Periphery 3058 Update

In the six years since the battle of Tukayyid, ComStar and the Successor States have stepped up colonization efforts as part of an overall strategy for dealing with the Clan threat. This page describes the various Inner Sphere-sponsored settlements known to ComStar, including our own holdings, as well as other inhabited planets discovered in the past few years by the Explorer Corps.

Inner Sphere Holdings

Ever since the collapse of the Star League, the Successor States have made sporadic efforts to explore the uncharted fringes of the Periphery and establish settlements on unclaimed worlds. Depending on the needs and available finances of the Successor State in question, these Periphery settlements have included military bases, mining and manufacturing concerns, and even traditional colonies. Beginning soon after the founding of the Explorer Corps, ComStar also established small outposts on various Periphery worlds.

Several of the planets colonized since 3030 already possessed small populations, mostly independent groups who apparent traveled beyond the boundaries of then-known space for various reasons of their own. On worlds claimed in the past three decades by the Successor States, these existing settlements have become protectorates of the Successor State that discovered them. ComStar chose a different approach, allowing the existing inhabitants of our outpost worlds to remain independent of ComStar's control.

ComStar

The Explorer Corps' primary mission was to map the worlds of the uncharted Periphery and explore them for any traces of the long-lost Exodus fleet. Explorer Corps teams also had standing orders to take control of any abandoned Star League bases they might find, and to extend a diplomatic olive branch to any "lost" settlements from the Star League era or earlier that they encountered. In the first few years of exploration, the Corps used some of the worlds it had discovered as staging areas for further exploration. Throughout the Corps's ninety-eight years of service, its members have extended ComStar's sphere of influence in Periphery space through reviving several military outposts and, to a lesser extent, offering ComStar's help and protection to existing native settlements.

The reformation of ComStar affected our organization's holdings in the Periphery, as it affected everything else connected with our Order. A few of the Star League-era military bases and research outposts rediscovered by the Explorer Corps unfortunately fell into the hands of the reactionary Word of Blake, and ComStar ROM agents are engaged in an ongoing effort to find out exactly what the Word of Blake may be doing on those worlds.

ComStar currently retains control of Star League installations on several Periphery planets, some of which serve as training facilities for the Com Guard and staging bases for ComStar ROM operations. In addition, the Explorer Corps has established compounds on several more worlds near the edges of the regions it has mapped; these worlds continue to serve the Corps as staging areas for further exploration.

Federated Commonwealth

The Federated Commonwealth government controls only a moderate number of Periphery colonies, but various business concerns maintain extensive additional holdings. The vast majority of the latter are not colonies, but mines and other facilities that funnel natural resources from the outlying planets to various industries inside the Commonwealth. Our records indicate extensive mining operations on several asteroid belts located just beyond the Lyran border; these mining facilities appear to be owned by several different Lyran manufacturers.

Though we do not know for certain, it is likely that the small mining settlements in the asteroid fields regard themselves as loyal to Katrina Steiner-Davion and the Lyran Alliance since the recent Lyran secession. Because so many of the Federated Commonwealth's Periphery planets belong to Lyran rather than Federated Suns business magnates, it is likely that the Lyran secession will pose a thorny economic problem for Archon Prince Victor Steiner-Davion.

One world colonized under government aegis -- the world of Farstar -- appears to serve as a base for Federated Commonwealth intelligence operations. Taken under Federated Commonwealth control not long after the Fourth Succession War, the planet lies behind a dense asteroid field two jumps away from Draconis Combine space. The asteroid field has made infiltration of Farstar impactical, but its location and natural shield make it an excellent location for a DMI or MIIO base. The Periphery regions of the Draconis Combine, like those of most Successor States, are sparsely guarded and frequently staffed with substandard officers, and would thus allow F-C agents to slip more easily onto far-flung Combine worlds.

Draconis Combine

The Draconis Combine has established several bases beyond its borders from which to launch further exploration missions into the deep Periphery. In addition to serving as supply bases, these worlds also keep lines of communication open between exploring vessels and the Combine. Several Combine explorer ships have succumbed to jump drive failures in recent months, and personnel stationed on Periphery bases have proven vital to the rescue of many JumpShip crews.

Mercenary units hired by Coordinator Theodore Kurita act as garrison forces, defending these worlds against pirate attacks.

Free Worlds League

The Free Worlds League had colonized few Periphery planets, and those it has settled officially belong to the individual duchies who financed each world's development. The Duchy of Andurien claims the greatest number of Periphery holdings -- not surprising, considering the historical tendency to ally itself with Periphery interests. With the Marik-Liao invasion of the Chaos March drying up financial resources throughout the League, however, exploration and colonization of the Periphery has slowed to a virtual standstill.

Capellan Confederation

Of all the Successor States, only the Capellan Confederation has no Periphery holdings at all. The Fourth Succession War severely strained the realm's economy, and Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao has so far been more concerned with regaining territory lost in that conflict than with peaceful expansion of his state's borders. The invasion of the Chaos March has given the Chancellor plenty to cope with for the present, and so colonization efforts are unlikely for the forseeable future.

The recent alliance between the Taurian Concordat and the Magistracy of Canopus, two Periphery states on the Capellan border that have little love for House Liao, imposes certain practical difficulties as well. Even assuring that the two Periphery nations intend to allow Capellan vessels passage through their territory, they are likely to exact a high prices for the privilege. To skirt the borders of the Concordat and the Magistracy requires a much longer journey, with related navigational difficulties and fuel expenses. In addition, the two Periphery states have every reason to balk the Capellans in order to safeguard their newly established Canopus-Taurian New Colony Region.

Comstar, BattleTech, MechWarrior, `Mech, BattleMech and select information provided in these web pages are Registered Trademarks of FASA Corporation. BattleTech is Copyright © 1996 FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Usage here is not with permission and should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights and trademarks.

#include <stddiscl.h>

Will Day < wd@firstcircuit.net >
John Dutka < jdutka@pcnet.com >
Sep 23, 1996