Summary of the Inner Sphere
Origins

 

The story of the Inner Sphere and the interstellar struggle for control, honor and survival has developed over seventeen years of popular novels, pen & paper source books and more recently, through the computer gaming community.

It would be impossible to detail all events of this long running and internationally popular saga. One of the most unique elements of the BattleTech universe is the parallel story line. The books that form the foundation of events in this gaming universe are written from different perspectives. In one series, the reader may follow the sweeping events of interstellar events and Byzantine plots through the eyes of one or more leaders of the great houses of the Inner Sphere. In yet another book, one may follow the close action story of a single warrior or unit. Again, other books may follow the same historical events, but from the perspective of "other side". For most people that other side for several years has been the Clans.

Historical Overview

Whytewulv
3959 – Intelligence Report

To the Stars

Man has reached for the stars and populated thousands of worlds. These sprawling occupied zones became known as the Inner Sphereand were would be bound together in a glorious, prosperous Star League .

In feats of mental and engineering marvel, the first 500 years of space colonization has been man’s greatest journey. As with all growth, there were days of turbulent events and at times, the future of mankind looked bleak. Yet despite adversity technology would take humankind to the stars and change more than our modes of exploration.

In 2020 the research of Thomas Kearny and Takayoshi Fuchida set the foundations of fusion engineering. By 2027 the a fusion drive propelled craft traveled to Mars and back and after further refinements in 2116 the first Jump capable ship made a round trip to our neighboring star of Tau Ceti. The stellar expansion of mankind had begun and the Kearny-Fuchida drive was taking the adventurous first colonists to never before seen lands. New settlements developed quickly. The traditional concepts of government were quickly becoming obsolete.

Unrest developed as the colonies continued to expand their number and range from Terra. Those with sufficient resources began self-governing and by 2236 a group of worlds on the rim of explored space declared independence. Though a military attempt was made to subjugate these worlds, it was a disaster. The Terran Alliance granted independence to all colonies in excess of 30 light years from Terra by 2242.

The Terran Hegemony

The next century would see a continued decline and corruption of the Terran Alliance. Finally, in frustration, military action was taken. Led by Alliance Global Navy (AGN) Admiral James McKenna, the Alliance was dissolved and replaced with the Terran Hegemony. Starting 2316 James McKenna acted as the first Director General and would orchestrate three military campaigns over the next twenty-three years to regain control of the independent worlds. The first two campaigns were great successes and all seemed according to plan. McKenna’s only son Konrad, led the third campaign in 2335. An unorthodox young man, his decision to break with traditional tactics led to the destruction of his fleet and left McKenna without an heir upon his own death in 2339. The further ramifications of Konrad’s failure led to strengthining of the independent worlds.

Left without a successor, the Hegemony’s High Council elected McKenna’s third cousin as the new Director-General. Michael Cameron immediately began negotiations to strengthen political ties with the independent colonies. To this end he would make a decision that would set the stage for events to date.

Good Intentions

2351 Michael Cameron granted feudal titles to the five greater houses of the stellar empire. His "Peer List" granted feudal title and holdings. However, it would also lead to the increased isolationist ideals of the various "Houses".

Amongst the first recipients included the inventor of myomer bundles, Dr. Gregory Atlas. These incredible powerful synthetic-muscles were a cornerstone in the invention of the WorkMech for mining operations.

With the addition of fusion engines and new weapon system and armor design, the first BattleMech appeared on February 5th 2439.

The face of ground warfare in the Inner Sphere would change forever.

Star League

During the 25th century the early House Lords looked jealously on one another. Before long, brutal wars ravaged across the early Inner Sphere. Casualties mounted and eventually after the terrible massacre of civilians in the Capellan Confederation, Chancellor Aleisha Liao devised rules of warfare. On June 13, 2412 all nations signed the Ares Conventions. Under this agreement, all use of nuclear weapons and targeting of civilians would cease. Intended to act as a peace agreement, loopholes and perspective allowed the document to have quite the opposite effect, and in fact made war legal. The opportunistic wasted no time.

Ian Cameron became Director-General in 2549 and in 2556 negotiated the terms and alliances that would become the Star League. The five primary independent states joined this new alliance. An age of peace settled upon the Inner Sphere, and would last almost 200 years.

