Five Earths - Timeline (2013 May)

Dec 21, 2012 to January 2013	2013 February	2013 March	2013 April
2013 May	2013 June	2013 July	2013 August
2013 September	2013 October	2013 November	2013 December

This is the timeline of the Five Earths, All in a Row setting of 2013 May.
(1941 on Earth-2, 1879 on Earth-3, 1556 on Earth-4, and 515 CE/1268 AUC on Earth-5)

May 2

DC's cancelled 'Earth 2' comic is replaced by one called Earth Two, set on DP-Earth, and based on news stories and other information from that Earth (though only using the Dp-Earth versions of characters owned by DC). On Stp-Earth, Thomas Alva Edison's rocket design wins the Phelps Prize for that category, but his astronef is passed over in favor of that designed by Dr. Artemus Gordon, an inventor, adventurer, dime-novel Action Scientist, and retired Secret Service agent (which requires a partial redesign of both, and incenses the prickly Edison).

May 4

On Inp-Earth, Disney/Lucasfilm founds a group of holding corporations, and some subsidiaries thereof: Republic Space Services (containing Corellian Engineering Corporation, Incom, SoroSuub, et cetra), Republic Automation (Cybot Galactica, Indudstrial Automaton, etc.), Republic Defense Industries (BlasTech, Taim & Bak, etc.), and Republic General Products (Fabritech, Novaldex, etc.), as well as endorsing the Jedi Church's attempts to become an official NGO. Star Wars fanclubs are informed of this in advance, allowing rapid recruitment of empowered ('Force-sensitive', according to corporate documents) engineers and other workers (in a few cases, whole fanclubs are recruited together, into the same subsidiary). The point seems to be a mix of 'good PR' (or the hope that such will develop), 'going with the flow,' and 'making a profit off of existing copyrights, since Star Wars fans were most likely going to make these things, anyway' (similar reasoning inspired the creation of Starship Enterprises, on April 27th).

May 7

Inp-USA's 82nd Airborne Division is officially renamed 82nd Spaceborne Division, and all members who qualify (which is most of them) are requested to undergo astronaut training. On Stp-Earth, the Edison Radio Company opens audio-broadcast radio stations in New York City, N.Y., Menlo Park, N.J., and Washington, D.C., though there are less than a hundred households in all three cities that have receivers.

May 9

Stp-Japan launches their first satellite, a communications relay, into orbit. Scientists in the Ottoman Empire announce the success of a new 'eugenic enhancement' potion, which if given to a pregnant woman during her first trimester, will result in her giving birth to an Sahih Àdem ('Better Man') or Sahih Hatun ('Better Woman'), a new races of healthy, friendly, non-aggressive people, far less inclined to go to war. The oldest are now fifteen, and far enough into puberty that the Ottoman scientists are fairly sure they've got it right (though it is too early to say that the traits will breed true in the next generation). The Kingdom of the Greeks calls the new people 'Helots', and criticizes the Turks for making an 'obvious slave race' (which is unsurprising, given the amount of dislike the Greeks have for the Turks, but could certainly have been someone's motivation). Edison and Hawai'i report both the announcement and the Greek response, which is the first anyone on Earth One or Earth Two have heard about Earth Three's successes in 'eugenics' (which is rather more like genetic engineering than selective breeding) - it's not common, and isn't something often discussed by radiotelegraphy, and wasn't something anyone really asked about, who was in a position to get a response.

May 11

In Inp-Tokyo, a gang war between two rival groups of magical girls ends when the leader of a third group, calling herself Bishojou Senshi Sailor Moon, 'purifies' both groups (incidentally saving the smaller group from being transformed into monsters by their own adviser/mascot). Opinions on this event are mixed, as no-one is entirely certain what this 'purifying' process actually does, nor whether this 'Sailor Moon' intends to rule the world. The B-52Gs being given the Starfighter upgrade are officially designated SB-52I Astrofortesses, which surprisingly enough, accelerates the upgrade process, and greatly reduces many complications in it.

May 14

In Inp-Japan, a boy named Ikari Kenji is startled by seeing what appears to be the ghost 'Sadako' coming out of his television. He kisses her, so that at least he will have done that before his death. The spirit is so surprised that she doesn't kill him, but now he has quite possibly the creepiest girlfriend ever. At DARPA, testing of the portal gun continues. The portals tend to collapse in a few minutes to an hour or two, expelling anything still transiting the wormhole through either portal, either to the side that more of the item's mass is on, or the side with more room (if one side doesn't have enough), or the side least dangerous to the testing body. Today's test is particularly interesting: the areas on both sides of the wormhole are dangerous to the testing body (a wooden dowel) and too cramped to hold it's entire length. To the surprise of some of the scientists (though others predicted something like this) the blue end of the portal 'jumps' to dump the testing body into the lead scientist's trousers - rather painfully.

