What if?: what if Outbound Light showed up in a diffrent Clan system in 3048?

[Archangel]

Alternatively, IF ComStar had meet Dark Caste instead, there possiblity that using their influence...could gotten allot of information on the Clans.  They could made in-roads ally, if ComStar was clever enough..they could have strengthen them enough to provide unifying means to fight the Clans from inside..

Or might have simply killed the ComStar crew and kept their equipment.  A Dark Caster group that was cooperating with the Society might have handed the crew over to the Society.

[Isanova]

Alternatively, IF ComStar had meet Dark Caste instead, there possiblity that using their influence...could gotten allot of information on the Clans.  They could made in-roads ally, if ComStar was clever enough..they could have strengthen them enough to provide unifying means to fight the Clans from inside..

Why would Comstar want to fight the clans at this point? The best thing they could provide and Dark caste members is a route to the Inner Sphere so they could go become pirates proper, rather than live under the shadow of being hunted and executed by the ubermensch society.

Also not sure but, I doubt the society existed yet? Weren't they largely a sociological response to the shock of  the Great Refusal?

[wellspring]

Why would Comstar want to fight the clans at this point? The best thing they could provide and Dark caste members is a route to the Inner Sphere so they could go become pirates proper, rather than live under the shadow of being hunted and executed by the ubermensch society.

Also not sure but, I doubt the society existed yet? Weren't they largely a sociological response to the shock of  the Great Refusal?

ComStar doesn't really have a reason at this point, though of course that would change if they really understood the Clans (as they eventually did).

The Society has existed for more than a century, potentially going all the way back to the aftermath of Operation Klondike. Its genesis and core was always the geneticists-- also the most powerful and highest-status scientists. They largely agree with the Clan Way, except that they believe that their caste should be preeminent rather than the warriors. Keep in mind, many senior scientists are warrior test-downs-- so they have a chip on their shoulder to start with.

They'd been preparing a coup for decades, but were still nowhere near ready. The Bloody ilKhan's program of Reaving IS-tainted bloodlines was intended to break the power of the invading clans once and for all, but it terrified the geneticists who called most of the shots in the Society. They saw generations of eugenics going down the tubes and clan space going up in flames, so they decided to strike while they could.

[Cik]

ComStar doesn't really have a reason at this point, though of course that would change if they really understood the Clans (as they eventually did).

The Society has existed for more than a century, potentially going all the way back to the aftermath of Operation Klondike. Its genesis and core was always the geneticists-- also the most powerful and highest-status scientists. They largely agree with the Clan Way, except that they believe that their caste should be preeminent rather than the warriors. Keep in mind, many senior scientists are warrior test-downs-- so they have a chip on their shoulder to start with.

They'd been preparing a coup for decades, but were still nowhere near ready. The Bloody ilKhan's program of Reaving IS-tainted bloodlines was intended to break the power of the invading clans once and for all, but it terrified the geneticists who called most of the shots in the Society. They saw generations of eugenics going down the tubes and clan space going up in flames, so they decided to strike while they could.

"OH SHIT, THEY ARE DELETING ALL OF OUR WORK" "WE BETTER IMMEDIATELY START TOSSING NUKES AND USING INSANELY LETHAL DISEASES WITH GENETIC VECTORS"

that never made sense to me, even though i like the wars of reaving. what exactly did they hope to salvage? holy ******, even if they did win they would be lucky to have anything but ashes left after the victory flag was raised.

[wellspring]

that never made sense to me, even though i like the wars of reaving. what exactly did they hope to salvage? holy ******, even if they did win they would be lucky to have anything but ashes left after the victory flag was raised.

I think the idea is that the geneticists weren't being entirely rational. Brett Andrews's idea was to basically retcon away everything any of them had ever done in genetics. And also, potentially, in upending the entire genetics program, subject the whole thing to a level of scrutiny that might have revealed their hidden genetic back doors.

The geneticists by far had the most power in the Society. Had other disciplines held the preponderance of power, they might have ignored-- or even taken advantage of-- the WoR. Instead, they jumped in headlong, hoping that surprise and boldness might make up for their major disadvantages.