OBT Forum
General BattleTech => Alternate Universe => Age of Chaos => Topic started by: Knightmare on October 24, 2012, 10:06:38 AM
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Hello,
Welcome to this year's AoC Primer Convocation and Convention. Today we'll discuss the AoC Primer, and its impact on the Inner Sphere.
First, the rules.
This is important.
Super important.
Rule #1: I need feedback. That means posts and answering polls. No feedback, no more AoC primer posts.
Rule #2: The same as Rule #1. I can not stress the need for feedback enough. We're doing a little experiment here, and your help is appreciated.
Thank you for your assistance. As a community, it is appreciated.
Primer to the Age of Chaos
Game Introduction
Age of Chaos is a BattleTech alternate universe setting where the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere no longer exist. After two devastating Succession Wars and a century-long HPG Interdiction, the large Successor States of old have sundered beneath the weight of war and poverty. In their stead they have given birth to dozens of new nations and interstellar factions. Bereft of their historical cohesion, the splintered shadows of these former great empires are a mockery of their once-proud parents. No longer vying for control of the defunct Star League, these desperate successors are fixed in a cycle of perpetual violence to survive. Together they are locked in a dark age that is finally coming to an end.
Creating the Age of Chaos alternate universe required taking certain liberties with some of BattleTech’s core historical material and setting. Changes were made to timelines, characters and even some of the more pivotal events in the BattleTech story. While some of these changes were unavoidable, great care was taken to maintain the integrity of the traditional BattleTech universe and to provide the most compelling and realistic account of a universe eerily familiar to any fan of BattleTech, but decidedly different from the official story.
This integrity was maintained with an eye toward thoughtful and purposeful analysis of every modification made to the original material. Questions were posed and then answered to draw storyline conclusions in developing the Age of Chaos game setting. Lke ripples in a pond, these changes were plotted to their inevitable conclusion. If a proposed modification did not fit logically, it was discarded from the story no matter how attractive the idea may have been. Some of the questions were: What if Jerome Blake had used all eight of his ex-SLDF divisions during Operation Silver Shield, secured more from Kerensky’s departing SLDF or gained the loyalty of the two mechanized infantry divisions garrisoning South America? Would Blake have directed ComStar to secure more of the crumbling Terran Hegemony? What about secretly supplying occupied or ex-Hegemony worlds like New Dallas with extra weapons? Would the bloodshed be enough to slow, or even stop the invading Successor States? These were just a few of the many questions asked that would ultimately help shape the Age of Chaos universe.
Plot and character development were also addressed to help form budding storylines and settings. What if Jerome Blake didn’t die in his sleep or fall to a sinister plot to seize control of ComStar? What would ComStar look like as an organization after three or four more decades of Blake’s leadership, and what sort of impact would his survival have had on the Inner Sphere? On a far larger scale, what if the Succession Wars were longer in length and far more devastating? Would the control of the Great Houses suffer accordingly? How much time would elapse before internal and external pressures reached a boiling point and the Successor States faced domestic problems far in excess to the damage wrought by their bloody wars of conquest?
What about Conrad Toyama and the future Word of Blake? What would have happened if Toyama had not inherited leadership of ComStar in 2819, or saw his advances rebuffed by a strong Jerome Blake? Would Conrad have reacted violently? What if the Holy Shroud attacks targeted ComStar as well as the Great Houses, and the HPG virus used to quiet the Inner Sphere in the 32nd century was instead unleashed in the early 29th?
What would happen? How would the nations of the Inner Sphere and Periphery recover or maintain control? The Age of Chaos Primer charts the disintegration of the Inner Sphere from the tumultuous years after the fall of the Star League until the end of the HPG Blackout through the eyes of ComStar – the Inner Sphere’s largest corporation.
Basic History of the Inner Sphere
“Life is cheap, but technology is not.†– Graffiti found among the remains of an Omniss enclave suspected of bombing a ComStar water treatment plant.
Students of history interested in the fall of the Star League or the First Succession War are often fond of quoting these singular events as the root causes for the current state of the Inner Sphere. While these devastating conflicts were indeed terrible, the same could also be said for ComStar’s arming of Terran rebels, or the corporate Schism. In truth, these events only helped open the door for the discord, which was ready to blossom into complete anarchy. The true root cause for the degradation of the Inner Sphere is simply a full accounting of all the pieces of a very bloody, very messy puzzle, with players and events spanning the length and breadth of known space. The same pieces that began to situate themselves into a position to exert a terrible price not long into the 29th century.
Rather than regale the tale of the Star League’s final years or the tragedies responsible for its sundering, it will simply be said that the end result was an Inner Sphere ripe for conflict and ready to rip into the dying carcass of the Terran Hegemony. With Minoru Kurita’s simple declaration as the new First Lord of the Star League, a gauntlet was thrown. His claim was a simple challenge to his peers – one that would be bought in blood, and so the first of two Succession Wars started in earnest. It was a horrible conflict, engulfing all of the occupied space and surpassing all prior wars. It was in the midst of this conflagration that by 2821 the damage and economic breakdown began to degrade relations within the borders of a number of Successor States. Not only was the First Succession War devastating, its ferocity did not lessen with time – and in some regions never ended – before the outbreak of the Second Succession War.
In 2818, the Free Worlds League found itself fragmenting along the Andurien border when a relatively unscathed Capellan Confederation, in an attempt to seize the remains of these historically important worlds, launched a full-scale invasion of the Andurien Province. The Lyran Commonwealth used the Capellan invasion of the Free Worlds League as an opportunity to assault its border around Bolan, forcing the Captain-General to split his forces from the subjugation of former Hegemony worlds. With the new invasion putting the FWL in jeopardy, the Chancellor committed additional forces to the growing Andurien melee, during which the Capellan Confederation lost a number of former Hegemony worlds when they proved incapable of consolidating their hold in the region. Aligning themselves with Tikonov in 2820, these worlds began to build a new state centered on Tikonov under the auspice of heirs to the old Republic and Hegemony bureaucracy. Although this region lacked a major domestic military presence, the insurgent forces of these worlds made them competitive opponents to their distracted invaders.
The reason for their sudden martial competitiveness came from ComStar’s successful capture of Terra with Operation Silver Shield in 2788. Prior to their successful rebellions in the Tikonov and Skye regions and the stalled absorption of former Hegemony worlds, Jerome Blake believed the only way to protect Terra and the core of the Hegemony was to seize it himself. Deciding to take a massive gamble on the situation, but lacking the personnel to do it solely with ComStar alone, Jerome Blake authorized the First Circuit to supply these nascent rebellions with military gear secreted away on Terra after the fall of the Star League. Within months of the first shipments of arms, many worlds in these regions were consumed in the flames of rebellion.
The Skye Rebellion began as the First Succession War came to a close and as many former Terran worlds, unhappy beneath the Steiner yoke or fearful of being captured by the Draconis Combine, revolted, joining with the already fractious Isle of Skye. These rebels were soon aided by Tikonov forces bloated with secret ComStar-supplied weapons. Meanwhile, the Federated Suns – a nation badly mauled by the Draconis Combine – found itself vulnerable to its own upswing in domestic dissent as March Rulers attempted to consolidate and prepare for another looming invasion of their ruined territory. Not too soon, the Capellan and Draconis March Dukes began looking toward their own worlds to rule, rather than New Avalon. To make matters worse, cross-border raiding between the rebuilding Capellan March and the Capellan Confederation kept tension in the region at an all-time high between the end of the First and the beginning of the Second Succession War. In reality, the short break between wars was a myth along the Capellan border, where heavy fighting did not cease until late in the 29th century.
There were also domestic issues brewing in the Draconis Combine. Failure to consolidate the momentum of the early part of the First Succession War and the Kentares Massacre loosened the tight-knit solidarity of the Combine’s various warlords. Many worked to take advantage of a weakened Federated Suns, while others clamored for a renewed invasion of the distracted Lyran Commonwealth. The death of the Star League also breathed new life into the Free Rasalhague movement, which the terrified Lyran Commonwealth (among others) helped to foster in an effort to weaken and distract hungry Combine eyes from Lyran worlds. While Tamar Province rulers were unhappy with antagonizing the Dragon having suffered enough already, they had little choice but to sit back and watch for the time being, simply hoping for the best.
The smoldering conflicts in Andurien, Tikonov, Terran and Capellan space flared into the Second Succession War in 2823, only a few years after the end of the first. The second war followed the same destructive pattern as the first, but quickly degenerated into a quagmire of epic proportions when many of the Successor States began to fully fracture from within. First, the continued attacks into the Confederation’s soft underbelly by the Federated Suns’ Capellan March prompted resource-rich worlds around St. Ives to declare their independence from the Celestial Throne in 2826. Ignoring the demands issued by New Avalon and determined to capture these worlds for the Suns, the Capellan March continued its invasion of Confederation and breakaway St. Ives worlds. When forces loyal to Prince Davion arrived in the March to halt Duke Hasek’s drive into Liao space, open fighting erupted between the two sides. As a result, the Capellan March declared its independence from the Davion crown in 2829. AFFS units from loyal Marches began to pour into the area, and while Prince Davion believed a massive show of force would quickly squash resistance, the move fatally weakened significant portions of the Federated Suns’ borders.
Meanwhile, the Free Worlds League was unable to tip the Andurien stalemate in their favor and continued to funnel troops into the Confederation meat-grinder, all the while stripping other provinces of their federal defenses to help stall the Commonwealth’s invasion. Between periphery, Lyran, Capellan and even the odd Combine raider, many of these provinces had begun to question the leadership of the Marik family and the Captain-General. When a devastating raid in 2828 cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of League citizens on the world Helm, members of Parliament called for a vote of no confidence against the Captain-General. With tensions already at an all-time high in Parliament, the vote quickly turned volatile. A fistfight broke out between members of the Andurien delegation and those from the Duchy of Oriente that quickly spread throughout the Atrean Parliament.
As the civil war in the Federated Suns began to spiral out of control, the political situation in the Draconis Combine also started to fall apart. Ignoring the order of the Coordinator to press the Combine’s advantage along the Lyran Commonwealth’s troubled Skye and weakened Tamar borders, warlords along the Federated Suns’ Draconis March instead began a full-scale assault on the beleaguered Federated Suns in late 2830. Desperate to crush the Capellan March rebellion so he could meet the Kurita threat head on, the Prince was unable to provide the Draconis March with little more than half-empty promises of assistance. Left with little support or recourse, the soldiers of the Draconis March fought with ferocity that the Kurita attackers were unprepared for or expecting. For the Kurita Warlords, their unauthorized invasion of the Federated Suns was a gambit. They expected easy success and the full support of the Coordinator, but as the assault slowed they were soon out of options. Failure would be their execution at the Coordinator’s hand, while a continued drive into the Federated Suns would inevitably result in the complete destruction of their forces.
While the situation along the Federated Suns’ Draconis border was descending into chaos, Tikonov forces, bolstered by success in the Skye March, continued to “liberate†worlds taken from the old Terran Hegemony in the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation. Other ex-Terran worlds also used the spreading Sphere-wide chaos to create minor rebellions of their own or among other like-minded planets. While many of the core Terran worlds were wary of Tikonov or Skye, they warmed to ComStar’s offers of assistance and voluntary absorption into the Protectorate. A bold move, the operation also brought ComStar into conflict with some of the partisans it had previously supported.
By 2825 the Lyran Commonwealth was finally forced to contend with the Coordinator’s expected drive into the Tamar Province, while the continued troubles in the Skye March pushed the nation’s economy and industry to the limit. Fighting a three-front war along all of its major borders, trouble soon began to crop up among ex-Rim Worlds Republic worlds the Commonwealth “inherited†after the fall of the Star League. This new threat could not have come at a worse time for the Archon or the Lyran economy. With the opposition seemingly supplied with arms from an unknown source, the LCAF was incapable of meeting the new threat as its material strength was already stretched to the breaking point.
The cracks in the Lyran Commonwealth finally split wide open when the Archon ordered the withdrawal of troops from the Skye March in 2830 to fight insurgents threatening the nation’s periphery border. Against the protests of worlds belonging to the Tamar and Coventry Provinces, the Archon argued (incorrectly) that the Commonwealth should continue to press its claims along the fractured Free Worlds League border and simply re-conquer the (now) free Skye March after the LCAF had defeated its ancient enemy. For the desperate people of the Tamar March, who were barely holding the line against the Combine juggernaut, enough was enough. Claiming the Archon unfit, the leaders of the Tamar Province, along with a host of other Lyran worlds, made themselves virtually free of the Commonwealth. Reclaiming their old titles from the time of the Archonettes, these independent provinces dug in and waited for the inevitable from their former Archon and the Combine.
In the Draconis Combine, the stalled assault in the Federated Suns was only the start. The continued trouble in the Rasalhague worlds, as well as the occupied Tamar worlds, was beginning to irritate the Coordinator. When the invasion of the Federated Suns cost the Combine two of its irreplaceable WarShips in August 2832, the Coordinator had enough. He declared the rogue Warlords Ronin for their unauthorized actions against the will of the Dragon. While the declaration was not entirely unexpected, the Warlords’ response was. They declared themselves free of the Coordinator and the Combine, citing a long list of grievances, which included the claim that the Coordinator did not invade the Federated Suns when the opportunity to smite their ancient foe presented itself. Almost immediately, the invasion of the Federated Suns grounded to a halt, as ex-DCMS regiments turned to face the Coordinator’s inevitable wrath. This unexpected pause gave the Draconis March a small measure of breathing space, and they intensified guerilla campaigns on occupied planets.
As to the Warlods’ declaration of independence, the Coordinator’s response was swift and powerful. Pulling most of the regiments assigned to the invasion of the Lyran Commonwealth, the Coordinator drove straight for the heart of the Ronin camp. In the ensuing civil war a surprising number of worlds switched their allegiance from Luthien to the Warlords’ new capital of Galedon, apparently fed up or enticed by promises of prosperity and freedom. As more worlds declared for the Ronin leaders, rumors of foreign help began to surface. Fingers were pointed at everyone from Federated Suns nobility to Terran guerilla cells, but none was ever proven. In the end, the fighting would see the birth of a free Rasalhague state and the dissolution of much of the Combine’s Galedon and Dieron Districts. The fighting would also completely gut the Combine’s offensive foray into the Tamar worlds of the Lyran Commonwealth. As a result, the people of Tamar easily repulsed the Archon’s halfhearted attempt to reclaim the province in 2834.
At the height of the so-called Second Succession War, every state in the Inner Sphere suffered from internal fragmentation to levels unseen since their formation. Perhaps the advance of the Periphery states at this time was like adding insult to injury, but considering the situation – understandable. The fighting represented a free-for-all and was approached as such. Beginning with the Taurian Concordat’s invasion of the Federated Suns’ Pleiades Cluster in 2832, all of the major Periphery powers with the exception of the Outworlds Alliance – attempted to secure vulnerable or historically-owned worlds from the Great Houses. Even some quiet ex-Rim Worlds Republic planets began to agitate for independence, seeing an opportunity to reestablish a new nation. In many cases these reclamation excursions were very successful, netting the fringe powers valuable worlds and resources while sapping the local strength and resolve of the targeted House. Even the Outworlds Alliance, who made no overt attempts to conquer its neighbors, benefitted from the bloody Sphere-wide conflict as piracy along the fringes of both the Federated Suns and the Draconis Combine pushed suffering and ignored worlds into the Alliance’s accepting bosom.
By early 2834 the situation began to worsen in places like the Federated Suns’ Draconis March, where Duke Sandoval was left to make increasingly important decisions without Prince Davion or the Crucis March’s support. When the Duke began to hire mercenary units to help dislodge the remaining pockets of Combine resistance and to help hunt down pirate raiders, the Prince objected. Stating that the resources could be better served subduing the rebel Duke Hasek, he ordered the release of the new hires to his control. For Duke Sandoval, this was the final straw. Faced with a belligerent Prince, an occupied homeland and the specter of a renewed invasion of Robinson, it was all that the Duke needed to declare the March’s independence from the Federated Suns “…for the duration of the conflict.â€
History will never know whether or not the Duke Sandoval’s declaration of independence from New Avalon would have jogged Prince Davion from his singular pursuit of Duke Hasek and turned him onto the other domestic problems he had been ignoring for so long. A day after Duke Sandoval’s withdrawal from the Federated Suns, Prince Davion was killed in a DropShip accident en-route to his private WarShip. The Prince’s death was the demise of the Federated Suns’ invasion of the Capellan March, and with it the possibility of reconciliation, as claimants throughout the Marches jockeyed for control. Over the next year, the various powers of the Inner Sphere would continue their seesaw invasions of one another with unabated ferocity. Perhaps the specter of civil war, now long since a reality, was replaced with unabated hate and became the fuel that kept the bloodshed going. Regardless, whole planets were consumed, burned out of existence in the fighting. Other worlds just disappeared. Some were lost when key pieces of technology failed, while still more were abandoned for their better-off neighbors.
The final disintegration of the Inner Sphere started with the alarming silence of a ComStar imposed interdiction in December of 2835. It was a bold move, but not entirely unexpected. The recent round of fighting that gripped the Inner Sphere also brought with it the unabashed damage and destruction of ComStar’s HPGs. The attacks were new to the Succession Wars and hurt the organization’s ability to provide adequate communications, as well as its ego. Even after massive triumph in the former Terran Hegemony, which the company successfully spun as peacekeeping, the attacks continued to occur. In response, the First Circuit issued stern warnings to all of the participating states for the assaults to cease or face the consequences. Unsurprisingly, the accused professed their innocence, but ComStar refused to back down. While most historians now believe it was Conrad Toyama’s secretive Order who directed or created the breakdown in communications to suit the group’s needs, the end result was a ComStar irate with the Inner Sphere’s innumerable powers.
While Blake proposed the Interdiction to help safe guard ComStar’s neutrality and perhaps even help slow the rising tide of violence, in reality the interdiction was devastating to everyone; even ComStar would suffer when local elements attempted to forcibly restore communication on a number of beleaguered worlds early in the Interdiction. Many additional HPGs and corporate facilities were damaged or rendered non-functional across the Inner Sphere and the Periphery due to these attacks. The Interdiction also gutted ComStar’s power base in a number of important regions, including the Isle of Skye, where Jerome Blake had previously enjoyed widespread respect for his help. Among the worlds of the former Terran Hegemony the Interdiction could not have come at a worse time – famine and disease ran rampant thanks to the constant fighting.
In the Lyran Commonwealth the Interdiction proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the nation’s economy. Loss of interstellar communications collapsed the seemingly inexhaustible Lyran industries, and the country descended into chaos as the Archon desperately tried to hold the nation together. In the Estates General, many of its members would look at the empty seats once occupied by the Tamar and Skye delegations and wonder if they had the right idea all along. To help stave the economic downspin, the Archon enacted and imposed draconian measures to maintain the war effort. These directives were extremely unpopular to a population already unhappy with the Archon. As a result, the Lyran Commonwealth would lose parts of whole provinces to the budding Isle of Skye and Tamar Province, while a crop of worlds along the old Rim Worlds Republic and Free Worlds League border would claim independence, tired of their old master.
For the Draconis Combine, the Interdiction was a mixed blessing. While it did cause the nation’s economy to collapse, it also slowed the military’s ability to coordinate multiple fronts. In turn, the areas in revolt were allocated extra breathing room to strengthen their position and defenses. While the rebels’ own military efforts were also affected by the Interdiction, their smaller size and defensive stance made these breakaway nations’ militaries far more effective than the larger, but strung out DCMS. After a number of stinging defeats at the hands of Rasalhague rebels and Ronin soldiers, and the continued loss of worlds to the Outworlds Alliance, the Coordinator recalled his remaining forces. Surprisingly, the order to withdrawal spurned another wave of defections in the DCMS, who either joined with the Warlords of Galedon or struck out on their own.
The final component to the Inner Sphere’s descent into chaos occurred in late 2836 when attacks perpetrated by an unknown agent or agents disabled the interdicted HPG grid. Roughly 93 percent of the Inner Sphere's hyperpulse generators were nearly simultaneously destroyed, crippled, or in some other way damaged beyond use. Approximately 90 percent of the A Circuit and a large portion of the B Circuit were rendered instantly inoperable by a computer virus that used a message cascade to burn out the HPG's transmission core and other key components. Even worse, before burning out, the infected HPG would automatically send an infected message to any other HPG within range. Any HPG that escaped the initial infection could contract the virus with this contact. Initially, only a few B Circuit stations survived the attack, but were left unused for fear of contracting the deadly virus.
It is unknown who officially orchestrated the attack, but fingers tend to point towards Toyama’s Order, whose other actions crippled other important industries. Early attempts engineered by a frantic ComStar to remove the virus from the HPG network saw the loss of valuable replacement transmission cores when technicians found that the active virus also stored dormant copies of itself in seemingly random locations within the host HPG’s various interconnected processors. If the virus was not fully and totally purged from the system – which required manual replacement of the infected components – any attempt to use a replacement core would result in the dormant virus springing to life once again. Even more disheartening, ComStar learned there were subtle variations among the collected virus copies. No two were exactly alike, and projects to cleanse infected software would prove impossible. The only solution available would be the complete replacement of the Inner Sphere’s entire communications grid before a single HPG could be used – a process that was projected to take over a century, maybe longer, to complete. While the HPG blackout shocked the people of the Inner Sphere who slowly learned of the event, it still took almost two more years for the fighting to slowly burn itself out by the end of 2842.
For the next 187 years ComStar worked to restore communications to the Inner Sphere. When they were finished in 3027, the Great Houses no longer existed. In their place, the Inner Sphere turned into a motley collection of squabbling mini-states closer to the original proto-nations of the 23rd and 24th centuries than the cohesive empires they once represented at the height of the Star League. Widespread use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and the liberal destruction of the scientific-industrial bases of targeted worlds created a decline in technology on some of the most advanced planets in the Inner Sphere. Along with the deliberate destruction of thousands of JumpShips, life in the Inner Sphere was at a standstill – literally frozen in place.
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Basic Universal Timeline
(Events include date, title, description and base factions involved)
2630 – HPG Successfully Tested
The first Hyperpulse Generator (HPG) is successfully tested on Terra. Within one hundred years a network of these faster-than-light communication devices would connect every world of the Inner Sphere and Periphery. Controlled by SLCOMNET and the Star League, the worlds of man were connected like never before.
2779 – Amaris Coup Ends
After ten long years General Aleksandr Kerensky and the SLDF successfully reclaim the Terran Hegemony from Stefan Amaris and the Rim Worlds Republic. Reconstruction of Terra begins. (All Factions)
October/2780 – Jerome Blake named Minister of Communications
Nominated without knowledge of the act, the Council Lords of the Star League charge Blake with restoring HPG communications throughout the Inner Sphere. It is one of the last official acts conducted by the High Council prior to dissolution of the Star League. (ComStar)
2783 – Resource Reclamation Act
Invested citizens assist in the reclamation and recovery of their natural resources and manufacturing capabilities to rebuild damaged worlds. (ComStar)
Early/2784 – Reconstruction Finished
Terra finishes the recovery operations that started after the Liberation of Terra. (ComStar)
Late/2784 – Exodus
General Aleksandr Kerensky leads 80% of the SLDF into the Periphery. Before he leaves Kerensky, and with Blake’s help, he is able to convince many of the remaining SLDF units to support Jerome in secret. (All Factions)
2785 – First Succession War Starts
Minoru Kurita’s declaration as the new First Lord of the Star League sparks similar claims, and the wars begin. Conrad Toyama is named Director of Dieron’s HPG. (All Factions)
Mid/2785 – ComStar Formed
Under Jerome Blake, the Department of Communications officially changes its name to ComStar. (ComStar)
2786 – ROM Formed
Created by ComStar to help protect company assets and personnel, ROM would become one of the Inner Sphere’s most feared intelligence and security organizations in existence. (ComStar)
Late/2786 – Operation Silver Shield (Phase One)
Jerome Blake persuades the First Circuit to begin operations to protect Terra and the glory of the Terran Hegemony from the horrors of the growing Succession War. Arms are shipped to partisan units throughout the Inner Sphere. (All Factions)
2787 – Communications Protocol of 2787
Part two of Operation Silver Shield. ComStar persuades the House Lords of the neutrality of the HPG network and the use of ComStar Script for transactions. (All Factions)
2788 – War of Raids
While major fighting continues throughout the Inner Sphere, House powers spend increasing amounts of time conducting major industrial raids aimed at destroying vital technological infrastructure. (All Factions)
Mid/2788 – Operation Silver Shield (Phase Three)
Led by General Hayes, the new ComGuard seizes Terra, New Earth, Rigil Kentarus and other important former Terran Hegemony worlds. The new army has massive success but runs into conflict with soldiers from the other Houses. (All Factions)
July/2788 – Battle for Bryant
ComGuard troops clash with invading CCAF forces on the world of Bryant. (ComStar/Capellan Confederation)
August/2788 – Battle for Murphid
184th Mechanized Division is devastated by Arcturan Guard Regiments preparing for an invasion of the Draconis Combine. (ComStar/Lyran Commonwealth)
2789 – Operation Silver Shield Ended
With the First Succession War raging and ComStar overextended, the First Circuit officially ends further expansion of the Protectorate. The decision does not sit well with many Terrans or members of ComStar. (All Factions)
2796 – Kentares Massacre
The assassination of the Combine Coordinator results in the complete scouring of Kentares. In the end, nuclear weapons are used to sterilize the planet. (Draconis Combine/Federated Suns)
2802 – Profits
ComStar finally becomes profitable, no longer having to dip into Terran coffers to pay for its operations. (ComStar)
2810 – Rates Increase
Jerome Blake sends Ambassadors to every Inner Sphere realm. ComStar raises HPG rates to help prepare for further expansion and reconstruction efforts. (All Factions)
2818 – Fourth Andurien War
Capellan Confederation Invades the Andurien Province of the Free Worlds League. (Free Worlds League/Capellan Confederation)
2820 – Weapons Delivered
Jerome Blake convinced the First Circuit to supply arms to Terran rebels operating near Tikonov and later around Skye. (ComStar/Lyran Commonwealth/Federated Suns/Capellan Confederation)
Mid/2820 – Tikonov sheds its shackles
Tikonov and other worlds cede from the Capellan Confederation. (Tikonov Reaches/Capellan Confederation/Federated Suns)
Late/2820 – First Skye Rebellion
Armed with SLDF weapon caches, Skye Rebels fight for their freedom as the First Succession War winds down. (Federation of Skye/Lyran Commonwealth/Draconis Combine)
2821 – First Succession War Ends
Most historians mark 2821 as the end of the First Succession War. However, some fighting still continues, and few of the Inner Sphere’s nations take stock of what has been lost. (All Factions)
2823 – Commonwealth Threatened
House Steiner attempts to tax ComStar operations in the Lyran Commonwealth and is threatened with a devastating Interdiction. The Estates General forces the Archon to back down. (ComStar/Lyran Commonwealth)
Mid/2823 – Second Succession War Starts
Rebellions in the Skye, Tikonov and Rasalhague regions, as well as fighting around Andurien and the old Hegemony, explode into a new war for control of the defunct Star League. (All Factions)
2824 – Tunnel Bombing
Terran separatists bomb the Trans-Atlantic Tunnel, killing hundreds. (ComStar)
2826 – ComStar New Bureau Expanded
The ComStar News Bureau expands beyond the Protectorate borders to become an Inner Sphere-wide newsgathering organization. (ComStar/All Factions)
Mid/2826 – Celestial Throne Sundered
St. Ives and its surrounding worlds declare independence from the Celestial Throne. (St. Ives Compact/Capellan Confederation/Federated Suns)
2827 – Organization Edict: 3056
ROM is expanded with an eye towards Operation Vanguard. Many of these recruits become Toyama loyalists. (ComStar)
2828 – Helm Massacre
The loss of hundreds of thousands of civilians prompts a vote of No Confidence against the FWL’s Captain General. Parliament descends into chaos. (Free Worlds League)
2829 – Declaration of Independence
Duke Hasek and the Capellan March declare independence from New Avalon. Open fighting erupts between March units loyal to the Duke and Prince Davion. (Capellan Marches/Federated Suns)
Early/2829 – Cache Recovered
Research teams uncover a cache of advanced Star League-era computer cores from New Brunnel on Caph. These cores contain HPG information and technical theories. (ComStar)
2830 – Draconis Combine Invades
Warlords launch an unsanctioned invasion of the Federated Suns’ Draconis March. (Draconis Combine/Federated Suns)
Early/2830 – Weapons Delivered Again
Without First Circuit or Blake’s authorization, weapons deliveries leave the Protectorate. They are bound for new Terran rebellions cropping up throughout former Hegemony territory. Eager to capitalize, the Protectorate absorbs some of the newly freed worlds. These “peacekeeping†operations were not without incident. (ComStar/All Factions)
Late/2830 – Tamar and Skye earn their freedom
LCAF forces abandon the beleaguered Skye Province, and Skye becomes a free world. Leaders of the Tamar Province also declare their independence from Tharkad, citing a long list of betrayals. (Federation of Skye/Lyran Commonwealth/Tamar Pact)
2832 – New Immigrants
Covert overtures made to Asta, Thorin and other worlds set the stage for another expansion of the Protectorate. House leaders suspected ComStar duplicity in the region but have no proof of the exchanges. (All Factions)
Mid/2832 – Coordinator declares Warlords Ronin
The stalled invasion of the Draconis March forces the Coordinator to declare his rogue generals Ronin (master-less warriors). Civil War erupts in the Combine. (Draconis Combine/Alliance of Galedon)
Late/2832 – Concordat Invades
The Taurian Concordat invades the Federated Suns’ Pleiades Cluster in an effort to reclaim historically-held worlds. (Taurian Concordat/Capellan Marches/Federated Suns)
2833 – Operation Vanguard I
ComStar absorbs a number of worlds under the auspice of a “peacekeeping†operation. Relations between ComStar and Tikonov decline when the two sides meet in battle. (ComStar/Tikonov Reaches/Capellan Confederation)
Early/2834 – Draconis March Declares and Prince Davion Killed
Draconis March declares itself independent from New Avalon for the “Duration of the Conflict†while civil war and invasion continue to rack the Federated Suns. A day after the declaration, a tragic DropShip accident claims the life of Prince Davion in the embattled Capellan March. (Federated Suns/Capellan Marches/Robinson Freehold)
Mid/2834 – Galedon and Rasalhague Independent, Tamar Remains Free
Tamar easily repulses an LCAF invasion force, while civil war in the Draconis Combine allows much of the Galedon, Dieron and Rasalhague Districts to declare or maintain their independence from Luthien. (Lyran Commonwealth/Tamar Pact/Draconis Combine/Alliance of Galedon/Principality of Rasalhague)
December/2835 – Interdiction
After years of attacks against ComStar installations and HPGs, Jerome Blake and the First Circuit authorize an Inner Sphere-wide Interdiction. On Decemeber 31st HPGs go silent for the first and last time. (All Factions)
January/2836 – HPG Black Out
Start of the ComStar Schism. Conrad Toyama and his “Order†permanently silence the Inner Sphere’s HPGs and claim Terra and the ComStar Protectorate. (ComStar/All Factions)
2836 – ComStar Schism
Forces loyal to Conrad Toyama usurp control of the ComStar Protectorate and instigate a slew of assaults aimed at destroying or crippling the research and manufacturing capabilities of the Great Houses. These early “Holy Shroud†attacks affect even ComStar. (ComStar/All Factions)
Febuary/2836 – Sydney, Australia is devastated by a tactical nuclear weapon, Belgian levies are disabled and flood the lowlands, parts of Aphros City on Venus collapse, Titan Shipyards are sabatoged, and three major Belter Habitats are destroyed. (ComStar)
2837 – Alexandria Secession
Fed up with the Archon and mismanagement, Alexandria and liberal, likeminded worlds cede from the Lyran Commonwealth but maintain close ties with Tharkad. (Son Hoa Free Zone/Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon/Lyran Commonwealth)
2838 – Rim Republic Formed
Free for almost two years, the HPG blackout allows a small group of former Rim Worlds Republic worlds to form a new nation. Blatantly anti-Amaris, the new Republic looks toward antiquity for answers. (Rim Republic)
2840 – Final Insults
Tranquility One Destroyed. Later half of the “Holy Shroud†attacks start throughout Terra and the Protectorate. Fortress Laiacona on Thorin is annihilated by a nuclear weapon. (ComStar)
March/2840 – Blake Rescued
Jerome Blake is retrieved from Hilton Head Island during a daring rescue attempt. A wanted fugitive, Blake braves harsh conditions to organize a coordinated resistance against Toyama. (ComStar)
May/2840 – Capolla Succession
The 213th ComGuard Division and others abandon the Protectorate to carve out their own Terran empire. Their efforts would create the Capolla Union. (ComStar/Capolla Union/Capellan Confederation)
November/2840 – Capolla Ascendant
Led by the 213th ComGuard Division (the Carver Division), elements of ComGuard abandon the Protectorate to carve a new empire from former Protectorate, Hegemony and House worlds. The Capolla Union will be a challenging neighbor for the Protectorate in the future. (ComStar/Capellan Confederation/Free Worlds League)
2841 – d. Conrad Toyama and end of Schism
The ComStar Schism finally ends with the death of Toyama and his core cadre of followers in Geneva. The fighting destroys and poisons Geneva and the surrounding countryside. The area is known as the Genevan Wastes. Some of Conrad’s true believers fade into the Inner Sphere. Pockets of Toyamas continue to be a problem for decades. (ComStar/All Factions)
August/2841 – Renewal
ComStar and the Protectorate begin the long process of rebuilding. Internal purges are common, and the first Reintegration Expeditions are launched to reestablish contact with the worlds of the Inner Sphere. (All Factions)
October/2841 – Guard Reformation
The ComGuard reforms in the wake of the Schism. New divisions are created from the old ones, while new recruitment and training policies help weed out potential subversives. Divisions now have mandatory rotations between garrison posts. (ComStar)
March/2842 – Stellar Relations is born
One of the last acts passed before his death, Blake authorizes the creation of the Stellar Relations division to help repair ComStar’s image outside of the Protectorate. (ComStar)
2842 – d. Jerome Blake
The Schism and failure to repair the HPG network take their final toll on the founder of ComStar. Jerome Blake dies a broken man. He dies at 103 years old thanks to Star League Medical Technology. The Second Succession War officially ends the same year. (All Factions)
June/2842 – Defeat
Unwilling to admit defeat while Blake was still alive, ComStar officially deactivates the Alpha Function for the new Upsilon designation, accepting complete loss of the HPG network. (ComStar)
Late/2842 – Second Succession War Ends
The Second Succession War officially ends with the major powers of the Inner Sphere suffering from a wave of civil unrest and internal conflict. Loss of the HPG network compounds the problem. (All Factions)
2844 – Guard Expands
In preparation for the future expansion of the Protectorate and to protect the new corporate facilities located throughout the Inner Sphere, the First Circuit authorizes an expansion of the ComGuard. New divisions are created from dwindling SLDF war stocks. (ComStar)
2845 – Contact with the Rim
ComStar reestablishes contact with the remains of the Rim Republic. Relations between the two grow strong. (ComStar/Rim Republic/Lyran Commonwealth)
2847 – Terran Free States Formed
The Terran Free States are created from newly independent worlds in the old Hegemony, the Free Worlds League and the Federated Suns. Claiming to be the rightful heirs to the Hegemony’s legacy, the Free States refuse to court the Protectorate. (ComStar/Free Worlds League/Federated Suns/Robinson Freedhold)
2849 – Marik Civil War Ends
Marik Civil War ends with the Free Worlds League dissolving into its component micro-states. Warfare and bloodshed between the heirs to Atreus are at an all-time high. (Duchy of Andurien/Principality of Regulus/ Duchy of Tamarind/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Federation of Oriente/Kendall Parishes)
Mid/2849 – Avalon Hit Incident
Davion extremists attempt an assassination on Director New Avalon during his historic visit to the Federated Suns. (ComStar/Federated Suns)
2851 – ROM Rebuilt
Following the purge, ROM finally rebuilds its ranks to its pre-Schism numbers. (ComStar)
2852 – Oliver’s War
Open fighting erupts between ComGuard Divisions in the Federation of Skye over hijacked equipment. The materials are eventually traced to pirates operating out of the Capolla Union world of Hall. Relations between Skye and Terra remain cool for years to follow. (Federation of Skye/ComStar/Capolla Union)
Mid/2852 – Three Kingdom War
The Chancellor of the Confederation attempts to reestablish the old Confederation to its former glory and a bloody war breaks out between the Confederation and Compact. Politics plays its hand, and the Sarna Commonality is reborn. Only the Warrior Fiefdoms gain from the conflict, coming together in 2858. (Capellan Confederation/St. Ives Compact/Sarna Commonality/Warrior Fiefdoms)
2853 – Sardis Massacre
Marik-Stewart Commonwealth forces annihilate all life on Sardis after the world falls to the Principality of Regulus. All ComStar personnel on planet are killed. Survivors from the system escape to bring word to the Protectorate. While the rogue Marik commander is punished, the Commonwealth is forced to pay a hefty amount in material reparations to ComStar. (Principality of Regulus/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/ComStar)
Mid/2853 – Atreus Corridor Formed
A bloody war breaks out between the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth and the Principality of Regulus over control of vital worlds between the two nations. A host of worlds, including Atreus, are scoured of life. (Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Principality of Regulus)
2857 - Der Verde Incident
Pirates operating out of the region raid aid convoys bound for the Rim Republic. It takes the ComGuard two years to eradicate the threat. Open travel of ComStar personnel through the region is curtailed for almost a decade. (Riim Republic/ComStar)
2858 – Warrior Fiefdoms
The lawless area of space known as the Warrior Fiefdoms is recognized by most nations except the Capellan Confederation. Established after the Warrior Houses of the Capellan Confederation cede from Sian in the wake of betrayals suffered during the Three Kingdoms War, planetary ownership fluctuates regularly. Neither the Confederation, Compact or the Duchy of Andurien can bring the region to heel. (Capellan Confederation/Warrior Fiefdoms/St. Ives Compact/Duchy of Andurien/Taurian Concordat)
2860 – ComStar reshapes Protectorate
Having repaired much of the damage left by Conrad’s Schism, ComStar begins expanding the Protectorate from worlds around Terra. These worlds, devastated by conflict, are a huge drain on the corporation’s resources. (ComStar)
2865 – Operation Vanguard II
The First Circuit authorizes the military expansion of the Protectorate to take advantage of the Blackout. The conflict draws many of the Protectorate’s neighbors into a losing fight, but years of ComStar-sponsored propaganda and aid sees many of these worlds eager for Protectorate control. (ComStar/Capolla Union/Tikonov Reaches/Federation of Skye)
March/2865 – Pacification of Terra Firma
ComGuard forces wrest the planet from Tikonov battalions, attempting to assimilate the civilian population. (Tikonov Reaches/ComStar)
2867 – Free States Expand
The Terran Free States expand from former worlds of the Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation and Draconis Combine. (Terran Free States/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Alliance of Galedon/Tikonov Reaches)
Late/2867 – Zion Stands Tall
In the aftermath of the Free States expansion, domestic troubles in the Tikonov Reaches allow a small clutch of worlds to form around Zion. Over the years the new Kingdom will absorb disenfranchised worlds from its neighbors in the Sarna Commonality and Marik-Stewart Commonwealth. Experts suggest it was Earthwerks, not the people of Zion, who yearned for independence. (Kingdom of Zion/Tikonov Reaches/Sarna Commonality/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth)
2868 – Pact-Principality War
A border war erupts between the Tamar Pact and the Principality of Rasalhague. The Draconis Combine uses the opportunity to seize a few border worlds from the Principality before overextending itself. Neither side achieves their goals. (Draconis Combine/Principality of Rasalhague/Tamar Pact)
2869 – Order Destroyed
ComStar officially eliminates the last known Order operative in the Inner Sphere and closes the book on Conrad Toyama. (ComStar/All Factions)
2874 – Defence of Kurvasa
A Level II of ComGuard troops defend the ComStar trading post on Kurvasa from marauding Warrior Fiefdom bandits. Heavily outnumbered, after the battle ComGuard presence in the region is doubled. Unauthorized reprisals are carried out throughout the Fiefdoms. (ComStar/Warrior Fiefdoms)
2881 – River Seine Lost
The JumpShip River Seine, her attending DropShip and all of her crew are lost while traveling towards the Federated Suns’ Periphery border. No trace of wreckage or signs of a misjump. The ship is assumed to have run afoul of pirates or other stellar hazard. (ComStar/Federated Suns)
2884 – God’s Kingdom
ComStar helps broker a treaty between the Kingdom of Zion and the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth. ComStar benefits from reduced trade tariffs, and Protectorate trade missions become commonplace. (Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Kingdom of Zion/ComStar)
2890 – Going Native
One full ComGuard Division (the 932nd Division [the Rangers-IV Rho]) abandons the corporation to join the Duchy of Andurien when the Capellan Confederation attacks the nation. Meticulous, the division smartly removes all affiliation with the Protectorate. (Capellan Confederation/Duchy of Andurien)
2893 – Skye Attacks
Believing a number of border raids had been carried out by the Lyran Commonwealth or sponsored by them, the Federation of Skye begins attacking Lyran holdings. Fighting between the two nations continues for years. The origin of the raiders was never determined. (Lyran Commonwealth/Federation of Skye)
2895 – Trouble in Cavanaugh
A Tamarind raid on Cavanaugh II destroys the ComStar compound. Trade shipments bound for the Duchy are diverted to the Lyran Commonwealth. (Lyran Commonwealth/ComStar/Duchy of Tamarind)
Mid/2895 – Parish Justice
Raiders targeting the Kendall Parishes are repulsed by heavily armed Parish militias. The size and skill of the militia units surprises everyone in the region. Further attacks against the insular Parishes cease. (Kendall Parishes)
2899 – Santander Abandoned
After establishing a base on Santander V, a follow up trade mission found the site ruined. Locals described a raid by unknown parties sacking the compound shortly after its establishment. (ComStar)
2900 – 3rd Marches-Concordat War
Capellan March forces clash with the troops from the Taurian Concordat over resource-rich border worlds. The fighting goes poorly for the Concordat, who respond with nuclear weapons. Both sides withdraw frustrated, angry and bitter. The death of hundreds of thousands of Concordat civilians throws the government into chaos. (Taurian Concordat/Capellan Marches)
2902 – House Clash
