, you can always change.

One day, when the show returns to the air, I would like to see a companion book to the series that will give us most of the history of the Firefly verse, and some background on the major worlds.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 6:52 AM

SNEAKER98

Y'know, even after watching all of Firefly many times over, I don't think I ever thought about humans still being in the sol system. I reckon it's quite possible ;)

It'd be interesting to see the differences the two sets of humans would have now...

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 7:17 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Quote:
Originally posted by sneaker98:
Y'know, even after watching all of Firefly many times over, I don't think I ever thought about humans still being in the sol system. I reckon it's quite possible ;)

It'd be interesting to see the differences the two sets of humans would have now...

Even more interestingly, would they even consider people from the Firefly verse as "their" people? If they stayed behind to try to save Earth-that-was and the Sol system, would they harbor any resentment against those that abandoned Earth and our solar system? Where are they on a technological level? Do they have a military that could rival the Alliance? Did they branch out to an entirely different system, or did they save Earth?

Interesting threads of thought, no?

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 7:20 AM

SNEAKER98

Even more interestingly: are the people from the sol system the Reavers? Coming to take revenge!

I doubt it. But hey, I love theories.

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 7:24 AM

DRAGONFLYDIRECTOR

Here is a bit I culled from the written timeline from here on FFFn. It spans from 2444 to 2519.

It has some RP timeline info in it too.

Hope this helps with your timeline, Hans.

FIREFLY 'VERSE TIMELINE

•2444•
Patience born.

•2449•
Adelei Niska born.
Geste Deck Super & Top Kick born AAoDFP 70

•2460•
Shepherd Book born. AAoDFP 59

•2461•

•2462•

•2463•
Yancy Zechariah Mekafoy born AAoDFP 56

•2464•

•2465•
Lund born.
Warwick Harrow born.

•2466•
•2467•
•2468•

•2469•
Bourne born.
October:
Mercedes Troy 'born' AAoDFP 50

•2470•
•2471•
Regan Tam born AAoDFP 48

•2472•
•2473•
•2474•
•2475•
Skunk born.
February:
Kathlean Omiigis Veila born AAoDFP 44

•2476•
Marcus Grange born.
Wright born.

•2477•
Jayne Cobb born AAoDFP 42
July:
Dysseus Hlastoni born AAoDFP 42

•2478•
•2479•
Harken born.
Viktor born.
June 6th Marovech Indii Rahn born AAoDFP 40

•2480•
McGinnis born.
March: 16th Heropa born AAoDFP 39

•2481•
•2482•
?:
?th Militza Elena Tanaka born AAoDFP 36

•2484•
Zoe Warren born AAoDFP 35

•2485•
Crow born

•2486•
Jerry Lee Warren born.
Malcolm Reynolds born AAoDFP 33

•2487•
•2488•
•2489•
•2490•
Simon Tam born AAoDFP 29.

•2491•
Quentin Xavier Hawksworth III born AAoDFP 28
Damon Boster born.

•2492•
Corzaire Andrew Jax IX born AAoDFP 27

•2493•
Bridget/Saffron/Yolanda is born.
Chari born.

•2494•
June 7th Tildá Léon born {AAODFP 25, she based on Matilda ASI "The Professional"}.

•2495•
July 4th 1st encounter between Maro & Merz - "I'll touch you back".

•2496•
June 15th Ishakara Michelle & Gigilana Marie Schëlson born AAoDFP 23

•2497•
Banning Miller born.
Kaywinnit Lee Frye born AAoDFP 22

•2498•
December Merz leaves on extended mission with Corv.

•2499•
•2500•
•2501•
•2502•
•2503•
•2504•
•2505•
December: Arcadé destroyed by the Independents. Marovech 'finds' the twins there in the latter part of the battle. {Relationship growth similar to Léon & Matilda in "The Professional" Maro sneaks them aboard the Geste & later is bugged into adopting them}

•2506•
Intergalactic Civil War 2.

•2507•
•2508•
•2509•
Damon Boster enslaved by ??? , an owner of an Alliance weapons and military vehicles factory

•2510•
The Battle of Du-Khang

•2511•
Yolanda is married to Durran Haymer

October: Last BoSV.
Soon after BoSV the APEs are given a 'new' engineering transport/tug - an ancient junker drop-ship. After much modification, Marovech names it the Rubicon.

•2512•
January: Damon Boster sold to Crofton Trihn. Trihn owns a mining operation on his own moon by the name of Dis. He also owns Li-Chen Xiang {Rowan’s Husband}. Damon is branded on the right arm with the Chinese ideogram for Trihn.

February: Court Marshal of Veila is complete. Veila is slated for execution. The APEs, along with Hlastoni & Jax, spring Veila and make their escape aboard the Rubicon. The crew head for the junk planet Arcadé.

August:
Heropa builds his first 'bakers dozen' WILD CARDs centebots. He sets all of them to build other WCs from a mountain of "Tide Kickers" and anything that can be used.

