Here’s the next installment of the timeline. This section include the events that will be considered the first battles of the Second Sathar War, namely the Battles of Volkos and Zebulon between ground and spaces forces of the UPF and the sathar at Volturnus in the Zebulon system.
After posting the last installment, I was asked if it would be possible to provide references to the sources I’m using to create the entries. I realized that would be a good idea so I’ve started adding reference notes to all the entries that come from other sources other than me just making them up for the timeline. I also wrote a short introduction to the timeline that explains the references that I’ve reproduced below.
I’ve gone back an annotated all the previous entries in the downloadable timeline document and where a reference occurs in the blog post, I’ve included the key for those references at the end of the post.
Introduction
The following timeline represents the events of the Second Sathar War as I designed them to act as a backdrop to various campaigns I am running. I have a different timeline that runs the PCs though all the game modules in an appropriate order to progress their skill level but that is not this one. This is somewhat of a more fiction-oriented timeline rather than on specifically designed to run PCs through.
One major aspect of this time line is that I’m using the Knight Hawks rules for interstellar travel, namely that it effectively takes 9 day to make an interstellar jump between systems (ignoring astrogation calculation times). I also make the assumption that if you’re not stopping in a system, you only have to spend as much time in that system as the astrogation calculations take as you stay near jump speed during your transit. If you assume 1 day per light year per the original Alpha Dawn rules, it would change the timing of many of these events, possibly significantly.
If you’re familiar with the timeline in the Zebulon’s Guide to Frontier Space, you’ll quickly notice that I don’t follow that much at all. I pull some of the names and ideas but the timing and actual events follow my own muse. Additionally, regardless of the source of the events, the exact dates are all of my creation.
In the events that follow, I’ve tried to annotate the source for names, dates, and events if they come from any of the material originally published by TSR. Although I’m not going to annotate the system, planet, and common megacorp names as I assume those are common knowledge. I will also try to annotate any material coming from the Star Frontiersman and Frontier Explorer Fanzines. If you notice that I missed anything, let me know so I can fix it.
Annotations that appear at the end of an entry refer to the entire entry. If it appears in the middle, it applies just to the name that the annotation follows. Each time an annotation first appears, there will be a footnote describing it. I’ve also added an Appendix listing all the annotation codes. If no particular annotation is associated with an entry you may assume I made the entry up out of whole cloth or extrapolated it from other events specifically for this timeline.
Timeline
As always, the data presented in this blog post cover only the new dates but the downloadable document at the end is cumulative over all the timeline posts up to this point.
| Date (FY) | Event |
| 59.395 | Subspace signal received at Laco from unknown location in Sathar space. Images appear in the great pyramid showing a similar complex on a warm, swampy world with a large number of sathar and a bipedal insect race (Zuraqqor) working around the complex. |
| 59.396 | Despite efforts to keep the images contained, news and clips of the images race across the Frontier on the subspace network. Scientists, politicians, and the general populous speculate as to the cause and meaning. |
| 59.397 | A new group, calling themselves the Anti-Satharian League (ZG), stage demonstrations on the major population centers of the Frontier and at the Council of Worlds, broadcasting excerpts from the Laco pyramid images and demanding increased military buildup for Spacefleet. |
| 59.398 | Completing its time in the Cassidine system, SF Nova departs Triad for the Dramune system to spend some time cooling rising tensions between Inner and Outer Reach. |
| 59.399 | A CDC scout ship, the Twilight Moon, returns from charting a jump route to the Rhianna system. Due to preliminary geological findings, CDC decides to keep the route a secret and establish a mining outpost on the planet Alcazzar. (SF4) |
| 59.400 | Most businesses across the Frontier close a day early in anticipation of the big Founding Day celebrations tomorrow, allowing citizens and organizations some extra time to prepare. |
| 60.001 | – UPF Founding Day celebrations occur on most planets across the Frontier to celebrate 6 decades of peace. However, there is a subtle undercurrent of concern due to the recent events on Laco. – The first new sathar ship that will be committed to the coming conflict, a destroyer, emerges from Sathar Starship Construction Center (SSCC) #2, located in the as of yet unexplored (and unnamed) Liberty system. |
| 60.002 | – In wake of the Founding Day celebrations, the Frontier Peace Organization hold a rally outside the Council of Worlds headquarters demanding a reduction in Spacefleet and Landfleet operations. Some small altercations occur with members of the Anti-Satharian League. – Observance Day on Clarion (White Light) commemorates all who have fallen defending the system through history. This year it also continues the UPF Founding Day celebration on the planet for an extra day. |