ComStar brokers peace between two large Trade Houses and Tharkad for unreported concessions. (Lyran Commonwealth/ComStar)
2904 – Celestial Throne Asunder
The Liao family again suffers from internal dissent and civil war grips the nations. Thankfully, recent troubles elsewhere allow the Confederation to survive the attention of its hungry neighbors. (Capellan Confederation/Sarna Commonality)
Late/2904 – 2nd Atrean War
Marik-Stewart Commonwealth and Principality of Regulus forces clash again over former Free Worlds League planets. (Federation of Oriente/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Principality of Regulus)
2907 – St. Ives Offers
In exchange for discounted manufacturing equipment and water purification technology the St. Ives Compacy agrees to supply ComStar with raw materials, including precious germanium. (ComStar/St. Ives Compact)
2910 – Alexandria-Kannon Arbitration
ComStar arbitrates the succession of a new Duke in the Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon. The Lyran Archon is not happy with ComStar’s interference. (ComStar/Lyran Commonwealth/Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon)
2911 – Regulan Firefight
A Regulan incursion in the Federation of Oriente sees the ComStar compound on New Praha destroyed along with the planet’s fragile ecosystem. Within a decade the world is abandoned. (Federation of Oriente/ComStar/Principality of Regulus)
2912 – Money, Money, Money
The Coventry Metal Works begins to secretly sell excess military equipment. Enemies of the Lyran Commonwealth, including the Tamar Pact and the Federation of Skye are more than happy to buy. ComStar transports are used to protect the flow of goods. (Lyran Commonwealth/ComStar/Federation of Skye/Tamar Pact/Duchy of Tamarind)
2916 – Regulus Interdicted
After a number of “accidental†clashes between ComStar assets and Regulan forces, the First Circuit authorizes the complete withdrawal of ComStar from the Principality. (ComStar/Principality of Regulus)
2919 – Andurien and the Magistracy
Both nations agree to a mutual defense pact to help combat raids originating from the Warrior Fiefdoms. Technology and material exchanges bring the two nations close together. Soon they are sharing responsibility for worlds located between their borders. (Duchy of Andurien/Magistracy of Canopus)
2922 – Robinson Contract
The Robinson Freehold partners with ComStar to explore periphery worlds once claimed by the Federated Suns. Many of the expeditions are fruitless, but new trade agreements bring new technology into the Freehold. (ComStar/Robinson Freehold)
2924 – Tancredi IV Burns
Alliance of Galedon forces attack ComStar’s Tancredi IV staging base. Galedon mistakenly believes ComStar’s relationship with Robinson to be a military partnership. Two Level IIIs and three DropShips are lost. ComStar withdraws from the Alliance, with both the Freehold and Combine making headway against the beleaguered nation as a result. (Robinson Freehold/Draconis Combine/Alliance of Galedon/ComStar)
Mid/2924 – Disturbing Evidence
The isolationist Outworlds Alliance offers evidence that Order survivors may have bases in the Alliance. ComGuard expeditions to the Alliance fail to turn up anything useful. ROMs presence in the area doubles for a number of years. (Outworlds Alliance/ComStar)
2926 – The Dragon Strikes
DEST operatives assassinate a strong contender for leadership in the Alliance of Galedon. The Alliance descends into chaos while opposing forces jockey for control. The Combine manages to seize the important worlds of Midway and Oshika briefly before they are recovered. Breakaway Alliance commanders create the turbulent areas of space known as the Benjamin Prefectures. The Prefectures would remain a source of problems for both nations for years to come. (Draconis Combine/Alliance of Galedon/Benjamin Prefectures)
2930 – Prefecture Repelled
Forces based out of the Benjamin Prefectures attempt to capture military supplies marked for ComGuard forces stationed in the Alliance of Galedon. Rumors of Galedon involvement cannot be proved. (Benjamin Prefectures/Alliance of Galedon/ComStar)
2933 – A Federated Commonwealth
After building its military, the Federation of Skye begins an invasion of the Lyran Commonwealth to recover former Federation worlds. Skye grows as it continues to claim worlds from the Commonwealth. (Lyran Commonwealth/Federation of Skye)
2936 – Technology Embargo Lifted
ComStar lifts the ban on the sale of newly rediscovered water purification equipment. While beyond the reach of most client states, some nations look forward to reestablishing old colony worlds within their borders. (All Factions)
2938 – The Reach Overreaches
Forces from the Tikonov Reaches seize ComStar facilities throughout the Reach over concerns of corporate-sponsored terrorist actions. The Prime Administrator responds with discount recovery technology and other trade breaks. Not everyone is happy with the resolution. (ComStar/Tikonov Reaches)
2941 – Jovian Tragedy
While visiting the Jovian Moons during a tour of the outer Terran system, Prime Administrator Luci York’s DropShip suffers a serious malfunction and tragically explodes. All hands are lost. Her protégé Gerard Jenkins takes her position in the First Circuit. (ComStar)
2943 – 3rd Atrean War
Forces from the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth and Federation of Oriente join forces to curb Regulan raids into their territories. (Principality of Regulus/Marik-Stewart Commonwealth/Federation of Oriente)
2945 – High Wall Miners Strike
Miners on Dieron rebel against the Protectorate over unsafe mining conditions and exhaustive work hours. (ComStar)
2947 – Operation Sun Block
ComStar finishes reconstructing the Venus L1 Lagrange sunshade to protect Venus from deadly temperature increases. (ComStar)
2949 – Coventry Suffers
To punish Coventry for the sale of weapons, the Lyran Commonwealth launches a major peacekeeping operation and attempts to seize the factories. Coventry Metals suffers heavy damage, curbing weapons production for years. (Lyran Commonwealth)
2952 – Chara Farmers Rebellion
Farmers on Chara stop the flow of food exports from leaving the planet. A small famine rips through local systems that rely on Chara for food. ComGuard troops are called in to quash the uprising and restore order. (ComStar)
2954 – Galedon’s Wrath Found
Unearthing an Age of War bunker, the Alliance of Galedon finds a collection of biological weapons. Under heavy containment, the weapons are stored for later use. (Alliance of Galedon)
2956 – Circuit Upheaval
Mad Prime Administrator Gerard Jenkins is assassinated by ROM after driving the Protectorate to the breaking point. The crisis is averted, and the mysterious assassin is never brought to justice. (ComStar)
September/2859 – Expedition Disaster
A ComStar expedition to the Sendai Trade Alliance is summarily attacked and annihilated. There are no survivors. No further expeditions are sent and formal contact with the Alliance never rematerializes. (ComStar/Sendai Trade Alliance)
2963 – Return to Galedon
A surprise Galedon delegation brokers ComStar’s reintroduction into the Alliance. In turn ComStar mediates a historical peace accord between the Robinson Freehold and the Alliance. While relations are strained, long standing peace between the two is finally achieved. (ComStar/Alliance of Galedon/Robinson Freehold)
2966 – The Collective Loses
The United Hindu Collective’s continued success in computer and aerospace technology threatens ComStar operations in the former Federated Suns. ROM destroys Collective computer factories on two worlds by contracting Taurian Concordat raiders. Planted evidence directs the Collective’s wrath toward the Federated Suns. (ComStar/Capellan Marches/United Hindu Collective/Taurian Concordat/Federated Suns)
Mid/2966 – Curse of Galedon
Alliance of Galedon forces are believed to have released biological weapons on a number of Combine worlds to stymie Combine ambitions. Whole border worlds die, and improper handling procedures cost the Alliance a full battle group. The Alliance denies the accusations. (Draconis Combine/Alliance of Galedon)
2969 – Swordsworn War
Forces from the Federated Suns and Capellan Marches clash once again over border worlds claimed by the two. Neither side gains the upper hand, and the fighting winds down by the end of 2971. (Capellan Marches/Federated Suns)
2972 – Caliphate Rises
Commanders in the Benjamin Prefectures cede to help form the Azami Caliphate. An antagonistic rogue state, the Caliphate is a source of many raids in the region over the years. (Benjamin Prefectures/Azami Caliphate/Alliance of Galedon)
2974 – Son Hoa Gets Smart
The Son Hoa Free Zone invites ComStar to build schools and light industry in the Zone after seeing similar success in the Rim Republic. The First Circuit sees this as a first step in integrating another part of StarCorps Industries into the corporation. (Son Hoa Free Zone/ComStar)
2977 – Attempted Tax
The Lyran Archon attempts to tax ComStar operations in the Commonwealth. ComStar responds by increasing taxes on equipment sales. The cost of imports and exports into the Commonwealth continues to rise for over a decade. Eventually the Commonwealth concedes defeat. (Lyran Commonwealth/ComStar)
2980 – League Breaks
The Principality of Regulus recognizes the Principality of Gibson. Gibson becomes a semi-autonomous state thanks to corporate deals made with Regulus. (Principality of Regulus)
2982 – Galisteo’s Surprise
After decades of relative quiet, the Trinity worlds begin an aggressive expansion campaign to build a buffer around its core worlds. Son Hoa’s factories move into overdrive. (Son Hoa Free Zone)
2985 – Finmark Oversteps
The fascist regime of Finmark, in an attempt to aggressively expand its borders, seizes ComStar personnel for ransom. ROM and ComGuard units make a rescue attempt. The attempt fails, all of the hostages are killed, and parts of Main Street burn. ComStar abandons the Ascendency. (Finmark Ascendency/ComStar)
2992 – Final Agreement
ComStar reaches an agreement with the Capellan Confederation on rebuilding the HPGs still in their realm on worlds where ComStar has no presence. The Confederation turns out to be the last major state willing to have functional HPGs within their realm. (ComStar/Capellan Confederation)
Mid/2992 – A New Union
Fed up with mistreatment and neglect, a collection of worlds around Filtvelt declares their independence from the Federated Suns. With New Avalon’s preoccupation with the Capellan Marches, the withdrawal is barely noticed. (Filtvelt Union/Federated Suns)
2996 – ComStar Attacked
Eight ComStar compounds located along the borders of the Alliance of Galedon and Outworlds Alliance are attacked by unknown perpetrators. Both nations deny responsibility for the assaults. (ComStar/Alliance of Galedon/Outworlds Alliance)
3001 – Convoys Lost
Two convoys operating in the former Free Worlds League are lost. Their last reported contact had them heading toward the Illyrian Palatinate and Magistracy of Canopus. Search efforts proved fruitless. (Kendall Parishes/ComStar/Duchy of Andurien)
3005 – The Real Outback
ComGuard troops clash with Filtvelt Union Marshals in disagreement over treatment of civilians on the world of Broken Wheel. The fighting escalates quickly and both sides suffer casualties. (ComStar/Filtvelt Union)
3011 – Duchy of Steiner
ComStar inadvertently transports delegates from the Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon to Tharkad. Their dealings result in the Grand Duchy becoming a full client state of the Commonwealth, making future reconciliation possible. (Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon/Lyran Commonwealth/ComStar)
3019 – Free-Reach War
The Terran Free States and Tikonov Reaches engage in a limited border war over territory. While bloody, the fighting is reminiscent of the Age of War. ComStar makes inroads into the Free States with humanitarian aid. (Terran Free States/Tikonov Reaches/ComStar/Sarna Commonality)
3023 – Algedi Famine
ComStar operations in the Azami Caliphate help combat an outbreak of famine on two of its worlds. In gratitude, the typically wary Caliphate allows the corporation to construct additional way stations and provides the manual labor. (Azami Caliphate/ComStar)
3025 – ROM Unleashed
The First Circuit authorizes ROM to permanently disable or destroy any non-functional HPG owned by a nation unwilling to allow its repair over fears of the HPG virus reappearing once the system goes online. (All Factions)
3027 – HPGs Reactivated
ComStar reactivates the HPG network. While far from comprehensive, the Inner Sphere is once again connecting with faster-than-light communications. (All Factions)
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Awesome timeline Knightmare
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Awesome timeline Knightmare
I need more than that. I'd like comments, questions, rants, etc. While "awesome timeline Knightmare" is great, actual constructive criticism is way, way better.
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Compared to the canon universe, is the focus of the military still 'Mech based? Is 'Mech production enough to keep up with the attrition of the constant warfare? I'm guessing that the loss of technology is still present in the AoC universe, but is it to a greater or lesser degree? Are WarShips still being produced and actively used in combat operations?
Personally, I like this fractured universe because it gives far more options for play than the monolithic Great Houses.
I know I'll have more to say later after I read it again.
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Another fundamental question:
- why are the main powers unable to deal with the rebellions? Their military power is at its top and by stopping their military offensives, they should be able to deal with the separatists.
- why start a 2nd war, if you have internal revolts/rebellions? Or is it because you have them that you need to focus on the outside?
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Another fundamental question:
- why are the main powers unable to deal with the rebellions? Their military power is at its top and by stopping their military offensives, they should be able to deal with the separatists.
- why start a 2nd war, if you have internal revolts/rebellions? Or is it because you have them that you need to focus on the outside?
I'll address this one, because it's not mentioned in the primer.
In some instances (the FedSun, Combine, League for example) the armed forces ARE the separatists. As for the Second Succession War, before it starts there are only a couple of regions (Tikonov springs to mind) suffering from internal dissent. The Second Succession War is, for the most part, responsible for the disintegration. The war starts on the heels of the First Succession War, and in the AoC (detailed elsewhere) they were far more widespread/devastating.
Compared to the canon universe, is the focus of the military still 'Mech based? Is 'Mech production enough to keep up with the attrition of the constant warfare? I'm guessing that the loss of technology is still present in the AoC universe, but is it to a greater or lesser degree? Are WarShips still being produced and actively used in combat operations?
Maybe. Probably Not. Greater. Nope.
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Awesome timeline Knightmare
I need more than that. I'd like comments, questions, rants, etc. While "awesome timeline Knightmare" is great, actual constructive criticism is way, way better.
I got that but it was my first run through, first complement the work then tear it to pieces and make sense of it 8)
My biggest question is: Why?
I can understand the Succession States cracking and in places breaking but what is the proto-states motivation? What dot he military forces want when they break away? Do they believe they can survive outwith the greater whole?
This is where I'm confused. If the Succession Wars are more devastating I'd think they would be more concerned with driving in on the bigger state - supporting it more rather than less.
Are they protecting worlds/facilities they think are abandoned by their Leige Lord?
Are they being offered something from somewhere else?
What do they want?
In canon the 5 main states all want the same thing. It's quite clear that here they don't. But they must have a motivation - every single state must. So what do they want? Do they want to recover what they have lost? Do they just want to survive? Or are they happy to continue the chaos.
The initial post states quite clearly that JumpShips are rarer than they ever were in canon. How does that change their motivations? How does that change reactions?
How doe they see ComStar? Who suddenly after nearly 200 years is able to restore communications despite shutting down the branch and publicly giving up? How can they even trust ComStar who left them in the dark so long?
In canon ComStar only used interdiction to try and control how long wars lasted or how Succession Lords acted hiding the military force they had. Here it is clear they went to war on several occasions and brutalized Terra in their own wars. In canon ComStar had a little bit of respect because it protected Terra from War, it was the white shield of peace lacking a sword until the Clan Invasion.
I actually love the premise and the idea
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I'm not going to answer all of it because some of the answers you're looking for come later in the primer.
However, I'll touch on a couple of points.
First off, I use the term "proto-nation" very loosely. These states are no more proto-nation-like than the Taurian Concordat, with most being of similar size and disposition.
As for motivation...when things are at their worst, the easiest motivation is simply survival. Also keep in mind that much of the BattleTech universe still manages to retain some sort of local "culture". I also use that term loosely, but it's easier than repeating "regional interest" over and over, and over again. That said, the basic history of the timeline is engineered as such that a Member Developer has the opportunity to fill in those blanks. So asking "but they must have a motivation – every single state must", is essentially correct. It just hasn't been written yet! :D
As a preface, I'd mention the following:
Something that always interested me was the control apparatus of the Great Houses. With 100+ years of HPG use under their belt, governing was much different during the later half of the Star League than during the Age of War. Much of the institutional memory and structures pre-HPG network would have been lost or re-purposed, so I often wonder how two terrible wars and a breakdown in communication would affect border regions.
In addition, much of the early breakaway takes place in, or around the former Hegemony. This would make sense seeing how these people haven't lived two centuries beneath another House's flag. Other areas either have a long history of insurrection (in the case of Skye & Tikonov), or simply collapsed under the weight of political, military and social pressures. War has a way of exacerbating all three of those.
JumpShips are indeed more rare in this setting than in published fiction. However, no hard number will be established in the fiction (game mechanics are a different story). As far as ComStar is concerned, the remaining portions of the primer are told by and about ComStar. So many of the answers you're looking for are provided.
Outside of a few major core changes – mostly with the introduction of previously published story elements and character dates – the universe is decidedly canon. However, once the alterations were made everything changed. If I had to paint a loose picture, I'd say the AoC is closer to a 3025 setting, but far, far worse in some ways and better in others.
I'll post some more this evening.
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Astro-Tour of the Inner Sphere
Working for the corporation is not without its dangers. However, the corporation recognizes and understands that preparation is the best way to train our employees for the rigors and perils of working in the Inner Sphere. Armed with our information and knowledge, we will give you the necessary edge to achieve the corporation’s goals, to succeed, and stay alive.
Remember, ComStar is more than a vocation. ComStar is a calling for the best humanity has to offer, the one place where service will make a positive difference. Remember, the fate and future prosperity of all mankind rests with you.
Getting Started – An Introduction to Humanity and History (Protectorate History 101)
By New Harvard Books, Terra, 2965
Simply stated, space is a dangerous place. Long gone are the years of safety and security out among the stars. The Great Houses, the Star League, they no longer exist; at least, not like they used to. They’ve been replaced. In the wake of the terrible Succession Wars the Human Sphere is ruled by lawlessness and conflict. Peaceful worlds are no longer policed by the presence of the mighty SLDF. Instead, the bickering children of Great Houses sit the shadow of their illustrious forebears and destroy the last vestiges of humanity’s greatest collaboration. These pale shadows are heirs to the broken halls and gilded monuments of an ancient golden age, long since drowned in its own blood.
For most people, they only need to look out of the closest window or airlock to see the legacy of the Succession Wars. Every year astro-maps are redrawn as yet another planet falls off the map; another dead world lost to the inevitable march of misuse and time. Yet despite the pallor of decay, humanity struggles onward in spite of its best efforts to annihilate itself. Today, inhabited space is filled with the multitudes of mankind, where our very diversity chokes hundreds of planets light years in every direction, each one step further from the cradle of our birth.
Ancient philosophers and scholars of ages past once wrote about the glorious possibilities inherent to settling new frontiers and undiscovered countries, but our species refused to deal with the reality of our inner self or our innate destructive nature. We never lived up to the potential of our written words, our best intentions, or reconciled what we are with what we could become…out among the stars.
Very rarely does humanity leave the pristine alone. Such is our own haughty and condescending attitude that we believe we can do better. We refuse to listen to our past; we continue to reinvent the wheel one bloody conflict after another, incapable or unable to stop the cycle of violence.
Even today, the fight with our inner nature plays out on dozens of worlds in hundreds of worthless ways with no end in sight. And yet, our persistence in the face of insanity continues to bear its own unique fruit, for humanity continues to persist among the vastness of space and alien worlds.
Since all of you have made the momentous decision to join ComStar and forge a better life for yourself and the Inner Sphere, as you head out into the stars it is important to remember the history of the corporation, its founders, pitfalls, successes and her people. Read and learn well. This information will not only connect you to a long and rich history, but also help prepare you for life out among the people of the Inner Sphere and beyond.
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ComStar – A Lesson in Politics
Enlightening the Dark Age: A ComStar History
By Vladimir Toolippi, Tikonov Free Press, 3025
To understand ComStar’s beginnings, we must first acknowledge the state of the hyperpulse generator network and the monolithic system it had become under the Star League. Indeed, it took the scientific and technical resources of the Star League to even develop the system at all, much less distribute it among the worlds of the Inner Sphere. Prior to the HPG, communications between worlds were limited to laser pulse messages, beamed to courier DropShips and JumpShips in a Pony Express system, or simple faster-than-light transmitters that were limited to scanned or text-only transmissions. Messages took months to reach Terra from the worlds of the Periphery. This made running any star-spanning empire difficult, to say nothing of the Star League.
Thus, in 2614, did the League commission the development of FTL communications based on the theories of Cassie DeBurke, a professor at the prestigious University of Terra. The theory was simple enough: to transmit messages in the form of energy pulses in the same way that JumpShips travel through hyperspace. The result, first successfully tested in 2630, was the hyperpulse generator (HPG), effectively a huge “gun†capable of “shooting†complex messages as far away as fifty light-years. To reach the entire League, a network of these HPGs was then put in place, based on a simple two-stage system of primary HPGs (the First Circuit), and a secondary network of hyperpulse relay stations (the Outer Circuit). That the Star League footed the bill for the development of HPGs throughout all its member states was arguably its most magnanimous and longest-lasting contribution to human history. On a more practical level, it also allowed the Star League’s ruling family, House Cameron, unparalleled access to all of the Inner Sphere, which they studiously maintained by developing a massive bureaucracy of technicians and communications specialists to run this network, the Star League Communication Network (SLCOMNET).
By the 2750s, SLCOMNET had become so huge and so specialized that no one could argue against its vital importance to the Star League. The network was so large as to be almost incomprehensible, handling all data transmitted across interstellar distances—from letters between families to urgent orders from Terra for the massive SLDF. Transmission volume included signals as short as a single word of text, to as large as a three-hour holovid program, shared with every world in a given region. Security and privacy became paramount concerns, as much as the technical expertise and the mathematical skills to assure that signals reached their destinations intact and un-garbled. This tremendous undertaking was beyond any one mere bureaucracy, and so, by the closing days of the Star League, SLCOMNET was heavily reliant on the support of such private companies as Starlight Broadcasting and Communications Enterprises just to maintain operations at a cost-effective rate.
These companies would eventually prove vital to the survival of the network long after the Star League that put it together had crumbled to ash.
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ComStar’s auspicious start began in the smoldering ashes of the aftermath of the Star League Civil War when the Star League’s High Council ordered Jerome Blake – then senior surviving administrator of the League’s SLCOMNET – to rebuild the devastated HPG Network. By 2784, Jerome Blake did indeed manage the Herculean task of rebuilding the First Circuit of the former Terran Hegemony, linking the reconstructed A-stations on several key Hegemony worlds, but the accomplishment was a bittersweet victory. Already, tensions had escalated among the House Lords to the point where the only question was when—not if—war would come. With most of the SLDF gone—save those who turned mercenary, those who joined the regular armies of the Great Houses, or those who followed Kerensky’s suggestion to swear allegiance to Blake’s reconstruction effort—few remained who could protect the Terran Hegemony from absorption by its neighbors. Realizing this fact prompted Blake to work quickly on consolidating the gains of his years of effort.
As an entity, ComStar came into being in late 2785, when Jerome Blake gathered the chief administrators of all First Circuit HPGs and established among them a set of parliamentary rules and procedures for governing the interstellar communications network. His simple, two-page plan became the foundation of the Articles of ComStar, as the former Star League department of communications came to be known that same year. Having effectively transformed the bureaucracy into a loose corporate government, Blake gained the legitimacy and the support he needed from within the organization to not only better develop its infrastructure, but also to make use of its military forces, and to speak on behalf of his new organization in diplomatic relations with the other powers of the Inner Sphere. Among its first orders of business this new order would seek to: establish its neutrality in the coming wars; assure its legitimacy —as master of the communications network — as a fair and impartial organization, to be dealt with and respected; and to secure a base world at the heart of the Inner Sphere, where it could maintain operations without interference from the House Lords.
When the last Commanding General of the SLDF, Aleksandr Kerensky, fed up with the incessant bickering of the Council Lords, opted to abandon the Inner Sphere and take the surviving elements of the Star League Defense Force on a self-imposed Exodus it was Blake’s ComStar that was left maintaining the last remnants of the devastated Terran Hegemony. Forced to make an immediate and drastic decision, and with his resources already stretched beyond the breaking point, Jerome Blake concocted a bold plan to seize Terra and whatever other pieces of the Hegemony he could preserve from the coming bloodshed that was sure to erupt once the SLDF left the Inner Sphere.
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Terra’s Independence
“People of the former Star League, I am Jerome Blake, Prime Administrator of ComStar. As of now, 0900 hours Terran Standard Time, military forces under my direct command have seized control of the Sol star system. ComStar is now officially in control of Terra and all former Star League facilities remaining in the system. From this time forward, I proclaim Terra and the entire Sol system as neutral under the protection of ComStar, under the terms and conditions of the Communications Protocol of 2787. As the previous broadcast has made clear, ComStar has sufficient military force to defend the homeworld of mankind from any aggressor.
Our goals are peaceful. We seek the unity and prosperity of mankind. This action was taken to save life in the devastating war that is unfolding. ComStar will continue to offer its communications services to all member states, as long as the Sol system and our neutrality are honored.â€
—Jerome Blake, 28 June 2788.
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Codenamed OPERATION Silver Shield, ComStar, supported by ex-SLDF troops loyal to Blake seized Terra, New Earth, Rigil Kentarus and others while stripping many more worlds around Terra of SLDF resources in a blitzkrieg-style operation that stunned the leaders of the Inner Sphere. Declaring Terra and the captured worlds as their own, Blake proclaimed ComStar and the HPG network neutral from the brewing conflict. Furthermore, Blake unveiled the C-Bill and presented the corporation as offering secure interstellar communications to all Successor States. As long as the HPGs and ComStar assets were respected, ComStar would never extend its reach.
With the end of OPERATION Silver Shield Blake managed to secure the corporation from the shocked House Lords and protect the cradle of humanity from future predations of war. Although Jerome Blake was desperate to protect other former Terran Hegemony worlds, the material capabilities of the new corporation were too little to secure more of the Hegemony’s legacy. With Terra well defended – and in flagrant disregard of his promise – Jerome Blake soon turned his attentions outward––to the worlds of the Terran Hegemony embroiled in the devastating First Succession War.
In the wake of ComStar’s success Blake reorganized parts of his new entity, creating the First Circuit to help administer the corporation’s affairs. Comprised of administrators of the Prime A stations, the First Circuit was the nominal ruling council of ComStar, with Jerome Blake as its titular head. Among the other changes Blake created during these crucial early years was a “secret brotherhood†mentality designed to emphasize an “us vs. them†attitude that Blake hoped would help the corporation maintain its fickle hold on interstellar communications and to strengthen loyalty within the company. To help build the connection Blake patterned many of the company’s rank titles specifically for this new corporate “brotherhood.†ComStar also went on a recruiting blitz, drawing in thousands of new recruits from its protected enclaves and from former Hegemony worlds still free of the Great Houses. While these changes were wildly successful they created unexpected consequences that would have far reaching impact on the future of ComStar and the Inner Sphere.
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Conrad and ComStar
Among the many young recruits that joined ComStar at the time was an impressionable young man named Conrad Toyama. Born on the world of Dieron, Conrad was a smart boy with a bright future. However, the Amaris Coup and the Civil War tragically cut short any chance of a normal life. During the war the boy suffered greatly; losing first his parents, and then watching his young sister slowly die from starvation during the last years of the Rim Worlds occupation.
Deeply scarred, Conrad nevertheless joined the Hegemony reconstruction efforts after Dieron’s liberation, rising quickly through the ranks of the newly formed ComStar. A naturally gifted leader, Toyama was hard working and diligent. He brought his assigned projects to completion quickly, and his efforts were swiftly noticed by Prime Administrator Blake––who kept an eye open for talented people. While some contemporaries of the era considered Conrad’s demeanor cold or detached, few could argue at his efficiency, loyalty or charm. Toyama easily passed the battery of tests necessary to advance to high rank in the organization, though few realized the monster lurking behind the eyes of this seemingly peaceful administrator. If anyone had known that this man would one day be responsible for unleashing innumerable horrors the Inner Sphere might be a very different place today.
In Conrad Toyama Blake thought he found his most dedicated believer, a man willing to work tirelessly to achieve what he saw as the ultimate goals of ComStar, as Blake allegedly foresaw them. Prior to the Blackout, the charismatic and ever-loyal Toyama was a wellspring of support, a man who some credited with coining the corporation’s name from the names of the companies once employed to support the Star League’s Department of Communications. His beliefs bordering on fanaticism, Toyama would turn to Blake’s journals, and it was from these that he founded the Order’s quasi-religion, the “Word of Blakeâ€. Various theories have sprung up in the intervening centuries since Conrad Toyama – ComStar’s first and final Primus – rose to office. Some claimed he hastened the demise of the HPG network as soon as the First Succession War began in a bid to seize power for himself. Others believed a deep dark psychosis – one that had plagued Conrad since Dieron’s occupation – pushed his religious awakening towards the destruction of the network. Regardless of its origin, with his record and Blake’s personal endorsement, there was nothing to stand in Conrad’s way as he orchestrated an act as heinous as Stefan Amaris’s rape of the Terran Hegemony.
How, or why Toyama obtained copies of Blake’s personal journals is unclear. Some scholars believe Conrad was interested in learning more about the inner workings of his beloved “fatherâ€, as he called Blake; others believed it was because of a growing unhealthy obsession with the Prime Administrator. The truth is probably somewhere in between, as soon thereafter Toyama began the process of adding his own words and thoughts to Jerome’s journal entries. This collection of editorials and notes would eventually form the foundation Conrad’s Order, including its core religious belief and their worldly goals.
Although many have claimed that Jerome Blake was in fact a mystic due to his insistence that ComStar employ a “secret brotherhood†mentality, it was only after the Schism did the Inner Sphere truly learn who the real mystic, and threat he represented really was. The pseudo-secret society Blake fostered in the early corporation was a far cry from the radical changes Conrad wanted to employ. In fact, until Toyama took power, ComStar’s hierarchy was exceedingly corporate, headed by a CEO (Prime Administrator), who held the strongest position over a board of directors (the First Circuit administrators), and which issued letters of credit, maintained its own corporate security force (known as ROM), dedicated to securing the organization’s neutrality against outside interference.
By the 2835 Conrad had risen to become one of Jerome Blake’s greatest devotees and the Chief Administrator of the Dieron HPG station. However, his vision of ComStar was radically different from the corporation he worked for. In Toyama’s ComStar the corporation would become an order – the Order to his followers – while the Prime Administrator would be known as the Primus, and planetary administrators would become Lectors. Every level of ComStar was to be reorganized around the monastical cloisters of ancient Terra. Technicians would become vicars, and trainees, apostles. ROM, the corporate security force would turn into the all-pervading, all-seeing eye of Toyama’s Order. In his universe, ROM’s new mandate would work to ensure total obedience to the dictates of the Primus and the Order. Membership in the Order would become a lifelong commitment to ensure that none of the precious Hegemony secrets and technology ComStar protected, developed and maintained would fall into the hands of outsiders.
Conrad’s proposed Order was more than just structural changes. Toyama himself, interpreting what he—and others—saw as divine inspiration and prophecy, enacted a holy mission for ComStar. It was a mission built around the core belief that ComStar would transform into the monasteries of Terra’s European Dark Age; a secret and ostensibly holy order of chosen men and women charged with the sacred task of preserving Terra’s heritage so that mankind would welcome the Order as its proper saviors and leaders as the Terran Hegemony was reforged.
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The Word of Blake
Of the countless biographies written about Conrad Toyama, most of them at least touch on his public eloquence. Whether he actually believed himself to be a divine messenger or was just mad, Conrad was certainly an alluring historical figure. As a leader, he spoke to the fears, desires and needs of his audience with powerful persuasiveness. When manipulating or recruiting people to his cause, Toyama is often considered a notable expert in using pressure points to achieve his goals.
One of his best known and most scrutinized means of manipulation was his brilliant use of Blake’s own writings to formulate the Order’s theocratic dogma – one of the many splendid ways in which he developed and presented the Word of Blake to his most trusted apostles. Perverting the words of ComStar’s illustrious founder and first leader swayed scores of Toyama’s most fanatical adherents; many who would have avoided some of the Order’s bloodier actions.
Working in the name of Blake and his dream of a new Terran Hegemony became a hallmark of Conrad’s call to action in the developing Order.
As he spun it, the Order was saving ComStar in the name of Blake.
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Excerpt from Tyrants: History’s most evil Despots and Dictators
By Julius Ferriro, Newbury Publishing, New Earth, 2962
Toyama's Word
"The war of succession that has consumed the fallen Star League is more horrible than any other before it…A new Dark Age will descend on the Inner Sphere if this war continues for any length of time, people will be scatted on hundreds of isolated worlds, priceless technology will be lost…there will be no winner, and all of humanity will suffer the loss. [The Fall 1:1-13] The blessed Blake sees the raging tide of war as one that will consume mankind, bringing about an age of darkness and despair. Technology will become worthless pieces of junk, as the foundries and skills disappear in this growing holocaust.
Once the Great Houses have beaten themselves senseless and bloody, we can emerge, offering a new chance to recover what they have tried so hard to destroy. All that saved mankind during its last so-called Dark Age were the churches and religions. These were havens for humanity’s learning and they stood alone as beacons in the darkness and foulness that humankind had become, to preserve the history and knowledge…If ComStar is to survive into the future, it must look to these examples as a blueprint for surviving the wars that are unfolding around us. [Salvation 4:18-24] In this one passage, Blake has laid the foundation for the mission of ComStar, to thrive and to survive to re-light the lamp of civilization for mankind. Blake also foresees that by creating a theocracy as the basis for ComStar, the organization’s survival is guaranteed during the war of succession that the House Lords currently wage. Only by patterning ourselves after those religions that survived in the past will ComStar live on to the future. He also provides us with a moment to emerge, when the House Lords have beaten themselves senseless."
Some Toyama experts have also asked how Conrad reconciled Jerome’s damnation of the Order once the Schism began in earnest? According to the official history books Toyama supposedly failed to sway his mentor to his camp, after which he tried to silence Blake by having him locked away. Later, when the Schism began to take a turn for the worse, and coupled with Blake’s continual refusal to submit, Conrad authorized his permanent removal. In both instances, Conrad’s actions would have added legitimacy to the Order’s claims; first by swaying Blake to his side, and then later by removing the single legitimate challenge to his uncontested rule. In historical hindsight, it was never Conrad’s supporters that needed bolstering. The real fanatics of Toyama’s Order supported him wholeheartedly. Rather, it was the rank and file of ComStar that Conrad needed to sway to his side, and Blake’s removal would have had helped undermine the Prime Administrator’s supporters.
In the few recovered transcripts and conversations from the era Conrad’s words were often pointed – calculated to achieve maximum result, and as a leader he never gave into the megalomania so common to semi-religious figures until the very end of the Schism – when his empire was crumbling around him. Without solid evidence we can only assume that the few miscalculations that cost him control of Terra, ComStar and inevitably the Inner Sphere were responsible for breaking the barriers holding the man’s sanity intact.
Conrad’s manipulation of Blake’s work has also left scholars with questions surrounding Toyama’s actions. Centuries later we still ponder why Conrad selected the interdiction as his moment to publically emerge? Was the interdiction the best moment to gain control of ComStar? Was his emergence from the Protectorate still long off, but something else forced his hand? With tantalizingly little evidence to answer any of these questions we continue to struggle with his motivation and direction while ComStar works to uncover the truth out of an exciting possibility: an HPG cure. If Conrad’s final goal was to control ComStar and reform the old Hegemony, then his Order may have secreted away a fix for the HPG virus they unleashed.
What future would the Inner Sphere have known had Toyama’s Schism succeeded? Would we now live in a theocratic, yet prosperous Golden Age? Would the long, terrible years of the Blackout been avoided?
We may never know…
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On ROM
As ComStar finished the reconstruction of the HPG network damaged by the civil war, and the Star League fell apart around him, Jerome Blake put into motion a number of operations that would have far reaching affect on the future of the company. First, was the creation and direction of ROM – ComStar’s internal security force in 2786 – only months after convincing the First Circuit to enact OPERATION Silver Shield. Built around a core of ex-SAS, Hegemony Intelligence and SLDF Intel Officers, these specialists would form the new agency’s potent might. While ComStar did employ military assets in the form of ex-SLDF troops who opted to remain in the Inner Sphere rather than leave on Kerensky’s Exodus, they were used as defensive formations and as highly visible protection for ComStar installations in the Protectorate. ROM however, formed a vital part of Blake’s operations and goals outside of the Protectorate during the late 28th and early 29th centuries.
A clandestine group in an otherwise very public, very neutral corporation, ROM was left with the unenviable task of supplying arms and materials to guerilla groups operating throughout the former Terran Hegemony and beyond. Placed in a difficult situation ROM thrived as Blake’s silent sword, but saw firsthand the horrors of the Succession Wars. Working tirelessly, many of these spies would find solace in Conrad’s Order, and embrace his goal of reforming the Hegemony with wild fervor. These fanatics, having spent years creating networks of deniable assets and contacts on worlds across the Inner Sphere were instrumental in training, planning and executing Toyama’s takeover of ComStar, and executing many of his later directives.
During the Schism ROM suffered its own mini-civil war in excess to the divides suffered by the rest of ComStar. Within the organization, Loyalist and Rebel agents turned on one another, murdering and assassinating enemies with reckless abandon. At the same time, fanatic Order agents executed their individual mandates, and in turn would be responsible for some of the worst tragedies of the Schism, such as the fire bombing of Istanbul towards the end of the war. Conversely, loyalist ROM personnel were responsible for the safe rescue and return of Jerome Blake from Order captivity.
In the aftermath of the Schism ROM reorganized. Gone were the lone operators who were afforded great autonomy and discretion to achieve their goals. They were replaced with a lean, hardened and heavily controlled internal security force. Imbued with a new mandate and drive, one of their chief goals was the complete eradication of any remaining vestiges of the Order, and the protection of ComStar from all enemies – foreign and domestic. While ROM still carried out operations similar to their pre-Schism brethren – in a significantly reduced capacity – they also became the all-seeing and all-knowing internal corporate monitor. Still ruthless in their protection of the corporation, ROM agents continue to be counted among the most vicious and well-trained special operatives in existence.
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Resource Reclamation Act
Another notable operation undertaken by Blake was the Resource Reclamation Act of 2783 (ironically enacted before ComStar even existed, and originally enforced by General Kerensky before the SLDF’s departure). Created specifically to help repair the Hegemony in the wake of the civil war, the Act marked damaged worlds and invested their citizenry in the reclamation and recovery of their natural resources and manufacturing capabilities. A sort of pseudo-nationalization process, the RRA allowed the Department of Communications to utilize the working population of Hegemony (and later the Protectorate) worlds as a free labor force while seizing any remaining unclaimed assets and using them to rebuild. The Act also helped disperse some of the reconstruction assistance flowing into the battered nation and reduced some of the logistical burden being carried by Kerensky’s SLDF. In return, Blake opened newly revitalized manufacturing and economic concerns to partial public ownership and generous reductions in taxes and retail costs. While the Act cut deep into the Department’s coffers for many years – Department of Communication personnel were organizing RRA efforts without partaking in their benefit – the jump start in local recovery paid dividends by creating robust manufacturing and consumer markets on damaged planets quicker than some traditional repair operations. Later, the RRA would serve as the prototype management model that would eventually blossom into the government system utilized by the Protectorate. Sadly, many of the worlds affected by the RRA’s earliest efforts would see their progress destroyed once the First Succession War broke out.
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The Schism
(2836-2841) While a solid accounting outlining the full extent of Conrad’s plan has never been identified or recovered, enough evidence, correspondence, witnesses and the actual events themselves have painted a fairly convincing picture of Toyama’s operations during his rein.
A full history of the Schism and the Blackout will be presented in a more comprehensive manner later in your training. This section exists to highlight important events and to provide new corporate Initiates with a simple understanding of a pivotal moment in ComStar’s long history.
Excerpt taken from Hall of History Pamphlet
The Schism…after seducing what he could within the corporation, Toyama set about orchestrating his plan to gain control of ComStar. While anecdotal accounts from before the Schism suggests that the takeover was merely a stepping-stone aimed at an even greater grab for power – the supposed “emergence†first mentioned in Blake’s journals – most scholars agree that control of the Protectorate as his primary concern.
