MOD:WCU:WC0:WCRtimeline

2628

The Laser Cannon, Meson Blaster, Plasma Gun and the Friend-or-Foe "Pilum" missile enter service. KS Manual

2629

Exploration and colonization ships of the Confederation increase their penetration into Vega Sector. Claw Marks The vidstar Saranya Carr is born. KS Manual

2629.105 The exploration ship TCS Iason encounters a spacecraft of unknown origin. Commander Jedora Andropolos transmits the standard wideband, non-verbal greeting designed by the Committee for Interaction with Alien intelligences and waits for response. Less than twenty minutes later, the still unidentified ship opens fire with full lasers, completely destroying Iason and it's crew. Although the identity of the attacking ship is never definitively established, Confederation deep space tracking computers point to a possible point of origin from a previously unexplored planet, soon to be known by its native name, Kilrah. Claw Marks, KS Manual

2630-2634

The Terran Confederation receives numerous reports of unwarranted assault, space piracy, kidnapping and interplanetary plundering, all taking place at an increasingly expanding distance from the planet Kilrah. Frequent attempts to meet with Kilrathi High Command are rejected without explanation. In retaliation, the Terran Confederation Congress votes unanimously to enforce a strict non-aggression policy by the Kilrathi. The leaders of Kilrah are warned that their next transgression could lead to military reprisals. KS Manual

2630

The Turreted Laser Cannon enters service. KS Manual Tanaka Mariko is born as the daughter of Major Tanaka "Go-Devil" Shun at Sapporo on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Later, she will become a third-generation military pilot. Claw Marks

2630.168 Christopher Blair is born. KS Calendar

2631

2631.038 Todd Marshall is born at Leto, Proxima Centauri IV. Claw Marks, KS Calendar

2632

The Photon Cannon enters service. KS Manual

2633

The Image-Recognition "Spiculum" missile enters service. KS Manual The Confederation starts initial survey of the inhabited system M-421A near the Kilrathi border. WC Academy Series

2634

Daymon Karnes graduates the Naval Space Academy and enters active service. WC Academy Series

2634.186 The Anna Magdelena, a refitted transport ship ferrying orphans to their new homes on Dieno, is openly attacked by a pair of Kilrathi fighters. No one survives. In retaliation for this and the five-year string of equally heinous abuses of all known laws of civility, the Terran Confederation officially declares war on the Empire of Kilrah. Claw Marks, KS Manual

2634.228 TCN cryptographer Ches M. Penney intercepts and partially decodes a stray Kilrathi cipher implying that a strike will soon be launched against the planet McAuliffe and its orbitting space station, Alexandria. Confederation High Command orders a counteroffensive twice the size of the anticipated fleet, hoping to reach McAuliffe first and ambush the attackers. Claw Marks, KS Manual

2634.235 After a tense rush to McAuliffe, the Confederation fleet establishes a formidable defensive position around the planet. When the Kilrathi fleet arrives, however, it is quadruple the expected size. The incomlete transmission of the intercepted message had underestimated the size of the Kilrathi offensive. So begins the McAuliffe Ambush engagement. In several days of bloody combat, the Terran fleet is all but obliterated, leaving a still-sizeable force of funtional Kilrathi spacecraft. But the Kilrathi, momentarily daunted by the ferocity of the Terran resistance, turn back to regroup and repair. The first large-scale Terran-Kilrathi engagement ends with the Kilrathi spearhead momentarily broken. The phase-shield piercing torpedo technology is used by Kilrathi forces during this ambush for the first time. That technology is soon to be adapted by the Terran Military. Claw Marks, KS Manual Major Tanaka "Go-Devil" Shun, father of Tanaka Mariko, is killed in this ambush. Claw Marks

2634.352 The Kilrathi Emperor announces the decree to eliminate the human race. KS Calendar

2635-2643

Confed encourages the production of the movie "The last hero" in hope that it will encourage young people to become combat pilots. The movie is about Daymon Karnes, the best Confed pilot at this time. The young Todd Marshall watches the movie and decides to become combat pilot. WC Academy Series

2637

Chen Kien graduates the Space Naval Academy and enters active service. Wing Commander

2638

The Flak Cannon enters service. KS Manual

2639

The central metropolis of New Detroit begins to spread over the entire planet. Over the next 30 years the entire planet will become one huge city. Privateer Manual