•2513•
•2514•
Jayne pulls a job on Higgins' Moon

•2515•
July 4th: Dragonfly Class Frigate 'Chimera' launches successfully. She breaks Arcadé's 'atmo exactly at midnight - Core Standard Time.

•2516•
Jayne Cobb and two others attempt to hijack the Serenity. Jayne ends up joining the crew of the Serenity because he will get a better cut & his own room.

•2517•
Inara rents the shuttle from Mal.
Damon Boster escapes Crofton Trihn aided by Li-Chen Xiang {Rowan’s Husband}

September:
"SERENITY" {1ST Filmed Firefly pilot} written by Joss Whedon, episode # 1AGE00 air date
Serenity crew takes on Shepard Book, Simon and River Tam.

"THE TRAIN JOB" {1st aired pilot} Joss Whedon and Tim Minear 1AGE01
Serenity Crew pulls the train job for Adelei Niska. Crow is killed by Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds

"BUSHWHACKED" Tim Minear 1AGE02

"SHINDIG" Jane Espenson 1AGE03

"SAFE" Drew Z. Greeberg 1AGE04

"OUR MRS. REYNOLDS" Joss Whedon 1AGE05

"JAYNESTOWN" Ben Edlund 1AGE06

"OUT OF GAS" Tim Minear 1AGE07

"ARIEL" Jose Molina 1AGE08

"WAR STORIES" Cheryl Cain 1AGE09

"HEART OF GOLD" Brett Matthews 1AGE10

Late December:
"OBJECTS IN SPACE" Joss Whedon 1AGE11

•2518•
January:
"TRASH" Ben Edlund and Jose Molina 1AGE12

"THE MESSAGE" Joss Whedon and Tim Minear 1AGE13

FIREFLY RP "Adventures in Gunrunning"
Damon Boster joins Serenity’s crew midway into AiGR.

Merz joins the crew of the Serenity.

FIREFLY RP "Shadows of the Pale Moonlight"

•2519•
March: Dragonfly RP pilot "Procrustean Karma"

acronyms:
APE = Alliance Protean Engineers
AAoDFP = Age As of DragonFly Pilot
WILD/CARD = Weapon Droid/Construction And Repair Drone.

"Observe Analyze & Respond"
Motto of the A.P.E.s
Alliance Protean Engineers

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 7:50 AM

LINDLEY

Do you mind if I make use of some of those details in my Firefly mod for EVN?

The "Asteroid strikes Mars" thing in particular, and that terraforming-malfunction planet.

As part of this project, I'm also making a map of the Firefly 'verse. However, due to the nature of the game's engine, I have to use the galaxy-spanning model rather than the system-spanning one.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 8:06 AM

KURUKAMI

Nice timeline... of course, I think there's no way in hell that Simon's 29. Based on the flashback we saw in "Safe", he is clearly no more than six or seven years older than River. Since she's no older than 17 or so at the beginning of Firefly (based on dialogue in the pilot "... fourteen years old..." "for two years I tried to find out ..."), he clearly can't be more than 24... 25 at the outside.

"Sir, I would like to gingerly point out that it is difficult for someone to be gently reassuring when they're holding three and a half feet of sharpened steel."

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 8:07 AM

Be my guest...

Hans

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Tuesday, March 30, 2004 8:17 AM

DRAGONFLYDIRECTOR

Simon's age is from the info here on FFFn in the Timeline section.

However...
Considering the length of training for a General Practitioner (+/- 8 years, I believe) and the fact he stated that he was a trauma surgeon (another 3 years training, I think) does indicate he was in training for quite awhile. Albeit he is a genius, it still takes time to satisfy The Powers That Be that a person is qualified to cut into other people.

Then he took 2 years to search for ways to liberate River. I figger he didn't do much at the Hospital during that. Bet he took a sabbatical.

So, if we take the total of 13 years ... means he started Med school around the age of 16.

"Observe Analyze & Respond"
Motto of the A.P.E.s
Alliance Protean Engineers

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 9:04 AM

KURUKAMI

Go watch "Safe". River is clearly about five or six. Do you seriously believe that Simon, as shown in that childhood flashback, is eighteen?

Nuh-uh. No way. Clearly he must have been searching for River while he was in the middle of his training/internship to become a surgeon. I'll buy that he might be, at the outside, eight or nine years older than River -- although that's probably pushing it -- but there's just no way he's 29.

The FFFn timeline is based off of the age of the actor. Clearly the character is meant to be significantly younger than Sean Maher's actual age.

"Sir, I would like to gingerly point out that it is difficult for someone to be gently reassuring when they're holding three and a half feet of sharpened steel."

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 2:50 PM

SAMURAIX47

Check the pilot episode Serenity... Simon says:
I am very smart. I went to the best Medacad in Osiris, top three percent of my class, finished my internship in eight months.

There have been accelerated medical programs in colleges since the 1980s that only take 6 years.

Simon could have started at the Med Academy at 14 just like River did at the 'government sponsored academy'...

