2684 (A?)

• Commodore Christopher Blair, believed dead after the Nephilim conflict of 2681, comes out of hiding. Without a war to be a hero in, he starts his own, being recruited by former TCS Victory wingman Robin "Flint" Peters, joining the Firekkan Commonwealth in their declaration of another independent nation from the Confederation in what nearly becomes a second Secession War. After an early battle that resulted in the Commonwealth surrender of Ki’roth Station to a rogue faction of the Kilrathi Assembly of Clans, Blair’s Demon-class ship, the Star Runner, disappears under strange circumstances.

2685 (A?)

• The Star Runner reappears a year after its disappearance with a load of powerful alien technology and a now-mad Blair at the helm. Blair literally declares war on everyone, Fleet Admiral William Eisen and Vice Admiral Jason "Bear" Bondarevsky among the victims, and fights until a duo of resistance fighters slip aboard the Star Runner in a cloaked Centurion. Colonel Lance Casey carries out the assassination of Blair while the Gemini Sector privateer blows the ship’s reactor core. The fighters barely escape with their lives, but their task is completed. Click here to read "Wing Commander: Renegade."

268?+ - 27??

• Technology to generate artificial jump point nodes is invented, enabling quicker and more efficient space travel than previously possible through the sporadically placed natural variety. Natural jumping does, however, take travelers further along than artificial ones (natural jumps go system-to-system, artificial are strictly in-system), but artificial nodes are inarguably a better alternative to idle autopilot journeys. (example: you pilots don’t have to fly and enter the direct vicinity of a jump point, they can now just jump automatically and continuously via the nearest jump buoy—the only delay is the short amount of time it takes for their Jump Drive to recharge between jumps.) PRV2

2694

• The Food and Safety Edict is imposed on intergalactic trade, presumably for interests in the security and quality of shipped goods throughout and beyond the booming Confederation. PRV2

2733 (A?)

• The Galactic Civil War II breaks out, splitting the Confederation in half. In the end, saboteurs manage to nearly cripple the struggling Confederation. Archives and databases are laid to waste in the aftermath, targets of technological and anarchist saboteurs.

2760 - 2770

• A great depression falls over the Confederation and the outer reaches of the space trade. Little is known about this period, except that while many galactic companies go belly-up as a result, one man on the Tri-System planet Janus IV, Jan Mitorr, navigates the Medexport company through the difficult times. PRV2

2769

• Far from the Confed/Kilrathi frontier, in the area of space unaffiliated with the Confederation called the Tri-System (possibly part of the Vidur Sector), Joseph "Joe" Kane, one of the distant Tri-System’s most proficient privateer "fixers," is arrested for possessing with the intent to supply of the class 3 prescribed substance Dongleberries. Though it is no secret he participates in a number of illegal operations, this was his first conviction. PRV2

2770

• Vell Ricaud II, the eldest of two twins (the younger named Sar), contracts the incurable and ultimately fatal virus Amyotrophic Ossicular Degeneration (A.O.D.). He is put into cryogenic stasis in a pod furnished by Jan Mitorr until a cure can be found for the viral infection. PRV2
• Vell Ricaud I, Vell Ricaud II’s father, a wealthy businessman and founder of Ricaud Interplanetary known to his associates by the nickname "Kronos," dies. His authority is passed to Sar Ricaud, who immediately goes to work transforming his father’s corporation into what would eventually become one of the most feared criminal organizations in the universe—the Kindred. He assumes the name "Kronos" from his father, renouncing his own. PRV2

2770 - 2790

• The Scatterbelt Wars are waged along the fringes of Terran-inhabited space, encompassing the Tri-System and possibly parts of the outlying Union of Border Worlds. Practically nothing is known about this conflict, save that Colonel Slade "Tex" Carver of the CIS ("Central Intelligence Services"; Tri-System Insys/security/military) Special Operations "Blackwatch" Regiment plays an instrumental role in his "One-Way Tickey Torpedo Run" that quite possibly turned the tide in the battle in the Tri-System’s favor. It is unknown what role—if any—the Confederation played in this conflict. PRV2