The tides of change

The Heir to the Star League, Simon Cameron was lost in a tragic mining inspection accident. The throne of the Star League was left to Simon’s young son, Richard Cameron to succeed as the most powerful man in history. Lacking confidence in his overwhelming new position, he was befriended by Stephan Amaris, ruler of the Rim Worlds Republic Periphery State and a man with a concealed hatred for the Cameron Dynasty.

Under the guidance of the famous Star League General, Alexandr Kerensky, The Star League Defense Force (SDLF) protected the Inner Sphere. On December 27th 2766 while the main forces of the SDLF set out to quell troubles in the Periphery, Stephan Amaris’s plans came to a climax.

After securing Terra by convincing Richard to allow Stephan’s own forces to act as his personal guard, Stephan Amaris has the young ruler assassinated. He then went on to execute all with blood ties to the Cameron line. Weeks later, Stephan’s attempts to sway the duty bound Kerensky to his cause, the General began a fifteen year war to avenge the Cameron’s and oust the usurper.

And so it was, when on September 29th 2799 General Kerensky and the SDLF assaulted the Amaris forces and Terra. In retribution, all of Stephan’s family was executed.

Kerensky proclaimed himself Lord Protector of the Inner Sphere and set about trying to re-unite the shattered Star League. However, treachery and corruption infected this stellar empire. Eventually it fell, and in frustration, the largest portion of the once powerful Star League Defense Force followed their great General – Alexandr Kerensky into the Periphery on there final mission (Operation Exodus) and disappeared in November 2784.

With the fall of the League, a Dark Age descended, as each of the five surviving star empires warred for dominion. For almost three centuries, the House Lords of the Successor States fought among themselves in the conflict known as the Succession Wars.

Opposing sides devastated world after world with armies of BattleMechs: gigantic, humanoid battle machines bristling with enough firepower to level a city. Huge enough to crush anything in their path, these walking tanks ruled the battlefields of the 31st century.

In the constant struggle and warfare of this time, a slow but steady decay of technology occurred in this long Dark Age. With the Union of two of the three Great Houses in 3025, the Inner Sphere may have reached a point of no return when it resulted in the Fourth Succession War. The Houses clashed as never before, but after twelve years, an uneasy truce was settled. By 3050 a Fifth Succession War was inevitable, even imminent, when things took an unexpected change.      The Clans invaded

The coming of the Clans

With their superior war machines, these warrior descendants of the long-vanished Star League Defense Force came to reclaim the Inner Sphere. Now known as The Clans, these "Bred for War" armies swept through the Coreward periphery, all but destroying the Free Rassalhague Republic (FRR), and striking deep into Steiner and Kuritan territories. By forging a precarious union, the five Successor States fought back.

The Clan’s superior technology proved overwhelming and morale amongst the greatest military forces of the Inner Sphere slumped at the list of defeats mounted. The end may have been premature if not for three events…

Eye of the Storm

The Successor states received an unexpected respite, when FRR killed the invasion force commander (ilKhan Leo Showers) in a suicide attack. The attack halted as the Clan leaders met to vote for a new leader and the Successor States rallied resources, and tactical intelligence to brace for the coming storm.

A cry for the innocent

In 3051 Clan Smoke Jaguar Khan Osis made an unusually brutal decision that shocked not only the people of the Inner Sphere, but his own peers. In frustration at continued hostilities he ordered the Orbital Bombardment of a planets keys city. Thousands of innocents died and a cry of outrage reverberated throughout the Inner Sphere.

A greater good

The Battle of Luthien saved the Capital of the Draconis Combine in an amazing and daring coalition military defense that included Mercenary units assigned to Great Houses that only a few scant years before had been attempting to destroy this realm.

The Clans own Codes of honor and single combat quickly started to be their weakness. However, it was too little too late. Or so it seemed.

 

More than human

Several elements of Clan culture, philosophical and tactical doctrine and religious caste system based in part upon genetic breeding became critical to the strategies the Inner Sphere forces would adopt in the coming showdown.

Though descendant of travelers from these very same lands; the harsh life and a-military background had resulted in significant differences in the social make-up of Clam society.