In 'Safe' the opening flashback is 11 years ago. River looked about 7 years old. Simon looked 12...

9 years ago - Simon (14) goes to Medacad. River(9).

5 years ago - Simon (18) finishes Medacad, does internship in 8 months, starts residency in Trauma Surgery. River (13).

4 years ago - River (14) goes to BlueHands Academy.

2 years ago - Simon (21) gets River's (16)letters, deciphers them.

0 years @ Persephone - Simon (23) boards Serenity with frozen River (18)

SO Simon could have done 3 years of residency and could well be on his way to becoming a member of the Med Elite by the time he gets involved with trying to get River out of the Academy.

Sounds plausible?

Quote:
Originally posted by DragonFlyDirector:
Simon's age is from the info here on FFFn in the Timeline section.

However...
Considering the length of training for a General Practitioner (+/- 8 years, I believe) and the fact he stated that he was a trauma surgeon (another 3 years training, I think) does indicate he was in training for quite awhile. Albeit he is a genius, it still takes time to satisfy The Powers That Be that a person is qualified to cut into other people.

Then he took 2 years to search for ways to liberate River. I figger he didn't do much at the Hospital during that. Bet he took a sabbatical.

So, if we take the total of 13 years ... means he started Med school around the age of 16.

Jaymes

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 3:16 PM

CAPNRAHN

Jaymes, {this is still DragonFlyDirector}

I am not debating that ... I am just saying they may have got it form some canon source.

It is not my version. Just me "rolling with the blow" and playing with extrapolating a canon error.

Thatr is: if it is canon ... if so, I agree things are frelled up a bit - timeline-wise.

I wish someone directly connected with the production would do an Encyclopeda or even just a "Offical Timeline".

"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 3:48 PM

SAMURAIX47

And back to DragonFlyDirector,

My thinking on Simon's and River's age is purely my own supposition and extrapolation.

Jaymes

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 5:00 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

I seem to remember that the ages for Simon and River in the timline are based on Sean and Summer. Sean is 29, but Simon is 25--I know I heard or saw this somewhere.

btw, I think you all have done some great work on the Firefly timeline, impressive.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 6:45 PM

