Ktarn wrote:
"One more question though, what are the start and end dates of the Kafer war?"
Sir,
It started in 2296 when the Kafer attacked and occupied Arcturus Station. Of course humans didn't know there was a war on until 2297 when Aurora was invaded.
When did it end? Short Answer: It hasn't.
Long Answer: Most of their forces in the human side of the French Arm have been evicted or destroyed by 2303, although there all still lots of dribs and drabs skulking about - look at Aurora six years after the invasion there. If you squint real hard, you could argue that 2303 is the 'end' of the First (and hopefully, Last) Kafer Invasion. There is still plenty of fighting going on and a very good promise of more to come.
Arcturus is occasionally patrolled by human vessels and clashes regularly occur with Kafer ships there. However, there is no permanent human fleet presence at Arcturus. What's more, humanity is beginning to suspect the existence of the secret base that allows major Kafer formations to bypass Arcturus altogether.
Further afield, there may be Kafers operating in the barely explored stellar cluster where 'Energy Curve' is set, a few human probes of Kafer space beyond Arcturus may have occurred; as depicted in the GDW - Challenge article and module "Three Blind Mice", and the brown dwarf 'Backdoor' in the American Arm has led to contact with the Ylii and Kafers there.
So, the war hasn't ended yet.
Sincerely,
Larsen