2790

• [PRIVATEER 2: THE DARKENING begins] The Kindred begins to fall apart, suffering from the leadership of the increasingly insane Sar "Kronos" Ricaud, whose physical and mental condition have become greatly deteriorated from two decades of using illegal life-extending narcotics. An agent within the Kindred codenamed Rhinehart sends some of his men aboard the ship Canera to recover Vell Ricaud II’s cryopod in the hopes of instilling Sar’s older brother in their unstable leader’s stead, as a cure has already been found for the A.O.D. virus. Sar hears of this and sends two of his own to prevent it from proceeding. PRV2
• The Canera, having completed its mission and retrieved Vell’s cryopod, is attacked in orbit over the planet Crius by Kindred forces. It crashes on the planet’s surface, the only survivor being Vell himself, the pod having protected him from the impact. Vell Ricaud II, emerges from cryosleep on the Tri-System planet Crius, immediately being told his name is Lev Arris by Dr. Janna Frevel, who explains that it was the name printed on the cryopod he arrived in. He accepts the name, suffering from severe amnesia brought on by his extended cryosleep and trauma from the crash his ship endured, having no memory of his former life. A violent firefight ensues between two parties in the hospital he recuperates in as a second attempt by Rhinehart to recover him and a counterattack by the Kindred’s forces plays out. After Lev is put into Rhinehart’s ship, Rhinehart’s men are shot and killed by the Kindred soldiers. While Lev is unconscious the ship takes off on autopilot, a course already laid in for the planet Hermes. There he meets fixer Ser Joe Kane, a meeting that soon sends Lev on the road to privateering in the Tri-System. Over the course of his journeys throughout the Tri-System, Lev eventually hooks up with Tri-System security chief David Hassan, saving the man’s life in a space scuffle with pirates. As a later favor, David takes Lev to meet the imprisoned Rhinehart, who reveals the secrets of Lev’s former life as Vell Ricaud II. When Lev and David learn of an immediate ambush on the commander-in-chief of the CIS, Sheila Nabokov, now returning aboard a transport from a peace conference, by the Kindred’s flagship, the two rush to defend her. Eliminating the Kindred flagship’s fighter support and shooting it to the brink of destruction, Lev has just enough time to board the ship, confront his twin brother Sar "Kronos" Ricaud, and escape before it explodes. Lev takes his then-deceased brother’s medallion and assumes command of the Kindred, aiming to steer it away from the corrupt syndicate Sar had warped it into. [THE DARKENING ends] PRV2

2793 (A?)

.125 - .129

• As outposts along the furthest reaches of the Confederation are systematically wiped out and an entire Fleet sent in to investigate is destroyed, Commodore Blair awakens on an Enigma Sector space station, told that he has been in cryogenic stasis since 2691, having left behind a wife and two children. Believing this, he sets out, rejoins the Confed Space Force as a general, and joins the war effort against the unknown incursion. Meanwhile, Vell Ricaud II (AKA Lev Arris) is convinced to aid in Confed’s counterstrike. As the massive Terran-allied fleet arrives in the Avalon Sector, it is revealed that it is the Steltek that are behind the incursion. The gigantic Steltek mothership that appears dispatches a seemingly unlimited supply of drone ships until Blair sacrifices himself to stop it. Click here to read "Wing Commander/Privateer: Valhalla."

.325 - .342

• Blair awakens a second time, reappearing after seven months of being believed dead. Seeking out Vell Ricaud II, who he had fought with in the Steltek invasion, seeks the truth to his origin. A dark plot is revealed within the Confederation: he was a clone of the original Blair who had died in 2685 during the Star Runner incident, having been told lies of his last years in the twenty-seventh century to put his mind at ease (erasing those of going insane) so that he could be sent against the Steltek invasion. The second clone (the first having died seven months previous in the Steltek invasion) is revealed to have been created from a trade agreement made between the Confederation and the Fourth Kilrathi Empire: Baron Jhathar nar Caxki, an Emperor-hopeful, offers the prototype for a Space-Folding Drive that could make Jump Drive all but completely obsolete, allowing space travel anywhere in the universe within moments. The only cost is a chance to fight Blair himself, the mightiest warrior the Kilrathi had ever fought, in the hopes of using the fight to elevate him to Emperorhood. It is a conflict that Jhathar effectively loses. Following this battle, the prototype specs for S-Fold Drive are accordingly delivered to the Confederation and the Confed Admiralty fabricates a story they tell to the media (at Blair’s request): Blair had escaped the destruction of the Star Runner in 2685, putting himself into cryogenic stasis. Confed then relieved his insanity after they discovered him in stasis, then finally awakening him on 2793 to participate in the Steltek counterstrike. It is a story that is fabricated to make the general populace accept Blair as the genuine article, not the clone he is in reality. It is a secret known only to Blair, Vell, and those within Confed’s Black Projects Division. Click here to read "Wing Commander/Privateer: Purgatory."

2795 (A?)

