Author Topic: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age  (Read 20635 times)

woodearth

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Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« on: 08 January 2014, 02:17:38 »
What happened in the end? Who triggered the blackout? Is Fortress Republic here to stay? How was everything wrapped up? What is the state of the universe at end?
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #1 on: 08 January 2014, 03:28:42 »
What happened in the end?

Depends on your definition of end.  At the current point in the storyline, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth are suffering beatdowns, with their enemies riding high.

Who triggered the blackout?

We dunno.  More importantly, Exarch Stone doesn't know.

Is Fortress Republic here to stay?

Considering that the next major book due to come out bears the title "The ilClan," and the fact that the title goes to the first Clan to conquer Terra...probably not.

How was everything wrapped up?

Everything is still in progress.  FM:3145 and Era Report: 3145 update us on the current state of affairs, which is essentially that the old Kapteyn Accord states are doin' dandy with the Republic locked away behind its...thingy...

What is the state of the universe at the end?

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"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

SpaceCowboy1701

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #2 on: 08 January 2014, 03:32:30 »
What happened in the end? Who triggered the blackout? Is Fortress Republic here to stay? How was everything wrapped up? What is the state of the universe at end?

You may be either disappointed or relieved to learn that we are still finding out what happened at the end of the Dark Age (as Mendrugo pointed out while I was typing this) ... the identity of the force that triggered the blackout will not be revealed until a later time ... (post-ilClan, possibly - anyone else remember that response?). Fortress Republic will come down by 3150, apparently ... it was intended to buy the Republic time to regroup and put together enough military power to take back their territory. Some highlights ... by 3145, the Fortress is still in place, with the Wolf Empire and Jade Falcons positioned to strike ... and House Kurita and Liao have at least partially turned their attention to the FedSuns after taking huge bites out of the Republic. The Fedsuns have lost two First Princes (good riddance to the second one), and Julian Davion is coming back from fighting Falcons to take the throne. The Lyrans have lost an Archon and a chunk of territory to the Wolves and Falcons, and the FWL reformed with help from the Spirit Cats and Sea Foxes, which are now actually part of the FWL. House Kurita purged the Nova Cats, so that they no longer exist as a Clan, and in the process, former Dragon's Fury leader Katana Tormark has been captured and thrown in prison, as she sided with the Cats against new Coordinator Yori Kurita and Warlord Sakamoto ... the Rasalhague Dominion attempted to aid the Republic, but only succeeded in creating the Vega Protectorate, which they later absorbed back into the Dominion ... Jacob Bannson's exact fate is still unknown, I believe, but his Raiders have split off in several directions ... the RotS hunted down the Band of Five within the Fortress. Anastasia Kerensky is finally back with Clan Wolf, but subservient to Alaric ... her Wolf Hunters were running without her when last I heard. Tara Campbell and Damien Redburn are still stuck outside the Wall with the Remnant (a few partial regiments of Republic troops, along with the elite Fidelis and a loose battalion of Highlanders (the rest of whom are either MIA or absorbed into the Fortress military). So ... when we get the ilClan sourcebook, we'll have a little more closure for all the Dark Age factions and personalities, I suspect. Or at least a change in direction for them.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #3 on: 08 January 2014, 04:36:55 »
Who triggered the blackout?

We dunno.  More importantly, Exarch Stone doesn't know.

Where do you get that from? All we know from the story in FM3145 is that he claims not to have done them, but nothing about whether he knows who actually did.

Mendrugo

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #4 on: 08 January 2014, 04:38:27 »
Where do you get that from? All we know from the story in FM3145 is that he claims not to have done them, but nothing about whether he knows who actually did.

Fine.  "We dunno.  Stone claims he dunno."

Y'know, he gets an awful lot of mileage out of conveniently being an amnesiac.   ;)
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

woodearth

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #5 on: 08 January 2014, 04:56:20 »
Thanks all for the detail responses. I am a little disappointed especially with the loss of print novels to wrap things up. Oh well still have an in universe reason to use all the minis and paint up some purples ones to boot.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #6 on: 08 January 2014, 15:57:32 »
Fine.  "We dunno.  Stone claims he dunno."

