#972
In 3111, after careful deliberation and some actual use of logic and reasoning, House Liao ejects Comstar from the Capellan Confederation entirely, and declares through their embassies and diplomatic channels a policy of armed isolationism. Trade contact would be limited to one designated 'international port' per border, with no trade to the Republic of the Sphere at all, and that anyone landing, or entering one of their inhabited worlds or systems OTHER than those designated ports, would be greeted with no-questions-asked lethal force.
The plan? emphasis on internal redevelopment, the repair of internal infrastructure, fortification of population centers and restructuring of internal trade and transport with the objective of restoring the Confederation to a state of internal self-sufficiency.
This included removing foreign controlled Comstar, because Comstar is headquartered in The Republic, and is an obvious route for hostile (ROTS) intelligence operations.
Below the surface, the Cappies are rebuilding their industrial capability and the infrastructure to support their military, and keeping hostile foreign agencies from seeing what they're doing.
Teh first sock puppet to test those defenses, was the Federated Suns, the result being the loss of two Regimental Combat Teams in their entire-they jumped in, there was a fight, and then, nothing. No protests, no accusations, no declaration of victory, those units were just gone.
the second sock puppet came from a Free Worlds remnant, and the same result-they hit, sent back success upon their arrival...and dropped out of existence.
The Confederation didn't even bother to file a diplomatic protest, the attackers simply were no more.
The Republic of the Sphere's foray, in part to 'restore Comstar service' vanished in a similar fashion.
no declarations, no accusations, not a word, just...gone.
By 3125, the Capellan isolation, their 'quarantine' was old news. They didn't attack their neighbors, and trade contacts were limited to a handful of systems with strict rules.
3125 would be an important year.
The Confederation sent a simple note, by courier, to the Republic of the Sphere.
"Give it back."
This was laughed off.
A similar note arrived at New Avalon the following year. "Don't interfere".
no discussion of what not to interfere with, no clarification. DMI had noted that goods purchased at the Cappie trade bases were showing remarkably high quality, and lower prices, but there was no rumours of war beyond 'please respect our privacy' and friendly, engaging merchants who refused to discuss what might be happening behind the bamboo curtain.
People relaxed. the Cappies were sulking, it was longer than normal, but so what? business across the rest of the Sphere went on as it had always done.
In July of 3132, the Capellans opened a trading port station on the border of Republic space, this looked for all the world like maybe Sun Tzu's heirs were ready to normalize things.
In august of 3132, right after Gray Monday, everyone got the shock of their lives, when the Capellan Fleet rolled across the border with the Republic of the Sphere ahead of an army of millions. These were not salvaged wrecks or museum pieces, these were brand new warships, escorting innovative, new dropships, carrying brand new armies of Battlemechs, tanks, and power-armored soldiers.
and robots. Combat drones by the thousands.
Without the 'help' of Comstar and the rest of the Inner Sphere's intelligence agencies, the CapCon had used more than a decade to recover and rebuild, and they actually did the rebuilding, for the most part free of external interference.
Notably, at every world this invading CapCon took, the first people to be ejected, (Sometimes out of an airlock) were Comstar (the lucky ones were put on civilian evacuation ships and sent straight to the far side of the Republic).
Daoshen's war is a different kind of war, in a sense-instead of trying to force captive populations to submit, he simply sends units into each area and neighborhood with questionaires, C-bills, and tickets. anyone who doesn't want to live in the Confederation, is paid for their property, given a ticket, and a ride on a commercial jumpship to any destination outside the chosen zone of 'recovery worlds'.
pre-empting most forms of resistance, and reducing the population that has to be controlled.
This also has the knock-on benefit if straining systems where those refugees are being sent, since nobody wants dead refugees on their doorstep.
