11 replies to this topic

[Alexander Fury]

My fellow warriors,

Many of us know the history of the Inner Sphere in great and deep detail. We know the people and the places that speak to us through the mists of history. Hanse Davion, Theodore Kurita, the Battles of Tukayyid and Luthien, these are all examples of the shared history that binds all the fans toghter. I propose a discussion in the vein of what if...? Specifically: What would the history of the Inner Sphere have been like IF THE CLAN INVASION HAD NEVER HAPPENED? Imagine that the exodus fleet fell into a black hole shortly after leaving the IS. What would have happened post 3050 if the clans were removed from the equasion? Would the alliance of the Federated Commonwealth eventually dominate the whole of the IS? Would the FWL, CC and DC alliance lead to another round of Succession Wars? What of Comstar and the FRR?

Go ahead lads and lasses, theorise to your hearts content!

Cheers

[trycksh0t]

Had the invasion never happened, 3050 would have still been a time of war, IMO. Personally, I think the Fifth Succession War would have been touched off by the Combine trying to retake the worlds of the FRR. Victor wouldn't be able to help himself and hit the Capellans, Hard. He'd also send forces to assist the FRR against the Combine. The FWL would lend token support to the Confedration, due to their history, but not enough to keep FedCom forces from steamrolling through the Confedration, which Victor would then cede to Candace. Once they were finished there, FedCom forces would go after the FWL in retribution for Operation Dagger and against the Draconis Combine...just because it's the Draconis Combine. Both of those conflicts would ultimately end in FedCom victory (not total victory, mind you), and the FWL and DC would lose several systems, with some going to the FRR. The FedCom wouldn't have dominated the entire sphere, but neither the DC or FWL could hope to stand against them anymore.

I still see ComStar/WoB going down a similar path. Different reasons, but a similar schism and subsequent crap storm.

[MarauderDeuce]

Based on the books - the Tech cache (whatever the name - it's been years) that the Grey Death uncover was (IMHO) a deliberate set piece to put the inner sphere in a time of tech catch-up when the Clans return so that they are in a position that they at least have a chance of catching up with their tech owing to the rediscovered tech from the Grey Death cache.

Also, whilst the rift which split Word of Blake off from Comstar was triggered by the deal brokered at Tukayyid I think we can safely say that the pressure was building prior to the Clan invasion.

I agree with what trycksh0t suggests but I think that before any successor state could take decisive control of the Inner Sphere Comstar would try and step in to prevent it happening - possibly by covertly supporting another state. Should the Word Of Blake situation erupt then that also leads to much of what actually happens anyhow.

Perhaps Victor would marry Omi eventually - perhaps Katherine will kill Victor and take control of the whole Fed Com instead of instigating her covert then overt civil war.

[Trogusaur]

Ever heard of the Succession Wars? Yeah, #5 would be shortly on the way.

Whoops, I've been beaten to the punch. Sorry, trycksh0t

Edited by Lord Trogus, 18 March 2012 - 01:39 AM.

[Mason Grimm]

Alexander Fury, on 17 March 2012 - 10:57 PM, said:

IF THE CLAN INVASION HAD NEVER HAPPENED?

So you are saying "What if the clans turned left at the stop sign instead of turning right? What would have happened"

Well, ComStar would have slowly continued to build up their power-base and I think would have stepped in to fill the role played by the clans. Already Myndo Waterly was doing everything she could to screw with the politics of the Inner Sphere; for a woman who claimed neutrality of ComStar she certainly liked to leak a lot of information. Operation Scorpion could very well have taken place with or without the Clan threat being there.

Failing that, Anastasius Focht would have eventually butted heads with some of the House Lords and viola, the 5th Succession War would have been born except this time it would include ComStar which would probably turn it in to a FFA.

[Felbombling]

Succession Wars 5 through 11. We're human... and it is within our nature to destroy ourselves.

[Ghostrider45]

I've got a Q for you when the Grey Death got a holed of the tech cache of infomion they also came a cross a room full of all mechs in the cave system they were in went on for miles nouth ,east,south and west they did not have time to check all of the under ground base so the Q is what was left in the under ground base that They did not know was there are there may have been some hinden chambers with some reily good stuff!!!! hell you highed your best stuff and let tha ******* find the drages you don't have time to hide!!! think about that

[darkviper]

Damn that would be a crying shame.. No clanners to kill

[Ian MacLeary]

Ghostrider45, on 18 March 2012 - 06:08 AM, said:

I've got a Q for you when the Grey Death got a holed of the tech cache of infomion they also came a cross a room full of all mechs in the cave system they were in went on for miles nouth ,east,south and west they did not have time to check all of the under ground base so the Q is what was left in the under ground base that They did not know was there are there may have been some hinden chambers with some reily good stuff!!!! hell you highed your best stuff and let tha ******* find the drages you don't have time to hide!!! think about that

"The best stuff" was the Helm Memory Core they recovered. It contained enough information for the Inner Sphere to begin recovering the LosTech they'd had back in the Star League era, mostly through acting as a Rosetta Stone to allow them to make sense of old documents which were already in existence.

A cache of LosTech 'mechs would be useful, especially at the time, but ultimately would be destroyed anyway. Being able to replace them, however, is worth far, far more.

Besides, the whole idea of Castles Brian is that they are hidden; if they were out in the open, they'd have been looted centuries ago.

[El Loco]

If the Clans had never existed, there'd be no Wolf's Dragoons. And the Dragoons played a major part in many of the conflicts of the first half of the 31st century. And suddenly we're talking not about one event, but a series of events that took place over 5 decades... enough material for speculation to qualify for the Wild Speculation thread

[Sarah Dalrymple]

Well, the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission would probably still be stuck on Galatea, and overseen by ComStar. Then your water would cost more than your ammo while you are waiting on a new contract and when the bruhahaha that is Word of Blake happens (pretty sure it would have happened even without the Clan invasion, ComStar was always full of nuts!), there would be a lot of Merc groups threatened to lose their sanctioned status if they didn't fight on behalf of WoB.

Rather scary stuff, that!

[darkviper]

From some of the Cannon I have read it was the Wolfs Dragoons that contributed in most of those discoveries. If they didn't help then WoB would of ensured that the Inner Sphere would still be in the dark ages of 3025 relying solely on them for communication and guidance.