Y'know, he gets an awful lot of mileage out of conveniently being an amnesiac.   ;)

And everyone taking him at face value.  "Well, Stone says he doesn't know.  And he is Stone, so why would he lie?"  He gets a lot of mileage from being a legend, and a legend he wrote.  And why would he lie?

Heh.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #7 on: 08 January 2014, 16:11:21 »
Fine.  "We dunno.  Stone claims he dunno."

Y'know, he gets an awful lot of mileage out of conveniently being an amnesiac.   ;)

I think his point is that Stone doesn't say he doesn't know.
Stone says he doesn't know why Exarch Levin put up the Fortress.
And Stone says he didn't cause the Blackout, or any of those other things Tucker complained about, because he was asleep.
Stone never says he doesn't know who caused the Blackout.  Tucker never asks him.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #8 on: 08 January 2014, 16:15:21 »
I think his point is that Stone doesn't say he doesn't know.
Stone says he doesn't know why Exarch Levin put up the Fortress.
And Stone says he didn't cause the Blackout, or any of those other things Tucker complained about, because he was asleep.
Stone never says he doesn't know who caused the Blackout.  Tucker never asks him.

Exactamundo!

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #9 on: 08 January 2014, 16:20:19 »
Good thing that question would never come up...

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #10 on: 08 January 2014, 18:29:59 »
Exactamundo!

I was under the impression Victor Steiner Davion has a pretty good idea before he dies.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #11 on: 08 January 2014, 18:40:26 »
I was under the impression Victor Steiner Davion has a pretty good idea before he dies.

Victor did it!
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #12 on: 08 January 2014, 18:47:32 »
I was under the impression Victor Steiner Davion has a pretty good idea before he dies.

The documents he's working on in Scorpion Jar?  I think that was proof of the senate rebellion.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #13 on: 08 January 2014, 19:05:48 »
The documents he's working on in Scorpion Jar?  I think that was proof of the senate rebellion.

That is correct, sir!

Kitsune413

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #14 on: 08 January 2014, 21:14:30 »
I have to finish it soon. :) I stopped in the middle after a 7 novel stretch.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #15 on: 12 January 2014, 15:38:13 »
The Dark Ages are far from over, as the Era has been expanded to cover 3132-3152, with us only getting up to 3145 in fiction so far.  Still a lot of ground to cover.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #16 on: 14 January 2014, 16:48:14 »
And everyone taking him at face value.  "Well, Stone says he doesn't know.  And he is Stone, so why would he lie?"  He gets a lot of mileage from being a legend, and a legend he wrote.  And why would he lie?

Heh.

In that little bit of FM3145 fiction, I liked the cold-hearted side to Stone.  Saying he knew about killin' guards with his bare hands, and the sounds of a body dyin', an' all.  There's your peace-loving, BattleMech-scrapping founder, ROTS lovers!  :)
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #17 on: 15 January 2014, 17:16:10 »
I loved it because, like one of our forum go'ers said, it showed the Stone is not a morning person.  ;D
It's not about winning or losing, no it's all about how many chapters have you added to the rule books after your crazy antics.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #18 on: 18 January 2014, 21:31:56 »
The Dark Ages are far from over, as the Era has been expanded to cover 3132-3152, with us only getting up to 3145 in fiction so far.  Still a lot of ground to cover.

Seven Years. Five of them coming up...

Keep in mind though that the ending of Surrender Your Dreams may not count
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #19 on: 28 January 2014, 22:08:03 »
Fine.  "We dunno.  Stone claims he dunno."

Y'know, he gets an awful lot of mileage out of conveniently being an amnesiac.   ;)

Can't forget something you never knew.

