Of all the government systems to emerge in the Periphery, the
Outworlds Alliance claims the strangest collection of separatists
and anti-social types. Indeed, many political commentators have
referred to the Outworlds Alliance as a geographic expression of
collective political chaos. Unlike the Taurian Concordat or the
Magistracy of Canopus, the Outworlds Alliance was never intended
to be a lasting political entity. Indeed, its existence was due
to accident as much as to design.
The founding father of the Outworlds Alliance was Admiral
Julius Santiago Avellar. As a junior naval officer in the closing
years of the 2300s, Avellar was appalled by the ease with which
the states of the Inner Sphere sought to settle their differences
through increasingly destructive wars. Withdrawing to the world
of Alpheratz in 2413, Avellar devoted the rest of his life to
literary denunciations of the warmongers of the major Houses.
Though he may have planned to live out his life in obscurity,
Avellar became the leader of a virtual cult. His compassionate
pleas for an end to war created the Omniss, a new philosophical
sect. Advocating the rejection of any technology that did not
contribute to the preservation of life, followers of Omniss
flocked to Avellar's agrarian haven in the Periphery, much to the
chagrin of the hermit-like Avellar.
Before long, people from every social order began to descend
on his home on Alpheratz. As the hundreds quickly became
thousands and the thousands became tens of thousands, Avellar's
homestead was quickly overrun with political and social
dissidents. Expanding outward from Alpheratz in all directions,
Omniss farmers and their supporters began to colonize neighboring
star systems in a frenzy, persuaded by Avellar's writings that
galactic doomsday was just around the corner. Faced with the
growing problems of managing and caring for the well-meaning but
technologically inept multitudes on his doorstep, Avellar was
forced to do the one thing that he hated most: to create a
government able to provide for the needs of his newfound
followers. The result was the Outworlds Alliance, a union born
more of necessity than actual desire.
Since the beginning of the 31st century, the situation in the
Outworlds Alliance has become particularly grim. With the general
loss of technology, Alliance worlds have suffered from declining
population and literacy levels. Though protected by a strong
military, many of these planets are unable to feed their own
people. The people feel that their government has betrayed them,
and there have been many riots and demonstrations against the
hereditary Avellar regime in recent years. Although no one has
yet seriously challenged the right of House Avellar to rule the
Outworlds, armed rebellion is likely if the deteriorating
situation does not reverse itself.
The Outworlds Alliance is the second largest Periphery state
and the weakest of the major alliances both politically and
economically. Lying at the juncture between the Draconis Combine
and the Federated Suns, it consists of 38 inhabited worlds in a
volume of space approximately 55 parsecs in diameter, which is
one-fourth its former size. Its attempts to hold onto these few
remaining worlds have created serious economic and political
problems.
The threat of rebellion stems not so much from political
dissent as from the Alliance's inability to feed and care for its
multitudes. In recent years, renegade mercenary bands have staged
frequent raids on Alliance worlds, seriously disrupting commerce
and trade. With less than 40 serviceable JumpShips, the Merchant
Marine cannot hope to protect its outermost worlds. Numerous
Planetary Parliaments have criticized the Avellars' commitment to
maintain the Alliance military, particularly the AeroSpace Arm,
at the expense of the industrial base. Barring a major change in
the policies of the Executive Parliament, the military will
continue to receive the lion's share of the Alliance's meager
resources.
Ratified in 2417, the Alliance Charter is the basis of
government within the Outworlds Alliance. Its provisions
guarantee all citizens of the Alliance freedom of expression,
freedom of religious belief, and the right to pursue any
lifestyle or economic pursuit that does not infringe on the
rights of other citizens. Alliance citizenship is granted at
birth, while an individual may be naturalized after a ten-year
residency and demonstrable proof of his productivity in society.
The Alliance Charter created the framework for a streamlined
representative government. While acknowledging the right of House
Avellar to hold executive power, representatives of the Alliance
citizenry must agree unanimously on legislation before it can
become law. Likewise, the charter allows for the establishment of
planetary representative bodies (known as planetary Parliaments)
and judicial courts of appeal, which protect the rights of
citizens from governmental abuse. When the Alliance military was
established in the mid 2800s, the Alliance Charter was amended to
include a fourth government organ, the Alliance Military Review
Board.