To achieve his goals, the Order enacted a number of different tactical and strategic operations that would reach far beyond ComStar, Terra and even the boundaries of the Inner Sphere.
Roots of the Schism
Since the end of the Schism, historians have been posing many of the same questions over and over, and over again. Chief among them is a simple why? Why did Conrad seek to usurp control of ComStar and destroy the HPG network? While a number of tantalizing theories have been proposed in the decades since the start of the Blackout few of them could claim any substance in the form of tangible proof. Preserved recordings of Toyama in conversation, and personal documents from the era are surprisingly vague regarding his real motives for starting the conflict that ripped ComStar apart.
At the forefront of this theoretical diatribe is the “Altruistic Terra Theoryâ€. An interesting take on a conspiracy reversal; proponents of this theory believe that Conrad’s very public, very fiery speeches were in fact truthful to his motives, and that the lack of conflicting evidence is proof of his sincerity on the matter. Scoffed by some mainstream historians as shear nonsense, the theory has gained ground, and a healthy dose of respect in some academic circles over the years thanks to its simplicity. Opponents seem to lack a suitable explanation for this seemingly simple, innocuous theory. Despite the deadly efficiency in which Conrad’s Order practiced the erasure of information stores and databases, the fact remains that there is little to suggest Toyama’s entire civil war was anything more than an extreme act of protecting Terra and the old Hegemony.
Proof of Conrad’s true motives notwithstanding, it is now generally accepted as fact that at some point in the early 2800s Toyama became disillusioned with Jerome Blake’s vision for the future of ComStar and the Inner Sphere. Deciding to take measures into his own hand, Conrad began to quietly consolidate a powerbase within ComStar; first by slowly recruiting like-minded individuals, manufacturing the future ideology he would base his Order around, and then later by subtly circumventing many of ComStar’s internal security measures. During these early years Toyama and his small cadre of supporters worked quietly, purposefully avoiding any type of overt physical action. However, it has been suggested that Toyama may have influenced or directed a number of anti-ComStar groups to keep from being discovered. Regardless of any covert actions taken at this time, Toyama’s splinter group continued to grow throughout the 2820s. In fact, most ComStar historians now believe that Conrad’s Order saw its largest jump in membership during this period; thanks in no small part to Blake’s decision to supply arms to Terran insurgents and the increasing violence of the Second Succession War.
Conversion and Subversion to the Cause
Another common question posed by Schism researchers was how did Conrad subvert or convert such a large portion of ComStar so quickly, successfully and quietly? Although his exact methods have been lost to the sands of time, we can examine some of the personalities whose composition made up the core of the early Order as a potential explanation. Of Toyama’s first disciples many of them came from the ranks of ROM. These soldier spies, some of them veterans of the Star League Civil War, experienced firsthand the horrors of total war. Fearing what the Successor States might do to Terra should they be allowed to invade, historians now believe Conrad preyed upon these deep seeded fears to secure their loyalty. As far-fetched as the idea might sound, given the general uncertainty of the period, the very real threat of invasion, the collapse of the Star League, and it is easy to understand how a powerful speaker like Toyama was wildly successful. Conrad was also particularly careful in limiting overt usage of religious themes in recruiting more mainstream personnel. In point of fact, the bulk of the Order’s real membership during the Schism was the die-heard Terran patriot bent on rebuilding the lost “Terran Empireâ€. These individuals believed that Blake was destroying Terra’s true strength for temporary security.
Opening Acts
Toyama’s opening moves in the greater Schism would come in the form of orchestrated attacks against ComStar Hegemony operations. Order agents operating throughout the Inner Sphere carried out these assaults – often acting as middlemen – by facilitating warring factions to heedlessly target corporate ventures. Often these saboteurs would act on the Order’s behalf, though evidence of commands ordering direct action remain in enticingly short supply. Their purpose however, was intended to create chaos within ComStar operations outside of the Protectorate’s guarded borders, and while the attacks were not a spectacular achievement they coerced an immediate corporate retort.
Jerome Blake’s response was prompt and swift. Perhaps even suggested by Toyama himself. In retaliation for the attacks on ComStar facilities and personnel Blake imposed a Sphere-wide Interdiction, quickly isolating the Protectorate from the rest of the Inner Sphere. A powerful reprisal, the Interdiction was an important component in Conrad’s master plan. With the Interdiction in full deployment public opinion turned against Blake, who lost valuable allies in the contested regions of the old Terran Hegemony. The Interdiction also provided Toyama operatives with excellent cover to continue their attacks against ComStar in the former Terran Hegemony.
Perhaps more importantly the Interdiction provided Conrad with the opportunity to enact the next stage of his plan. Using the Interdiction as a cue, Order agents began the next round of operations both inside and outside of the Protectorate. Together ROM and ComStar personnel loyal to Toyama began to systematically assault untouched corporate facilities throughout the Inner Sphere. Whereas earlier assaults were designed to inconvenience corporate operations and challenge ComStar’s neutrality, the new attacks aimed to hinder ComStar as a functioning corporation. Combining equal parts terror, with equal parts effectiveness, the deadly Order assaults began to seriously hamper and undermine Blake’s authority within ComStar.
The brazen assaults of 2835 eventually culminated with the release of the HPG virus that crippled the network and created the Blackout. Today, the Blackout is considered to be the true start of the Schism, and why all across the Protectorate a moment of silence is shared every 1 January at 2400 Terran GMT.
A House Divided
With the Blackout came the quick hammer fall of Toyama’s Order. Burning away all pretense of espionage for open action, the Order quickly subsumed local authority and started a bloody battle for control of ComStar and the Protectorate. While mass spectacles of open violence ended almost as quickly as it began in an action reminiscent of Amaris’s OPERATION APOTHEOSIS, the covert struggle increased in tempo. Loyalist and rebel forces clashed while Toyama attempted to settle into his new position. Order-sponsored propagandists went into overdrive, selling the coup as the opening of a glorious rebirth in the name of a new Terra. Millions of people were swayed by Conrad’s honeyed words of rebirth and renewal. While the people of Terra and the Protectorate did not suffer to the same extent as their parents and grandparents did under Republican rule, they still suffered. Disruption in the DoPA caused food and product shortages, while conflict among ComStar technicians created power outages and other mechanical failures that cost hundreds of lives. It was an era of great upheaval within the Protectorate and ComStar, with old rivalries and seething tensions rising to the surface. Assassinations of opportunity among the Protectorate’s elite were rife, and within the ComGuard were even worse. Whole divisions went rogue during the Schism, striking out on their own or disintegrating in their own mini civil war. In some ways the Schism was a second Star League Civil War, but without General Kerensky and the SLDF charging to the rescue.
As the conflict between Blake and Toyama loyalists grew, so did the fight begin to include the common citizenry of the Protectorate. During the first years of Conrad’s rule, Blake’s removal from power isolated many surviving loyalists – forcing them into a position similar to the Order’s prior to the Schism – into the shadows. Even while normalcy returned to Terra beneath the glossy veneer of Order control, Terra was effectively a police state with ROM on the constant hunt for ComStar personnel and civilians still loyal to Blake. With most of ROM firmly behind the new regime, the all-seeing watchdogs of the Order were ruthlessly effective in their assigned charge. However, despite the danger, disorganized resistance continued to wage war against the Order. Not as effective compared to similar rebellions around Skye and Tikonov – the loyalist resistance was hampered because they avoided violence against innocent civilians, the very people they depended on to survive – it did see small success in hampering some of the Order’s operations.
With regards to the Order, their passionate proclamations were a short sell to a population that became increasingly disenfranchised with a message that was far from becoming a reality. When the freedoms of the past soon disappeared and remained absent long after the “crisis had abatedâ€, the population began to turn against Toyama. As his ground swell of support began to wane Conrad clamped down even harder, accelerating the downward spiral. Soon droves of people disappeared. People who spoke out against Toyama’s iron hand or his Order’s changes – even in passing – just vanished. The population soon feared Conrad’s ROM and their “reeducation†camps, and passive rebellion soon became a common spectacle in many of Terra’s major cities. These open displays of dissent were often violently suppressed by the new government, which was either staffed by Conrad’s lackeys or afraid of his henchmen. Unfortunately, the resistance was unable to organize and capitalize on the chaos, and Toyama’s reign continued through 2839.
The End
The apex of the Schism came with Jerome Blake’s spectacular escape from Hilton Head Island in March 2840. While Jerome was held captive his supporters were divided and weak, unable or unwilling to rally behind anyone and fight the Order. With Blake free Conrad’s opposition quickly coalesced into a single camp, even with the Prime Administrator on the move and under constant threat of death.
Riding the wave of the growing passive rebellion to organize a ground swell of popular support, the ex-Prime Administrator was able to organize an effective counter-resistance movement that soon sped the Schism towards its inevitable bloody conclusion only months after Blake’s escape. While the tragic end days of the Schism are detailed elsewhere, when the smoke cleared ComStar, Terra and the Protectorate were finally free of the Order.
Be sure to visit the Museum’s Hall of Oration to hear some of Jerome Blake’s greatest speeches from the era and the recently unveiled Genevan Wastes diorama added to the Schism Exhibition Wing…
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Elsewhere during the Schism
From: Things Weren’t So Bad – A critical look outside of the Protectorate during the Schism
By Cyrus Tomansia, Caph Free Press, 3011
As bad as things were on Terra during the Schism, Conrad’s mad bid for control of humanity’s collective destiny was even worse. Since the fall of the Star League the Great Houses had battered each other into oblivion. Most were already falling apart at the seams, and by 2836 there were at least half a dozen stable breakaway states in existence, with more forming. At the time, only a few major nations remained solvent enough to even claim to want the mantle of First Lord, let alone obtain it. As bad as it was, the situation was far from permanent. Given enough time and a little peace, it was possible some of the recently broken Great Houses could have reformed. This possible situation was a direct threat to the future instability and long term plan Conrad had proposed to his followers, and required direct action to bring the whole Inner Sphere crumbling down. The HPG Blackout and Holy Shroud attacks provided that final collapse.
What really separated the Protectorate from the rest of the Inner Sphere during the Schism wasn’t the ferocity of the attacks, but rather when they occurred. In the Protectorate, Jerome Blake’s ComStar had made tremendous headway in repairing the damage suffered during the Star League Civil War and after. The rest of the Inner Sphere was not as fortunate. Three decades of almost constant warfare and the breakdown of the Great Houses had not allowed recovery efforts to scratch the surface of what was actually required. Hundreds of worlds, badly damaged during the fighting saw recovery efforts stalled even further as internal infrastructure broke apart with their parent House.
It was at this point that Conrad launched the Blackout and Holy Shroud attacks. Already on the verge of being crippled, the Blackout and Shroud assaults pushed the remaining Great Houses over the edge. Whole worlds simply disappeared, unable or incapable of summoning help––assistance that may not have even been available. The smaller, isolated centers of research and development, often located deep in the heart of a nation’s most protected planets were left smoldering craters, their research staff killed. Rather than attack with surgical precision as Conrad tried to accomplish on Terra and within the Protectorate, weapons of mass destruction were used indiscriminately to achieve the Order’s strategic goals on other worlds of the Inner Sphere. As many of these facilities were also located in national or planetary capitals, many states lost important leadership to the attacks; effective impairing the nations and people of the Inner Sphere for decades to follow. Worse still, the technologically sophisticated and supposedly neutral communication technicians allowed Conrad’s operatives to infiltrate their target worlds years in advance, affording them ample opportunity to plan their strikes. Only luck and a few accidental mishaps kept Holy Shroud from being a complete success.
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Aftermath
Following the death of Conrad Toyama and his inner circle in Geneva, corporate security personnel hunted down the last pockets of the Order across Terra and the Protectorate, eventually pacifying the last regions of active resistance in late 2841. While deemed successful, the full extent and reach of Toyama’s organization has never been accurately determined. Actual numbers of Order members have been tantalizingly low, and some authorities believed that many suspected adherents or sympathizers melted back into the corporate hierarchy, civilian population or elsewhere. When full removal of the Order from ComStar’s rolls was officially marked in 2869, it was more than thirty years after the end of the Schism. Unofficially, Toyama sympathizers continued to crop up and plague ComStar operations well into the 30th century.
With the fighting finished ComStar began the long trek to reestablish contact with corporate facilities and the worlds of the Inner Sphere. The process was painstakingly deliberate and took decades to finish. During the slow march away from the Protectorate many of Conrad’s true believers used the opportunity to stay one step ahead. Many moved, either heading to new worlds or deeper into the interior of their home planets to live in hiding. Others opted to do something different, feeling either guilt or shame for their part in the Blackout. Misled by Conrad and his ideologies there were some surprising cases of ex-Order operatives helping to jump start local recovery operations on some of the Inner Sphere’s many worlds; the very same states they had only recently helped ruin. Others just covered their tracks and waited, hoping for the best.
ComStar’s purge of its ranks was extensive. Most corporate and ComGuard divisions were completely reorganized or rebuilt from the ground up. ROM, gutted by the Schism was by far the hardest hit, but came out of the conflict stronger and more dangerous than before. One of the lasting legacies of Conrad’s bid for control would become ROM’s prevailing focus on internal corporate threats. In fact, early post-Schism ROM was often accused of sending persons suspected of even owning a copy of the Word of Blake to immediate “reeducationâ€. It was a ludicrous notion, but the rumor nevertheless persisted for decades.
The Post-Schism years also saw ComStar reorganize its Inner Sphere operations. Taking into account new realities with the loss of the HPG network, the corporation reinvented its operations. In the almost two centuries since Toyama’s Schism and the Blackout ComStar has changed from being the sole provider of interstellar communications to a diverse corporate entity with invested interests in dozens of industries. In addition to the “Pony Express†communication’s service ComStar also operates large brokerage and trading houses, technology recovery operations, consumer manufacturing, heavy industry, a certified and bonded mercenary board, commodities and money markets, and humanitarian aid organizations to name just a few of the ways ComStar diversified after the Blackout.
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When the Lights went out – A detailed review of the HPG Black Out – What Really Happened?
By Professor Marie Anwar, Oxford University, Terra 3025
Jerome Blake created ComStar as a neutral organization to protect technology, and therefore humanity. What he neither intended, expected or noticed was that his organization would become a safe haven for those individuals who believed in his message and methods, but also for those individuals who would take it to the extreme – those people who were scarred by the incessant wars. People who would look at ComStar as a safe haven, but not safe enough, and would take Blake’s mandate to extreme degrees.
These individuals, later known as the Order, created a subculture within the ComStar organization and set plans in motion to sunder it from within. Blake’s organization, which espoused neutrality and sought to protect technology and knowledge, would be used against him, against ComStar, and against the Inner Sphere. These individuals used ComStar’s cloak of neutrality and network to manipulate policy for their own gain. They secretly demolished HPGs, making it look like terrorist attacks or deliberate assaults by the House Lords. These actions led Blake to exercise terrible force, interdicting the Inner Sphere to prevent what he perceived as direct violence against ComStar. In an effort to protect the organization’s neutrality, Blake silenced the Inner Sphere, and in doing so allowed Conrad Toyama and his disciples to enact their grand plan. Thus, Blake’s own actions unlocked Pandora’s box.
So, who’s to blame? Well, Toyama of course, but on a deeper and less sinister level, Blake himself. While interdicting the Inner Sphere was a mistake, it was an inadvertent mistake that could have been avoided had Blake spent more time scrutinizing members of ComStar, and placed restrictions on providing a safe harbor for anyone who asked for it. In the end, Jerome Blake’s innate altruism worked against him.
Sadly, both Blake’s mistakes and Conrad’s manipulations have left a lasting legacy for ComStar. After spending over a century rebuilding the network and repairing the damage wrought by the Order, ComStar is still haunted by Toyama and the deeds of his followers. Wherever the corporation travels it has to tread lightly, careful that their best intentions are not perverted and used against the corporation. A trail of mistrust and secrecy follows ComStar even to this day, and while ComStar is not a religious organization, their actions are still reminiscent of the Free Masons of old – without the mystical trappings. Worse still, ComStar continues to face their infamous legacy to this day, encountering pockets of people throughout the Inner Sphere, on isolated worlds, who believe in the ideals that Conrad espoused; where his cult of personality and loyal followers still persist. These individuals are willing and waiting to bring his vision of the future into reality once again.
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New Corporate Realties – ComStar today
Entering the Promised Land
Since the Schism ComStar has been extremely wary of refuge relocation to Terra or other worlds of the Protectorate. Before the Order the Protectorate enjoyed an open immigration policy (in order to entice wealthy and brilliant minds back to ComStar employ and to assist in building the Protectorate), but the destruction of the Schism and the long years of the Blackout necessitated a more stringent policy be put into place as the stream of refuges making their way to Protectorate worlds was overwhelming. Sadly, with resources stretched to the limit the authorities have turned many refugees away.
Today, most new citizens of the Protectorate come directly from ComStar – where working through the corporation is used as a clearinghouse to determine eligible and helpful applicants. Citizenship in the Protectorate is highly valued by foreign-born employees of ComStar. Not only does citizenship guarantee voting rights on the world they are allowed to settle, but also certain perks (such as legal protection) afforded to full Protectorate citizens.
Setup & Organization
While ComStar’s public goals remain the same as the ones broadcast in 2785, the reality is very different. Blake’s intervention in the former Terran Hegemony and Conrad’s Schism were only the tip of a very large, very deep iceberg. ComStar has the combined interests of a mega-corporation with that of a nation-state. It seeks to dominate locally, internationally and even among its own divested interests. This creates an interesting dichotomy within the corporate hierarchy with regional, division and project leaders often jockeying for position amongst their own. Combined with a cutthroat corporate attitude, ComStar’s internal politics are as varied as the Inner Sphere’s numerous factions, and more dangerous than any stately court.
The Blackout also had a profound impact on the organization and function of ComStar. Without instant or near-instant communications, corporate projects, missions and fleets often spend months – sometimes years – away from home. Slow communications hindered the corporation’s wheels from turning quickly, but so does the company’s size. The communications lag inadvertently created a forced policy of local autonomy to parts of the corporation where they would not have been found prior to the Blackout. Today, Trade and Brokerage Administrators enjoy a great deal of leeway in conducting their affairs so long out of touch with the Terran home office. This increased local autonomy is not without its drawbacks (unscrupulous employees have long been ROM’s bread & butter criminal), but it does allow parts ComStar to react quicker to local conditions than many of its more consolidated corporate counterparts. However, like most independent assets increased autonomy from Terra also comes with increased risk. The margin for failure within ComStar is extremely tight, and many mid-level managers have been sacked (or worse) for making poor decisions or failing to live up to their promises.
The dispersed nature of the company’s operational components has led some to wonder how central corporate advancement can survive in the face of local autonomy, especially when many of ComStar’s divisions are further divided by region, which in turn creates competing regional spheres of common interest. While the movers and shakers of ComStar may reside on Terra, most of them received their start managing some remote region of the Inner Sphere before climbing the corporate food chain.
Today’s modern ComStar is a far cry from its original incarnation, or even how it was organized just before the fall of the HPG network. However, new realities in the face of the Blackout have changed how ComStar reorganized itself as a corporate and political entity.
The current internal order of ComStar has not changed much from the basic organizational structures created by Jerome Blake. The highest levels of ComStar’s authority still rest with the Prime Administrator and the First Circuit. The Prime Administrator still controls ROM and the ComGuards, but the First Circuit can veto the use of these forces by a majority vote. Each member of the First Circuit casts a single ballot. To help balance the distribution of power the First Circuit handles and approves all financial policy. The Prime Administrator may veto these policies, but the First Circuit can override the veto by a majority vote. The Prime Administrator may name his or her successor or accept one appointed by the First Circuit. Should a seat on the First Circuit fall vacant, the Prime Administrator appoints a replacement.
Administration
As administrator of the corporation, the Prime Administrator manages a wide range of departments. Reflecting the new challenges faced by the corporation since the start of the Blackout, ComStar is divided into divisions, with each run by a Director who reports to the Prime Administrator. These Administrators have replaced the HPG directors of the First Circuit, who still maintain their normal titles even with the loss of the network.
Financial Affairs
This division determines financial policy, overseeing the exchange rates for the C-Bill against the various House currencies, and monitoring economic trends. Financial Affairs also leads the commodities and brokerage houses operated by the corporation. An exceedingly powerful division that is seen by some as a stepping-stone to obtain the rank of Prime Administrator, the division is forcibly required to divest certain a profit percentage to its sibling divisions every year.
Stellar Relations
One of the newer divisions within ComStar, this division owes its existence to Reformation Act VII. Proposed by Jerome Blake before he died, the act was designed to facilitate ComStar’s diplomatic relations with the various Houses after the Blackout. Under this reform, good-will ambassadors of Manager rank or higher would tour the House governments offering education, cultural and economic exchanges. In the long years since the start of the Blackout, only a few nations have rebuffed the company, such as the antagonistic Warrior Fiefdoms – and surprisingly – the Sendai Trade Alliance. Stellar relations with this division often find the endeavors of other divisions succeeding more easily in previously troubled areas of space. This subtle success could be due to the less well-known components of the division, which include ComStar’s propaganda and psychology departments. ROM and Stellar Relations also enjoy an exceedingly close relationship, a situation that does not sit well with every Division Director.
Protectorate Affairs
Dedicated to maintaining life on Terra, the Sol system and the rest of the Protectorate, this branch of ComStar controls all administrative, social, economic and political dealings between ComStar and the civilians under the corporation’s direction. One of the largest divisions, Protectorate Affairs exerts tremendous power as controller of the Protectorate’s manufacturing and economic muscle. While some facilities and assets do fall outside their scope of influence almost every other division is forced to utilize something Protectorate Affairs controls. Thankfully, the internal structure of Protectorate Affairs and its Second Circuit leads more towards department power struggles rather than external meddling, much to the relief of her sister Directorates.
Archives and History
The ComStar Archives and History Branch administer a wide range of services, including the ComStar Census. Partly caretakers, partly collectors and museum curators, Archival personnel preserve and protect the historical and technological records of mankind. Their main repository, located in the vast Halls of History outside the Hilton Head Complex represent the richest source of historical information in the Inner Sphere.
Once a small and understaffed branch of ComStar, Archives and History received a huge influx of resources following the Schism when ComStar worked hard to recovery in the wake of Conrad’s Holy Shroud missions. Of particular note is the sub-Recovery division. This division is tasked with recovering specific pieces of LosTech from around the Inner Sphere. Employees of this division tend to be lone operators who might spend their entire lives tracking down a specific rumor or set of artifacts. Turnover in field personnel is high, but the payoffs ensure a steady stream of volunteers. ROM agents and ComGuard soldiers are well known for retiring to this division after their duty tours have finished.
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Holy Shroud What? – Why Holy Shroud isn’t given a lot of attention
From LosTech: The Great Struggle against History
Free Page Press, Terra, 3014
(Added to the History Branch – Dedicated LosTech Division)
Holy Shroud isn’t given a lot of attention for number of reasons, but with even fewer pieces of evidence to support a comprehensive picture, it is a difficult event to research. In addition, information on Holy Shroud is one of the parts of the Schism carefully controlled ComStar’s upper-crust corporate elite –people who go to great lengths to stamp out accusations or inquiries on the topic.
However, as much as they would hate to admit it, Conrad’s cabalists were kind enough to cover most of their tracks with excellent misdirection. In the decades since Toyama’s reign, ComStar has deciphered only a fraction of what Holy Shroud actually accomplished, let alone who was responsible. Hundreds of potential Order-related assaults during the period continue to remain cloaked in mystery, all seeming to have originated from enemies of other states or by rogue elements within local governments. Whether this was done purposefully to avoid direct implication or connection to Conrad’s ComStar or something else is unknown. To complicate matters further, the attacks themselves were random and varied enough that ComStar and Terra were never in question.
A fact the First Circuit is loath to correct.
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Science and Research
This branch of ComStar continues to expand the horizons of the Inner Sphere’s scientific knowledge. Somewhat neglected and marginalized over the past century – the division’s sole focus has been cracking and solving the HPG network virus – the repair of the network, and decades of information recovery has finally allowed this division to step out from beneath the shadow of the Schism. In recent years, the division has seen a huge influx of materials and monies as the Prime Administrator has tasked the Science and Research division with redeveloping many LosTech items for renewed production.
Communications
The Communications Division continues to carry out ComStar’s oldest charge: communication between the inhabited worlds of humanity, and the maintenance and operation of the hyperpulse generator network. With the HPG network now operational this division has undergone a transformation virtually overnight.
When the network was non-functional, division personnel were assigned to ComStar JumpShips, DropShips and defunct HPG compounds to facilitate the company’s new “pony expressâ€. As a result a whole spacer community rose from division personnel during their lengthy tenure in space operations. Now that the new HPG network is operational Communications has experienced tremendous personnel growth as thousands of HPG-trained technicians join the ground-based workforce. Unfortunately, the division’s conversion has not come without its own share of problems. Older employees are being forced into early retirement or new opportunities to make way for a new generation of communication specialist. While grizzled veterans may simmer at the thought of collecting a pension, a new generation of HPG operators has been trained to take their place alongside their illustrious forebears from ages past. Since the Blackout the Communications Division has also operated a dedicated fleet of JumpShips, which it uses for special situations. Always an important part of ComStar, this division stands to take the lead in coming years.
News Bureau
Founded centuries ago, the ComStar News Bureau is the only Sphere-wide newsgathering organization. In the past, the Bureau slanted and even ignored news to fit the needs of ComStar. However, since the Schism ComStar no longer indulges in such self-serving manipulation. In fact, unfiltered news earns the division more wealth than the machinations of old. The News Bureau is well known for frequently running commentaries and editorials submitted by reporters and Protectorate citizens questioning ComStar’s internal politics, while news stories have taken on a more realistic tone.
At least, this is what the Bureau publishes in its new employee packet. The truth is that the News Bureau does indeed report and publish minority and unfavorable reports – the proverbial truth – when it is in their best interest to do so. Division employees have a knack for finding where all of the skeletons are buried and many a division head has come to fear what information the News Bureau has locked away in their secret vaults. Rarely is the division or its needs crossed. Many of ROM’s best chameleons are agents who got their start working in the News Bureau. Because of its focus this division is often in conflict with Stellar Relations.
ROM
ROM has been and remains the internal and external security arm of ComStar. The Schism, however, eroded much of ROM’s early power and focus. Even before the Schism, ROM agents tended toward conservatism at best and fanaticism at worst. A defection rate of ROM agents to Conrad’s Order was estimated at over 60 percent and crippled ComStar’s once-powerful security forces. In the wake of the Schism ROM recovered and once again became the Inner Sphere’s most feared security force. Armed with some of the best technology still available, ROM is the unseen dagger poised at the breast of ComStar’s enemies. Answerable only to the Prime Administrator, the omnipresent ROM keeps the corporation’s Divisions in-line when their actions threaten the integrity of the company.
ComGuard
Formed before the outbreak of the Schism from ex-SLDF troops and new recruits, the ComGuard was ComStar’s militarized security force. Used ostensibly to protect Protectorate and company assets, the ComGuard has become something of a national symbol of ComStar’s physical might. Drawn from the stores still available on Terra and the few arms manufacturers still in operation, the ComGuard recruits manpower exclusively from Protectorate citizens. Enjoying immense popularity throughout the Inner Sphere for their anti-piracy and humanitarian operations, the sparkling white ‘Mechs and tanks of the ComGuard have been used as corporate recruitment material for years with great success.
Lesser Branches
ComStar also operates a number of smaller, less expansive divisions charged with specific tasks. Some of these “mini-divisions†include the Interstellar Red Cross Corps. A cadre of dedicated humanitarian and contact professionals, these men and women spend their time working to help some of Inner Sphere’s most dangerous locations. Nominally considered a part of Stellar Relations, the IRC Corps often out-sources materials and personnel to other divisions when needed. ComStar also manages a Certified and Bonded Mercenary Board responsible for maintaining, negotiating and enforcing mercenary contracts. Becoming a member of the CBMB is completely optional, but mercenary commands that are a part of the board benefit from increased access to potential jobs, preferred communication status along the “Pony Express†and the full backing of Terra.
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Rank Structure
ComStar has a five-tiered structure, officially sanctioned by Jerome Blake in ComStar’s Article of Incorporation. Using ancient or Masonic-inspired titles, Blake created ranks that would inspire the “secret brotherhood†mentality he wanted to foster in his new organization. Due to the size of ComStar, it is not uncommon to find five or more Master-level or Prefect-level (in the ComGuards) positions answerable to a division head. Each rank supports numerous sub-rankings and functions. Sub-rankings, or grades, are designated by Roman numerals, with I representing the first-year members of each rank. Each year of an Initiate’s tenure within ComStar raises his or her sub-ranking by one; therefore, an Adept III represents an Adept who has spent three years at that rank within the corporation. Promotion to the next rank is granted upon the recommendation of a superior, or else occurs automatically upon achieving 25 years – Grade XXV – in a given rank. Due the unique ranking structure of ComStar, the upper echelons also utilize the unofficial title of “Prime Director.†A play on the Prime Administrator title, Prime Directors lead entire divisions and serve on the First Circuit, though some prefer to be called by their conventional planetary naming such as Director Procyon.
The rank and grade classifications are further broken down by Greek letters, which are used to specify each individual’s function. For example, Adept Epsilon XI designates an adept MechWarrior in the ComGuards with eleven years of service at the rank of Adept. Director Rho VIII designates a Director in ROM’s intelligence network who has served at that level for eight years.
First Circuit
The ComStar command hierarchy has not changed much throughout the long years of the Blackout. For over 200 years the First Circuit held sole responsibility for administering the ComStar corporate conglomerate. The ranking Directors of the First Circuit maintained ComStar’s status among the citizens of the Inner Sphere and turned the company into an economic powerhouse. Elected to the Circuit by the Prime Administrator or appointed by popular vote in the event the Prime Administrator is incapable or unwilling to provide a new candidate. These men and women are among the most powerful movers and shakers in the Inner Sphere. The original First Circuit was composed entirely of Class A HPG stations, but after the Blackout these officers became division leaders and new Directors were added to the Circuit. With the First Circuit once again inheriting the HPG network the corporation is faced with the inevitable proposition of either returning to the old system or finding something entirely new. Directors New Earth, Caph, Rigil Kentarus, Bryant, Procyon and Dieron originally headed the First Circuit. Later, before Blake died he expanded the Circuit to include Directors Altair, Saffel and Keid to better represent the company’s growing diversity and expanding Protectorate.
Rank Pictures:
(Prime) Director, (Exarch), Master, (Prefect), Adept, Initiate
ComStar Function Designations
General
Alpha: Hyperpulse Generator Operation (Recently Reactivated)
Beta: Scientific Analysis
Kappa: Medical/Doctor
Delta: Intelligence (non-ROM/ComGuard)
Gamma: Diplomacy
Sigma: Public Relations
Omega: Research
Eta: Education/Instructional
Nu: Recruitment
Tau: Historian/Archivist
Chi: Protectorate Affairs
Phi: Financial/Contracts/Monetary Control
Upsilon: Communications (non-HPG)
ROM
Mu: Intelligence Analysis
Rho: Intelligence-Gathering
Omicron: Internal Intelligence (Internal Security)
Omega: Special Operations
Psi: Rumored
ComGuard
Epsilon: MechWarrior
Pi: Aerospace Pilot
Iota: Infantry
Xi: DropShip Crew
Lambda: Ground Armor Crew/Pilot
Theta: JumpShip Operations/Crew
Zeta: Military Technician
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Why would the Inner Sphere powers let ComStar in charge of the HPG network? They already failed once.
Why not nationalise this corporation?
I am not sure a corpo should be a state or the other way around.
Who owns ComStar?
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Why would the Inner Sphere powers let ComStar in charge of the HPG network? They already failed once.
Why not nationalize this corporation?
They can't. They have neither the strength, nor the operating knowledge to take control of the HPG once they're working again +180 years after they've fallen. ComStar is a corporate-nation state. So ComStar owns ComStar, but they also take an active hand in ruling planets. (I haven't gotten to the bit about pro-Hegemony separatists, etc.) In all honesty, the only thing separating a corporation from a nation state is recognition of sovereignty.
Try to keep in mind this primer comes from ComStar sources, so it's biased.
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I've spent quite a while reading all of this (each time I get ready to post a response you put up a new section! :) ) and I will definitely go into detail with questions and feedback on the timeline and fiction probably later this evening. That being said I do have a few points of questioning/clarification etc.
Why would they shut down Upsilon after Alpha is back up? I assume the renewed HPG network isn't nearly as extensive as the original, necessitating the continued use of the 'pony-express' on the fringes (if it is then why the hell did comstar wait that long and not bring up a portion of the network and build off of it?). Also the pony-express style communication has been in place for nearly 200 years, I'm sure it has become integral to the functioning of some start systems, I would think since there is actual physical movement between the systems this way of communicating could effectively send 'packages' as well as 'letters', what I mean by that is that with the HPG you can send data (whether it be a message, picture, video, data file, whatever) but when you have a pony express system in place you have the option to send actual things (whether they be personal effects items, keys, lock boxes, whatever). While I know the HPGs going back up would reduce the need for the pony-express system but I don't think it would eliminate it, in fact in canon I always assume ComStar operated a similar system through the fringes of the periphery where HPGs aren't present.
To sum it up in another way, ComStar has been doing the job of UPS for many years and you now gave it the ability to do AT&T's job again, but that doesn't mean UPS goes away completely.
This got me thinking of a modern day analogous situation. I think it would be eerily similar if today the internet and satellite networks went down and no longer functioned (world wide), this would lead to the collapse of most corporations and frankly probably most nations as just about everything we do in our day to day lives depends on these networks and has (exponentially increasingly) since about 1980. Anyways, say that happened and you let 200 years go by - guess what, people will eventually adapt (the ones that don't die), they will start doing things at a more basic level, local autonomy will become the standard practice and if the networks eventually did go back up they wouldn't just immediately shift everything back to depending on them, it would take a LONG time (ie another few centuries or at least several decades) and some things they may never shift back to running that way.
To Ice Hellion's point (kinda), instead of 'why let ComStar [be] in charge of the HPG network?' I think many nations in the inner sphere (and periphery) may have the thought 'why let an HPG network be in our nation to just have it crash again? or at least if we let it in not to become dependent on it again.'
I think people underestimate people's ability to adapt and recover from chaos and bloodshed. I don't care if you kill off 80% of the population and decimate everything, if you give it 200 years and come back (and everyone hasn't died off completely) then they will be recovering and well on their way to where they were. 200 years is like 8 generations, the biggest empires in history have risen and fallen in less time, the greatest infrastructure projects ever conceived by man have been implemented in less time. Hell the egyptions built the pyramids each in much less time even at the technology level at the time. In fact most big events happen because a small group of people or a single individual so things usually happen within a single human lifetime. Any halfway competent government should be able to take a multi-planet nation with a population of at least maybe 10 billion and rebuild its entire economy from scratch in maybe 3-4 decades, to the point that its able to produce jumpships even.
Canon BattleTech has the blanket "there's been a lot of wars so recovery has been slowed or even reversed" thing going on but it's simply a facade - the Inner Sphere in 3025 is still functional, governments still work and things are still being produced - and the period around 2990-3025 is usually considered the low point of technology in the inner sphere. Even at its lowest point things still function (and I would argue should have been much better off than is shown) despite contant warefare. And I know your going to say "but mine is worse and longer warfare" and that fine, the shattering of the houses is a great side effect of that, but its been long enough since then that 3025 AoC should probably be on the road to recovery (ie factories being reopened in states not even in contact with ComStar, jumpship production resuming in maybe half a dozen places throughout the inner sphere. I've found that poeople just don't let things stay shitty for too long, they either die or do something about it (now they may do the wrong stuff but that's a whole different can of worms)
Anyways, sorry for the rant. Leaving work now will read over this again and posts thoughts on specific stuff but that's just a start on my general thoughts (if you took the time to sift through it :) )
On another note I am incredibly impressed by the setting, the timeline and fiction are top notch, this is the kind of stuff I aspire to and is definitely canon level quality if not higher.
Thanks,
SSJGohan3972
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That's a great point SSJ – the bit about dumping Upsilon – and I think that will have to be rewritten. I think you're absolutely correct.
Thanks!
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The ComGuards
While the entire ComStar organization suffered during the Schism, the ComGuards were almost as heavily affected as ROM. Conrad and his Order were very careful in their dealings with the senior officers of the company’s heavily armed military. Most officers were career military, either having served in the SLDF or from the ComGuards’ earliest beginnings, but cared deeply for the people of the Protectorate. Officers that would not join the Order or could not be swayed to stay out of the early fighting were assassinated during the first days of the coup. Reeling from the chaos, the ComGuard quickly descended into its own mini-civil war as loyal forces from both sides attempted to subdue or annihilate the opposition. After the Schism, the ComGuard was rebuilt, and once again became the strong foundation of the corporation’s armed might inside and outside of the Protectorate.
The basic ComStar military unit is the division, roughly parallel to the independent regiments of the old Star League Defense Force. Based on the Star League combined-force military concept, ComGuard Divisions are mixed formations. A division may field a number of ‘Mechs equal to a regiment, plus supporting ground armor, artillery, infantry and aerospace fighter support. Each individual ComGuard unit is designed to be flexible and capable of supporting itself in the field.
The ComGuards base their unit identification on Roman numerical ratings. The smallest unit level is Level I, representing a single BattleMech, vehicle, artillery piece/crew, aerospace fighter, or infantry platoon. Level II units contain six Level I units, or roughly half a company of firepower. Level III units contain six Level II units, equivalent to a standard Inner Sphere battalion. A division, or Level IV unit, is comprised of six Level III units, containing approximately the same number of troops as two full regiments. The highest unit level is the Level IV division. Most ComGuard formations are spread across numerous Level II and sometimes Level III formations guarding the numerous ComStar facilities that dot known space. Only within the Protectorate are full divisions deployed. Because of their dispersed nature, very few divisions maintain unit cohesion. Most are maintained to simplify paperwork and logistics, but little else.
The ComGuards identify their units with Greek letters, each letter representing a unit’s composition of BattleMechs, armor, artillery, aerospace fighters and infantry. Generally, units with letter designations closest to the beginning of the Greek Alphabet contain a higher number of BattleMechs, and those closer to the end of the alphabet usually contain more support or infantry elements. To provide maximum flexibility of response in the field, the exact composition of ComGuard divisions vary.
ComGuard machinery and equipment is supplied by a number of select sources. Most of the Guards’ equipment came from surviving storehouses left by the SLDF on Terra. The ComGuards also utilize several of the surviving Terran manufacturing facilities, such as the revitalized Blankenburg Technologies factory in North America and the refurbished Skobel Mechworks. Krupp Armaments was heavily damaged by rampant industrial sabotage during the Schism and was left untouched during the Blackout. Now that the HPG network is functional, ComStar has re-approached plans to rennovate the factory to its former glory in preparation of expanding the Guard.
Because of the dispersed nature of the corporation, the ComGuards are stretched very thin in certain regions. It is not uncommon to find isolated ComStar trade outposts with only a single Level I of infantry for protection. To help supplement their security forces, ComStar turns to employing mercenary units vetted by their Certified and Bonded board. Many of these small mercenary commands are occasionally used to help strengthen local relationships if domestic issues threaten planetary peace or the company’s bottom line.
Brief History
The ComGuards were originally numbered at ten divisions of ex-SLDF and mercenary troops led by Lauren Hayes of the 151st Royal BattleMech Division (Ulysses S. Grant Division). The 151st, along with the 13th Royal Infantry Division and remnants of the 251st BattleMech Division (The Lipton Division) formed the core of ComStar’s early military strength. The officers of these three divisions were among the first soldiers who pledged their loyalty to Jerome Blake after declining General Kerensky’s offer to travel with the Exodus. Enlarged with the addition of two mechanized divisions based in South America, the 213th BattleMech Division (The Carver Division) and a few independent regiments who refused to abandon Terra or the former Hegemony to the coming wars, the early Guard was a battle-hardened, yet motley collection of soldiers. Together these survivors of the Star League Civil War would be responsible for carving the ComStar Protectorate from the shattered remains of the Terran Hegemony and predations of the House Lords.
Formation
The early ComGuards were a far cry from the modern streamlined security force found on every Protectorate and corporate facility. Formed from a disorganized collection of units who decided to remain behind when General Kerensky took over 80% of the surviving SLDF on an exodus from the Inner Sphere, the early ComGuards were a hodgepodge collection of equipment and tired veteran soldiers. Luckily, Jerome Blake placed his faith in an individual imbued with the same zeal in building the ComGuard that Blake had in repairing the HPG network. Credited with creating the original and modern military organization, General Lauren Hayes is known today as the mother of the modern ComGuard––the proverbial patron saint of the company’s soldiers.
When Jerome Blake proposed Operation SILVER SHIELD to the First Circuit, it was General Hayes who made the operation possible. Using the 151st and 13th Divisions as a core, Hayes spent two years building a highly effective, yet small fighting force from the individual leftovers of the old SLDF. Restored with materials drawn from Terra’s vast war stores, the ten division-strong ComGuard was a capable fighting force. Combined with the experience gained in battle during the Star League Civil War, the assault force was able to secure the young Protectorate’s early borders.