Truebirth

A strictly guarded and highly stylized ritual if selective breeding from a central gene pool maintained by each Clan governed the future of each member born of the Clan way. All invading warriors were born this way, and are considered the highest caste in Clan Society.

Bidding War

With such social emphasis on selective "perfection" another ritual developed. The Batchall (Batch-shawl) is the Clan pre-battle bidding and challenge made by rival commanders. With the intent to increase the honor of a Clan commanders unit by bidding the lowest possible forces to succeed in accomplishing a military goal.

Furthermore, Clan custom dictates that it only honorable to fight a single opponent on the battlefield at a time.

Quest for Terra

It quickly became obvious that the most prized objective of all the invading Clans was Terra (Earth). ComStar Precentor-Martial Anastasious Focht met with the invading Clans and was allowed to travel as an observer in the first wave of the invasion. Those outside of ComStar would only believe these actions treasonous. The true purpose would soon become apparent to all. None would be more surprised then the Clans themselves.

With frantic need for urgency the Successor States prepared. Using every and any element at their disposal they managed to slow the second wave of the Clan onslaught. In a bold gamble to protect further innocent casualties, ComStar played their hand.

Realizing that the ComStar Homeworld of Terra was of such importance to the Invaders and knowing that despite first impressions, ComStar’s plan was aimed at capitalizing on the conflicts within the Clans themselves. Following Clan ritual, Precentor-Martial Anastasious Focht issued a Batchall to the Clans. He challenged each one to duel the ComGuards on the planet of Tukyad for the ultimate prize.      Earth it self.

If the Clans failed, they would withdraw for 15 years. ComStar has secretly been training and stockpiling Star League "Lost Tech" for generations and now faced it’s first test and possibly last test.

The Battles for Tukyid have become legend. Only Clans Wolf and Ghost Bear achieved any marginal victory and an amendment was made that the Clans would progress no further. So it was, that the Inner Sphere managed to fight the Clans to an impasse in 3052. A 15-year truce was signed.

By 3058, the Inner Sphere have rebuilt their armies with captured Clan technology and stand ready to fight if the Clans renew their invasion. But old rivalries die hard, and new conflicts threaten to revive the age-old struggle between the Houses of the Inner Sphere.

The pseudo-mercenary unit – Wolf’s Dragoons – has hosted a meeting of the House Lords and significant powers of the Inner Sphere in a bold plan to re-establish the Star League. Sun Tzu Liao (Capellan Confederation) has been elected Star Lord.

Now by and act’s either of bravery or treachery, depending on your perspective a former Smoke Jaguar warrior has betrayed Clan secret passage to their home worlds. Prince Victor Davion is now leading forces in a daring plan to exterminate one Clan and drive the Clans from the Inner Sphere once and for all. It is a time of desperate measures, uneasy trust, bravery and deceit. The counter offensive begins.

The year is now 3059 and the combined Inner Sphere forces have formed a new Star League Defense Force. Their target, Clan Smoke Jaguar occupied territories. The Smoke Jaguars brutality in the invasion, slaughter of civilians and "Crusader Clan" philosophy has singled them out as the foremost target of this bold plot.

Tactics have changed, as has military doctrine. The need for cohesive military control of a coalition force would mean a new position in this new Star League Defense Force (SDLF). This critical new position is now known as the MechCommander.

Major Powers

The Great Houses of the Inner Sphere

House Davion
The Federated Commonwealth
Leader: Prince Victor Davion
Homeworld. New Avalon
3058 Summary

Perhaps the most important event in the years after 3056 was the death in that year of Joshua Marik, heir to the Free Worlds League's Captain-General Thomas Marik. For years the young heir had remained at the Federated Commonwealth's New Avalon Insitute of Science for treatment of his leukemia, an arrangement that had prevented Thomas Marik from launching any type of military action against the Federated Commonwealth. When the heir died, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion inserted a double in the boy's place. Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao learned of this deception the following year, and proposed to Thomas Marik a joint Marik-Liao invasion of the Sarna March that would simultaneously punish Steiner-Davion for his treachery and recapture former Marik and Liao worlds.