The government of the Outworlds Alliance can be described as
democracy at its best, though few individuals take all the
responsibility that they might for conduct of the state.
Legislative action is a lengthy process that, though democratic,
is highly inefficient compared to many systems found in the Inner
Sphere.
As described by the Alliance Charter, the Executive Parliament
is the chief governmental organ of the Alliance state. Overseen
by the Parliamentary President (an office reserved for the senior
member of the Avellar family), the Parliament consists of one
representative for every ten inhabited planets of the Alliance.
At its largest, the Executive Parliament had 16 members, though
this number has shrunk to four (not including the President).
This is largely because both the Draconis Combine and the
Federated Suns annexed Alliance worlds at the end of the
Reunification War. Added to that have been outright planetary
secessions in the last two centuries because of poor relations
with the Alliance central government.
The Executive Parliament is charged with the conduct of all
foreign and internal affairs, subject to a unanimous vote of all
members present. This last, rather awkward requirement reflects
the desires of Alliance citizens to prevent any individual from
imposing a dictatorship on the majority. Such a provision makes
it dificult to pass any but the most conservative policy
directives.
The Executive Parliament is also responsible for military
affairs within the Outworlds. Traditionally, a four-person
executive subcommittee handles such matters. With the rise of a
standing army, however, the Executive Parliament created the
Alliance Military Review Board, which can veto this
sub-committee's operational directives whenever the Board judges
such directives to be contrary to the best interests of the
Alliance. The President can override the Board's decision, but
such action is considered politically dangerous.
Bodies of chosen representatives, known as Planetary
Parliaments, govern every inhabited world within the Outworlds
Alliance. Each Planetary Parliament consists of one
representative for every ten thousand inhabitants, elected by
annual popular vote. In addition, Planetary Parliaments select
one representative to the Executive Parliament for a three-year
term. With full authority to pass any legislation needed to
govern their worlds, Planetary Parliaments are subject to the
will of the Executive Parliament only in the broadest sense of
the term.
For every five thousand people, there is a five-member Court
of Appeals. The purpose of the Court of Appeal is twofold: first,
to enforce local laws with powers of prosecution; and second, to
review the directives handed down by the Executive Parliament. It
is entirely possible that one or more Courts of Appeal may decide
that an executive directive is unconstitutional, and may
subsequently rule that the directive is null and void within its
jurisdiction. Once every three years, representatives from each
Court of Appeal meet on Alpheratz to confirm or reject
nominations to the Executive Parliament and the Military Review
Board for the next session.
The latest addition to the Alliance political structure is the
Military Review Board. This board consists of four individuals,
one selected from each Alliance provincial capital and subject to
approval by the Courts of Appeals' confirmation committee.
Responsible for reviewing the organization and deployment of
Alliance military forces, the Review Board has the power to veto
(except in a state of Alliance-wide emergency) Executive Council
decisions regarding any use of the military. Thus can it
safeguard citizens from the threat of a military dictatorship or
the misuse of funds earmarked for military appropriations.
The primary political objective of the Outworlds Alliance is
survival. More than two centuries of isolationism have left it
with little economic and scientific vitality. Faced with an
industrial decline to pre-Star League levels, the Alliance has
recently opened its borders to immigration from the Draconis
Combine and the Federated Suns. Within the last decade, it has
also begun to offer trade agreements permitting outside interests
to mine Alliance worlds in exchange for technological
contributions. President Neil Avellar hopes that the influx of
new people and technologies may improve the economy, though many
have argued that the influx of foreign concerns may threaten the
Alliance's independence.
Following is a summary of the Outworlds Alliance's relations
with its interstellar neighbors.
Relations between the Federated Suns and the Alliance have
improved over the last decade, largely because Neil Avellar has
granted House Davion the right to exploit lucrative mining sites
within the Alliance. Begun in 3020, an Educational Exchange
program, bringing in numerous Davion teachers and educational
specialists, has increased overall literacy among the Alliance
population. Although the Federated Suns enjoys a favored nation
status with it, the Alliance has flatly refused offers of
military assistance, either offensive or defensive, and forbids
the presence of Davion warships or "military advisors"
within its confines.