SILVER SHIELD
Operation SILVER SHIELD may have been Blake’s idea, but it was Hayes’s brainchild. Her plan was simple; utilize surprise and overwhelming force to secure Terra and the future Protectorate. Recognizing that the ComGuards would have limited time and finite material strength to achieve their goals, General Hayes proposed coordinated lightening strikes to re-conquer important worlds to place under the aegis of ComStar. She also sent quiet word to the hundreds of active Terran rebel groups throughout the former Hegemony, which ComStar had been providing arms to since 2786. These local fighters had been combating the Successor States for years thanks to supplies covertly provided by Jerome Blake and ComStar. While Hayes did not provide specifics for the forthcoming operation – in the interest of security – she did inform them that ComStar was coming with new assistance. Given identifying access codes, these Terran patriots would be a key component in the success of the operation.
From the moment the Inner Sphere accepted the Communications Protocol of 2787 until the June 2788 launch General Hayes planned her attack. Executed initially on Terra, the Guards’ first challenge came from a couple of companies of Davion troops assisting the Terran relief efforts. Holed up in Europe, the Davions managed to stall Hayes’s troops until overwhelming numbers forced their surrender. With Terra secure Hayes scrambled her taskforces for the second phase of SILVER SHIELD. Using hastily repaired JumpShips, DropShips and even a few salvaged WarShips, the new ComGuard assembled at Terra’s Nadir and Zenith jump points. These disparate taskforce groups – some no larger than a brigade in size – simultaneously jumped for New Earth, Bryant, Rigil Kentarus, and elsewhere. Using hyper-accurate star charts utilized during the civil war to bypass orbital defenses and early detection, the ComStar attack force made combat drops outside of major population centers and military installations on each planet. Fighting at these locations was often sporadic and disorganized, with many local militias or House garrisons put up only token resistance. On House-controlled worlds local rebels often bolstered ComGuard forces. Their unique understanding of the opposition, and innate familiarity with the local terrain often meant the difference between a quick victory and a drawn out siege the young ComGuard could ill afford.
This was not always the case, but the early ComGuard did achieve some stunning successes. On Bryant however, the ComGuards faced a serious confrontation. Through shear luck the ComGuards and Capellan Confederation were drawn into a major fight with one another when CCAF forces raided the planet in the midst of the invasion. Both sides were savaged by the fighting, but fears of a returned SLDF – ComGuard forces at the time were still sporting SLDF colors and insignia – forced a quick Confederation withdrawal. On Murphid the ComGuards found themselves face to face with regiments from the Commonwealth’s Arcturan Guard. Collected to launch an invasion of the Draconis Combine, General Hayes was unprepared for the Lyrans or their presence in the system, having expected the Commonwealth regiments to be on Skye. The resulting fight devastated the planet’s struggling infrastructure and shattered the regiments of the 184th Mechanized Division. The Battle for Murphid also severely depleted the offensive power of Hayes’s forces pushing anti-spinward, and ruined her plans to take Lipton or other Terran worlds in the region. Still, despite heavy losses to combat and mechanical failures the early ComGuard managed to achieve most of its goals and ComStar’s future.
In the aftermath of Operation SILVER SHIELD the ComGuard was reorganized. With breathing space to grow, General Hayes set about rebuilding her new army properly. The reorganization brought with it new recruits (a great number of the ComGuard’s first soldiers had spent well over two decades in active service with both ComStar and in the former Star League Defense Force), new ranks, uniforms and colors. Hayes also modified the composition and makeup of her new Divisions. She deliberately refrained from using the SLDF standard regimental composition of Lances, Companies, Battalions and Regiments, and instead opted for an entirely new arrangement which she hoped would reduce defections or poaching, as well as provide ComStar with an edge in combat. Built around the number six, Hayes organized her divisions into smaller, mobile combined-arms formations formulated after the highly successful SLDF independent and CAAN regiments. Training the new divisions was a tough proposition, but a few years after Operation SILVER SHIELD rebuilt Terran universities were churning out their first graduating classes.
The success of SILVER SHIELD and the reorganization of the Guard also brought with it a host of problems. The retirement of the old guard reduced the force’s overall experience, which was partially offset by increases in manpower and the incorporation of former Terran guerillas. However, the new wave of ComGuard recruits – eager men and women who hoped ComStar could duplicate their earlier successes to the point of reforming the full Terran Hegemony – caused their own issues. These new soldiers were hungry to reclaim their birthright at a time that was decidedly at odds with the goals of the First Circuit. While private memoranda suggested that expansion of the Protectorate was considered during these early years, the precarious position of ComStar meant it was nothing but talk.
When the Protectorate did expand during the first of the so-called Vanguard Operations the rebuilt ComGuard led the way. This second wave of expansion, ostensibly under the guise of “peacekeeping†saw the ComGuard drawn into combat on a number of occasions. Successful a second time, the poor state of the recovered worlds and the relative ease in which the they accomplished their objectives bolstered the Guards’ confidence to the point of arrogance.
As the new waves of recruits became disillusioned and the luster of enlistment began to fade the ComGuard became ripe recruiting grounds for another organization in the Protectorate, the Order. Many of these impressionable young people fell in line with Conrad Toyama, especially those soldiers stationed at ComStar facilities in foreign realms. During the Schism many of the ComGuard units within the Protectorate were effectively paralyzed, but still managed to play a part in ending the conflict. However, small units and their motivated commanders played the part, not the full weight of the army that conducted these actions. Outside of the Protectorate the ComGuard fell almost wholesale to Conrad’s fanatics when they were given the opportunity to strike at the House Lords in the name of Terra. These troops provided much of the muscle Order ROM agents needed to carry out their assigned missions.
In the aftermath of the Schism whole divisions disappeared. Most of these were posted outside of the Protectorate, but a few from within the Protectorate’s borders were stricken from the rolls. One notable division, the 213th (the Carver Division), so riddled with internal dissent it left ComStar en-masse. In conjunction with a few of her sister divisions the 213th would help form the Capolla Union from former Protectorate and annexed House worlds. Their betrayal was one of the many stunning blows the nascent ComGuards were forced to endure during and after the Schism.
Since the start of the Blackout the ComGuards have rebuilt themselves again, pledging to protect the Protectorate and ComStar above all else. As the corporation slowly reconnected with the worlds of the Inner Sphere it was the ComGuard who protected the convoys and landing parties. They were integral to reestablishing ComStar’s foothold in the Inner Sphere, as well as responsible for maintaining a grip on much of the company’s surviving resources. Time and time again, manpower provided by the ComGuard was the first presentation of the Post-Schism ComStar, and proof of the company’s willingness to help clean up the Order’s mess.
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Original Founding Units of the ComGuard
151st Royal BattleMech Division (Ulysses S. Grant Division) – later becomes the 151st ComGuard Divsion
13th Royal Infantry Division (The Superstition Division)
287th BattleMech Division (The Tobruk Division) – eventually builds the 3rd ComGuard Division
359th BattleMech Division (The Montgomery Division) – eventually builds the 47th ComGuard Division
184th Mechanized Infantry Division – survivors built the 6th ComGuard Division after the Schism
213th BattleMech Division (The Carver Division)
251st BattleMech Division (The Lipton Division); rebuilt from the remains of the 251st & 48th Inf Div
326th BattleMech Division (The Mantuffel Division); built from the remains of the 326th & 48th Inf Div
126th Mechanized Infantry Division (Bullfighters from Seville)
197th Mechanized Infantry Division (The Florida Swamp Foxes)
9th Royal CAAN Marine Regiment
349th Dragoon Regiment
112th Royal Hussar Regiment (The Jokes of Joseph)
125th Royal Hussar Armor Regiment – later becomes the Hilton Head Guard after the Schism
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The Fleet
The ComGuard Fleet is a perfect example of doing more with less. With the loss of so many DropShips and JumpShips, and with only a handful of new vessels being built each year, the task of transporting, protecting and fighting for the ComGuards has fallen to a small number of ships assigned to the role. Incapable of being everywhere at once, the ComGuard Fleet is a model of corporate efficiency. Deployed on an ad hoc basis to the most active operation theaters, or units, this small cadre of dedicated transports and assault ships provides the bulk of ComStar’s “black water†muscle. As for the rest of the ComGuard, most formations inevitable travel with the ships of ComStar’s other civilian divisions as needed. While far from quick, the added security of traveling ComGuard troops as passengers more than makes up for the reduction in cargo capacity. In the years since the fall of the HPG network, ComStar’s use of civilian transports for the ComGuards has proven a deadly surprise for more than one over-eager pirate looking to prey on a supposedly “unarmed†merchant vessel.
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Leviathans in the Deep
One of the ComGuard’s most closely guarded secrets is the total number of WarShips still at their disposal. Relics of the Star League, Jerome Blake authorized the repair and refit of a number of vessels following Operation SILVER SHIELD to help bolster the Protectorate’s defenses and to aid in further expansion of the Protectorate. Coupled with the few active ships already at ComStar’s disposal, the corporation’s war fleet was a potent weapon of war before the Schism since most House navies were a fraction of their Star League-era strength. However, the Schism was unkind to ComStar’s navy. During Toyama’s coup a few vessels were lost to sabotage or combat, while others were rendered useless after ComStar lost the ability to repair all of their systems. By the end of the 31st century ComStar could boast only a handful of these ancient behemoths.
Currently anchored in a secret facility at Luyten 68-28, these WarShips are painstakingly hidden and maintained by ComStar. Used sparingly, ComStar only operates the vessels for short periods of time to test their readiness and periodically familiarize new crews with their function. Reserved for the direst of circumstances, the WarShips of ComStar have almost never left Protectorate space. A potent power, these ships still represent an incredible advantage should the corporation ever require their service.
Uniforms
As mother of the modern ComGuard General Hayes took a personal hand in almost every facet of the new organization, including the Guards’ new uniforms. In a 2791 address to the First Circuit, General Hayes outlined the new ComGuard uniform.
“The Star League is gone. Crushed beneath the jackboot of the House Lords and their kin. However, the spirit of the Star League and of the Terran Hegemony before her survives here, [Pointing to her chest] in us. If the Protectorate is to some day rebuild what we’ve lost we must maintain our connection to our shared past and remind future generations that what was broken will, and can be remade. Our new uniforms will do both. They will connect us to our forefathers and remind both wearer and observer that we will ultimately triumph.â€
The new ComGuard dress uniform was virtually identical to old SLDF uniforms in cut and function, only differing in color selection and material. For example, the Dress Uniform of the Guard was black with dark blue accents, rather than olive drab. On the left shoulder the rank patch, campaign ribbons and service stripes were placed, and knee-high boots covered the pant legs. Gloves, usually matching the boots, were worn outdoors. A standard cap was also part of the uniform.
A black half jacket was worn over the thick shirt of the uniform. Running from the right shoulder down to the left hip was a school or (if available) a nation sash. Members of the ComGuard who came from outside of the Protectorate were allowed to wear a pattern of colors native to their homeland if one existed. If it did not, a standard pattern representing ComStar was used instead. Unit insignia appeared near the top of the sash. Completing the uniform was the ComStar emblem on the left chest.
Officers in the ComGuard are also allowed to wear a ceremonial sword with their dress uniform. However, sword types were standardized, with broadswords being issued by an officer’s commander or school commandant. Trained marines in the Guard wore uniforms that exchanged the blue highlights for red ones, and the broadsword for a Barbary-type sabre. Otherwise, these uniforms were identical to the ones worn by the rest of the ComGuard.
The new ComGuard uniform would undergo a slight modification after the Schism. In the wake of the Order’s attempted Coup, ComStar began the process of reaching out to the rest of the Inner Sphere without the benefit of the HPG network. After the Schism, ComStar was a tough sell to even the least affected worlds, and the dark uniforms of the ComGuard did not help smooth the company’s battered image. It was a pair of Stellar Relations adepts who first suggested exchanging the black of the dress uniform for a more inviting white to help combat the Sphere-wide negative image, and in 2846 ComGuard personnel outside of the Protectorate were issued white duty and dress uniforms that are otherwise identical to the originals. The small change would have a lasting impact, especially on many of the smaller, less important worlds of the Inner Sphere where Toyama loyalists were intimately connected to the darker colors. A resounding success, it is now common practice to assign every guard both uniform styles after acceptance into ComStar.
Of special note is the duty uniform of the ComGuards’ MechWarriors. The original uniform worn by MechWarriors of the SLDF’s Regular Army was a marvel of electronic sophistication. Star League MechWarriors wore tan long-sleeved shirts and shorts made of a synthetic, heat-resistant cloth woven around a network of tubes of varying diameters. Hookups at the cuff allowed the warrior to connect his gloves to the shirt and cool his hands. Covering the shirts and shorts was a cooling jumpsuit in camouflage colors. Unlike the low-tech and more common cooling vest, the Star League cooling jumpsuit extended down the front and backs of the warrior’s legs and around the feet, preventing MechWarrior Hotfoot, the common problem of gradual loss of feeling in the feet caused by repeated exposure to excessive heat. The cooling systems used a synthetic coolant that was three times more efficient than water in removing heat from a person’s body. The formula for the liquid has long since been lost thanks to Holy Shroud. Though the cooling system plugged into the ‘Mech as most cooling jackets do, a warrior of the Regular Army had a pump and heat exchanger on his belt for emergency use.
While many ComGuard Mechwarriors continue to benefit from the SLDF’s advanced systems, many more do not. The Order’s Holy Shroud attacks crippled ComStar’s ability to manufacture many of suits’ important components, such as the efficient coolant or advanced neurohelmet, and over the years the ComGuard has been forced to rely on less sophisticated versions. More than one ComGuard warrior has accidentally suffered a tear in his coolant suit and been left to watch helplessly as irreplaceable coolant spilled onto the cockpit floor. As a result, much of the ComGuards’s best equipment never leaves the tight confines of the Protectorate’s borders. MechWarriors leaving the safety of the Protectorate often exchange their advanced neurohelmet and coolant suits for a more robust unit better suited to the technological wilds of the Inner Sphere. Recently, ComStar made a breakthrough in recovered neurohelment design that may make it possible to reintroduce new production versions of the SLDF’s advanced neurohelmet. However, problems with the biofeedback apparatus continue to keep prototypes from reaching the field or the factory assembly line.
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Made changes based on SSJGohan's excellent suggestion, so both Corporate Realities and Rank Structure have been modified accordingly.
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Unit List – Field Manual
Introduction
Compared to most of the other armies of the Inner Sphere the ComGuard is both large and well equipped. Dispersed throughout known space and sometimes beyond, ComGuard soldiers can be found wherever the company operates. From simple infantry detachments to full Level IIIs, the ComGuard represents the armed might of ComStar, Terra and the Protectorate.
The modern ComGuard is composed of 21 fulltime front-line divisions, but has additional divisions in a standing reverse. In an emergency, the Protectorate also has the capability to raise more from retired and reserve personnel. Infantry comprise the bulk of the ComGuards, with equal parts armor and aerospace assets also responsible for a large portion of the ComGuards’ martial strength. BattleMechs are present, but large BattleMech units are rare in the ComGuards. This is not because the Guard lack BattleMechs (quite the contrary), but because armor and infantry are cheaper to come by, easier to maintain and far more useful outside of the Protectorate’s protected borders.
Sadly, due to the dispersed nature of ComStar and the ComGuards most divisions are considered paper tigers, being spread across dozens of worlds. This leaves the ComGuard at a disadvantage in large engagements. However, a higher level of technology, training and the backing of ComStar is a significant edge other nations do not have. The smaller average deployment size also ensures that most ComGuard units operate without readily accessible support or reinforcement. ComGuard troops are trained to be self reliant and flexible fighters, who have sizeable and varied experience across a number of different mission types. A very professional army, the ComGuard prides itself on maintaining a quality other Inner Sphere armies cannot match.
76th Division (Dirty Foxholes IV-Phi)
Constituted from soldiers who started their early military careers in the 126th Mechanized Infantry Division (Bullfighters from Seville) and Terran rebels who joined the ComGuard after the liberation of Dieron, the 76th Division was one of the first new divisions formed by ComStar after the completion of Operation SILVER SHIELD. Integral to the coreward garrison posts of Dieron, Altair and Saffel, the 76th spent its early years working to integrate the new worlds into the Protectorate and providing humanitarian aid to their civilian populations. Largely immune to the predations of Toyama’s fanatics (except for the two Level IIIs assigned to Dieron), the 76th was hit hard by the Order during the Schism. In addition to losing soldiers to the Toyama, the Level IIIs on Altair and Saffel suffered from assassinations, bombings and on Saffel, the loss of an entire Level III when its Dictator class DropShip was destroyed by sabotage while attempting to lift off. Less than two Level IIIs survived the Schism, but managed to help aid in the reconstruction efforts. Rebuilt in the following decade, the 76th Division participated in the VANGUARD II Operation (the expansion of the ComStar Protectorate in 2865), and remains one of the ComGuards most experienced formations.
The 76th Division received the nickname “Dirty Foxholes†for its actions during the pacification of Terra Firma. During the battle to claim the planet for the Protectorate a collection of local militia and two battalions of Tikonov Lancers entrenched themselves in the capital city of Aserlitz. Located on the northern coast of Terra Firma’s Rusalaia continent, the city’s placement was a major hindrance to the ComGuard advance. Refusing to surrender to ComStar, the Lancers used the tight urban streets to sally against ComGuard formations as they attempted to encircle the city. Recognizing a full siege would be costly and counterproductive, the Exarch of the 76th, Juan Morales, concocted a plan to end the fight.
Moving in under the cover of darkness, Morales ordered a Level III of infantry to carefully make its way through the largely abandoned Freinze suburbs. The suburbs were located to the west and separated from the main capital by a small winding river and four bridges. This side of the city had yet to be reached by the ComGuard, whose heavier elements were being held by heavy forests to the north and concentrated defenses to the east and south. Quietly, the soldier-infiltrators of the Level III began fortifying the riverbank, digging a patchwork of hasty fortifications and using their meager heavy weapons to target the bridges. By morning, the soldiers were firmly entrenched in their foxholes and remained undetected by the Lancers or the militia.
At 0600 local time the ComGuards advanced into the Aserlitz’s under the cover of heavy ‘Mechs and armor. The brutal fighting was street-to-street, and despite prior evacuations and community shelters, hundreds of civilians died when militia units set fire to a food processing plant. The plant, which processed a number of different foods for Dukempic Foods included corn storage units. Their destruction created a massive explosion that collapsed a number of nearby buildings with basement shelters. With the demolition of the plant, Morales surmised that Aserlitz’s defenders were holding out just long enough to slow the ComGuard down before making a break for the Freinze DropPort. Rather than let the defenders leapfrog to another location the ComGuard pushed even harder.
As expected, the defenders offered only a few minutes of heavy fighting before retreating towards Freinze. It was at this moment that the infantry of the 76th earned their name. Surprised, surviving elements of the Tikonov Lancers slammed into their entrenched position. Fighting from their foxholes, buildings and the bridges, the infantry of the 76th held the river until the remainder of the ComGuard could come to their support. Battered and suffering from heavy losses, the 76th nevertheless won the day. After the battle a Tikonov prisoner would later tell his captors that if it weren’t for the “bastards in their dirty foxholes†the Lancers would have made their escape. The name stuck, and soon the title of Dirty Foxholes was added to the official title of the 76th Division.
Officers
Exarch Sara Dejonge is relatively new to the Dirty Foxholes, having only been assigned to the division for two years. Prior to commanding the 76th Dejonge was an officer in the 13th Division (True Defenders IV-Kappa). Assigned to a regular Galedon trade delegation that moved through Alliance space, Sara was promoted to command and the rank of Exarch after she successfully defended her convoy from raiders while offloading cargo on New Sumatra. A brilliant armor commander, Sara used her Level II of tanks and infantry, which included an SRM carrier, to lure the raider ‘Mechs into the tight confines of the DropPort. There, her expert use of terrain and the liberal use of explosives destroyed two of the attacking ‘Mechs and captured a third (Sara collapsed an abandoned cargo hangar on the Wasp). Faced with unexpected and intense opposition, the remaining raiders fled.
Tactics
Keeping to their mechanized and rebel heritage, the 76th Division prefers to use static emplacements and heavy weapons to slow, snipe and control enemy advances. Masters in the art of creating “killing†fields and traps, the division has a disproportionate number of engineers in its ranks who help devise many of the divisions most successful “dens†(as killing fields and weapon emplacements are known in the division). Unsurprisingly, many of these ingenious engineers end up in university classrooms teaching the next generation of soldiers their dangerous trade.
Support
Fast compared to other infantry-heavy units, the Mine Game Level III-Upsilon and Stand Firma Level III-Chi are notable for their use of super fast VTOLs to quickly move about the battlefield regardless of terrain. Armed with lighter weapons than the rest of the unit, the soldiers of both Level IIIs make extensive use of satchel charges and man-portable SRMs. The remainder of the division typically deploys an uneven mix of light armor, fast BattleMechs and VTOLs for support. The division is one of the few ComGuard formations without any attached aerospace elements.
134th Division (Rough Riders IV-Xi)
One of the many general ComGuard divisions formed during the Blackout, the 134th Division was commissioned in 2847 from refurbished material left behind by the SLDF when General Kerensky abandoned the Inner Sphere. The division’s original mandate, as authorized by the First Circuit, was to protect corporate assets during the reestablishment and repair period with the Inner Sphere following the start of the Blackout. Over the decades, the Rough Riders gained a reputation as excellent bodyguard units and were often assigned as Level IIs to important delegations. This was effectively the division’s sole responsibility after the 2849 “Avalon Hit†incident when Davion extremists attempted to assassinate Director New Avalon during his historic visit to the planet. After thwarting the attack, soldiers of the 134th were permanently assigned to garrison important ComStar facilities and personnel; where they have remained every since. No longer roving guards, the Rough Riders are the closest ComStar has to a “private†security unit outside of Terra’s famed 151st Division, and are often poached by ROM recruiters looking for personal security experts.
Officers
Prefect Shaun Finnigan is considered by many in the ComGuard to be the best personal security professional in the ComGuard. Once a member of ROM, Shaun is unique in having left the clandestine organization for life in the Guard. Assigned to the 134th’s Level II-Psi (Bright Shield), Prefect Finnigan and his troopers are currently providing protection for ComStar operations and personnel on Galedon, where they do their best to survive the Alliance’s Machiavellian court politics. At least twice a year Finnigan’s team diffuses some internal intrigue aimed at destabilizing the Alliance by using ComStar as a patsy. Some soldiers of the Level II joke that involving ComStar in some conspiracy is an Alliance noble’s right of passage.
Tactics
Every Level II of the 134th Division varies a little in its specialty. With almost every part of the division permanently assigned to a specific location or person, many of the division’s Levels have become experts of their local environment or assignment. For example, the Level II detachment assigned to Brockway have become masters of using the world’s water rich environment to effectively thwart attacks, while a similar Sian Level II has become masters of local Capellan customs and politics. These important traits are preserved as institutional memory and are passed down to recruits as each new soldier is assimilated into the division’s many Levels.
Support
Assigned almost equal numbers of ‘Mechs, armor, infantry and aerospace fighters, the Level IIs of the Rough Riders have been perfected to fit their assigned charges. Contrary to the composition of other Guard units, it is common to find whole Level IIs composed entirely of a single unit type.
List of Active ComGuard Divisions
134th CGD (Rough Riders IV-Xi)
13th CGD (True Defenders IV-Kappa)
76th CGD (Dirty Foxholes IV-Phi)
151st CGD (Ulysses S. Grant Division IV-Alpha)
3rd CGD (Fortress Legion IV-Zeta)
287th CGD (The Tobruk Division IV-Theta)
47th CGD (Steel Raiders IV-Iota)
6th CGD (Hayes’s Hellraisers IV-Chi)
125th CGD (Blake’s Pride IV-Psi)
18th CGD (The Green Dragoons IV-Kappa)
33rd CGD (The Caph Cavalier Division IV-Chi)
111th CGD (The Lucky One’s IV-Rho)
89th CGD (Eridani Light Horse IV-Lambda)
22nd CGD (White Knights IV-Tau)
203rd CGD (The Jump Devils of Bryant IV-Sigma)
126th CGD (Bullfighters from Seville IV-Upsilon)
197th CGD (The Florida Swamp Foxes IV-Phi)
66th CGD (Terran Zouaves IV-Chi)
48th CGD (Athenry Bloodhounds IV-Xi)
102nd CGD (Star Rangers IV-Psi)
51st CGD (The Lipton Brigade IV-Mu)
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Political Geography – Terra Under ComStar
ComStar’s Operation SILVER SHIELD had the avowed goal of protecting the homeworld of humanity from becoming a prize trinket for the approaching House Lords. In reality, the planet proved extremely useful in ComStar’s early years when it provided the money, HPGs and trained technicians to rebuild the HPG network. (Records released by the corporation in the early 3000s showed that it was not until 2802 that ComStar would turn a profit without monies skimmed from Terran coffers.)
Terrans were willing to support ComStar because of its aid in their time of need. Terrans had not seen the worst of the Star League Civil War, but Terra had seen its fair share of battles and the North American continent, the industrial and political heart of the Terran Hegemony, had suffered the most. Millions of people had been killed and the settled areas of the Pacific Northwest were virtually destroyed during efforts to secure the Court of the Star League. The world was virtually ignored by the House Lords after liberation, while the Terran Hegemony government was frozen by incapable, novice bureaucrats and politicians. Among the failures of the Hegemony’s new government, it was only Jerome Blake’s Star League Department of Communications that truly helped feed and house Terrans. By 2784, Blake had ended five years of refugee camps, famine and homelessness amongst Terrans.
As the dawn of the 29th Century rose, Terra had essentially repaired all of the physical damage of the civil war, but was suffering from widespread economic damage from a multitude of causes: the Terran Hegemony interstellar economy, of which Terra was its hub, was gone; the local economy was completely unhinged; and the Inner Sphere was rapidly destroying any scrap of interstellar commerce in unrestricted warfare. This produced huge numbers of unemployed, disaffected people who easily forgot ComStar’s past kindness and obsessed on Terra’s lost glories. These people believed that Operation SILVER SHIELD could be replicated over and over again, and while partially correct, they simply selected the most inopportune moment. They were fed, ironically, by ComStar’s endless march of propaganda about how Terra was preserved from what would become the First Succession War. Terrans became convinced that it would soon be time for them to reclaim their full empire from the idiot House Lords. The problem was that they were not united by the Terran Hegemony, but rather by a politically neutral and decidedly corporate successor to the Star League Department of Communications. Political parties and radical groups arose in the early-2800s that proposed to reverse this relationship (turning ComStar into a mere tool of a new Terran empire – a notion Conrad would exploit to recruit for his budding Order). ComStar reacted poorly at first; using ROM to round up troublemakers and send them to hastily constructed re-education camps.
That all changed when Jerome Blake learned of the new rebellions that had sprung up on former Terran worlds outside of the Protectorate. Whereas the first rebellions were seen as a tool to forge the early Protectorate and protect Terra, these new rebellions were helpful for entirely new reasons. Hopeful, Blake made an impassioned plea to his First Circuit to help support these rebels. While Terran worlds had been swallowed whole by the greedy Houses, the wellspring of rebellion gave Blake confidence that if fostered, could slow, perhaps even reverse the absorption by weakening the House militaries. In addition, covert support of these rebel insurrections could be use as an outlet for Terra’s growing frustrations.
Despite opposition to Blake’s desire to provide arms and supplies from SLDF caches secreted away on Terra to unknown rebel elements for a second time, enough of the First Circuit agreed to the Prime Administrator’s gamble to carry the day. Using many of the radical groups and political parties originally rounded up by ROM as troublemakers, Blake was able to convince and then organize these men and women into the vanguard of a new “Terran Stateâ€. Within a few weeks the first shipments of arms and insurgents were reaching planets as far away as Bell and Glengarry.
ComStar’s decision to supply weapons to Tikonov and Skye-sponsored rebels had an almost immediate and destabilizing effect on the entire region. It would also create problems for ComStar later when the Protectorate began to expand its borders. Whole worlds shuffled free of their House shackles by paying a high price in blood. All the while, ComStar maintained the facade of neutral arbiter beneath the glossy veneer of humanitarian efforts. Ostensibly ComStar’s humanitarian programs played a dual role in cementing solid relationships with Terran insurgents, but also to hide the arms flowing from the Protectorate a second time. Although terribly dangerous for ComStar, the entire operation spoke highly of ROM’s acumen and expertise that not a single House Lord suspected the corporation of duplicity or the origin of the insurgents’ weapons. Most observers of the day assumed the arms came from SLDF stocks left behind by General Kerensky, not from Terra’s vast stores and factories. Even more, the surge of armed resistance in the region allowed ComStar to claim a score of additional worlds to add to the budding Protectorate.
ComStar’s new direction provided the reprieve Blake was hoping for. By directing the pent up energies and hopes of the Terran people elsewhere ComStar was able to alleviate the tension that had been plaguing the corporation’s domestic agenda. Within a decade, the civilian populations under ComStar aegis were content and pleased with their corporate overloads. Those few dissenters, still unhappy with the Prime Administrator’s rule were finally silenced after a botched assassination attempt on Blake destroyed one of the transatlantic highspeed mag-lev tunnels running from North America to Europe. The death toll was enormous, the highest since Republican occupation, but a very public rescue effort – spearheaded by Blake personally – turned the entire planet against the anti-ComStar separatists.
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Conrad: The Separatist Connection and Blake’s Knowledge
In recent years evidence has surfaced connecting Conrad and his cabal of fanatics with the Separatists held responsible for the Tunnel Bombing of 2824. While using the Order bogeyman in connection with any conspiracy has been in vogue for decades, there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest there was indeed a connection between Toyama and the Tunnel Bombers.
In the aftermath of the bombing, ROM and Terran security forces ruthlessly hunted down and captured every suspected member of the “Terran Liberation Armyâ€. Soon, paramilitary commandos stormed many of the terrorists suspected hideouts (often within hours of the attack and with well-prepared precision), completely demolishing the organization. At the time, no one mentioned the speed or efficiency in which ComStar dispatched the separatists. Also, many of the captured suspects were low-level supporters of the separatist movement – none were supposedly upper-level members (those believed to be responsible for the attack) were captured alive. Those killed, who inevitably died in shoot-outs with ROM, or by their own hand when capture was imminent, were not mourned by the public. Cries for justice gave ComStar free hand to dispense justice.
When corporate security forces in Paris breached the last TLA hideaway and found its occupants dead – an apparent mass suicide – the world breathed a collective sigh of relief and went about its business. ComStar, happy to enjoy the new support, washed its hands and swept the whole event underneath the table. A cursory report, complied by local police forces and rubber stamped by ComStar authority was released six months later outlining the TLA’s terrorist manifesto and plot. No one at the time questioned or scrutinized the information closely – reconstruction efforts and burgeoning prosperity had directed the public’s attention elsewhere.
Surprisingly, an original hardcopy of the report survived Conrad’s Schism. Found in an old storage basement of a London police department in 3003, researchers at Oxford University have found tantalizing clues pointing to some of the earliest known connections between Toyama and his actions before the Schism.
Detailed examination of the documents found that local investigators were unable to locate or identify the person or persons who actually supplied the explosives and Tunnel design schematics to the TLA prior to the attack. Although a number of leads were followed, they either turned up blank or hit dead ends. The investigation also found physiological inconsistencies at some of the suicide sites, with indications of evidence tampering and the possibility that some TLA officers did not die voluntarily.
The most damning evidence uncovered by the Oxford team and the strongest confirmation that Conrad may have been intimately involved with the terrorists came from an obscure file concerning the explosives used by the TLA. While most of the investigation centered on the attack itself or the individuals involved, an inquiry and chemical analysis of explosive residue found at the Tunnel site, and at the Paris location turned up a surprising connection to an unlikely source – Dieron.
Records from the time indicate that the explosives used in the attacks were traced to a cache of old-SLDF materials originally marked as lost on Dieron during General Kerensky’s withdrawal from the Inner Sphere. While strange to find an off-world explosive used when so many untraceable local sources were available, a note tagged to the written final report suggested that in 2806 the cache was marked as destroyed rather than lost during Kerensky’s Exodus. Stranger still, at the time of the Tunnel Bombings Conrad was Administrator of the Dieron HPG and was known for being intimately involved in the planet’s recovery operations, having a personal hand in operations around many of the planet’s old military installations…
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In the intervening years between the Tunnel Bombing and the ComStar Schism, the budding Protectorate became one of the sole regions of peace in an Inner Sphere saturated with war. Despite ComStar’s reduction in civilian industry – especially shipbuilding – there was enough reconstruction on the other worlds of the Protectorate that people were busy working. Even the elusive Belter communities got onboard, providing much of the aerospace expertise and industry necessary to house refuges at Rigil Kentarus, Caph, New Earth and rebuild Byrant’s damaged Storm Inhibitor array. On Rigil Kentarus, reconstruction crews worked almost night and day to repair the damage caused by Republican use of capital-grade weapons fired from the moon Rikon Minor at the planet’s surface during the Coup. On Caph a huge influx of refuges and corporate resources, including corporate reclamation teams, cleaned areas devastated by nuclear and chemical weapons. In 2829 a reclamation team sifting through the nuclear-scarred ruins near New Brunnel unearthed a large cache of computer cores once used by the Caph Institute of Technology. Shipped back to Terra for research and examination, one of these cores contained HPG-related information some experts believe members of Conrad’s Order may have used to crash the network.
By 2832, the worlds claimed by ComStar were almost pristine example of Star League-era technology and prosperity, with populations swelling into the billions. Many of the new arrivals were refuges from former Hegemony worlds seeking to escape the bloodshed that Blake helped engineer. In many ways, this was the golden age of ComStar, and tentative overtures to Asta, Thorin and elsewhere promised to secure the Protectorate more planets. Despite the turmoil surrounding the budding Protectorate, the center of the Inner Sphere not only survived but also thrived.
Sadly, this peace was to be short-lived. Soon Terra, ComStar and the Inner Sphere would be swept up in one man’s bid for power.
Terra, like the rest of the Inner Sphere, suffered Conrad’s Schism in varying ways. For the citizens of the Protectorate, signs of the violence targeting ComStar were first reported through the news as word of new atrocities taking place around the Inner Sphere began to filter in through the HPG network. For the busy citizens of the Protectorate, most ignored what they heard and saw. After all, the Inner Sphere had been gorging itself on war for years now and ComStar would inevitably get caught in the middle. While the attacks did anger some, the population was focused on domestic reconstruction, not the Inner Sphere. However, the Terran people did applaud Blake’s proclamation of an Interdiction to punish the Great Houses responsible for the attacks, and expected the imposed month-long silence to remind the House Lords of Terra’s neutrality and power.
In truth, ComStar’s interdiction did not affect every world. Planets within the Protectorate still maintained an active network and Terra was never truly cut off from the rest of inhabited space. Even during the Interdiction, HPGs throughout the Inner Sphere were still in use, but by the corporation and only the corporation. News and other information continued to funnel into Terra and the Protectorate through ComStar sources. Even then, information regarding the attacks happening inside of the Protectorate did not make the headlines, being carefully controlled by the News Bureau. Then, as if from nowhere the news stopped.
At first, most Terrans were only peripherally aware something was wrong with the HPG network. ComStar administrators and service personnel were ostensibly concerned, but tight lipped about the problem. Most complaints were politely deflected with a simple; “We’re looking into the problem.†For a few days, even weeks this response would suffice, but as time passed the populace became increasingly concerned with ComStar’s apparent inability to explain or rectify the situation, especially as local violence seemed to erupt on almost every Protectorate planet.
While ComStar scrambled to understand what they were readily beginning to learn was an Inner Sphere-wide Blackout – Conrad struck. Across Terra, the Protectorate and the Inner Sphere, operatives in the employ of the Order attempted to usurp local control. Indiscriminate use of heavy weapons, sabotage and even tactical nuclear weapons struck key infrastructure points and corporate centers. On Terra, Order attacks were aimed to cause more confusion and terror than actual destruction. Power, water and transportation centers were bombed, locked down or sabotaged to paralyze local authority. While civilian casualties were light, many occurred nevertheless. However, Conrad’s followers were not above murdering innocents. The city of Sydney, Australia was devastated by the release of a tactical nuclear weapon meant to kill the local garrison. The death toll was hideous, but Order propagandists successfully blamed corporate loyalists for the nuclear detonation. Order operatives in ROM also carried out assassination operations of high-ranking ComStar and corporate security leaders that only inflated the damage further by pushing the situation out of control. By far, the worst injury Terra suffered was the late-Schism destruction of levies along the Belgium coast that killed thousands and misplaced millions more when cold water from the Atlantic flooded the lowlands. Elsewhere in the Terran system, Order operatives would eventually collapse parts of the Aphros City Dome on Venus that cost the lives of 50,000 people, while sabotage of the famed Titan Shipyards would ruin ComStar’s aerospace production abilities for decades. Even the normally sheltered Belters felt the sting of Toyama’s abortive coup when three of their largest settlements suffered from catastrophic sabotage in late 2841.
Conrad believed these attacks would isolate Terra from the storm he was unleashing on the Inner Sphere, and while a failure, did much to diminish Terra’s ability to continue reconstruction efforts on other Protectorate worlds. Worse then the loss of life and destruction of infrastructure was the harm caused to many of Terra’s library and information storage centers as the Schism came to a close. Along with the devastating virus that burned the core of every HPG, Conrad’s followers also targeted and destroyed data storage centers, manufacturing and research facilities, and even released computer viruses similar to the HPG virus that wiped software and burned the hardware from any system it could access. Worse still, the virus managed to gain access to systems like aerospace control towers and airliners. Hundreds of people died when their planes, small craft or DropShip ceased to function and crashed. Codenamed Operation HOLY SHROUD, the terran shroud attacks were far worse for the future of the Protectorate than the HPG Blackout.
<<<BEGIN SIDE BOX>>>
The fruits of Holy Shroud – Could it still be around somewhere?
From Secrets, Lies and other Drugs – Conrad’s Schism
By Molly Shannon, New York Evening News, 3022
From the Word of Blake
“I believe a day will come when the fighting ends and we can emerge as the saviors…The victories will come for us one world at a time – then one House at a time – until we control everything. Mankind will not resist but will invite us to help rebuild, as we have done with blessed Terra and the Protectorate. [Salvation 4:61-70] Blake has foreseen the day when ComStar will rule the worlds of the Inner Sphere. Mankind will openly invite us to rule because we have, by divine foresight, saved all knowledge for the time of the great rebuilding.â€
In the years since the Blackout scholars throughout the Protectorate have questioned one of Conrad’s most heinous acts: the systematic erasure of hundreds of years of human development. His release of the HPG virus, though terrible, has been ultimately viewed as a stopgap measure aimed at supporting the Order’s early efforts while Conrad worked to prepare ComStar for its inevitable domination of the Protectorate – and maybe – the Inner Sphere. After all, the specific nature of the Blackout virus only targeted key components of the HPG. Thereby violently, but effectively disabling the transmitter – not destroying it.
This stands in stark contrast to the specific targeting of research facilities and information storage centers on Terra and elsewhere. Attacks made on these valuable resources were not designed to disable or postpone usage, but rather to destroy, and remains a glaring enigma in what has been generally accepted as Conrad’s grand plan to control and lead ComStar. Erasing and destroying valuable knowledge, or one of a kind research seems suicidal, not to mention shortsighted, to say the least.
In the decades since scholars have been asking the same question: If Toyama’s new Order was going to eventually conquer the stars, wouldn’t they require the advanced technology to accomplish their goals? And if so, why destroy the very knowledge necessary to accomplish the task – especially in light of the Order’s other attacks?
This mystery has plagued the academic community for years. Of the dozens of possible explanations, two tantalizing theories have sprung up with enough credible evidence to explain this obvious error in Conrad’s strategy. The “Geneva Theoryâ€, first proposed by Professor Sara Kalmin in 2947 is by far the leading contender. Prof. Kalmin’s theory – supported by some physical evidence and a few partial communiqués recovered from the period – suggest that the Order created a massive backup of the material they aimed to destroy prior to the attacks. Based loosely on rumors of a Prometheus-like database that supposedly survived the fall of the Star League, Kalmin believed that the database and its contents were stored somewhere in the city of Geneva. The theory gained so much credence in its time that several funded digs were organized to locate the proposed storage center. Sadly, heavy fighting in the city towards the end of the Schism and lingering taint from nerve agents have apparently obliterated all signs of a possible Order cache in the intervening years since Conrad’s death. Despite the lack of findings, Kalmin’s theory is still pursued by Order experts and treasure hunters even today. Although these groups continue to come up empty handed, even the danger of the Genevan Wastes have not discouraged new fortune seekers from trying.
The second theory, first proposed by psychologist Dr. Tomas Vilreal believed that the “Holy Shroud†attacks (as they were called in the Order) were enacted by rogue elements within Conrad’s organization that sought to expand the Blackout even further. Using recovered documentation Dr. Vilreal created a complex psychological model that combined knowledge of Conrad’s Order, anti-technology sects like the Omniss in the Outworlds Alliance, and PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) modeling to orchestrate what a fanatic concerned with removing mankind’s ability to harm one another may have believed, and why Toyama’s original mandates may not have sufficed. While we now know that there was dissention within Conrad’s organization, Dr. Vilreal was not privy to the same information in 2977. This radical assumption, based on psychological modeling and text analysis caused uproar among more traditional historians, and Vilreal received more than his fair share of ridicule. While rejected by the majority of the research community, the discrepancies Tomas identified in personal texts from the period – including some of those attributed to Conrad himself – helped spawn a renewed effort to finally answer the question as to why the Order carried out Operation HOLY SHROUD on Terra.
