Name and full timeline, plus more information, to come at a later date.
Timeline
2026 - World War Three begins as dwindling resources cause major powers to begin invading smaller states and each other.
2035 - Armored Cores are fielded for the first time as WWIII enters it's ninth year.
2045 - WWIII ends and becomes known as the National Dismantlement War as multiple megacorporations seize control of the globe, dissolving all remaining national governments and submitting the entirety of the earth's population (reduced by more than three quarters) to their rule. Armored Core NEXTs are fielded for the first time, quickly rendering older ACs ('Normals') largely obsolete. The new order is dubbed the Pax Economica, or 'Corporate Peace'.
2050 - The Pax Economica breaks down as it's members begin battling one another over resources. The resulting conflict becomes known as the Lynx War, as NEXTs prove to be the deciding factor in the conflict. Large-scale use of experimental Kojima weaponry during the conflict devastates the Earth's surface and kills over half of the world's remaining population. The surviving corporations reorganize themselves into the League of Ruling Companies and begin moving parts of the surviving population into flying cities known as Cradles.
2050-2055 - The Corporate Wars as the League corporations wage continuous conflicts with one another, typically through the assignment of Lynx NEXT pilots.
2055 - The ORCA Uprising as a group of rogue Lynx break away from Collared and wage open war against the League. Ideologically opposed to the Cradle system and having correctly deduced that the Cradles will soon fall victim to the world's rising levels of Kojima radiation, ORCA intends to destroy the Arteria energy transfer facilities keeping the Cradles aloft and used the freed up energy and resources to fuel space colonization efforts. The League-ORCA conflict is suddenly halted only a week later when two rogue ORCA pilots, Old King and Strayed, attack and destroy one of the Cradles, killing one hundred million people. An initial attempt to neutralize Old King and Strayed fails and results in the death of ORCA's leadership. Information gathered by ORCA on the rising levels of Kojima radiation and the Cradles' vulnerability is automatically released to the public as a result, resulting in widespread dissent against the League. A second attack against a Cradle by Old King and Strayed results in a further forty million deaths before the pair are driven off by Collared NEXTs operating independently.
2056 - A force of Lynx operating independently from Collared ambush Old King and Strayed as they attempt to attack a third Cradle. Old King is killed in the ensuing skirmish, though Strayed escapes. Strayed launches a solo fourth attack some months later, completely destroying a fourth Cradle and causing another one hundred million deaths. The Cradles' vulnerability to both the rising levels of Kojima radiation and attacks by lone NEXTs leads to the flying cities being grounded. An attempt by Strayed to attack one of the grounded Cradles is driven off by three NEXTs piloted by Lilium Wolcott, May Greenfield, and the Raven of Anatolia. In the resulting battle, the Raven of Anatolia is killed and Strayed is revealed to be not a human, but a self-aware AI. Now calling itself Nineball, the NEXT escapes, though with heavy damage. Lilium Wolcott and May Greenfield, the two survivors of the battle, are hailed as heroes, and Lilium's subsequent rise as president of the Bernard-Felix Foundation, a League corporation, gives her considerable leverage and power over the League of Ruling Companies. The world's remaining human population, now numbering only three hundred million, is largely moved to underground facilities such as Arteria Cranium, which had been hardened against Kojima radiation.
2057 - Nineball reappears, having repaired and upgraded it's NEXT through unknown means. Waging surprise attacks on Lynx across the globe, it succeeds in killing the vast majority of remaining NEXT pilots. Collared, as a result, crumbles, and the few remaining Lynx are absorbed into the League. BFF and Global Armaments, two of the largest remaining League corporations and patrons of Lilium Wolcott and May Greenfield respectively, draft a new plan, Babel, to replace the flawed Cradle system with a series of towers that will double as space elevators. Though an opposing plan to construct an elaborate underground facility is forwarded by other League corporations, Lilium Wolcott's personal approval of Babel and it's higher economic feasibility leads to the tower plan moving forward. Those League companies which opposed the plan are quietly dissolved, with rebelling assets abandoned to Nineball's global rampage.
2058 - Construction is begun on the first tower, Ar Tonelico.
