The thought occurred to me: rather than the SLDF becoming the Clans in a single, traumatic break (the Pentagon Civil War), what if it was more organic?
To build up their struggling colonies, the SLDF command set up a very centralised and controlled economy. Individual settlements started out by setting up a military base (which the SLDF was very used to establishing) and then building up supporting industries and commercial facilities around them. Organisationally each base was set up to house a single SLDF Division and their dependents, with soldiers demobilised selectively to meet the demands of colonisation.
Across the entire SLDF there are broad departments organising this process - the Technical department, focused on building the necessary industries; the Mercantile department, focused on shipping goods between settlements since none are self-sufficient; the Science department, focused on solving the scientific challenges of terraforming; the Military department which handles the remaining armed forces (and is engaged in a struggle for resources since there's no apparent external threat to justify their presence). In addition to these formal divisions there's a general labour pool who handle grunt-work when needed but also includes people working on unapproved but winked at trades like bars and other entertainments that there's not supposed to be slack for in the planned economy but is also holding morale together.
The situation isn't entirely peaceful and some Divisional commanders don't manage to keep the delicate balance of managing soldier's pride versus the practical demands of colonisation. Sometimes these get violent but there's a serious reluctance of soldiers in a division to fire on their demobilised comrades so full military conflict is unusual. Alas, rioting isn't and Aaron DeChevalier is killed in such a riot. At this point the aged Aleksandr Kerensky realises he needs to establish a succession and settles on Nicholas who ends up with less than a year as Deputy Commanding General before he has to step into daddy's shoes.
While there isn't a general breakdown of order without Aleksandr, Nicholas feels the needs to solidify his authority (and he's a very authoritarian leader). With the worlds of the Kerensky Cluster now opening up new colonial prospects, he proposes closing up some of the struggling settlements in the Pentagon and relocating those divisions to start afresh on the worlds of the Kerensky cluster. Resources that can't be transported will be assigned to neighbouring divisions that aren't being resettled.
This causes a lot of friction over some divisions disagreeing over leaving and others debating who gets the resources freed up in the Pentagon (or over which worlds divisions will be resettled on). To settle this 'fairly' Nicholas proposes trial by combat - something that will also validate the continued existence of the military department. Divisions disagreeing over allocation of territory can settle it with a wargame (under strict rules to avoid collateral damage) since military equipment is one thing the SLDF's colonies aren't short of. Similarly, if a division feels it's not being fairly treated by SLDF command then they can challenge to overturn the decision by a wargame.
Andery Kerensky takes on organising this and in the process reforming the high command for his brother (incidentally letting Nicholas push out some of the old guard who aren't accepting him and replace them with younger personnel more likely to support him). The Corps and Army structures are finally disbanded and replaced with a grand council of officers, with one representative from each divisional settlement. While this doesn't eliminate opposition to the Kerensky leadership it does channel it. The wargames are generally fought in a sportsmanlike fashion but there are exceptions - Andery Kerensky's death, mobbed by multiple opponents, is an exception that causes a backlash and encourages a warrior code based on SLDF Gunslingers and single combat.
Nicholas Kerensky expends a great deal of political credit after the 331st Royal BattleMech Division, having succeeded in establishing a thriving colony, comes under concerted pressure from neighbouring divisions. Although he upholds his system, he also can't ignore threats by DivCom McEvedy to return to the Inner Sphere. The use of a nuclear warhead forces his hand and the 331st is smashed by a coalition (although some may have escaped) and their colony levelled. Kerensky is eventually killed in a trial involving his own 146th Royal BattleMech Division. He's replaced as SLDF ComGen by his brother-in-law Jerome Winson.
Winson mostly tries to stabilise the now sprawling Star League in Exile and accommodate the social changes that are taking place. To solidify his position he renames the 146th Division as 'the Wolf Division' in honour of the wolf motif that Nicholas had adopted. Military personnel from the increasingly independent Divisions are seen as 'stars' fighting for the pride of their divisions (many of which are adopting nicknames based on animals from the colonies) and collectively referred to as 'constellations', 'star clusters' and 'galaxies'. Winson is also the first to absorb another Division, 'avenging' the death of Nicholas by challenging for and winning all the personnel and resources of the 'Widowmaker' Division who the 146th were fighting when Nicholas died.
