Hey Dean a word about Mechwarrior [Archive]

Richard Nelson (Xxdarksparcsxxx)

06-21-2003, 07:38 PM

Howdy folks ! =&#41; I have been involved with Mechwarrior for quite sometime, both in participating in it&#39;s evnets as well as developing mods and multimedia for the games that have come out. There is ONE hidden item I&#39;d like to ask someone to relay to the genre developement here that NEVER gets the proper attention it should. As the Primus &#40; Commanding Officer &#41; of ComStar, one sworn to uphold our policies of secrecy and loyalty to the machine &#40; lol.. you have to be there to understand that one &#41;, I would be deposed and killed by ROM &#40; ComStar KGB &#41;if I were caught revealing this information to you...!! &#40; oh nooo..lol &#41; However, as one that will know about the internal operatins of the most powerful organization that exists in the old Battletech universe... one that serves as the news network in MW: DA, still with some fomidable power to influence and control, known as ComStar... allow me to expose what ComStar really is all about in this post of providential communications from around the Sphere, from the Archives of ComStar itself... Anastasius Focht &#40; Ficticious Precenter Martial in Command of current ComStar entity &#41;: &#34;ComStar Knows All&#34; Security Disclaimer: You are about to access information recieved from ROM-Delta. This information is highly sensitive and there for classified Top Secret - Your Eyes only. Revealing any portion of this information will result in a serious breech of security and possibly endangering the lives of those that gathered this information. Release Information: This is the information we have received and decoded. We have received a total of six encoded messages, some still require processing. The information will be released on a regular schedule, once a month, for security purposes. Your accessing this security briefing is an agreement and acknowledgement of ComStar Security Procedures Alpha-Gamma 99-3067 Section: 08-07-2. Failure to comply with these procedures will result in the maximum penalty available. ComStar Beginnings: ============================================== ==== Jerome Blake and Alexander Kerensky ComStar Archive File#27AX80, A.D. 2780 The Star League Council reconvened in 10 October, 2780 with The Council Lords&#39; only notable action being the appointment of Jerome Blake as Minister of Communications. Eight days later, the council stripped General Alexsander Kerensky of his position as Protector of the Star League and ordered the disbanding of the SLDF. Kerensky withdrew to the SLDF command post on New Earth to consider his next course of action. On 14 February, 2784, Kerensky outlined the plan to more than two hundred SLDF officers. The majority, almost eighty percent of the armed forces, opted to follow Kerensky into exile. Feverish preparations ensured over the next few months, until 8 July. On that day Kerensky issued the fateful one word command to the SLDF: Exodus. Three days after Kerensky&#39;s legendary exodus, Jerome Blake had reestablished the Prime, or First Circuit of the former SLCOMNET. In 2788, Blake took control of Terra and declared it a neutral world. He offered secure interstellar communication to all Successor States that would pledge to respect the neutrality of the hyperpulse generator stations and personnel. The Inner Sphere leaders recognized that open communications were crucial to their survival, and thus agreed to Blake&#39;s demands. Realizing that the Department of Communications was no longer a suitable name for the new organization, Blake chose to adopt the name of ComStar, a blend of Communications Enterprises Inc. and Starlight Broadcasting Ltd., which had formerly sold their services to the Star League, and the Order of ComStar was born. ComStar guards and maintains the hyperpulse generator communications network and other valuable technologies developed during humanity&#39;s golden age, knowledge that might have been lost forever were it not for the foresight of the former Minister of Communications for the SLDF. It was obvious by this time that the scope of the destruction of the wars being fought around him would eventually destroy civilization completely unless some individual or group undertook to guard precious technological and scientific knowledge. This Jerome Blake considered to be ComStar&#39;s highest purpose: the maintenance and preservation of human knowledge at all costs. Thus, ComStar has become a haven for all manner of technicians, prospering while the rest of interstellar society is tearing itself to shreds. Under Blake&#39;s leadership, the First Circuit, now the absolute governing body of ComStar, barred all but its own members from it meetings and established the strong, secret brotherhood among members of the Order. An internal security force known as ROM was formed in 2811 to help prevent leakage of technological information to the outside and to help thwart defection of ComStar personnel to the Successor States. ROM quickly became respected and feared throughout ComStar. By the late 2850&#39;s, ComStar&#39;s efforts to strengthen and expand the vast communications network had succeeded too well. Increased communications had dramatically slowed transmission time. Jerome Blake&#39;s leadership of ComStar lasted 31 years. During that time he laid the groundwork that would define the philosophy, operations, and structure of ComStar for centuries to come. One of his deepest beliefs was that ComStar must retain its purity by remaining somewhat isolated from the &#34;outside world&#34;, and he used the organization&#39;s hierarchy and technology to accomplish that goal. Any member who discussed even the most mundane technology with outsiders was severely punished and could be expelled from the organization. Blake believed that the decline of civilization was a form of punishment that humanity was suffering for its sins. Jerome Blake, meanwhile, continued to be visionary. The war raged around him and his world, a conflagration that Blake foresaw would continue for several generations and that would destroy most of the high technology perfected in the golden age of the Star League. In Blake&#39;s own words, &#34;ComStar is the only hope of preserving the future of human beings in the Inner Sphere.&#34; Jerome Blake single-handedly saved the Inner Sphere from complete and utter destruction after the Aramis Coup and Kerensky&#39;s Exodus, by restoring and taking command of the vast HPG network that the Star League Department of Communications had built throughout known space. His Proclamation to the House Lords of ComStar&#39;s neutrality set the stage for the Order to accomplish its sacred mission. Blake showed tremendous talent in technology, foresight, political savvy, economic planning, and leadership. In all these areas Blake achieved absolutely incredible feats during ComStar&#39;s foundation. One of the longest-lasting branches of service Blake founded was the Mercenary Review Board. &#40;available in more detail in a separate section.&#41; Developed as a means to monitor and control mercenary contracts, the project might have seemed beyond the traditional scope of ComStar at the time, but each of the House Lords responded with enthusiasm to Blake&#39;s proposal for such a board. Of significant note in later years, Primus York was responsible for the formation of ComStar&#39;s standing military, the ComStar Guards and Militia; and Primus Sims initiated the Explorer Corps, founded to scout out and map the worlds beyond the Periphery. The background of each of these is detailed in a its own section. During a meeting with the First Circuit in 2933 Primus York proposed the formation of a standing military for ComStar. This military, to be called the ComStar Guards and Militia, would be a rapid-deployment, light infantry force constantly on call for emergencies such as the abduction of prominent ComStar personnel. ComStar would have the ability to respond quickly with some degree of military force in times of need. Fifty years later, building from this foundation, the reigning Primus and First Circuit began an ambitious MechWarrior training program. The original proposal called for the creation of eight regiments of full-time troops, but the Primus settled for five regiments as a compromise with a liberal faction of the First Circuit. The ComStar Guards and Militia would be based in the Sol system and would remain under the combined control of the Primus and the First Circuit. To fund the creation of a standing military, Primus York tapped the vast resources of ROM, arguing that ROM would have less need for the money now that ComStar would have a military force. The core of the Guards and Militia was the former mercenary Bandersnatches. Their contract was dissolved and they accepted full-time permanent employment with ComStar. The Guards and Militia would have the best equipment possible, vintage Star League Defense Forces gear left behind after the Exodus. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the formation of the ComStar Guards and Militia was the revitalization of the Sandhurst Royal Military College in Berkshire, England. The site had originally served as a training school for ROM. York convinced the First Circuit to relocate the ROM training center and to approve millions of C-bills for Sandhurst&#39;s renovation. The old military academy was converted into a modern military complex, complete with BattleMech and aerospace fighter facilities and training grounds. ComStar Initiations: ============================================== ==== Discovery: Clan Invasion ComStar Archive File#30VQ49, A.D. 3049 ComStar Primus Adrienne Sims had founded the Explorer Corps in 2959, allegedly in response to visions of a threat to the Inner Sphere from beyond the Periphery. The Corps&#39; mission was to survey space around the Inner Sphere, with the aim of warning the Inner Sphere of the return of Kerensky&#39;s fleet or of the approach of any hostile force. Unfortunately, the Explorer Corps triggered the very apocalypse that Sims had sought to avert. In its 85 years of operation prior to the Outbound Light mission, the Corps rediscovered many 1st colonies and introduced them to the teachings of ComStar founder Jerome Blake. The survey that departed from the planet Bone Norman in mid June of 3046 was typical: an exploratory mission into the Coreward Operations area, scheduled to last three years. The mission commander was Precentor Arabella Bradford; Precentor Vincent Dupont commanded the JumpShip and its attendant DropShips. On 27 September, 3048, the Outbound Light jumped into what its crew thought was an unexplored G7V star system. The system&#39;s primary planet was Huntress, capital of Clan Smoke Jaguar. Senior Jaguar Khan Leo Showers ordered the vessel captured and its crew interrogated. There has been some debate about what happened to the crew, particularly their questioning and repatriation. Though they were treated as honored guests, the crew did undergo the Clan&#39;s typical chemical interrogation process. Which is one of the most effect means in extracting information. The crew revealed considerable information on the Inner Sphere&#39;s political and military situation, as well as the apparent goals of its major players. Only the 7 member survey team of the 53 person crew were returned to ComStar; all exhibited deep psychological scars from the incident. The remaining Explorer Corps personnel, the vessel crews, were held by the Jaguars. Even after the recent liberation of Huntress by Task Force Serpent, the whereabouts remain unknown. The Capture of the ComStar crew gave the ambitious Jaguar Khan the first solid information on the Inner Sphere in decades. Armed with it, he forced the Grand Council to vote on the long postponed invasion. Faced with the prospect of Inner Sphere vessels discovering the location of the Clan homeworlds, and the very real prospect of an Inner Sphere dominated by the technologically advanced Federated Commonwealth, the Clans had little option. On 21 November, 3048, they voted to invade the Inner Sphere. ComStar Achievements: ============================================== ==== The Battle of Tukayyid ComStar Archive File#30ZX55, A.D. 3055 Precentor Martial of ComStar, Anastasius Focht, spent countless hours studying tapes of battles between the Clans and various Inner Sphere forces, and felt confident that he knew the one weakness of the Clan fighting style. He was determined to exploit this Achilles&#39; heel during the battle for Tukayyid. Focht knew that the Clans&#39; fighting philosophy consisted of quick, conclusive attacks and short-term assaults. The Clans struck quickly and counted on quick victories, precluding any need for the support services necessary to conduct a long-term campaign. The Precentor Martial planned his defense carefully. He stockpiled enough repair parts and ammunition to supply his troops for more than a month. By using his forces to harass the Clans, rather than commit to a direct confrontation, he hoped to prolong the battle for Tukayyid beyond the Clans&#39; capacity to support such an operation. The Clan forces&#39; greatest advantage going into the battle was their combat experience. Though Focht&#39;s Com Guards had been training for combat for decades, they had never experienced war. The Precentor Martial attempted to make up for that lack of experience by coordinating the battle from a deep bunker in the Tamo Mountains. His virtual-reality construct allowed him to direct individual units anywhere on Tukayyid&#39;s surface if it became necessary. Each of the Seven Clans involved in the invasion attacked two cities on Tukayyid. Clan Smoke Jaguar would attack Dinju Heights and Port Racice, Clan Nova Cat had as its objectives Joje and Tost, Clan Ghost Bear would attempt to take Spanac and Luk, Clan Steel Viper would attack