Chapter V

The Golden Age

2920, 2942 · UEE Calendar

Prosperity, expansion, and the Vanduul at the gates.

◢ Timeline

2931

Imperator Toi establishes the modern UEE

A constitutional framework that has survived every attempt to weaken it since. The "Terran Bill of Rights" is signed into law.

2938

Stanton system sold to the MegaCorps

In an attempt to balance the budget after centuries of Messer military spending, the UEE sells development rights to four planets in the Stanton system to Hurston Dynamics, Crusader Industries, ArcCorp, and microTech.

2938

Lorville construction begins

Hurston Dynamics breaks ground on Lorville, a soot-black mining capital that will grow into the largest city on any corporate-owned world. Indentured contracts and air quality complaints start the same year.

2940

Orison opens above Crusader

Crusader Industries completes Orison, a floating city-platform suspended in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant. No ground. Just clouds, and the ships that sell there.

2941

ArcCorp declared an ecumenopolis

ArcCorp's Area18 megacity grows until it merges with the surrounding cities. The entire planet is officially declared a single continuous urban environment.

2942

The Vanduul take Orion

After decades of escalating raids, the Vanduul sack the human-colonized Orion system in a single coordinated campaign. Half a million dead. The UEE finally accepts this is no longer a border skirmish, it is a war.

Panel 01

The Golden Age Begins

2931, Terra Prime. Largest city-skyline outside Earth.

Panel 02

The Fastest Century

The first half of the UEE's democratic era is remembered as The Golden Age for a reason. Jump points were mapped faster than any time since Croshaw. Trade exploded. The corporations grew powerful enough to buy entire star systems, literally, in Stanton's case.

Panel 03

Stanton, the Sold System

Four worlds. Four corporations. Hurston Dynamics bought a planet to extract minerals. Crusader Industries to build starliners. ArcCorp to manufacture electronics. microTech to develop software. Each is a company town the size of a world. They answer to shareholders first, the UEE second.

Panel 04

Orion Falls

2942, Vanduul coordinated offensive erases a colonized system. Half a million dead.

We were told the Orion system was safe. We were told the Vanduul were raiders. Half a million dead. The dictionary now needs a new word.

, Imperator Costigan, address to the Senate, 2942