Timeline
2026 - World War Three begins as dwindling resources cause major powers to begin invading smaller states and each other.
2035 - Armored Cores are fielded for the first time as WWIII enters it's ninth year.
2045 - WWIII ends and becomes known as the National Dismantlement War as multiple megacorporations seize control of the globe, dissolving all remaining national governments and submitting the entirety of the earth's population (reduced by more than three quarters) to their rule. Armored Core NEXTs are fielded for the first time, quickly rendering older ACs ('Normals') largely obsolete. The new order is dubbed the Pax Economica, or 'Corporate Peace'.
2050 - The Pax Economica breaks down as it's members begin battling one another over resources. The resulting conflict becomes known as the Lynx War, as NEXTs prove to be the deciding factor in the conflict. Large-scale use of experimental Kojima weaponry during the conflict devastates the Earth's surface and kills over half of the world's remaining population. The surviving corporations reorganize themselves into the League of Ruling Companies and begin moving parts of the surviving population into flying cities known as Cradles.
2050-2055 - The Corporate Wars as the League corporations wage continuous conflicts with one another, typically through the assignment of Lynx NEXT pilots.
2055 - The ORCA Uprising as a group of rogue Lynx break away from Collared and wage open war against the League. Ideologically opposed to the Cradle system and having correctly deduced that the Cradles will soon fall victim to the world's rising levels of Kojima radiation, ORCA intends to destroy the Arteria energy transfer facilities keeping the Cradles aloft and used the freed up energy and resources to fuel space colonization efforts. The League-ORCA conflict is suddenly halted only a week later when two rogue ORCA pilots, Old King and Strayed, attack and destroy one of the Cradles, killing one hundred million people. An initial attempt to neutralize Old King and Strayed fails and results in the death of ORCA's leadership. Information gathered by ORCA on the rising levels of Kojima radiation and the Cradles' vulnerability is automatically released to the public as a result, resulting in widespread dissent against the League. A second attack against a Cradle by Old King and Strayed results in a further forty million deaths before the pair are driven off by Collared NEXTs operating independently.
2056 - A force of Lynx operating independently from Collared ambush Old King and Strayed as they attempt to attack a third Cradle. Old King is killed in the ensuing skirmish, though Strayed escapes. Strayed launches a solo fourth attack some months later, completely destroying a fourth Cradle and causing another one hundred million deaths. The Cradles' vulnerability to both the rising levels of Kojima radiation and attacks by lone NEXTs leads to the flying cities being grounded. An attempt by Strayed to attack one of the grounded Cradles is driven off by three NEXTs piloted by Lilium Wolcott, May Greenfield, and the Raven of Anatolia. In the resulting battle, the Raven of Anatolia is killed and Strayed is revealed to be not a human, but a self-aware AI. Now calling itself Nineball, the NEXT escapes, though with heavy damage. Lilium Wolcott and May Greenfield, the two survivors of the battle, are hailed as heroes, and Lilium's subsequent rise as president of the Bernard-Felix Foundation, a League corporation, gives her considerable leverage and power over the League of Ruling Companies. The world's remaining human population, now numbering only three hundred million, is largely moved to underground facilities such as Arteria Cranium, which had been hardened against Kojima radiation.
2057 - Nineball reappears, having repaired and upgraded it's NEXT through unknown means. Waging surprise attacks on Lynx across the globe, it succeeds in killing the vast majority of remaining NEXT pilots. Collared, as a result, crumbles, and the few remaining Lynx are absorbed into the League. BFF and Global Armaments, two of the largest remaining League corporations and patrons of Lilium Wolcott and May Greenfield respectively, draft a new plan, Babel, to replace the flawed Cradle system with a series of towers that will double as space elevators. Though an opposing plan to construct an elaborate underground facility is forwarded by other League corporations, Lilium Wolcott's personal approval of Babel and it's higher economic feasibility leads to the tower plan moving forward. Those League companies which opposed the plan are quietly dissolved, with rebelling assets abandoned to Nineball's global rampage.
2058 - Construction is begun on the first tower, Ar Tonelico.