There can be no question that the culture and political ideals
of the Outworlds Alliance are more compatible with those of the
Federated Suns than with the Draconis Combine. At any point
during the Succession Wars (including the present time), it would
have been infinitely preferable to them for the Davions to emerge
triumphant in their battles with the Kuritans. However, at no
point during the Succession Wars have the Outworlders had the
option of joining the Davions in any form of formal alliance, nor
even of helping them covertly, as Kuritan intelligence is far too
efficient for it to be worth the risk. The Coordinator's agents
have made every effort to uncover even the slightest hint that
the Avellar family has violated Outworlds neutrality, which
evidence they could use as an excuse for an invasion. It is for
this reason that ComStar believes that the Kuritans may have more
agents on Alpheratz than on either Tharkad or New Avalon.
Relations between the Draconis Combine and the Alliance are
cautious and reserved. Though Draconian merchants have lately
been allowed limited trade with the Alliance, many Outworlders
still look upon the Combine as a greedy empire that would like to
snatch up the Outworlds at the first opportunity. Yet, many
Alliance politicians look to the Combine as a source of revenue.
They have recently concluded a treaty with the Combine, which
allows the Kuritans to build several AeroSpace Fighter production
facilities in Alliance space, where production costs are
extremely low, while the Alliance gains a hefty bounty and a
percentage of all craft produced.
Though far removed from the Alliance, the Taurian Concordat is
on excellent terms with House Avellar, and citizens have complete
freedom of movement between the two states. Taurian naval
elements also have the right to conduct secret maneuvers within
Alliance space, and Taurian military advisors are known to be
present aboard several Alliance naval craft. For their part, the
Taurians receive good training from Alliance AeroSpace fighter
pilots, several of whom serve as advisors within the Taurian
military.
Though normally suspicious of any non-Periphery peoples, the
Alliance has eagerly welcomed ComStar within its borders since
the late 2790s. Of all the Periphery states, the Alliance is the
least resistant to the presence of ComStar facilities within its
domain. In recent years, many Outworlders have joined ComStar as
prospective acolytes. The Executive Parliament hopes that
assistance from ComStar may help stabilize its government and
economy.
The average Alliance citizen, however, seems to view ComStar
as a brotherhood of magicians at best, or a grand coven of
witches and warlocks at worst. Because the average Alliance
farmer or shepherd lacks even rudimentary education, he often
views with sincere alarm anything that smacks of ComStar.
Of all the Periphery states, the Outworlds Alliance has the
freest and openest society. This strength is also its greatest
weakness, making the people of the Alliance highly resistant to
change. Representative democracy is rather inefficient,
especially when unanimous approval of the Parliament is necessary
to enact legislation.
Within the Outworlds Alliance, all religious and philosophical
disciplines are tolerated. Unlike many worlds in the Inner
Sphere, where different religious communities coexist in the same
area, Outworlders of various religious persuasions have settled
on different planets. For example, on the capital world of
Alpheratz, the predominant religious faith is Islam, while on the
provincial capital of Ramora, the dominant faith is Taoism.
Of the many philosophical doctrines in the Alliance, the
Omniss creed predominates. Omniss is similar to the cultures of
the Mennonite and Amish religious groups of Terra during the 19th
and 20th centuries. Foreswearing the evils of technology in even
its simplest forms, the Omniss advocate an agrarian, close-knit,
and decidedly anti-militaristic lifestyle. This last facet of the
Omniss culture has had a major impact on Alliance society. At the
height of the Outworlds Alliance, over two-thirds of its
citizenry were members of the Omniss creed, and thus in a
position to prevent the creation of standing Alliance military.
The lack of a military almost proved the Alliance's undoing in
the Reunification War. Though the Omniss are less influential
today, their continued opposition to military appropriations
still has an effect on both government and society.
One of the newest religious groups to emerge are the
Gregorians. Named after the founder of the Order of Dominant
Selection, Mathias Gregory, the Gregorians advocate a lifestyle
in which multiple marriages are not only the rule but a
fundamental necessity. As a general decline in population
threatens this state's existence, the creed has gained
substantial acceptance in all levels of society. An estimated 30
percent of all Outworlders belong to, or support, the Gregorian
creed.
