OBT Forum

If you look at the map in HBHD for end of the 1st SW both Badlands and Lorkdal are both shown.  At the end of the 2nd SW the area is still known as the Badlands Cluster but neither world is shown.  As Badlands was settled prior to the RW, we can assume it does not need any advanced SL tech to be habitable.  Lorkdal on the other hand may have needed advanced SL tech.

The most likely answer of what happened is that the TC abandoned it/could not support it due to tech decline as they cut off and abandoned a number of outlying worlds (almost the entire Brinton and Dumassas Unions).  In that case pirates moved in and took over.  (say like on Alphard)

The other option is that the worlds that the people of the Badlands simply told Taurus go to hell and leave us alone.  I don't think this works as well as the worlds being abandoned due to lack of tech- in the various SBs we hear about numerous worlds being lost due to the loss of power plants and water purification systems. It also makes sense that the TC would concentrate it's efforts on the worlds closest to Taurus, as the loss of HPGs will make communications with outlying worlds very difficult. 

I very much doubt the Badlands was taken over by the Periphery Battlemech Regiments, but given the location and nature of the region, I suspect that they use it as base of operations for the attacks against the SLDF.

The "We cannot support you any longer" explanation is probably the best but doesn't feel really Taurian to me.

Perhaps, they wanted to leave it but couldn't (national pride and such) and jumped on the opportunity when the people/pirates decided to go independent.

The only reason I'd have to go against the colony going extinct is its location. The Badlands was likely settled by Taurians for its natural defense. The passages I've read about the Pirate's Haven is it is extremely hard to reach by jumpship. Space travel sounds more dangerous than the relatively straight forward Hyades or Plediaes Cluster. It appears that it survived the Reunification War but maybe Star League occupation is the reason for its extinction. They might have realized the difficulty taking the system and tried to poison the well so to speak. Under cutting critical infrastructure somehow - don't ask me how but weaken the colony to prevent it from becoming a future stronghold. Now I'd imagine the planet isn't all that ideal - given the name I'd say a barren wasteland with little water. So if I were the League I'd try to import advanced water purification equipment that would improve living conditions upfront but in the event of a revolt would be impossible to repair.

So lets say the Taurians in the Badlands somehow dry up but somehow pirates settle in? Still something missing for me. 

Hmmm...
I think that what Irose said makes sense.
While water purification is certainly vital I think that without regular outside contact many colonies would suffer. That is because (from what I understand) not too many worlds are totally self-sufficient and need to import certain resources, or export other resources to finance the imports.
So therefore I think that a loss of regular outside contact can doom a colony world, at least in the long run.

Just my thoughts though...

Ciao
Hessian