Timeline

Last updated on 2024.12.22

The world of UMBC is a lot like our own. In fact, it is our own up to about 2100. Here you’ll find a timeline that connects our time to their present. More of this will be revealed as the series progresses.

The Second Dark Age

War, famines, plagues, environmental destruction. Crisis after crisis resulted in a reduction of the global population by 75%. During this period many surviving humans fled or were driven to space where they lived in clusters of roaming space stations called “colonies”. 
Governments were almost completely dissolved and disparate groups scattered throughout the solar system. Slowly humanity began to reconvene, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not, but ultimately for the sake of survival. Amid this struggle mechanized humanoid vehicles were developed for construction and war. Eventually a new sort of reactor is developed that allows for near infinite safe power called "Quanton Phase Reactors". The design was gifted to all of humanity by its creators. These new reactors allowed cities and starships to better meet the needs of the growing populations.
Thus the Stellar Era began. 

The Establishment of the Coalition

Many independent clusters, cities, companies, unions, groups, and peoples form the Coalition of Societies to create guidelines for humanity as a whole. The body isn't given any official political power or military, and exists solely as an entity to establish best practices, monitor public opinion, and build trust among the variety of peoples throughout the solar system. They adopt a currency system called "credits" that prevents individuals from amassing too much economic power.

Cyrus Reformation

The remnants of Cyrus IT Corp, the largest mech manufacturer during the SDA, is reformed when their old factories are rediscovered by explorers. This new group decided to revive the company as Cyrus IT Coop.

The Birth Mech Battling

For years mech suits were used in makeshift sporting events including combat simulations such as boxing or wrestling. During this year the UMBC was officially established as the Sol’s premiere mechanized combat sport by members of Cyrus and other interested individuals. It soon became one of the most popular spectator pastimes. A Season 0 was held to test the idea. There was no tournament or official winner. It was exclusively exhibition matches.

Season 5 Scandal

Numerous Battlers leaked that the UMBC Creative admin had been fixing, both subtly and directly, the Top 8 of all the past seasons. Creative responds that fixing is to ensure they are dramatic and entertaining. Fans are divided, citing that they enjoy the drama between Creative and Battlers. A handful of Battlers quit, but many vow to persist for the time being.

Union Strong

After scandals and management issues, a disastrous match at an arena in a populated space station spurns Battlers, engineers, and other support groups to get together to ensure the safety of themselves and the audience. They formed Allied Battlers, Engineers, and Mechanics Solar (ABEMS) to function as a unified way to pressure the UMBC Creative team and advocate for all parties within the Coalition. In response the leadership of the UMBC at the time all resigned. The new leadership is much more sympathetic towards the new union and willing to work with them.

Bailon-Byron Fabrications founded

Elstar Bailon and Byron des Pommes, a duo of designers formerly of Cyrus, decide to team up and create their own mech engineering company called “Bailon-Byron Fabrications”, aka BB Fabs. 

The Gateway System is Completed

A construction network of subspace gates are built around the solar system allowing for relatively easy and quick travel to all major population centers.

The Introduction of Divisions

Due to a rapid progress of technology and a clamoring among fans for something new, the Creative decides to split the tournament into three divisions. Where previously weapon type was unrestricted, they made a division for melee and one from ranged. The mixed division largely kept intact the original rules with the added stipulation that a battler must wield one melee and one ranged weapon.

The First Golden Age of UMBC

The 39th Season of UMBC is considered the start of a period in UMBC history known as the First Golden Age. This was a period of incredible stability, growth, and competition. It revolved around a rivalry between two factions, Galaxy Blue and Team Vortex. Galaxy Blue was fronted by the Hero of Space, Ramirez Banes in the Twilight's Edge. Their principal rival was the dastardly Waxen Wayne who piloted the Nemesis Moon.

BASM.62

Battlers Assured Safety Measure of SE 000.62 is created to further entrench safety for ABEMS members and the responsibilities for mechanized sports administrations. It placed a minimum age limit of 18 years and gave Creative the responsibilities of designing and maintaining arenas.

The Time Capsule

During the new construction of Tjoritja Outback arena in Oceania the first of several caches of ancient data discs were discovered. This was the first of hundreds of such caches located all over Earth. They contained a massive library of information and media up until 2051. Data was stored on around 20000 mdiscs along with disc drives. Thousands of TB of data. It became known as “the Archive”. It took the archaeologists years to properly access, copy, and analyze the data but it was eventually released to the public. This sparked a sort of cultural Renaissance with folks throwing “Old Earth” parties and the like that are still popular to this day. 

The Stellar Era Official

The Stellar Era calendar is officially adopted among Coalition members.

The Pewter Era

This marks the end of the First Golden Age in honor of the death of Waxen Wayne. UMBC had been on a downward trajectory for a few seasons now but many UMBC historians attribute the end of the First Golden Age to Wayne's passing. The term "Pewter Era" was coined by historian and sports journalist, Helena Eleanor Carter-Flick, in reference to the poor quality of the scene at the time. "Truly this is not a time worthy of the 'Steel' moniker. It is more like pewter." 

UMST.87

The Unified Mechanized Sports Treaty of SE 000.87 is signed. It is an agreement between major mech sport organizations and the Coalition about how to utilize the machines, arenas, and set up loose borders between companies. It restricts the UMBC to holding events on and around Earth. Some argue that this is the cause of the Pewter Era, but others note that the decline was obvious a long time before the treaty was even conceived. 