In 3057, Marik and Liao forces invaded the Sarna March. The Liao invaders quickly captured many former Liao worlds, aided by Marik-backed mercenaries. Marik forces enjoyed wide success as well, taking several former Free Worlds League planets. Almost immediately, Katrina Steiner-Davion announced the formation of the new Lyran Alliance, declared Lyran neutrality in the invasion, and called for all Lyran military units to withdraw from Federated Commonwealth possessions in the March. Marik took advantage of this development to settle for a separate peace with Katrina.

By this act, Katrina split the Federated Commonwealth physically as well as politically. The abrupt departure of Lyran troops speeded the Sarna March's slide into anarchy, and the loss of control over that region has left the rump of the Federated Commonwealth with no access to free passage into Lyran Alliance space. Many observers initially believed Katrina was allying her newborn state with the Free Worlds League, but so far she has remained neutral.

Victor Steiner-Davion has not relinquished his claim to the worlds of the Alliance and still considers them part of the Federated Commonwealth. Archon Katrina appears uninterested inthe Davion half of the Commonwealth, claiming instead the disputed regions of the Chaos March. The Archon has moved decisively to consolidate her holdings in the Lyran Alliance, but the loyalties of several regions within it remain in question. The heavily industrialized region of Skye, true to its secessionist history, has given Katrina complete support. She also has

strong backing from parts of the Donegal March. Along the Lyran-Free Worlds border, however, many worlds keenly miss the benefit of Prince Victor's military experience in dealing with the newly aggressive Free Worlds League. They do not trust Thomas Marik's promise not to expand his realm beyond its Fourth Succession War borders, and they could easily go over to the Archon Prince's side at the first sign of Marik aggression.

Mercenaries consider the Alliance to be an unknown quantity. Archon Katrina Steiner-Davion remains largely untested as a leader, and many people see her as power hungry, two reasons that make many commanders leery of entering the Archon's employ. Many mercs, however, are delighted that Archon Katrina seems to offer so many fat contracts with relatively low risk.

Most of these units have conveniently forgotten that the Steiners are businessment at heart, and thus often become a mercenary unit's toughest opponent.

Most assignments offered by the Alliance involve garrison or security duty, because Archon Katrina's public position as a peacemaker allows her to do little else.

House Liao
The Cappelan Confederation
Leader: Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao
Homeworld: Sion
3058 Summary

Perhaps the most important single event for the Confederation in the years after 3056 was the death in that year of Joshua Marik, heir to the Free Worlds League's Captain-General Thomas Marik. For years the young heir had remained at the Federated Commonwealth's New Avalon Insitute of Science for treatment of his leukemia, an arrangement that had prevented Thomas Marik from launching any type of military action against the Federated Commonwealth. When the heir died, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion inserted a double in the boy's place. Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao learned of this deception through an agent planted in the NAIS the following year, and proposed to Thomas Marik a joint Marik-Liao invasion of the Sarna March that would simultaneously punish

Steiner-Davion for his treachery and recapture former Marik and Liao worlds. Finally, Chancellor Sun-Tzu had the chance he had waited so long for.

In 3057, Marik and Liao forces invaded the Sarna March. The Liao invaders quickly captured many former Liao worlds, aided by Marik-backed mercenaries. Marik forces enjoyed wide success as well, taking several former Free Worlds League planets. Almost immediately, Katrina Steiner-Davion announced the formation of the new Lyran Alliance, declared Lyran neutrality in the invasion, and called for all Lyran military units to withdraw from

Federated Commonwealth possessions in the March. Marik took advantage of this development to settle for a separate peace with Katrina.

Unfortunately, this left the Confederation unable to continue its conquests, and the Capellan offensive stalled. Unable to capture further worlds through military means, the Chancellor has continued funneling supplies to his Zhanzheng de guang guerillas on the remaining planets of the now-christened Chaos March. These terrorist forces have enjoyed inconsistent levels of success on various planets, but the Chancellor hopes his luck will change.

The Confederation desperately needs mercenary troops for various types of missions. Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao's invasion force shattered the Sarna March, but he needs more troops to finish the job he started. The Capellan

state also needs units to beef up its borders with the Federated Commonwealth and the newly independent states

of the Chaos March, particularly the Sarna Supremacy.

