19 replies to this topic

[Manthony Higgs]

Did the Clans use Hyperpulse Generators before returning to the Inner Sphere? And if they did, how did ComStar not know about them?

[Stimbles]

I believe they did and ComStar didn't know about them because they never contacted one another.

[Manthony Higgs]

So they knew how to run them? I thought only ComStar could operate them?

[ZnSeventeen]

That is a good question. And the tech for building them was lost I thought? Or did they take the tech with them somehow?

[Stimbles]

I image that when the SLDF went into exile they took the technology with them and the Clans maintained their own network.

[LordDeathStrike]

the clans are the remnants of the star league, and so is comstar. the clans took the bulk with them, comstar formed of the few techs engineers and mechs of star league grade era tech that didnt go with kerensky.

[Gorthaur]

comstar were the only ones who knew how to use them after kerensky left the inner sphere. they basically hoarded HPGs and other advanced tech to "protect it from being destroyed" during the succession wars. kerensky took a lot of pieces of tech with him during the exodus, some of which are found in things called brian cahces later on in the lore.

Edited by Gorthaur, 26 May 2012 - 08:31 PM.

[Manthony Higgs]

Okay, makes sense now. Thanks guys!

[Scarlett Avignon]

In "Blood of Kerensky" Precentor Martial of Comstar, Anastasius Focht, theorizes (correctly) that the Clans posses HPG technology based on the fact that the first ilKhan, Leo Showers of the Smoke Jaguars, directs events in the Smoke Jaguar attack corridor in real-time while aboard the Clan Wolf flagship Dire Wolf.

****. I know too much about BT lore.

[wicked06]

Comstar always knew more about everything the whole time. If you don't mind the question, how did you approach the printed game material? I know at first, when I approached the game as a player, I didn't care about the fluff. 20+ years later, I can't remember every specific detail. I've been in to the game since them ol' Battledroid days of '84. Check the old Wolf Dragoons agenda. Did you know what their gig was the whole time? Or, did you come in after the fact? How did the Dragoons report back after each House Contract they held? Comstar spies knew something was up early on. They fretted over it a long time. The Dragoons had the tech they needed to operate without Comstar.

Franklen Avignon, on 26 May 2012 - 08:44 PM, said:

In "Blood of Kerensky" Precentor Martial of Comstar, Anastasius Focht, theorizes (correctly) that the Clans posses HPG technology based on the fact that the first ilKhan, Leo Showers of the Smoke Jaguars, directs events in the Smoke Jaguar attack corridor in real-time while aboard the Clan Wolf flagship Dire Wolf.

****. I know too much about BT lore.

Dang it Lt. Dan... me thinks I remember thats book.

[Stone Profit]

wicked06, on 26 May 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

Comstar always knew more about everything the whole time. If you don't mind the question, how did you approach the printed game material? I know at first, when I approached the game as a player, I didn't care about the fluff. 20+ years later, I can't remember every specific detail. I've been in to the game since them ol' Battledroid days of '84. Check the old Wolf Dragoons agenda. Did you know what their gig was the whole time? Or, did you come in after the fact? How did the Dragoons report back after each House Contract they held? Comstar spies knew something was up early on. They fretted over it a long time. The Dragoons had the tech they needed to operate without Comstar.



Dang it Lt. Dan... me thinks I remember thats book.

Dragoons came from the clans as a recon mission.
Sarna.net has the Sourcebooks for each of the Great Houses (Davion etc) in pdf form for free in their downloads section.
If you feel like spending money, Battlecorps.com has almost all the books in pdf form which are cheaper than print books, and they dont have as many books in print form.

[MarshmallowRampage]

Yes, the Clans have HPG's many of them are actually mounted on Warships if I recall. Comstar didnt know about them because they were not on the Clans Christmas card list.

[Woska]

Two separate networks. They didn't communicate with each other directly.

But I believe there was some mention that Comstar knew the Clans were coming before they arrived. But they kept it to themselves. Secrecy above all seems to be a Comstar thing.

[Insidious Johnson]

Ah, I think he is looking for a how answer: paraphrasing wiki :
1. They are based on same space warping tech as jump drives
2. Range is 50 light years.
3. Clans all in same area so transmitters all same capacity and only 1.2 second time delays
4. Ships had them too
5. The message is a pulse of information sent through an artificially created jump point.
6. Has to be a receiver on the other end.