May 15

Inp-Greece announces its intention to exit the Eurozone at the end of the month. In a clearly coordinated move, Inp-Cyprus announces the same. Handley Page Ltd. recieves permission to attempt a Starfighter refit on two of the surviving Victors, which are redesignated Victor*s ('Victor Stars') for this purpose.

May 16

The 'Valentine's Gift' (see February 14) arrives at Dp-Earth orbit, then makes a landing at a custom-built runway, a bit east of Blackpool, defended by a full Group of RAF fighters, and the Blackhawk Squadron. In Inp-China, a mysterious white ooze leaks from the middle of a street in Nanjing, China. On Stp-Earth, the Nazi KKVs become visible in the upper atmosphere, striking points in or near (mostly near) London, Kristiania, Paris, and St. Petersburg. The points of impact suggest difficulty aiming at such long ranges. The third section of the Pyotr Velikiy is launched.

May 18

In Inp-Syria, Bashar Hafez al-Assad is killed, along with most of his top military officers, and a number of government workers by what appears to be one or more djinn. Some leaders of conflicting rebel movements are also killed, leading to even greater chaos in the region. The Stp-Earth Papal astronef Sanctus Aloysius arrives in Earth One orbit, and lands at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, outside Rome. The Nuncio is quickly conducted to a meeting with Pope Innocent XIV.

May 21

In Dp-Japan, a large number of people high up in the government and military (which somewhat overlap) die in numerous 'accidents, which several others are personally 'invited onwards' by the Emperor ("You have disappointed me. You may use the garden.") In Inp-Japan, the government announces a reorganization and expansion of JAXA, 'to better operate in the changing environment of space in these times.' Though the expansion seems to mostly involve transfers of personnel from the Self Defense Forces, and the reorganization involves many existing employees receiving 'security' training, uniforms, and IJN ranks, the government denies that JAXA is being militarized (while unofficial sources point out that Article 9, Section 2 says nothing about space forces, specifically) - after all, the majority of employees are still clearly civilians. While the Inp-USA had been quietly encouraging Inp-Japan to simply drop or loosen Article 9, this compromise was far from what they were expecting.

May 23

On Inp-Earth, DARPA begins 'back-burner' R&D for a hypothetical prototype battleplate. Conservative estimates project construction to begin before the end of the 21st century... on the Dp-Earth calender. A failed attempt to reverse-engineer some of the lightsabres that were loaned to DARPA results in reproduceable blaster technology, firing a directed plasmoid into the target. The design and 'process' (ritual) is licensed to both Republic Defense Industries and Starship Enterprises (where they are called 'disruptors' (though some Trekkies insist that a disruptor is an entirely different weapon with an occasionally similar visual effect) or plasma weapons - which at least has the virtue of being accurate), as those companies have the greatest concentration of people capable of producing them. Bolts and vortex rings of electrically-charged 'cold' plasma provide less-lethal settings. On Stp-Earth, a third-rate mystic botches a summoning spell and summons an internet spirit from Inp-Earth. Hilarity ensues.

May 26

Further improvements in imaging software allow a number of quite strange things to be seen on the nearby Earths: on Fa-Earth, between two rivers in former Gallia Belgica Prima, there is a nation that appears to be in a state of suspended animation, including even the domesticated plants and wild animals (Ambassador mírchArthur confirms that something like the legend of Sleeping Beauty is occurring there), while in what we would call Russia and Siberia (and to a lesser degree, in Scandinavia), bear cavalry (ursalry?) seems to be in use as elite shock troops; such is also seen in North America, along with mastadon cavalry (which are rather more common, and are also used as beasts of burden). Meanwhile, on Clockpunk Earth, centauriod clanks are visible, along with strange wind-up aircraft, and other bizarre constructions. The Papal astronef remains docked at Ostia, but no other evidence of the crew or passengers can be seen.

May 27

Inp-Spain announces a delay in the commissioning process for their new submarine class, as the subs with have 'wings' and reinforcement added, making them the first heavier-than-water hydrocraft. They will also be the first submarines to possess supplementary fusion reactors. Most of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are promoted to five-star rank, the exceptions being the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. There is some debate on what the Space Force's five-star rank should be, but it is eventually agreed that General of the Space Force works well enough, for now.

May 31

As promised, Greece and Greek Cyprus exit the Eurozone, both using the new Greek drachma, though businesses in both are also permitted to accept British pounds sterling (and are more inclined to do so, for reasons of greater stability). Many British tourists begin booking holidays in either or both nations over the summer, just as planned (no, that was not the only reason they chose British currency, just an intended side-effect).