Kelly Springs and Kozice Ranch Station, Clan Wolf targeted Brzo and Skupo, Clan Diamond Shark was assigned Urcunat and Kozice Prime, and Clan Jade Falcon would attack Humptulips and Olalla. The battle began on May 1, with each Clan landing troops near their objectives according to strategies developed by each Clan&#39;s Khans. Though Ulric Kerensky functioned as the Clans&#39; war leader, the Khans declined to use him as a battle coordinator in the bidding for Tukayyid. Clan Wolf hit their landing zone five days later. As happens in every planetary assault, commanders often feel as if each battle is fought separately, and it becomes difficult to see the big Picture. Com Guard holotapes provided a roughly chronological record of the battle. The first major encounter unfolded as the Smoke Jaguars landed their forces in two groups, hoping to win their objectives quickly, and perhaps regain some of the honor lost in the defeats on Wolcott and Luthien. The Smoke Jaguar force landing in the Dinju Mountains pounced on the Com Guards&#39; Fiftieth Division &#40;Uncluttered Speach&#41;, pinning them in the foothills. The relatively green Fiftieth stood no chance against the Jaguar&#39;s Alpha Galaxy, and for a time the Smoke Jaguars appeared likely to secure their objectives quickly. The Com Guards 401st, 207th, and 367th Divisions herded Beta Galaxy into the bogs of the Racice River delta with hit-and-run attacks, using their superior knowledge of the terrain to decimate the Jaguars. Beta Galaxy quickly crumbled and was forced to withdraw. The Nova Cats fared no better. Their daring strategy of a mixed landing and drop turned to disaster when aerospace fighters of the Com Guards 417th Division destroyed the Alpha Galaxy Command DropShip as it hovered over the landing zone. Like the Smoke Jaguars, Clan Nova Cat was lured into a well-prepared battle site of ComStar choosing. The Com Guards&#39; Ninth Division &#40;Bountiful Words&#41; used air and ground forces to shatter the Nova Cats advance just north of Joje, a handful of kilometers from their target, and drew the Clan force into a war of attrition. The Nova Cats quickly became mired in a prolonged battle for which they were unprepared, in terms of both supplies and ammunition. The Ghost Bears made a better showing against the relatively green Com Guards First Army. In the first two days of the battle, they shattered the 121st Division and swept toward Luk, but the Ninety-first and Twelfth Divisions trapped the elite forces of the Ghost Bears&#39; Twentieth Polar Bear Attack Cluster and pounded them until they were forced to withdraw. The initial Jade Falcon and Diamond Shark landings were largely unopposed, but the Jade Falcons&#39; cautious advance allowed the Precentor Martial to inflict maximum damage using the same hit-and-run tactics the House militaries found effective in wearing the Clans down. The Jaguars next fell prey to an ambush sprung in the tight confines of the Dinju Pass by the 323rd and 299th Divisions of the Com Guards Fifth Army - within sight of their objective of Dinju Heights. The Jaguar Grenadiers took heavy losses, but managed to move through the pass, leaving blood and death in their wake. Both Smoke Jaguar Khans were killed at the height of the battle, and ilKhan Kerensky ordered Clan Smoke Jaguar to withdraw, fearing that the Sudden lack of leadership and command structure would allow the remains of the Clan to be utterly destroyed. That decision caused a bitter resentment that still flames between the Smoke Jaguars and Clan Wolf. Several Smoke Jaguar units, including the Sixth Jaguar Dragoons, refused to obey the order, preferring death to dishonor. Only eight warriors of the Sixth survived the bloodbath. Clan Diamond Shark suffered the next loss to the Com Guard sword. The Sharks&#39; Nineteenth Heavy Cluster &#40;The Barracudas&#41; managed to inflict more than 30 percent losses against the Eighty-fifth Division &#40;Lions of the Periphery&#41; in a series of battles in the foothills overlooking Kozice Prime. The fighting was most bitter between the ambushing forces of the Eighty-fifth&#39;s Second and Fourth battalions and the Diamond Shark&#39;s 222nd Assault Cluster &#40;The Rippers&#41;. Only two warriors survived from the entire 222nd Cluster, and the Clan stripped one of his Bloodname for his disgrace. By the third of May, Clan Nova Cat had made three separate attempts to seize Joje and Tost. They ran out of ammunition quickly because they outfitted their OmniMechs primarily with artillery and missile configurations, despite the ilKhan&#39;s warnings against using a strategy based on non-energy weapons. Despite this misjudgement, the Clan made headway against the Com Guard forces at Joje, and the 417th and Ninth Divisions finally retreated toward Tost in order to force the Clans to divide their attention between the 467th Division &#40;The Whirlwinds&#41; at their rear, which was attempting to cut off Beta Galaxy from its landing zones and supplies, and the division they faced. The Com Guards harassed Beta and Gamma Galaxies, luring them into quick skirmishes that used up Clan ammunition. Gamma Galaxy withdrew, luring the 244th and the 467th into a Beta Galaxy ambush, defeating both forces and winning several ComStar depots. ComStar immediately launched a furious counterattack, rupturing the Nova Cat lines and overrunning their positions. When the Com Guards once again controlled more than half the Losiije Lake District, the Nova Cats reluctantly withdrew. Clan Nova Cat suffered the most staggering losses of any Clan on Tukayyid: less than three Stars returned to the DropShips. Clan Steel Viper learned from Clan Smoke Jaguar&#39;s mistake and chose a more conservative drop pattern. Even though the Com Guards had time to dig into positions between the Clan drop and their objectives by fighting a delaying action using artillery and aerospace fighters, Khan Breen&#39;s Vipers managed to advance toward Kozice Ranch Station. As the Vipers crossed enemy lines, they became mired in a hell hole known as Devil&#39;s Bath, just 18 kilometers from their primary objective. A horrific combination of geysers, boiling mud, and narrow confines between massive granite columns, the region stretched for dozens of kilometers. The Vipers advanced through Devil&#39;s Bath, pushed the Com Guards ahead of them, but expended too much ammunition in the process. The Com Guards continued to attack the Viper supply lines, stripping the force in Devil&#39;s Bath of critical munitions. Clan Ghost Bear lost the Seventh Bear Guards of Beta Galaxy, assigned to cover the withdrawal from the strike at Luk, when the Twelfth Com Guard Division &#40;Pure Waveforms&#41; ambushed them in the Holth forest and set fire to the woods. Khan Buckenburger made a formal protest to the ilKhan against the Com Guard tactics, but his forces in the forest had already been wiped out. The Ghost Bears&#39; Alpha Galaxy had Spanac under siege, and when the remnants of the Beta and Delta Galaxies arrived as support, the Clan forces pushed Com Guard&#39;s First Division back. Precentor Martial Focht withdrew the First Division from the center of Spanac, realizing that the Bears now controlled the Ninety-first&#39;s supply depots and were positioned to inflict more damage than they would take. Only Clans Ghost Bear and Wolf recognized the importance of protecting their supply lines. Ghost Bear realized their supply line mistake only after landing, but managed to overcome it by capturing Com Guard munitions. Clan Diamond Shark faced a days-long stalemate with the Third Com Guard Army. The only decisive action took place between Gamma Galaxy and the Eighty-fifth Division. The Eighty-fifth disrupted the Sharks&#39; supply lines for a day, and Gamma Galaxy retaliated by destroying the Com Guard unit. The Second and Fifth Armies&#39; arrival cut the Sharks off completely from their supplies. The Com Guards dislodged the Clans from their fortified positions with a barrage of artillery, and, when the Clans attempted to break away and withdraw from the planet, destroyed their forces completely. Clan Jade Falcon lost fewer troops, but failed to accomplish its objectives. The Eleventh Com Guard harassed the Falcons constantly as they moved toward Ollala and Humptulips, mostly whittling away at their supply lines, per the Precentor Martial&#39;s plans. When the Clan finally reached the rushing Przeno River, Com Guard sappers destroyed both bridges just as the Falcons crossed. The Falcon Guard, a unit still tainted for its massive, humiliating loss on Twycross, managed to cross the turbulent river, strike at the rear of the Com Guard units on the far side of the Przeno River that were maintaining an artillery barrage, and create a beachhead for a heavier Jade Falcon assault. The Falcon Guard continued past the crossing toward Olalla, one of their target cities, realizing almost too late that the target at the coordinates provided was not Olalla, but a Com Guard trap. The Jade Falcons moved steadily through Olalla, taking heavy losses but advancing until Com Guard reinforcements arrived from Humptulips. A simultaneous attack on the bridge defenses, and a lucky Com Guard strike on a Falcon ammunition dump, convinced the Jade Falcon Khans that they did not have enough supplies to take either objective, and they reluctantly ordered a withdrawal. The withdrawal itself was costly, as the Com Guards attacked the Clan landing zone with DropShips and executed a rear assault on the retreating forces. A Trinary of Elementals and elements of the Falcon Guards foiled ComStar&#39;s two-pronged attack, and most of the remaining Falcon force made it off planet. Clan Wolf entered the battle of Tukayyid on the fifth day of the conflict. IlKhan Ulric Kerensky&#39;s insight into Precentor Martial Focht&#39;s methods and the intelligence and familiarity with Inner Sphere tactics of Khan Natasha Kerensky and warrior Phelan &#40;Kell&#41; Ward, plus days spent observing the other Clans&#39; battles with, gave Clan Wolf a distinct advantage. Clan Wolf landed and immediately formed fighting ranks. Their first contact was with the inexperienced 283rd Division, part of the furthest Com Guard defensive line guarding Brzo and Skupo, Clan Wolf&#39;s objectives. The Third Battle Cluster of Beta Galaxy, the Seventh Battle Cluster of Gamma Galaxy, and the Fourth Wolf Guards of Alpha Galaxy pushed the 278th Division and the Tenth Army from their positions, but the 283rd prevented Clan Wolf from closing a trap around the Com Guards&#39; main defensive force. When the Com Guards pulled back to establish a new defensive line, Clan Wolf did not follow, and quickly discovered why. Using a series of sweeping strikes, Natasha Kerensky&#39;s Thirteenth Wolf Guards, including the elite Wolf Spiders, attempted to slip around the Tenth and circumvent the 166th in a drive for Skupo. Precentor Koivu sent the veteran 282nd Com Guard Division &#40;Clear Thoughts&#41; to stop them. The 282nd suffered heavy losses, but stopped the Wolf Spiders&#39; drive and allowed the Tenth Army to gain its next defensive position. The battle so far revealed two important factors in Clan Wolf&#39;s favor. The Clan had continued its early strategy of maintaining ample campaign supplies and protecting its supply lines, and for Tukayyid, it configured most OmniMechs with energy-based weaponry, making each unit more autonomous than ever. Precentor Martial Focht feared that Clan Wolf might turn the tide of battle across Tukayyid. The Tenth Army under the command of Precentor Myrvang stood between Clan Wolf and the cities of Skupo and Brzo, but Clan Wolf launched another offensive before the Com Guards could dig in. The attackers broke through the line, then suddenly encountered entrenched &#39;Mechs, tanks, and infantry rising from an apparently open hilltop. Sheer stubbornness kept the Wolf Spiders in the fight, and they began to push ComStar back once again. Just as it appeared they might encircle Skupo, Com Guard reinforcements arrived in the form of the Ninth Army, led by Precentor Mulvenna. Clan Wolf failed to advance further in this push, but the Com Guard victory came at high cost to the Tenth, with losses of more than 50 percent, largely to the 138th Division &#40;The Bandits&#41;. As Clan Wolf tightened the knot around its two targets, Clan Steel Viper struggled to fight its way out of Devil&#39;s Bath. Two days after Clan Wolf dropped to the surface of Tukayyid, the Steel Vipers managed to surround the Com Guards&#39; Sixth Division almost at the center of the pits and geysers of the hellish terrain. Striking repeatedly, the Vipers destroyed the Sixth and began the long crawl out. Though victorious against the Sixth, the Viper&#39;s Gamma Galaxy emerged from Devil&#39;s Bath to face two reserve divisions of the Second and Fifth Com Guard Armies. These fresh troops broke the Vipers&#39; front line, but could not rout the Clan forces. When the Sixth Army&#39;s 386th and First Divisions arrived to back up the Com Guard troops only ten kilometers from Kozice Ranch Station, the Vipers were forced to withdraw. Clan Steel Viper suffered 25 percent losses, and both Khans were wounded. The Steel Vipers&#39; retreat left only two Clans on Tukayyid to defeat the Com Guards - Wolf and Ghost Bear. The Ghost Bears held Spanac against artillery bombardment from the Fourth Army, and the troops not pinned down by artillery or necessary to hold Spanac attempted to take Luk. As they attacked, divisions of the First Army assaulted a Bear supply depot,and, running low on supplies, parts, and ammunition, the Ghost Bears were forced to pull back to defend the depot, losing most of the ground they had gained. Despite the fact that several Stars of their Alpha Galaxy&#39;s Fiftieth Strike Cluster &#40;The Maulers&#41; managed to break into Luk&#39;s suburbs, too few troops remained to take the city, and the Ghost Bears