<<<END SIDE BOX>>>
In the aftermath of the Schism, Terra and the Protectorate took stock of what was lost. New realities, thanks to damage sustained during the fighting and knowledge irrevocably lost to Holy Shroud setback recovery operations. What should have taken only months to repair required years, and in some cases, decades to fix or replace. Some of the worst affected areas on Terra, such as the Genevan Wastes, remain contaminated and desolate even today. Elsewhere in the Protectorate, on worlds only just beginning to recover from the Succession Wars, were even worse off – having been reliant on Terra for technology and support to finance their own recovery efforts. The gaping wounds suffered during the Schism were even more pronounced among these worlds and continued to be a major financial drain and focus for the corporation for years.
Full accounting of the Schism showed that Terra’s once mighty manufacturing capabilities, especially heavy and aerospace industries had been sorely tested. Worse still, the success of Holy Shroud wiped large reservoirs of information clean. Surviving knowledge caches were scattered, damaged, or limited in their scope and focus. One recovered date core contained complex K-F Drive theories, but the corresponding engineering schematics for known JumpShip K-F Drive types wiped clean. The end result was a patchwork anthology of humanity’s collective knowledge. As terrible as the situation was, it could not compare to the rest of the Inner Sphere. In this regard, ComStar and Terra lucked out. Being better off then the rest of the Inner Sphere was tremendous help. While the Inner Sphere was scrambling to pick up the pieces after suffering Holy Shroud, ComStar and Terra used their small, but significant lead to get to the front of the pack first.
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My point was a "nationalisation" of the network with the people.
In a corporation you can always find people that are unhappy or willing to be promoted...
Just look at how it happened in several countries in the past centuries.
But for such a strategical asset, they (the Successor States) could have also asked for a neutral company controlled by them (x% of the shares).
Regarding Earth and the other planets, how are they ruled by ComStar?
Are they more or less independent paying just a tax? Heavily ruled?
Regarding ComGuards, you could be a little more precise in their history.
I guess the first Divisions were following the SLDF organisation? This could be made a little bit clearer.
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But for such a strategical asset, they (the Successor States) could have also asked for a neutral company controlled by them (x% of the shares).
They could, but who would listen? The Great Houses have all fallen to pieces. Honestly, after 100+ years there isn't a claimant strong enough to push for a neutral anything. During the Blackout, HPG compounds were part trade house, bazaar, post office, etc. So no House really cares about some worthless real estate. A broken HPG is no longer a strategic asset.
Most states understand that ComStar isn't a neutral entity, but they'll utilize their services when possible simply because they're available. The same cryptography used to protect a message sent by HPG is the same used when transported by DropShip/JumpShip.
Regarding Earth and the other planets, how are they ruled by ComStar?
Are they more or less independent paying just a tax? Heavily ruled?
That's coming up in the next section.
Regarding ComGuards, you could be a little more precise in their history.
I guess the first Divisions were following the SLDF organisation? This could be made a little bit clearer.
I could, but the history is left intentionally loose so developers can help fill in the blanks. You'll understand better towards the end.
Keep in mind that this is a basic primer to the universe, it'll be up to members to fill in the blanks and fully flesh out the fiction.
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Planetary Data – Terra, Venus, Mars, Solar System
Terran System General Features
Star Type (Recharge Time): G2V (183 hours)
The Terran star system consists of nine planets, hundreds of moons, and several asteroid belts and clusters. The planet closest to the primary, Sol, is the tiny barren world of Mercury. Next is Venus, another rocky world still inhabited by man. Terra is the third world, followed by terraformed and colonized Mars. Between Mars and the first gas giant, Jupiter, is the first major asteroid belt. The remaining planets are mostly gas giants. After Jupiter come Saturn (which includes the moon Titan), Uranus and Neptune. Uranus and Neptune might be more properly defined as ice giants, rather than gas giants. Beyond frozen Neptune is another major asteroid belt, the Kuniper Belt, of which the ninth planetoid Pluto is a member, and even further beyond is the prototypical Oort Cloud.
As the mother world of humanity and ComStar, the Sol System is bustling with aerospace traffic. Millions of Terrans make the short flight to Luna annually for the few operating resorts. Mercury and Mars continue to ship relatively huge quantities of raw materials to Terra to fulfill Terra’s resource needs. Countless small craft and DropShips (more than anywhere else in the Inner Sphere) travel through the system, connecting the major worlds with inhabited moons and the few major orbital settlements.
Government: A Division of Protectorate Affairs
Among the worlds of human space, Terra and the Protectorate have a relatively unique government that is best described as a functional corporate bureaucracy. While there is some variation between the Division of Protectorate Affairs (DoPA) branch that governs Terra and the other Protectorate worlds (these local variations are responsible for creating some of the confusion outsiders have concerning the function of the DoPA), the branches remain essentially the same in focus and scope – the governing of the Protectorate’s citizens.
The DoPA is a modern, professional civil service based on the best lessons of Terran Hegemony managerial theory. It has sufficient checks and balances to avoid becoming a dictatorship or oligarchy; the powers of department heads are carefully delineated to avoid abuse, and a competent internal affairs department (separate from ROM and a continued source of conflict between the two) prevents significant corruption. A small “council†of department heads lead the native Terran DoPA and makes policy decisions to address issues or problems (recessions, natural disasters, famines, etc.) and to implement directives from ComStar’s First Circuit. The DoPA’s departments are typical of a modern government: Education, Health, Housing, Treasury, Agriculture and Environment, Transportation, etc. The seat of Terra’s DoPA has been New York City since Geneva was obliterated during the Schism.
Advancement in the DoPA is mostly meritocratic, the sole exception being the Executive Board – also known as the Second Circuit – which represents the worlds of the Protectorate, and where the leaders of the Planetary Councils meet. While the head of the Division represents the Protectorate as a whole, and is an appointed member of the First Circuit (known as Director New Earth), the position is historically drawn from executive board members.
The Division of Protectorate Affiars’ one small nod to democratic representation is the planetary council. All Protectorate worlds, including Terra, are allowed to elect their executive board representative from their local council. Local councils are carbon copies of the same setup in operation on Terra. Council candidates, if they choose to run, are drawn from the leaders of their respective departments. For example, the department heads of Caph can run in an election to select a new planetary representative to the DoPA’s executive board if they elect to do so. Planetary elections can vary from as little as two to dozens of potential candidates. After elections, new department leaders are promoted to replace the vacant position. Elections are not mandatory, but available after every ten year term.
Voting is limited to Protectorate citizens, who are fully invested corporate employees and allowed one voting share upon acceptance into ComStar as an adept. Voting shares were created as an outgrowth of the successful Resource Reclamation Act, and became a fixture of the Protectorate. Executive Board Members of the DoPA are allowed a single ten-year tenure with an optional extension if vetted by Director New Earth. This setup provides the Director New Earth with tremendous power and leverage among the Executive Board. However, his position is a precarious one. If the Protectorate functions poorly, it is Director New Earth who suffers the wraith of the Prime Administrator and First Circuit, not the members of the Executive Board.
DoPA departments are further broken down into district governments that coordinate policing, taxation, and provide social and municipal services. Unlike the earlier federal-style government of the Alliance and Hegemony, the DoPA has no separation between districts and the “central†planetary council of a given world – the districts are simple administrative zones to manage billions of Protectorate citizens.
Every planet in the Protectorate also employs a “Town Assembly†that is an advisory body to the Planetary Council. Composition of the assemblies vary from world to world, but is comprised of non-citizen and citizen members who provide input on important issues to department leaders who may not necessarily be knowledgeable in such matters.
It might seem odd that ComStar would grant such an ear to corporate and non-civilians, but there are a number of practical reasons for maintaining the executive board elections and town assemblies. The first is practicality. ComStar is similar to a monarchy: the Prime Administrator could rule for years, maybe even decades, and govern planetary populations with no official means of addressing grievances. A Prime Administrator that caused problems could not be removed. This in turn could quickly drive the people of the Protectorate towards insurrection, like the separatist movements of the early 29th century. Therefore, the Prime Administrator handed direct authority, responsibility and blame to a corporate proxy – the Executive Board of the DoPA and Director New Earth. The Prime Administrator is seen as a remote figure, with the Executive Board acting as an intermediary. Since Executive Board members are elected, the blame typically falls squarely on their shoulders. While the system is not infallible – sometimes the distance between the Prime Administrator and the people is still not enough – it is robust enough to survive the occasional hiccup, such as the High Wall Miners Strike on Dieron in 2945 and the Chara Farmer’s Rebellion of 2952.
The other most effective method of preventing insurrection on Terra and the rest of the Protectorate is ROM. For most of Terra’s post-Star League history, ROM has provided special law enforcement as well as hunting down subversives, Terran nationalists, and insurrectionists. ROM does a very good job, but it is well supported by ComStar propaganda and honest economic prosperity. Since the Blackout, the DoPA has done most of the Protectorate’s policing, but ROM still steps in when it feels it is necessary, whether it was requested or not.
ComStar Protectorate Government
Prime Administrator – Director New Earth (First Circuit) – Executive Board (Second Circuit) – Planetary Councils (Department Heads) – Town Assemblies - Images
Terra
If visitors were common to Terra they would be surprised to find that despite being ruled by a corporation the world is not seething with profit mongers, where poor children sleep in the street and social equality is ground beneath economic progress. Instead, ComStar’s Division of Protectorate Affairs governs Terra in the corporation’s name. The DoPA is a curious combination of professional civil service: a direct descendant of the Hegemony government, and a profit generating company. Under the DoPA’s administration, Terra rebuilt itself from the damage of the Star League Civil War, the Schism, and eventually into a thriving center of culture during the long years of the Blackout.
Through the hard work of the Terran Alliance, Hegemony and Star League, the DoPA have undone centuries of aggressive industrialization and growth that occurred near the beginning of the 20th century. Pollution clean up, ecosystem repair, and the reduction of urban sprawl have reduced mankind’s impact on the homeworld. The major population centers are compact and built up, surrounded by restored fields and forests. The few functional factories are usually isolated from major population centers, or underground facilities.
While Terra is the standard by which all worlds are compared, it is not a paradise. The cradle of humanity has its fair share of scars – the latest earned during the Schism. Still, compared to some of her closest neighbors, Terra is indeed a garden world.
Terra has seven continents: Africa; North America, South America in the western hemisphere; frozen Antarctica at the South Pole; island Australia split between the Pacific and Indian Ocean, and then the long northern hemisphere stretch of Europe and Asia. Other than Antarctica, all of the continents are well populated – even if population numbers are a far cry from their Star League heights.
When the Star League Civil War ended, half of Terra’s surviving twelve billion people fled to the rest of the battered Hegemony. A short-lived mistake, the First Succession War soon droves millions more towards the relative safety of the Protectorate. However, refuges were rarely allowed to return to Terra. Instead, they were redirected to other ComStar-controlled worlds where they could help rebuild the planet. In the following years, Terra’s population did increase, but it never reached the same size or grandeur. Once the center of the largest human empire in history, Terra was and is heavily defended.
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Best Kept Secrets
The secret remnants of the SLDF’s incredible ground-based Space Defense System (SDS) may never be known. Even today, information regarding the actual capabilities of this advanced system remains sketchy. Common knowledge states that during the campaign for Terra, General Kerensky destroyed many of these huge batteries of long-range missiles and particle cannons, but did not eliminate all of them. During the Schism many of these surviving facilities were either destroyed or permanently disabled due to sabotage. Only the highest levels of management know which SDS sites are still operational, and continue to represent a major asset in the war blasted Inner Sphere.
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Popularity Coup
One of the major ironies of the Schism was the effect it had on the popular opinion of ComStar. Prior to Conrad’s Coup the people of Terra often saw ComStar as a means to an end. Specifically, they saw the corporation as a means to recreate their beloved Terran Hegemony in the wake of Succession Wars. Jerome Blake on the other hand saw ComStar standing apart, guiding Terra––a shepherd at best. Polar philosophies without compromise, the Prime Administrator would never allow ComStar to become a mere tool in the hands of civilians, and so the corporation was at odds with the Terran people during the early years of the Protectorate.
Unable to find a suitable settlement between the desires of ComStar and the Terran people meant both sides would clash. The early Terran separatist movement rose to prominence during this time, and while the TLA’s deplorable tactics did more harm than good for Terran independence, it did highlight the situation perfectly.
Without a suitable solution to the problem it was easy for Conrad Toyama to use the promise of a new Hegemony to sell his vision of the future to the Protectorate’s people, and with it, an explanation for his use of violence. While the honeysuckled worlds of empire were enough to sate the appetite of Terra for a short period of time, eventually the excesses of Toyama’s Order soured even the assurance of future prosperity. Thanks to Conrad and his Order Terrans lost interest in a new Hegemony in the face of another dictator, and their would-be dreams of conquest. Soon Blake’s ComStar started looking less and less like an overbearing father and more like a pretty good guide.
When the Schism did end, both Terra and ComStar took stock. For ComStar, the needs and desires of the Terran people would finally be taken into account, and in later years would see an expansion of the Protectorate. For Terra, her people finally saw ComStar as a partner to be worked with rather than another shackle to break free from. Ironically, this fundamental shift in popular opinion among Terrans only occurred thanks to Toyama’s actions. Without him, the possibility that the early Protectorate would have suffered a future civil war remains a tantalizing possibility for many historians even today.
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Luna
Terra’s closest neighbor, Luna was the first extraterrestrial planetoid mankind set foot upon as humanity made its first small steps out into the stars. Long used as a resort destination by Terrans who enjoyed the low gravity and gazing at the bright blue marble they called home, the moon became a second home away from home for many. In the 2300s, the new Terran Hegemony relocated the headquarters of its bureaucracy to the moon in the hope of isolating its bureaucrats from corrupting political influence. To keep their civil servants healthy, Luna’s older rotating habitats were scaled up to gravdecks as much as five kilometers in diameter. Mostly abandoned during the 26th Century, the orbital habitats gained a new lease on life following the formation of the Protectorate when ComStar used many of the old stations to house refuges fleeing the Succession War. During the Schism, Order operatives destroyed the largest of these orbital habitats, Tranquility One. Today its wreckage serves as a floating memorial and a reminder of the damage caused by the Order.
Tourism remains the primary industry of Luna, and ComStar employs some two million employees in the resort cities of Armstrong City and the Capital, Luna City. In addition to the resorts, Luna also supports a small aerospace manufacturing industry that supplies some of ComStar’s numerous small craft that ship material resources around the system. The moon’s few remaining military facilities, which help guard near-Terran space are staffed by some of the most loyal ComGuard personnel in the company’s employ.
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Cool ComStar a a true phone company that works
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Pretty much... ;D
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Mars
Mars has always had a unique place in the fascination of man and it showed. Ambitious terraforming of the world created a planet with a stable atmosphere that would last for millions of years, and while not the lush paradise envisioned by its earliest engineers, Mars could be comfortably settled. Despite the low gravity, and the mass migration of civilians following the fall of the Star League, the stubborn Martians continued to trudge on. Between the highly lucrative mines of Mercury and Mars, local miners are able to supply Terra with the natural resources it needs to survive. As such, Martian miners are afforded many luxuries not found elsewhere – including free vacations to a few of the world’s orbital habitats where they can experience living in proper gravity. ComStar, always eager to benefit from local sources, has made sure that Mars does not regress into something unpleasant the same way other terraformed planets have since the Star League. Throughout the years the corporation has performed a number of low-cost upkeep programs to help maintain Mars’ atmosphere and ecosystem. The Phobos Skyhook, once a key component in the Hegemony’s terraforming project has been used to deliver cometary water to Mars, while the company has periodically sown microbes and plants to help secure the changes. Adding additional nitrogen harvested from the moon Titan has also helped maintain, and even increase atmospheric temperature by a few degrees. While extravagant attention by corporate standards, these low-cost terraforming projects are a small price to pay for the loyalty and security of company interests.
Mars also supports ComStar in other ways. The Star League-era War Academy of Mars (WAM) is one of the principle military academies for the company, providing the ComGuards with low gravity training and expertise. In addition, the academy provides good-natured competition for ComStar’s other large military school – Sandhurst. Ever year the graduating classes from both schools compete in a series of war games to test their individual mettle, and to earn prime active duty posts. The contests rotate between Mars and Terra, and are a source of great pride for both schools. While non-lethal, competition between the two universities is fierce. Over the years a number of cadet graduates have been injured during the games. To date, Sandhurst Academy has the best record, but recent changes to the WAM’s curriculum, and an influx of veteran instructors may change the accepted status quo in future contests.
Venus
Like Mars, humanity was enthralled with the prospect of colonizing Venus as a sister world to Terra, and while science dashed any hopes of a Terran-like world beneath the thick cloud cover, Venus was nevertheless earmarked for settlement. In one of the grandest terraforming projects conceived by man, the Terran Alliance spearheaded Project Aphrodite – the complete transformation of Venus. In a process that took decades to complete, Venus was changed from a slow turning, furnace-like broiler, to something slightly less hostile. Massive changes to Venus’s atmospheric composition sped up the planet’s rotation, while decreasing levels of carbon dioxide (turned to limestone) allowed for human habitation. When discoveries in artificial soil were made during the 23rd century, Venus became something even more important – it became an agricultural powerhouse. Venus fed the Terran system and several nearby colony worlds. Like Mars, it also became home to a military academy, the Academy of Aphros. Today, the Academy of Aphros is operated by ROM as their chief training and recruitment center, drawing new agents from Venus’s hardy farmers.
However, problems with the terraforming meant that unlike Mars, Venus’s changes had to be maintained by expensive artificial means. Atmospheric processors dot the Venusian landscape, which help prevent the heating up of the planetary atmosphere and to remove some of the excess heat retained in the world’s upper crust. The addition of a large planetary-scale sunshade near the Sol-Venus L1 Lagrange point also helped maintain a comfortable planetary temperature. While the sunshade was destroyed during the Amaris Coup, ComStar built additional atmospheric processors to help offset the loss. The company also came up with an ingenious plan to siphon water from Venus’s large oceans as a stopgap measure. By the late 2900s the company was able to rebuild the sunshade (the largest and most expensive project undertaken by the corporation in over a century), which cemented final repairs. Costly in comparison to Mars, the foodstuffs and goodwill supplied by Venus have partially offset the resources and manpower used to accomplish construction. Venusian farms also provided employment opportunities for the countless refuges that fled to the Protectorate before the Blackout, and food grown on Venus was responsible for the survival of a dozen planets both inside and out of the Protectorate after the Schism.
Titan
The fourth moon of Saturn, Titan was a scientific curiosity until terraforming projects for both Mars and Venus created a huge demand for water, hydrogen and carbon that Titan could provide. Massive resource extraction operations mined the necessary substances from the moon, creating whole industries in the process. Soon, Titan had developed a sizable population and a huge space-based industrial base that made the colonization of both planets possible. When the terraforming projects finished, Titan turned its attention to a new trade – the construction of JumpShips.
After converting the factories to shipyards, Titan began to provide huge numbers of ships for the Terran Alliance and later the Hegemony. During the Liberation of Terra, the Titan yards survived the attacks and aided the great post-Liberation evacuation of Terra, Operation SILVER SHIELD and the resettlement of the Protectorate. ComStar would largely shutdown the shipyards in the late 2790s to avoid attracting House raiders. However, a decade later, Blake authorized increased production to help generate money for his new nation – reasoning that the number of ships being destroyed in the Succession Wars far outweighed the number of available replacements. This foresight would put many new ships into service right before they would be needed the most.
The Schism was unkind to the Titan yards. Industrial sabotage and active fighting in and around the yards damaged or destroyed a great number of available slips. Worse still, the success of the Holy Shroud attacks destroyed ComStar’s ability to repair many of the yards’ more advanced automated facilities, or produce certain JumpShip parts. While the physical frames could be replaced with time, many of the foundries and orbital manufacturing plants could not. In the aftermath of the Schism construction was cut in half. As the years marched on some of the remaining plants broke down, and production dwindled.
Today, thousands of people live permanently on Titan. Some work in the small terraforming industry, providing the materials required too keep Venus and Mars habitable. Most others work and live in the string of factories and giant shipyards that orbit low over Titan’s equator. Here, manual labor replaces the advanced construction techniques of old – where new JumpShips are literally built by hand.
Terran Asteroid and Kuiper Belts
The asteroid and Kuiper belts of the Terran system are the most isolated regions in the Sol system. First colonized during the 21st century to provide resource-starved Terra with mineral resources, the Belts and their citizens largely kept to themselves during the major “Exoduses†as people left Sol for new colonies. While the Belters did get involved with the Terran Hegemony and Star League (in both cases providing elite crewmen and ships), the Star League Civil War was hard on them. During the occupation Belter communities suffered at the hands of Republican-controlled Caspar drone attacks. Signs of resistance were met with deadly force and many Belter communities were destroyed or cowed into submission. When ComStar seized Terra, Jerome Blake turned to the Belter communities for help in expanding his Protectorate. Despite opposition from many members of the Metis Commission, enough of the largest remaining colonies signed on that cooperation became a reality. Belter assistance was integral in repairing much of the damage space-based industries suffered throughout the Protectorate, and provided much of ComStar’s aerospace manpower. Cultural exchanges during these early years also helped reawaken the connection between the people of Terra and the Belters, which did much to help convince Belter opposition that the alliance was indeed beneficial. Soon new waves of immigrants were moving to the Belts – immigrants that bore a deadly cargo.
Like the Titan yards, the Schism was unkind to the Belters. Conrad and his Order were particularly distrustful of the Belters, due in no small part for their lack of resistance during the Star League Civil War, and their semi-insular culture. Toyama believed that the Belters were uncontrollable and subversive, owing no allegiance except to themselves. He believed that their arrangement with ComStar only existed because it was convenient. Furthermore, their advanced technology and dispersed population centers made them a direct threat to ComStar’s future. When he launched his coup, Toyama directed that the Belters be brought to heel. Using the cultural and population exchanges as cover, Order operatives were able to infiltrate much of the Belter’s infrastructure and society. Their attacks were devastating. Many of the largest Belter colonies, including Metis were virtually destroyed – left as floating hulks. Worse still, many of the smaller habitats were left uninhabitable by either sabotage or in many cases, mechanical failure when replacement parts were not readily available. Toyama’s efforts gutted the Belts and succeeded in their intended goals – the removal of the Belters as a threat to ComStar.
After the schism, the remaining Belter communities turned even more insular and isolated from the rest of humanity. While some did continue to work with or join ComStar (mostly in the inner, Jovian, Spartan and Trojan belts, where they continue to provide excellent ship crews) the remainder went their separate way. Even today there are Belter communities who have had no contact with anyone outside of their immediate sphere of stations. ComStar leaves these people alone, but does keep periodic tabs on them through a variety of “special†sources.
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A Jewel Destroyed
The most visible wound Terra suffered during the war was the devastation of Unity City and the Court of the Star League. During the initial stages of the Amaris Coup, Stefan Amaris ordered a tactical nuclear strike outside the Court in an attempt to destroy the Royal Black Watch Regiment. More than a third of Unity City went up in flames by the end of the day as a result of the blast. The Star League Court was charred black on the north and west sides, but had been designed to survive such an airburst. Adding to the misery was the effect the firestorms had on the once-lush hillsides overlooking the magnificent city. With the ground cover reduced to ashes, the hills became virtually unprotected raw soil. Two days after the coup a torrential rain turned these same hills into a massive series of mud slides pouring down on the inhabitants of the ruined city. More than half of Unity City was entombed by the mudflows, which buried anything less than two stories tall. A standing swamp formed in the west of the city, a cesspool that remained until well after the end of the liberation.
After the fall of the Star League Blake pondered reconstruction of Unity City. He even went so far as to authorize land surveys and have plans drawn to rebuild the old Star League capital. However, domestic issues on Terra and the growing conflict engulfing the Inner Sphere turned his attention elsewhere. In the end, only authorized Archival Teams, LosTech prospectors and the desperate ventured into the city’s ruined interior. Over the years rumors of secret Order caches, ghosts of the dead, and buried treasure have continued to draw dozens of braves souls a year; most of which never return. ComStar continues to maintain a cordon around Unity City and imposes a strict no-fly zone within 60 kilometers of the site.
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Hilton Head
Hilton Head Island, off the west coast of Terra’s North American continent, had been an important tourist attraction/resort during the latter years of the Star League. Later, Communications Enterprises spent enormous sums to purchase most of the island for their new HPG transmission complex towards the end of the era.
The complex itself was to occupy a large portion of the island. Central to it would be a massive HPG transmitter and computer coordination system for managing the Star League’s communications network. The central complex was an architectural masterpiece of marble and ferrosteel, both beautiful and strong enough to survive a direct nuclear strike.
Surrounding the complex was to be an enclosed living community for the workers, including housing projects, a massive park, a zoo, a library facility, as well as museums and some of the standard tourist attractions. It was to be a model Star League community, centerpiece of the most complex communications network ever created.
Hilton Head Complex was half-completed when Amaris launched his coup. Most of the construction workers fled, returning to their families and homes as news of the horrid events unfolded. Those who remained behind carefully and methodically mothballed the remaining construction materials, concealing them from the occupation troops.
When the Republican forces of Amaris’ 203rd Republican Guards Division (The Sword of Saddam) landed on Hilton Head five weeks after the coup, they found nothing more than a handful of personnel making a meager living in the seemingly abandoned construction site. They set up camp within two kilometers of the central complex, but never stumbled onto the buried materials.
From Hilton Head, Then and Now, Adept Will Kemp, ComStar Archives, January 2998
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Introduction to the Protectorate
The ComStar Protectorate is an interesting convergence of corporate interests and Terran heritage in a fusion loosely described as a corporate republic. Between the monarchy-like First Circuit and the motley town assemblies, the Protectorate stands in stark contrast to its Hegemony forefather. The modern ComStar Protectorate is also a far cry from the small collection of worlds first drawn together beneath Jerome Blake’s banner. Since the start of Operation SILVER SHIELD in 2788, the ComStar Protectorate has expanded its borders and exercised its military might a number of times throughout its history. While most of the absorptions were welcomed, a number of times the Protectorate has been forced to deal with neighboring political entities and dubious claims of ownership. Despite the righteousness of the Protectorate’s claim to protect these worlds from war and famine, blood has been shed to bring them into the corporation’s warm bosom. At its current height, the Protectorate is a XX world strong nation centered on Terra.
Once one of the most productive and powerful sectors in the Inner Sphere; today every world of the Protectorate bears some scar from war, but continues to be a bastion of economic and scientific strength. While Terra might be the beating heart and soul of the Protectorate, it is worlds like Athenry, Saffel and New Home that provide the muscle that keeps the Protectorate healthy and thriving.
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Neighbors helping neighbors
One of the hallmarks of Protectorate governance is the idea of local investment. Born during the reconstruction of the Terran Hegemony after the Star League Civil War, the notion of reinvestment was first implemented by Jerome Blake as a means to help alleviate the logistical burden of the SLDF and to speed the Hegemony’s early recovery. What started as a way to give recovery efforts a shot in the arm soon blossomed into the Resource and Reclamation Act. Long considered a good neighbors policy, the RRA eventually became a cornerstone of early Protectorate governance by providing the mechanism for ComStar’s oversight without annexing old Hegemony worlds and installing a totalitarian regime. While control of the planet may have been firmly in corporate hands, local civilian investment, coupled with corporate avenues of advancement created a fair system where invested civilians could become invested citizens in their world’s continued prosperity.
The key component in this system is the separation between civilian and citizen. Protectorate Civilians are native born members of the nation that enjoy basic civil rights, access to education and the opportunity to find their way in life. Citizens of the Protectorate on the other hand are fully vetted employees with voting rights, and additional benefits like free medical care and complimentary retirement monies. While opponents of the system tend to focus on the negatives of ComStar’s corporate culture and means of indoctrination, proponents of the same system are quick to point out the shear number of opportunities for advancement available, and the propensity for change permitted by the system.
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Planetary Data – The Protectorate
New Earth
Star Type: G8V
Position in System: 4 (of 6)
Number of Moons: 1 (Lanna)
Days to Jump Point: 6
Surface Water: 74%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.00
Equatorial Temp: 31C
Highest Native Life: Mammals
Population: 1,408,000,000
Representative: Laurna Cabot
Commander: Garrett Krauss
Originally known as Tau Ceti IV, the first habitable world seen by human eyes beyond the Terran solar system was so much like home, its discoverers on the TAS Pathfinder were quick to rename it New Earth when they arrived in orbit in December of 2108. Almost as diverse and bountiful as Terra herself, from abundant water supply to deep mineral, chemical, and metal ore deposits, eager colonists and corporate entities alike flocked to this new world. At the peak of the Star League, New Earth was one of the most heavily industrialized and developed planets in the Terran Hegemony. There were at least five major SLDF contractor headquarters on New Earth, along with numerous other successful enterprises. All five continents–McKenna in the northwest, Lanhold to its east, the massive Neoasia in the south, the island continent of Kellargo, and even the north polar continent of Arctiqua–boasted major cities and heavy industry. Numerous Castles Brian were set up on New Earth as well, and the Star League even built the famous Combat College of New Earth outside the capital city of Foundation Point, on McKenna. During the Amaris crisis, the college, most of the Castles Brian, all the major factories, and close to half the planet‘s largest population centers were destroyed by Amaris troops using every means available when it became clear they could not hold the planet. The world’s gutted infrastructure and war-ravaged environment left the survivors shocked and demoralized, victims of widespread famine and disease–particularly the virulent New Earth Pox. Jerome Blake and ComStar spent vast sums of money and resources to bring New Earth back from the brink. While other worlds of the nascent Protectorate were allocated reconstruction efforts, the recovery operations on New Earth dwarfed all others. ComStar used stored DNA samples to reseed large tracks of New Earth, while water filtration and an ambitious resettlement program brought surviving animal stock to recently cleaned areas. While the ecosystem would take centuries to fully rebound, New Earth was on the way.
Perhaps because of the devastation of the Amaris Coup, New Earth was sparred the worst of the Schism. Order attacks used only conventional weapons aimed at isolating the world from Terra and the rest of the Protectorate. The worst affected areas were the still-struggling centers of light industry relocated to the planet to help in the reconstruction effort. In the aftermath of the Schism, New Earth once again became a quiet, sleepy world in the greater Protectorate. What little industry remained worked to ensure reconstruction of the planet’s ecology continued. The planet’s biggest industries (which includes remnants of the New Earth Trading Company brand) provide conventional transports for export, and new corporate recruits. The few functional Castle Brian structures have been used to house and train ComGuard divisions, and remain the only military installations on the planet.
Keid
Star Type: G6IV
Position in System: 5 (of 8 )
Number of Moons: None
Days to Jump Point: 7
Surface Water: 73%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 0.94
Equatorial Temp: 27C
Highest Native Life: Mammals
Population: 3,294,000,000
Representative: Kalvin Landrey
Commander: Morgan Skaarsgard
One of the many worlds colonized in the first Terran exodus, Keid’s fertile lands and predictable climate led the early settlers to establish their home as a major agricultural and food-production world. The discovery of several major deposits of rare metals and chemicals during the Age of War further enhanced Keid’s importance to the powerful Terran Hegemony, and several major agribusinesses, food companies, mining operations, and heavy industries established offices and facilities on Keid. The HAF built two Castles Brian (Forts Grisson and Settlemyer) and a naval academy on Keid, as well as the planetwide Academy of Keid, a civilian college focused on the study of metallurgy, economics, and diplomacy. During the Amaris crisis, three of the four college campuses were destroyed, along with both Castles Brian and the naval academy. Several cities, all the null-gravity factory stations established by some of the planet’s largest industrial concerns, and a space-born shipyard were also obliterated by the Usurper’s troops. Fortunately for Keid, however, Amaris’ forces did not resort to the same use of nuclear and biological weapons they used on other Hegemony worlds, and enough of the planet‘s economic and administrative infrastructure survived the fighting to allow Keid to recover from the scars of war.
Before the Schism, Keid provided food and rare metals to the Protectorate, and is one of the major suppliers of refined chemicals for ComStar. During the reconstruction of the early Protectorate, Keid’s status as a breadbasket world meant the corporation invested heavily in Keid, utilizing its resources in the most efficient manner. A new shipyard and a few of the old zero-G factories were rebuilt to take advantage of the local resources. Before the Blackout the planet was one of the shining jewels in ComStar’s corporate crown. The Schism was unkind to Keid, but through shear determination the planet managed to retain much of the industry it had rebuilt. Today, Keid is a major source for ComStar-built DropShips – the same DropShips that transport thousands of tons of Keid-produced goods across the Inner Sphere each year.
Thorin
Star Type: G7V
Position in System: 5 (of 8 )
Number of Moons: 1 (Thorin’s Twin)
Days to Jump Point: 7
Surface Water: 74%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.02
Equatorial Temp: 36C
Highest Native Life: Birds
Population: 2,021,900,000
Representative: Toni Sakumori
Commander: Theodred Ngu
An early colony world when humanity first reached for the stars, Thorin was a beautiful, terrestrial planet, blessed by an abundance of resources including rich mineral deposits, immense woodlands, and diverse animal life. To preserve their world‘s natural beauty against possible contamination by corporate industrialization, the early settlers established planetary zoning laws that restricted heavy industries to the northern continent of Olympus. By contrast, the southern continent, Freda, was reserved for those seeking a more agrarian way of life. As a result of this charter, high-tech cities came to dot the Olympian shoreline and riverways by the time of the Star League, while large agricultural communes and logging industries formed the backbone of the Fredan economy. The Terran Hegemony established Thorin as a jewel of education and learning when they built the massive University of Thorin, a liberal arts school, in the Remington Valley. Located a short distance away from Ecol City, the planetary capital and site of the legendary Public Library of Thorin, the University of Thorin held to the highest academic standards of the day, but was destroyed along with the Library during the planet‘s occupation by Amaris troops.
Thorin was invaded in the early days after General Kerensky’s Exodus by forces from the Lyran Commonwealth. The Steiners easily subdued the local population, which proved to be relatively docile. That changed when Separatists for Free Skye began using the world as a base to strike at the LCAF. Thorin was soon a planet on the brink of chaos as ComStar-armed guerillas fought the Commonwealth in a brutal underground campaign that bordered on sanctioned terrorism. With the death toll rising and brutal retaliations having little effect, the Lyran Commonwealth abandoned the planet. However, before they left the local garrison made a point of completely demolishing the planetary capital of Ecol City. In the aftermath of the Lyran withdrawal, ComStar stepped in to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to the battered survivors – many of which took to Thorin’s wilderness to escape the violence – and in one fell swoop was able to assume control of the planet in a brilliant public relations coup. With the Lyrans gone, the remaining guerillas lost what little civilian support they still enjoyed. While some violence did ensue, Thorin was quietly folded directly into the Protectorate.
With the planet secure, ComStar invested heavily in recovery and investigatory operations around the ruins of the university and library. While the library failed to turn up anything significant (at least known to the general public), the university ruins provided a great number of useful artifacts. The company used the surviving parts of Fortress Laiacona to coordinate the digs and to catalogue their finds. In a move typical of the era, the company hired most of their labor needs on-planet, emphasizing the dig as a return of Thorin prosperity and as a center of learning. What little dissent still remained in the aftermath of absorption disappeared overnight.
During the Schism, the Order targeted Thorin for the research and development operations taking place around the ruins and at Laiacona. In one of the most brutal acts of the coup, the Order detonated a tactical nuclear weapon that destroyed the remains of the massive fortress, and with it, all of the recovered research and artifacts. Today, only the ruins of the university in the heart of what is now Remington Forest testify to the lost treasures of the Star League. Ironically, the Order failed to target the university ruins and future digs at and around the site have turned up a few more useful relics from that bygone era.
Athenry
Star Type: F8IV
Position in System: 1 (of 2)
Number of Moons: 4 (Batha, Illusa, Kylos, Zule)
Days to Jump Point: 12
Surface Water: 88%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.04
Equatorial Temp: 40C
Highest Native Life: Birds
Population: 2,798,640,000
Representative: Hailey Chelonkov
Commander: Charles Winters
A warm world, with an oppressive atmosphere and active volcanoes in all four of its great island chains, Athenry resembles prehistoric Terra in many ways. Tropical foliage and steep mountains dominate most of the four island chains that make up the planet’s large landmasses. Too close to its sun for polar ice caps to form, the world’s most habitable regions for early colonists were the highlands of the large islands in the northern and southern latitudes, where the air was thinner and the heat more bearable. Frequent rains kept the lowlands of Athenry lush, and gave rise to exotic flora and thousands of interesting animal species. Many of the planet’s native life forms, scientists learned, held great medicinal potential, leading to the founding of the Athenry Institute of Medicine on the primary northern island of Golas, in the Larsen Chain. Sadly, the AIM was destroyed by a tactical nuke just before the First Succession War, leaving only a radioactive hulk where the facilities once stood. Largely abandoned by the Lyran Commonwealth when the Federation of Skye was formed, ComStar inherited Athenry when it became the only cohesive power left on the planet.
Today, ComStar continues to conduct medical research on Athenry, albeit in limited quantity, in a new facility south of the old AIM. While a far cry from the research and development power of old, the Athenry Medical Institute of ComStar (AMIC) has worked for decades to rediscover medical advances made during the Star League. Discoveries made at the AMIC and their production account for a huge part of the planet’s exports and are a major source of pride for local Athenrians, who recognize that their work saves lives. ComStar understands the value of the planet and maintains a large garrison of troops, despite Athenry not being attacked in well over a century.
Athenry has also become something of a tourist trap for Protectorate citizens over the last few decades when ancient ruins were uncovered in the thick jungles of the southern Zubeckis Chain, particularly on the secondary island of Vasquez. Studies of these ruins revealed that they are the remains of colonies established almost a full century before the first settlers were thought to have made planetfall on Athenry. Though no one knows what fate befell these colonists, the so-called Zubeckis ruins, which exhibit architectural styles and techniques common to Southeast Asian cultures of the 22nd century, have become a local attraction and an archaeological curiosity, drawing thousands of new visitors each year. The apparent capital of these ruined colonies has been dubbed – “City of the Lost,†and parts of the site were opened to the public in 3015. Athenry’s capital city of New Senna is perched in the rocky mountains of Lisbon, the primary mass of the southern polar Espalar Chain. Though cities dot much of the Espalar, Zubeckis and Larsen Chains, only a few towns have been established on the mostly equatorial Wandessa Chain, largely due to the extreme temperatures and humidity of that region. Largest among these settlements is the seaport city of Ricobar, which serves as a port of call for the planet’s oceangoing trade.
Nirasaki
Star Type: F3IV
Position in System: 1 (of 4)
Number of Moons: 2 (Nagano, Okinawa)
Days to Jump Point: 17
Surface Water: 57%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.11
Equatorial Temp: 37C
Highest Native Life: Mammals
Population: 3,108,000,000
Representative: Kato Jan-si
Commander: Tywin Wilson
Communal idealists who hoped to create a perfect society, in which everyone would live in harmony and in the virtual absence of government or a policing force, settled Nirasaki. The experiment was only partially successful, as infighting between settlers and the early colonists’ insistence on barter-based trade made it difficult to deal with other worlds for needed goods. Eventually, a basic planetary government, structured as a loose coalition of the various communes on Kalifax and Ouanii, Nirasaki’s two largest continents, was established. Based on democratic principles, the Nirasaki government required a simple majority vote for any decisions affecting a planetary region or interplanetary relations and helped create a basic planetary economy based on work credits and a standard for determining the relative values of products and services. Beyond these basic functions, which included an emergency powers clause in case of an external threat, the Nirasaki government had no other authority. Farms, cattle ranches, fishing communities and artistic communes made up the bulk of Nirasaki’s population until the rise of the Star League.
Though Nirasaki was left to its semi-anarchistic government under the Hegemony, the planet began to draw the attention of entrepreneurs. However, few corporate entities could make headway on Nirasaki, due to lax government practices and the work credits system, until the native Nirasaki Computers Collective was founded in the large Blue Heron Commune. The NCC developed computer systems of astonishing efficiency and quality, including the famous Blue Lotus personal computer line, which was cutting edge in the Star League’s day. For this reason, the Hegemony contracted the NCC to develop software for use in the Space Defense Systems throughout its holdings. As it happened, the NCC did its job too well in this regard. When the Amaris coup occurred, the brightest minds of the Collective were forcibly relocated to Terra, and their work pitted the liberating SLDF forces against SDS networks that used some of the most sophisticated pseudo-artificial intelligence ever produced. It was not until years later, when returning SLDF forces uncovered technical specs hidden away for their benefit in the abandoned NCC headquarters, that their artful programming was defeated and the worlds Amaris had turned into deadly gauntlets were retaken.