.015

• Commodore Mason Tierson and his heralded wing commander, Jared "Devilbane" Davidsen, set out on the maiden voyage of their new posting: the single most massive and powerful Confederation carrier ever conceived, the 10,050 meter omnicarrier TCS Phlegethon. Under orders from General Blair of Special Operations, they begin a covert espionage mission of Steltek space within the heart of the Canés Venatici Galaxy, utilizing the recent invention of Space-Folding Drive. After destroying three Steltek Marauders (formerly classified as "motherships"), the Phlegethon returns to Sol Sector with the recon data. Click here to read "Wing Commander: Trial by Fire."

.075 - .079

• Blair and Vell are called to the front lines once more as an all-out Steltek invasion begins, this time with twenty-four Steltek motherships appearing in Terran-controlled space. Using the recon data obtained from the Phlegethon, Blair leads an offensive into the Canés Venatici Galaxy, ravaging two Steltek worlds. Meanwhile, Vell Ricaud makes a journey into the Coreward Unknown Territory, returning with the aid of the "Double-Helix" Ceti race. It is revealed that the Steltek and Double-Helix are offshoots of the same race, were involved in a battle millennia ago, and the Steltek were exiled to Canés Venatici. But support from the Ceti comes too late to stop the Steltek destruction of McAuliffe, Perry, Hades, and Earth itself in 2795.077. Nevertheless, under a Confed/Ceti alliance, the Steltek are fought into submission. Click here to read "Wing Commander/Privateer: Armageddon."

2819 (A?)

• Twenty-four years after the end of the Steltek War, the fragile bonds that hold together the Galactic Federation are brought to the breaking point as a coalition of leaders make an attempt to resurrect and break away the long absolved Terran Confederation. The daughter of the 72 year-old now-Senator Christopher Blair, Shannon, and the son of Vell Ricaud, Jarek, come together and find themselves caught in the middle of what becomes a galactic power struggle, eventually being forced to choose between duty, honor, and love. While the seeds of uprising spread through the ranks of the fragile Galactic Federation, the Steltek Magistry, now in captivity and slavery by the Ceti Imperium, launches one final assault on the Milky Way Galaxy in the form of a Steltek Throneship. The bonds holding the powers of the galaxy are reunified once more, thrown behind Shannon and Jarek as they board the Throneship and take it by force. Click here to read the in-progress "Wing Commander X: Resurgence."

EXPLANATIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN EXTRAPOLATED DATES:

1) The Wing Commander: Secret Missions playguide states that on 2621 Dr. C.L. Kohl witnessed the Kilrathi Sivar-Eshrad ceremony on Ghorah Khar. This conflicts with the fact presented in the "Claw Marks" Wing Commander I and "Victory Streak" WC3 manuals, as they both state that first contact of any kind between humanity and the Kilrathi race didn’t occur until 8 years after 2621, on 2629.105. I got around this conflict by saying Dr. Kohl’s Ghorah Khar expedition was an isolated incident, not known about until his notes were much later uncovered and wholly realized, which wouldn’t be until well into the Kilrathi war.

2) To my knowledge, at no point in Privateer 2: The Darkening does it establish exactly what year the game takes place in. It does, however, list the dates of the character Hal Taffin’s prior convictions below his computer profile accessible on any planet (once you get far enough into the game). Given the most recent one, in 2789—and this is the most recent year you’ll find displayed anywhere in the game—I conjectured that the game opens a year following that conviction, on the solid date of 2790. It’s very possible Erin Roberts or Diane Duane may have had a slightly different date in mind, perhaps even one as far forward as 2800, but the amount of discrepancy—if any—is anyone’s guess, but is most likely minimal.

3) The year I give for Wing Commander IV, 2673, though not stated in the game, is derived from the comment in the beginning of the William R. Forstchen and Ben Ohlander novel adaption that the end of the Kilrathi War, chronicled in WC3 as 2671, was "less than two years over." Given that there is a lot of time unaccounted for between the beginning of the novel and the point when Blair rejoins Confed and the actual game would begin, the solid date of 2673 seems a reasonable conjecture. (Plus there was a two-page Origin ad for WC4 for the Sony Playstation that shows a blow-up of a Black Lance Dragon fighter, giving the year 2673 as the ship’s commissioning date, as well as the 2673 date given in the "Letter from Eisen" WC4 ad for Playstation formerly on the Sony website.)

