In 500 ATA, a cross-species Assembly expedition to the Eng-Kohn Nexus led to one of the greatest tragedies in Assembly history, the massacre of an entire research fleet. In the aftermath, the Assembly passed down a stricture regarding the approach and activation of unidentified navigational beacons.
Origin
In 480 ATA the Assembly began a research program dedicated to systematically detecting and investigating unidentified navigational beacons in various star systems both within and beyond Assembly space.
Over the years many examples were discovered, mostly proving to be old beacons from the fallen empire of the Psyonic Templars. A few times unidentified craft were spotted close to the sites, but with no threat posed either to individuals or the research, the program was upgraded in the hopes of finding more valuable information on potentially unknown past - or present - civilizations.
Key events
In 500 ATA the Eng-Kohn Nexus was discovered and mapped. Long-range scan data and results from initial probe surveys suggested that the system contained up to a dozen unique beacons.
Over fifty vessels, the largest research fleet in the history of the Assembly (including a handful of military escorts for protection), set out to explore the system.
The initial surveys went well. The first beacon mapped a route to a resource-rich system, and provided detailed navigational data of an uncharted region of space as well as unknown tech and communications records. One week later, the activation of the second beacon resulted in an immediate assault by an unknown number of unidentified enemy ships.
During the following two days, several very disturbing distress calls were received from inside the system, then all communications abruptly ceased.
Aftermath
A rescue fleet was dispatched, heavily reinforced by Templar warships, but when long-range scans and probe surveys were unable to find even a trace of any vessel, friendly or otherwise, the commander of the rescue expedition abandoned the mission, unwilling to risk further lives.
The research program was immediately shut down and the Assembly passed down a stricture, enacted into law unanimously by every member state, making it illegal to interact with or attempt to take possession of any unidentified beacon.
The Eng-Kohn Nexus remains quarantined, and is the subject of many tall tales and ghost stories. Numerous distress calls and sensor scans have been recorded over the years by passing vessels, rumoured to match the profiles of the vanished fleet. Adventurers with little respect for the Assembly's rules have been known to violate the quarantine, and year by year, the number of lost vessels grows...
| Events (alphabetical) | Events (timeline) | 
|
| The Daybreak War The Hellfire Campaign The Hundred-Years War The Mendillo Conflict The Nexus Massacre The Oceanhill Incident The Perseus War The Phantom Wars The Sentinel Rebellion |
The Daybreak War (Unknown, BTA) The Phantom Wars (1113-1051 BTA) The Hundred-Years War (210-109 BTA) The Perseus War (81-83 ATA) The Sentinel Rebellion (304-308 ATA) The Nexus Massacre (500 ATA) The Oceanhill Incident (958 ATA) The Hellfire Campaign (993 ATA) The Mendillo Conflict (997 ATA) |