Despite the wide diversity of philosophical and religious
creeds in the Alliance, there has been a surprising lack of
conflict between these groups. Due in part to planetary
segregation, this tolerance is also due to the basic philosophy
of Outworlders, who feel that religious bigotry is a mental
disease of the Inner Sphere that must never be permitted to
infect the Alliance.
The Alliance military is in some ways a contradiction in
terms. For most of its history, there was no standing army except
for the local retainers of House Avellar. With the outbreak of
the Reunification War, the Alliance militia began to evolve as
the state's sole defense. These ill-equipped citizen-soldiers did
little to slow the hordes of the Star League. Although the
Alliance government had to accept the military restrictions that
the Star League imposed on them after the war, the Alliance
leaders also recognized that the day would come again when they
would have to fight for their freedom. Gradually, the concept of
maintaining a professional military arm became accepted in the
Alliance.
In the years since the beginning of the Succession Wars, the
Alliance Military Corps (AMC) has been based on a citizen militia
force, albeit one well-trained and well-equipped. The Alliance
has made AeroSpace Fighters its primary offensive and defensive
arm, because Outworlders disdain BattleMechs as a symbol of Inner
Sphere destructiveness and a tool of petty tyrants. Though the
Alliance maintains BattleMech troops, these Warriors have neither
the high status nor the high wages they command in most other
armies.
The Alliance military is unique in its total lack of mercenary
units. The Alliance Charter specifically forbids the use of such
troops within the Outworlds.
Because the military is unimportant in the Alliance, uniforms
are generally drab and nondistinct. Alliance militia,
MechWarriors, and support forces wear the same uniform: dark
brown fatigues with green piping. Only a red scarf distinguishes
the the dress uniform from the standard uniform. Provision for
uniforms and equipment is the responsibility of planetary
parliaments, few of which care to invest large sums of money for
special dress when a functional design will do. As a result,
units from different planets have varying equipment, often
relying on what is available. MechWarriors, in particular, use a
wide variety of equipment, much of it salvaged from Kurita and
Davion units of centuries past.
The exception to this rule is the AeroSpace Arm. Because
AeroSpace fighter pilots enjoy a presfige that the ground forces
lack, their uniforms are of better quality. The traditional
uniform consists of a white blouse with bright green piping and
sky-blue trousers. In flight operations, pilots wear an all-white
flight suit with a green collar and cuffs, and such personal
equipment as may be available.
The Alliance navy does not exist as a separate combat arm. The
few merchant DropShips in the Outworlds have been refitted to
carry weapons, in keeping with their role as privateers in time
of conflicts. Therefore, naval dress is generally the same as
that of the Alliance merchant marine, which is at the discretion
of individual ship captains.
To downplay the importance of a standing armed force, the
Alliance's rank structure is extremely sparse. Only four enlisted
and officer ranks are permitted within the AMC, as described
below.
Enlisted ranks reflect the soldiers' role as servants of the
state, while officer ranks denote administrative rather than
combat duties. Enlisted personnel typically serve for a period of
four years.
Defender All recruits in the Alliance military enter service as the
result of lotteries, with the respective Planetary Parliaments
establishing annual quotas. Each inductee is presented with the
title "Defender of the State," a rank that reflects a
variety of occupations. The term typically denotes enlisted
personnel roughly equivalent through the rank of Corporal in
Inner Sphere military systems, and the soldiers wear a
bright-green circle on each collar lapel to denote this rank.
Protector Enlisted personnel who have served a minimum of one year of
active duty are granted the rank and responsibilities of
Protector of the Homeland. The obligations of the rank correspond
to those of Junior Sergeants in Inner Sphere systems. Two green
circles on each lapel signify this rank.
Guardian The term "Guardian of the Homeland" denotes enlisted
personnel who have completed a minimum of two years of active
service in the AMC. Responsibilities correspond to those of Staff
Sergeants within the Inner Sphere. Soldiers of this rank wear a
brown circle within a larger green circle on their lapels.