4) On 2639.033 the WC3 manual "Victory Streak" indicates that "Kilrathi occupation forces land on McAuliffe and hold a quarter of a million Terrans hostage." The WC1 manual "Claw Marks" indicates that on that exact same date "Kilrathi occupation forces land on the human-occupied world Enyo, [taking] a quarter of a million human[s] prisoner." In other words, each manual states a different planet for the same invasion on the same date. I got around this by stating that BOTH McAuliffe and Enyo were besieged by the Kilrathi on 2639.033, which works because the planets are both close, and are both located in the Vega Sector. A simultaneous offensive on two separate worlds (draw Confed fire by attacking one while capturing the other... or capturing both if everything works out) is a move that is consistent with Kilrathi strategy.

5) In the actual conclusion of Wing Commander: Armada, the TCS Lexington somehow destroys Kilrah at the end of its tour of duty. Since this was, in fact, the work of the TCS Victory and Colonel Blair in 2669.267, and this was chronicled in WC3, it can be assumed that the Lexington could not claim credit for it.

6) The rank of Christopher Blair following Wing Commander IV can be greatly debated. The conclusion of WC4 in 2673 (the "happy" ending) indicates that at some point beyond the trial and death of Tolwyn he leaves the active Space Force to become a TCNSA flight instructor on the Intrepid. Paladin makes the comment that he’s "not a general, or a senator..." The WC4 novel written by William R. Forstchen & Ben Ohlander, however, indicates Blair is promoted to brigadier general and is assigned the patrolling of the re-allied Border Worlds Union. Taking these two different outcomes into consideration, I came up with this: Blair is promoted to brigadier general, he polices the Border Worlds Union for a time, leaves the active Space Force, then decides to become a flight instructor. (Besides, Paladin said he was not a general, which could be construed as meaning he was not a full general, only a brigadier general, as the Forstchen/Ohlander novel indicates. Or perhaps Paladin meant he was simply not a general at heart.) Wing Commander: Prophecy makes this debate moot by leaving the matter in the air, having Blair be a commodore in the Space Navy at the time of 2681.

7) Not related to chronology, but it seems William R. Forstchen made a slight error. In Fleet Action, on pages 60 and 116, it is written that the "Utara" race came to Kilrah and gave the Kilrathi the secret of Jump Drive (Origin’s Official Guide to Wing Commander: Prophecy states that this occurs in the 23rd century), only to be slaughtered by the Kilrathi in return for their generosity. In Action Stations, however, on page 12, it is written that it was the "Shata" race that came to Kilrah, gave the Kilrathi the secret of Jump Drive, and then were slaughtered by the Kilrathi. In other words, Forstchen cites two different names for the same alien race. For the purposes of this timeline, I refer to the aliens who gave the Kilrathi Jump Drive as the "Shata/Utara." It is possible that the different clans of the Kilrathi Empire may apply different names to the same alien races, or that the Kilrathi simply renamed the Shata race Utara in the 34 years between Action Stations and Fleet Action.

PARTS OF THE PRECEDING WAS EXCERPTED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL:
"Claw Marks" (WC1 booklet); WC Secret Missions Playguide; WC Secret Missions 2 Playguide; WC2 Play Manual; "Victory Streak" (WC3 booklet); "The Price of Freedom" (WC4 booklet); "TCS Midway, Integrated Combat Information System" (WC: Prophecy booklet); WC: Privateer Player’s Guide; "Your Guide to the Universe" (Privateer 2 booklet); WC: The Kilrathi Saga Playguide; WC: The Kilrathi Saga calendar; WC: Prophecy Gold Playguide; WC Universe Map (w/WC Prophecy); various Prima guides
WITH INFORMATION TAKEN FROM THE FOLLOWING ORIGIN SYSTEMS GAMES:
Wing Commander; Wing Commander: The Secret Missions; Wing Commander: Secret Missions 2-Crusade; Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi; Wing Commander II: Special Operations 1; Wing Commander II: Special Operations 2; Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger; Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom; Wing Commander: Prophecy, Wing Commander: Secret Ops, Wing Commander: Academy*; Wing Commander: Armada; Wing Commander: Privateer; Wing Commander: Privateer - Righteous Fire; Privateer 2: The Darkening
THE BAEN & HARPER COLLINS NOVELS:
Wing Commander: Freedom Flight; Wing Commander: End Run; Wing Commander: Fleet Action; Wing Commander: Heart of the Tiger; Wing Commander: The Price of Freedom; Wing Commander: Action Stations; Wing Commander: False Colors; Wing Commander (movie adaption); Wing Commander: Confederation Handbook, Wing Commander: Pilgrim Stars (forthcoming), Wing Commander: Pilgrim Truth (forthcoming)
THE ANIMATED SERIES:
Wing Commander: Academy
AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FEATURE FILM:
Wing Commander

* = Little or no relevant information derived from