ended their campaign by winning only one objective. Clan Wolf continued to press the attack. As the Wolf Spiders broke the 138th Division, the Eleventh Wolf Guards of Delta Galaxy careened into the lines held by the 278th Division &#40;Clear Courtesy&#41;, but despite excellent coordination of the Com Guard forces, the Wolf Guards tore the 278th apart. Skupo fell to Clan Wolf when the Com Guards realized that the Clan forces pushing to connect with the rest of their force would encircle the Com Guard forces in Skupo, and retreated. The Wolves aimed their next axis of attack at Brzo, and the Tenth Army bent under the force of Clan heavy and assault OmniMechs. The Ninth moved to support the Tenth, but Clan Wolf breached the defenses where the two armies should have met, nearly splitting the two forces. The Eleventh Army arrived as reinforcements, but Clan Wolf declined to further attack the Ninth and instead concentrated on raiding ComStar supply depots and creating its own. Though Clan Wolf had enough mobility to work around the ComStar positions in the Porozistu Mountains, they chose to engaged Precentor Stinson&#39;s Eleventh Com Guards directly, eventually breaking off a series of small skirmishes to gather for a coordinated attack. Beta Galaxy inflicted heavy damage on the Eleventh, even though Khan Garth Radick was killed at the peak of the battle, but the war ended before the Com Guard reinforcements, the Thirteenth Army, could join the fray. Despite the short-lived blow to Wolf Clan&#39;s morale inflicted by Khan Radick&#39;s death, the Com Guards could not unseat the Wolves from either Brzo or Skupo. Striking at Clan Wolf supply lines proved fruitless, because Khan Kerensky heavily reinforced these vital points. Her knowledge of Inner Sphere tactics gave Clan Wolf its successes. After 21 days of fighting, the ilKhan of the Clans conceded victory to ComStar. Only Clan Wolf successfully gained control of both target cities. Clan Ghost Bear held Spanac but failed to take Luk. Based on the surviving forces, Clan Jade Falcon achieved a draw. Both sides suffered staggering losses. It soon became apparent that Tukayyid represented much more than the largest military battle in three centuries. The Com Guards ended the conflict with nearly 40 percent dead and more than that number injured. Smoke Jaguar suffered the highest losses with 32 percent dead. Clan Wolf only lost 20 percent of its forces on Tukayyid. This was one of the Inner Sphere&#39;s greatest victories. ComStar bloodied the soil of Tukayyid to stand between Terra and the Clans&#39; tyranny for the next decade and a half ============================================== ==== Operation Bulldog ComStar Archive File#30GV58, A.D. 3058 In 3058, fresh from its devastating war with longtime rival, Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon invaded the Lyran Alliance in a show of strength intended to dissuade any opponents who might have hoped to take advantage of the weakened Falcon Clan. After penetrating two hundred light years into Lyran space, the invaders dug in on the world of Coventry, just short of the Tukayyid Truce line, and challenged the Inner Sphere to send its best troops against them. In response, the Great House of the Inner Sphere formed a joint task force - the first time military commanders from every Great House had joined to fight side by side against a common foe since the fall of the Star League. Under the command of ComStar&#39;s Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht and Prince Victor Steiner-Davion of the Federated Commonwealth, the task force offered the Falcons hegira - the opportunity to withdraw with honor - which the invaders accepted. In the wake of the bloodless victory, Steiner-Davion proposed that the Inner Sphere powers assemble a united force and take the war to the Clans. The leaders of the Inner Sphere greeted this proposal enthusiastically and, on 3 October 3058, the leaders of every Inner Sphere power assembled on the world of Tharkad to formally discuss the matter. During that meeting, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht proposed that the leaders form a united front to face the Clans by creating a unified political body and a coalition military force. The assembled leaders agreed and took the historic step of drafting a new Star League Constitution. Sun-Tzu Liao, Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation, was appointed to the ceremonial post of First Lord. His selection symbolically raised him to equal status with the leaders of the larger and more powerful Great Houses, and served as a strong show of Inner Sphere solidarity. Almost immediately, the House leaders and their strategists began to devise an ambitious plan to claim the offensive in the war against the Clans. Thus was born Operation Bulldog, one of the largest military operation undertaken in the history of mankind - and perhaps the greatest victory ever achieved by the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere. Taking the War to the Enemy The Great Houses chose to launch their campaign against the Clans with an assault on Clan Smoke Jaguar, because the war between Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf had made the Jaguars the strongest Crusader Clan force in Inner Sphere space. By striking at the Jaguars, the House leaders hoped to show all the Clans that the armies of the Inner Sphere could stand united against them and match or exceed them in martial prowess. The Inner Sphere leaders also targeted the Jaguars because that Clan had concentrated its conquests and forces in Draconis Combine space, meaning that the coalition force could use the Combine&#39;s strict control of news media to more easily prevent news of its plans from leaking to the Clans&#39; intelligence network. Furthermore, Combine Coordinator Theodore Kurita correctly believed that the coalition could persuade Clan Nova Cat - who held Inner Sphere planets in the same corridor occupied by Smoke Jaguar and considered Clan Smoke Jaguar its mortal enemy - to deny aid to the Jaguars and thereby help the Inner Sphere cause. The coalition&#39;s military planners planned to begin the offensive against the Jaguars by inserting small guerrilla units on Jaguar-held worlds to distract the Jaguars from the coalition&#39;s preparations and persuade the Clan to reassign front-line units to deal with the insurgents. The newly formed SLDF would launch all five waves of the main offensive - code named Operation Bulldog - in the space of eight months in order to keep the Smoke Jaguars off-balance. Conservative estimates put the conclusion of the first wave at five months, just before the fourth wave launch, and the conclusion of the second wave a year after the start of the invasion. A large reserve force, under the command of Morgan Hasek-Davion, would move into the Combine as the invasion began, prepared to blunt any Jaguar attempt at a counteroffensive. Initially, the other Inner Sphere leaders met with hostility Coordinator Theodore Kurita&#39;s proposal that the coalition exploit the Nova Cats&#39; disdain for the Jaguars by enlisting the Nova Cats as allies in the offensive. Theodore managed to persuade them, however, by pointing out that Clan Nova Cat need not be made a part of the coalition force; the alliance he envisioned would require no more than a certain minimal cooperation between the Nova Cats and the Inner Sphere. He correctly guessed that the Nova Cats could be persuaded to aid the coalition by simply offering token resistance against coalition forces on worlds in the Nova Cat occupation zones, rather than weakening the Inner Sphere army with all-out fights. The Nova Cats responded to the Coordinator&#39;s initial overtures with an immediate level of cooperation that suggested knowledge of Theodore Kurita&#39;s plans. Nova Cat commanders voluntarily revealed the numbers and quality of their &#34;defending&#34; troops by issuing preemptive batchalls to DCMS forces, and in several cases bargained down their forces to the point where no actual fighting took place. This indirect aid enabled the coalition to concentrate its forces against the Jaguars and reduced the burden of administering liberated worlds after the offensive. Reportedly, Theodore Kurita&#39;s attempts to persuade the Nova Cats were greatly aided by the visions of a Nova Cat Khan in which a dragon severely mauled a nova cat, and in which a nova cat and a dragon together killed a smoke jaguar. In one of the largest military campaigns ever launched, the Inner Sphere coalition force rolled over Smoke Jaguar positions in just under four months. The campaign took place in two phases: an advance guerrilla campaign code-named Operation Bird Dog, and an all-out assault code-named Operation Bulldog. Operation Bird Dog On 13 May 3059, the Precentor Martial and Prince Victor Steiner-Davion agreed that all was in place for the assault. The word went out that day to launch Operation Bird Dog, the prelude to the main assault. Small, company-strength commands - mostly ad hoc provisional units formed from the large regimental commands of the Lyran Alliance, Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine - jumped to pirate points at nine worlds behind the Smoke Jaguar front. Armed with Clan and Combine-designed OmniMechs, these units waged guerrilla campaigns against the Smoke Jaguar forces on the targeted worlds until the main invasion force reached them. The operation was a resounding success. The advance troops disrupted Clan operations on the targeted worlds and misled the Smoke Jaguars into thinking that the coalition offensive was limited in scope and strength. The guerrilla units also tested the Jaguars&#39; defenses and provided accurate intelligence for the main force, and crippled the Jaguars&#39; ability to meet a large-scale assault by raiding Jaguar stockpiles and causing Clan commanders to scatter their forces across a wide area of space. Perhaps most important, the advance units prevented Smoke Jaguar garrison troops from reinforcing their comrades on planets targeted in the first wave of the invasion. According to all observations, the Smoke Jaguars were neither expecting nor prepared for the full-scale assault that hit them just a few weeks after the guerrilla campaign had begun. Operation Bulldog Spearheaded by the tenacious regimental commands of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. the coalition force advanced rapidly into the Smoke Jaguar occupation zone, capturing world after world with amazing speed. Confounding early estimates that put Wave One at five months&#39; duration, the first wave of Operation Bulldog lasted just more than five days. Consequently, the coalition forces launched Waves Two, Three and Four months ahead of schedule and managed to achieve its objectives in a matter of weeks. Indeed, the offensive proved so effective that Inner Sphere commanders deemed the planned Wave Five unnecessary. The coalition wrapped up the entire campaign in just under four months - far less time than computer simulations had suggested the task would require. Wave One: The Katana Falls On 20 May 3059, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion and Precentor Martial Focht dispatched messages to fifteen worlds along the Smoke Jaguar occupation zone border. Every message was different, but each contained the key words that would send more than forty regiments against their primary invasion targets. Seventeen of the regiments, which had been holding at their home-system jump points, carefully timed their jumps and arrived at the pirate points around the five targeted Smoke Jaguar worlds within the space of five hours. The assault came as such a surprise to the Jaguars that on four worlds, the new Star League Defense Forces landed uncontested. On the planet Hyner, the Third Jaguar Cavaliers paraded out for battle, straight into the arms of the waiting SLDF. By the time the Smoke Jaguars began staging defensive actions, they had already lost the battle. Though the Draconis Combines Second Sword of Light took moderate losses, the battle for Hyner was wrapped up in less than three days. The SLDF won another impressive victory on the world of Port Arthur. Initially, SLDF commanders believed the planet was defended only by a small garrison unit of Smoke Jaguar bondsmen piloting captured Inner Sphere &#39;mechs. The SLDF&#39;s plan was to quickly eliminate these defending forces and prepare Port Arthur as a staging area for three DCMS regiments slated to participate in the second wave of the invasion. Acting on their most recent intelligence, the SLDF sent the First Battalion of the First Davion Guards into Port Arthur as part of Operation Bird Dog, the prelude to the main assault on Smoke Jaguar-held worlds. Expecting only light resistance, the Guards were almost overwhelmed when the defending Clan bondsmen fought well above the attackers&#39; initial expectations. Knowing that no reinforcements would arrive for almost two weeks, the Guards set up a methodical plan that would leave them in control of Port Arthur. The hard-fought, days-long battle was nearing its conclusion when the Guards suddenly came under fierce fire from Clan &#39;Mechs sporting Jaguar colors. Far from being poorly defended, Port Arthur was currently occupied by the Jaguar&#39;s 168th Garrison Cluster, which had been stationed on the planet&#39;s southern continent and which had arrived at the battle site to force the Inner Sphere invaders off-world. But, even as the 168th began to engage the Davion Guards, Inner Sphere reinforcements arrived - three DCMS regiments that vastly outnumbered the Jaguar force. The arriving regiments shattered the Clan Cluster, finishing it as an effective fighting force before nightfall. Survivors unable to flee the planet were hunted down over the next two days. Those who did escape became unwitting participants in the naval battle that