 ;)
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Kitsune413

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #20 on: 28 January 2014, 23:17:41 »
In the novel surrender your dreams they also talk about stone being one bad dude.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #21 on: 30 January 2014, 00:31:27 »
In the novel surrender your dreams they also talk about stone being one bad dude.

In FM3145 he murders one of his friends. After having murdered everyone who knew the location of his hidden lair, IIRC.

Of course he's a bad dude.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #22 on: 30 January 2014, 00:38:00 »
 >:( Watch your mouth!

  ;D  Just talkin' 'bout Stone!

 O0  I can dig it!
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #23 on: 08 July 2014, 11:35:49 »
I wouldn't be surprised if CGB becomes the ilclan on a technicality... Invited to join the Republic to keep the 3 "predators at the doorstep" out.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #24 on: 11 July 2014, 11:08:14 »
Well if you read the e-book "A Bonfire of Worlds", and take that as canonical value then you find out on the very last page that Tucker Harwell finds out that Devlin Stone is the one who initiated the plan that caused the BlackOut.  We also learn that the BlackOut plan was actually created by the Blakists which even they deemed to use as a last resort since it would fry the HPGs.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #25 on: 11 July 2014, 13:49:37 »
Well if you read the e-book "A Bonfire of Worlds", and take that as canonical value then you find out on the very last page that Tucker Harwell finds out that Devlin Stone is the one who initiated the plan that caused the BlackOut.  We also learn that the BlackOut plan was actually created by the Blakists which even they deemed to use as a last resort since it would fry the HPGs.

I hope it isn't cannon, because there are too many narrative holes in that story.  Why would Stone spend years building up the RotS just to destroy it?  If the Blakists has the ability to knock out the HPG, why wait so long (instead of doing it during the Jihad (several times over)).  I'm more in favour that it was Comstar, or one of the Splinter factions (like the Steel Wolves as an initiative to bring about the ilClan, or Banson's Raiders to gain power), or just a freak accident.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #26 on: 11 July 2014, 14:42:32 »
The story has moved on, check the short story at the beginning of Field Manual: 3145 for the latest developments in Tucker Harwell's quest.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #27 on: 11 July 2014, 15:09:19 »
If the Blakists has the ability to knock out the HPG, why wait so long (instead of doing it during the Jihad (several times over)).
The answer to that one was in the very files from which Tucker Harwell got his ideas in the first place: Word of Blake had the "Clarion Note" protocol, which boils down to using a Super-HPG to cause the blackout. They explicitly described Clarion Note as a Weapon of Mass Destruction that must not be used except perhaps as a very last resort.

Tucker Harwell comes to believe Stone had something to do with the blackout because Stone, in a public speech, happened to quote passages the WoB files on Clarion Note verbatim. Tucker himself found them in some irradiated and damaged data sticks in the ruins of a destroyed HPG space station in orbit over Luyten 68-28.

To wit: The only evidence linking Stone to the blackout was him quoting parts of secret Clarion Note files in a public speech. By this time, Tucker Harwell had been a WoB prisoner and had been subject to torture, brain surgery, and dangerous levels of radiation. Not to mention having escaped from WoB shortly before, having witnessed the death of his evil sister, and being stranded hiding in the dead hulk of a destroyed orbital station.
« Last Edit: 11 July 2014, 15:12:06 by Frabby »
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #28 on: 12 July 2014, 15:43:14 »
That sounds like a novel I need to go back and read. Which one is it?
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #29 on: 12 July 2014, 15:49:10 »
A Bonfire of Worlds.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #30 on: 13 July 2014, 09:08:03 »
And unless Stone was sleepwalking, it wasn't him.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #31 on: 14 July 2014, 08:22:25 »
The answer to that one was in the very files from which Tucker Harwell got his ideas in the first place: Word of Blake had the "Clarion Note" protocol, which boils down to using a Super-HPG to cause the blackout. They explicitly described Clarion Note as a Weapon of Mass Destruction that must not be used except perhaps as a very last resort.

