BattleTech FanFiction Tribble Emporium

[VhenRa]

I would assume its "Curl up in the fetal position".

[SulliMike23]

I got nothing left for ideas. Anyone have anything?

[DoctorMonkey]

I am writing something already - going through Operation Stiletto trying to turn  it into a story around the short scenarios they wrote

[Chris OFarrell]

I got nothing left for ideas. Anyone have anything?

Von Strangs World.

Von Strang gives his glorious Scum of the Star League Speech ... then when the Falcons swarm forward reveals the REAL reason the Inner Sphere really just left well enough alone. The fact that ole Gunthar Strang had been quietly during the Star League Civil War shipping no small amount of gear secretly out of the Hegemony to construct a fallback position. But everything went to hell and it was forgotten about when he died ... except his relative Nico Von Strang who quietly shipped the stuff to his little mini empire.

Long story short come 3049 and Von Strangs World is protected by a fully armed and operational surface to space SDS system that would have rivaled that of the Hegemony. Pretty much never used but found out about some time in the 3rd Succession War its still nicely intact and has been maintained and jealously protected against Great Houses trying to take a peak inside, but still not known about really beyond the intelligence services in the FedCom and DC. 80% of it in mothballs with just a handful of currently active ground bases covering the major population centers.

And so Clan Jade Falcon come wandering in and declare their intentions to kill all their asses arrowing for the capital city ... and when they start to edge into the upper stratosphere, the naval lasers open fire, blowing first the Falcon dropships out of the sky, then their warships in low orbit and finally the fighters that had desperately scrambled to shoot up the SDS, doing some damage but dying anyway.

And of course the rest of the invading Clans (except the Wolves who get bidded out of the attack force by the Crusaders, Ulric merely having a 'fine then, have at it you guys!' Just As Planned look on his face) storm in a few weeks later, by which time all the other SDS batteries have been hurriedly brought online.

Several Galaxies and warships destroyed later in exchange for a few good sized cities being plastered from orbit because the Clans are really sore losers that way, the invading Clans have run into just a little bit of a spot of bother on their attack...

[Intermittent_Coherence]

Von Strangs World.

Von Strang gives his glorious Scum of the Star League Speech ... then when the Falcons swarm forward reveals the REAL reason the Inner Sphere really just left well enough alone. The fact that ole Gunthar Strang had been quietly during the Star League Civil War shipping no small amount of gear secretly out of the Hegemony to construct a fallback position. But everything went to hell and it was forgotten about when he died ... except his relative Nico Von Strang who quietly shipped the stuff to his little mini empire.

Long story short come 3049 and Von Strangs World is protected by a fully armed and operational surface to space SDS system that would have rivaled that of the Hegemony. Pretty much never used but found out about some time in the 3rd Succession War its still nicely intact and has been maintained and jealously protected against Great Houses trying to take a peak inside, but still not known about really beyond the intelligence services in the FedCom and DC. 80% of it in mothballs with just a handful of currently active ground bases covering the major population centers.

And so Clan Jade Falcon come wandering in and declare their intentions to kill all their asses arrowing for the capital city ... and when they start to edge into the upper stratosphere, the naval lasers open fire, blowing first the Falcon dropships out of the sky, then their warships in low orbit and finally the fighters that had desperately scrambled to shoot up the SDS, doing some damage but dying anyway.

And of course the rest of the invading Clans (except the Wolves who get bidded out of the attack force by the Crusaders, Ulric merely having a 'fine then, have at it you guys!' Just As Planned look on his face) storm in a few weeks later, by which time all the other SDS batteries have been hurriedly brought online.

Several Galaxies and warships destroyed later in exchange for a few good sized cities being plastered from orbit because the Clans are really sore losers that way, the invading Clans have run into just a little bit of a spot of bother on their attack...

IF he was able to ship out enough materiel to build an SDS what else could he have lying around? Brian Caches?

[knightowl]

IF he was able to ship out enough materiel to build an SDS what else could he have lying around? Brian Caches?

NO Brian Caches are Clan Only. Maybe a Few Von Strangs Castles.

[Takiro]

I got nothing left for ideas. Anyone have anything?

I have two both in development. Hope to post the first next week!

