Outworlds Alliance Expansion Post-Jihad

[Frabby]

With that being said, it's never been made entirely clear how the Ravens ended up effectively taking over the Outworlds Alliance; hell, we still know very little about it beyond the broadest basic details. In the case of the RA, a lot of it is "still to ocme" stuff.

I dimly recall a story... somewhere... (LinkNet or BC, presumably) where the Ravens approach the ailing OA and offer them a co-operation deal for an aerospace fighter. An offer the OA couldn't afford to resist.
I guess the superior technology and organisation of a Clan won the impoverished OA over. The very idea of an organisation of individualistic self-ruled worlds never made much sense in the first place and worked out especially poor for the OA which was more a region of space than a realm.
(No Marik jokes please.)

[BrokenMnemonic]

The fact that the name is the "Raven Alliance" that doesn't tend to imply that the Ravens have subjugated the OA. Admittedly, there's the old adage about how any country that includes the words "Free" or "Democratic" in its' name is invariably neither, but the term "Alliance"at least implies a partnership of equals.

If the Ravens have been stomping all over pirate activity in the area for a hundred years, I'd not be surprised to see that those worlds now showing up as being independent simply seceeded peacefully from the OA, in the main; other worlds have done it in the past, and if the biggest threat to independent worlds is generally removed through the application of naval firepower, then it stands to reason that independent worlds could prosper. The fact that they're still on the map at all suggests that those worlds have a decent sized population and an interest in trading/interacting with the nearby Raven Alliance or other worlds nearby, because they haven't simply dropped off the map altogether.

Of course, it could be that I'm hopelessly optimistic in my outlook, and the Raven Alliance is yet another Clan-ruled military dictatorship identical in principle to all the other occupation zones that've been around since the Clans first appeared in the Inner Sphere, but I'd be very disappointed if they were. That's already been done. I find the idea of the Raven Alliance allowing the bulk of the former OA worlds to enjoy the peace and solitude away from the Inner Sphere that they've wanted since their initial settlement highly appealing - and after several hundred years of threats, raids and invasions from pirates, the Combine and the FedSuns, there's something hilariously appealing in the idea that the former OA is not only no longer being kicked around and living on the sufference of the two big Houses nearby, but is fully capable of doing unpleasant things to those who don't leave them alone.

[Crunch]

Given that the Jihad books already have the Ravens razing OWA planets in the name of the Star League and the Outworlds response being "Oh thank you sir" I suspect that the "more to come" will be pretty dissappointing.

[Maelwys]

When did the Ravens raze OA worlds in the name of the Star League? Why would they even do such a thing? I seem to recall them possibly razing Dante because it was a Blakist/Pirate world, but I certainly don't recall them trumpting the glories of the Star League while doing it (since neither was a member).

[Fatebringer]

Nice discussions. I role-played a post jihad Raven Alliance. When it came down to game system, we expanded to pick up the old worlds because we needed the resources to be competative. But RP wise, the reality sets in.

A.) Who wants to be in charge of people who don't want to be led?
B.) These worlds are mostly barren or scarecly populated. There's room for new settlements or "Enclaves"   ^-^ if really needed, without interfering with the way they're running the world.
C.) If what you need are the resources, the OA was founded as a group of people that bartered, keep on bartering.
D.) Letting these people be means you don't have to expand your government to provide for them. These are some hard luck worlds.

The new Barter society is working out well for the Ravens. They have production and technology, the OA has the raw materials to rebuild from. The Ravens can exist like this until they become self sufficient again, or until they make arrangements to do what they end up doing, and that is forming some sort of TBD union with the OA.

[Crunch]

When did the Ravens raze OA worlds in the name of the Star League? Why would they even do such a thing? I seem to recall them possibly razing Dante because it was a Blakist/Pirate world, but I certainly don't recall them trumpting the glories of the Star League while doing it (since neither was a member).

The clans do everything in the name of the Star League (the old one that decimated a dozen OWA worlds) its why they're in the sphere in the first place.