Part 820: The Real Timeline by Demi-Precentor of the Archives, Agent Interrobang - Part 3

Do you think fluff can bloom, even on a battlefield?

An Abridged History of the Inner Sphere

Part 3 - Blood In The Water

With Kerensky and his SLDF vanished into uncharted space, the Great Houses of the Star League, now monikered the Successor States, had no more restrictions placed upon their centuries-old hostilities, and the flames of war ravaged civilization. In these dark times, with production facilities reduced to rubble and vast sums of knowledge lost, the tawdry remains of the once-great Star League were hoarded by the Successor States. It was only though mutual agreement during the nearly three hundred years of constant conflict that utterly irreplaceable technologies, such as Jumpships and Battlemechs, were preserved. The HPG relay network, the primary means of interstellar communications, came under the control of ComStar, formed from the Star League Department of Communications by its chief director, Jerome Blake.

Seizing Terra, Blake declared ComStar neutral, and offered their services to all the houses, under the stricture that all pay equally, and that ComStar sovereignty over the relays never be challenged. While resentful of the arrangement, the Great Houses realized Blake had them between a rock and a hard place: without the HPG network, interstellar government would collapse entirely, and only ComStar had the means or knowledge to maintain it. Grudgingly, they agreed to Blake's terms. Over many years, ComStar would become more and more secretive, less a corporation and more of a mystic cult, finally culminating in Primus Conrad Toyama reorganizing ComStar along the lines of a religious organization, which only further cemented the belief of the public that the HPG relays were a tool of magic, only able to be used by ComStar Adepts. Slowly but surely, ComStar's influence spread, guarded by their mighty military wing, the Com Guards, holders of the vast majority of the lost military technologies left behind by the SLDF.

Meanwhile, the Great Houses themselves continued to pay back bloody revenge upon each other for slights both real and perceived. House Davion warred upon House Kurita warred upon House Steiner warred upon House Marik warred upon House Liao warred upon House Davion, a ceaseless, fruitless struggle as more of humanity's knowledge base was blasted away into dust. Far beyond familiar stars, however, the SLDF faced its own internal trials.

With the death of Aleksandr Kerensky, leadership passed to his son, Nicholas. With no other enemies to fight, and most seeing Nicholas as a frail successor to his father, the SLDF, based on a quintet of planets known as the Pentagon Worlds, descended into bitter infighting over inter-unit rivalries and ethnicities. Nicholas, disgusted at the ease with which the SLDF had fallen into civil war, decided that what was needed was a truly fresh start. Taking 800 of his most loyal followers with him, Nicholas began the Second Exodus, leading his followers to a world they dubbed Strana Mechty, Russian for 'Land of Dreams.' There, he organized them into the Clans, endeavoring to form a society of perfect warriors through a combination of eugenics and training-from-birth. A generation later, Nicholas and his Clans would descend upon the Pentagon Worlds as one, taking back the legacy of Aleksandr.

As the Clans grew in power, political divisions began to show. Those who believed their duty was to fulfill Kerensky's vision of a new Star League by conquering the Inner Sphere themselves came to be known as Crusaders, while those who preferred to stand guard for the day the Inner Sphere unified itself were known as Wardens. The Crusaders were largely motivated by a need for increased living space: though the Warrior Caste held most privileges, the civilian populations necessary for the functioning of Clan society had begun to outgrow their held worlds. Though the Crusaders pushed for invasion, hard-fought Trials, tests of battle to determine policy, saw the Wardens triumphant, and cooler heads prevailed. However, to calm the fuming Crusader Clans, the Wardens, particularly Clan Wolf, made concessions. Most notably, an agreement was reached to send an advance scoutforce of Clan warriors to monitor the Inner Sphere under the guise of a mercenary unit, who could use their military skill to gain recon on the various powers that be. In 3005, Wolf's Dragoons arrived in the Inner Sphere, and would become one of the most celebrated mercenary units in known history.

By the year 3000, the constant war had become a fact of life in the Inner Sphere. Territory rarely changed hands for very long, and the restrictions of limited tech meant that conquering the Inner Sphere through raw force was almost impossible. The stalemate was finally broken in 3020, when Archon Katrina Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth sent out a peace proposal to the other Successor States. Only Prince Hanse Davion of the Federated Suns showed interest, and by 3022 Steiner and Davion had formed an alliance in secret, through the promise of Melissa's hand in marriage to Hanse. Their realms were fused together into the Federated Commonwealth, each holding a corner of the Inner Sphere. With their enemies sandwiched between them on either side, things seemed dire for the other nations individually.

Putting aside old hatreds in favor of newer, fresher ones, the Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League, and Capellan Confederation signed into law the Concord of Kapetyn in 3024, forming a three-way mutual defense pact. It soon became clear that any new war would engulf the entirety of the Inner Sphere.