[panzerfaust150]

Tribble #495

Nicholas Kerensky does not survive his bout with the local fever and things slide into chaos as per canon, but without Nicholas, are there no clans? Or do they take a different form? Will the portions of the SLDF that remain loyal to Alexandr's dream rally around Andrey, or will they just become another combatant or series of combatants in the Pentagon Civil War?

And when ComStar finds them in 3049, what will they find?

[panzerfaust150]

Tribble #496

Hanse Davion calls Theodore's bluff in the War of 3039. But things do not go Hanse's way completely. With the Lyrans temporarily out of the fight, it becomes a slow grinding war of attrition for the Dieron District, and Direon itself only falls after a 11 month siege. The F-C doesn't get much further than the 3rd wave targets before threat of interdict pretty much ends the war due to a mixture of mutual exhaustion and just plain ComStar interference.

But the Combine is left in rough shape, with 40% of her Battlemech regiments having suffered over 60% casualties, several of the premiere Combine units were wiped out outright during the Dieron campaign, or left bereft of a way home when they were cut off by the resumption of the F-C advance. Theodore Kurita himself was discredited by the end of the war and chose exile with the Legions of Vega, his wife, forced to commit seppuku rather than be captured on Exeter. The DCMS is a broken rag doll, and is back in the hands of an unstable, and angry Takashi. He commits the Combine to campaigns of unsustainable raiding and assaults on F-C and FRR border worlds (though there is some success against the FRR), that do little but contribute to bleeding the DCMS white.

The F-C casualties are sustainable, but heavy, and serve to slow down the expansion of the AFFC, but by 3049, she is at perhaps 90% of the troop numbers that she was at in canon.

Do the Clans take Luthien this time? Can the Combine survive without the flexibility Theodore taught the DCMS? And if the Combine does collapse, what does this mean for the Davion half of the F-C, not to mention the rest of the Inner Sphere?

[DoctorMonkey]

Re Tribble #496


I suspect Hanse Davion would plan to assault and break the Draconis Combine before the Clans have a chance to turn up, I'd guess that by 3057-8 they would be at war again

[Davout73]

Here's one for you all.

Attached is what I am going to call a "Visual Tribble".

This one I call "The Shattered Sphere"

I have no Point of Departure from the established canon.  Honestly, I was fiddling around in ARC and thought this would be pretty fun to do.

I have my own ideas on what's going on here, but before I put those down, I'd like to see some other ideas.

The attached .pdf is 22x17.  If you zoon in close enough, in some places the border goes through a planet. 

This is intentional.

Have fun, and thanks for looking!


Dav

[drakensis]

A couple of things stand out:

1. There's no sign of the Marik Commonwealth. This suggests that House Marik isn't in a position of power.
2. No state built around Terra. I'd be inclined to say this scenario would therefore include the First Succession War and the final collapse of the Terran Hegemony - or at least something similar.
3. The much reduced Davion domains are reminiscent of the DCMS onslaught of the First Succession War.

As a result I'd lean to a PoD during the First Succession War but pre-Kentares. Probably involving the Combine being extremely successful but the Successor States fracturing into civil wars for various reasons (may or may not be traceable back to ComStar).

[Sharpnel]

I love the map, Davout and agree with Drak on the breaking point from the timeline. Given that I would probably change the name of the Nova Roman realm to something like the Illyrian League or the Lothian Palatinate

[Atlan]

 Tribble #497

Battletech was originally meant to be reminiscent of Mad Max, only with giant stompy mecha. But as time passed, that was largely forgotten, as the Battletech universe grew and changed.

So, how about an AU which really goes back to the roots?

The Inner Sphere, in this AU, was identical to the canon one- right up until the First Succession War. In it, there was no Comstar- in fact, there were no HPGs at all. During the war, weapons of all forms were used- nuclear, biological, viral, chemical- and malware. Early in the war, the super-computer-viruses which the various Houses had stocked were deployed- as were the Terran Hegenomy's ones, as desperate act by a defenseless Terra. This took out virtually every computer in the known galaxy- and that includes the digital libraries, the HPGs, and Jumpship navigational computers.

By the time the shooting had stopped- the galaxy was dark. In the future age they lived in, no-one really bothered with printed books much any more- just digital ones which were all gone now. Unable to build the advanced machines which had sustained civilization, the Inner Sphere collapsed. Unable to communicate, barely able to travel between their worlds, the Successor States fell apart, untill the galaxy consisted of a handful of dozen-planet empires, and thousands of independent worlds.