followed. On the worlds of Kiamba and Asgard, the Smoke Jaguar commanders reacted too late to effectively deploy their aerospace forces. Faced with overwhelming odds - each front-line Cluster facing four SLDF regiments - the Jaguar units were swept aside by the SLDF coalition forces, which suffered minimal losses. The planet Tarazed&#39;s defenders were more alert than their luckless fellows, but made the fatal mistake of granting their attackers safcon in response to Kai Allard-Liao&#39;s batchall, recalling their aerospace forces and allowing the SLDF DropShips to land unmolested. The Seventh Jaguar Dragoons chose the Krychek Mountains as the place of battle. Unfortunately, the Dragoons did not comprehend the size of the forces arrayed against them, and so their chosen site proved disastrous. As the Seventh moved through a network of canyons, the SLDF regiments cut them off and decimated them. The battle, and with it the first wave of Operation Bulldog, ended after just five days. The SLDF, bringing an overwhelming force against an unprepared enemy, found the resulting fight as swift and deadly as a well-placed blow from a katana. In less than one week, the SLDF forces had achieved objectives that their tacticians had predicted would take five months to attain. The Jaguars had their victories, to be sure, but these were too minor to reverse the momentum of the Inner Sphere&#39;s assault. And the astounding SLDF victory in the first wave allowed Victor Steiner-Davion to begin allocating supplies for the third wave early, moving up the entire assault timetable by months. The SLDF also targeted nine Nova Cat worlds during the first wave, each to be taken by a DCMS regiment backed up by one or two supporting regiments. None of these supporting units needed to land, however, as the Nova Cats held to their preemptive batchalls. True to their agreement with the Inner Sphere coalition, they effectively surrendered the worlds to the DCMS units in order to aid the SLDF effort against the Cats&#39; longtime rival and enemy. On the worlds of Kanowit and Avon, actual battles were fought to preserve honor on both sides. These two worlds, sitting on the leading edge of Clan conquests in Inner Sphere space, demanded a show of serious contention. But on worlds farther from the front lines, the Nova Cats demanded less in the way of combat. Indeed, on Sawyer, the farthest away world targeted in the first wave, the Third Night Stalkers&#39; wing commander won the planet by defeating the Nova Cat garrison commander in a aerospace fighter simulator. By the end of the first wave the Jaguars had lost every border world they possessed save for Avon, which was close enough to Luthien, with its massive defenses, that the SLDF considered it an unlikely staging area for a Smoke Jaguar counterattack. The Nova Cat worlds filled in the rest of the gaps, creating an unbroken line of SLDF-controlled worlds through which the Smoke Jaguars would have to pass to reach Combine worlds for a counterattack. The difficulty of defeating such overwhelming opposition while fighting an invasion force delayed the Smoke Jaguars counter attack until just before the third invasion wave. Wave Two: Driving Forward Despite the phenomenal success of the first invasion wave, the second wave commenced only a few days ahead of schedule on 26 June 3059. Troop movements and supply routes for the various waves had been set months before the assault began, and Prince Victor Steiner-Davion felt that changing them at the last moment might severely disrupt the entire assault. However, he added three more targeted worlds to the second wave, bringing the total to eleven Jaguar-held worlds. By targeting more than twice the number of worlds taken in the first wave, Prince Victor hoped to bring further shock and demoralize the new SLDF&#39;s Clan opponents. The planets of Turtle Bay and Almunge stood undefended, and so fell to the SLDF without any loss of lives or materiel. In a gesture he hoped would in some small way atone for their loss, Victor Steiner-Davion assigned the Legions of Vega to retake Turtle Bay, the unit that had lost the world to the Jaguars nearly ten years earlier. the Eleventh, Sixteenth and elements of the Second Legion all took part in the planet&#39;s liberation. The Nova Cat halves of Avon and Caripare had been taken during the first wave, and now SLDF forces and Nova Cat Clusters used the Nova Cat-controlled areas as staging bases from which to hit Jaguar forces on those worlds. Faced with apparent collaboration between the Nova Cats and the Inner Sphere, the Smoke Jaguar commanders did not fight to the death, but instead pulled back to worlds deeper in the Smoke Jaguar occupation zone. Similarly, on Byesville and Hanover, Smoke Jaguar commanders managed to salvage at least part of their commands and fell back to nearby worlds not currently under attack. The Byesville garrison Cluster was able to bring itself nearly back to full strength. The Hanover forces were less lucky. Mauled by an impressive array of SLDF regiments, they barely escaped with two Trinaries and meager Elemental and aerospace support. No Smoke Jaguar warriors escaped the worlds of Yamarovka, Virentofta, Nykvarn or Labrea The fighting on the first two worlds - especially Yamarovka - were fierce and costly. On that world, Smoke Jaguars fought to the last warrior in defense of vital facilities. The fighting on Labrea was no less fierce, but only involved six warriors, as Phelan Kell&#39;s exiled Clan Wolf forces used traditional Clan combat tactics to capture an entire front-line Cluster. Though the world of Luzerne boasted few resources and virtually no military industry, the world became the site of one of the stiffest challenges the SLDF faced during the entire assault. A disastrous approach resulted in a WarShip battle, only half the assault force made it to the planet&#39;s surface. Expecting to meet a single garrison Cluster, the SLDF force found itself facing a newly formed front-line Cluster as well. The Jaguars scattered the SLDF units across the face of the planet, and only two battalions managed to form any kind of cohesive force to face the Jaguars. Within hours it seemed Luzerne would become the final graveyard for two good regiments. As the battles raged for all the Jaguar worlds, Clan Nova Cat continued to offer token fights than enable the DCMS to retake Nova Cat worlds and claim Nova Cat warriors as bondsmen. Actual &#39;mech combat between the DCMS and Nova Cat forces took place only on the world of Mualang. On the other five targeted Nova Cat worlds, DCMS forces prevailed with personal combat or token challenges. On the world of Bjarred, the confrontation was settled with a single coin toss. Tai-Sa Katherine Oltion allowed Star Colonel Olivia Drummond to make the call, and was apparently struck speechless when the Star Colonel called out,&#34;Edge.&#34; Before leaving the Nova Cats as the new DCMS garrison on Bjarred, Oltion had the opportunity to ask Star Colonel Drummond about her choice. Drummond&#39;s reply was concise and eloquent. &#34;Imagine the victory,&#34; she said, &#34;if I had won.&#34; By 7 July 3059, the Draconis Combine had reclaimed all of the targeted worlds lost to Clan Nova Cat, and organized hostilities had ceased on all targeted Smoke Jaguar worlds save for Luzerne. On Luzerne, the beleaguered SLDF forces had barricaded themselves into defensible positions, from which they engaged in minor skirmishes with their Jaguar opponents. This pattern would remain intact until the start of the invasion&#39;s third wave. Smoke Jaguar Counterattack Victor Steiner-Davion and Anastasius Focht had expected and planned for a Smoke Jaguar counteroffensive - but in retaliation for the first wave, not in anticipation of the third. On July 27, as the initial reports of the Jaguar attacks first passed through the HPG network to the planet Wolcott, Prince Victor grew concerned that this unexpected offensive indicated a stronger Smoke Jaguar presence than the resistance encountered during the first two waves had suggested. ComStar&#39;s intelligence network and Khan Phelan Kell&#39;s analysis of the situation quickly laid those concerns to rest. The SLDF commanders then began examining the counterattack, trying to determine how it could affect the imminent third invasion wave and what it would take to meet the new threat. They concluded that the Smoke Jaguar offensive was a weak attempt to match the success of the first SLDF assault. The Clan had not committed nearly enough forces to achieve any lasting victory, and even if the Jaguar forces successfully captured the targeted SLDF supply bases, the third invasion wave could proceed as planned because the third wave forces had already been fully supplied. At worst, a successful Jaguar counterattack could push back the fourth wave a few months. But unless the Smoke Jaguars brought in heavy reinforcements, the garrison forces on all five targeted Combine worlds could handily defeat the attacking Jaguars or be easily reinforced from nearby planets. In the end, these SLDF predictions proved accurate. The Smoke Jaguar&#39;s Delta Galaxy Command led the newly formed Third Assault Cluster in a desperate bid to capture the important world of Pesht. The Jaguars&#39; chances of victory were slim from the start, however, and Jaguar aerospace assets abandoned the Clan&#39;s ground forces soon after their combat drop. Encountering civilian resistance, the Jaguars began scorched-earth tactics, savaging the world as they fought a running battle with the SLDF forces that lasted several days. From intercepted &#39;Mech comm traffic, SLDF analysts later determined that the assault Cluster had expected to meet the Seventh Sword of Light, Ryuken-san, and the First Kell Hounds, but not the Second Wolf Legion that smashed in from their flank to annihilate the Galaxy Command Trinary. Left to their own devices, the warriors of the Third Assault Cluster threw themselves at the Kell Hounds, thinking the mercenaries would break. Instead, the Hounds became the anvil on which the Seventh Sword and Ryuken shattered the Clan force. Within a few days, the SLDF forces had hunted down the last remaining Jaguar Stars. On McAlister, the Smoke Jaguars managed to damage several SLDF supply bases. In fact, the Jaguar garrison Cluster caused so much damage in so short a time that Victor Steiner-Davion reminded the SLDF forces not to become complacent no matter how well the invasion was going. Eventually, however, the Jaguar troops succumbed to an overwhelming SLDF presence. The battles for the worlds of Matamoras and Meinacos proceeded similarly. On both planets, front-line Jaguar Clusters struck with enormous force, but the Inner Sphere defenders managed to hold on until reinforcements from nearby worlds arrived. On Matamoras, civilians valiantly helped the two garrison regiments thwart the Nineteenth Striker Cluster&#39;s offensive. Frustrated at every turn by effective civilian countermeasures, the Nineteenth was forced to group its units together for protection. Later, the Ryuken-yon regiment staged a night-time combat drop into the Jaguar-controlled area and managed to break the Jaguars&#39; back in a coordinated offensive movement with Matamoras&#39;s two garrison regiments. The SLDF got luckier on the world of Lonaconing. With no reinforcements readily available, Victor Steiner-Davion expected the defending SLDF units to take heavy losses. But the Clan commander opted to use feints and diversionary maneuvers rather than a direct assault against the planet&#39;s defenders. This tactical miscalculation enabled Lonaconing&#39;s SLDF garrison troops to severely damage several Jaguar targets while avoiding large-scale engagements with the enemy. Finally, on 13 August 3059, the Jaguar commanders abandoned their counterattack and recalled their forces. Nearly 99 percent of the Lonaconing attack force managed to withdraw from battle, but only half the Meinacos and a handful of Jaguar units on Matamoras managed to escape. Though the Jaguars preserved most of their aerospace assets, recovered many damaged OmniMechs and hit a few SLDF supply bases, the counteroffensive was ultimately too little, too late. Wave Three: Bringing Down the Jaguar Victor Steiner-Davion and Anastasius Focht had hoped to gain the element of surprise with eight assaults planned during the Smoke Jaguar counterattack in the summer of 3059. However, because some Smoke Jaguar commanders put little faith in the feasibility of the Jaguar counterassault, they reserved their strength for fighting further battles with the SLDF and so were well prepared for the first time since the beginning of the invasion. Much of the credit for this readiness must go to Alpha Galaxy Commander Brendon Corbett, who was named in-theater commander after the SLDF drove Beta Galaxy Command off Avon; many other Jaguar commander who might have been considered for the position had been killed or irredeemably disgraced in the previous invasion waves. The first evidence of the Jaguar&#39;s new battle readiness appeared when then Ryuken-roku encountered heavy resistance at Luzerne. As reinforcements arrived, however, the battle quickly shifted in favor of the SLDF. Still, the Smoke Jaguars fought with determination and refused to relinquish the world. The battle for Luzerne officially ended on August 8, only a few days before the Clan aborted its counteroffensive. The Jaguars&#39; Alpha Galaxy Command and the Ninth Jaguar Cavaliers made a similar showing on the planet Marshdale. The Galaxy Command Trinary, operating as an elite tactical strike force, severely damaged the Fusiliers of the Oriente and managed to decimate a full company of the Ryuken-ni. But the Ninth Cavaliers could not stand up to the main force of the assault and on August 12 the Clan unit began to collapse under relentless pressure of the Ryuken-ni and the Ninth Com Guard Division. The Smoke