Following the Amaris Coup, the Protectorate absorbed the planet so ComStar could protect Nirasaki’s important computer industry, which had already been hit hard by DCMS raids. Once in the Protectorate, Blake wisely left the planet’s communes alone, who seemed more than happy to provide advanced computing systems and products to ComStar for sale. It was a good arrangement that benefitted both parties until the Schism. Conrad’s Holy Shroud attacks on the Blue Heron Commune and other surviving NCC facilities were terrible, and much of Nirasaki’s industry was destroyed in the fighting. After the Schism, a few of the remaining NCC communes banded together to form Blue Heron Computers – a major computing brand sold by ComStar – and created a new agreement with ComStar to survive.
Granted communal autonomy and limited self-governing rights in exchange for resources, materials, and product, Blue Heron Computers and other Nirasaki communes exist today as semi-independent communal-corporate entities outside of direct ComStar control, with BHC providing many of ComStar’s most advanced systems. The population of Nirasaki, regardless of affiliation, remains significant as the only Protectorate entity to enjoy recognized dual citizenship by the authorities without being corporate employees.
Capital of Nirasaki and the Blue Heron Commune, is located on the southern peninsula of Ouanii. Nirasaki’s third major landmass, Arkatis, is in the planet’s south polar region and is home to the Nirasaki Communications Community, a planetwide information and entertainment company based in the city of Arkatis’ Unity.
Bryant
Star Type: F5IV
Position in System: 4 (of 5)
Number of Moons: 3 (Jarra, Sennu, Summersdale)
Days to Jump Point: 15
Surface Water: 64%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 0.98
Equatorial Temp: 37C
Highest Native Life: Mammals
Population: 1,896,075,000
Representative: Hanson Boques-Saunders
Commander: Jennifer Buskirk
A world of violent storms first colonized in the twenty-second century by the Terran Hegemony to exploit the planet’s chemical and material resources, fertile soils, and deep seas. Bryant’s earliest colonists kept close to the world’s polar regions, where the weather was calmer. In the days of the Star League, a series of storm inhibitors were used to negate much of the fury of severe weather systems by focusing solar radiation on the storms as they gathered over the planet’s oceans. This innovation made possible the colonization of Bryant‘s lower latitudes, which allowed Bryant’s population to explode. A wealthy world, Bryant was hard hit during the Amaris Coup. Republican aerospace fighter pilots used the Storm Inhibitors as target practice, and destroyed many of them to bring the planet to heel and curb any resistance. Thankfully, Bryant was spared the worst manmade atrocities, but the loss of the important Storm Inhibitors took their toll. During the decade-long occupation, dozens of powerful storms bracketed the planet’s equatorial belt, costing the lives of thousands and caused billions in unnecessary damage. While most of Bryant’s equatorial cities were built to withstand the brutal weather, the population was still forced to withdraw to the safer equatorial regions until Bryant was liberated by the SLDF.
After the fall of the Star League the Capellan Confederation raided the planet, where they hoped to take advantage of a growing equatorial mega storm to land unopposed. Unfortunately, the CCAF soldiers did not count on the presence of ComStar-led ex-Star League troops on the planet, which were attempting to secure Bryant and recover important materials before the storm arrived. The resulting fight left few survivors and even fewer Storm Inhibitors, (most were destroyed out of spite as the CCAF lifted off-world) and the Confederation made off with a load of parts and supplies.
Under ComStar rule Bryant was able to recover some of its former glory when the company was able to repair a number of damaged Storm Inhibitors, and even construct a few new ones. With the additional Storm Inhibitors, new refuges to the planet were able to recolonize parts of the hazardous equatorial bands with some success, though cities located there had to be further hardened against the weather. Until the Schism, Bryant was a successful research and manufacturing center for the budding Protectorate. Sadly, Conrad’s fanatics were particularly hard on the planet, disabling the two Inhibitor control centers while destroying Bryant’s research facilities. After the Order’s failed coup, Bryant was left a dilapidated world dotted with ruined cities, poisoned lands and even more unpredictable weather patterns. Worse still, repair of the control centers was only partially successful, with only manual control restored. Manual control of the inhibitor network has created some unexpected results (and plenty of damage) throughout the decades, but recently ComStar has begun an ambitious project to repair the automated control software using a partial copy found in an old equatorial defense bunker. While experimental by modern standards, the software is a far cry from the sophisticated monitor and command software used by the Star League, but bodes well for Bryant’s future.
Caph
Star Type: G5V
Position in System: 3 (of 7)
Number of Moons: 2 (Lupus, Felis)
Days to Jump Point: 7
Surface Water: 42%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.01
Equatorial Temp: 41C
Highest Native Life: Reptiles
Population: 1,062,095,000
Representative: Pavel Lyndon
Commander: Lars Gustafson
Settlers first came to Caph during the early exodus from Terra, and found a world of primitive, tropical forests, fertile lands, and great mineral wealth potential. The only problem was the planet’s deadly local wildlife, dominated by creatures very similar to the long-vanished dinosaurs of Terra. Efforts to overcome the indigenous species and spare entire settlements from destruction by giant, rampaging lizards are largely credited for the development of early BattleMech design theory. In fact, much of the preliminary research into early BattleTechnology was conducted on Caph. Once the threat was contained, during the age of the Terran Hegemony and the Star League, Caph became a center for advanced learning and chemical research, home to some of the Star League era’s largest chemical and pharmaceutical corporations, as well as the Caph Institute of Technology. Unfortunately, when Stefan Amaris usurped the Camerons and took over the Hegemony, Caph suffered from the liberal use of nuclear and biological weapons that destroyed most of the large settlements and ultimately caused the virtual extinction of the Caph dinosaurs.
A broken world, ComStar invested a great deal in its repair following the fall of the Star League, with Caph’s damaged ecosystem on the verge of a full recovery before the Schism. In a process that would take decades to achieve, Brunnel began to shape itself into a prime area for relocation, which ComStar would later use to its advantage. While far from pristine, the continent’s poisoned regions were close to being cleaned, and the soil reseeded with native and Terran plants. The only thing missing was the dinosaurs. During the Schism the Order chose to ignore Caph, probably because the world had nothing of value. However, later reclamation of some of the Brunnel’s ruins yielded a number of examples of Star League technologies thought lost to the civil war. Only the continent of Caph Prime remained in disarray.
Today, Caph is a split world. The continent of Brunnel is a thriving center of light industry and agriculture, while Steam, a tropical blanket is virtually untouched by man. The discovery of surviving dinosaurs in the thick jungles there in the 2930s has transformed the continent into a permanent biological preserve. Nicknamed–The “Cretaceous Zone†by Caph locals, Steam’s human population consists only of a few small outposts and research centers funded by the Caph Planetary Council to maintain and study the native inhabitants. The third continent, Caph Prime is a barren wasteland of hard poisoned earth and radioactive craters – stark reminders of the planet’s terrible past.
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In Good Company
Independent corporations, especially in the Protectorate, are an interesting topic. Almost all of the so-called independent corporations in the Protectorate are co, or partially owned by ComStar. There are a few notable exceptions of course, the commune corporations of Nirasaki are the most well known, but others do exist.
ComStar first started the process of assimilation before Kerensky’s Exodus from the Inner Sphere when Jerome Blake made slight increases to transmission costs to help fund the recovery of the Terran Hegemony. Using the House Lords’ own wealth to help repair the battered Hegemony, Blake directed income and resources into companies and industries damaged by the Star League Civil War. In turn, the refurbished assets helped continue the process of recovery. In most cases, these factories and companies were not bought by ComStar directly, but rather invested in. This cyclic process of investment and reinvestment continued with the Resource and Reclamation Act, and well after the formation of the ComStar Protectorate. By the time of the Schism there were only a few fiscally solvent, privately owned corporations without a single financial tie to ComStar. Most of these were located on Terra, survived the Amaris Coup, and manufactured some sort of military product.
While modern economic analysts are loath to admit it, Toyama’s Schism actually helped ensure ComStar assimilation when many of the corporations without connection or interest in ComStar owned industrial concerns were damaged or destroyed by the Order. These independent companies were targeted as part of Toyama’s scheme to limit potential future threats to ComStar, as well as create a situation where future investment by a Toyama-controlled ComStar would bring them into the Order’s fold. In effect, finishing the process Blake began. Despite the failure of Conrad’s coup, he managed to manufacture a situation beneficial to ComStar by accelerating the cycle and providing physical grounds for renewed investment. Thanks to early foresight, post-Schism ComStar was industrially diverse and monetarily solvent enough to be in a position to “help†the few remaining independent corporations devastated by the Order’s efforts.
During the course of recovery, highly convoluted, and in some cases contradictory agreements between these companies and ComStar created a patchwork collection of inter-dependent and interrelated interests working within the overall umbrella of ComStar. Over the years, expert use of legal clauses and precedent has allowed many of these minor corporate entities to maintain a microcosm of independence and culture within ComStar, despite being fully dependent on ComStar to survive. Board room conflicts between the “adoptedâ€, as many of these companies are known, and the directions of the First Circuit has become one of the cornerstones of internal company politics since the Blackout.
Some of ComStar’s “Adopted†Companies
Mitchell Vehicles Interstellar
Headquarters: Chicago, Terra
Ruling Family: First Circuit
Business Profile:
Mitchell Vehicles was an industrial giant from its inception. Formed in 2018 when three major North American automobile manufacturers joined forces, by the time the Star League began, the company was manufacturing JumpShips, DropShips, and all types of ground and air vehicles. It also had huge contracts with the Hegemony Armed Forces for WarShips and military vehicles. During the Good Years, the company had more than 200 factories and shipyards in the Hegemony.
The Amaris Coup and the collapse of the Star League obliterated the company. With most of their core assets centered on the inner worlds of the Hegemony, Mitchell Vehicles bore the brunt of the Civil War and Kerensky’s drive to liberate Terra. In the aftermath of the war only the company’s Terran assets were in recoverable shape, which Jerome Blake authorized rebuilt. With most of their stockholders and the Mitchell family dead, control of the company fell to ComStar, which retained the company’s brand name. Surviving the Schism intact, Mitchell Vehicles is now a key supplier of the modern ComGuard. Today, working Mitchell factories supply everything from small arms to a limited quantity of DropShips every year.
Krester’s Ship Construction
Headquarters: Normandy, Keid
Ruling Family: Krester family of Keid
Business Profile:
A major supplier of the SLDF, Krester’s was responsible for the design and construction of the Mammoth and Behemoth class DropShips, along with a host of WarShips for the Star League navy, including the massive Texas class Battleship. Another company particularly hard hit by the Amaris Coup, most of the company’s facilities on Thorin and Yorii were completely destroyed, with a small parts manufacturer still in operation on Yorii by the time ComStar absorbed the world. Worse was the loss of the company’s untouched factories on Terra Firma during the First Succession War, prior to the planet’s absorption into the Protectorate by Confederation troops.
Luckily, ComStar was kind to Krester’s. After Operation SILVER SHIELD, ComStar was able to rebuild some of the company’s assets on Keid by investing heavily in the Krester Family and their operations there. Within a few short years Krester was manufacturing JumpShips and DropShips for the budding Protectorate and export elsewhere. As one of the few surviving JumpShips yards still in former-Hegemony space, Krester’s Keid yards were spared the horrors of the Schism, but not time. Over the decades production has slowed with the decline in technology. Even with a reduction in overall production Krester still remains one of the most profitable, prodigious and least controlled “adopted†in ComStar’s portfolio. Today, the Krester family continues to manage the “Krester Division†thanks to a hereditary clause in the merger contract, and is well known as a source of irritation for the First Circuit.
New Earth Trading Company
Headquarters: Meredith, New Earth
Regional Officers: Epsilon Eridani, Altair
Ruling Family: Newcombe family of New Earth
Business Profile:
The New Earth Trading Company may have been the first interstellar trading company. How it learned to profit from the chaotic exodus of people leaving Terra for distant colonies during the 22nd Century became a pattern for other trading companies. As a corporate entity, NETC was quick to diversify when the wave of colonists from Terra became a trickle. One of the company’s many new interests was robotics. From the two major NETC research centers, one near the corporate headquarters on New Earth and the other near Syndey, Australia, Terra, came major technological advances. These early robotic advances would help place the company in a position to gain contracts to design and build major components of the future Hegemony’s SDS. Contracts included the lucrative creation and implementation of the SDS’s ultra advanced artificial intelligence programs for automated WarShips after NETC developed the “mental map†of Admiral Kinru Dvarahal. It was the brilliance of Admiral Dvarahal and the NETC system that destroyed many of General Kerensky’s ships during the drive to liberate the Hegemony from Amaris’s grip.
The New Earth Trading Company would survive the fall of the Star League and the wars that followed, but it would be a shell of its former greatness. Most of the company’s high-tech subsidiaries were destroyed during the Star League Civil War, especially those involved in the SDS or arms manufacturing. Barely capable of turning a profit even before Operation SILVER SHIELD absorbed New Earth and the NETC into the Protectorate, the loss of one of its sole surviving civilian factories during the Schism also pushed NETC to the bring of extinction. Saved only through the investment of ComStar, the New Earth Trading Company is one of the few “companies†to have actually expanded during the Blackout after they were allowed to absorb assets orphaned by the Order. Today, the NETC continues to do what it does best – trade. A major trade brand in the Inner Sphere, the modern NETC produces everything from heavy commercial transports to durable consumer products and works as a major clearing house for goods exiting and entering Protectorate space. Still run by members of the Newcombe family, the Newcombes are noted for being model corporate citizens and one of ComStar’s most valued and ardent supporters.
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Relations with the Inner Sphere
The turbulence caused by the Schism and Blackout created a trying situation, both internally for ComStar and for the various nations of humanity. While ComStar’s valiant actions to end Conrad’s rein of terror halted the Order’s permanent control, in many Inner Sphere leaders’ minds the loss of the HPG network and the damage wrought by the Order did not out weight the betrayal of the company’s supposed neutrality. For decades after the Schism, ComStar was often met with suspicion or outright hostility. Even the company’s willingness to admit fault had, in many cases, seemingly damaged the company’s reputation further. Luckily, the poor state of the Inner Sphere following the Blackout accelerated ComStar reacceptance into the interstellar community. Despite the misgivings, few planets were in a position to refuse offered help.
As a corporate entity, ComStar is everywhere, even when the company is not flying its flag at an inactive HPG or courier JumpShip. While generally well received in recent years, that has not always been the case. In the long term, honest admission of wrongdoing and a willingness to help repair the damage caused by Toyama helped foster the trust the action deserved, but has never fully dissolved distrust of ComStar despite decades of renewed contact.
The following summary provides the current status of diplomatic and political affairs between ComStar and some of the governments of the Inner Sphere.
(This section expands with member-developer information)
Sendai Trade Alliance
ComStar has virtually no presence in the Sendai Trade Alliance since communication and trade expeditions were summarily attacked in 2859. Since then there has been no official contact with the Sendai worlds or people. Even ROM has had difficulty penetrating the Alliance. Their combination of culture and emphasis on family makes infiltration extremely difficult. Offers to repair their old HPGs were similarly rebuffed in 3023 and the Alliance continues to operate independently. Blessed with a large JumpShip fleet and other valuable resources the Sendai have had little reason to mingle with ComStar. During the long years of the Blackout third-party traders remained the sole means of contact and communication between ComStar and the Sendai.
Terran Free States
ComStar’s relationship with the Terran Free States is a difficult one. Not only do the Free States claim to be the direct heirs of the Terran Hegemony and dedicated to its reformation, but they also maintain a large standing army. While dependent on ComStar for some communication, transport and manufacturing resources, the Terran Free States maintain a very cold attitude towards their Protectorate fellows, who they see as high strung and arrogant. In an effort to bolster relations between the two nations, ComStar recently provided the Free States with discounted equipment to help restore many of the States’ more damaged planetary environments.
Rim Republic
The Rim Republic is a phenomenal example of ComStar reaping the rewards of having an honest working relationship with a struggling nation. Since reestablishing permanent contact with the worlds of the Republic in 2845 ComStar has helped facilitate the Rim’s recovery in the face of pressure from neighboring realms, and has gone so far as to authorize ComGuard garrisons to help repel raiders if they threaten civilian population centers. Over the years, the company has built schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure on many Republican worlds. In return the Republic has provided ample new recruits for ComStar and shiploads of resources earmarked for Protectorate factories. Despite the Republic’s location out along the Rim, ComStar ensures regular convoys make the trip. Because of ComStar’s continued presence, Republican worlds are rarely out of contact with one another and travel between Rim worlds is among the highest of any nation.
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ComStar Personalities
Prime Administrator Helena Singh
A highly intelligent woman, Prime Administrator Singh has served as the unchallenged ruler of ComStar for over two decades. Before ascending the platform, Helena was the Director of Communications (Director Dieron) where, like her predecessors, she worked to rebuild the HPG network. Groomed for leadership by the previous Prime Administrator, Joseph Webb, Helena rose rapidly through the ranks of ComStar, assuming control of ComStar upon Webb’s unexpected death in 3007.
A rather insular leader compared to some of her more dynamic forebears, Prime Administrator Singh rarely travels outside of Terra, or even the First Circuit’s headquarters. While her hermit-like lifestyle has created an incredible number of rumors among the corporation’s rank and file, the truth is that the Administrator stays close to the First Circuit because she rules ComStar with an iron first. Perhaps one of the most successful Prime Administrators in ComStar’s long history, rarely do her directives meet opposition, especially with the uncompromising support of Director ROM. Her draconian measures have pushed some elements of ComStar to the breaking point, but Singh continues to maintain ComStar as her personal fiefdom.
Exarch Garrett Krauss
Acting commander of the famed Third Division (Blake’s Chosen IV-Delta), Exarch Krauss is the great great grandson of Perfect Erwin Krauss, first captain of Jerome Blake’s security detachment and the man responsible for saving the Prime Administrator’s life during the Schism. Hailing from one of the Protectorate’s most famous “warrior†families, the Krauss clan has faithfully served ComStar and the Star League before, for hundreds of years. His family and the ComGuard consider the latest Krauss warrior, Exarch Garrett something of a maverick. As a young man Garrett opted to attend the War Academy of Mars rather than the Krauss family ala mater at the prestigious Royal Sandhurst Academy. While there Garrett became known as a distinguished master of military history, unorthodox tactics, and is credited with winning his graduating class’s yearly war game against Sandhurst.
After graduation Adept Garrett volunteered for “Pony Express†(security on ComStar JumpShips) duty rather than a cushy Protectorate posting close to his family and home. For the next twelve years Krauss worked, bled and learned about life outside of the Protectorate. Promoted on numerous occasions for his unconventional successes in the field, Garrett finally accepted a position in Blake’s Chosen as a Prefect in 3014. There, he eventually took command of the division after its previous commander left for early retirement in 3022. Since taking control of the Third, Exarch Krauss has trained the division hard in preparation for renewed contact with the Inner Sphere. Having seen the far reaches of colonized space first hand, Garrett knows it is only a matter of time before the Protectorate is tested once the HPG network is fully functional.
An uncompromising professional, Exarch Krauss has so far avoided getting involved in local politics or ComStar bureaucracy – a fact certain members of his family and the corporation find troublesome. However, Garrett is not above pulling strings when his division is concerned. Because of this, his vast experience, and genuine desire to protect the Protectorate and his Guardsmen, the Third Division is fiercely loyal to its maverick commander.
“Prime†Director of Protectorate Affairs (Director New Earth) Kathleen von Meyer
Calling the Director New Earth calculating would be like calling an Avanti Mk. XII Hoverspeeder just “fastâ€. An operator of the highest caliber in an organization where meritorious advancement is coupled with conniving, yet polite backstabbing: Kathleen von Meyer takes boardroom politics to an art form. Born into a minor corporate family from New Earth, von Meyer was a lonely but bright child. Early on she realized she had the unique ability to manipulate people into doing what she wanted. Whether it was her nanny, or her first manager, Kathleen worked them all like putty. Always with an eye towards the next best thing, her rise through the corporate ranks was astonishing (even meriting a fruitless ROM investigation at one point).
It wasn’t long after graduation that Kathleen was managing whole planetary sectors in the Protectorate. A keen eye for talent, von Meyer always found the right people for the right job, using their success to propel her career forward. It did not take long for others to notice, and after reorganizing a failing mining operation on Styx, she caught the attention of the then-Director New Earth, who took the young woman beneath his wing. With the Director’s help, Kathleen was elected to the Second Circuit and placed in charge of the Protectorate’s resource management. Not long after this promotion, Kathleen was promoted again, this time after the untimely demise of her mentor in a travel accident. While ruled an accident, many of Kathleen’s peers had their doubts, especially after an allegedly posthumous note surfaced suggesting von Meyer as his replacement on the First Circuit. Despite the allegations, or perhaps in spite of them Kathleen was named Director New Earth – a title she has vigorously and tenaciously defended ever since.
An extremely powerful individual, perhaps the third most powerful person in the whole Inner Sphere, the Director is not to be trifled with. More than one person to cross her has fallen to an “accident†or simply disappeared. Outside of ROM’s inaccessible files von Meyer is rumored to have more dirt, know more skeletons and own more favors than anyone else in the Protectorate, including the Prime Administrator. A true mover and shaker in the Protectorate, von Meyer’s ambition and reach is almost limitless.
Director ROM Alon Lewis
Before becoming Director of ROM, Alon Lewis was Master of Capolla’s (HPG) trade station. Considered one of the most dangerous postings in the company because of the relationship between the Protectorate and the Capolla Union, Lewis worked as a ROM operative for years running one of the most successful spy rings in the Inner Sphere. Responsible for blunting Union plots to seize corporate assets on a number of occasions, Lewis was eventually promoted by Prime Administrator Singh to become ComStar’s new Director ROM in 3018. Since ascending to Director ROM, Lewis has begun an ambitious expansion program of the organization. While difficult, the new directive has begun to bear fruit with the number of new agents added to ROM’s ranks over the last nine years. These agents will prove instrumental in safeguarding ComStar once the HPG network returns to active service.
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Introduction to the Inner Sphere during the Blackout
Life in the Inner Sphere during the Blackout
Excerpt taken from Sandhurst Academy, Terra
The Inner Sphere was hit hard by the Blackout and Conrad’s attacks. Whole worlds teetered on the edge of oblivion, some simply disappearing off the map – lost to disease, famine, war or their native environment. Others actually prospered – albeit in limited ways, and became new centers of power in the Inner Sphere. Today, the Inner Sphere is a radically different place compared to the dusty holovids of the Star League shown in classrooms throughout the Protectorate. While civilization continues to survive and thrive, both here and throughout the worlds closest to Terra, not every human is so fortunate to enjoy the same quality of life. Here is a brief introduction to the innumerable worlds of man and what you may find during your journey through the stars.
Government
Since mankind first left the trees to dwell on the ground he has worked to control his surroundings. Whether it was changing the course of a river, clearing a forest or terraforming a barren planet, man has changed the landscape to suite his needs. This desire for mastery extends far beyond his surroundings, but also to his fellow man. Without exception, this desire to dominate and govern other men has driven humanity to great heights and terrible lows. It has taken humanity to the stars and almost destroyed him there. Through order or through chaos, the governing and dominance of man remains humanity’s best hope and worst accompaniment as the history of our species marches on.
Throughout the ages humanity has developed and implemented a variety of governing bodies; from simple tribal councils to bureaucratic nightmares of mammoth proportions. Below is a basic description of some of the more common governing bodies in use throughout the Inner Sphere. Travelers take note; local planetary governments may vary considerably. Be sure to research the local laws and customs of your destination before visiting. While some planets may follow the greater laws of their interstellar nation – if any apply – many have modifications or amendments that are readily enforced.
Remember, a good traveler is a knowledgeable and respectful guest.
Dictatorship
A government ruled by a single leader who has not been elected and may use force to keep control. In a military dictatorship, the army is in control. Usually, there is little or no attention to public opinion or individual rights. There are many worlds in the Inner Sphere under the defacto control of a dictator, or a dictator-like individual. Depending on the nation or world in question, many Planetary Governors have dictatorial powers and answer only to individual or individuals above their station. The Sheiks of the Al Hillah Emirates and the Warlords of the Warrior Fiefdoms are all examples of dictatorships. The once Great Houses of the Inner Sphere are all nominal dictatorships, though some political scientists will argue they were monarchies.
Totalitarian
The rule by a single political party, a totalitarian government revolves around a group of people who are forced to do what the government tells them. Citizens are allowed and 'encouraged' to vote, but only for the government's chosen candidates. Totalitarian governments in the Inner Sphere are fairly rare, with only a small number lasting more than a few decades. Ultimately, internal pressures, greed or the power of the proletariat leads to a ruling party’s demise. It should be noted that some of the Inner Sphere’s longest lasting dictatorships or monarchies once started out at totalitarian party governments that fell to a single ruler.
Theocracy
A theocratic form of government is where the rulers claim to be ruling on behalf of a set of religious ideas, or as direct agents of a specific deity. It was the dangerous dogmatic theocracy of Toyama’s Order sect that almost brought ComStar and the Inner Sphere to its knees. This viper, clutched to the breast of the HPG network was perhaps the worst example of its kind. Other more benevolent theocracies are the One Star Faith enclaves of the Periphery and the Omniss of the Outworlds Alliance.
Monarchy
A monarchy has a king, Archon, First Prince, Chancellor, or Coordinator who sometimes has absolute power. Power is passed along through the family. Since the time of House Cameron and the vaunted Terran Hegemony, most of the great nations of the Inner Sphere, both large and small have been led by monarchies. It was the monarchs of the Great Houses that brought the Inner Sphere together beneath the aegis of the Star League and it was those same Houses who tore it apart. Today there are more monarchs in known space than any other form of government. Less notable examples of Inner Sphere monarchies are House David of the Kingdom of Zion and the many duchies of the former Free Worlds League.
Parliamentary
A parliamentary system of government is one led by representatives of the people. Each is chosen as a member of a political party and remains in power as long as his/her party does. Parliamentary-only governments are rare in the Inner Sphere and Periphery. However, many governments include parliamentary components in their composition. For example, the Lyran Commonwealth still includes a parliament in the form of its Estates General, as do many of the former states that once comprised the Free Worlds League. Depending on the host government, parliamentary components may have varying degrees of power.
Republic
A republic is led by elected representatives of the voters, with each representative individually chosen for a set period of time. Republic governments are represented in some part by many planetary governments whose elected leader is sometimes a part of a national parliamentary body. Many worlds from the former Federated Suns and Free Worlds League enjoy republic-style governments, but some can be found sprinkled throughout known space.
Anarchy
Anarchy is a situation where there is no government. This can happen after a civil war in a country, when a government has been destroyed and rival groups are fighting to take its place. During the early period of the Blackout many worlds and even whole nations fell into anarchy. Today, there are few worlds without some form of stable or semi-stable government. However, war, conflict or massive environmental disaster could create anarchy on any planet affected.
Oligarchy/Plutocracy
A form of government that consists of rule by an elite group who rule in their own interest, this form of government is especially concerned with the accumulation of wealth and privilege. Only certain members of society have a valid voice in the government. This can reflect (but is not limited to) economic interests, a particular religious tradition (theocracy), or familial rule (monarchy). Some of the ex-Capellan states enjoy this type of government, but they are far and few between.
Democracy
In a democracy, the people elect the government. Everyone who is eligible to vote - which is a majority of the population - has a chance to have their say over who runs the country. Democratic governments do exist on the planetary scale, but are often abandoned at the interstellar level in favor of more streamlined or concentrated government styles. A notable example of a democracy being instituted and utilized at the interstellar level is the governing body of the Kendall Parish. While applauded for their emphasis on the rights and say of their citizenry, the Parish government is ineffectual and over burdened by its electorate.
Currencies
The topic of currencies and economics is one that is often addressed in some basic form during every school child’s educational instruction. Still, a refresher course is often necessary to jog those nubile young minds of yours, and to help shake the cobwebs free from your brains. Upon graduation many of you will take your place out among the stars, or work in the (Insert ComStar Department Here). So if you want to keep your job, pay attention. Knowing how to buy a cup of coffee might come in handy, and one day it might even save your life.
The Germanium Standard
The Star League currency was based on the Germanium standard. Germanium, as a superconductor, medicinal remedy, and a primary ingredient in early K-F Jump Drives, was and is a valued rarity. Similar to ancient gold standards (rendered obsolete on an Intersellar scale by the proliferation of gold sources), a Star League bill could theoretically be exchanged for a given amount of Germanium. This was just in theory of course. No member-state or individual actually attempted an exchange.
The Amaris Coup ruined the Star League’s integrated economy and currency exchange. The Usurper sacked mints, raided Star League Germanium depots in the Hegemony and generally just ruined a very good system of commerce. By the beginning of the First Succession War, each House was printing their own version of currency, backed by their own supplies of Germanium.
At first, the Germanium standard was universally followed. Later, as the devastation of the First Succession War wore on, Houses that were still capable, abandoned the Germanium standard. This was due in part to a dwindling stockpile of the resource, but also because the House economies were so wrecked, inflation skyrocketed. Soon, water supplies and other resources backed House bills, but it is more realistic to say that the value of these bills fluctuates with the fortunes of the backing House.
After the Blackout, House bills often varied not just by the currency’s backer, but also by the script producer. With so many new interstellar nations coming into existence during the 30th century, the number of currencies available skyrocketed.
Planetary Currencies
Individual planets often print their own currency for local use. Some developed planets are stable enough to be able to print notes against the good faith and credit of their local governments or ruling noble house. Most, however, back their bills with some local resource in order to give their script some off world legitimacy. Typically, though, local script is referred to derisively as "toilet paper" and such. Several planets refuse to accept off world currency in day-to-day dealings, and often the planet profits from the forced conversion to local script.
Trading and speculation on currency is usually a fairly unstable affair. Still, an aggressive individual can make a profit off of those wide fluctuations, but such a volatile market carries extreme risk. The cautious investor diversifies his assets between various currencies, or in valued resources and commodities.
ComStar Bills
The most commonly accepted currency in the Inner Sphere by far is our Comstar Bill (symbol: CB or C-Bill). While large nation or House currencies are based on the good faith and credit of the ruling House, the C-Bill is based on the cost of a 1 millisecond Hyperpulse Generator message (approximately 2 pages of text or 1 small picture.) Decimal amounts are used in electronic transfers, stock prices, banking and other economic transactions. Even with the fall of the HPG network, the C-Bill standard is still imposed by the corporation. We simply use JumpShips instead of HPGs to transport messages.
Coins exist, called demis, and before the Blackout were found only on ComStar administered worlds, like Terra. Since the blackout however, physical currency is now the standard and ComStar bills are found throughout the Inner Sphere as the medium of off world trade and exchange - especially on poor independent worlds. Most change is handled in local currency. Paper notes are printed on Terra using a hard wearing but flexible plastic. They come in 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 C-Bill denominations. The bills depict the ComStar symbol and pictures of various monuments on Terra. Almost 32% of all currency in circulation in the Inner Sphere is found in C-Bills.
The Eagle
For all its internal divisions the former Free Worlds League had always had a strong economy. Its currency, once known as the Eagle (symbol: E or M-bill), reflected this. Since the collapse of the HPG network only the Marik Commonwealth continues to use the old currency whereas other proto-League nations of the once mighty Free Worlds League print their own local variant of the original money. Though other denominations exist, the most common coins of the M-Bill include 1, 5, 10 and 25 cent pieces (usually copper alloy) and 50 cent and 1 eagle pieces (silver alloy). The most common notes are 1, 5, 10 and 20 eagle bills – though denominations up to 1 million eagles do exist (most of these were printed during the height of the First Succession War when M-Bills were worth less than the cost of the note’s actual physical material.)
The Yuan
The Capellan yuan (symbol: Y or L-bill) is still used by the fractured Capellan Confederation, St. Ives Compact and in the tumultuous Warrior Fiefdoms. Even the Sarna Commonalty has been known to dabble in the printing of L-Bills, ostensibly to under cut the already weakened value of their hated neighbors. Only the Sarna Commonality produces a different, local type of currency. Each ex-Capellan state produces their version of the yuan and refuses to accept any other. As a result, C-Bills and hard commodities feature prominently in what little off world trading that does occur in Capellan space. Coins dominate the convoluted Capellan-inspired monetary system. Each yuan is divided into 10 jiao and each jiao into 10 fen. Coins exist in 1, 2 and 5 fen denominations (copper alloy); 1, 2 and 5 jiao (silver alloy); and 1, 5, 10 and 50 yuan denominations (gold alloy). All Capellan coins have a hole bored through the center, allowing them to be carried on money strings. Notes also exist in 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 yuan denominations, but they are considerably less common than coins. Bank notes are virtually non-existent in the Warrior Fiefdoms. Depending on the area of space, trade is either conducted in barter or through coin exchange. Very few of the area’s warlords care to foster a market system of any type and simply take what they need from their peasant castes.
The Pound
The Federated Suns continues to use the pound (symbol: £ or D-bill). Each pound is subdivided into 100 pence; through some Francophone regions of the Federated Suns use the term "centime" instead. Coins exist in 1, 2, 5 and 10 pence denominations (aluminum) and 20 and 50 pence (silver alloy). Each coin bears the First Prince's head on one side and the Davion insignia on the other. Notes exist for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000-pound denominations. The material used for these notes is usually a hardwearing but flexible plastic produced on New Avalon.
The Crown
The official money of the Capellan Marches, the crown or koruna (symbol: KC-bill) is subdivided into 100 hellers, abbreviated as hal. Coins exist in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 KC. Each coin is made from stamped aluminum and is rarely used in the Marches. Notes however, are very popular in the Marches and are the second most popular currency next to the C-Bill. Notes are printed in flexible plastic in 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 koruna denominations.
The Shekel
When the Draconis March claimed its independence from the Davion crown one of the first official changes to the new nation, besides changing its name to the Robinson Freehold, was the creation of a new state currency. Named the Shekel (symbol: RF-Bill) is subdivided into 100 agorot. Coins exist in 10, 20, and 50 agorot as well as 1, 5, and 10 shekels. Coins are stamped from locally approved materials and exhibit quite a bit of variation in composition, although the common copper alloy seems to be the most prevalent by far. Shekel notes are available in 20, 50, 100, and 200 shekel denominations. These notes are minted on Robinson and are made of paper. As a result, counterfeit shekel notes are a constant problem in the Robinson Freehold and are mass-produced by the Freehold’s underworld and foreign enemies alike. Each denomination is distinguished by color and size, with larger notes having greater value. One side shows the Freehold insignia and the image of the First Duke, while the other shows famous historical figures from Robinson’s past.
The Kroner
The currency of the Lyran Commonwealth is still the kroner (symbol: K or S-bill). Each kroner is subdivided into 100 pfennigs. Most major transactions were once carried out electronically, but notes and coins have become common since the fall of the HPG network. Coins exist in 1, 5 and 10 pfennig denominations, made of copper alloy; 25 and 50 pfennig, made of silver alloy; and 1 and 5 kroner, of gold alloy. All coins are minted on Tharkad, with the Steiner emblem on one side and the Archon's image on the other. Paper notes exist for 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 and 10,000 kroner, all of which are color-coded and readily distinguishable. One side of each note bears the Archon's image and the Steiner insignia, while the other depicts a famous scene from Lyran history.
Of all the old major House currencies, the kroner has certainly suffered the worst. The Succession Wars took a terrible toll on the once robust economy of the Lyran Commonwealth, with the kroner’s strength a shadow of its former self. Since the Blackout economists have often debated what was worse for the Commonwealth – the Blackout or the Archon. While the blackout was destructive across the entire Inner Sphere, it has been argued that it was the Archon’s draconian economic directives before the fall of the network that caused most of the Commonwealth’s troubles. In fact, most of the worlds Tharkad lost during the Blackout stem primarily from economic reasons rather than a division in ideology or communication.
The Ryu
The Draconis Combine's economy has been a mess for over a century and consequently the value of Combine’s ryu (symbol: D or K-bill) is virtually worthless. Each ryu is divided into 100 yen. The Combine government is constantly changing the composition of its currency, probably in an effort to confuse traders and the Combine’s remaining nobility. At the time of the last revision, the denominations were 1, 5, 20 and 30 yen coins (copper alloy); 50 yen, and 1 ryu and 5 ryu coins (silver alloy); and 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 ryu notes. The 1,000 and 10,000 ryu notes used before 3025 are rare, but they remain legal tender in the Combine. Each of the Combine’s reorganized prefectures mint their own coins and notes, but there is little difference among them beyond the name of the mint, which is still embossed on the edge of coins or as a watermark on notes.
Currency in the Alliance of Galedon remains oddly similar to that of the Combine, despite a professed disgust for anything associated with the Dragon. While the Alliance’s economy is in better shape than the Combine’s, ComStar’s C-Bills are still more popular than domestic script. Other areas once conquered by the Combine operate very differently. In the unstable Benjamin Prefectures no one type of currency holds sway, instead the self-styled dictators of the region trade in whatever material they deem of value. Elsewhere the Trolloc Dominion trades strictly in gold coins or bullion. In one of the most disputed areas of space, currency often fluctuates with a planet’s tide.
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Sendai Trade Alliance
ComStar has virtually no presence in the Sendai Trade Alliance since communication and trade expeditions were summarily attacked in 2859. Since then there has been no official contact with the Sendai worlds or people. Even ROM has had difficulty penetrating the Alliance. Their combination of culture and emphasis on family makes infiltration extremely difficult. Offers to repair their old HPGs were similarly rebuffed in 3023 and the Alliance continues to operate independently. Blessed with a large JumpShip fleet and other valuable resources the Sendai have had little reason to mingle with ComStar. During the long years of the Blackout third-party traders remained the sole means of contact and communication between ComStar and the Sendai.
Question if JumpShips are rare how "large" is the JumpShip fleet?
Also are there independent JumpShips? Or Merc JumpShips or are they all nationalized?
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Question if JumpShips are rare how "large" is the JumpShip fleet?
Also are there independent JumpShips? Or Merc JumpShips or are they all nationalized?
The size of the fleet is kept intentionally vague, but I will eventually determine # of transports per faction for game purposes.
As for your other questions, the answers are in the next section. However, the answer is yes to both.
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Travel & Communication
Interstellar Communication during the Blackout could be broken down into two distinct categories: those who enjoyed interstellar communication and those that did not. With the loss of the HPG network the colonized worlds of the Inner Sphere and the Periphery have been forced to revert back to pre-HPG means of communicating with one another. No longer would the worlds of man be connected across a vast network of fixed faster-than-light devices. Instead, the common JumpShip and DropShip would be pressed back into service to once again provide humanity with the essential means of maintaining contact. In stark contrast to the days of the Star League’s Golden Years the reality of communication during the Blackout was a return to the old JumpShip-based “Pony Express†– albeit an express with a significantly smaller number of available ponies.
While the dormant HPG stations of old would become larger than life reminders of an era long gone, ComStar would refuse to pass on. The corporation, like the rest of the Inner Sphere’s innumerable powers reorganized in the wake of the Blackout. Without functional HPGs JumpShip captains and their vessels would become more than the lifeblood of interstellar commerce, they would become the lifeblood of interstellar communication. With the Blackout, JumpShip captains returned to the forefront as information brokers and couriers, as well as commanders of a cargo transport.
As the years of the early Blackout turned into decades, the make up and disposition of the Inner Sphere’s JumpShips also changed. Devastated by terrible conflict and indiscriminate destruction, the once large merchant fleets of the Great Houses were reduced to tattered rags. As the fluctuating borders of the Sphere’s innumerable powers began to solidify, so did the unending upheaval plaguing the surviving JumpShip fleets. When it became apparent that the HPG network would not recover quickly or at all, JumpShips became the Inner Sphere’s most precious commodity. Every Inner Sphere power worked hard to woo or capture as many of the surviving ships as possible.
It was during this period of consolidation and reorganization that the first Trade Houses would form. These trading houses, both large and small developed from the shattered merchant fleets of the once Great Houses. Unique to this period of the Blackout, when major interstellar governments were falling apart, the earliest houses were budding corporate cooperatives. Some of these new co-ops were built with large military security assets at their disposal, owned by a functional shipyard, or major parts manufacturer.
While other JumpShip fleets were still controlled by their house lords, who lavished their JumpShip captains with wealth, gifts and a loyal security detachment, they were falling into the minority. There were also numerous small family-owned and operated ships or ship groups, with no loyalty but to themselves.
By the early 3000s, Independent JumpShip captains were still in existence but extremely rare. Sadly, both independent captains and small trading houses are at a disadvantage in comparison to their larger competitors. Not only are functional shipyards extremely rare and at a premium, but they charge exorbitant fees for their services. Small and independently owned ships are under the constant threat of being absorbed by a larger house or corporation, pressed into service by a House, paying their debts, or affording repairs. Piracy also continues to be a problem throughout the Inner Sphere, leaving individual or small fleets vulnerable to well-equipped pirate groups.
Regardless of their size, JumpShips and would-be brigands have to contend with the over abundance of arms that travel with even the most peaceful trade mission. The shear preciousness of a JumpShip means that in spite of DropShip and fighter shortages they are never without heavy protection. For those of you graduating into the (Insert ComStar Branch Name) mind your Ps & Qs. Most spacers have little tolerance for upstarts or rude passengers. More than one recent graduate has crossed the wrong Captain and ended up “accidentally†flushed out of an airlock.
Since the Blackout these fleets exert an enormous amount of influence wherever they operate. Given the unique importance of JumpShips, there is intense competition for control. Many trading houses place enormous pressure on Houses and independent worlds alike. A strange relationship exists between world rulers and trade leaders, with both working tirelessly to leverage the other in their favor.
