Dark Age (3081+)

Under the guidance of Devlin Stone, the Republic of the Sphere is born at the heart of the Inner Sphere following the Jihad. One of the more extensive periods of peace begins to break out as the 32nd century dawns. The factions, to one degree or another, embrace disarmament and the massive armies of the Succession Wars begin to fade. However, in 3132 eighty percent of interstellar communications collapses, throwing the universe into chaos. Wars almost immediately erupt and the factions begin rebuilding their armies.

Sub-Eras

Republic (3081–3130): Stone’s Republic leads the way into peace and prosperity in the aftermath of the Jihad. Conflicts still occur, but they are small in scale and the massive wars of the past are not seen.

Dark Age (3131+): Two years after Stone’s disappearance, the communications network goes dark. Capitalizing on the confusion, the Great Houses begin taking back the worlds they once gave to the Republic as long-standing hatreds spark to life once more.

Timeline

3081
Under the guidance of Devlin Stone The Republic of the Sphere is born. A region at the center of the Inner Sphere, all the Great Houses are forced to concede worlds. Through diplomacy and strong-arm tactics, weapons are forged into plowshares across the Inner Sphere in the coming decades.
3130
Devlin Stone announces his withdrawal from public life. He swears he will return if The Republic, or the rest of the Inner Sphere, ever needs him—then he vanishes.
3132
Hyperpulse Generator Alpha Stations around the Inner Sphere suffer attacks from without and sabotage from within, effectively ending interstellar communications for 80 percent of all populated worlds. With their idolized leader gone, fear takes control and conflict breaks out. To compensate for the rarity of ’Mechs, many equip IndustrialMechs with weaponry, while a new arms race begins.
3134
With internal forces fighting all across The Republic, the great stellar empires join the fray, escalating the size of open warfare. A Clan Jade Falcon Expeditionary Force strikes into Prefecture VIII, while forces from the Capellan Confederation assault Prefecture V.
3135
In the growing chaos The Republic starts to unravel as part of the Senate breaks with the Exarch and open warfare erupts on Terra . The Federated Suns offers aid to the struggling Republic while the Draconis Combine launches an all out invasion of Prefecture III. In an effort to stave off the complete destruction of The Republic, Rasalhague Dominion forces occupy worlds in Prefecture I. In desperation, The Republic seals the borders of Prefecture X, casting the rest of the Prefectures to their own devices…no one comes out, no one goes in. Tucker Harwell, a ComStar tech genius, has limited success restarting an HPG on Wyatt, then vanishes.
3136
Clan Jade Falcon is riven by a civil war in their Occupation Zone.
3137
Clan Wolf forces blitzkrieg into ex-Prefecture VII, taking several worlds and then vanishing. Elsewhere, the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, along with his son, is assassinated; a Warlord takes power behind a puppet ruler. Meanwhile Lyran forces invade what’s left of the shattered Free Worlds League.
3138–3139
Clan Wolf forces invade the Free Worlds League, fighting alongside Lyran Commonwealth troops. Jessica Marik forges an alliance with Clan Sea Fox and invades Atreus. Jessica Marik is installed as Captain-General of a reborn Free Worlds League.