Preceptor The rank of "Preceptor" is awarded to individuals
who have served at least three years in the AMC. A Preceptor is
roughly equivalent to a Senior Sergeant or Sergeant-Major in
Inner Sphere armies, though the Preceptor's responsibilities are
typically less because of the smaller size of the Alliance
military. Their insignia is the same as that of the Guardian,
except that two green circles are worn instead of just one.
To become an officer in the AMC, an individual must be
nominated by their Parliamentary representative and approved by
the Military Review Board. An officer serves a minimum of five
years.
Supervisor A Supervisor in the Alliance military is equivalent to an
Ensign or Second Lieutenant in the Inner Sphere. Most are
employed as platoon or lance commanders in BattleMech or
AeroSpace fighter detachments. These officers wear a single green
horizontal bar on their lapels.
Section Leader The equivalent of a First Lieutenant or Brevet Captain within
the Inner Sphere, a Section Leader typically commands two or more
platoons of infantry, or two or more lances of BattleMechs or
AeroSpace fighters. They wear two horizontal green bars side by
side on their lapels.
Director A Director is a staff planner or senior commander in the
field, typically commanding a company of infantry, BattleMechs,
or AeroSpace fighters. Directors wear solid brown lapels and one
brown stripe on both cuffs.
Chairman Alliance Chairmen serve a dual function in the AMC. At a
tactical level, they can command upwards of a battalion of
infantry, 'Mechs, fighters, or a mixture of several different
types of companies. In addition, they serve as senior staff
planners and specialists. Solid green lapels and green stripes on
both cuffs denote these officers.
The structure of the Alliance Military Corps allocates many of
the normal functions of military divisions to Planetary
Parliaments or the Alliance Military Review Board. Thus, there
are only three distinct branches of the military.
Receiving the lion's share of annual fiscal appropriations,
the AeroSpace Arm is charged with first-line defense of all
Alliance homeworlds. It consists of four fighter regiments, which
in turn are composed of three wings each. A wing is composed of
three combat flotillas of three air lances, which consist of two
Fighters. A separate command wing brings the total number of
Fighters in each regiment to 60, for a total of 240 AeroSpace
Fighters of various types. Though many of these craft are the
salvaged remnants of previous conflicts, some 40 percent are less
than two generations old.
The Aerospace Arm also commands twelve JumpShips and two dozen
DropsShips, which deploy the AMC's Mechanized Corps forces when
not engaged in aerospace support.
The Ground Defense Arm is divided into two separate forces:
the Planetary Militia and the Mechanized Corps. The Planetary
Militia consists of those citizen militias and Freicorp
battalions designated strictly for home defense. Its function is
not to contest an invasion of the world, but to tie up their
resources and pin the attackers in place until reinforcements
arrive. The Alliance Mechanized Corps consists of two BattleMech
regiments, and a regiment of armor and motorized infantry.
Two-thirds of the Alliance BattleMechs are light, Wasps and
Stingers mostly, and the rest is an assortment of medium and
heavy 'Mechs produced on Alpheratz.
The Alliance Service Arm is a polyglot corps containing all
noncombatant services found in the military. Most of these
services are meager, however, due to a shortage of equipment and
of dedicated, long-term service personnel. The AMC Medical Corps
is generally ineffective and relies on local support from
civilian institutions.
Although the Outworlds Alliance is nearly devoid of major
industry compared with the production potential of the Successor
States, it does maintain a few minor industrial concerns devoted
to weapons production.
The Outworlds Alliance military is a mixed bag. Its officers
emphasize defensive operations involving AeroSpace Fighters to
deter enemy attacks or to inflict heavy damage once an aggressor
has penetrated the Alliance defense perimeter. The lack of
BattleMechs and support craft in any real numbers make offensive
operations outside the Alliance impractical. The Alliance militia
can offer only marginal resistance, though several units,
especially those from planets in the interior, may be of stronger
mettle. The Alliance Ground Defense Arm is capable of putting up
a good battle, but its years of isolation from the Inner Sphere
may leave unit commanders at a serious tactical disadvantage.