Jaguar forces on Bangor and Schuyler also put up strong defenses, but never stood a chance against the SLDF regiments arrayed against them. With Prince Victor Steiner-Davion leading his &#34;Dream Team&#34; against Schuyler, Bangor was forced to contend with the Second Dieron, First Wolf Legion and the Capellan House Daidachi. The remnants of Beta Galaxy Command Trinary and the First Jaguar Guards ended up trapped on Outer Volta, having sent their ships to support the 267th Battle Clusters assault on Meinacos. Beset by the Izanagi Warriors and the Eighth Sword of Light, supported by the Com Guard Thirty-Ninth Division, the Clan forces were crushed in five days. The Smoke Jaguars offered only token resistance on the worlds of Rockland, Coudoux, Garstedt and Schwartz. On-planet SLDF commanders all expected a massive counterattack that never came. No one foresaw how the third wave - and the main thrust of the SLDF assault against the Clan occupation zone - would end. The Smoke Jaguars fought defensive battles for the most part, using liberal rules of engagement and staging several delaying actions. They seemed to be waiting for something, but exactly what remains unclear. In hindsight, some analysts believe Galaxy Commander Corbett wished to test the strength of the new SLDF and Jaguar defensive strategies during the third assault wave. In any case, Smoke Jaguar leaders effectively abandoned the Inner Sphere on August 13, ordering their forces to evacuate the occupation zone and return to Clan space aboard any available ship. No one knows at this time whether the recall was ordered by Khan Lincoln Osis or Galaxy Commander Corbett. This decision enabled more than half of the Clan&#39;s forces stationed on third-wave target worlds, was well as counterassault forces, to escape intact, along with at complete commands from at least two garrisoned worlds left undisturbed by battle. Wave Four: Clean-up With the Smoke Jaguars in flight, Victor Steiner-Davion and Anastasius Focht realized that the main assault was over and the Inner Sphere had won a resounding victory. Always wary of being overconfident, however, Prince Victory kept the SLDF forces battle-ready while planning a final sweep to remove all traces of the Smoke Jaguars military forces from the Inner Sphere. As Victor led several units into the Periphery to follow the fleeing Smoke Jaguars, Phelan Kell command the final few battles that took place in the Draconis Combine. On the worlds of Savinsville and Staplefield, garrison Clusters of Kappa Galaxy fought long enough to satisfy their honor. With no hope of escape, the garrison Cluster commanders finally negotiated Trials of Possession with their SLDF counterparts. The bidding was similar to the Nova Cat preemptive batchalls fought earlier in the invasion; the Smoke Jaguars knew they would lose and so planned to save face before succumbing. On Savinsville, the Jaguar forces were officially captured by the Fourth Wolf Guards Assault Cluster, while on Staplefield the First Amphigean Light Assault Group claimed the defeated forces. The garrison Cluster left behind to defend Kabah held out much longer before agreeing to Trials of Possession. Staging several delaying actions, the garrison troops hoped to hold out until ships returned from Matamoras to pull them off-world. Only when the Twenty-second Dieron finally convinced the Cluster commander that no rescue was forthcoming did the Cluster initiate Trials of Possession. The challenges were split almost evenly between the Dieron Regulars and the supporting Nova Cat Cluster. On Jeronimo and Albiero, however, the Smoke Jaguars fought to the death. The SLDF forces on each planet claimed some salvage and a few prisoners, but little else. Only the Capellan Confederation&#39;s House Daidachi warriors managed to claim any worthwhile assets, capturing a Jaguar storage depot full of supplies and technicians. Though all the on-planet SLDF forces split the supplies between them per regulations, the technician prisoners elected to become bondsmen to Daidachi. When the invasion&#39;s fourth wave officially wrapped up on 18 September 3059, every Smoke Jaguar world in the former occupation world was pacified by an SLDF garrison. All Nova Cat-occupied worlds were under SLDF administration, but out of respect for their unlikely ally, the SLDF posted military forces on very few of those planets. The exceptions were worlds along the Ghost Bear occupation zone border, where hostilities were considered likely. ============================================== ==== Operation Task Force Serpent ComStar Archive File#30OX60, A.D. 3060 In late 3060, an Inner Sphere task force, code-named Serpent, struck at the Smoke Jaguar homeworld, Huntress. The Jaguar garrison commander, Russou Howell, had only two Provisional Galaxies to withstand the onslaught of ten elite Inner Sphere regiments. Both sides wreaked enormous damage upon another. Howell used the opportunity to unleash a deadly new war machine. Dubbed ProtoMechs, these miniature mechs were piloted by washed-out aerospace pilots using the new enhanced imaging system. The EI system coupled with the improved armor and weaponry allowed the ProtoMech pilots to wreak considerable damage on the Serpent forces before they were destroyed. After several days of almost non-stop combat, Task Force Serpent crushed the last of the Jaguar garrison forces. Task Force Serpent&#39;s respite from battle was swept away when the remnants of the Smoke Jaguar Inner Sphere forces returned to Huntress for repairs and refitting. Shocked at finding their homeworld in the hands of Inner Sphere troops, the Smoke Jaguars, led by Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta, launched a brutal counterattack. With barely two Galaxies of troops, the Jaguars hammered mercilessly against the elite Serpent troops. Several days into the battle, ilKhan Lincoln Osis and his bodyguard unit arrived on Huntress to coordinate the counterattack. Both sides sustained losses in excess of sixty percent, with many pilots dead and hundreds of mechs lain strewn across the battlefields. The Jaguars launched one final counterattack with their remaining forces. The battle was almost lost for the Inner Sphere if not for the skill and valor of the Eridani Light Horse. The ELH troops held the line but at a tremendous cost. Their leader, General Ariana Winston, was killed in the final moments of the battle. Winston&#39;s death marked the turning point for the campaign. Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, leading another task group to Huntress, arrived in-system just before the final battle began. The fresh troops he led quickly hunted down and eliminated all Jaguar resistance within a few days. Unfortunately for the Inner Sphere, ilKhan Lincoln Osis was able to escape with a handful of warriors to Strana Mechty ============================================== ==== Flagship Invisible Truth: Meribah System - Deep Periphery<IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":&#40;"> Personal log of Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion 16 November 3059 &#41; ComStar Archive File#30IX60, A.D. 3060 Account of a Comstar interrogation: The stocky marine frog-marched the pirate prisoner into a featureless room just outside the detention block. Seated behind a plain metal table were two men dressed in drab green jackets. One wore a black fox&#39;s mask on his collar, which earned him a defiant snort and string of profanity-laden threats from the prisoner. When the pirate turned his gaze on the room&#39;s second occupant, his defiant obscenities froze in his throat. There, gleaming on the collar of the officer&#39;s jacket, was a tiny gold-plated Greek letter Rho identifying him as a member of Comstar&#39;s ROM branch. &#34;Very good, you understand exactly who I am.&#34; The ROM agent chuckled as he rose to his feet. &#34;Very good indeed. Since we understand each other so well, perhaps you&#39;d like to tell me everything I want to know, without my having to resort to, shall we say, more unpleasant methods?&#34; Two decks above, in the commanders flag office, the Marshal looked across his desk with a thin smile. &#34;Don&#39;t you think he&#39;s playing the `Grand Inquisitor` bit a little too well?&#34; &#34;Just a bit.&#34; Demi-Precentor Colonel Regis Grandi let out a chuckle. &#34;But that&#39;s exactly what our pirate friend is expecting. To his mind, the only thing missing is the old Tiepolo Comstar robes. Ah, it&#39;s just as well. If the ROM agent were wearing his Comstar robe, I&#39;m afraid we&#39;d end up rushing our prisoner to sick bay for treatment of a coronary.&#34; ComStar Schism: Operation Scorpion ============================================== ==== Word of Blake Initiation Directive ComStar Archive File#30SX60, A.D. 3060 Our most recent intelligence regarding the activities of the reactionary element known as the Word of Blake is provided here. Though smaller in number than our brotherhood, the Word of Blake must not be taken lightly. Despite ComStar&#39;s massive losses of personnel and equipment on Tukayyid, the Word of Blake still fields impressive military strength, numbering just over four divisions in size. Their military might and close ties to former Precentor Thomas Marik, currently Captain-General of the Free Worlds League, gives them considerable power in the Inner Sphere&#39;s political arena. The Word of Blake currently operates in the Free Worlds League; these reactionaries bear careful watching lest their influence spread out of control. Detailed reports on each section are available through ROM officers with Alpha Level Security Clearance. The Renegades ComStar defeated the Clans on Tukayyid, but the victory was bittersweet. ComStar had negotiatedfor an end to all offensive action aimed at striking further through the Inner Sphere toward Terra for fifteen years if the Clans lost, offering Terra&#39;s subjugation to the Clans if the Clans won. However, this agreement only bound the Clans to cease advancing toward Terra; they considered the rest of the Inner Sphere fair game. As long as it lay &#34;spinward&#34; from Terra, the Clans could assault any world within their reach, honing their tactics and wearing down the Successor States little by little. ComStar had gained a brief breathing space for the Inner Sphere; in less than two decades, mortal battle would once more be joined. The action on Tukayyid and events following spelled the downfall of the old ComStar. When Precentor Martial Focht returned to Terra after Tukayyid, he confronted Primus Waterly about Operation Scorpion, her futile effort to take over the Inner Sphere by staging revolts to sabotage the Clans&#39; administration of conquered worlds and placing all Inner Sphere HPGs under Interdiction. Though the details of the meeting remain unknown, Precentor Focht convinced Myndo Waterly to abdicate the primacy. One week later, the First Circuit elected Sharilar Mori, Precentor Dieron, as Primus. Together, Primus Mori and Precentor Martial Focht embarked on a series of far-reaching reforms. Demona Aziz, Precentor of Atreus and a member of the First Circuit during Operation Scorpion, held strictly to the rigid, conservative interpretation of the works of Jerome Blake, and blindly followed Primus Waterly. Precentor Aziz wrongly assumed that Primus Mori&#39;s accession and her internal reforms resulted from an illegal coup d&#39;etat by the Precentor Martial. Though the other First Circuit members saw the wisdom of Precentor Martial Focht&#39;s actions, Precentor Aziz took her staff and bolted from Terra, traveling to Atreus to meet with Captain-General Thomas Marik. Upon arriving, she informed the Captain-General that the ComStar he once served was under attack from within. Demona Aziz petitioned Thomas Marik for sanctuary within the Free Worlds League for herself and any other members of ComStar who might share her fears and follow her. Captain-General Marik granted her request. Ignorant of the full scope of the Reformation, Precentor Aziz failed to reveal the true nature and extent of the changes in ComStar to Captain-General Marik, and the eventual depth of response to his offer of sanctuary astounded him. When Aziz fled, Primus Mori had yet to initiate most of the Reformation Acts; ComStar&#39;s internal struggle had not yet spread beyond the First Circuit. Judging Primus Mori and Precentor Focht by her own narrow standards of conduct, Aziz mistook the rebirth of ComStar for no more than another round of petty political maneuvering. Using ROM agents loyal to her, Precentor Aziz sent messages to every HPG station across the Inner Sphere, inviting all ComStar members who rejected the new ways in favor of the old to join her in exile. As Precentor Aziz&#39;s call went out, Primus Mori passed the first of the Reformation Acts and began to uproot some of the Order&#39;s underlying misconceptions. The situation could easily have erupted into violent internal conflict, but Aziz&#39;s rebellion provided an easy way out for those unwilling to accepty change. Primus Mori wisely showed great patience by allowing the conservative members of the Order to make their choice and leave unopposed, keeping turmoil to a minimum in the divided brotherhood. Within months, Aziz&#39;s initial handful of followers became a flood of more than two thousand refugees, most arriving in the Free Worlds League with only the robes on their backs. Some of the most fanatical members of the Com Guards managed to smuggle out their BattleMechs, or carried their personal tools and weapons with them. The defectors formed a loose organization, still led unofficially by Precentor Aziz, and adopted the name Word of Blake. The Word of Blake accepted as members all those who subscribed to ComStar&#39;s traditional operating procedure and faith, wrongly believed to be the teachings, writings, and methodologies of the sainted Jerome Blake. While