Despite the competition every trading house and JumpShip captain traffics in information. While this sounds obvious, it is very important. With the HPG network inoperative, JumpShips can transport practically unlimited amounts of data without reducing the cargo they can transport. The information transfer between worlds may be slower, but the frequency of information "packages" arriving is only limited by the JumpShip and DropShip traffic the world receives. With the JumpShip “courier†taking the place of the HPG, sending data from one world to the next is no more expensive than the HPG. Only the total amount of time required to jump a ship from one system to the next slows the transfer of messages.
While ComStar provides the bulk of communication between worlds, and acts as neutral trade brokers, they cannot or will not be everywhere at once. ComStar also maintains high standards – based on the transmission rates of the old HPG network – while independent or House JumpShip captains are under no compulsion. Every JumpShip captain in the Inner Sphere earns some sort of payment offering his or her services as mail couriers. It should also be noted that JumpShips are typically too rare for command networks, or used under only the most important circumstances. Meaning, expect a long wait for delivery.
JumpShips that participate in the information trade do so in a number of different ways. The most common form of communication is a simple transmission from a system’s zenith or nadir jump point to a receiver on the target world. While the JumpShip is in transit and conditions permit, captains will sometime transmit their data via radio from their JumpShip to another along a given trade route. This process is especially common among Trading Houses with a large presence in a particular area of space, along well-established trade and communication routes, or when the information is time sensitive. This method of information transfer can take anywhere from several days to weeks to reach the intended destination, but is considerably faster and more expensive than transportation via a single ship. While JumpShip captains wait for their ships to charge they also spend considerable time soaking up a system’s local media, news, or anything else of value. This way, as ships ply their trade they spread the latest in multimedia and gossip. There isn’t a captain in the Inner Sphere that won’t look for a way to generate additional income.
Lastly, DropShip and physical courier conduct the slowest and most secure forms of communication transfer between locations. Many of you will experience the long and tedious courier job after graduation and a brief stint training with ROM. After which you will be assigned to a ship in the fleet and work for one of ComStar’s best and most expensive services. A word of advice, those long missions can play havoc on your muscles and nerves. If you have not already, take up a hobby like painting or knitting and save the company some trouble by not going stir crazy.
WarShips
In their heyday, the WarShip fleets of the Inner Sphere numbered in the hundreds before the fall of the Star League. Then came the horrific fighting of the First Succession War. The war would claim most of these space-faring leviathans and their irreplaceable shipyards. Soon gone were the factories needed to support and manufacture them, and lost in nuclear fireballs or orbital bombardment were the many academies where future WarShip crews were to be trained.
By the time Conrad Toyama launched ComStar into the Schism there were only a handful of these deadly behemoths still counted among the Inner Sphere’s major powers. Barely functional compared to the shining hulls of their illustrious forebears, the remaining WarShips of the Inner Sphere were soon relegated to orbital curiosities or scrap.
However, a few WarShips still exist. While a paltry threat now, they can still prove to be a decisive weapon when used properly. Thankfully, most of these survivors are so rare, and so precious that few are willing to risk a standard jump, let alone engage in combat.
One of these notable orphans includes the former FSS Pleiades, a New Syrtis Carrier. After suffering from catastrophic damage during the early years of the Second Succession War. The battered cruiser jumped to the safety of Novaya Zemlya. However, the jump was too much for the ship to bear and the Pleiades literally broke its back. Left floating in space, the ship was recovered by Ian Zuckerman and his salvage team in 2902. Unable to repair the ship to its former fighting condition, the Zuckerman’s used the massive bulk of the cruiser as the central hub of a massive trade station. Locally known as the “U†because of the station’s unique shape, the station provides rest and respite for spacers from all over the Inner Sphere. Home to a population of almost 3,500 permanent residents, and hundreds of travelers at any given time, the U is a bustling space community. Capable of providing limited repairs to DropShips and JumpShips, the station is one of the most popular destinations in the Capellan Marches. Since its inception, the Zuckerman Family has controlled the U, and maintains an iron grip on most of the illegal interstellar trade within 120 light years of Novaya Zemlya. In addition to their lucrative trade empire, the Zuckerman’s are also well known as powerful information brokers. Little occurs in their area of space (and beyond) that they do not know about.
In the absence of true WarShips, a small number of DropShips have been retrofitted with capital weapons. Typically a hodgepodge collection of capital launchers or naval lasers, these customized “Pocket†WarShips are extremely rare, yet extremely powerful additions to the depleted navies of the Inner Sphere. With less than fifty in existence, only the most prosperous or sophisticated navy can boast even one of these DropShips in its arsenal. However, due to dwindling replacement parts and the technical know-how to maintain their capital weapons their days might be numbered.
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Notable Trade Houses
The term “Trade House†can be a little misleading; there are dozens of “standard†trade houses operating in the Inner Sphere and beyond, but there are an equal number that simply do not fall into simple categorization. These trade houses, guilds and collectives are just as equally important to interstellar trade as their corporate brethren – and sometimes more – but are cast from a different mold. Below are some of the most famous, or notorious Trade Houses operating in the Inner Sphere.
Prominent Trade Houses
House Winters – Firgrove/Capellan Marches
The Winters family has been the hereditary rulers of Firgrove for centuries, and have used their extensive political and family connections to entice foreign and industrial investment to improve their planet for generations. During the Reunification War, the Winters persuaded the SLDF to build a repair facility to service vessels during the conflict despite Firgrove’s proximity to the dangerous Taurian front. The Winters family even sweetened the deal by offering to help offset labor and material costs. While it was a massive drain on the family coffers at the time, the jobs created and revenue earned from off-duty ship crews, plus the unexpected import/export tariff all visiting ships had to pay, made the Winters family extremely rich. Support of the Haseks even netted Firgrove another expansion of their orbital facilities at zero cost, allowing Firgrove to sell DropShips during the Star League. The Succession Wars brought hard times for Firgrove and the Winters family. Raids from both the Capellan Confederation and the Periphery destroyed much of Firgrove’s manufacturing muscle, while the secession of the Capellan Marches from the Federated Suns destroyed important trade lines. Yet, in spite of the upheaval the civil war provided the perfect opportunity for Firgrove to gain its independence and strike out on its own. While a close relationship between Duke Hasek and Duke Winters exists even today (over the years marriages between the two families have been extremely common), Firgrove continues to operate as an independent planet, with the Winters family providing repair and refit services for anyone with the money.
Rekara, Miyido, Nezumi Clans – Throughout Draconis Combine Space
As the Draconis Combine disintegrated beneath the weight of betrayal, many previously suppressed or discriminated social groups took the chance to strike back, or out on their own. Some, like the Azami people, managed to gain their independence from the Dragon. Others, like the Yakuza Clans saw an opportunity to profit from the situation. Using the chaos to their advantage, some of the largest Yakuza Clans used their influence to seize control of previously inaccessible markets. While the Rekara, Miyido and Nezumi Clans represent some of the largest Yakuza groups operating out of Combine space, there are countless others. In some regions, especially in the Benjamin Prefectures, the Yakuza represent a vital link in the commercial chain, ferrying supplies and cargo from one planet to the next, having replaced traditional means of trade. Arranged in a loose pecking order, and governed by ancient traditions, the Clans are rife with rivalry and long standing blood feuds. At the top of the heap is the Nezumi Clan. A position they’ve held since their backroom acquisition of Dharma Hyperspace and controlling interest in Galileo Instruments. Careful manipulation of production records over the years has funneled dozens of new ships into the Clan, which have seen service as far away as Hastur. The other Yakuza clans – while no less impressive – lack the same physical assets as the Nezumi. A fact the other oyabun rarely forget.
Nashan Trading House – Tharkad/Donegal/Coventry/Lyran Commonwealth
The largest civilian trade house in the Lyran Commonwealth, the Nashan Company is also the single largest civilian corporation still in existence. Built from the surviving assets of Ns-Shan Computer Tracking and other orphaned businesses in the wake of the Star League’s collapse, the Nashan Trading House owns controlling interest in a diverse number of markets. A major ComStar competitor in consumer goods, Nashan products can be found throughout known space. Major underwriters of the only Steiner-controlled JumpShip yards in the Commonwealth (the former Di Tron Shipyards of Gibbs), the Trading House is a staunch supporter of the Archon and is often seen as an agent of Tharkad when operating aboard – despite being an independent entity. Nashan is also notable for their elite Black Guards security force. A potent military force, the Black Guards are present wherever the Trading House operates, and is instrumental in protecting Nashan assets.
Avanti Shipil – Skye/Nusakan/Federation of Skye
Born after Skye gained its freedom from the Lyran Commonwealth in 2830, the Avanti-Shipil Trade House was created when the wealthy Avanti Family bought out Shipil’s remaining aerospace assets just as Skye gained its freedom. Long a diverse conglomerate, the creation of Avanti-Shipil came as a surprise to the new Skye nation, who expected to gain control of the only orbital shipyards in the region. Instead, Avanti, who had secretly helped funnel supplies from ComStar into rebel hands during the rebellion, used siphoned arms to secure their latest acquisition free from outside control. Forcing the Federation into accepting a one sided trade agreement for use of Shipil’s repair docks, the new Trade House owns a strangle hold on goods flowing to and from the Federation of Skye. Well supplied, the House is well known for periodically “losing†cargo shipments. Ostensibly the cost of doing business in Skye, the extra profit goes to enriching the coffers of the corrupt Avanti Family.
Haranshire Cartel – Alarion/Independent
Di Tron Industries was once one of the largest jump-capable ship producers in the Inner Sphere, but the fall of the Star League destroyed most of the company’s major facilities, and raids during the Succession Wars ruined the rest. It would take the withdrawal of Tamar and Skye to breath new life into the failing company, when an opportunity presented itself for then-Duke Donald Leone of Bowie Industries to seize control of Di Tron’s Alarion facilities. Declaring Alarion and his manufacturing assets independent of Tharkad, Duke Leone created one of the first independent trade worlds. Forced to create ties with local criminal elements to ensure Alarion’s long-term survival, the Duke’s family eventually lost control of their assets to the Haranshire Cartel; largest of the province’s organized crime families. Since then the Haranshire Cartel has ruled Alarion with an iron fist. While they are willing to offer refit and repair services for any customer, the Cartel makes most of their profit from the sale of arms and ships built at the former Bowie Industries factory. With ties to every major power player in the former Lyran Commonwealth, the Cartel operates throughout the Inner Sphere. A recent deal with the Mining Collectives of C.M.O 26 also netted the Cartel discount access to massive raw mineral stores. Required for increased production, many believe the Haranshire are gearing up for a possible expansion. Housed almost entirely in Port Sydney, the orbital facility is the center of their criminal empire.
O’Keefre Trade House – Fomalhaut/Deneb Kaitos/Terran Free States/ComStar Protectorate
Once the Star League’s largest import-export company, controlling the vast majority of civil goods traveling into and out of the League, the O’Keefre Company was hard hit by the Succession Wars. A large part of its JumpShip fleet was lost during the fighting, and valuable assets were either captured or destroyed throughout the war as trade disintegrated. One of the few Trade Houses with assets in the ComStar Protectorate, the O’Keefre House is primarily based on Fomalhaut and Deneb Kaitos, but has small trading hubs throughout the former Terran Hegemony and the Federation of Skye. The Trade House has a large fleet of heavily armed DropShips, and has seen an increase in the total number of JumpShips at their disposal in recent years. No one is sure where the new vessels are coming from, but O;Keefre does maintain a standing bounty for any stolen vessel returned to their control. The Trade House is still run by the O’Keefre family of Fomalhaut.
Salvatore Trade House – Layover/Robinson Freehold
The Salvatore Trading House was once known as Salvatore Incorporated, and was a major aerospace manufacturer during the Star League era. The Succession Wars were not kind to Salvatore. Raids and assaults on Layover destroyed a great deal of the company’s factories and yards. On the verge of dissolution, it was the secession of the Robinson Freehold that changed the corporation’s fortunes for the better. Seized by Ziva Sharone, a close friend of the Sandoval family, and with help from the Marius Consorts mercenary command, Salvatore was transformed. Under the control of Sharone, and through a combination of bartering, theft and purchases Salvatore was able to rebuild a good percentage of their vacant St. Edwards facilities. While other DropShip manufacturers of the era were shrinking, Salvatore was growing. Although the House lacks a large number of JumpShips, Salvatore maintains a well-preserved DropShips fleet. One of the few Freehold companies that maintain good relations with the Federated Suns, Salvatore DropShips can be found traveling aboard Suns’ JumpShips inside that nation. In fact, theory holds that the Sandoval family uses Salvatore as a back door means of communicating and spying on New Avalon.
Deakin-Jones Group – SelaSys Subsidiary/Loyalty/Marik Commonwealth
Not every Trade House is a distinct corporate, independent or noble-ruled entity. A few are a fusion of all three. The Deakin-Jones Group is a perfect example of this phenomenon in action. An outgrowth of the fractured Free Worlds League, the Deakin-Jones Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of SelaSys Incorporated, which in turn is partially owned by the Marik Family. Although few foreign rulers are willing to admit it, the Free Worlds League came through the Second Succession War better than most. True, their industrial and economic base was thoroughly shattered, but the individual provinces of the Free Worlds were used to partial self-governance even before the disintegration of federal control. Where other new nations were struggling to come to grips with their newfound independence, most League provinces simply went back to business as usual. While new realities dictated some mandatory changes, League provinces were models of efficient management in miniature. The Deakin-Jones Group represents this symbiotic relationship between surviving industry and government. Built around the remaining civilian transport assets from both the Marik Commonwealth and Stewart Confederation, the Deakin-Jones Group is currently based out of the SelaSys shipyards above Loyalty, where they are responsible for maintaining the bulk of the Commonwealth’s domestic trade and communication. Staffed with some of the best naval crews and officers the Commonwealth can provide, the group doubles as unofficial commerce raiders when the need arise. In recent years, increased military adventurism on the part of the Principality of Regulus has seen Deakin-Jones privateers, and their trademark Gotha Fighters harassing Regulan shipping up and down the Atrean Corridor to great effect.
Highpoint Traders –Campoleone/Clipperton/Principality of Gibson/Principality of Regulus
Originally a trading company dating back to the Star League, Highpoint steadily declined after the League collapsed. A series of disasters, including the loss of their corporate headquarters on New Delos left the company on the verge of collapse. Relocating their remaining assets to Clipperton in 2846 at the invitation of Irian Enterprises was tough for Highpoint, as was their abandonment of the Federation of Oriente, and by 2849 the company had been officially absorbed by Irian Enterprises. Since then Highpoint Traders has been Irian’s dedicated transport division. A member of the semi-independent Duchy of Gibson, Highpoint Traders now peddles Irian-produced goods across the Inner Sphere and beyond. Well equipped with the best technology Irian can manufacture, Highpoint convoys are heavily armed, and sought after as incidental traveling companions in more dangerous areas of space. In fact, no raiders have attacked a Highpoint Traders convoy or ship since their relocation from New Delos. While odd, persistent rumors continue to claim Highpoint’s safe passage comes because of a deal struck between local pirate groups and Irian Enterprises. Supposedly, in return for safe passage, Highpoint Traders would provide information on civilian shipping. Even wilder, some claim Highpoint Traders actually engage in their own acts of piracy. Conspiracy theorists point out similarities between the notorious Death Jesters Pirate Band ships’ and registered Highpoint vessels as proof. As unsubstantiated as these rumors may be, there is no doubt that a higher percentage of ships are attacked in systems regularly visited by Highpoint Traders.
Centrella MindStar Traveling Circus – Canopus/Magistracy of Canopus
One of the most surprising survivors of the Succession Wars was the Canopian pleasure industry. More specifically, was the survival of the Pleasure Circuses of the old Star League-era. The Centrella Mindstar Traveling Circus is one of the most well known Pleasure Circuses of its kind, operating throughout the Magistracy of Canopus, the former Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth space. A combination circus, casino, theatre, nightclub and traveling bazaar, most economic experts would be hard pressed to classify Centrella Mindstar as a Trade House. Yet the Circus continues to be one of the most sought trade destinations in the Inner Sphere. During the Circus’s slow circular travel route from one world to the next its frequent stops provide access to a stunning array of goods, most of which it brings along to its next destination. As a result, wherever Mindstar sets up shop local merchants flock, hoping to poach the best luxury items, or goods before their competitors and the circus moves on. Like the gypsy caravans of old, the circus is not an easy target or trifled with lightly. Well armed, the circus has taught more than one would-be raider to quickly search for easier prey, and more than one disgruntled patron has learned that an angry circus performer will take more than just your wallet if crossed. Incidentally, MindStar’s travels also make it one of the best sources for information and news in the Inner Sphere. A hot bed of intrigue, it is an open secret that Canopian Pleasure Cruises are home to more than their fair share of spies and information brokers.
Nakoma Cuirassiers – Capella/Sarna Commonality
With Capellan space a seething cauldron of shifting alliances and well-armed warlords, interstellar commerce can be a dangerous, perhaps even fatal proposition. Still, the payoff for a successful trade are great, and more than one merchant is willing to roll the fickle dice of fate for a fat wad of C-Bills. Since the secession of Capella and the creation of the Sarna Commonality puppet state, Capella has worked hard to ensure that fate continues to shine on its economic endeavors. Backed by the true rulers of Capella and the Commonality – Ceres Metals – the Commonality has hired a number of mercenary commands to act as armed couriers to transport the company’s goods. A fairly unique situation, mercenary units in the employ of Ceres are paid for the successful delivery of goods, but also receive a bonus for every ton of usable salvage brought to Capella upon their return. What was originally slated as an anti-piracy measure soon turned into unrestricted privateer actions in the name of Ceres Metals. An unsavory practice by some of Ceres Metals’ less reputable hires, Capella’s voracious hunger for salvage forces them to ignore the worst offenders. The Nakoma Cuirassiers are one such mercenary group under contract with Ceres. A fairly large mercenary command, the Cuirassiers have been in the employ of Ceres Metals for over a decade. During that time, receipt of their salvage bonuses have set them apart as the most successful of Ceres Metals’ transporters. The key to their success has been the unit’s reported use of every conceivable tactic, including the transmission of fake IFF codes, hidden hull weapons and pre-recorded distress calls to lure unsuspecting victims into well laid traps. The Cuirassiers are ruthless in their pursuit of salvage and employ some of the best Zero-G marines in the region to capture targets as quickly as possible. Thankfully, their treatment of prisoners is humane, with most being held until their return to Capella. As a result of the Cuirassiers’s actions and other units like theirs, Capellan space remains incredibly dangerous to all but the best-armed travelers.
Brotherhood of Spacers – Capella/Wynn's Roost/Star’s End/Rim Republic
A loose collection of semi-independent JumpShip captains, the Brotherhood of Spacers grew into a major trade power in response to dwindling numbers and access to suitable repair and supply facilities. First proposed in 2822, the Brotherhood charter was written by three captains; Jerrad Olson, Kelli Ruhbavo and Malik al-Sharim. Together they created a framework for allowing independent JumpShips to remain feasible during an era when independent operations were becoming an impossible reality. Pooling their resources, the new collective was able to purchase the decrepit remains of the Tamar Bolson-Tamar Shipyards. Effectively destroyed since a Combine attack two years earlier, the Brotherhood dismantled any residual slips, and painstakingly transporting them to a location all three knew to be relatively safe: Star’s End. An unremarkable world blessed with once-vast mineral resources, by 2822 Star’s End’s major mining concerns were tapping into the final reserves of usable material, and much of the local population had already moved elsewhere.
Approaching the largest working mining conclaves with an offer of mutual assistance and a new means of generating income netted the Brotherhood both resources and expertise in Zero-G construction. Together the two groups assembled a functional Refit and Repair yard capable of servicing spacecraft. A primitive Space Defense System in the system’s enormous asteroid belt helped protect the valuable yard, while promises of free repairs purchased the services of a number of hungry mercenary commands looking for easy work.
Using their trade contacts and newfound resource, it was not long before membership in the Brotherhood grew to considerable size. New members paid dues in resources, technical expertise and the occasional contracted job. In return Brothers gained access to the Star’s End yards, a network of trade contacts and protection from outside predation. Within three decades, the Brotherhood accounted for almost 97% of all independent JumpShips still operating in the Inner Sphere and Periphery. By 2879 the Brotherhood of Spacers had managed to setup or borrow similar facilities in both the Outworlds Alliance and, surprisingly, in the Sarna Commonality.
Sadly, the Brotherhood has changed over the years. Today it operates more like an organized crime syndicate then a fraternity, exercising its muscle to gain favorable trade terms, enforcing random taxes, and steep transport fees. With their large membership, and ties to just about every faction in the Inner Sphere, including the Yakuza, the Brotherhood can operate with virtual impunity despite their questionable business practices. While management has not increased dues or imposed new rules on their rank and file, many in the Brotherhood have begun to grow disenfranchised with guild’s corrosive policies, and talk of forming a new organization has taken on a more serious tone of late.
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Age of Chaos: WarShips dead, shipyards dead, Herb would love this Son of (the Word of) Blake ;D
Overall I'm still loving the universe despite the hate on WarShips, I like the Pleiades Space station idea a bit like the Cyclops created by Starbug
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Thanks!
Again, this is just a basic foundation. If WarShips want to return there's a mechanism to allow it. Think of this like the 3rd Ed. BattleTech game. ;D
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Hey Knightmare, it's great to see the primer up.
I'm still reading through it (still on page 1 of the thread), but so far I'm really enjoying it, it's a great read.
The only thing that feels a bit off, is the "Setup & Organization" section and the description of the administration division (especially Stellar Relations and Protectorate Affairs). While they're great at giving a feeling for the internal workings of ComStar, they seem a bit too critical for an (IC) information brochure for new employees.
I'll comment more on it later.
edit:
And bonus points for including a Seeker-esque division into ComStar!
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I left some extraneous bits out, but some sections are not from a ComStar source. I intentionally left them off so critics would spend more time on the content. Good catch - you're the first one to notice text that would NOT be accepted by a corporate sensor. Makes you wonder who actually put the Primer together...
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Weapons
An introduction to weapons in the Inner Sphere during the Blackout
Among the thousands of different weapons found throughout the Inner Sphere, most ComStar initiates really only seem to care about the high-tech ones. It’s sad, really. As if the weapons of our forefathers were trivial nuisances of the past. Far be it for me to correct my young “experts†by saying that a primitive bow and arrow is just as likely to kill them as any laser pistol blast, but they will learn soon enough. But enough complaining, I’m here to teach, and you are here to learn.
You are here, right? That counts for something. Congrats.
If you are here, bright-eyed and awake, then you suffer from at least a microcosm of common sense and selected a proper elective for your studies. I’m here to provide you with a real introduction to the most common weapons of the Inner Sphere and Periphery. While not exhaustive, this class will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic. I would also council individual study outside of this class, especially before you have been assigned to some boondocks post in the deep Periphery. If you survive your first tour, I’m sure you’ll thank me…
Where to begin? Well, first off, even the most unsophisticated industrial capacity allows almost any world the ability to manufacture basic small arms and other infantry weapons. Before the Succession Wars and the Blackout, interstellar economics and military logistics also made it cost effective to manufacture expendable items, such as rifles, SMGs, and pistols locally rather than import them from elsewhere. That is not always the case these days, and many trading houses make good money trafficking in arms. So don’t expect every world to have plentiful stocks of 9mm case-less rounds for your standard issue M&G sidearm. However, despite the reduction in total number of weapons manufacturers there is still tremendous variation even among similar weapon types.
Take the early years of the Star League as an example. Before the start of the Reunification War, there were more than 200 different types of laser rifles, each with its own distinct capabilities and designed with different needs in mind. Some Member-State leaders were looking for higher damage at the expense of range, still others wanted range at the cost of killing power. While the total number of available laser rifles since the Star League has decreased considerably, the tendency to diversify based on preference continues to this day. So while the world of Kestrel might enjoy a plentiful supply of Mk. III Federated Arms power packs that are compatible with your Mauser 850 Assault System, the same Mk. III power packs on Hesperus are not guaranteed to fit. In fact, they won’t. A general rule to live by in the field is to “never count on local supplyâ€. It may just save your life.
Now, most weapons are typically classified into two broad categories: support or personal. Personal Weapons are issued en masse to individual soldiers and are primarily anti-personnel in nature and design. Support Weapons are exactly that: support. They tend to be heavier, more destructive versions of Personal Weapons and are issued selectively to help increase a unit’s firepower. Some support weapons can even be used against infantry and vehicle targets alike. As any portable SRM operator is likely to tell you, his launcher is just as deadly to a squad of soldiers as it is to a BattleMech, especially if the situation is right.
Now turn to page 23 in your textbook. We’ll start by reviewing the development of the handheld pulse laser pistol…
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Below are descriptions for some of the most common weapons in the Inner Sphere and Periphery. While not exhaustive by any means, it should showcase a good slice of the personal and support weapons produced by modern faction militaries.
Personal Weapons
KA-21 Subgun
Once the standard-issue subgun for the Draconis Combine’s elite DEST teams, the KA-23 is still used by DEST in both the Alliance of Galedon and the much-reduced Draconis Combine. A low-tech version of the KA-24, the KA-23 is still a small, lightweight and very reliable submachine gun, well known for its remarkable accuracy. However, since the collapse of the Draconis Combine the KA-23 is becoming difficult to produce. Not only is the gun expensive for a slug-thrower, but the KA-23’s built in recoil compensation and gas-vent system use materials no longer easily obtained by most local manufacturers.
TK Series Assault Rifles
The standard issue assault rifle for the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces for centuries, the TK Series of Assault Rifles can now be found throughout the former Lyran Commonwealth and beyond thanks to the weapon’s simplicity and low cost. While most TK Rifles do share many of their components between versions, this is not always the case. For example, the TK-3 Series produced by Federated Arms on Novaya Zemlya uses a 7.62mm shell and gas-powered feed system. The very same TK-3 manufactured in the Federation of Skye operates an identical gas-system, but is chambered for a smaller round. TK Assault Rifles are so common now that examples of the series can be found in quantity as far away as the Warrior Fiefdoms.
Sunbeam Laser Pistol
One of the more complicated laser pistols still in production, the corporation’s flagship pistol offers increased damage over other laser pistols at a corresponding decrease in energy efficiency. Viewed as a good compromise given the pistol’s size and stopping power, the Sunbeam is very popular among spacers and wealthy Protectorate citizens. Compared to the common Nova “energy-hog†laser pistol, the Sunbeam is undoubtedly one of the most popular laser pistols in existence, and can be found throughout the Inner Sphere.
Intek Mk. XI Laser Rifle
An increasingly rare weapon since the start of the HPG Blackout, the Intek Mk. XI Laser Rifle is considered by many to be a “compromise†weapon. Once known for its fantastic range in comparison to other laser rifles, and a phenomenal energy-efficiency; the rifle can fire more than double the number of shots off a standard power pack as other laser rifles. The Mk. XI was created in the face of new economic and technological realities. Boasting a shorter range than its predecessors and a dismal energy-efficiency, the rifle is now built with rugged survivability in mind. Useful for troops on long-range scouting patrols or urban snipers, the cumbersome Intek is still much loved by its operators despite its current shortcomings.
Mauser 850 Assault System
Based on the extremely popular Mauser 960, once the standard-issue rifle of the Star League Defense Force, the Mauser 850 is now the standard-issue weapon for ComGuard infantry everywhere. Manufactured exclusively for corporate troops, the Mauser is built around a rugged pulse laser rifle, and features an integral mini-grenade launcher, bayonet and survival kit built into the stock. The grenade launcher accepts a wide variety of ordnance, and thanks to ComStar technology performs as a standard compact grenade launcher. While the rifle lost the 960’s vibroblade bayonet and high efficiency, the weapons is still stocked with a full survival kit containing two emergency flares, a flashlight, pulse signal stick, medical kit, a three-day supply of nutrition pills, a five-meter length of cable and a folding spade. Everything but the spade is contained within the stock compartment. Perhaps the most sophisticated infantry weapon in existence today, the Mauser 850 features a number of proprietary components that keeps the spread of the weapon and operation solely in the hands of ComGuard troops. Both the rifle’s power pack and grenades are specially built for the Mauser, and are sophisticated enough to prevent easy replication. Combined with the strict control of replacement parts, only a few Mausers are in the hands of anyone outside of the corporation.
Support Weapons
Model BS-20 MRR
The medium recoilless rifle has changed little since it first went into production in the mid-twentieth century. The most common version of the medium recoilless rifle in use is Stein Armaments’ Model BS-20. Built throughout old Lyran space, the BS-20 has been in near constant production since 2749, when the Star League Defense Force placed its first order for the weapon. The medium version is a should-fired weapon but requires a second crewmember to load the rounds. Effective against light vehicles and similar opposition, the BS-20 is one of the Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon’s most lucrative products. Their trading convoys deliver thousands of BS-20s a year across the Inner Sphere.
Vipersting 210 Semi-Portable Machine Gun
The most common infantry support weapon, the semi-portable machine gun is used as a close-range support weapon for infantry units throughout known space. Most models are belt-fed ammunition, however, some designs, such as the Capellan Vipersting 210 use 300-round ammunition canisters. Because the semi-portable machine gun requires a crew of two, infantry squads rarely use it as a main weapon. The common Vipersting can be found throughout Capellan space, and even in the Capellan Marches, where insurgent and March soldier use the weapon alike.
Franklin Series III Semi-Portable Particle Cannon
The semi-portable particle projector cannon, also called a man-pack particle cannon or M-PPC, is a scaled-down version of the vehicle mounted PPC. The complicated Franklin Series III is the standard issue support weapon for ComGuard troops within the Protectorate. An extremely expensive and sophisticated weapon, the Franklin is impractical for use outside the safety and support of the Protectorate’s borders, but offers a rude surprise for any would-be raiders. Considered impractical by many of the corporation’s bean counters, the Franklin MPPC is nevertheless appreciated by its operators and the citizens of the Protectorate for its sheer stopping power. Extremely rare outside of the Protectorate, when it is found, it is usually in the hands of elite commando units.
Andurien Hunter Semi-Portable Support Laser
The semi-portable support laser is a powerful infantry laser designed for operation by a crew of two. Typically, one crewmember fires the weapon, while the second assists in aiming and maintaining the power hookups. The Andurien Hunter, built by Regulan Royal Armaments is indicative of the type, featuring a simple, self-contained water-cooling system that requires only limited monitoring and a constant supply of power. Rugged enough for use with Principality troops, the Andurien has seen copy and manufacture throughout Marik space. The bane of its namesake, it is ironic then that the Duchy of Andurien makes use of more semi-portable support lasers than any other faction.
Harvester Portable SRM Launcher
One of the most powerful and versatile infantry support weapons in existence, the portable SRM is the bane of BattleMechs and vehicles everywhere. Cheap and easy to manufacture, the launcher can be loaded with either standard or inferno rounds, and operated by even the most untrained militiaman. Produced in the thousands by hundreds of companies, the Harvester SRM is notable for its popularity in former Federated Suns space and the Tikonov Reaches. In the Robinson Freehold, the Harvester is issued to almost every citizen-soldier of the nation to help combat the Freehold’s aggressive neighbors and the steady stream of pirates that constantly plague its borders.
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Technology
Technology in the Inner Sphere and Periphery is a complicated and diverse subject. While some worlds of the Inner Sphere enjoy a technology level slightly higher than the twenty-first century standard, there are some worlds that enjoy far more sophisticated technology. The reality of technology standards since the start of the Succession Wars and the Blackout can best be described by a simple caveat; there is no standard. On some worlds you are just as likely to enjoy a taxi ride in a fuel cell-powered hover car as you are in a horse drawn cart.
The main culprit for such wide spread loss of advanced technology has undoubtedly been the Succession Wars. In their bid to claim the empty throne of the Star League the House Lords unleashed war with reckless abandon upon the worlds of the Inner Sphere. The First Succession War was unabashed in its use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Besides scouring the battlefields of life with weapons of mass destruction, the House Lords specifically targeted their enemy’s industrial and manufacturing capabilities. During the war whole industrial sectors were systematically destroyed.
In addition to the destruction of cities, factories and even whole worlds, interstellar transport was also targeted. JumpShips and DropShip were destroyed without any thought to the future. The pent-up frustrations of almost two hundred years of forced coexistence could simply not be contained, and by the start of the Second Succession War the war machines of the Great Houses were mere shadows of their pre-war strength. Scores of the Great Houses’ most prominent and advanced worlds were reduced to smoldering ashes. To make matters even worse, many of the Inner Sphere’s most advanced centers of science and industry – those worlds located at the heart of the defunct Terran Hegemony – were shattered under the constant attacks of the Sphere’s various claimants.
And while most of your teachers will refrain for saying, but the next great blow to the Inner Sphere’s technological body came from the Protectorate; not from war or nuclear bombardment, but from an insidious enemy situated deep inside the belly of ComStar, Terra and the heart of humanity’s industrial and technological bosom. Terra and ComStar, the proverbial retainers of knowledge and industry sustained incalculable levels of damage during Toyama’s attempted takeover.
When Conrad’s delusional followers instigated their coup against Blake and the Inner Sphere, they did more than shut down the HPG Network. Converted ComStar technicians and supporters across occupied space enacted Toyama’s plans after having spent years infiltrating every level of the corporation, and were well prepared to do so. The hand of Conrad’s fanatics soon touched pristine worlds with the misery of war.
In addition to their overt acts of destruction, Toyama supposedly helped maintain and even increase violence between the various nations of the Inner Sphere in the months leading up to his Schism. While the many factions of mankind continued to slaughter each other Conrad loyalists attacked intact factories, universities and scientific centers, often leaving evidence pointing to another culprit as an early part of their Holy Shroud initiative. Whole sectors of intact industry felt the deadly caress of Toyama’s Order. When the ComStar Schism came to its bloody conclusion the final tally showed that Conrad had caused far more damage than anyone could have thought possible. Whether he intended it or simply underestimated the long-term effects of his plan, the physical damage wrought by his Order can never be fully calculated.
Despite the passage of decades since the Schism, there are many worlds where ComStar is still viewed with suspicion, fear or worse. There are some worlds where you will have to hide your affiliation or avoid it altogether. One of ComStar’s primary mandates is to help repair the damage Conrad caused – and the image he tarnished in the process. Remember, you are not only representatives of your company, but also representatives of a long and sometimes dark history. Speaking of “dark†history, you should know how the Blackout affected the Inner Sphere’s technology levels.
While the wars and Conrad’s coup destroyed physical assets like factories and schools, the dissolution of the Great Houses also disrupted centuries-old trade routes, industrial infrastructure and production. Coupled with too few Jumpships, the Blackout was the final nail in the coffin of technological decline for the Inner Sphere.
By itself, the Blackout did quite a bit to retard the technology levels of the Inner Sphere, but was more of a cap on earlier losses than a major contributor. While the most immediate effect of the Blackout was the loss of communication between worlds, which meant that planets suffering from drought, famine or disease went unheard by worlds or leaders in a position to help, the early years of the Blackout also helped continue to accelerate the erosion of the old systems of trade, manufacture and production – while significantly slowing the reestablishment of new ones. The loss of the HPG Network created a cycle of degradation that lasted for decades as the Inner Sphere worked to stabilize itself. By the end of the twenty-ninth century only the most developed worlds were microcosms of the former glory of their parent nations during the Star League, or before.
Today, with decades of misuse and miss-repair most advanced items are often jury-rigged or family heirlooms. Too few shipyards are available to repair older vessels, let alone build new ones, and increasing numbers of JumpShips are lost every year to accidents. The decreasing number of interstellar travel-capable ships has continued to slow commerce, trade and communication accordingly. In some ways, and in some places, the cycle of decay continues to this day.
The one bright spot in this otherwise dreary picture is ComStar. Despite the loss of manufacturing resources and technical data, the corporation has managed to retain a fairly sophisticated level of technology. Our ability to produce rugged, but useful consumer goods and substantial numbers of JumpShips and DropShips have allowed the corporation to expand greatly. So rejoice, you will all have jobs next year, and maybe even until the next!
This brings me to my final point. As members of ComStar your quality of life will be much better than most of the people you will come into contact with during your travels – so be careful. As mentioned before, there will be those who will view you with suspicion and hatred because of the ComStar name. Well, now you can add envy to the list. Do yourself a favor and keep your belongings either clipped to your skin or back on the ship. That notepad you are using right now might be as common here on Sandhurst as excuses, but out there, in the wild, it is a reason to stick a knife in your back.
Remember the old adage; Life is cheap – technology is not.
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On RetroTech
Cambridge University Press, Terra, 2901
In the progressive development of military technology, nothing represents the technological decline of the Succession Wars and the Blackout than so-called “RetroTechâ€. The natural outgrowth of a devastated industrial and trade base; RetroTech is nothing new. In fact, the technologies predate what most armies consider even standard weapons tech. RetroTech is by definition older, primitive weapons being redeployed to the modern battlefield. Easily produced among the war-torn states of the Inner Sphere, primitive weapons now dominate many faction militaries.
While the reintroduction of primitive weapons to the Inner Sphere came in no small part from the wars following the fall of the Star League, their prolific spread throughout occupied space was the work of ComStar.
During the First Succession War, Jerome Blake made the decision to authorize ComStar to begin supplying Terran resistance groups with weapons from the corporation’s extensive SLDF stock to help slow the conquest of the former Terran Hegemony. A bold move to preserve the Hegemony, Blake knew weapons deliveries were not going to be enough to slow the Hegemony’s absorption. In addition to the weapons leaving Terra, blueprints and plans for primitive BattleMech and armor designs joined ComStar’s secret shipments.
The idea was simple, liberated Hegemony worlds could convert their planet’s remaining heavy industry to produce their own weapons. These locally produced weapons would alleviate some of the transport and supply burdens the corporation was forced to undertake, while bloating local resistance cells with greater defensive capabilities. Despite opposition from the First Circuit, who were apprehensive to provide guerilla groups with even primitive BattleMech technology, Jerome Blake earned their support with promises of easy expansion of the Protectorate and the overwhelming advantages of the ComGuard’s advanced technologies.
This early decision by Blake would have huge repercussions for ComStar and the Inner Sphere for years after, as it was not long before copies of these ancient plans made their way outside of the former Hegemony. Within a few years, primitive or “RetroTech†designs could be found in every realm. As the technological and industrial base of the Inner Sphere began to crumble, these primitive technologies soon replaced their more advanced counterparts.
Today, with the war torn factions of the Inner Sphere hungry for any armaments, even obsolete ones, a large percentage of all remaining industrial infrastructure has switched over from producing civilian products to manufacture “new†RetroTech. Long gone is the manufacture of mining, logging or construction gear. Instead these makeshift weapons factories continue to churn out ever increasing numbers of primitive designs. Unsurprisingly then, these RetroTech factories have become lucrative targets of opportunity for bandits and raiders, and remain one of the few targets of opportunity attacked with regularity.
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Factions of the Inner Sphere
The Succession Wars were a brutal, nasty affair that severely taxed the industrial capabilities and stamina of even the strongest nation. No matter how well they believed they were prepared for the coming fight, the House Lords were ill equipped to forcibly subjugate their peers for the throne of the fallen Star League, or suffer ComStar’s civil discord. Through a mixture of war and accident, one by one the former Great Houses of the Inner Sphere fell apart. They were replaced with a curious mixture of necessity and older powers reborn. The Inner Sphere of the 31st century is a far cry from the clean borders and picturesque wagon wheel of powers shown on ancient Star League-era maps.
Below are brief descriptions of the former Great Houses and accompanying list of the largest successor factions. This list is not exhaustive, as many of these nations have independent or semi-independent subdivisions within their borders like the Principality of Regulus’s small Principality of Gibson, or the Capellan Marches’s reunited Hindu Collective.
Brief Description of the former Draconis Combine
The breakup of the Draconis Combine was unkind to the family Kurita. Whereas the Davion family remained more or less in solidarity with each other as their nation fell apart the Kuritans took an active hand in pulling at the seems. Beginning with the secession of Galedon, dissention in the Kurita family and in the DCMS High Command allowed other provinces – regions that long chafed beneath the Dragon’s Claws – to seek their freedom. Ostensibly these family coups were aimed at propping one Coordinator in the place of another and that he or she would return the Combine to its former greatness. Instead, the very nature of the Combine’s honor-driven society worked against it. From beneath the quiet veneer of Draconian culture is a society constantly at war with itself, where a blind adherence to honor kept the nation asunder. Today, outside of the warring factions of the old Free Worlds League the former Draconis Combine is a seething cauldron of shifting alliances, ancient grudges, and bloody war.
Factions of the former Draconis Combine include the:
Principality of Rasalhague (2849)
Draconis Combine (2319)
Azami Caliphate (2972)
Sendai Trade Alliance (2953)
Benjamin Prefectures (2926)
Alliance of Galedon (2832)
Brief Description of the former Federated Suns
Of all the former Great Houses, the dissolution of the Federated Suns was as much an accident as it was born out of tragic decisions. House Davion’s heavy-handed actions against the ruling Dukes of the Draconis and Capellan Marches did much to undermine the stability enjoyed by the Suns since the first Davion Civil War centuries earlier, but it was Prince Davion’s death in 2834 that finally tore the proud realm apart. While the new states of the former Federated Suns are less antagonist towards one another than those of the other Great Houses, there is a deep seated mistrust between the four. Born from centuries of cultural drift and deeds committed long past, today it is not uncommon to find citizens from the factions co-mingling peaceful along border worlds. This has left the former Federated Suns in the best position to reform their ancient nation. However, despite the cordial attitude talk of reconciliation is quickly squashed. After years of independence from the throne of New Avalon the Ducal lords are in no hurry to return to their former feudal rank.
