there is a measure of Doing Too Much™ in this thread overall. battletech's history - improbabilities, foibles, and all - is a closed system that is only needs to obey its own internal logic (and often it chooses to not even do that). The early history of the BTU especially is a thin layer of wallpaper on top of nearly-as-thin layer of drywall. is it pretty? yes, absolutely. is it deep? no, not especially. it's not even close to real history, lacking the obvious components of million of independent actors exerting their own gravity on the system over centuries. technically those actors do exist, but only as the crowd does in the pod racer stadium in the Phantom Menace - as painted matchsticks zoomed out to hide that there are no details with only a handful of close shots meant to give the impression of the deeper goings on. the illusion itself (both in the movie and the btu) is impressive, but it's not designed to be scrutinized in any real depth.
asking these questions begs answers that probably were never or barely considered. can we try to build the answers from source material? sure, but there isn't a btu archive with real primary documents analyze. we're attempting to construct complex sociopolitical models from scraps summoned from the aether and the barest reflection of macro historical models (insert allegory of the cave joke here).
You're right, of course. It's all just make-believe. However, I prefer my make-believe to include as much realism as possible. I can suspend disbelief, but only so far. So, for me, this is all just a thought exercise to determine if the BTU meets the minimum realism threshold that my make-believe tastes require.
We've been beating a dead horse here, but everyone who's contributed is approaching it in a different way, and I appreciate that. It's clearly a subject of interest to some.
I'm fine with circling back to the original question of mech ownership. So far, we've determined the following options for said:
-Birthright (i.e. hereditary nobility)
-Reward for services rendered (much like a knighthood)
-Prize of war
-Salvage (finders, keepers)
-Lease to own
-Theft (deserting with the state's property)
-Purchase from secondary market
For those who operate but do not own their own mech:
-Commissioned MechWarrior trained, and piloting a mech owned, by the state
-Vassal of noble lord [who provides the 'Mech in exchange for loyalty & military service]
-MechWarrior piloting a mech as a paid substitute of its owner (i.e. scutage)
-Employee of security concern (e.g. factory guard force)
-Sub-contractor (e.g. a mercenary MechWarrior who pilots a 'Mech that belongs to the company)
Am I missing any?