Tucker Harwell comes to believe Stone had something to do with the blackout because Stone, in a public speech, happened to quote passages the WoB files on Clarion Note verbatim. Tucker himself found them in some irradiated and damaged data sticks in the ruins of a destroyed HPG space station in orbit over Luyten 68-28.

To wit: The only evidence linking Stone to the blackout was him quoting parts of secret Clarion Note files in a public speech. By this time, Tucker Harwell had been a WoB prisoner and had been subject to torture, brain surgery, and dangerous levels of radiation. Not to mention having escaped from WoB shortly before, having witnessed the death of his evil sister, and being stranded hiding in the dead hulk of a destroyed orbital station.

Huh...guess I didn't think of it like that Frabby.  BLAST!!!  I guess I just got super giddy about the thought that the "hero" Devlin Stone was really just a villain in disguise.

And unless Stone was sleepwalking, it wasn't him.

Ya never know Cav...he could have had it executed while he was sleeping to throw off any suspicion about him.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #32 on: 14 July 2014, 09:28:37 »
I hope it isn't cannon, because there are too many narrative holes in that story. 

Stone himself says he may have set up the plans.  But, he claims it wasn't him who put the plan into action.

Quote
Why would Stone spend years building up the RotS just to destroy it? 

It is debateable that was the intention.  Fortress Republic was intended as a last ditch, all or nothing defense plan.  It seems to compliment the black out, but was initiated afterward.  Perhaps they were intended to be used together if the Republic was provoked.  We just don't know.  However, Stone is for the moment committed to preserving the Republic.  His Fortress Republic plan, like it or not, has mostly worked so far.  Emphasis on mostly.

Quote
If the Blakists has the ability to knock out the HPG, why wait so long (instead of doing it during the Jihad (several times over)).

Similar, albeit less destructive tactics were used.  You may recall they did flood the HPG net with white noise.  That could have been WOB wanting to keep the infrastructure of the HPG net standing while disabling it.  Maybe the operative network wasn't in place to bring down the HPG the way it was in the black out.  It was more than a single identified method of disruption.  Some were brought down by virus, others by sabotage, others in ways not yet fully explained.

Quote
I'm more in favour that it was Comstar, or one of the Splinter factions (like the Steel Wolves as an initiative to bring about the ilClan, or Banson's Raiders to gain power), or just a freak accident.

Comstar seems out.  Buhl's group certainly tried to get the net working again.  If it was Comstar it was a group outside of Buhl's or the mainstream Comstar corporate structure.  Neither of which has been able to restore the net despite fatal damage to their bottom line.

A Comstar subcontractor might be the culprit.  They would have contact with the HPGs while not being necessarily under the same scrutiny as Comstar.

But, there are theories all over about who it could be.  We might not ever known for sure in a stated, factual sense like we do with things like Thomas Marik being The Master.
« Last Edit: 16 February 2016, 10:12:01 by False Son »
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #33 on: 14 July 2014, 12:54:38 »
Who has benefited from the Blackout?  Of those people, which groups' action are less reactive, and more proactive? 

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #34 on: 14 July 2014, 12:58:04 »
It is possbile the people that initiated it have yet to show themselves.  They may have been identified in one of the many theories, but haven't claimed responsibility.
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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #35 on: 14 July 2014, 14:04:41 »
I wouldn't rule out Stone just yet. He does seem to have a Messiah Complex. Though...there always seems to be someone behind him....

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #36 on: 14 July 2014, 14:21:08 »
Who has benefited from the Blackout?  Of those people, which groups' action are less reactive, and more proactive?

I think most of the Houses and Clans were "proactive" with the Blackout.

The Wolves and the Falcons were able to push to the Prefecture X borders and are looking for a way through to be the first clan to Terra.   The Bears, haven't done much it seems to warrant either.  The Raven Alliance, "Clan Spirit Cat"??, and Clan Sea Fox seem to be more reactive to what is going on in the Inner Sphere than anything else.  Clan Nova Cat...ya...