House Kurita
The Draconis Combine
Leader: Coordinator Takashi Kurita
Homeworld: Luthien
3058 Summary

While the other successor stats fight one another, the Draconis Combine stands alone in its search for the Clan homeworlds. While the Capellan Confederation and Free Worlds League attacked the Federated Commonwealth, which was, in turn, falling apart, House Kurita was preparing for the Truce of Tukayyid's end, building up its military with the new Inner Sphere OmniMech technology and new weapons of war. While the rest of the Inner Sphere was worried with their internal troubles, Coordinator Theodore Kurita has been hiring mercenary units to defend bases of operation in the Periphery used to find the Clan homeworlds.

The Combine continues to hire mercenaries for secret missions. However, the formation of the Lyran Alliance has destabilized a portion of the Combine's border with the Federated Commonwealth, forcing Coordinator Theodore Kurita to hire mercenary units to help protect this area of Combine space. Almost all of these assignments involve garrison and defensive duty. Recent rumors suggest that the Combine wishes to keep things stirred up in the Chaos

March and has hired small units to make surgical strikes and keep the balance of power shifting, but these rumors remain unproven.

Chaos March Troubles

The split between the Federated Commonwealth and the Lyran Alliance presented Archon Prince Victor with a problem. As Archon of the Lyran Alliance, Katrina has claimed several worlds in the Lyons Thumb, a region of Lyran space extending into the Draconis Combine. In the face of Liao-Marik attacks, Katrina began to reinforce the Thumb worlds. In an apparent response to the Archon's actions, Coordinator Theodore Kurita of the Draconis Combine has persuaded ComStar to install Combine troops on planets in the Thumb as peacekeepers under ComStar's aegis. Both Katrina and Victor Steiner-Davion welcomed the peacekeeping forces as protectors of Lyran territorial integrity against possible attack by Liao or Marik forces, though the Archon has objected in principle to the presence of foreign troops in her nation.

Close to nine full regiments of Combine troops took up residence on the worlds in the Lyons Thumb. Lyran Alliance units stationed in the area have also stayed close to home, suggesting that the Archon may not entirely trust the Combine not to take advantage of its position in her realm. She has made no move or statement against them, apparently unwilling to risk plunging her people into war with House Kurita.

Of more practical relevance to mercenary units, ComStar monitors and inspects all ship traffic going into or out of the Lyons Thumb to prevent the Federated Commonwealth and the Lyran Alliance from bolstering their forces.

House Marik
The Free Worlds League
Leader: (Primus in Exile) Captain General Thomas Marik
Homeworld: Atreus
3058 Summary

Perhaps the most important event in the years after 3056 was the death in that year of Joshua Marik, heir to the Free Worlds League's Captain-General Thomas Marik. For years the young heir had remained at the Federated Commonwealth's New Avalon Insitute of Science for treatment of his leukemia, an arrangement that had prevented Thomas Marik from launching any type of military action against the Federated Commonwealth. When the heir died, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion inserted a double in the boy's place. Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao learned of this deception the following year, and proposed to Thomas Marik a joint Marik-Liao invasion of the Sarna March that would simultaneously punish Steiner-Davion for his treachery and recapture former Marik and Liao worlds.

In 3057, Marik and Liao forces invaded the Sarna March. The Liao invaders quickly captured many former Liao worlds, aided by Marik-backed mercenaries. Marik forces enjoyed wide success as well, taking several former Free Worlds League planets. Almost immediately, Katrina Steiner-Davion announced the formation of the new Lyran Alliance, declared Lyran neutrality in the invasion, and called for all Lyran military units to withdraw from Federated Commonwealth possessions in the March. Marik took advantage of this development to settle for a separate peace with Katrina.

The Free Worlds League is currently the largest employer of mercenaries in the Inner Sphere. The League's current position of strength in the Inner Sphere has made it more attractive to the many merc’ commanders who previously shied away from League contracts because of the realm's seemingly inherent instability. Currently, the League is using most of its mercenaries to hold the worlds it retook from the Federated Commonwealth until regular forces can be shifted to those planets.