THECRAZYIVAN

Really thought out...i like the stuff like Galaxy Explorer Program

~~~~~~~~~~
Take me out to the black.....

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 6:58 PM

EBONEZER

reading this has givin me an idea for something i REALLY wanna see in the movie, in a series of episodes, whatever. (because we all KNOW Firefly will come back)

The crew, for whatever reason, i could care less why, returns to earth that was...excitement enseus.

Very cool by the way, this timeline, i never really thought about it...before.

Mal: Hell, I'd do this job for free!
Zoe: Can I have your share?
Mal: No.
Zoe: If you die can I have your share?

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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 7:44 PM

LINDYCAT

2002 Firefly Aired on Fox
2003 Firefly Cancelled
2003 Dec. Firefly DVD's release
2004 Firefly Movie Greenlit and Filmed
2005 Firefly Movie airs to wild critical acclaim, financial success, and 10-15 oscar awards
2006 Firefly Returns to TV on Fox
2010 The second Firefly movie is released
2013 FFF's 'Tash stars in third spinoff Firefly - Companion Nights
2036 Firefly the series, 9th movie, and spinoffs end after three decades of world class entertainment

[img]

[/img]

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Tuesday, April 6, 2004 4:34 AM

While everyone is here debating various timeline issues in the Firefly 'verse, feel free to check out my (somewhat less hypothetical) Firefly Timeline:

http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/firefly.html

My timeline has been mentioned in another thread before, and Hans already wrote to me about it, but it hasn't been brought up here yet...

The main difference between mine and his is that he is extrapolating what he thinks might've led to the universe as seen in Firefly, while I am "merely" listing the events that we know to have happened, as referenced in the series itself.

In other words, I'm sticking to canonical sources. :)

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Tuesday, April 6, 2004 6:27 AM

ZOID

Great work Hans, and additional thoughts by all.

I, too speculate on the nature of the past, present and future of FF 'verse; although, I confess I've never given the 'past' of our favorite series this much analysis. Well done.

I do have to agree with those who state Io is a poor choice for terraforming; and I'll go a little further and state that, of the major moons of Jupiter, Io is the only one that is not considered a (current) target for possible human habitation. Probes and instruments, yes, definitely. Humans, not. As mentioned above, Jupiter's magnetosphere and tidal forces have made Io a hellish place of continuous radiation storms and sulfuric eruptions. Boiling mineral matter floods the surface of Io in great waves, rewriting its entire surface every few decades, a result of massive Jupiter alternately pulling and squeezing the moon like a rubber ball. Europa is a much better choice for terraforming, especially if you have no compunctions about destroying any native life forms that may be extant in the global ocean on that satellite.

Second thing: in the shadow play occurring behind Mal and the cretin, whatsizname, in the theater scene from HoG, the Chinese narration of the play is supposed to be something to the effect that Earth, old and weary, is destroyed (something like: 'when the fire finally came, it was a blessing') by what sounds like a massive "planet killer" asteroidal strike that would destroy the biosphere to the microbial level, or further.

There are several Amor asteroids (Earth crossing) of sufficient size to create such destruction. ...and those are only the ones we know of. We, today, exist in a precarious and uncertain universe.

Other than those minor hiccups, very good discussion and very plausible.

Respectfully,

zoid

_________________________________________________

"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."

- Senator Richard 'Book' Wilkins, Independent Congress
author of A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence

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Tuesday, April 6, 2004 6:48 AM

ZOID

Correction to last post:

From:
http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/index.html

Earth-crossers are called Apollos, Mars-crossers are Amors.

Sorry 'bout that...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."

- Senator Richard 'Book' Wilkins, Independent Congress
author of A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence

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Tuesday, April 13, 2004 3:34 PM

Hans I've got to ask you, just out of curiosity when are we going to see the "100% hypothetical political history of the Alliance" you mentioned you were working on?

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Sunday, May 23, 2004 7:49 PM

I’ve updated the History Summary with some information I found on "The Battle of Serenity Valley" thread about a scene that was cut from the Serenity pilot. THANKS TO ZAPHODB!

CrevanReaver

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Monday, May 24, 2004 1:33 AM

MANTICHORUS

I love backstories- it gives the {series/movie/book/game...} a sense of reality, of not having popped up fully formed from the primorial sludge...
Good job!

-------------------------------------------
"BADGER: You think you're better than other people.
MAL: Just the ones I'm better than."
-------------------------------------
"MAL: Gotta say, doctor, your talent for alienatin' folk is near miraculous.
SIMON: Yes, I'm very proud."

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Thursday, March 31, 2005 8:24 AM

I just thought I'd give this thread a long-needed bump, as I have made numerous additions to my Firefly Timeline since the last time I posted...

The timeline has been expanded quite a bit now and is considerably more extensive, so I invite you to take a look--especially if it's been a while since you've seen it.

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Thursday, March 31, 2005 9:50 AM

ZEEK

Not a bad timeline. Though I think if it were true there would obviously be more than one solar system. There would be no reason for just one. Maybe Serenity would only be flying around one due to speed constraints, but there's no reason why other solar systems wouldn't be colonized by other countries or the independants or whoever. That's why I can't believe the single system theory. If we did it once there's no reason it wouldn't be repeated. It would be similar to saying the first person ever to travel by boat to a new continent or island would just stop there and no one ever wanted to go out exploring ever again. Just wouldn't happen. Humans are too curious.

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Thursday, March 31, 2005 12:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zeek:
Not a bad timeline. Though I think if it were true there would obviously be more than one solar system.

