Can anyone help me with compiling some sort of chronology of main events in Freelancer universe, including the events described in original storyline?
I know that there are various clues about this in-game, but unfortunately have no time to spend searching for all of them. What I need is basically the year (starting with year 1, the year when Manhattan was founded) of all important events, like wars, planet colonizations, great discoveries, and other historically important events. Your assistance will be much appreciated.
Only the vanilla events, or we include the Discovery events, like clan battles, etc?
No, I'm talking of Vanilla events. This is important to set up a realistic chronology for events that happened in Discovery (after Trent's story with nomads was over).
If someone could get hands on Marauder... he had Freelancer history in his little finger...
Maybe at answers.com, i found a small chronology and some informations here.
The Exodus
A war between two major factions, the Coalition and the Alliance, has been waged in the Earth's solar system for decades (see Starlancer for the video game based on this conflict). Eventually, the Coalition gains the upper hand and the Alliance, sensing defeat, builds a group of five sleeper ships in secret. Each ship represents one of the major members in The Alliance: the Kusari (Japan), the Rheinland (Germany), the Liberty (America), the Bretonia (Britain), and the Hispania (Spain). Fortunately, all five escape the Coalition blockade and head toward the Sirius sector carrying thousands of colonists.
The original introductory video to the game, which was not included in the finished product, implies that Earth was destroyed by an alien power not long after the Exodus. The video also states that a single ship survived the nova and went after the sleeper ships to warn them of the aliens. The fact that someone is narrating the events implies that the ship made it. In this version of the video, the phrase "We will never forget" has a completely different meaning. It is important to note however, this video may have been cut from the game for a reason- it could be the developers decided against revealing the fate of the solar system and so in the final story of the game the solar system may be intact, though probably under Coalition control.
The sleeper ships arrive at different times, in different locations. The Sirius Sector is a region of space with many star systems surrounded by four distinct landmarks. In the 'north' is the gas, oxygen, and hydrogen rich Crow Nebula. In the 'south' is the volatile, yet mineral rich Walker Nebula. To the 'west' is the rocky Barrier, a massive and long asteroid-filled region rich in useful metals. And finally, to the 'east' is the mysterious Edge Nebula (in which part of the singleplayer mission campaign is located, fighting the Nomads)
Liberty
Of the five sleeper ships, the Liberty arrives first. This allowed the colonists to choose a centralized location with a mix of resources and habitable worlds.
In time, Liberty became the most powerful House militarily because of the size of their navy (even though in-game their ships are actually the weakest), and developed the lowest crime rate. (This can also be explained from a story progression. Liberty corporations Ageira Technologies and Deep Space Engineering discovered ancient alien artifacts, and from them, developed the underlying technology behind Jump Gates and Trade Lanes, to which they hold exclusive rights.)
Rheinland
Arriving after the Liberty, the Rheinland selected the region adjacent to the Walker Nebula for its resources, specifically diamonds.
In time, Rheinland grew to have the second most powerful navy (although in fact with the strongest mainstream ships in the game), with a corresponding crime/terrorism rate. However, after the 80 Year War with the Gas Miners Guild and the exploitation of Rheinland's military by the Nomads, Rheinland's economy collapsed and the fleet was reduced to a single battleship.
Kusari
The Kusari arrived next, and selected the region near the Crow Nebula. Much to the surprise of the colonists (who were hoping for planets with considerable landmass), the bulk of the planets in the area were very similar to their old lands: little land, abundant water. This was a blessing in disguise, however, as the Kusari quickly created businesses to farm seafood and hydrogen gas.
Kusari has the least powerful navy (although second strongest mainstream military) because of the lack of metals in the region; almost all metal used in Kusari is imported from Bretonia or Rheinland.
Bretonia
Bretonia arrived a full 200 years after the Liberty, due to the fact that the starboard engine was disabled during the Exodus. Bretonia chose a region in the Barrier because of the abundance of useable metal.
Bretonia has a slightly smaller navy (the third strongest in game) than Rheinland, but is the most economically powerful House. For example, Bretonia was the first House to pay off the debts incurred by building the Jump Gates and Trade Lanes.
Bretonia retains the royal family and aristocracy that the current United Kingdom supports, along with corresponding grievances such as fierce contest over the independence of Dublin and severe pollution of entire systems by industrial waste.