| 60.003 | UPF PG Virgo, together with the Pale militia (a frigate and 3 assault scouts), depart for the Zebulon system. Streel additionally sends a frigate, 4 corvettes, and 3 assault scouts to assist. |
| 60.004 | Council of Worlds reconvenes for its 60th session. Initial topics of debate include events on Laco and Zebulon and their implications for the future of the Frontier. |
| 60.005 | Fighting breaks out between Frontier Peace Organization and Anti-Satharian League supporters outside the Council of Worlds headquarters. Local police have to resort to doze and tangler grenades and stun weapons to break up the fighting. Over 4 dozen beings detained. |
| 60.006 | Sathar SSCC#4, near Fromeltar and Klaeok, completes construction of a light cruiser and 4 fighters. |
| 60.007 | SF Nova arrives in the Dramune System. It will remain in system for 15 days as a show of force to help quell rising tensions between Inner and Outer Reach |
| 60.008 | Laco artifacts taken from the PGC chartered freighter, KSS Dawn’s Glow, anonymously arrive at the Triad Institute of Technology (TriTech) and are delivered to their originally intended recipients. (NCW) |
| 60.009 | The Sathar cleansing fleet arrives in the Zebulon system and begins decelerating towards Volturnus. (SF2) |
| 60.010 | The UPF fleet arrives in the Zebulon system and begins decelerating toward Volturnus and the sathar fleet. (SF2) |
| 60.011 | A small freighter, the KKSS Trader’s Gambit, misjumps travelling from K’aken-Kar to K’tsa-Kar and ends up in the Sundown system. Damaged engines force the crew to look for a planet to land on to effect repairs. (SF3) |
| 60.012 | – Battle of Volkos – Sathar ground troops advance on the ruins of the Eorna city of Volkos. A rag-tag army, composed of members of Volturnus’s native races and lead by members of the TSES Second Volturnus Expedition, manage to hold off the invaders. (SF2) – Battle of Zebulon – UPF forces engage the Sathar fleet around Volturnus. Although the UPF forces are mostly smaller vessels, the sathar are driven off with only a frigate, 2 destroyers, and a heavy cruiser surviving. UPF losses were 1 UPF LC and AS, 1 Streel Corvette, and 1 militia AS (SF2) |
| 60.013 | News of defeat at Zebulon reaches sathar space. Clan infighting begins around debate of invasion and who should lead assault. This will continue for several months. At the same time all the clans begin building up their military. |
| 60.014 | – News of victory over sathar forces in the Zebulon system announced across the Frontier to mixed reaction. Performance of the Assault Scout in its first major engagement with sathar forces is deemed a success. – Pale militia and Spacefleet given priority at the Pale and Gran Quivera starship construction centers to replace vessels lost in the battle at Zebulon. |
| 60.015 | – The KKSS Trader’s Gambit sets down on the planet Starmist in the Sundown system. (SF3) – Having effected repairs from the battle with the sathar, the Pale militia and Streel ships depart Volturnus (Zebulon) to return to Pale (Truane’s Star) while the UPF forces remain on patrol. |
| 60.016 | – The Anti-Satharian League stages demonstrations on Pale, Gran Quivera, Triad, and Clarion demanding increased militarization and growth of Spacefleet – The navigator and second master of the KKSS Trader’s Gambit, Maximillian Malligigg, makes contact with an intelligent race, the Heliopes, on the planet Starmist (Sundown). (SF3) |
| 60.017 | Leotia (SFKH0) Valentine Leotus, crown princess of Clarion (White Light), celebrates her 32nd birthday (18.5 earth years) |
| 60.018 | A listening station in the Kazak system in the Rim detect faint signals of sathar ships in the outer system. Flight vessels are dispatched to investigate. |
| 60.019 | Repairs completed, the KKSS Trader’s Gambit leaves Starmist to attempt to return to charted Frontier space. (SF3) |
| 60.020 | The Flight vessels in Kazak arrive at the location of the sathar signals but find nothing more than a faint indication that ships had passed through the area days before. Two ships are left on station while the rest return to base. |
| 60.021 | Winter begins in earnest on Alcazzar, delaying the start of CDC operations on the planet. The corporation hopes that this delay will throw off any competitor’s interest in the mineral rich system. (SF4) |
| 60.022 | SF Nova departs the Dramune system for the Fromeltar system |
| 60.023 | – The KKSS Trader’s Gambit successfully jumps back to the K’tsa-Kar system. – The Pale militia arrives back home from the Zebulon system. |
| 60.024 | Scouting through the Zebulon system, a UPF frigate and assault scout find an ancient vessel in a distant solar orbit. Investigation reveals it to contain a cache of cryogenically stored Eorna eggs. If still viable, the eggs will secure the survival of that species. (SF3) |
| 60.025 | Delegates from the Pale militia are dispatched to testify at the Council of Worlds regarding events on Volturnus. |
References
- NCW – A New Can of Worms on-line game events
- SF2 – Starspawn of Volturnus module
- SF3 – Sundown on Starmist module
- SF4 – Mission to Alcazzar module
- SFKH0 – Warriors of White Light module
- ZG – Zebulon’s Guide to Frontier Space, Vol 1