I'm not sure if you're referring to the timeline that was actually posted in this thread or my own Firefly Timeline, which is the one I was talking about (and is only linked from this thread in my earlier post), but there isn't anything in my timeline which indicates there is only one settled solar system. In fact, I am also a proponent of the multiple-systems view, though I think the Core planets are part of the first solar system to be colonised by humans.

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Thursday, March 31, 2005 1:17 PM

ZEEK

Quote:
Originally posted by Almanac:
Quote:
Originally posted by Zeek:
Not a bad timeline. Though I think if it were true there would obviously be more than one solar system.

I'm not sure if you're referring to the timeline that was actually posted in this thread or my own Firefly Timeline, which is the one I was talking about (and is only linked from this thread in my earlier post), but there isn't anything in my timeline which indicates there is only one settled solar system. In fact, I am also a proponent of the multiple-systems view, though I think the Core planets are part of the first solar system to be colonised by humans.

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

I was referring to the timeline posted in the first post of the thread, sorry. I'm a proponent of the multi-system view myself. It just makes more sense to me. I mean if we have the means of getting to another solar system, I just don't see why we'd stop there.

Anyway I do like the idea of the people who stayed at Earth and the people who left coming into conflict. Also liked the idea that they are the Reavers. Though I seriously doubt that's where Joss is going with it.

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Saturday, April 23, 2005 1:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Almanac:
I just thought I'd give this thread a long-needed bump, as I have made numerous additions to my Firefly Timeline since the last time I posted...

The timeline has been expanded quite a bit now and is considerably more extensive, so I invite you to take a look--especially if it's been a while since you've seen it.

Almanac, I've taken some info from your timeline and added it to the speculative history essay drawn from Hans's timeline.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE

By the year 2060, several industrial accidents had caused severe environmental damage across the earth. Scientists, worried about continued environmental degradation, began to look for solutions to the problem.

A prototype Ion drive managed to accelerate a probe to one tenth the speed of light in the year 2069. Then in 2085, the first prototype Orion drive accelerated a probe to one quarter the speed of light. Finally, in 2099, the Galaxy Explorer Program launched eight unmanned deep space probes, equipped with updated Orion drives, towards nearby stars. A permanent colony was established on Mars ten years later. Research on terra-forming led to the first attempt to transform Mars' atmosphere.

In 2140 Galaxy Explorer Seven arrived in the Gliese 876 Solar System, 15 light years away, and began to transmit information back to earth. Fifteen years later, images from Gliese 876 reached Earth, showing a multiple star system with three G-Class stars with four Earth-like planets around each and a total of 58 Mars-like planets along with several gas giants around each star, each with at least two dozen moons that could be terra-formed and given an earth-like gravity field using Orbital Gravity Control satellites. The Destiny Program sent a manned mission towards Gliese in 2181. Destiny arrived at the Gliese system in 2215 then and set up a colony on one of the Earth-like planets.

Terra-forming was completed on Mars in 2216. Images of humans on the planet Sihnon in the Gliese system reached the Sol System in 2230. With the earth continuing to decay, enthusiasm for travel to the new system exploded. Three years later, the United Worlds, the successor to the United Nations, was formed.

Earth's moon was finally terra-formed in 2245. Then from 2250 to 2270 "The First Leap Outward" took place, during which several huge colony ships were launched towards Gliese.

In 2253, Jupiter's moon Europa was terra-formed. Finally, in 2275 scientists determined that without a massive effort, Earth would be uninhabitable in less than 150 years. A huge debate erupted between Expansionists who wanted to focus all of Earth's resources on the new system, and Homesteaders who wanted to focus on making Earth viable in the long run.

The first wave of millions of colonists arrived in the Gliese system from 2280 to 2300. These new colonies were set up on three of the Earth-like worlds (Sihnon, Londinium, and Ariel). More than a billion people left the Sol system for Gliese from 2310 to 2320 during "The Second Leap Outward". They settled the other nine Earth-like planets. From 2340 to 2350 "The Third Leap Outward" took place. By this time Earth's population had dropped to less than two billion, with the rest of the population either now living on Mars or on their way to the Gliese system.

An asteroid struck Mars in 2341, killing several million people. Conspiracy theorists said that the expansionists let the asteroid strike the world, to encourage people to abandon the Sol system for Gliese. Whatever the truth, after the asteroid strike the population of the Sol system for the first time dropped below that of the Gliese system.

By the year 2370, with the population of the Gliese system exploding, the colonists who had been on the planets for decades began to resent the newcomers. The Blue Sun mega-corporation won the contract to begin terra-forming the scores of smaller planets and moons in the system. Blue Sun would employ a special greenhouse gas that traps the heat in a planet or moon's atmosphere making the place warm enough to sustain life even at far distances from the sun. That would be combined with the gravity-control satellites, nanomachines released into the atmosphere, genetically engineered bacteria and algae, soil, and water, plus some industrial sized atmospheric processors along with gigantic orbital mirrors for extra heat and light. The orbital mirrors would be used to focus light on each moon or planet, thus little problem with sunlight and distance.

Many colonists were upset when they arrived in the system, expecting to live on one of the lush central planets, only to be forced to colonize one of the marginal worlds out on the rim. This was mostly because they knew that while terra-forming would make those planets and moons very similar to Earth, they would never be as lush or comfortable as the twelve Core Worlds on account of being so far away from the suns.

In 2374, China and the United States, two leading powers in the Expansionist movement, withdrew from the United Worlds. The new Anglo-Sino Alliance, which controlled many of the worlds and corporations in Gliese, became the de facto main governing body of the system. With the two biggest superpowers out of the United Worlds, attempts to restore the Earth's environment collapsed in 2380 and the planet was officially declared uninhabitable.