And in the chaos, hundreds of worlds would try their hand at rebuilding the once great states- by conquering whatever world was nearby. Or they might try and rebuild their own world by taking what their neighbors had. Or they might try and get revenge for some long-forgotten slight.

They could no longer build their mighty warships or battlemechs- the designs were lost, the technology to complicated to design, and too complicated to build even if they knew how. Wars were fought with older, simpler technology- laser canons replaced with dumb missiles, canons and bullets. Aerospace fighters replaced with jet engines and propeller driven planes. Fusion plants replaced with petrol burning engines. Mechs replaced by tanks. Jumpships navigated by pen and pencil and abacus.

But just because they could no longer build those advanced machines didn't mean they couldn't USE them. The precious few mechs left over from before the fall of civilization were now the masters of war. A single mech could take on dozens of the modern, primitive tanks- and you could more easily move mechs from planet to planet.

A quiet world in 3000 might have a population of 50,000,000, a standing infantry of 50,000, a tank force of 5000- and a lance of mechs. And that lance of mechs was the difference between victory or defeat- that lance of mechs could wipe out an entire invasion force- unless that invasion force also had mechs...

And so, centuries after the Succession War, mechwarriors- especially mercenaries- had a mystique. They were the cowboys of the new age, the heroes- the guys who could wander onto a planet and turn it upside down with a single mech.

Meanwhile, tech prospectors wandered the galaxy, known that even a mech destroyed and left where it fell centuries ago was priceless by modern standards.

[SulliMike23]

That would give the Clans even MORE incentive to invade. With the Inner Sphere in the state it's in, it would be easy pickings to get to Terra.

[Vehrec]

That would give the Clans even MORE incentive to invade. With the Inner Sphere in the state it's in, it would be easy pickings to get to Terra.

  Well then why have the Clans at all?  How much extra intercine strife, disease and famine would it take to topple the fledgling colonies and knock them back on their heels technologically as well?  The Clans suffering a radical contraction in population as the SLDFiE burns itself out to forge them would certainly leave them without the scientists to advance the tech level, or the technicians to even maintain what they have.  If, in fact, the Clans smash up the Kerensky worlds too baddly to salvage much from those societies, or the arrival of Nicky's Warships triggers a nuclear exchange...  Well how much would it take to tip their society over from 'technological dynamo' to 'techno barbarians?'  And if you want to keep the mad-max feel, have no fear.  Is it not very much a Warrior's way to speed off into the desert after your favorite breeders who have scrawled WE ARE NOT THINGS onto the wall?

I mean, I'm sure a lot of you guys want to ride eternal, shiny and chrome, but that's not for all of us.

[Atlan]

That would give the Clans even MORE incentive to invade. With the Inner Sphere in the state it's in, it would be easy pickings to get to Terra.

You assume the Clans would be the same as in canon. But since the entire point of the AU was to make things a little more Mad Max- or Fallout- the Clans would be changed too.

So- the Clans:

Kerensky's exodus fleet reached the Kerensky Cluster, and quickly started de-militirizing- fleets of warships and thousands of Battlemechs were handy when you were surronded by other nations, but for a few million refugies, they were a resource drain and a temptation. Kerensky had the entire warship fleet flown into the nearest sun, and had the Battlemechs and Aerospace Fighters stored in hidden Brian Cashes- small, company sized ones, scattered far and wide around the Kerensky Cluster, even on uninhabitable worlds. The conventional veichals had their guns removed, and were given to civilians- sure a fusion-powered 40 ton car was a bit much for driving to work, but it was better than walking.

But old tensions reared their heads, and civil war happened. The easy to find Brian Cashes were raided for mechs, and the cluster fell into war. Not as terrible as as the Inner Sphere- populations grew, instead of shrank- but a never-ending war none the less.

By the year 3000, the cluster was in a stalemate. While all the tanks were gone, the factories rubble, and their infantary decimated, each side had a LOT of Battlemechs- three Battalions in some cases! And aerospace fighters as support! The Kerensky Cluster was locked in a tense cold war, of mutually assured destruction- all knew that the Mech forces were sufficiant to wipe out every city in the Cluster, and no-one was prepared to risk that. But war had become a vital part of their culture- they needed it. And everyone was afraid that some other state would start the war to end all wars.