the Reformation Acts unfolded within ComStar, changing almost every aspect of the old Order, members of the Word of Blake held true to the monolithic, repressive ComStar they had always known. Some remaining traditions are superficial. For example, unlike the new ComStar, Word of Blake followers still wear the white robes of the old Order. More seriously, they continue to recrite prayers to the technological devices under their control, praising them for their continued, smooth operation. The reformed ComStar no longer retains this unnecessary and superstitious practice. To an untrained outsiders, acts of techno-worship performed by Word of Blake members appear to be nothing more than harmless, quasireligious changting. The danger lies in the Word of Blake&#39;s sincere but ignorant belief that without prayers, the machinery will not function. They claim that operating an HPG merges technology and mankind, and their prayers both thank and supplicate the machines. By their example, they teach others to emulate superstitious flummery, arming them against any efforts to teach independent thought. The Marik Alliance Caught off guard by the sheer numbers of ComStar followers switching their allegiance to the Word of Blake, Captain-General Marik arranged to meet with several of the defecting Precentors that he knew personally to determine the best course of action. Already, each Precentor represented an individual faction of refugees seeking sanctuary within the Free Worlds League borders. Precentor Blane of Gibson, a long-time friend and ally of the Captain-General, led the delegation. Blane offered a more moderate, less overtly reactionary style of leadership, providing a marked contrast to the often-combative Aziz. Thomas Marik&#39;s open support for Precentor Blane as the ad hoc leader among the Precentors enfuriated Demona Aziz, and still provokes controversy within the Word of Blake administration. Believing that her former rank on the First Circuit entitled her to prominence among the renegades, Precentor Aziz resented her fall in status from founder to leader of a minority faction in the group she helped to forge. She could do little about it, however, except seethe inwardly under a barely civil exterior and bide her time. The meeting yielded two accords. Thomas Marik agreed to relocate the arriving members of the newly created Word of Blake to the planet Gibson, granting them a landhold there. In return, the Word of Blake signed a contract to service the HPGs the League had gained in the aftermath of Operation Scorpion. Precentor Blane and the other gathered leaders willingly drafted the contract, aware that they would need the resulting income to support the ever-growing number of ComStar refugees. The HPG service contract between the Free Worlds League and the Word of Blake benefited both parties equally. It provided the Word of Blake with a substantial, steady source of income that their new Order desperately needed. It also placed a formidable political and military tool in Thomas Marik&#39;s hands. Knowing that Marik supported their cause, the Word of Blake in return pledged him their aid should the need arise. Should House Marik&#39;s upcoming marital alliance with House Liao prove shaky, the Captain-General may use his newfound allies to shore it up. In the meantime, the Word of Blake&#39;s trained MechWarriors and skilled, ruthless ROM operatives add considerably to Thomas Marik&#39;s personal power. Time alone will show what use he plans to make of them, and how large a threat they pose to ComStar. Fortunately, even as ComStar struggles through changes, the Word of Blake is also suffering upheaval. Where the ComStar Reformation has the advantage of a clear vision and a strong leader, the Word of Blake has yet to define its true direction and goals. As yet, only blind rejection of Primus Mori&#39;s reforms binds them together. Each subgroup within the Word of Blake proposes a different direction for their organization to take, and the sect&#39;s leaders lack sufficient control over their members to prevent each faction from acting on its own. All factions agree on a few points. They decry our blessed Order and its members as heretics for defying the ancient doctrines falsely claimed to be the writings of Jerome Blake. They denounce as forgeries the recently discovered, true writings of our blessed founder on which Primus Mori and Precentor Martial Focht have based the Reformation. They mourn ComStar as lost, destroyed from inside, and claim that salvation is possible only by fleeing from our Order&#39;s so-called corrupted vision and joining the Word of Blake. Beyond such narrow-minded hatred, they hold little in common. Precentor Aziz recently deepened the tension between ComStar and the Word of Blake by unveiling her logo for the growing organization. Wisely declining to widen the schism with a show of anger, neither Primus Mori nor Precentor Martial Focht have publicly commented on the logo. However, Precentor Aziz&#39;s act of petty defiance can only dim hopes for an eventual reconciliation. The logo of the Word of Blake consists of a massive broadsword thrust downward, its hilt decorated with the ComStar insignia surrounded by six concentric rings. According to Aziz, the sword represents the Word of Blake&#39;s iron determination to establish what they call the true faith, and their willingness to use force to fulfill their version of Jerome Blake&#39;s prophecies and visions. The six concentric rings surrounding the ComStar insignia represent the original seats of the First Circuit during Blake&#39;s time. By invoking the Order&#39;s earliest days, Precentor Aziz seeks to legitimize centuries of creeping revisionism and false doctrine as the gospel of Jerome Blake. Currently, ComStar has more pressing concerns than these empty gestures. Former Primus Waterly&#39;s influence remains straing within the ranks of the Word of Blake, and some factions call for the death of &#34;the heretic Primus,&#34; Sharilar Mori. Most factions also consider the Primus and Precentor Martial to be evil demons who destroyed ComStar and betrayed Blake&#39;s work. Their hysterical rhetoric might seem comic, were its potential consequences not so grave. The Order has taken steps to provide protection for the Primus and Precentor Martial. Though the murder of either leader would create temporary chaos, ComStar would survive such a trauma. Destroying our leaders will not destroy our faith or our work. The Word of Blake&#39;s most fanatical members pose a danger beyond their threat to ComStar, however. Those who call Myndo Waterly a saint point accusing fingers at the Federated Commonwealth, calling it evil and advocating its destruction. Allied with the Free Worlds League, the Word of Blake may poison relations between these two states beyond repair, possibly even touching off another Inner Sphere-wide war. Monkey Warfare If guerilla warfare is defined as perpetrating clandestine attacks on the opposition in order to wear them down, in &#34;monkey&#34; warfare, both sides wage a conflict of escalating, annoying pranks that, though expensive and time-consuming, cost no lives. Petty harassment of ComStar by Word of Blake members of the Free Worlds League and the Federated Commonwealth has forced our Order to retaliate in an ongoing war of one-upmanship. As a gesture of respect for their misguided brethren, ComStar allows the Word of Blake to use the ComStar HPG network, requiring no modifications for alternate methods of transmission or additional security measures. Because ComStar hold a one-year service contract with the Free Worlds League, we also transmit through the HPG stations held by the Word of Blake. However, ComStar has only minimal control over those stations as its personnel are gradually replaced by Word of Blake technicians &#40;as agreed in that contract&#41;, and therefore cannot guarantee that the messages sent through them will arrive at their destination unmolested. Mounting evidence suggests that Word of Blake technicians frequently tamper with ComStar message packets sent through their Class A HPGs. Word of Blake technicians also delight in adding entire, unrelated messages to transmissions. Frequently, they insert recruitment information into private communiques. ComStar internal documents bear the brunt of this abuse, often appearing at their destination padded by pages of ranting commentary from the Word of Blake renegades. Though this tampering has a fleeting impact, ComStar loses time and money when forced to re-transmit messages, sometimes several times, to ensure that at least one copy makes it through unaltered. A more serious interception involved former Primus Myndo Waterly&#39;s body, which disappeared from Terra prior to its scheduled cremation. Primus Mori declared the theft a &#34;morbid, callous, and heinous act against the dead.&#34; Precentor Martial Focht privately fears that the body of the former Primus may be used as a symbol of worship to enshrine Waterly as a martyr. As of this writing, no group claims responsibility for the theft, but evidence points strongly to the Word of Blake&#39;s role in the desecration. Organization The Word of Blake retains much of the organizational structure used by ComStar prior to the Reformation. The three-tiered ranking of acolyte, adept, and Precentor remains the same, and each division&#39;s function uses the standard Greek-letter classifications. The Word of Blake has kept the Omicron designation, which represents ROM&#39;s internal security and doctrinal purity function. Repudiating the First Circuit as a corrupt body, the Precentors leading the Word of Blake rejected that portion of ComStar&#39;s command structure; yet each are leery of relinquishing personal power and so they formed a loose tribunal, currently led by Precentor Blane of Gibson. One Precentor represents each faction of the Word of Blake, with Blane arbitrating all disputes. As of this writing, no one faction controls the tribunal, and the Word of Blake remains in constant flux. Splinter Groups Part of the reason no one faction can gain control of the tribunal lies in the widely diverse interpretations of the writings and will of Jerome Blake held by the various factions. Though outwardly committed to a single &#34;true vision&#34; they claim to possess, few within the Word of Blake agree on even the smallest doctrinal point. Each faction boasts a certain number of supporters, often centered around a specific person, geographic area, or unique view of Blake&#39;s vision. These factions often break down into smaller splinter groups, each of which endorses yet another specific viewpoint or ideology. Precentor Demona Aziz leads the most radical faction, a group known as the Toyama, named for Primus Conrad Toyama, who first turned ComStar from humanity&#39;s guardians to humanity&#39;s oppressors. The Toyama group militantly follows their namesake&#39;s gospel, convinced it is Blake&#39;s philosophy, and believes that the Word of Blake should build a large enough army to seize Terra from our Order and reimpose the suffocating religion of the old ComStar throughout the Inner Sphere. The Toyama have made several assassination attempts against our Primus and Precentor Martial, and have launched several terrorist attacks against ComStar HPGs in the Federated Commonwealth. Even within the Toyama, more extreme splinter groups call for the assassination of all the Successor State House Lords. Though these murderous reactionaries represent only a small fraction of the total group, the lack of centralized control within the Word of Blake makes it impossible to check the movements of each faction or individual. Still other minor contingents lobby for attacks against the Wolf Pack, formerly Wolf&#39;s Dragoons, in retaliation for their decades-old ties to the Clans. We of ComStar must not be misled by their small size into underestimating the danger these groups pose. As history has demonstrated time and again, the act of a single zealot can plunge worlds into the flames of chaos. Precentor Blane leads the moderate True Believers faction, who resort to violence only when diplomacy fails. Precentor Blane considers reconciliation between ComStar and the Word of Blake possible, but only at the cost of extreme sacrifice on both sides. Given the recalcitrance of Blane&#39;s fellow Precentors, reunification seems unlikely. In accordance with his hopes, however slim, Blane plays the role of middleman in the struggle within the Word of Blake, balancing the violent factions against those who view ComStar strictly as a religious calling. The Counter-Reformists, led by Precentor Willima Willis, maintain that the Word of Blake should review the writings and teachings of Jerome Blake and revise them where necessary. Though they disagree with the reforms enacted by Primus Mori and Precentor Focht, they admit that Blake&#39;s philosophy may have been tainted since ComStar&#39;s founding. They believe that the only proper response to past treachery is to use the past as a building block for the future, reevaluating the existing interpretations of Blake&#39;s vision to discover where ComStar went wrong and to avoid making those same mistakes. Predictably, this faction has already been branded heretical by the majority of the Word of Blake. Though its hot-tempered Precentor boasts a number of followers, this faction also lacks a definitive direction or plan. Reconciliation, if it occurs, will probably come from within the Counter-Reformists or the True Believers. Some minor splinter groups under Precentor Blane see reconciliation as the only way to deal with ComStar, and advocate extending diplomatic ties to our Order as a way to begin healing the breach between the two groups. The Shunners faction has not splintered, and in fact, seems to be growing in power. Shunners believe that Jerome Blake&#39;s prophesied destruction of the Inner Sphere