I think the only Proactive of the Houses were the Combine and the Confederation.  They seemed to have acted like a river to flow over everything in their path.   The Suns and Lyrans both wanted to be proactive, but bad "management" seems to have put them into more of a reactive state.  The League, they are so reactive at the moment that it seems to be nothing but luck that the reborn FWL hasn't imploded in on itself again.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #37 on: 16 February 2016, 10:07:23 »
So I thought this was interesting.  In the Historical Wars of the Republic Era, it's mentioned that Stone and Lear were developing or mentioning some sort of Fortress-like plan, meant to cover the entire Republic, not just Prefecture X +20 planets, but they never had time or resources to dedicate to an entire Republic-wide Fortress.  This tidbit suggest that the Fortress must indeed be powered some sort of device, or devices that span actual space.

Also, supposedly there'll be a mini-product in the near future covering Operation Domnatio, the Field Manual-mentioned report.  And it's supposed to be where the Republic Fortress forces chase down whoever did cause the Blackout.  We may yet figure out who did it.

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Re: Spoil me on the end of Dark Age
« Reply #38 on: 16 February 2016, 18:01:27 »
I thought it was pretty clear the Fortress is (was, since it is apparently down now per TRO3150?) a device or devices. Obviously some kind of hyperspace device that prevents jumps through it... at least for those who do not have means to by-pass it (meaning everyone but the Republic's forces). Speaking of by-passing it, i though it might be as simple as jumping next to the edge, moving through space by conventional propulsion, and then jumping again. Considering the edge is likely in middle of nowhere, it is unlikely anyone would realize to try this, especially since it is so unintuitive in the era of JumpShips. Not to mention the time it takes and somehow determining where the edge is without knowing the limits of the generator.

Logically, the Blackout is also caused by a similar device but tuned to the hyperspace comms rather than jumping. Though the HPG network was supposedly brought down by viruses, sabotage, and other such actions, i would assume that is merely a result of rumor and cover stories.
If any mundane thing was the cause for the Blackout, it would not have lasted so long across so wide space. The richest nations could have funded replacement stations (assuming old ones could not be fixed), in such situation the Blackout could have covered everything but, for example, the FedSuns and the Republic.

Tucker Harwell fixed one HPG, temporarily, and the fix didn't work again apparently. Indeed, his talk about hyperspace frequencies is telling, there's something wrong with "hyperspace" itself. (We must remember the BTU doesn't have "hyperspace" like Star Wars has, rather it is merely a term for mathematical hyperspace. The jump drive is effectively a teleport or a local wormhole generator, it doesn't go through another medium like Star Wars hyperdrive.)

I would assume the Fortress and the Blackout generators are based on the same tech like the jump drive and hyper-pulse generators are.
I think the Blackout device may have been an offensive device for the Republic use post-Fortress protocol, to disrupt enemy communications so that they could re-conquer lost territories or something like that. But the fate lead their use in reverse.

It is highly unlikely the Blackout and Fortress generators are simply one device each. The Republic in 3145 covers an asymmetrical area on a map. A Fortress-field generator presumably generates a bubble, as most fields (magnetic, gravitation, etc.) tend to be. Were there only one powerful device on Terra generating a bubble, it would likely* cover some areas that the Draconis Combine rules at the moment.
This would also explain why the entire Republic was not covered, the cost of such devices is likely massive.

*Remember 2D map of space is inherently inaccurate, there are stars "above" and "below" the zero point, something a 2D map cannot represent.


All in all, the Fortress and the Blackout are not so big mysteries, presumably they're merely extensions of Kearny-Fuchida theories, combined with advanced devices capable of manipulating the hyperspace beyond just moving through it. I mean, there's a lot people in BTU do not know about the hyperspace, this much is clear. The Blakists and some others have created super-jump drives, something thought impossible previously. And given the Succession Wars, the research into hyperspace was stagnated for a long time.

The far bigger mystery is who... and we have only hints and guesses about that.
« Last Edit: 16 February 2016, 18:04:51 by Empyrus »