Hispania
The remains of the lost sleeper ship Hispania, located near the planet Malta in the Omicron Alpha system.En route to the Sirius Sector, the Hispania suffered major damage. Some suspected a Coalition spy, but nothing was confirmed. As a result of internal fractioning, half of the colonists decided to abandon the wreckage by the use of the Hispania's shuttles. The descendants of these colonists became the Corsairs.
Those that decided to take their chances with the drifting wreck arrived in a system with a habitable planet. The Hispania was unable to take the colonists to the planet, and therefore they used the escape pods to land. These became the Outcasts.
While both the Corsairs and Outcasts have since evolved into powerful criminal empires, it is interesting to note that these two factions are bitter enemies, despite (or, perhaps because of) their common ancestry: both factions believe the other group was the one responsible for the damage to the Hispania. Outcasts and Corsairs are the fiercest warriors and have the better equipment in Sirius.
The game takes place 800 years after the Sirius system has been settled. The Alliance is almost a forgotten concept and the four houses of Liberty, Rheinland, Bretonia, and Kusari compete against each other while pirate activity continues to grow on the frontiers.
Systems and Houses
In the game, there are four houses. Each house has systems, similar to states/cities. Each system has atleast one planet, and a few bases. Information about forbidden systems below. Some connecting systems are not under a house, are classified as Border World systems or Independent. These include the Taus(Tau-21, Tau-23, etc.), the Omegas(Omega-7, Omega-3, etc.), the Sigmas(Sigma-13, Sigma-17, etc.) the Galileo and Kepler systems, the Bering and Hudson systems, and the Magellan and Cortez systems.
Liberty - Systems include the forbidden Alaska system, New York, California, Colorado and Texas system. The New York system is the main system of Liberty, with its "capital" Planet Manhattan.
Kusari - Systems include the forbidden Tohoku system, Shikoku, New Tokyo, Kyūshū, Hokkaidō and Chūgoku. The capital of Kusari is New Tokyo, in the New Tokyo system.
Rheinland - Systems include Hamburg, New Berlin, Stuttgart, Dresden and Frankfurt. The Rheinland capital is New Berlin, in the New Berlin system.
Bretonia - Systems include Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, New London, Dublin and Cambridge. Bretonnia's capital is New London, in the New London system.
Independent Worlds - Systems include Cortez, Magellan, Galileo, Kepler, Bering and Hudson. They are all located on the Liberty border.
The Border Worlds - These include the Sigma, Omega and Tau systems (except Omega 41 and Tau 37).
The Edge Worlds - These include ALL the Omicron systems, Omega 41 and Tau 37
Similarities to Real Cities/Landmarks
These four houses are based on the countries they represent. A main distinguishing fact of Freelancer is all of the names for systems, planets, bases, etc are named after real cities or countries in real life. A good example is Rheinland:House is based on Germany, a section of Germany called Rhineland named after the river Rhine. In the Singleplayer mode, you see the Admiral of Rheinland in a ship called the Donau. The Donau is also a river in Germany. Many other things from all houses can be pointed out as real cities/landmarks of a country.
Forbidden Systems
Alaska This system is solely used by the Liberty Navy and only high-ranking officials have access. The Jump Gate has been locked so no one can get in to the system. The Jump Gate has been surrounded by Zone 21, a field of mines that have the capability to destroy your ship if you stray too close to them. This system is also used much for research and it's security and secrecy is based on Zone 21. Nobody in the Sirius Sector really knows what happens in there, but as the player progresses through the storyline, it is revealed to contain only one functioning (the other is the non-dockable Juneau Shipyard) base - Prison Station Mitchell.
Tohoku Tohoku is a system that is also denied access to all others except the Shogun/Governor of Kusari. In this system, there is a planetoid. It is the home base for the Kusari Shogun Tekagi. It is surrounded by Weapons platforms and many turrets are installed on it. It has very high level security and can only be accessed using a jump hole. The jump hole is very hard to locate, and is protected by the criminal faction the Blood Dragons. Tohoku can only be accessed using the jump hole in the Chūgoku system, which is not accessible after you visit it in a certain mission.
Happy?
I requested chronology, and this post hardly mentiones a single year.
No experts on Sirius history here? That's a pity...