Much of the Outworlds' social structure revolves around its
agrarian lifestyle, which is due mainly to the influence of the
Omniss philosophy. In recent years, however, the Alliance has
experienced a shift in social norms, as technicians and
scientists, once regarded as second-class citizens, have begun to
win new respectability as their talents have become more in
demand. This notwithstanding, the average Alliance citizen is
only marginally literate and prone to a number of superstitions.
A lack of educational systems beyond the secondary school level
aggravates this condition. Much of the Alliance educational
structure was destroyed during the Reunification War, and the
subsequent isolation of the Alliance has done little to improve
the situation. Only one university exists within the Outworlds,
the University of Alpherak, and this institution has few
disciplines devoted to the hard sciences.
Unlike many other Periphery states, the Alliance bestows few
titles of nobility. With the exception of minor appellations
(largely hereditary titles reserved for members of the Avellar
family), most people regard the presumption of nobility as proof
of an individual's desire to gain power at the expense of his
neighbors.
The average Alliance citizen is a hard-working, if
superstitious, individual who values personal loyalty and has a
strong work ethic. Less than 10 percent of the Alliance's
population can be classified as well-to-do, and even these have
very little in comparison with their Inner Sphere counterparts.
The Outworlds Alliance has the weakest economy of all the
Periphery states. During the Reunification War, Star League
forces leveled 90 percent of this state's industrial concerns,
and what remained intact was heavily damaged. The Star League's
levying of heavy tax burdens on the Alliance hampered government
efforts to rebuild its broken industries. Such industry as
remains in the Outworlds suffers from a lack of modern
technology. Assembly lines are manual, for example, and little
automation exists (even in government-sponsored concerns such as
weaponry production).
Despite recent efforts to encourage foreign industry, the
economy of the Alliance continues to stagnate. The situation is
so bad that many worlds have reverted to the barter system to
meet the needs of their populations. The establishment of a
central reserve bank and a planetary stock exchange have failed,
largely because such institutions are regarded as tyrannical
inventions of Star League dictators. Even the introduction of
ComStar C-Bills as a means of exchange has done little to reverse
this process. Unless drastic reform takes place in the next
decade, the Alliance could easily suffer total economic collapse.
[Prepared by Major C.G. Toho, Periphery expert for Wolfnet Military Intelligence Division. Seventh Kommando]
The Outworlds Alliance, like many of the Periphery
independents, has been seeking greater trade with the Inner
Sphere. President Avellar has lately granted favorable trade
terms in return for help against increased pirate activity.
Neil Avellar, who became president in 3015, ruled his people
reluctantly - and his lack of enthusiasm for the task showed. Low
in self-confidence, he consulted endlessly with his advisors
before making each decision. Though he proved adequate to the
job, the Outworlds Alliance failed to grow economically or in any
other way during the early years of his reign. This lack of
growth could be laid directly at the president's feet, for the
Outworlds Alliance offered worthwhile returns to any party
willing to invest in extracting its plentiful natural resources.
But because many of its early colonists were against technology
in most of its forms, the Alliance devoted its assets to
agricultural pursuits, never even attempting to take advantage of
the planets' mineral reserves. By the time the nation's leaders
recognized that their natural resources could be the key to
economic recovery, they no longer had the assets necessary to
explot those resources.
In 3034, nineteen unhappy years after he assumed the
presidency of the Outworlds Alliance, Neil Avellar married
Rebecca DeSanders, a Federated Suns diplomat with close ties to
the Davion rulers. Though his marriage made him happier in many
ways, not the least of which was the opportunity he now had to
father a child to replace him as president, his choice of
partners was an unpopular decision both within and without his
realm. The Draconis Combine objected to the marriage as an
obvious ploy by the Federated Commonwealth to subsume the
Periphery realm, and the Kurita ambassador refused to believe any
other explanation of the partnership. Unfortunately for President
Avellar, a certain number of Alliance citizens felt the same way,
afraid that their nation would follow the path taken by the
Tikonov Free Republic several years earlier. What little internal
resistance existed to Avellar's rule polarized around this issue,
and the Outworlds Alliance remained on cool terms with House
Kurita for many years.