A few years after this, prostitution was universally legalized in the form of the Companion Guild, whose registered Companions would eventually have great social status conferred upon them--to the point that some colonies would not even let a ship dock without a Companion onboard.

The United Worlds was officially dissolved in 2391. While there were still viable colonies on Mars, Europa and Luna, the Sol system suffered under a boycott from the Alliance. Many of the few who remain in the Sol system gave up and headed for Gliese. The last colony ship arrived in the Gliese System from Earth in the year 2429. Radio contact with the handful of people left in the Sol system soon broke off. It is unknown if there are still colonies there.

Terra-forming continued to push the human colonies further out into the system by 2440. Almost all the worlds other than the Core Worlds were officially declared colonies (whatever their populations), which meant they had no voting rights in the Alliance. All those planets and moons terra-formed towards the end of colonization were much more primitive than those that were settled early (the Core Planets) because they hadn't had ample opportunity to establish new levels of high technology the central worlds have.

As humanity pushes out further, some men go savage on the edge of Alliance space after being too long removed from civilization, becoming merciless cannibalistic killers known as Reavers. They have no philosophy, having forgotten how to be men, and some believe that they became nothingness itself when confronted with the nothing at the edge of the solar system. However, Reavers are only the stuff of campfire stories to most people, and many do not believe they really exist. Legend has it that if Reavers take a ship, they will rape its crew to death, eat their flesh, and sew their skins into their clothing--and if the crew is very, very lucky, they will do it in that order.

As the Alliance terraformed its border moons, settlers were dumped there with nothing but blankets, hatchets, and maybe a herd. Some of those moons managed to make it, but others ended up in bad shape, suffering plagues and famine--though some of the reports of such suffering were exaggerated.

In 2485, the border moon Calembel experienced extreme weather patters due to poor terra-forming. More than a million people died in floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Official Alliance response was slow, and it was more than three weeks before relief ships arrived. Many border planets were angered by the slow response, and the phrase "Remember Calembel!" became a rallying cry among the anti-Alliance forces. "The Freedom Petition" was issued in 2493. In it 49 border worlds signed the petition demanding increased representation in the Alliance. The Alliance responded by arresting the leaders of the movement and instituting martial law.

From 2493 to 2506, terrorist activity against Alliance targets grew on the border worlds. The Alliance responded, often brutally. In 2506, the Alliance tax offices on Shadow were burned to the ground by an angry mob, and all Alliance officials were kicked off the world. The Cruiser Munch was dispatched to the moon in order to restore order. When the captain of the Munch refused an order to bombard the colony, another Alliance Cruiser, the Kelp, was sent to the moon. The Kelp was destroyed by the Munch, in what is considered the first act of the Civil War that would come to be known as the War to Unite the Planets.

One by one, the various moons and planets on the rim declared themselves pro-Independence. Some Alliance military forces joined the rebels, but the majority remained loyal. The war was long and bloody, with the Independents also known as Browncoats generally worse off. Forces of the so called Union of Allied Planets" slowly pushed their way out in the system.

In late May of 2511, Alliance and Independent forces met in battle in a place called Serenity Valley. Located on Hera, the valley was considered a key position by both sides, and was bitterly fought over. The Independent Faction, with sixteen brigades and twenty air-tank squads, held the valley against Alliance forces for almost two months, until superior numbers and a brilliant deep- flank strategy by General Richard Wilkins led to an Alliance victory in what would become the most devastating and decisive battle of the war. Nearly half a million people lay dead on that field at day's end, about a third of them “winners“. With the strategically important planet of Hera fallen into Alliance hands, the Independents began to accept terms of surrender.

Those who had fought for independence and so bloodily lost had no choice but to live by the laws of the new “Universal Alliance“. Some never would, and those few found themselves drifting--flying to the furthest reaches of the system, to the border planets, worlds less civilized, some barely settled, where the Alliance might not control their lives. These are hard worlds, and work is where you find it. Those who get buy lived by a simple creed: Any job, anywhere. The motto of the few remaining disorganized Independents is "We Shall Rise Again".

The culture of 2517 is heavily influenced by the relationship between the West and East embodied in The Alliance. There are many Eastern influences including speech (Cantonese / Mandarin), dress (Chinese styles often worn by women), newspapers, etc. The other culture influencing the Gliese 876 system is the Western Frontiersman. As well as the dialect this is shown again in terms of dress, the lower end of the technology spectrum (coach and horses), etc.

The Central Planets are the home of modern civilization with every imaginable technological achievement on display. Life on the borders of colonized space is very different. Without easy assess to modern conveniences, the sparse populations make due with more antiquated tools. These worlds have come to resemble the old American frontier, in look and attitude. Self-sufficiency and hard work are the rule. Even on those worlds, the "Earth That Was" is not a place people talk about going to.

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Saturday, September 3, 2005 8:22 AM

This is just a quick bump to point out that I have continued to update the Firefly Timeline:

http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/firefly.html

The latest update now reflects all of the information I could glean from the four "R. Tam Sessions" so far released online...

This is also a celebratory bump, as the Firefly Timeline is one of the few links provided on the revamped version of the Official Serenity Website.

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:15 AM

I haven't bumped up this thread at all since the release of Serenity, so I thought it was finally time to do so...

Needless to say, a lot of content has been added to the Firefly Timeline related to the film, though I'm (amazingly) not done yet.

There is still plenty of material from places like the novelisation of the movie and the Visual Companion that hasn't been dated and included, but I look forward to getting more of that content up in the near future.