Then someone had the idea of checking up on the Inner Sphere. The Wolfs Dragoons were sent as a scout force, posing as mercenaries. 5 Companies- 10 mechs and 2 aerospace fighters each- to probe the Inner Sphere.

They brought back news of a weakened Inner Sphere. And the nations of the Kerensky Cluster- the Clans- realized that they could have an easy war- keep their militaries occupied, draw down the force level in the Cluster, and bring in precious raw resources.

In 3050 the Clans hit the Inner Sphere. Their mechs were frightening- unlike the Inner Sphere mechs which had patchwork armor, dumb missiles and weak canons, and poorly maintained engines, the Clans mechs were as good as they were the day Kerensky had them packed away. (Largely because they were fresh out of Brian Cashes).  Unlike the Inner Sphere, who mounted their invasions in centuries-old civilian ships (like Mules), with crude armor and a few guns welded on, the Clans had actual military dropships! Unions! Overlords!

[Takiro]

You really don't even have to have the Clans invade. They just like everyone else are trying to survive in a bleak dystopian future. This Mad Max universe would lack the faction feel of BattleTech however as big groups (Great Houses, mercs, Clans) and even small units (possibly no larger than company) would exist. Not saying it would be bad just different from the norm.

[zapdragon]

tribble #498
what if the WoB did force the houses to reform the star league, which promptly sent the SLDF to defeat the WoB? What would that do to the jihad, or would there even be one?
the SLDF would have a decent sized fleet but so do the WoB. the blakists also would have lost the element of surprise, although I doubt anyone knows the full extent of their forces. The great houses probably wont fight each other in the confusion, but they won't have an easy time communicating, especially with the HPG white-out going on. the real question though is weather the WoB manages to expand as in OTL or weather the SLDF immediately comes down on the protectorate like  100 tons of bricks.

[gladius]

Tribble #499:

It's a tense day on Outreach. The heirs of the Successor states had been run through what the Dragoons insisted was needed training (which was suspiciously like basic combat and teamwork drills, but okay) and the final test was begining: Kai Alard Laio and his cousin Sun Tzu Laio against six of the best 'Mechwarriors in the Inner Sphere, according to Clan tradition. Seeing a chance to humiliate his rival, Sun Tzu targets one of Kai's targets, making it a free for all, then hit the ejector seat, planning to let Kai be soundly defeated by what he presumed were unwinnable odds, even for the already famous Warrior.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on your opinion of the guy) Sun Tzu's canopy malfunctions, failing to blow away before his ejector seat rammed him into the armoured glass at a terrific acceleration. The first responders quickly deduced that the heir to the Capellan Confederation died instantly. To add insult to fatal injury, Kai managed to defeat five of his six opponents, all without even realising that his cousin was already dead.

Romano immediately withdraws from the Outreach confrence, vowing retribution, and hurries back to Sian ... where her daughter Kali promptly tries to assassinate her mother and take the throne for herself. Both women die in the ensuing battle in the palace, leaving the Celestial Throne without a clear heir.

Even as the Commonwealth and Combine gear up to fight the renewed Clan onslought, with the Free World's League feeding material to both at a decent profit, the Confederation appears to be on the verge of self-immolation as centuries of repression and Byzantine squabbling threatened to erupt in all out civil war ... when Candace Alard Laio and her husband appear on Sian and take power, uniting the Capellan Confederation and the St Ives Compact, bringing sane government and reform, dealing with pockets of resistance with a liberal dose of Yen-lo-wang and the Big Mac, who were brought over to support Candace with cunning diplomacy and a promise of considerable tech upgrades.

Forces are sent to help support the fight against the Clans, both to help protect the Inner Sphere, raise the sullied reputation of the Confederation, and to deal with unrelibale troops by bleeding them against the Clan razor. Inspired, individual Free Worlds League governmnets follow suit, sending forces to support the Commonwealth and the other allies, and in the leadup to the battle of Tukkayyid, the Clans face a far more united Inner Sphere ... thanks to a few malfunctioning explosive bolts ...

[PeacMaker03]

Makes more sense than the official time line ever did.

[namar13766]

500: An Entry With A Bang/Virginia War/Scorched Earth AU X-over
 
The Minnesota Tribe misjumps into Ryanverse Earth's Sol shortly after Election Day 2008.