When Neil and Rebecca's son Mitchell arrived in 3035, he
represented a beacon of hope for all the people of the Outworlds
Alliance. Finally, it seemed a better tomorrow might be possible
with a generation, and early evidence that Mitchell possessed
genius-level intelligence - he spoke in complete sentences and
understood basic math skills much earlier than the average infant
- gave the Alliance citizens even more reason to hope for a
brighter future. The nation soon realized, however, that hope was
not enough.
[Prepared by Precentor Eliza Phereson, Research Team-chi, ComStar Archives]
Although the Federated Commonwealth had begun operations to
extract the Outworlds Alliance's natural resources in return for
favorable trading terms, the returns were too modest for them to
fully invest in such a course. Every time Houses Davion and
Steiner went to war, their attention would stray from their
Periphery operations, and the Inner Sphere realms sometimes went
so far as to pull the military assets assigned to the Periphery
back to their own borders. Every time the Houses went to war, the
bandits returned in force
The daring raids perpetrated against Davion mining and
manufacturing operations in 3037 forced the House lord to choose
between repairing and reststarting those facilities, or reserving
his nation's assets for the war he planned to begin in 3038. The
bandits, but luck or design, managed to cripple and/or destroy
many key facilities, and the Federated Suns neither retaliated
nor rebuilt. Lacking the technology necessary to restart
operations on its own, the Alliance lost its fragile hold on
economic growth and unemployment began to grow alarmingly.
The Avellars produced a daughter, Camillo, in 3037, and
another girl in 3038, whom they named Patrice. Though they took
great joy in both events, those happy occasions were insufficient
to offset their desperate struggle to keep the Outworlds Alliance
afloat.
As the War of 3039 lurched to an end, President Avellar
renewed his efforts to persuade other nations to invest in the
Outworlds Alliance. Disrupted trade and communications between
the Draconis Combine, the Federated Commonwealth, and the
Alliance made these appeals difficult, but Davion did devote new
resources to reopening and rebuilding that realm's existing
mining and manufacturing facilities. It was also at this time
that Kurita began negotiations for subsidizing Alliance aerospace
production, though those plans only came to fruition years later.
In marked contract to the Successor States, ComStar took a
genuine, vigorous, and lasting interest in the Outworlds
Alliance. We invested in a strong relationship with the Alliance
government, offering favorable terms on HPG transmissions and
agreeing to use local Alliance physical and human resources to
build and staff new facilities. In return, the Alliance agreed to
the construction of HPG facilities on several worlds and granted
the Com Guards use of massive expanses of land as training
grounds. The arrangement was satisfactory for all sides.
ComStar's presence initially received some negative public
reaction. Most likely because our level of technological
achievement reminded the citizens of the Star League and the
privations suffered in their struggle against that force, our
landings often met with demonstrations and protesters. We soon
determined, however, that those who opposed us represented the
minority. Most Alliance citizens welcomed the jobs our presence
created and our requirements even gave rise to one or two cottage
industries in each location where we built an HPG. Our most
valuable contribution to Alliance society, however, was the
outstanding work of our education teams, which spread out to all
Alliance worlds and taught young and old alike.
Though recruitment to our ranks was not a primary, or even
secondary, goal of our presence in the Outworlds Alliance, we
received an extraordinary number of requests from that realm's
citizenry to join our Order. Part of the attraction, to be sure,
lay in the heavily mystic nature of ComStar at the time - a
nature that appealed to the fundamentally pious background of the
citizens' ancestry. The more likely explanation for this
overwhelming response, however, was that ComStar members enjoyed
a significantly higher standard of living than most members of
the Outworlds Alliance. This latter explanation also supports the
current, continuing high level of enrollment from the Alliance
even after the split between ComStar and Word of Blake.
Though ComStar's presence offered a ray of hope to the
Outworlds Alliance that conditions might finally improve, the
situation would deteriorate further before things got better.
Even before our Order began establishing HPG stations on Alliance
worlds, that realm had begun relying more and more on the barter
system. While exchanging goods and services with their neighbors
and with other communities and planets encouraged the citizens to
share their problems, triumphs, and fears, it also reinforced
just how primitive their lifestyles had become. Their reliance on
the barter system also complicated relations with the Inner
Sphere, for Alliance traders insisted on receiving payment for
their goods in gold, only reluctantly accepting C-bills and
refusing all House currency.