draws near, and that the Word of Blake&#39;s only hope for survival is to isolate itself and weather the coming storm. They consider the current contract with the Free Worlds League a mistake, a blatant disregard of Blake&#39;s warnings about allying with one of the Successor States. In their own way, the Shunners are as radical as the Toyama group. Though they disagree about how to act on their theology, they will fight for their right to exist. Precentor Curtis Byrd, former Precentor of Florida in the Federated Commonwealth, currently leads the Shunners, the least vocal of but most steadfast of the current factions. Further splinter groups may exist of which we remain ignorant, making our analysis of the balance of power within the Word of Blake precarious, at best. ROM The Word of Blake retained the name of ROM for its internal security organization. They consider themselves to be the true ComStar, and aside from jettisoning the First Circuit, have made a point of retaining the Order&#39;s outward trappings, including the Greek-letter function identification for all military and other rank structures. Along with its structure, the Word of Blake ROM also retained its traditional watchdog role. ROM agents infiltrate every level of the Word of Blake, seeking out ComStar agents and punishing any converts tempted to rethink their loyalties. Most of ROM defected to the Word of Blake in the early days of the Reformation, bringing with them considerable skill in espionage as well as rigid conservative influences. Lacking control by a central authority, they frequently overstep the bounds of their position and of common decency. ROM agents associated with the Toyama faction recently attempted to bomb Hilton Head Island. One of the few ComStar ROM agents to successfully infiltrate the Word of Blake ROM sent a warning which foiled the attack. If successful, the attack would have killed the Primus, the First Circuit, and the Precentor Martial at one stroke. Instead, the incident only served to further escalate the tensions between our blessed Order and the renegade Word of Blake. Thankfully, only sixteen altercations between the ROM forces of ComStar and the Word of Blake have degenerated into fatal violence, mainly in the Federated Commonwealth, where the more bloodthirsty factions attempted to punish those individuals who defied Primus Waterly&#39;s orders during Operation Scorpion. Givem the scope of changes going on elsewhere, our Order views these distressing incidents as minor by comparison. The News Bureau The ComStar News Bureau lost several key reporters in the early stages of the Reformation. Those who chose to join the ranks of the Word of Blake have set up a rival news service. Callin their creation the Blake News, these reporters originated a series of programs purportedly illuminating the teachings of Jerome Blake. As with their parent, the Word of Blake, the Blake News cannot agree on one way to interpret the work of ComStar&#39;s founder; that they managed to produce this program at all is astonishing. As might be expected, the final version sparked immediate controversy. Mirroring the internal struggle taking place within the larger organization, fights sometimes break out during live broadcasts between rival factions and splinter groups. The actual reporting of news unfortunately receives short shrift. Blake Guard/Word of Blake Militia Of the thousands of ComStar members who fled to the Free Worlds League, one of the most notable and potentially dangerous refugees is Precentor Trent Arian of the Com Guards. During the battle of Tukayyid, he fought against Clan Diamond Shark, earning several commendations for his bravery and leadership, including the Precentor&#39;s Sword. Upon returning to Terra with his unit for refit, he learned of Primus Mori&#39;s Reformation Acts. He promptly took more than thirty MechWarriors and their equipment back off-planet and headed for the Free Worlds League. Precentor Arian met with Precentor Blane on Gibson and pledged his loyalty to the Word of Blake. Precentor Blane, realizing that the number of refugees coming from the ranks of the Com Guards made a Precentor Martial necessary for the organization, appointed Precentor Arian to that position. Precentor Martial Arian faced the challenge of forging viable military units from the hodgepodge of BattleMechs and personnel that left ComStar to join the Word of Blake. Captain-General Marik provided the assistance of the Free Worlds League Ministry of Defense, and with their help Arian shaped his army around the traditional Com Guard unit structure. The Free Worlds League advisors suggested establishing two primary military bases on Gibson, and remained there as technical consultants. Their true function may be to act as Thomas Marik&#39;s eyes and ears, attempting to ensure that the Word of Blake military acts in accordance with Marik&#39;s designs and goals. Despite their philosophical differences, all Word of Blake factions agree that to ensure their survival, they must directly control military assets. The tribunal allocated funding to Precentor Martial Arian with instructions to replenish and increase his forces with new BattleMechs and equipment. He issued an immediate appeal to all ComStar refugees, calling for engineers to design a new generation of &#39;Mechs for his troops, variously known as the Blake Guard or the Word of Blake Militia. To his delight, many ComStar engineers had joined the Word of Blake and eagerly tackled this new assignment. Once the engineers had several designs underway, Arian negotiated a production contract with the Free Worlds Defense Industries&#39; Gibson BattleMech factory. The Word of Blake underwrote the loan needed to expand the facility and fund the development of the new BattleMechs, using the proceeds of their HPG service contract with the Free Worlds League. By the spring of 3055, the Blake Guard received its first fresh-off-the-line shipments of Grand Crusader and Pit Viper &#39;Mechs. Precentor Martial Arian gave several of these &#39;Mechs to the Free Worlds League to express his appreciation for Captain-General Marik&#39;s support. Our ROM agents in the Capellan Confederation report that Sun-Tzu Liao also received at least one Grand Crusader for his technicians to study, possibly from Marik as a wedding gift. If so, Thomas Marik may one day regred that act of dubious generosity. The Blake Guards currently field slightly more than four divisions of troops, roughly equivalent to three and a half BattleMech regiments. Though slow to arrive, the new BattleMechs have already bolstered the renegade forces. All units use the standard Com Guard numbering and configuration, and are currently stationed on Gibson. Precentor Martial Arian so far has refused to commit his troops to any action until the Word of Blake agrees on a unified theology and a firm direction for its future. Given the reactionaries&#39; fragmented state, Precentor Martial Focht expects no belligerence from them for some time. As of this writing, our Com Guards may turn all their attention to preparing for the coming battle with the Clans with no concerns for an attack from this quarter. Current Doctrine The various factions of the Word of Blake have so far been able to agree on only one point: that the blessed Order of ComStar has been taken over by &#34;heretics.&#34; Nearly every faction believes that the tainted writings that masqueraded as the philosophy of Jerome Blake prior to the Reformation remain valid and offer a clear direction for their organization. They also believe that the dark age Blake predicted approaches, and that his believers must save knowledge and lead humanity out of its benighted era. In truth, our blessed Order has not forsaken our belief in the need to save technology in order to preserve civilization. We have come to realize, however, that we can best save knowledge by sharing it, not by denying it to others. The new dark age that Blake predicted began in the misguided actions of the old ComStar. Unless the Inner Sphere stands together against them, the Clans will make that dark age permanent. The original version of The Word of Blake, written and published by Primus Conrad Toyama, is required reading for all True Believers. Depending on their factional affiliation, some members must also be familiar with Primus Rusenstein&#39;s Blessed Destiny. Though ComStar no longer publishes either work, the Word of Blake still produces them through several presses operating on Gibson. When and if the organization reaches theological consensus, their pretender Primus may simply add a chapter containing these interpretations to The Word of Blake. The Word of Blake believes that ComStar&#39;s corruption grew like a cancer for centuries, ultimately manifesting itself in Precentor Martial Focht and Primus Mori, who they claim conspired against Blake&#39;s teachings and killed Myndo Waterly. They insist that her death allowed Operation Scorpion to fail, a conclusion they reach only by ignoring the fact that Waterly still held power when the Clans fought off the takeover attempts, and that Precentor Martial Focht graciously allowed her to retire in peace despite her crimes against Blake&#39;s vision. Precentor Aziz has successfully managed to gloss over ComStar&#39;s initial support for the Clans, revising history to show their support as a ploy to lull the Clans into complacency. Other skewed versions of events have begun to surface. Because neither Jerome Blake nor his successors foresaw the role that the survivors of Kerensky&#39;s Exodus would play in the drama of life in the Inner Sphere, the Word of Blake continues to consider the Successor Lords a greater threat to the Inner Sphere than the Clans. Despite the Clans&#39; and ComStar&#39;s common background, the dissenters view the Clans as misguided and barbaric. Following the pattern of many religions, the Word of Blake has rewritten their own history, calling their one-time hero Aleksandr Kerensky &#34;the greatest betrayer of mankind&#34; for his &#34;single-handed, self-centered blow to the Star League.&#34; Politics With his moderate views, Precentor Blane clearly enjoys the support of much of the Word of Blake&#39;s rank and file, amd seeks compromise from the extremists. Precentor Blane&#39;s call to develop a unified theology that all members can support encouraged many members to suggest that he assume the primacy. Having received ComStar training and served as a Precentor before he was recalled to lead the Free Worlds League when Janos Marik suffered his stroke in 3031, Thomas Marik easily won the hearts and loyalties of ComStar adepts. When the Reformation turned their ordered world upside down, he offered those same adepts shelter, support, and acceptance for their unwavering faith. Because they also trust Precentor Blane, who fully backs Captain-General Thomas Marik, Marik&#39;s eventual election as Primus for the Word of Blake seems a foregone conclusion. The Word of Blake appears to solidly support Marik for leadership, but some express doubts about his fitness for the primacy because he has so far refused to push for a unified theology. Publicly, he maintains that his current role as benefactor to all factions prevents him from offering an opinion on the direction the movement&#39;s theology should take. We believe that Marik is simply biding his time, waiting to gain the formal title of Primus before turning the Word of Blake to his purposes. Thomas Marik&#39;s political position as Primus-in-exile affords him an obvious opportunity to use the Word of Blake as a buffer against his future son-in-law, Sun-Tzu Liao. Regardless of Chancellor Liao&#39;s true intentions in marrying Isis Marik, second in the Free Worlds line of succession to rule, the additional military force and fanatical devotion the Word of Blake offers to Marik will serve to keep Sun-Tzu in check. Rumors of several new Free Worlds League &#39;Mech bases being built within the turbulent Duchy of Andurien indicate that Thomas Marik may plan to shift the Word of Blake Militia to the Duchy, both to better keep Andurien under his control and to position the Blake Guards on the doorstep of the Capellan Confederation. This is, of course, only speculation on our part, but these conclusions are logical based on the evidence at hand. Chancellor Liao has not acknowledged the Word of Blake other than to send relief supplies and foodstuffs to Gibson. This single gesture is apparently intended to demonstrate the Chancellor&#39;s good will toward the Captain-General, but other signs indicate that Sun-Tzu may be playing a far more devious game. In what may be an effort to try and buy their loyalty away from Thomas Marik, Sun-Tzu has dropped hints that he is willing to provide military equipment and spare parts to the Word of Blake. Continuing the complex political dance between Liao and Marik, Sun-Tzu has reportedly asked the Word of Blake to bid on a service contract for his own HPGs, as his agreement with our Blessed Order expires next year. Recruitment for the Word of Blake has surpassed that of our blessed Order. During the Clan war, enormous numbers of refugees fled from the path of the advancing enemy. Though in the past, refugees gladly joined ComStar, Myndo Waterly&#39;s Operation Scorpion debaucle has tainted the Order&#39;s image among civilians. Despite ComStar&#39;s sincere desire to aid humankind and make reparation for past mistakes, we have yet to overcome the widespread mistrust caused by those mistakes. By contrast, the Word of Blake&#39;s rigid religious trappings and righteous mentality attract those driven from their homeworlds. Desperate for certainty in the midst of chaos, many refugees have joined the Word of Blake to find refuge from hardship and responsibility. The number of new recruits joining the Word of Blake has risen even as ComStar&#39;s recruitment declines. The Liao-Marik invasion