A/N: This is a timeline based on discussions with ravenking64 and my ideas on what Mass Effect might look if MonHun world were to be the Systems Alliance from the beginning.
I may get more serious, or I may let it go to someone else that's interested.
In any case, let me know what you think, so do please read and review, would you kindly?
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? BCE: The Lost Age of Themis
A time when the technologically-advanced Ancient Civilization was at its peak.
Nobody knows when this era started, but it was considered a Golden Age for the world. It was also a time of decadence and corruption, as the Ancient Civilization cared very little for the environment and the creatures now known as "Monsters" that they shared the world with.
It is during this time that the ancestors of the Hunters, heavily augmented Humans, are created as a warrior caste to hunt dragons, collecting their parts to collect resources for the Ancient Civilization
Eventually, tensions increase beyond repair, beginning what would later be known as The Dragon War. The Hunters would battle with extremely powerful creatures that would be known as the "Elder Dragons."
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0 CE: After generations of escalating violence, the Dragon War is over. The Ancient Civilization has been destroyed by the Elder Dragon Fatalis, throwing the surviving Humans, Wyverians, and Lynians back to the Stone Age.
It is during this time that the Age of Rebirth has begun. The people of the planet would gather together in tribal villages and the makings of urban civilization.
Once predominantly run by Wyverian Hunters, the Hunter's Guild gradually began to incorporate Humans in their ranks. Aside from their mission to protect civilization from Monster attacks, the Guild's mandate seeks harmony with nature…for this reason, they have taken it upon themselves to ensure that poaching is punished severely by their Knights.
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700 CE: After centuries of exploration, many species of Monsters from around every corner of Themis have been hunted, battled, and documented. At this point, more complex weapons such as the Switch Axe, Charge Blade, and Bowgun have been reverse-engineered from Ancient Civilization schematics, adding to the Hunter's arsenal.
In addition to their deeds in protecting the villages in which they are headquartered, the Guild and its Hunters become a sort of bandit deterrent in the various villages wherever they are posted.
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1050 CE: An ambitious and spiteful king, whose name was stricken from history, decides to gather together a handful of like-minded rulers to make war on the Guild to consolidate power, and to loot every Guild Hall for anything valuable to keep themselves in power.
His first move is to unofficially pay off, organize, and arm every bandit gang and Poacher in the area to attack his own kingdom. They are also given permission to loot any citizen that supports the Guild, forcing every civilian to run to the Guild Headquarters for protection.
Once the Hunters are weakened from successfully fighting off the bandits, the king moves in with his military under the guise of rescuing his civilians before slaughtering the surviving bandits, and members of the Guild with falsified claims of treason. He also publicly blames the bandit attacks on the Hunters, claiming that the Guild had paid off the gangs to gain the trust of the civilians and eventually destroy them, inciting a mob.
Between the civilian mob and the king's army storming the Guild Hall, the local Hunters and Guild Knights fight valiantly in the battle, killing off more than three quarters of the attackers before they themselves were killed to the last man and woman. In the heat of the battle, the staff of the Guild Hall would send a message to the Guild, detailing the events that had occurred.
At the same time, the Guild would receive word that several other Guild Halls were destroyed in the coup. In response, orders were sent to every branch of the Guild to recall all Hunters and Guild Knights, and to protect the major villages where they are headquartered.
Settlements with strong ties to the Guild such as Kokoto, Pokke, Kamura, Yukumo, and Val Habar are reinforced, being turned into miniature forts to protect the civilians and Hunters housed within. Locations such as the research bases at Astera and Seliana are safe due to being far from the Old World, but are advised to fortify nonetheless in the event of a naval assault.
It is from here that the Great War has begun, and what follows is a period of war between the "Puritan Crusade" and the Guild's alliance.
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1065 CE: Throughout the Great War, everyone took sides between the Puritans and the Alliance consisting of the Guild, and all countries still affiliated with them.
The Puritans were barely able to edge out the Alliance due to sheer numbers, but the Alliance had the advantage of better-quality soldiers. Throughout the conflict, the Alliance would fight a defensive guerilla war, and win decisive raids and skirmishes as they waited and watched for the opportunity to fight back. In the meantime, they would learn the tactics of their enemy, getting stronger with every defeat.
A turning point would come when several spies returned with defectors that had vital intelligence: the Puritan Crusaders were truly weak and rotting at the core. In the first few years or so of the Great War, the Puritans were able to bring their considerable numbers to bear to overwhelm the Guild's forces, but the Guild were able to muster a strong enough defense to stem the tides and keep the war in a stalemate.
However, as the war dragged on, the conflict gradually took its toll on the Puritans who were fighting a war on two fronts; between the Guild and its allies, and the Monsters who roamed the wilderness. The Puritan belief that they did not require the Guild's services to do battle with Monsters is quickly tested as armies are sent in to fight them in hopes of harvesting their parts to make superior weaponry and to feed their numbers. Dozens of unprepared soldiers are sent in to hunt large game like Rathalos and Deviljho, confident that their superior weaponry and numbers would allow them to succeed; hunts were rarely successful, and only a handful of traumatized soldiers manage to come back alive. The situation was made even worse when Monsters would attack their camps, particularly whenever they ran afoul of an Elder Dragon. With the economic situation worsening for the Puritans, there were many defections…though defectors are always watched for signs of betrayal.