[Scarlett Avignon]

Wicked06:
I got into Battletech around the beginning of the introduction of the Clans, so they have always existed in the universe, from my POV. I was drawn into BT because, as a 8 year old, giant robots shooting lasers is cool, but I quickly fell in love with the lore. Personally, I don't see how anyone in the BT universe could have really made a solid connection between Wolf's Dragoons and Kerensky's army. All the evidence that pointed to it was circumstantial at best.As far as how Wolf's Dragoon reported back to the Clans, it's mentioned that they had pre-arranged rendezvous with Clan contacts that were carried out in secret in the deep periphery. It was during one of these that Jamie Wolf was given the order to cut off all contact with the Clans and prepare the Inner Sphere for the invasion.

Woska:
Comstar had contact with the Clans via the Outbound Light, an Explorer Corp vessel on a routine mission that made contact. Comstar didn't really know who they had made contact with at the time, though, and the incident was put down as an anomalous contact with deep periphery colonist. When the Clans actually arrived, Comstar was completely blind-sided. In a strange part of the fiction, Anastasius Focht actually dismisses a theory that the Clans are descendants of Kerensky's army, and oddly suggest that the Clans are alien lifeforms, that might have killed the Star League army and taken their form. This might be explained by the extraordinary customs and rituals of the Clans, but I still think it's a strange turn in logic from an otherwise brilliant man.

[Kelly Redde]

wicked06, on 26 May 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

Comstar always knew more about everything the whole time. If you don't mind the question, how did you approach the printed game material? I know at first, when I approached the game as a player, I didn't care about the fluff. 20+ years later, I can't remember every specific detail. I've been in to the game since them ol' Battledroid days of '84. Check the old Wolf Dragoons agenda. Did you know what their gig was the whole time? Or, did you come in after the fact? How did the Dragoons report back after each House Contract they held? Comstar spies knew something was up early on. They fretted over it a long time. The Dragoons had the tech they needed to operate without Comstar.



Dang it Lt. Dan... me thinks I remember thats book.

I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading that book... for the tenth time.

But yes, it is assumed that the Clanners had their own HPG network, and the reason ComStar never found out about them was because the HPG network doesn't work like radios. The Hyper-Pulse Generators work on much the same principle as the FTL drives on JumpShips, in that very precise coordinates have to be calculated before the generator is activated, and a message sent.

In basic terms, it's like using two cups and a string. It's direct communication, not broadband signals.

[Scarlett Avignon]

Rizartha, on 26 May 2012 - 08:58 PM, said:

Yes, the Clans have HPG's many of them are actually mounted on Warships if I recall.

HPGs are only mounted on specific ships (almost always warships) due to their extreme mass.

Sorry, I'm an astrophysist and engineer in real life, and all this stuff is the reason I became what I am. So...you're literally talking about the things that made me the man I am today. I kind of get excited about it.

[Manthony Higgs]

Insidious Johnson, on 26 May 2012 - 09:19 PM, said:

Ah, I think he is looking for a how answer: paraphrasing wiki :
1. They are based on same space warping tech as jump drives
2. Range is 50 light years.
3. Clans all in same area so transmitters all same capacity and only 1.2 second time delays
4. Ships had them too
5. The message is a pulse of information sent through an artificially created jump point.
6. Has to be a receiver on the other end.

SO the Clan HPGs were too far away to be "heard" by ComStar?

[Scarlett Avignon]

Though hyperpulse technology isn't fully explained in Battletech lore, I've read enough to guess that it actually makes use of quantum entanglement. Quantum Entanglement occurs when particles interact. Basically, they become "tied together" over any distance, in that, they share the same, though opposite values. i.e., If one particle in a pair is spinning clockwise, it's "partner" will be spinning the opposite direction. It's mentioned several times that Comstar charges user fees based on the amount of data to be sent. One reason for this is that they only have so much bandwidth to work with during transmission.

It's been stated in the lore that a hyperpulse generator somehow creates a "micro-jump" of the same type that jumpships use transitioning the stars. I'd guess that during this event, they somehow induce a quantum entanglement effect that basically creates a faster than light data connection using the paired particles. They can only pair so many particles for so long, hence, they have limited bandwidth.

[Scarlett Avignon]

Manthony Higgs, on 26 May 2012 - 09:47 PM, said:

SO the Clan HPGs were too far away to be "heard" by ComStar?

Too far away (the Clan homeworlds are ~6 months of jumpship travel time from the Inner Sphere) and, once in the Inner Sphere during the invasion, they didn't "point them at" the Comstar HPG stations.