In the meantime, though, feel free to enjoy the timeline, as it's certainly grown in the year-and-change since I last posted in this thread.

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007 8:42 AM

Once again, something has occupied a lot of my time lately and prevented me from working on the Firefly Timeline...

To be specific, the main thing has been the Browncoat Saloon I'm helping put together this weekend here in Winnipeg, which already has a thread of its own:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=19&t=26841

If any of you are interested in knowing more about that, feel free to join the Browncoat Saloon Community on LiveJournal:

http://community.livejournal.com/browncoatsaloon/

Similarly, you can also join the Browncoat Saloon on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/browncoatsaloon

This will be the first appearance of the Saloon, but I doubt it will be the last... ;)

Edgar Governo
Historian of Things That Never Were
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.html

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Sunday, December 9, 2007 4:22 AM

Using info from Joss's "A Brief History of the Universe" and the RPG, here is a detailed (but canon) history of the Verse:

Depleted resources, overpopulation, and a compromised ecosystem forced the population to abandon "Earth-That-Was". Amazingly enough, instead of wiping itself out, the human race rose to the challenge of finding a new home for the species. Astronomers searched the heavens and found a star system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons, almost all of which had enough mass and solidity to be templates for new earths. Through giant atmosphere processing plants, terraforming technologies, gravity regulation and the introduction of every known form of Earth life, each could become habitable for a human population. Every person willing and able to leave the Earth migrated to the new system in a great exodus.

They set out in enormous ships they referred to as "arks." Without "faster-than-light" capability, the journey to a new home was long and taxing. One full generation was born, lived, and died without ever leaving these space ships. The initial excitement of the voyage quickly faded into the monotony of keeping the ships moving, keeping the life-support systems intact, and perfecting the technologies that would give future generations good lives on new worlds. Naturally, some people expected to encounter extraterrestrial life, but the only signals on the scanner were the natural static of the stars. So far as we know, humanity is alone in the universe.

With so many different people of all nationalities and races inside the space ships, the old ethnic and political barriers began to blur. People learned the native languages of their fellow ship dwellers. Subsequent generations would come to speak fluently the two dominant languages, English and Mandarin, and phrases from other cultures.

Not surprising, some people lost hope along the way. There were accidents, malfunctions. If an ark lost life support, thousands died. The arks became their coffins, forever drifting in the cold. But for every person that lost hope, hundreds were there to keep it alive. Each day brought humanity closer to home. And then, one day, there it was.

These new worlds were ready for habitation (despite the odd quirk of nature or miscalculation on a few) and civilization began to rebuild. Even after continued refinement, the process of terraforming a moon or a planet takes decades. Terraforming requires atmospheric processing plants, the regulation of gravity, environmental adaptation and the introduction of creatures great and small brought from Earth-That-Was—everything from algae and bacteria to insects, birds, and mammals. The power to make such changes is still not without its limits. While most all terraformed worlds are suitable for human life, each has its own quirks.

The work of terraforming had started on the two largest, most central planets, Sihnon and Londinium. On Earth-That-Was, the two ruling powers were the United States and the People's Republic of China. Though these nations remained separate, the two powers worked together throughout the colonization process and as so many had, their cultures melding at many levels. Londinium, named after the Roman name for England's capital (a country long before annexed by the U.S. in a somewhat ironic reversal), represented what was once the United States. Sinon ('SEE-non,' a bastardization of Sino, our word for 'Chinese') was the new China. These two powers, still working in harmony, grew at once into the most populous and advanced civilizations in the new star system. They became the center of culture and business throughout the system. The governments of these two planets took an enlightened view of civilization. They worked to maintain order, but also encouraged diversity of language, ethnicity, religion, and expression of thought.

These were enlightened cultures, with respect for all non-aggressive religious beliefs (though the main religion on both was Buddhism, usually of the Mahayana tradition). Literacy levels were at 94%. Average lifespan was 120. Public Service was not law - it was simply an ingrained part of the people's ethos. Certain social mores had evolved beyond our modern conceptions. As, for example, sex. Prostitution as we understand it had long since been abolished by the legalization and strict federal regulation of the sex trade. 'Companion' houses were set up throughout the central planets. No house could ever be run by a man. No Companion could ever be coerced into accepting a client. Companions trained in all the arts, extremely well schooled. They lived not unlike Nuns, worked not unlike Geishas, and often rose to political or social prominence when they retired. Such was life on the central planets: Ariel, Bernadette, Londinum, Osiris, and Sihnon. On the outer planets, things were a mite different.

They had enough worlds to go around, but not enough resources. And people didn't exactly stop procreating. Despite all the best efforts and intentions of the original founders, the problems of the common man did not go away with the formation of new worlds. Humanity is restless, always looking to find greener pastures somewhere else. Pioneers left the crowded cities and traveled out to the most newly terraformed worlds, hoping to build a better life for themselves. The outer planets, the worlds and moons that hadn't been chosen to house the new civilization - they were the destination for the poorer, more extreme, the pioneers. They traveled out to the nearest planet someone hadn't claimed yet and started turning their rockets into roofs. Building off whatever the land had been shaped to provide them with. Some of these people were brought near to savagery by the conditions they encountered. Some were just hard-working, independent people who didn't want their lives mapped out for them before they'd lived them. Didn't want convenience. Some were orthodox in their beliefs to the point where they were not comfortable among non-believers, and wanted whole worlds where they would not be slowly homogenized into society. And some had reason to avoid the law.