Knowing that their enemies were weak, and emboldened by their newfound advantage, the Guild went on the offensive; capturing then reinforcing poorly-defended forts to gather strength for a more even fight. The definitive battle that built up steam for the Guild's counterattack was the Battle of Tyna, when the Guild's forces used the terrain to take on and defeat a numerically superior force of Puritans. After that, the Guild began to push back into the heart of the Puritan Crusade, their enemies too weak, too corrupt, and too disorganized to even slow their rapidly-gaining momentum.
With all of his allies defeated, and his enemies closing in for the kill, the corrupt king simply ordered his own men to kill anyone that even had a mind to surrender. Fed up with the devastation caused by his conspiracy and his apparent lack of remorse, the corrupt king was killed by his own guards en route to his personal bathhouse. The assassination of the corrupt king created a power vacuum that would embroil his kingdom and cripple the Puritan Crusade, weakening them in a battle that would be aptly-named "The Final Push."
The Great War ends after 15 years of conflict.
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1067 CE: Any and all remnants of the Puritan Crusade are hunted down to the last man. Only those who were oppressed by the corrupt king and his allies are spared…those who remain unrepentant for their crimes are executed on the spot. It is only after the remnants are dealt with that the Alliance is formed; new laws and regulations are put in place to prevent another Great War from happening again. The Guild is then allowed to resume its operations in protecting villages from Monster attacks.
To ensure that they would be able to fight back effectively if need be, the Alliance collaborates with the Guild to form the Alliance Defense Force (ADF), consisting of soldiers, Hunters, and Guild Knights from all corners of the world.
While the Alliance still has its own orthodox military in the form of the Alliance Defense Force (ADF), the Guild Hunters and Knights are incorporated into the newly-formed army as a special forces unit whose main responsibility is to do battle with Monsters.
From here, a new golden age has begun.
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1230 CE: A breakthrough happens when electrical power is discovered, and the first light bulb is invented, prompting a new technological revolution. Hoping to avoid a recurrence of the Dragon War, the Guild sends contracts out to any and all prospective inventors and artisans to make viable technologies based on sustainable materials and techniques. The world begins to make significant leaps in technology and engineering…and instead of working against nature, everything cooperates with nature.
Eventually, bioenergy crystals, like those found in the Elder's Recess of the New World are found to have many properties, which include strengthening metals, and being usable in electrical applications. Concerns are raised about sustainability, until a method is discovered to grow the crystal in large numbers from only a handful of bioenergy crystals with little to no loss in its properties.
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1463 CE: The ability of the ADF to effectively wage war would be tested in the aftermath of the Yukumo Bombing…when the Neo-Puritan terrorists have risen up and decided to restart the corrupt king's ambition. The ADF's mainline infantry would strike at more overt targets, while the Hunters and Knights performed surgical strikes until the Neo-Puritan Crusade was put down two years later.
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1675 CE: Themis achieves manned space flight.
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1684 CE: Themis lands on the moon.
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1720 CE: SpaceX launches and recovers first reusable orbital-class rocket.
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1769 CE: First Themisian settlement on the moon Lua.
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1803 CE: First Themisian settlement on the neighboring planet Venti.
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1853 CE: The ADF is now organized into three separate branches:
-The Navy: commands all space and oceanic operations
-The Army: commands all ground forces, including infantry, land vehicles, and all Hunters and Knights
-The Air Force: commands all planet-based aerial operations
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1873 CE: Prothean ruins are discovered on Venti, along with Element Zero. Studies are done on the material, and scientists have found that it is not as versatile as bioenergy, nor is it as abundant, sustainable, or eco-friendly…though they do find its ability to alter the mass of any given object warranted further study.
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1909 CE: A titanic device is discovered near the planet Frigus. Studies are done to investigate the device's purpose.
A contest is put out to develop service weapons for the Alliance Defense Force, as well as standardized gear for every branch of the military. The contest for service weapons is won by two prototypes by Hahne-Kedar; a rifle and a sidearm. The prize money is used to refine the prototypes into working service weapons.
The contest is ongoing to develop more specialized weaponry for the Alliance Defense Force.
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1910 CE: Standardized gear and training is issued to all branches of the Alliance military, but the Hunters and Knights are given extra training and are allowed by tradition to have significantly more freedom in gear selection.
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1987 CE: First Contact at the Frigus Relay.
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A/N: It is done.
Hopefully, this re-forged timeline will be better merged than the last.
If there's any coincidence between the "Alliance Defense Force" and the "Australian Defense Force" in terms of acronyms, then it's intentional as I see the Monster Hunter's world as a collection of all the deadliest natural habitats in the world, including Australia.