Earth, originally a dark planet covered in volcanic ash, is hit by a comet that incinerates the atmosphere and everything that lived on the surface. The Cryptids survived by living within the earth's chambers, where they evolved and adapted to survive underground in harsh climates.
The Ancestors forge the Arks, geothermal reactors designed to reawaken and rise above the Earth, and the Obelisks that protect them.
An aquatic guardian is bred by the Ancestors to deal with any threat to the Arks.
3rd Millennium B.C.
The Ancestors begin hypnotically programming humans to serve as their spies using a mimetic virus.
Samantha Cross is a student attending Harvard University before she is recruited by David Archer for the Nightfall Program.
June
Cross learns of the Cryptid ecosystem, the scientific discovery of the century.
July 10th
The ODIN Space Station is attacked and hijacked by astronauts of the Federation. Tungsten Rods are then launched, destroying the majority of the south and southwestern United States. Two surviving American crew members, Mosely and Baker, fight back and scuttle the space station before the remaining rods are launched on the remaining U.S. cities, but sacrifice themselves in the process.
A stray Tungsten Rod impacts a Cryptid colony beneath the Colorado Rockies near the town of Caldera Peak, Colorado.
The Ancestors command the Cryptids to attack, and Caldera Peak is eradicated of all life.
Archer and the Nightfall Program locate the Cryptids in Colorado and collect as many specimens as possible, as well as an Obelisk.
July 22nd
CIF Team Four of the Rapid Reaction Force is dispatched to the quarantined site at Caldera to investigate, and are killed by the invading Cryptids within the first hour of deployment.
July 24th
A four-man squad from Task Force Spectre are sent to exterminate the infestation of Cryptids via nuclear detonation authorized by the President and use a mounted Laser Drill to destroy Cryptid hives.
July 25th
The press learns of the nuclear strike authorized by the President.
After July 25th
Cross studies the Nightfall Program's records and the specimens recovered from Colorado, discovering their xenobiology.
August
Cross begins the translation of the Obelisk, becoming restless through its decryption.
October
Archer hatches a new Cryptid species, the Breeder, of monstrous size. Cross begins to fear the Nightfall Program's work, and compromises the location of Nightfall's facility to the U.S. military.
Archer barters with Contact 28, exchanging Nightfall's research for a ship and crew.
Cross suffers from the mimetic virus infused within the Obelisk, and begins acting under the control of the Ancestors. She breaches Nightfall's hatchery, ensuing an outbreak that slaughters 127 of the Program's employees.
October 30th
CIF Team One is sent to Point Barrow under the direction of General "Godfather" Castle to rescue Samantha Cross, who has been hiding in the research lab.
Archer reconciles with Contact 28, who agrees to supply him with an extraction.
Cross prepares to kill herself after finishing the Obelisk's translations, but is captured and taken into the Alaskan Frontier by Archer, who escapes with her aboard Stormbreaker, a decommissioned destroyer given to Archer by Contact 28.
After October 30th
The military destroys the Nightfall facility via an explosive air strike.
The United States establishes the Exodus Program as a last resort contingency plan.
Godfather is relocated to the Exodus launch facility.
Dr. Kassar surgically implants Cross to the Beacon Amplifier, allowing her to act as a clairvoyant to the Ark.
November 6th
Archer intends to uncover the true commanders of the Cryptids, believing it will be the death of humankind if he fails to.
November 10th
Kassar continues to interrogate Samantha and witnesses her grow stronger.
Archer sees Samantha's brain as the key to severing the commands between the Cryptids and their masters, codenaming her "Medusa."
November 24th
Godfather agrees to negotiate recruiting Archer as a double-agent via a video chat.
Archer delivers research for anti-Cryptid weaponry to the government as part of his extraction bargain.
November 25th
Cross alerts the Ark's guardian as Stormbreaker approaches the colony, and the Kraken is awoken.
Godfather launches Operation: Mayday; CIF Team One is dispatched to Stormbreaker to pacify the third Cryptid outbreak and recover Archer as a double-agent.
The Kraken is killed by the military, Archer is evacuated, and Samantha Cross is declared KIA after disappearing.
Cross is telepathically summoned to the Ark beneath Ball's Pyramid, where she foresees the end of the world.
Godfather torpedoes the contaminated Stormbreaker to ensure the outbreak is contained.
Archer is sent with a squad of soldiers into the Cryptid colony beneath Ball's Pyramid to obtain the Cortex.
November 26th
The military rapidly develops the psionic Medusa weapon using Archer's original concept.
Cross guides Archer to the Cortex and cripples him after he attempts to kill her, leaving him to die.
The Ark is overrided with geothermal heat and CIF Team One escapes with Cross and the Cortex.
The remaining Arks are awakened and the planet is overrun with Cryptids, forcing Godfather to launch nuclear strikes on key infestation points in Operation: Scorched Earth.
The Arclight osprey crashes in the heart of the outbreak, leaving CIF Team One stranded and Samantha disappeared with the Cortex.
November 27th-February 23rd
Godfather assumes leadership of the remnants of the United States following the death of the President, and scours the country for the Cortex.
The Exodus launch site is fortified and becomes a safe haven for survivors.
2018
February 24th
CIF Team One reaches the Exodus facility and restores the power grid.
Cross returns with the Cortex and powers the Medusa with the Cortex, and CIF Team One is forced to sacrifice themselves to detonate the device.
The Exodus spacecraft reaches a low Earth orbit space station, allowing few to survive the apocalypse.
After February 24th
Cross is willingly placed in a replica Beacon Amplifier to allow her powers to be amplified, intending to make humanity's difference between survival and extinction.
Pockets of resistance in Europe and Asia continue to fight Cryptids. The Cryptids are eventually defeated, and humanity rebuilds, expanding into the stars afterwards.
Between 2018 and 2206
The Exodus Space Station is lost within space and ends up crashing on a distant icy planet.
Samantha Cross later dies from the climate of the planet.
Zeta Corp Industries manages to locate the crashed space station and later builds a planetary research station on the planet.
The Cryptids learn of the location of the station and attack, slaughtering much of the staff and somehow triggering a zombie infection in the process.
