For over a year Galatea became a proxy battlefield for the building FedCom Civil War. Both of the sides were hiring, the Blakists were stepping up recruitment as they tried to build their Protectorate, and then you had the regular mercenary traffic. Mercenaries were forming commands or coalescing into 'gangs' (which IMO insinuates a protection racket w/a description of territory) to duke it out in free-fire zones to showcase their abilities. While players afaik often lay the blame for some of the chaos at the feet of the Blakists, quite right IMO, I think one aspect of the unrest might be overlooked- the corporate sponsorship mentioned.
Could there be a better place to test out your latest technology, to include full up designs, than under real battlefield conditions- including chaos!- where it can be recorded/studied. Irian, GM, Defiance (especially DefHes being so close), Earthwerks, Star Corps, and the rest could have all been slipping their latest weapons and designs into the hands of one gang member or another for realistic testing.
What weapons (like some we see mass produced in the late 3060s, particularly Blakist weps) or designs/variants might some mech company senior director hoping for a Vice-President slot have slipped a well regarded connection? What recovered/old Star League Royal might the Blakists have handed over to test for 'modern' doctrine?