brought Word of Blake loyalists to the Sarna March in droves, either following in the wake of invading troops or taking advantage of insurrections to overthrow ComStar administration of HPG stations on disputed worlds. On worlds conquered by Marik forces, Word of Blake acolytes immediately displaced ComStar personnel at all HPG facilities. Those ComStar personnel who did not escape the Word of Blake have been forcibly relocated somewhere deep within the League, possibly on the Word of Blake&#39;s stronghold on Gibson. The fate of ComStar personnel on Liao-controlled worlds is in question, though the Word of Blake does not seem to be moving onto those worlds en masse. Of the newly formed minor powers within the March, only the Terracap Confederation has allowed the Word of Blake to take control of its HPG stations. As far as can be confirmed, ComStar retains its ownership of the HPG stations in the Sarna Supremacy, the Styk Commonality, and the Saiph Triumvirate. At this point, no one knows for certain who controls the HPG facilities within the Sirian Holds. On several of the Chaos March&#39;s independent worlds, ComStar and the Word of Blake are engaged in running conflicts, with forces from one side or the other taking a facility one week and then losing it to their opponents the next. This low-level warfare has severely disrupted offworld communications on these planets, further isolating them from outside influences. Offworld communications from these disrupted worlds, when such communication exists at all, functions through a &#34;pony express&#34; system in which a JumpShip collects messages and then jumps to the nearest star system with a stable HPG facility. This facility then transmits the messages to their destinations. Of particular interest to mercenary commanders looking for a berth, reliable rumor has stated the Brion&#39;s Legion recently left Comstar&#39;s employ on Terra to accept a rather lucrative contract on the planet Pleione and become one of the key units in the Tikonov Reaches. Of all these events ocurring in the late 3050s, this was the one which led most directly to the Word of Blake conquest of Terra. After skirmishing with the Second FedCom Regimental Combat Team on Hsien, the 21st Centauri Lancers seemed to need a chance to rest and recover from that bloody battle. After recruiting new personnel to fill their losses and arriving on Terra, the Lancers drilled with ComStar&#39;s Terran Defense Force. Impressing Precentor Lisa Koenigs-Cober, charged with the defense of Terra, as being more skilled than the new recruits would have suggested, the stage was set for the Word of Blake&#39;s conquest as the new recruits proved to be Word of Blake agents. On February 28, 3058, the Word of Blake struck. The day was a rather symbolic one, being the 276th anniversary of Jerome Blake being given control of Terra and what would become ComStar. It was also the 38th month since the official naming of Sharilar Mori, and Jerome Blake had a 38-year reign, a terribly complicated matter and bound up in the malignant theology of the Word of Blake terrorists. The Word of Blake and 21st Centauri Lancer forces attacked and destroyed Hilton Head and the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, inflicting considerable losses on the ComGuard 201st Division. As the attack continued, Precentor Koenigs-Cober destroyed eveything of value which could not be taken and retreated offworld with Primus Mori, the First Circuit, and remaining ComGuard forces. As the news reached Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht as he was on his way to a strategy session with the St. Ives Compact, Federated Commonwealth, and Draconis Combine on Tukayyid, it was decided not to contest the Word of Blake conquest at that time, leaving them the trouble of defending Terra should the Clans break the truce. With three Word of Blake regiments burning in to bolster their forces on Terra, the decision seemed a wise one, especially in light of rumors that the Word of Blake is in the process of hiring mercenaries to further strengthen their garrison force. With this conquest of Terra, ComStar has moved its base of operations to the Free Rasalhague Republic world of Tukayyid, where it prepares to once again defend the Inner Sphere when the Clans continue their invasion. While ComStar continues to defend the Inner Sphere, the Word of Blake further entrenches its forces, waiting for the ComStar counterattack that could very well never come. With the Word of Blake in control of the cradle of humanity, the entire Inner Sphere has cause to worry, as the old ComStar is back and its name is the Word of Blake. With the Blakist terrorists in control of Terra, the Successor States can once again expect the frequency of terrorist bombings, assassinations, and technological thefts common in the old days of ComStar to increase, as the Word of Blake concentrates on its own twisted view of the writings of the blessed Jerome Blake instead of the greater threat known as the Clan invasion. This has been the historical legacy of ComStar, an organization that for 300 years maintained it&#39;s promises to keep the Inner Sphere operating and did so with cunning ruthlessness... and one that I have been in Command of for close to 6 years now as it&#39;s online representative within the game Mechwarrior. As is plainly evident, there are things ComStar was involved in and with that were never written about, however the gesture provident in what has been written is that ComStar manipulated a great deal of the events that occured in Battletech&#39;s genre... Believe it or not, what many miss about ComStar&#39;s schism is that it in itself was an internally known directive that was outlined by Blake himself, for ComStar secretly knew that in order to successfully carry out thier agenda to save Mankind, mankind first had to be brought to his knees. Top Secret Classified Information: Access Authorize Incoming Security Message Downloading....Decoding....Displaying.... Confidential: Eyes Only From: Precentor XIV-Gamma Russel Nelson To: Electric Entertainment Date: 7 August 3067 Greetings. I have been directed to relay to you&#39;re attention this most revered document by my superior officer. I must admit that I am in a small amount of shock that such must be revealed to one not of our Order, however, I suppose it is time that Blake&#39;s Agenda be disclosed for historians to review. Please be intelligent toward&#39;s this document&#39;s confidentiality... Blake&#39;s Will be done Precentor Russel Nelson Rho - gamma XIV WARNING: THE DOCUMENT YOU ARE ABOUT TO VIEW IS THE PROPERTY OF CLASSIFIED CONTENT BELONGING TO THE ORDER OF THE STAR LEAGUE COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND NETWORK. UNAUTHORIZED VIEWING WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE PROSECUTION ! slcomnet d.o.c. Minister of Communications Jerome Blake 2784 A.D. OPERATIVE DRAFT #CX2784 Draft date July. 11, 2784 A.D. by Jerome Blake M.O.C. of the S.L.Com.Net. division within the Star League Defence Force in cooperation with Gen. Alexander Kerensky Commander of the Star League Defence Forces. By Directive Order I, Jerome Blake, Minister of Communications do solemnly swear that the contained testamony by me is to be found accurate and of legal bearing on any such organizations that I betroth to this Order. Be it known that at this time I am restoring the First Circuit to it&#39;s original status, uniting the two Companies in charge of the Communications Networks, Communications Enterprises Inc. and Starlight Broadcasting Ltd. and forming them into one unique Order that is to be known as ComStar. &#40; see O.D. #CX2788 &#41; At this time, General Kerensky of the S.L.D.F. has pronounced his plans of &#34;EXODUS !&#34; and is by now far and gone from here. Therefore ComStar, being the remnant left of the S.L.D.F. shall act as the governing factor over the technologies of the S.L.D.F. that are now left behind.WhereAs We, the communcation&#39;s operatives within the S.L.D.F. were extended the welcome to depart with my long time friend Alexander Kerensky from the growing corruption of the House Lords of the Terran Hegemony, I have chosen to stay behind to monitor the systems and tend to the affairs of thier communications networks.I am in fear that leaving such vast wealth of our technological resources to thier administration would destroy it all.I will not see that happen. However, we shall provide this exodus with a communications shield to allow its succesful eventuality as well as set up a puppet division to placate the House inquiry that is surely to follow to begin the search for this exodus and it&#39;s ultimate whereabouts &#40; see O.D. #CX2959-ExCor&#41; Mr Kerensky will be missed, as well as what the Terran Hegemony lost with his departure will sorely be shown to be it&#39;s downfall. Let it be directed that this Order will follow the principles of General Kerensky in it&#39;s Administrations and it&#39;s Operations , of which are to be united under one gereral and solemn purpose, to save what we can of mankind&#39;s technologies from the destruction he himself surely is bent on bringing to them. Therefore it shall be our duty to coercively commandeer the internal structures of Political Institutions within both the Houses as well as any other force arising from them, by infiltrating thier political caucases with operatives of our Order, as well as by any means necessary to confiscate from thier posessions any relic belonging to technology and of such will be hidden from public scrutiny in archives of undisclosed location. There, our technicians shall document everything pertaining to the technologies we confiscate and encrypt them into crystigal format and framed for transport &#40;see O.D. #CX 2811-ROM&#41; I am at this time commandeering control over Terra, and declaring it a neutral entity amongst the various factions existing within the Hegemony. From Terra, ComStar&#39;s First Circuit shall operate as the controlling entity that governs communications directives, as well as begins research and developement of 4 divisions that will operate within ComStar&#39;s boundaries, to protect ComStar&#39;s initiatives, agendas, and properties, as well as plan for ComStar&#39;s initiating event that will effectively distract those forces existing with controlling powers within the Hegemony so as to shield from thier scrutiny our ultimate Objective: Total control over the species of Mankind and the re-education of such for it&#39;s future survivability. Let this Directive also mandate that the Order shall begin planning the operation of infultration and diversion with the intent of ultimately executing the event of bringing the Houses down from thier positions of control in a controlled manner, so that afterwards ComStar can effectively begin the re-education of what remains of mankind to create a species of intelligently and genetically altered humans that in our Future will learn to interact peacefully, so that the technologies we ultimately return back to thier possession will enhance mankind, and not bring him to utter extinction. Planning of educational policies shall be directed and studied then documented as directive, to be executed when the time comes for such to do so arrives. Conclusitory Signant of this directive is this final operations directive that will follow this Order to it&#39;s grave, that this Order is and shall always be in allegiance to the Star League Defence Force yet not subjected to it. I Jerome Blake have so Ordained this Directive Order as the Minister of Communications dated the 11th of July, 2784 A.D. &#42;&#42;End of Transmission&#42;&#42; The Word of Blake Jihad: Discovered Attrocity ============================================== ==== FanFic: Future Discovery Preface: The Words of Blake: Genocide Author&#39;s Preface: It seems sometimes that the history of mankind is built upon a foundation of atrocities, each growing exponentially worse. From Cain, to the destruction of Carthage, the Crusades, the Holocaust, to Mao, then Amaris to what we all finally thought was the worst we could do to each other, Kentares. We were wrong. The coming of the Blakist Jihad showed that there were still depths of hell that we have not been subjected to. That there were still horrors that could be forced upon us. Billions were slaughtered, maimed, tortured and persecuted. There were few in the Inner Sphere or even the depths of Clan Space that did not lose a loved one or close associate to the predations of the death camps of the Blakists. To this day, although we still live with the affects of the Blakist holy war, we do not truly understand the reasons and motives of the great Jihad. This was our original question, and goal for our research, but our focus changed when we made an amazing discovery in the Republic Archives. Amongst the dozens of dusty old computer cores boxed in the warehouse, we found two computer cores that contained large amounts of internal memorandum concerning the re-education camps, and later the death camps that they became. After using the most advanced decryption tools &#40;But losing several pieces of information due to the complexity of the ciphers&#41; a clear picture of the systematic evil &#40;For there truly is no other word&#41; and callousness of spirit that infested Word of Blake emerges. My team and I have tried to organize these documents in chronological order, to have yet another glimpse into that shared history that so scarred the whole of humanity that it allowed us to cast aside hundreds of years of warfare to work together. Dr W. Jonathan Suzadail. &#91;MEMID-03153065144721&#93; Demi-Precentor As per your last memo, my team has begun study on your proposals. We have found that we will not have enough manpower in the upcoming crusade to effectively guard the re-education facilities that you have proposed. We understand that most of the unit