There were troubles. As humanity spread out, they brought with them their usual miseries: greed, corruption, crime. Disagreement over resources, trade, and political influence led to general unrest among the planets. There were famines, there were wars - the human race didn't get better or smarter just because they had made scientific leaps. Things were definitely more peaceful among the Central Planets, but that peace was bought at a price. Nothing resembling totalitarianism, but a certain regulation of existence that would not sit well with some. And even among these planets, conflicts over resources, trade, and political influence strained the civil relations of sister nations. A movement began in the oldest, most stable planets to form a unified parliamentary system of government that would work to regulate such matters and keep the peace. The popular idea was quickly ratified and in an effort to unite and quell this conflict, the Central Planets formed the Alliance, a governing structure that unified them all under one governing body, the Parliament. The few members represented each planet, and worked in genuine harmony to fulfil each planet's various needs, economically and politically. In harmony, and very often, in secrecy.

The Alliance was started out of an idealistic belief that a strong central government that controlled every aspect of a person's life, from cradle to grave, could provide that person a better, safer, and more secure life. Some people in the Alliance truly believed this and they dedicated their lives to bringing this about. Others saw this as a chance to grab power for themselves.

The Parliament formed a military council that acted quickly to quell any unrest among the Core planets and their neighbors. Maintaining order meant keeping tight control over the populace, and that led to the creation of many secret programs. Their hope was to make people obedient, complacent, compliant—"better" by the government's definition. The Parliament ruled over people with fairness and intelligence, but also with a strong army and a wary eye toward any insurrection. The Military Council worked under the Parliament to deliver swift, effective control of any real unrest among them or their neighbors. And even beyond the knowledge of the Military Council were other bodies, secret bodies...human experimentation. Spies. Assassins. Schemes, secret up to the highest level, to get people to behave. To improve.

The Alliance was the protective parent. The Core worlds were model children. But the Alliance had another problem. They feared their "good children" were going to be corrupted by the bad seeds who lived on the wrong side of the system. The worlds on the Border and the Rim were self-governing, outside the limits of Alliance control. Each world had its own set of laws and rules that suited its own particular needs. People living on these frontier planets had been forced to be self-reliant in order to survive, and they had come to be free-thinkers who saw no need for a lot of government meddling. The Alliance considered such independence a threat to civilization. (They also considered that a lot of valuable resources and real estate were outside their control) For the benefit of all people in the system and partially out of a simple imperialistic wish for control and need for resources off-limits to them, the Parliament - and the Allied planets as a whole decided that every planet in the system should come under Alliance rule, whether its people wanted it or not.

Believing that everyone would want to live on a safe and civilized world where people are cared for by their betters, idealistic people of the Core planets thought this was a great idea. The movement for Unification spread like wildfire through dry brush. The leaders on the Core thought they had only to open their arms in a wide embrace and those poor benighted souls on the Rim would come running home to their mothers. Those on the Border did come running. Only problem—they carried guns.

The War for Unification was the most devastating in human history. Outer planets, including Shadow, Persephone, and Hera, mustered forces - more than half volunteers - to stop what they felt to be nothing more than imperialist hegemony and formed an alliance of their own—the Independent Faction (known as "Browncoats," thanks to the brown dusters their soldiers took to wearing). The Parliament of the Alliance instituted a draft to build its forces. They were considerably astonished to learn that more than half of the Independent forces were composed of volunteers. The Alliance (known as the "Purple Bellies" for their style of dress) had the manpower, the ships, and technology to make the result of the war a forgone conclusion—but they never expected the kind of resistance the other planets could provide. They did not expect so many men and women to still consider freedom worth dying for.

The war raged for just over five years, taking place on land, sea, and in the dark of space. The war tore into the planets between the central ones and the rim worlds (fighting never reached such inconsequential moons as Whitefall or Beaumonde, nor did it touch Sihnon and Londinium, except in the odd protest or terrorist act).

The largest space battle in terms of scale and human cost was the Battle of Sturges, one in which countless ships were destroyed, creating a massive graveyard preserved in the vacuum of the black. The largest land battle, the one that brought about the end of the war, was fought on the planet Hera in Serenity Valley. This battle raged on for seven weeks before the Independent High Command surrendered. Even then, some of the Browncoats continued to fight on for two weeks after that. Those soldiers who continued to fight even after being ordered to lay down arms were captured and held in camps for a short time. Ultimately, the Alliance released the soldiers and officers as a peaceful gesture to those outer planets now under its rule. The stain of criminality never left those few thousand - but in some quieter circles, the legend of their tenacity made them heroes.

Since the battles were mostly fought on the Border and the Rim, the Core planets escaped unscathed. To this day, many outer planets still bear terrible scars. Shadow was effectively destroyed, and it remains uninhabitable seven years later. Major cities on Athens were bombed. Several key land battles were fought on Persephone. Moons that had no strategic value, such as Whitefall and Jiangyin, were untouched, but they still suffered as a result of the disruption of trade. Supplies had been hard to get as it was, and the war made it harder. Almost every person living on those planets saw their homes leveled, their businesses fall into ruin, their loved ones killed or maimed—all in the name of making their lives better.

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Wednesday, July 30, 2008 6:46 AM