Thomas Marik's posture of non-aggression toward the Lyran Alliance, as well as his partnership with the Capellan Confederation, has secured most of his borders. The only missions the League assigns within the Chaos March are garrison duty and pirate hunting; the steady increase in pirate raids in the March has made the latter particularly important. The Free Worlds League is currently uninterested in additional conquest of the Chaos March, though that may change.

House Steiner
The Lyran Alliance
Leader: Archon Katherine Steiner
Homeworld: Tharkad
3058 Summary

Perhaps the most important event in the years after 3056 was the death in that year of Joshua Marik, heir to the Free Worlds League’s Captain-General Thomas Marik. For years the young heir had remained at the Federated Commonwealth's New Avalon Institute of Science for treatment of his leukemia, an arrangement that had prevented Thomas Marik from launching any type of military action against the Federated Commonwealth.

When the heir died, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion inserted a double in the boy's place. Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao learned of this deception the following year, and proposed to Thomas Marik a joint Marik-Liao invasion of the Sarna March that would simultaneously punish Steiner-Davion for his treachery and recapture former Marik and Liao worlds.

In 3057, Marik and Liao forces invaded the Sarna March. The Liao invaders quickly captured many former Liao worlds, aided by Marik-backed mercenaries. Marik forces enjoyed wide success as well, taking several former Free Worlds League planets. Almost immediately, Katrina Steiner-Davion announced the formation of the new Lyran Alliance, declared Lyran neutrality in the invasion, and called for all Lyran military units to withdraw from Federated Commonwealth possessions in the March. Marik took advantage of this development to settle for a separate peace with Katrina.

By this act, Katrina split the Federated Commonwealth physically as well as politically. The abrupt departure of Lyran troops speeded the Sarna March's slide into anarchy, and the loss of control over that region has left the rump of the Federated Commonwealth with no access to free passage into Lyran Alliance space. Many observers initially believed Katrina was allying her newborn state with the Free Worlds League, but so far she has remained neutral.

Victor Steiner-Davion has not relinquished his claim to the worlds of the Alliance and still considers them part of the Federated Commonwealth. Archon Katrina appears uninterested in the Davion half of the Commonwealth, claiming instead the disputed regions of the Chaos March. The Archon has moved decisively to consolidate her holdings in the Lyran Alliance, but the loyalties of several regions within it remain in question. The heavily industrialized region of Skye, true to its secessionist history, has given Katrina complete support. She also has strong backing from parts of the Donegal March. Along the Lyran-Free Worlds border, however, many worlds keenly miss the benefit of Prince Victor's military experience in dealing with the newly aggressive Free Worlds League. They do not trust Thomas Marik's promise not to expand his realm beyond its Fourth Succession War borders, and they could easily go over to the Archon Prince's side at the first sign of Marik aggression.

Mercenaries consider the Alliance to be an unknown quantity. Archon Katrina Steiner-Davion remains largely untested as a leader, and many people see her as power hungry, two reasons that make many commanders leery of entering the Archon's employ. Many mercs, however, are delighted that Archon Katrina seems to offer so many fat contracts with relatively low risk. Most of these units have conveniently forgotten that the Steiners are businessment at heart, and thus often become a mercenary unit's toughest opponent.

Most assignments offered by the Alliance involve garrison or security duty, because Archon Katrina's public position as a peacemaker allows her to do little else.

Comstar
Leader: Precentor Anastasius Focht
Homeworld: *Terra (Presently displaced by the Word of Blake. The Word of Blake has taken Terra through subterfuge as ComStar relocates its base of operations to Tukayyid.)
3058 Summary

On February 28, 3058, the Word of Blake struck. The day was a rather symbolic one, being the 276th anniversary of

Jerome Blake being given control of Terra and what would become ComStar. It was also the 38th month since the official naming of Sharilar Mori, and Jerome Blake had a 38-year reign, a terribly complicated matter and bound up in the malignant theology of the Word of Blake terrorists. The Word of Blake and 21st Centauri Lancer forces attacked and destroyed Hilton Head and the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, inflicting considerable losses on the ComGuard 201st Division. As the attack continued, Precentor Koenigs-Cober destroyed eveything of value

which could not be taken and retreated offworld with Primus Mori, the First Circuit, and remaining ComGuard forces.