2639.033 Kilrathi occupation forces land on the human-occupied world McAulifee, put a quarter of a million human prisoners under orbital guns, and await Terran reprisals. So begins the McAulifee Engagement, a tactical situation made difficult by the presence of so many hostages. Phase One of the McAulifee engagement involves bringing in an attack force against the Kilrathi fleet at McAuliffe/Enyo. The attack force under command of Captain Geoffrey Tolwyn consists principally of Raptor-Class heavy fighters reconfigured to carry extra Porcupine Space Mines and practically no missiles. The force is small enough that Kilrathi forces at McAulifee are certain of victory. The Phase One forces drop their Space Mines in one region of space near McAulifee and engage the enemy. Kilrathi ships maneuver to get out of the mined region and turn their attention to destroying the invaders. By the time the Kilrathi navigators realize that the mined region corresponds to McAulifee's principal jump point, it is too late: Phase Two has begun. A single radio signal detonates all the specially-modified Porcupine mines, and moments later the remainder of the Terran fleet appears at the jump point, in the middle of the engagement. The Terran fleet strikes first against the gunships threatening the human colonies. The enemy ships are destroyed with minimal loss of life among the colonists. Then the two fleets settle in for a pounding match. The McAulifee engagement ends with the Kilrathi in retreat. Losses have been nearly identical between the two fleets, but the Kilrathi have been forced to abandon a strategic position. Claw Marks, KS Manual In this engagement 2nd Lt. Joseph Khumalo is assigned as wingman to Captain Maria "La Doña" Alvarez. After the tough fight the Captain says "Oh, it's my White Knight" giving Khumalo his callsign "Knight". During this fight, Khumalo scores enough kills to finally become an Ace. Claw Marks

2640

The Neutron Gun enters service. KS Manual

2642

The Confederation military command, determining that a need exists for a heavy space carrier, authorizes design of the Bengal-class carrier line. Trojan Four Spaceyards wins the assignment to build the new line of carriers. Claw Marks

2644

Daymon Karnes, at this time considered being a war hero, is MIA when he doesn't return from a standard patrol in system M-421A. Confederation HQ finds out later that Karnes has turned renegade and begun to establish a pirate base on Tortuga, a planet in M-421A. Confed declares this fact Top Secret fearing it might have negative effects on morale. WC Academy Series The newly-launched TCS Tiger's Claw, on its shakedown cruise, carrying a minimal spacecrew and an under-experienced command, finds itself in the path of a surprise Kilrathi invasion force. The ship's unexpected presence along the Kilrathi flight plan, clever tactics on the part of the command crew, and performance above and beyond the call of duty by the spacecrews rout the superior Kilrathi force. Shortly thereafter, Tiger's Claw is given permanent assignment in Vega Sector. Claw Marks

2645

The Turreted Neutron Gun enters service. KS Manual The second Bengal-class space carrier, the TCS Kipling, is launched. Owing to design modifications, the Kipling and all subsequent Bengals are 10 meters shorter and several tonnes less massive than the TCS Tiger's Claw, making the Tiger's Claw the biggest space carrier in its class. Claw Marks

2646-2651

Hector "Grunt" Paz is wounded at Repleetah and suffers a lingering paralysis since. He manages to keep his medical status off his records and requests a transfer from the Marine Corps to the Naval Space Academy. WC Academy Series

2649 ((( Note discrepancy with CIC's timeline, which puts Cluster's Carnival in 2644 )))

Terran ground forces launch an attack on a fortified Kilrathi colony, only to be routed by unexpected Kilrathi fighter support. The Terrans quickly reform and advance back into Terran space, their lightly-armed transports pursued by Kilrathi warships. The TCS Tiger's Claw is detached from its previous station and assigned to intercept the pursuing fighters in a delaying action evantually known as Custer's Carnival. Swarmed and badly damaged by Kilrathi fighters, the carrier distracts Kilrathi forces long enough for the Terran fleet to reach safety. Despite the fact that three-fourths of its engines are destroyed and half its pilots are listed as casualties, the heroic efforts of the Claw's crew allows the carrier to make it back into Terran space. Two Gold Stars and numerous other medals - many of them posthumous - are awarded to the ship's personnel. The carrier itself spends six months in spacedock for repairs and refitting. Claw Marks, KS Manual