Skip forward a few centuries, Earth is the center of the Human Sphere, in a looser organization than the Star League, but much more peaceful, relatively speaking. Technology is far more advanced than one would expect, due to worries than the next visitors from Battletech would not be as peaceful.

So when a pair of wormholes open in Sol on 2658 (3058 in the Battletech universe), one leading to Strana Mechty and the other to Outreach, the general feeling for the human sphere nations is "OH FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!"

500a: When the Freedom Fivers first showed up on April 11, 2605, so many Plans, be they Human or Cylon, went off the rails.

[reppa]

Tribble 501...

(apologies ahead of time for this being so slapdash -- this is a partial reconstruction of some of my notes from files on my now nonfunctional computer, so...)

Operation: Nightfall

In this version of things, almost everything up to Kerensky's Exodus happens they way things do in the main version -- except Minoru (and Jinjiro) Kurita and Kenyon Marik form an alliance to take Terra, and Blake is a whole lot more unstable. Minoru dies in combat against Terran forces -- so the Kentares Massacre doesn't occur -- at least, not how it happened in the Prime Universe. As part of the alliance, the one who takes Terra becomes First Lord, while the runner up becomes Commanding General.
Blake sends out a demand for assistance when it becomes clear that Terra will fall -- but his messages are delayed by traitors within. Similarly, traitors within allow the Kurita-Marik forces to escape harm from those still functioning Space Defense Systems.
Meanwhile, Davion, Steiner, and Liao hammer out a temporary alliance of convenience to try to stop -- or at least mitigate -- the damage -- even managing to bring some Taurian, Canopian, & Rim Worlds forces into the attempt. The Alliance sends forces to several planets near Terran space -- the Capellans to Liao & (space-holder till I figure out one), the FedSuns to Chesterton and a couple others nearby, and the Lyrans to Skye, Summer, & probably another.
Each of the rulers are with their troops -- the Chancellor on Liao, the First Prince on Chesterton, and the Archon on that unidentified Lyran world....
When it becomes obvious to the increasingly paranoid Blake that Terra will fall, and due to the whispers saying the other states are joining his enemies, he launches Operation: Nightfall -- dozens of WarShips & JumpShips carrying DropShips loaded with all sorts of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons arrive over most of the capital & sub-capital worlds in the Inner Sphere -- oh, and of course, the worlds the Davions, Liaos, and Steiners have gathered their relief forces...
This news does not make it to the Kurita-Marik forces, though -- just before they manage to arrive at Terra, Blake and his inner circle flee toward the one (in this universe) "Hidden Five" world (Odessa/Gabriel Station) that Blake & company have already claimed. First Lord Marik and Commanding General Jinjiro live just long enough to regret not bringing the Space Defense Systems back online when the Revenge Fleet arrives to return the favor...
Once everything has settled, 90+% of the Terran Hegemony worlds have been sterilized, while most of the capital & sub-capital worlds of the Inner Sphere & near-Periphery have also been rendered lifeless...Blake dies on Odessa when that world is nuked to oblivion...
Of the various heads of state, only Steiner, the Warlord of Rasalhague, and the Andurien Duchess survive. Both the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League splinter -- Andurian & Regulus declare their independence almost immediately after the death of Kenyon on Terra -- similarly Arkab and Rasalhague announce their own intentions.
By the year 2800 most things have settled -- cadet branches of the Liao and Davion families have selected new leaders, and that 'temporary alliance of convenience has largely held up.
Andurien has merged peacefully into the Capellan Confederation (a political marriage, of course), and together claimed most of the territory around Oriente -- and now have a border touching Regulan and Steiner space.
Regulus claims most of the former FWL territory (its traditional areas, Gibson and surrounding areas, the Regulan Free States & Rim Commonality, chunks of the Marik Commonwealth & even some of the worlds out near Tamarind, the Abbey District, & near enough to the Lothians & Illyrians...several small states lie between Lyran and Regulan territories...
In Combine space, as mentioned already both Rasalhague and Arkab exist as strong states -- there is also a Pesht Supremacy, and two small, mutually hostile states -- one based on or near New Samarkand, the other on or near Galedon -- who both claim to be the only legitimate realm in Combine space, and both claim all the worlds there...
-- this is about where I ran out of memories in that reconstruction parts...