The news reached Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht as he was on his way to a strategy session with the St. Ives Compact, Federated Commonwealth, and Draconis Combine on Tukayyid, it was decided not to contest the Word of Blake conquest at that time, leaving them the trouble of defending Terra should the Clans break the truce. With three Word of Blake regiments burning in to bolster their forces on Terra, the decision seemed a wise one, especially in light of rumors that the Word of Blake is in the process of hiring mercenaries to further strengthen their garrison force. With this conquest of Terra, ComStar has moved its base of operations to the Free Rasalhague Republic world of Tukayyid, where it prepares to once again defend the Inner Sphere when the Clans continue their invasion.

While ComStar continues to defend the Inner Sphere, the Word of Blake further entrenches its forces, waiting for the ComStar counterattack that could very well never come. With the Word of Blake in control of the cradle of humanity, the entire Inner Sphere has cause to worry, as the old ComStar is back and its name is the Word of Blake. With the Blaklist terrorists in control of Terra, the Successor States can once again expect the frequency of terrorist bombings, assassinations, and technological thefts common in the old days of ComStar to increase, as the Word of Blake concentrates on its own twisted view of the writings of the blessed Jerome Blake instead of the greater threat known as the Clan invasion.

Minor Powers

The Five Greater Houses contend with not only the Clans and one another. There are other powers within the Inner Sphere; Bandits, Pirates, and Periphery Realms that have grown to powers in their own right. Minor powers as the Rassalhague Free Republic, which bore the brunt of the Clan invasion. The St. Ives Compact, which seceded from the Capellan Confederation and maintains a precarious cat and mouse game of high stakes with House Liao; and Mercenaries, the bane or boon of the Houses. Some of these units have become far more than simple "soldiers of fortune". Units such as the Kell Hounds, Northwind Highlanders and Wolfs Dragoons now have as much impact upon the history of the Inner Sphere as any Lord.

Way of the Clans

During the fall of the Star League, General Aleksandr Kerensky, commander of the Star League Defense Force, led his forces out of the Inner Sphere in what is known as the first Exodus. After settling beyond the Periphery, more than 1,300 light years away from Terra, Kerensky and his followers settled in a cluster of marginally habitable star systems near a large globular cluster that hid them from the Inner Sphere. Within fifteen years, civil war erupted among these exiles, threatening to destroy everything they had worked so hard to build. In a second Exodus, Nicholas Kerensky, son of Aleksandr, led his followers to one of the worlds of the globular cluster to escape the new war. It was there on Strana Mechty that Kerensky first conceived and organized what would one day be known as the Clans.

Political divisions exist within this warrior society. First there are the tensions dividing the Clans that won the right to invade the Inner Sphere in 3050 vs those that did not. The failure of the invasion has heightened these issues tremendously of late.

Situation Report 3059 Update

This, then, is the situation at present. The Clans have captured a large wedge of worlds from the Draconis Combine, the Free Rassalhague Republic, and the Steiner side of the Federated Commonwealth. Under the terms of the Trial of Possession for Terra, the Clans have vowed not to advance any further into the Inner Sphere for 15 years. That vow does not, however, prevent them from raiding into the Combine or the old Lyran Commonwealth. With the death of Hanse Davion, Victor Davion became ruler of the Federated Suns, and will soon be invested as Archon Prince of the united Federated Commonwealth. The Combine has been bloodied but not bowed. Under the leadership of Coordinator Theodore Kurita, the Combine is girding itself for more wars with the Clans. Meanwhile, ComStar faces what can only be described as a schism, with many of its Adepts and Acolytes streaming into the Free Worlds League of Thomas Marik, himself once a member of ComStar. Thomas, fearing that the Federated Commonwealth will now turn its might against his state, has agreed to a marriage between his daughter and designated heir Isis to Sun-Tzu Liao. He hopes thus to meld the fanaticism of the Confederation with the growing industrial might of the League. Because Thomas does not entirely trust his future son-in-law, he welcomes the presence of the disenchanted members of ComStar, whose fanatic loyalty to him could counterbalance the greed and ambition of Sun-Tzu.

 

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