Revitalization of UMBC and the Age of Shadow

A new group made up mostly of Battlers, engineers, and performance artists are elected to head the creative admin of the UMBC. They come to call themselves the "Shadow Initiative" and start a storyline where UMBC is being manipulated behind the scenes by a malevolent AI that is fixing matches to put over "villainous Battlers" by hacking the broadcasts and ultimately take over Sol. In truth, there is no AI, matches aren't fixed, or anything of the sort. Instead Creative leans into the over the top individuals that are attracted to the sport and encourages them to lean into their personalities and gimmicks while also creating a fake bad guy to be defeated. Fans love it. Theater and storytelling had always been an element of the sport, but the Shadow Initiative had turned the knob to its maximum. This could not last forever, however, and through constant escalation, they eventually ran out of room thus forced to end the story. Subsequent seasons scaled back on the heavier storytelling, but the period remained influential for generations.
Their plot revolved around a team of "heroes" that were attempting to stop the AI and its army of "mind controlled" Battlers. Eventually the AI was defeated, but not before escaping to subspace. It was never fully brought back as a narrative beat but occasionally a battler will be "touched by The Shadow" in reference to the AI.

QPR Engines

QPR technology is adapted to be smaller and smaller and is eventually made small enough to fit into mech sized vehicles.

The ULTRA Era

UMBC historians mark the period from 002.00 SE to 002.18 as the “ULTRA Era” in the history of the sport. The Creative at the time focused on bigger and bigger gimmicks and attractions.

UMBC's Bicentennial and the ULTRA Division

For the 200th anniversary of UMBC a new division was added called the "ULTRA Division". It pits mechs twice the size of normal ones against each other and is billed as being more extreme and dangerous than any other division.

ULTRA Division dissolved

The ULTRA Division was dissolved due to lack of popularity among fans and lack of interest among competitors.

The Dawn of the Howard Dynasty

The UMBC comes under new management and Creative decides to elect a single individual to lead the creative vision of the project with the title of "Executive Chairman". This turns out to be Ellis Howard and starts a tradition and dynasty that continues to this day. The power of the Executive Chairman is known to be spurious as UMBC is still officially controlled by an elected group of creatives from various places associated with the UMBC. The role as originally viewed by Ellis and her team is as a way to shift focus to a single antagonist much like the Shadow Initiative did over a hundred years prior. However, this isn’t always how the role is interpreted by later generations.

ELUMA-2.91

The Ethical Land Use and Maintenance Agreement of SE 002.91 is created by Coalition groups to better utilize the surface of Earth for all peoples.

The Gadsden Guild Conflict

A group of around 50 people across 4 starships decide to form a space pirate organization calling themselves the "Gadsden Guild" and utilizing an ancient yellow snake flag. They hid in the Asteroid Belt and would hijack cruise ships, haulers, and other ships that were not traveling via subspace gateways. Their motivations seemed to be mostly from boredom and desire for adventure more than anything else. Their exploits came to an end with violent intervention after the Coalition raised a militia to track them down. Part of this militia was the future Battler Galahad of the Paladin. It was during the conflict where he had learned to pilot a mech. 

The New Rules Charter

A new and updated rules charter is written for the entirety of the Circuit. This New Charter will be continually updated for years to come as new technology is developed.

The 300th Season Finals

Hank Dreadful in the Highwayman is crowned Champion of Champions after winning the 300th Season's circuit. This would mark his 10th, but not last, crowning, an achievement that has never been matched.

Under New Management

Vice Howard takes over as Executive Chairman of the UMBC from his father, Norris Howard. Vice's vision and tenure is known for his controversial decisions and increased spectacle.

Maxion Manufacturing Founded

A new mech developer called “Maxion Manufacturing” was founded. They produce mechs that are faster and stronger but typically less armored. They launch with two models: the Spinatio and Spinatia. They felt that mech designs have plateaued and aimed to shake things up.

Hard Light Technology

The first practical application of hard light technology (HLT) was deployed during Season 309 allowing for the use of beam based weaponry and shielding that was previously too dangerous for entertainment purposes. HLT blades can easily damage even heavy armor so a power limitation is placed on the generators used in competition models to add extra considerations and tactics. 

Hank Dreadful Retires

After losing the final match of the Mixed Division in Season 312, Hank Dreadful announces his retirement as a Battler. His run as the Champion of Champions ends with a monumental 13 victories across 20 seasons in the Mixed division and another 3 victories across 5 seasons in the Melee division. Fans speculate it is from the admin team pressuring him to step down, but the official reason is due to health concerns. Hank eventually becomes a regular commentator and UMBC personality. His opponent was a rookie named Hemlock Creed who had only first appeared the previous season.

The Rise and Fall of Hemlock Creed

During a five year span, Hemlock Creed, piloting the Polaris, goes on a winning streak. Fans and analysts alike feel she can topple not just Dreadful himself, but his record as well. This streak is cut short, however, when during the Top 8 of the Mixed Division in Season 317, Creed and her opponent, Mike MacCullin, the Monster of Meganeapolis, are involved in an accident when a faulty ammo cache explodes. Her opponent is killed in the explosion and Creed is blamed by fans. This causes her sponsor to back out and for fans to turn on her despite her being found to not be at fault. With her mech totaled and few credits to her name, she is forced to lay low for a few seasons.

Hemlock Creed's Phoenix Era

Eventually the public cools and Creed's reputation is rehabilitated. She signs on with a new sponsor that sets her up with a new mech, the Polaris Epsilon. The new mech is an Alto model and considered a downgrade from her previous one, but through her grit and determination she is able to pull together another victory. 

The Maiming of Hemlock Creed by the Lady of Silence

In Season 331, during a match in pools Dea Tacita in the Grey Ghost handily defeats Hemlock Creed in the Polaris Epsilon. Creed's mech explodes during the match due to a faulty wire. She and her mech lose their right leg below the knee. Hemlock stays out of competition due to recovery.

The 334th Season

It's the present time! It’s the present day! And the 334th Season of UMBC is about to begin!!