Factions of the former Federated Suns include the:
Robinson Freehold (2834)
Federated Suns (2317)
Flitvelt Union (2992)
Capellan Marches (2829)
Brief Description of the former Capellan Confederation
According to the last Grand Survey conducted by ComStar in 2992, the area once occupied by the Capellan Confederation has suffered more than any other area of the Inner Sphere with the possible exception of the Benjamin Prefectures, worlds along the Atrean Corridor, and parts of the former Terran Hegemony. Rampant use of WMDs, orbital bombardment and scorched earth tactics within the old Confederation turned whole planets into virtual “ghost worldsâ€, with population figures close to their original colonization. Many of these surviving planets suffer from massive ecological and industrial damage, or beneath the jackboot of barbaric overseers. Considered docile by any standard, most of the peasant citizens of the former Confederation are pushed around like expendable pawns in the regular conflict between factions. The Warrior Fiefdoms are notable as perhaps the most lawless area of inhabited space in the Inner Sphere. Power in this chaotic region is enforced at the end of a gun barrel. The single shining star in Capellan space is St. Ives, which managed to safeguard much of the world’s native industry and high standard of living.
Factions of the former Capellan Confederation include the:
Warrior Fiefdoms (2858)
Capellan Confederation (2367)
St. Ives Compact (2826)
Sarna Commonality (2852)
Kingdom of Zion (2867)
Brief Description of the former Terran Hegemony
The universe has been unkind to the people and worlds of House Cameron. Badly battered during the Star League Civil War, the withdrawal of General Kerensky and the SLDF left the former Terran Hegemony ripe for the picking. Soon after Kerensky’s Exodus the survivors waited with baited breath for the first bombs to fall. Located in the heart of the Inner Sphere, and populated with the most industrialized and wealthy worlds colonized by man, they did not have long to wait. Within a few years the former Hegemony was a tumultuous center of conflict; the Great Houses fighting over every last scrap with reckless abandon. Centuries of pent up emotion swept through the former Hegemony in a tide of destruction that it never recovered from. Pockets of civilization still remain, however, and with their survival the hope of one day rebuilding a lost Terran heritage.
Factions of the former Terran Hegemony include the:
Tikonov Reaches (2820)
Terran Free States (2847)
Capolla Union (2840)
ComStar Protectorate (2785)
Brief Description of the former Free Worlds League
Only one word can summarize the condition of the former Free Worlds League: Hatred. Nowhere in the Inner Sphere does brother hate brother with such unbridled passion. While former Lyrans disagree over mercantile concerns, and Federated and Combine factions bicker over honor and pride, only the people of the old League hate for no other reason other than they can.
During the Marik Civil War the old Free Worlds League was unique in its literal implosion, its provinces gorging themselves on the death throes of its earlier unity. These once united states claimed scores of unaffiliated worlds while leaving dozens more smoldering ruins. Battles between past compatriots were particularly nasty, and much of Marik space felt the deadly caress of orbital, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The use of WMDs is especially apparent in the so-called Atreus Corridor where almost a dozen worlds have been sterilized by heavy weapons. Today, border conflicts between Marik provinces are a daily occurrence. A fact of life most citizens barely notice.
Factions of the former Free Worlds League include the:
Duchy of Andurien (2849)
Kendall Parishes (2850)
Federation of Oriente (2849)
Principality of Regulus (2849)
Marik-Stewart Commonwealth (2851)
Duchy of Tamarind (2849)
Brief Description of the former Lyran Commonwealth
For a realm concerned with profit, it is unsurprising that the Commonwealth would fall prey to competitive attitudes. After all, where there is competition, there is profit to be made. Still, not every Lyran was concerned with the accumulation of wealth and many of the largest ex-Commonwealth factions were built from the ashes of war. Today, Lyran space can claim almost a dozen major factions built from the former Great House. Many of these smaller nations are fairly sophisticated, but also claim some of the most diverse government-types in the Inner Sphere. From the absolute monarchy of Alexandria-Kannon, to the corporate-controlled Son Hoa Free Zone, the former Commonwealth is a bastion of exotic bureaucracy and crumbling industry.
Factions of the former Lyran Commonwealth include the:
Federation of Skye (2830)
Son Hoa Free Zone (2837)
Lyran Commonwealth (2340)
Grand Duchy of Alexandria-Kannon (2837)
Tamar Pact (2830)
Finmark Ascendancy (2839)
Brief Description of the former Periphery
Some Terran political scientists will claim that the Periphery cannot catch a break. First, the Reunification War devastated and radically altered the political landscape of the Periphery. Next, two centuries of Star League occupation would rebuild the Periphery, but in the image conceived by House Cameron. Further still came the dissolution of the Star League and the wars that followed. With the collapse of the League the Periphery – discarding the shackles of their Great House masters – was caught in the middle. Bound to the Inner Sphere, the Periphery was undermined by the horrific fighting of the Succession Wars, and suffered greatly.
However, the Periphery, like her people were robust and varied. While the Taurian Concordat suffered ruin like any of the Great Houses the Outworlds Alliance actually prospered, enlarging its borders as survivors of the Succession Wars sought refuge in the turmoil. Elsewhere, fresh alliances worked to re-forge old states, and a new Rim Republic was formed from disenfranchised and broken worlds. Yet still, there are the outlaws and brigands who call the Periphery their personal fiefdom, a place where anyone could grow powerful on the misery of others.
Factions of the former Periphery include the:
Rim Republic (2836)
Illyrian Palatinate (2355)
Magistracy of Canopus (2530)
Taurian Concordat (2335)
Outworlds Alliance (2413)
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How this Alternate Universe Works
The premise behind this AU is pretty simple: Community Development. The Age of Chaos (AoC) is designed with community effort in mind, with only a little guided direction from an original premise.
A Lead Developer directs community development of the Alternate Universe
The Lead Developer is an advisory and mediating personality, whose sole responsibility is to supply guidance, compulsory plot points and to arbitrate disputes. A central task is to provide important base information to the member community and potential member developers. This information is foundational material for developing the universe, and presents a starting point for future expansion.
The first piece of information made available is a list of available Age of Chaos Factions and the Age of Chaos Alternate Universe Primer. From the available faction list BattleTech community members are allowed to select a faction for personal development. Selecting a faction designates the community member a Member Developer of the Age of Chaos.
Selection and faction preference are on a first come, first served basis. To help prevent conflict between potential Member Developers, community members will select their top three factions in descending order of desire. (The Lead Developer will take into account local Time Zones when selection posts are made and posted on the forum.) At the end of the selection period dual, or overlapping selections will be determined through a simple lot. However, Member Developers can opt to work together on a single faction should they desire to do so to avoid conflicts.
The Age of Chaos Universe Primer is a basic universe sourcebook, providing Member Developers with a basic understanding of the universe’s history, culture, factions, and background story. The primer is designed to help immerse Member Developers into the Age of Chaos universe, and to familiarize them with the fictional setting. The primer is left intentionally vague, with only a few specific pieces of content provided as examples to emphasize key differences between the Age of Chaos and the published BattleTech universe. Future Age of Chaos sourcebooks will be based on the Age of Chaos Primer and Member Developer contributions.
The Lead Developer will also provide a list of the Alternate Universe’s Turning Points. Age of Chaos Turning points are particular historical events or plot points in the basic Age of Chaos story line that have been created to help move the universe’s development forward in a flexible, but concise manner. Example Turning Points include the foundation of a new proto-nation, or an important battle between different factions. The Turning Points are designed to help Member Developers craft their individualized faction within loose boundaries – not to write the story for them. In effect, Member Developers get to fill in the blanks of the game universe by writing their faction’s adventure from one particular Turning Point to the next.
The Universal Turning Points for the Age of Chaos can be found in the Universe Turning Points List (p. XX) of this PDF. Each Member Developer will also receive faction-specific Turning Points with their assigned Faction File.
Writing for the Age of Chaos
The submission process for writing for the Age of Chaos is a simple. To prevent written conflict between Member Developers, the system works on a first come, first submitted basis. Once Member Developers claim their faction they may immediately begin developing, writing and submitting their Faction Submission. Submitted text becomes accepted canon in the alternate universe, and once accepted as that faction’s canon all additional entries from other players will be tweaked to fit. This process is repeated until a seamless fictional narrative is created.
This system is designed so eager and committed Member Developers would be rewarded for their active participation in the Age of Chaos’s development. In life and BattleTech there are benefits for conquering an objective first.
Besides, competition is a healthy thing.
Outside of the rules governing basic faction submission, Member Developers are under no compulsion to work individually, or develop faction fiction entirely on their own. Member Developers are welcome, even encouraged to work together to create a comprehensive collection of faction submissions. If a fiction conflict does arise a settlement will be reached to fix the most contested points through a simple Member Developer/Community Poll, and as mentioned early, the Lead Developer will provide background information for ComStar and mediate differences in the overall storyline.
The system of Turning Points, along with their associated faction submissions influences the Age of Chaos in distinct Chapters. Chapters are specific sections of the Alternate Universe’s story. For example, the first chapter of the Age of Chaos covers the period of time starting with the dissolution of the Great Houses, through the fall of the HPG network in 2838, and up to the network’s reconstruction. This is a foundational chapter integral to the storyline. Member Developer fiction for this chapter will provide character to the Age of Chaos’s individual factions, expand the universe’s history and create the fictional groundwork for expanding the Age of Chaos universe. Turning Points from this period cover the creation and formation of the breakaway states, and other pivotal moments in this section of the timeline. Once this Chapter is finished, the next Chapter – beginning with the end of the Blackout – begins. Future chapters will progress after the second, and so on.
The Lead Developer will introduce the actual game-system for moving the storyline along in the second chapter. But it is the hope of this alternate universe to create a game universe where players who build their faction from the beginning will be invested in keeping it a part of the story. If a Member Developer decides not to, the faction will die out.
It will be an interesting part of the story observing faction developed and game direction.
When a Member Developer Selects a Faction
When a Member Developer selects a faction they will receive the final piece of helpful information from the Lead Developer: the basic help file – the Faction File – for that particular faction. This help file will supply some of the faction’s most basic info – like overall military strength – and specific Turning Points. These individual Turning Points require coverage in the faction submission. For example, if a Member Developer selected to develop the Federated Suns they would need to provide the names of both the next Prince, and the Prince who’s death during the Second Succession War helped foster the dissolution of the Federated Suns. Member Developers will notice that these turning points, like the ones designed to govern the alternate universe’s overall development, are very flexible. The faction file is not designed to stifle the creativity of a Member Developer, just to provide a helping hand.
As previously mentioned, the first chapter of the Age of Chaos is a foundational chapter. The chapter hopes to create the universe’s back-story, major characters, events prior to 3025 and cultural flavor for the factions of the Age of Chaos Universe. When a Member Developer selects a faction to develop and represent they should write and submit the following.
Member Developers should submit the following fiction with their Faction Submission:
Faction History
Culture
Description of Worlds (Optional)
Economy (Optional)
Major Characters (For 3025)
Military
This is the most basic list of faction submission examples. Member Developers are not limited to this list and should feel free to use their creativity to expand it.
<<<BEGIN SIDE BOX>>>
A Note on first chapter Faction Specific Turning Points:
To help Member Developers understand and utilize Turning Points in developing their faction’s individual history, this primer provides a basic selection of the alternate universe’s Turning Points list. Member Developers will notice each Turning Point is given a date and a brief description. This description also lists the major factions affected by the Turning Point. Some Turning Points on this basic list will have no effect on every available faction. Unless otherwise noted, affected factions are listed along with the Turning Point and attached description. A Member Developer’s Faction Specific Turning Points List will have a complete Turning Point list unique to that faction. However, should a Member Developer feel the need to incorporate other Turning Points they are more than welcome to do so – only the Faction Specific Points must be included in their first chapter submission.
Every Faction File will include both the Universe Turning Points List and Faction Specific Turning Points List.
<<<END SIDE BOX>>>
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Interesting stuff Knightmare
I assume that with the additional use of WMD during the Succession Wars and following conflicts that there are a lot more dead worlds compared to canon?
Is there a comparison either list or map showing which worlds are dead?
Also is there a list of active shipyards - obvious one being active is Titan and I think you mentioned the Gibbs yards in Lyran space?
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Nice job Knightmare! Very detailed Primer chocked full of interesting ideas and tidbits. I'm really doing a disservice not commenting in more detail. I would get away from the old Successor State names like the Draconis Combine for example. I'd refer to it as the Draconis Remnants as all or at least some of the other Kurita led factions would claim titular leadership over the Combine as a whole. The Lyran Commonwealth could simply become the Donegal Protectorate or the Tharkan Commonwealth as I'm sure that various Archons are running around. The Federated Suns u could refer to as the Crucis Pact or Great Avalon.
I'd really like to see who some canon characters (Hanse Davion, Katrina Steiner, Max Liao. Janos Marik, Takashi Kurita, etc.) fit into this very non canon universe. Perhaps Katrina gets stuck as a pirate roaming the old Commonwealth frontier. Is Ian alive as the Prince? Janos putting the FWL back together? Interesting possibilities.
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I assume that with the additional use of WMD during the Succession Wars and following conflicts that there are a lot more dead worlds compared to canon?
A considerable amount. World totals are closer to the 2596 map than the original 3025.
Is there a comparison either list or map showing which worlds are dead?
I'm finishing the map as we speak. Sadly, I've gone through close to fifteen revisions.
Also is there a list of active shipyards - obvious one being active is Titan and I think you mentioned the Gibbs yards in Lyran space?
A complete list will be made available. Individual faction files have more detailed maps showing the disposition of owned assets.
I would get away from the old Successor State names like the Draconis Combine for example.
I think you're forgetting there is always at least one faction (outside of the former FWL) that's going to claim a direct connection to a Great House as an inheritor. Try to remember that names carry weight and therefore power. The Council Lords all claimed the title of First Lord because to claim anything different would undermine their legitimate claim for the Star League's throne.
You can't say you want to be First Lord by calling yourself the Emperor.
By the same token, if the Prince of New Avalon continues to call his nation the Federated Suns he's staking his claim as the legal titular leader of a Great House. He's claiming historical precedent to own something with a very long history and strong heritage. Claiming a title is the first step in claiming legitimacy. It's like planting your flag in the dirt. There is no mistaking your intention.
However, Member Developers are free to change the name of their faction. They only need to explain it!
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I get the hint Knightmare. Suppose i could take the Draconis Remnants centered on Luthien.
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If you were going to play this (as in on OBT) I think players would need to work on various nations to get it up and running. Being restricted to a single nation would have players too isolated from each other.
Shame Northwind isn't part of a state (according to the map I have anyway) I'd take that one otherwise it would be
Federation of Skye
League of Gibson
Capellan Marches (indulge my inner Varnay)
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If you were going to play this (as in on OBT) I think players would need to work on various nations to get it up and running. Being restricted to a single nation would have players too isolated from each other.
With a full line of players this wouldn't be a problem, but with only a few it could be difficult. In such a case and argument could be made for one player owning multiple factions from different Houses. It'd be one of the few ways to combat common interest, but it could also create some interesting RP.
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Warrior Fiefdoms (2858)
Sendai Trade Alliance (2953)
Terran Free States (2847)
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Warrior Fiefdoms (2858)
Sendai Trade Alliance (2953)
Terran Free States (2847)
Early, but noted.
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Early, but noted.
Ooops. I misread.
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Early, but noted.
Ooops. I misread.
Nothing wrong with being prepared
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Okay, first and foremost, great job KM. This AU is becoming far more than I had envisioned back in the day. I love the direction it is taking and a lot of things are pretty spot on. I love how you handled the disassembly of some of the places we had seen troubles with(notably the FedSuns, though the Capellan March was easy, dislodging Robinson peacefully is a nice touch)
Okay, here goes. The questions.
First off, Mercenaries. I would figure they would exist in droves in this type of environ. I could see them being very prolific in smaller units.
With the lack of Jumpships being privately commanded, i can't see Wolf's dragoons or Northwind Highlander like numbers(or even many regimental commands at all for that matter) in this AU. I'm seeing Battalions being rule of the day for as big as it gets due, quite simply, to the sheer lack of transport for the average soldier of fortune. is this an accurate representation or are there plans for bringing larger mercs to bear? I've always been a proponent of the mercenary, it's kinda my thing. I could see, with the balkanization effect, mercenaries not needing to travel far to find employment at the end of a contract, and an MRBC of sorts popping up to keep track of what Mercs are operating in various theatres. With the huge numbers of potential employers, the galaxy has become a very profitable place for their kind.
I guess what I'm saying/asking is what are the plans for the mercs? Are we going to see a lot of company and lance sized units making names for themselves over the huge multi-regimental commands we see in canon?
Now, onto something else I love, Solaris 7 and the games. i'd be very willing to contribute in any of the areas I am posting on btw. The games are an important part of CBT lore, and their framework had been established well before hte succession wars. With the breakups, wee see stables that may have been sponsored by the same house now each representing an individual proto state. I believe you stated the militaries, though broken up into smaller lots, would look similar here to 3025, that still leaves 'Mech production at a relatively decent level, one that can support the idea of a neutral, free world with nothing to offer except simple entertainment as it's export, one everyone has a presence on.
Next up, Comstar being the center of the universe(in their eyes, yes) and their relations. As was commented(and explained) their bringing on the HPGs isn't always beloved, and the information trade is not theirs alone anymore. With the breakdown, do we see the development of black box tech a la the FedSuns in canon? A means to transmit messeges over short distances incredibly quickly, but over long distances a jumpship may prove faster? I would think with the lack of the HPGs, we'd see enterprising companies/research facilities working on the tech, such as the NAIS for example(if it's not completely gutted).
Point 3, Star league memory cores. I assume at some point we will see the proliferation of LosTech, but with the sheer brutality and length of the Succession Wars in this AU, are we going to see partial Cores popping up? And classic canon ComStar repression of?
Onward here, more questions, some of which might be sent via PM, but these are things I think publicly we the potential players could get away with knowing:) I guess my last part of my last question could depend o nthe C* player.
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First off, Mercenaries. I would figure they would exist in droves in this type of environ. I could see them being very prolific in smaller units.
I guess what I'm saying/asking is what are the plans for the mercs? Are we going to see a lot of company and lance sized units making names for themselves over the huge multi-regimental commands we see in canon?
That is spot on. While it is not included in the posted primer, individual faction files have a generic list of "prominent" mercenary commands – i.e. those that are registered with ComStar, or important/big enough to warrant recognition. It's up to the Member Developer to write their descriptions if they want. Otherwise, the list gets published with the faction file as is.
Now, onto something else I love, Solaris 7 and the games. i'd be very willing to contribute in any of the areas I am posting on btw. The games are an important part of CBT lore, and their framework had been established well before hte succession wars. With the breakups, wee see stables that may have been sponsored by the same house now each representing an individual proto state. I believe you stated the militaries, though broken up into smaller lots, would look similar here to 3025, that still leaves 'Mech production at a relatively decent level, one that can support the idea of a neutral, free world with nothing to offer except simple entertainment as it's export, one everyone has a presence on.
I've been kicking this idea around for a while. Most of it depends on finding a profitable way of distributing content. Without the HPG network it could take months, maybe even years for the games to travel across the Inner Sphere. There are very few wealthy, and safe planets, so the common citizen may not care for the Solarian games on their own, or be able to afford paying JumpShip captains sufficient funds to transport game/game results in a reasonable amount of time.
That said, I'm open to suggestions. I thought about the SBC incorporating the world and setting up regional games, but that's about it.
With the breakdown, do we see the development of black box tech a la the FedSuns in canon? A means to transmit messages over short distances incredibly quickly, but over long distances a jumpship may prove faster? I would think with the lack of the HPGs, we'd see enterprising companies/research facilities working on the tech, such as the NAIS for example(if it's not completely gutted).
ComStar has looked into this technology (it isn't mentioned), and they're on the verge of a breakthrough in its replication and use. Other states are in such shambles (technologically speaking), that research into this type of tech would be pointless (for example, the NAIS doesn't exist). Also, the original Black Boxes have only just been found (within the decade). The current holders will have to decide what to do with them. Sell them? Use them and hope they don't break or crap out? Try to replicate them, etc.?
Point 3, Star league memory cores. I assume at some point we will see the proliferation of LosTech, but with the sheer brutality and length of the Succession Wars in this AU, are we going to see partial Cores popping up? And classic canon ComStar repression of?
We have, and we will see important LosTech crop up every once and a while. As for repression? Absolutely not. ComStar has a dedicated division focused on recovering technology. The corporation pays ridiculous money for any credible finds, so LosTech Prospecting will be just as popular – perhaps even more so – in this universe simply because the wealthiest entity in the Inner Sphere is super keen on paying for it.
The only questions I'm loathe to delve into deals with specific faction questions – only because the faction files have some real Easter Eggs that I think would be ruined if I leaked them here.
Otherwise, ask away. If it's a no fly zone I'll just deflect. ;D
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I've been kicking this idea around for a while. Most of it depends on finding a profitable way of distributing content. Without the HPG network it could take months, maybe even years for the games to travel across the Inner Sphere. There are very few wealthy, and safe planets, so the common citizen may not care for the Solarian games on their own, or be able to afford paying JumpShip captains sufficient funds to transport game/game results in a reasonable amount of time.
That said, I'm open to suggestions. I thought about the SBC incorporating the world and setting up regional games, but that's about it.
You got it: Planet Games but nothing more until we have a good way to distribute content.
I don't really know how far/fast info can be sent without HPG.
Any clue on this?
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It all depends on the Jumpships. A jumpship's recharge can take between 6 and 14 days iirc, depending on the star it's charging off of. That aside, those closer to the region would get things done faster, and the former Hegemony worlds, perhaps part of the old FWL, and definitely Lyran holdings would receive the news quickly, as the merchants would be moving through systems much quicker. If a message is shared with another trader from the same Trade union or whatnot, that information could, in theory, reach much of a former house region in weeks as jumpships enter systems and share information with others, who travel elsewhere. Those outside of normal trade routes would lose this advantage, however. But entertainment is potentially the most likely and profitable export of some worlds. Even when economies are downtrodden, how much does spending on entertainment actually drop? Even though some worlds can barely sustain life, the pursuit of said entertainment and costs associated with it very well may be considered worth it, or negotiated for as a point of both national pride and a sink to the depressive realities. Look to sports on this one, as this is how i would associate the games. A regional, or national 'team' if you will, would still garner the support of it's people in, say, soccer for instance, regardless of how downtrodden the people are.
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I like the idea of regional games
Ie the Champion of the Federated Suns is crowned on Defiance people travel from across the Suns to see them
You could make Solaris the venue of the Inner Sphere champion of champions tournament where visitors who have won games around the Inner Sphere meet to fight it out for the Grand Prize
That would make games popular around the Inner Sphere but still keep Solaris very important
I'd also suggest various different ways of games is paint for less blood thirsty nations or powered down weapons while others use full on live rounds showing the differences
Although this isn't a live game I must admit its catching the imagination I've had ideas for about 10 of the nations so far :)
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Although this isn't a live game I must admit its catching the imagination I've had ideas for about 10 of the nations so far :)
Post'em! This is about a collaborative venture. Let it rip!
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I don't really know how far/fast info can be sent without HPG.
Any clue on this?
It has been mentioned that before the HPG was invented it could take upwards from six months for a message to reach Tharkad from Terra. A round trip could be a year without a command circuit, or a steady stream of ships between the sender and receiver.
So we're talking pretty slow lines of communication. Local/regional commanders often had a great deal more latitude in making command decisions. Increased discretion, but also responsibility.
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I've finally read the whole primer. Great work, I can't wait to see the map!
I would love to contribute to this.
The Finmark Ascendancy fascinates me the most, I already have some crude ideas for it. So,my most favorite factions to work on are:
1. Finmark Ascendancy
2. Kingdom of Zion
3. Benjamin Prefectures
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Ok I'll start with the simple one
Federated Suns:
Overview
House Davion has drawn on as much of the ancient English history they can find to build a modern Camelot on New Avalon. Despite the ravages of war New Avalon is a beautiful world with little more spectacular than Castle Davion. Based on ancient drawings of King Arthur's famous home Castle Davion is stunning to look at but inside is the most upto date building within the Federated Suns acting as the First Prince's command and control as well as his home.
With the break up of their great Succession State the core of the Federated Suns struggles to hold onto its foundation within the Crucis Pact. With both Sandoval and Hasek families tearing out heartlands that were once the Capellan and Draconis March the embattled Davion family have been targeted internally by the Duvall and Lockhart families who believe they could do a better job at running their once proud nation. The First Prince of New Avalon is leader of the Federated Suns but it is a much diminished role than that of the past.
Recent History
In an effort to tie the nation together and pull the Crucis Pact members back into place First Prince Ian Davion was married with Duchess Sandra Lockhart at a young age, although arranged they loved each other very much. Unfortunately he never had any children before his untimely death in the three way struggle for Anaea between forces of the Federated Suns, Tikonov Reaches and Capellan Marches. Many saw this as another needless death for the Davion family on a world that no-one cared for and an attempted Coup on New Avalon was narrowly avoided with the arrival on world of Colonel Hanse Davion and his Davion Heavy Guards RCT. Hanse marched into Castle Davion and sat on the throne, with one of the last operational RCTs at his back no-one argued with the new First Prince.
Recently Hanse has been linked with Duchess Carmen Duvall as a potential wife however the First Prince concentrated on reorganizing his forces. While First Prince Melissa Davion saved the AFFS with her reorganization early in the Federated Suns history Hanse's efforts are seen as a realization that no longer can the Federated Suns field massed RCT forces of the past. So-called LCT (Light Combat Teams) have began to be formed from broken Mech Regiments, with single Mech Battalions leading a Regiment of Armour and two Regiments of infantry. These forces are more mobile and more capable of covering the Federated Suns broken nation. One unit that has not been broken, in fact it has been reinforced, is the Davion Heavy Guards. Stationed on New Avalon their presence is an obvious message to all others, the First Prince's is in command.
Notable Commands
Davion Heavy Guards RCT
In the early years of the Federated Suns the Davion Brigade of Guards was perhaps the most elite of all the Federated Suns units rivaling the units of the Star League Defence Force. As time moved forward however their numbers have dwindled to only four units the Davion Heavy Guards, Davion Light Guards, Davion Assault Guards and 1st Davion Royal Guards (the 1st Royal being little more than an elite Infantry Battalion with 6 companies).
The Heavy Guards are considered to be the premier unit of the Federated Suns. With the weapons, the troops and the integral transport lacking in almost every other command. Also known as "The First Prince" the unit has been a favourite with House Davion since its inception. It was a surprise to many when First Prince Ian Davion took Command of the 1st Crucis Lancers Regiment on Anaea leaving the Heavy Guards to his younger brother Hanse. The Command's pride dented slightly they were quickly built back up with a string of victories under Hanse Davion's careful but decisive leadership.
Currently with units across the former Federated Suns being downsized to smaller LCT formations the Davion Heavy Guards are one unit that has been singled out as remaining at full strength regardless of any choices. They have full access to the Federated Suns diminished Quartermasters and first choice on all cadets out of the Albion Academy on New Avalon. Many see the Heavy Guards as a political tool of the young First Prince, but none can argue with its combat prowess or resources.
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Km you throwing up the thread for faction submissions/choices yet?
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Not yet, but if you guys are interested in throwing out more ideas or basic write ups like Dragon, I'll start another thread. The more you guys preemptively hash things out the easier it'll be to create a finished universe book.
Because it seems like there's some interest in developing this universe, I'll put together the faction sign up thread tomorrow. It'll be fresh, but I've noted some of the early faction bids. (You'll still need to repost, I've just marked them.)
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Not yet, but if you guys are interested in throwing out more ideas or basic write ups like Dragon, I'll start another thread. The more you guys preemptively hash things out the easier it'll be to create a finished universe book.
Because it seems like there's some interest in developing this universe, I'll put together the faction sign up thread tomorrow. It'll be fresh, but I've noted some of the early faction bids. (You'll still need to repost, I've just marked them.)
I'll take Suns instead of Capellan Marches since you didn't throw that Suns idea out the window :P
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The one thing I'd suggest is to check into the genealogy of the Great Houses. Some of the main lines are going to see serious changes/modifications with the break up of their former realms. While reusing famous characters from published fiction is possible, is some arenas it will be impossible.
Take Ian and Hanse Davion for example. If the "Prince Davion" who's death split the Suns lacked any heirs, who would ascend the throne? Another branch of the family, an AFFS General, or another powerful nobleman? If so, would we see the birth of Ian or Hanse? What about marriages? If any of their close ancestors came from either foreign March how likely are they to descend from the same people?
While the Faction File has some of this base information available. I encourage potential member developers to take a hard look at the AoC universe and then let their creativity fly. While the universe is decidedly "BattleTech", it is under no compulsion to resemble anything printed.
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Second idea
Federation of Skye
Overview
House Kelswa have always been a thorn in House Steiner's side. Throughout the Star League era they struggled against Tharkad's fist until enough was enough. Pushed from the Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League and ComStar the citizens of the region looked to Skye for guidance when the HPGs fell forgetting previous alliances to House Steiner. Three worlds over all others for Skye:
Skye itself although the world had been beaten down badly by the Draconis Combine during the First Succession War it's continued rehabilitation and defiance to all occupation was a symbol for the entire Federation.
Hesperus II, an engine world of the massive Star League machine the world is a shadow of its previous self occupied briefly by House Steiner forces who began to gut the factories during the First War, the second the Draconis Combine bombarded the planet from orbit causing huge damage. ComStar's schism caused further damage to the factories. What truly remains of the Star League factories is unknown but they send enough units to the Federation of Skye each year to keep the Skye Rangers one of the best equipped multi-regiment commands in the Inner Sphere.
Solaris VII - a well known testing ground of the Star League Defence Force the world still has some secrets hidden deep within its catacombed surface. Now used as a Game world by the Federation of Skye and by the wider Inner Sphere for the Champion of Champion Games held every year. Live fire rounds are always used in the massive Colosseum where Star League-era "shields" protect spectators the public are given spectacular shows of Mech Combat not seen even in blockbuster Tri-Vids. ComStar is known to have a massive stake in this world, one of the first HPGs to be restored the Corporation has offices throughout the city. There is also a growing mercenary trade on the world since the HPGs came back up.
Recent History
As a result of their careful leadership they have secured much of what used to be Skye Province and areas crossing into the former Free Worlds League. The Kelswa family have moved to secure the territory they have and continue to integrate former-Free Worlds League worlds into their fold. Mercenary companies are a common occupation force on these worlds as a disposable force for unhappy occupied populations. Commands are very well paid for such work however it has been known to become "messy" House Kelswa are happy to turn a blind-eye to such troubles as long as the peace is kept.
Notable Commands
Skye Rangers - one of the biggest known Brigades in the Inner Sphere with 12 commands in total. On paper each of these is 12 full Mech Regiments with artillery, armour and infantry. In practice only the 1st (based on Hesperus II) and the 2nd (based on Skye) are at full strength. With almost every other command at Battalion level on all levels of equipment. The 12th Rangers currently stand at 12 BattleMechs total strength.
Carlyle's Commandos - Most prominent mercenary command within House Kelswa - almost considered by many to be a House unit. The command specializes in special operations operating from a trio of Leopard-class DropShips with 8 Mechs, a smattering of vehicles and infantry the unit is very good at anti-Mech operations. Durrant Carlyle is a long time friend of House Kelswa, he has piloted his families Phoenix Hawk for the last fifteen years on every border of the Federation of Skye. Recently he has began teaching his eldest son Grayson Death Carlyle in the art of BattleMech piloting. Carlyle's Commandos have currently disappeared from public view, there are rumours that the unit is operating within the Marik Commonwealth in the area of Helm or even Marik itself.
Hope you like it
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One more because I'm bored and on nightshift
Something different, let's add some mystery and flare:
Northwind Highlanders
Overview
After leaving Terra these traditional Scottish soldiers and their decendants believed it was their duty to serve as guns for hire. Throughout the Star League era they were poster warriors for all mercenaries fighting for everyone who could pay but always following the code of war. They were on such good terms with the SLDF and especially House Cameron, who came from the same area of Terra as them, that warriors of the Highlanders mixed almost without reservation with those of the Royal Black Watch Division guardians of the First Lord and his family. The fall of House Cameron, the Exodus and the Succession Wars changed them forever.
Continuing to be guns for hire the Highlanders one regiment each of the unit served with each of the Succession Lords thinking that would bring them future business. Instead it brought them more enemies. First from the Capellan Confederation during the First War which ended only with the implosion of the Star League fortification on the world. Then during the Second War from both the Federated Suns and from the Draconis Combine, unhappy with Northwind Units operating against them.
Three Northwind units returned to Northwind still proud but after seeing the devastation on their world they turned on each other blaming each other for the troubles brought onto the planet. This internal squabbling cost the Highlanders another regiments worth of troops. Still with two Regiments of Mechs the world has a significant defence and has been avoided by most factions.
During the Schism a rebel ComStar WarShip was pursued into the system by a ComStar ROM Assault Squadron. None of the ships approached Northwind instead heading out to the edge of the system. None were seen of again. Searching for the ships has become a LosTech prospector's goal with hundreds of small craft heading to the edge of the system with hopes of striking lucky, few return.
Recent events
Following the return of a DropShip from the edge of the system the Northwind Highlanders have began excavating the ruins of the Star League fortification on the planet. Why is unknown but the site is heavily guarded by the mercenaries. The Highlanders have also began to accept contracts again after nearly 50 years remaining on their homeworld. They have rebuffed attempts by ComStar to place an HPG on the world.
Notable Forces
The Highlanders have five Battalions of serviceable BattleMechs and a sixth that is little more than spare parts, serving as a maintenance unit for the others. Each of the five units have taken their own identities and tactics but they are all agreed that Northwind's defence is the priority. By order of the Northwind Clan Councils three Battalions are to remain on the world at all time while the other two go out to hire out their services.
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Also, DragonCat, as to the Northwind, remember that there is an existing factory there(produced crabs and vehicles for the Hegemony/Star League) If the infrastructure looks good(in canon they were eventually able to bring the facilities back online), and the Highlanders have retained their fighting edge, we could see a resurgence of that facility. Under the guns, I believe, of a Star League Castle Brian. I'd also suggest the Highlanders operate at(at most) Battalion strength off world, at msot 2 battalions at a time, to keep them fit for duty, rotating units as needed to and from the front for experience, and to retain experienced defenders at home.
Also, the people of Northwind, if the planet is in any position economically, are notorious for both their Scottish hard headedness, and their willingness to brawl. Their non 'mech militia should be on the fairly large side.
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Factory nuked along with Castle Brian in 1st war, 2nd war walked over it and picked pieces if Northwind had a factory it would have a faction controlling it
At the moment it's ignored because there's no use for it
I be a Scot so I completely agree that they'd have a decent support force but tried to keep it Mech orientated for now
KM, how Ian and Hanse get back into line for the throne would be the question not why they are missing ;) I like those guys this is still a basic premise so plenty wiggle room
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There's the distinct possibility (I'll have to check the maps) that Northwind was sterilized in the First Succession War.
I told you the number of dead worlds was pretty high. However, the loss of Northwind doesn't mean an end to the Highlanders. It just means they might be a wee bit different from the published fiction.
The goal here is to get you guys to exercise those creative muscles and think outside of the traditional fiction "box". For example, lets say Northwind was sterilized. What would happen to the Highlanders? Tack on 200+ years and show us what they'd look like.
I think that would be an extremely interesting read.
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Since Dragon Cat is doing it, I might as well post some of the ideas I have. Here is what I came up with for the Finmark Ascendancy so far. This will be roughly 1/4th of the finished history sections. It's a first draft, so any form of critic will be appreciated. Enjoy!
Faction History
The Finmark Ascendancy was the last major nation to break free from the Lyran Commonwealth. If it weren't for the actions of Harold Orsted and the writings of Dora Nema, the Finmark might have stayed in the Commonwealth or collapsed into just another region of independent planets, ready to be exploited by surrounding powers and pirates. The events, that led to the foundation of the Finmark Ascendancy started in 2835 with a book.
The preachings of Dora Nema
The woman only known as Dora Nema is the central figure of modern day Finmark culture. Dora Nema's history up to 2835 is a mystery. Nothing is known about her past, her family, not even her real name is known. On March 17th 2835 she stepped into history, with her book, “Struggleâ€, already written. Until her forty years later, she never changed a single word of the book and some have questioned her authorship. Her only comment was, that she had written it by herself in the wilderness of Custozza, as an Anti-Philosophy to end all philosophy, to explain the history of humanity and to end all disputes on ethics. Her writing was simple but captivating, her message clear: Life is struggle. Every living thing must struggle to exist or perish, a radical oversimplification of evolutionary theory. Human life, however, is not mere struggle, human life is war. War is to struggle, as farming is to grazing. War is organized, war means risking all. An animal, that looses a fight, can retreat, claim a new territory. Humans however, cannot retreat. Humans can only triumph or perish. Until one of these ends is reached, human life will be war. Every cultural or social norm that tries to end or reign in war is just a farce, a lie humanity tells itself, that will never hold up. Even if two nations are at “peaceâ€, they fight this endless war. They fight the war within, government against dissidents, political parties against each other, rich against poor; but they also fight each other: economical, cultural or through secret agencies.
Dora Nema praises all historicals tyrants and conquerors: Alexander, Ghenghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, Amaris; she admires their dedication to war, their brutal rule. Yet, she condemns them. All of them, so Dora Nema, failed, because they didn't fully embrace war. They all fought to have peace. They destroyed, so they could rebuild in their own image. If you want to win the war, you must never long for peace; neither within nor without.
Dora Nema entered the cultural and political stage of Finmark during one of the darkest times in human history. Amaris' coup had not only brought an end to the tyranny of the Star League, but also destroyed his own nation. During the last sixty years, Finmark had been conquered twice: first by the SLDF, then by the LCAF. With the decline of civilization during the Succession Wars, order broke down. The newly conquered periphery was of little importance to Tharkad and soon became a haven for pirates. With no major force to protect them, the people of the former Rim World Republic suffered under the pirates or turned to a live of piracy themselves. Raids, terror and the general decline of civilization were omnipresent and many saw this as the end times promised by every religion.
Dora Nema's “Struggle†rang true to the people of Finmark. Life WAS war, there was no doubt about that. Soon enough, former soldiers and radicals flogged to Dora Nema and made “Struggle†their new holy scripture. They embraced war with all it's consequences, because they wanted to embrace life.
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I like the idea of non lethal games, except for specific nations that think that only when facing true battle is a warrior mettle truly tested.
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There's the distinct possibility (I'll have to check the maps) that Northwind was sterilized in the First Succession War.
I told you the number of dead worlds was pretty high. However, the loss of Northwind doesn't mean an end to the Highlanders. It just means they might be a wee bit different from the published fiction.
The goal here is to get you guys to exercise those creative muscles and think outside of the traditional fiction "box". For example, lets say Northwind was sterilized. What would happen to the Highlanders? Tack on 200+ years and show us what they'd look like.
I think that would be an extremely interesting read.
Northwind had no faction on the map I had Knightmare I assumed it was independant/not worth taking but if its dead... Back to drawing board on that one
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The Dragon Divided
The living embodiment of the Draconis Combine has always been the Kurita dynasty. It was therefore no surprise that the entire realm rejoiced on November 12, 2785 when the Dragon announced the birth of two new grandsons, Ryu and Yamato. No one would have guessed that these twin sons of Jinjiro would one day tear their nation asunder. Both boys grew into skilled warriors during the darkness of the First Succession War becoming exceptional leaders in their own rite. Their father’s death before their age of ascension elevated their uncle Zabu Kurita to Coordinator. Before the outbreak of the Second Succession War he appointed the brothers to command the Lyran and Davion fronts respectively. This move did much to quiet growing criticism of Zabu’s liberal leadership of the Combine. The withdrawal of 2832 was the final straw for conservative elements of the nation who backed Ryu’s seizure of the throne on Luthien. Yamato with the backing of most of the Kurita dynasty on New Samarkand and numerous military commanders declared the Alliance of Galedon reborn. Since the rift began almost two hundred years ago neither side of the great Kurita families has looked to reconcile believing the other mere pretenders. The Alliance believes that the progeny of Ryu are unstable lunatics pointing out their near suicidal Rule of One which has all but gutted their ruling house. Luthien counters that Yamato’s line are mere puppets controlled by other powerful military and economic figures. Whatever the truth both of these Successor States claim that their Kurita is the one true leader of the Combine. Whether or not the more reform minded Alliance of Galedon or the staunch traditionalists of the Draconis Combine will one day win this conflict is anyone’s guess.
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That is very cool Tak. A great read.
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Please tell me there is a .doc available for this stuff. this is a lot of info for me toread off of a screen.
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There's a PDF forthcoming. This was just get people interested in participating.