(this idea grew out of an idea 'what if the Dragoon Compromise had been more than just the Wolves & some Scorpions? -- what if it had been a coalition of roughly half the Clans?'
and I really wanted to take Terra off the playing field...)
If I remember more (and if anyone who like me to add that stuff) or get my machine working so I can access my notes, I'll add more...

[namar13766]

Tribble 502: When the Blackout happened on Sunday, August 7, 3132, Taurus, like many worlds, was cut off from the others due to their HPG going down.

That being said, they were more concerned when they found Ships approaching their planet...very familiar ships seen only in historical records. Specifically of the original Calderon expedition. So when they discovered it was suddenly January 23, 2253, they had to wonder...could they really change the course of history armed only with foreknowledge and their DETERMINATION?

[namar13766]

Tribble 503: On November 5, 2784, the SLDF Exodus Fleet leaves New Samarkland, only to misjump into Sol...on November 5, 2384. Suffice to say, the Terran Hegemony is kind of shocked.

503a: It's Sol alright. But it's Sol of the Haloverse. How does the SLDF's presence affect the UNSC? Do some of them join up with the Insurrection?

Tribble 504: The SLDF exodus fleet ends up misjumping into another universe. The universe of Empires Aflame to be precise. The problem is that no one knows about that until Clan Wolverine comes back to the Inner Sphere...and leads to people wondering if the other Clans might still be out there...

[Smegish]

See what you think the impact of this will be.

Tribble #504: On their final supply run, rather then being given specs and tooling for a variety of Clan Omnimechs (Dire Wolf and Kit Fox I know for certain, don't know about any others) Wolf's Dragoons are instead given a Hegemony Memory Core -essentially the same as that found on New Dallas in OTL, with full data on the Royal SLDF machines, and how to build everything required for them. At first the Dragoons do nothing with the Core, seeing no way of sharing the data without being forced to reveal where/how they got it. However after the GDL discover the Helm Memory Core in '28; and the Dragoons receiving Outreach in '30 and with the help of Blackwell Industries rebuilding the extensive Star League-era industrial facilities on the world, Jaime along with the other surviving original Clansmen though it time to carry out Kerlin Ward's final orders to prepare the Inner Sphere for the Clans.

The Dragoons shared most of the Cores data with Blackwell for them to keep the Dragoons equipped, and as production picked up allowed Blackwell to sell in small numbers to Dragoon-approved mercenary units, and also to the Federated Commomwealth and Free Rasalhague Republic as Jaime knew they stood in the most direct path of the Clans push to Terra. The Draconis Combine also stood in their path, but despite his orders to prepare the Inner Sphere, after Misery Jaime would not help Takashi Kurita.

[David CGB]

See what you think the impact of this will be.

Tribble #504: On their final supply run, rather then being given specs and tooling for a variety of Clan Omnimechs (Dire Wolf and Kit Fox I know for certain, don't know about any others) Wolf's Dragoons are instead given a Hegemony Memory Core -essentially the same as that found on New Dallas in OTL, with full data on the Royal SLDF machines, and how to build everything required for them. At first the Dragoons do nothing with the Core, seeing no way of sharing the data without being forced to reveal where/how they got it. However after the GDL discover the Helm Memory Core in '28; and the Dragoons receiving Outreach in '30 and with the help of Blackwell Industries rebuilding the extensive Star League-era industrial facilities on the world, Jaime along with the other surviving original Clansmen though it time to carry out Kerlin Ward's final orders to prepare the Inner Sphere for the Clans.

The Dragoons shared most of the Cores data with Blackwell for them to keep the Dragoons equipped, and as production picked up allowed Blackwell to sell in small numbers to Dragoon-approved mercenary units, and also to the Federated Commomwealth and Free Rasalhague Republic as Jaime knew they stood in the most direct path of the Clans push to Terra. The Draconis Combine also stood in their path, but despite his orders to prepare the Inner Sphere, after Misery Jaime would not help Takashi Kurita.

much, much more fun for the Clans

[drakensis]

Tribble 505

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 colonises 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).

Edit:

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).

[Shadow_Wraith]

Tribble #505 interesting

[serack]

tribble 506?

  What if Kerensky instead of finding the pentagon world , found the ones his son used to form his clans?? :)