Populations are finally on the rise and competition for the prestigious but limited places in the military departments of each Division is harsh. Military personnel increasingly use their access to equipment to train up their own children to give the best shot at these openings. At the other end of the social scale, the 'civilian' department is set up to administer previously ad hoc general labour and service work, separating it socially from the outcast bands that have broken from SLDF discipline entirely and living as outlaws.
With Winson's precedent, the Divisions begin an extended period of probing each other and contesting for resources or even opening up the opportunity to fight for the complete ownership of other division. It's quickly clear that Divisions that don't expand will be left on second tier and over the next century, the number of Divisions falls sharply even as their sizes increase and their holdings are increasingly interlocked, with holdings on multiple worlds. Meanwhile authority slips from the ComGen with the office itself falling vacant, while the Grand Council (of officers) becomes the overall governing body, dominated by military commanders (although this isn't a specific requirement and the Diamond Shark 'division' quite often are represented by mercantile leaders).
By the late 29th century the Star League had expanded to the point of straining the ability of their colonies to support them and surveys weren't turning up many planets suitable for habitation. Scientists studying the problem came up with the option of adapting their population to the planets they had to allow them to make better use of marginal areas. This process led to two general thrusts: a larger, more durable genotype well adapted to extremes of gravity and atmosphere that were hard for unaltered humans to live in for extended periods; and a smaller more agile genotype that was adapted for optimal use of space habitations with almost constant micro-gravity. The latter also quickly adapted to submarine habitats.
It had become customary for SLDF personnel to leave genetic materials in storage so that families wouldn't be wiped out by deaths or injuries in hazardous work environments (or battle). The genetic diversity of the Star League was a concern, particularly as members of a division rarely had opportunities to visit other divisions. Added to this, in the interests of minimizing the loss of labour due to childbirth, iron wombs had become popular over the centuries, along with raising children communally in creches.
Combining these with the new research into genetics and those at the upper levels of the increasingly segregated 'castes' began to design their offspring, selecting for traits expected to help them in future careers in their parents caste. While only 5-10% of the population resorted to this, the result was increasing barriers to the next generation taking up careers in castes differing from their parents and the testtube-born - or trueborn - swiftly reached positions of increasing influence.
An informal nobility of bloodhouses, made up of those claiming descent from the key leaders of the original settlers (and a handful of later dignitaries) were increasingly dominating the Grand Council and similar councils within each Division. Since the prestige of the military is undiminished, the military families tend to dominate usually holding at least half the seats in officer councils - the Smoke Jaguars are extreme in limiting membership in their council to the military.
An agreement between the Wolves and Coyotes in the late 29th century regarding the bloodlines of the Kerensky family codified a list of recognised bloodhouses, each entitled to no more than 25 seats in the divisional officer councils. As both divisions were extremely successful at the time, their allies quickly sought recognition of their own bloodhouses and adopted similar patterns. In the early 30th century this was formally adopted as part of a package of reforms by the Grand Council (at the same time, the Grand Council elected to increase their own membership by extending two seats to each division).
The Wolf Coyote pact had been sparked after disgruntled members of both Divisions including descendants of Andery Kerensky, went rogue to form their own Division, using the contents of a recovered Brian Cache of equipment. Although official records indicate the two Clans destroyed the renegades, Clan Ghost Bear records indicate a flotilla of ships escaped with survivors. It would be just over a century before the descendents of the 'Wolf Dragons' reached the Inner Sphere where they established themselves as a mercenary force.
While it wasn't the formal term, 'Clan' was first applied to divisions during the debates over the reforms when the commander of the Blood Spirit division decried the isolation and 'clannishness' of the other divisions. Annoyed by the moralising, several divisions adopted the term. This was also the point when the Jade Falcon division first raised the Hidden Hope doctrine and suggested (rather tentatively) that perhaps it was time to resume communication with the Inner Sphere.
While nothing concrete was agreed about the latter point, over the next few years several divisions began to consider whether a return to the Inner Sphere might end the seemingly endless struggle to survive on the limited resources of the Kerensky Cluster and the Pentagon. The Cloud Cobras discovery and conquest of the Tanite Worlds was one of the earlier results but also pointed out a significant issue: the jumpship fleets of the SLDF were significantly depleted, having been kept in near constant use shifting resources around to keep colonies viable and the shipyards available were entirely focused on keeping the existing fleet operational by stripping mothballed vessels for parts. Expanding the 'Clans' domains over any great distance would require new jumpships and possibly warships, something that would require additional germanium - something the Clans hadn't mined in their existence, instead scavenging what was needed from the jumpcores of decommissoned ships.
The Snow Ravens and their Ghost Bear allies began work in the 30th century on developing the Odyssey-class jumpships that would be the backbone of a revived logistical fleet and Fredasa-class corvettes that would spearhead the search for new worlds to colonise - or existing colonies to annex. The more conservative 'warden' Clans pushed and obtained a determination that - at least for now - the Clans should not return to the former Star League but worlds more than 200 light years from the old borders of the Star League were deemed to be 'fair game'. More radical Clans almost immediately pushed to remove this limit but in practical terms the Clans weren't ready and a majority supported this over the following decades.
As the Clans pushed rimwards, looking for lost colonies, it was inevitable that they'd encounter the Explorer Corps pushing corewards looking for lost colonies. While such encounters were still uncommon (space being large) they were sufficient for the Clans to get some updated information on the state of the Inner Sphere through the First, Second and Third Succession Wars, albeit from a ComStar centric viewpoint. To a large extent the degradation of the Inner Sphere appeared to vindicate Kerensky's Exodus and reduced pressure to return. Meanwhile the statistically greater loss rates in the region led to the Explorer Corps requesting increased ComGuards participation in expeditions in the area. When the First Circuit declined, the Corps focused on less hazardous regions until they were better equipped to face what was there.
As the 31st Century dawned, the Clans made their first major expansion rimwards of the Caliban Nebula. While numberous minor colonies had been set up or secured, Nueva Castile and the Umayyad Caliphate were the first multi-world states encountered. The Grand Council had narrowly voted against an invasion only for a Trial of Refusal to overturn the decision. Four Clans were directly involved in the invasion with three more contracting forces to them in return for a share of the spoils. The small but well-equipped expeditionary forces had early victories but consolidation was beyond them and it would take more than a decade for the Clans to secure their hold, with a resource cost that it would take at least as long to recoup.
The response was military reform among the Clans involved, which spread to their rivals and allies. Advances in the material sciences had allowed the Clans to complete many SLDF weapon development projects brought with them but these improvements were usually in limited use for the most elite warriors in the gladiatorial trials. In addition, the armed forces simply weren't large enough to handle a decisive campaign.
Clan Coyote, having over-stretched significantly, headed the reforms and reached back into history to rename their leadership as Khans and their armed forces as the Coyote touman. The old companies and battalions were abolished in favour of Stars, Trinaries and Clusters. Military numbers were also increased with recruitment from other castes and the deliberate creation of thousands of trueborn warriors, using genes from the best warriors of the invasion. The most successful advanced machines, including omnitechnology and battle armour were pushed into full production, with the intention of pushing SLDF hardware into secondary or or even reserve roles. Other Clans followed their lead and internal conflicts began to rise as Clans struggled for the resources to indulge in this arms race.
Meanwhile the Inner Sphere had faced its own issues - the Fourth Succession War had not only created the Federated Commonwealth, it also raised Myndo Waterly to control of ComStar and she was intent on bolstering the power of the ComGuards. Looking for ways to train the ComGuards warship fleet in secret, she turned up the long ago request for reinforcement of Explorer Corps expeditions towards the Corps. In 3035, six warships were assigned to this purpose and in 3039 the CSV Narbonne departed, along with the jumpship CSV Outbound Light, to explore beyond the Caliban Nebula.
On 1 April 3042 the Explorer Corps finally located the descendants of the SLDF, jumping in at the Zenith point of the Huntress system. Clan Smoke Jaguar were shocked by the appearance of an unfamiliar warship - not only an unknown vessel but an entirely unknown design - but responded in the customary fashion by sending an Essex-class destroyer and supporting vessels to seize them. Although the Narbonne was able to leave using its lithium fusion battery after destroying several dropships and damaging the Sabre Cat, the Outbound Light was captured with intact navigational data and Sabre Cat took the chance of jumping to the last system they'd come from, hoping that Narbonne had jumped for there. This paid off and both ships were crippled, the Dante-class frigate boarded by Clan Elementals who held it until reinforcements could arrive.
WIth the prospect of a resurgent Inner Sphere that was even building new warships and sending them out into the deep periphery, the arguement in favour of returning to the Inner Sphere exploded into the Grand Council with new force. While it would take years to decide how to respond, many Clans began crash programmes to restore or entirely replace warships that had long been reduced to glorified transports or even to mere orbital stations. The stage was set for Operation Revival...