Increased communication between communities also served to
consolidate an increasingly large faction calling for Neil
Avellar's resignation. Though the Alliance's basically pacifistic
outlook prevented this unrest from breaking out into armed
rebellion, the biggest stumbling block to choosing a new
president was a lack of qualified candidates for his replacement.
Dissatisfied as they were with Avellar's performance, the
citizens of the Alliance had no desire to jump from the frying
pan to the fire by throwing their existing government into
upheaval merely for the sake of change. Only the most
unreasonable factions refused to admit that the Alliance's
deep-seated, long-standing economic woes could be more accurately
blamed on the realm's founders than its current administration.
The Clan invasion offered only one bright spot for the
Outworlds Alliance. As soon as the Inner Sphere realized the
strength of the enemy they faced, the House Lords immediately
diverted all their energy and available resources to dealing with
this threat. The Periphery bandits wasted no time in abandoning
their raids against the poorer Periphery realms and devoting
their efforts to plundering the richer, underdefended planets of
the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine. While the
Outworlds Alliance lost even the sketchy economic support of
those two realms, they also found themselves nearly free of the
regular predations of bandits. The Alliance economy did not
improve, but it also did not decline.
The Truce of Tukayyid heralded a return of the bandits to the
Periphery, and renewed hope in the Outworlds Alliance for
economic recovery. Unfortunately, the apparently permanent
presence of the Clans in the Inner Sphere continued to distract
Houses Davion and Kurita from resuming their economic initiatives
in the Alliance. President Avellar's popularity sank to an
all-time low, and evem the good news that the tiny Outworlds
Alliance military was posting victories against bandit attacks
could not redeem him.
(Deployment as of 3054)
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld
The Alliance Borderers Regular 0.33 Ramora
Regular 0.33 Coraines
Green 0.33 Mitchella
(CO: Fitzroy Candly)
The Alliance Grenadiers Veteran 0.33 Praxton
Regular 0.33 Baliggora
Regular 0.33 Ferris
(CO: Chairman Janet Rice)
Avellar Guards Regular 0.33 Sevon
Regular 0.33 Alpheratz
Green 0.33 Alpheratz
(CO: Chairman Douglas Carmichael)
In March 3056, President Neil Avellar held a press conference
to pass the reins of government to his son, Mitchell. His voice
repeatedly breaking as his emotions overwhelmed him, Neil Avellar
offered a heartfelt apology to his people for the many years of
hardship under his rule and asked their forgiveness. He walked
away from the podium and was never seen in his native realm
again. After being swordn in as the new president the very next
day, Mitchell Avellar pledged to seclude himself with his
advisors for as long as it took to devise a workable plan to
revitalize the Outworlds Alliance.
True to his word, President Mitchell Avellar returned to his
people two months later with a series of governmental initiatives
and trade packages known as the Long Road Program. Designed to
gradually reverse the nation's economic decline and breathe new
life into its minimal industrial base, the Long Road Program
addressed multiple solutions simultaneously. Building on the
increased level of education and literacy fostered by ComStar's
work toward an agreement that would allow Alliance-owned business
groups to rebuild, reopen and/or improve existing Davion mining
and manufacturing enterprises with the goal of creating new jobs
for Alliance citizens, who were now better qualified to perform
those roles. Though each Davion company may work out the specific
details of its individual agreement, the main provision of the
settlement between the governments calls for the Federated
Commonwealth companies to provide sufficient capital to
jump-start the operation and to sacrifice a minor percentage of
the business's output. In return, the Alliance partner provides
the work force, operating capital, and delivery to all
purchasers.
Determined to give his people a tangible sign of his
commitment to raising their standard of living, Avellar arranged
to mint new currency. He declined to uses his own likeness as the
central image, however, choosing instead a picture of the sun
emerging from a cloud to remind the citizens of the realm that
there was hope for their future. Mitchell also pledged a
substantial percentage of his family's personal fortune to
funding government-run manufacturing and mining concerns. He
intends for this initiative to create new jobs and foster a
national income, another effort to improve the nation's economy.
Several other factors also currently serve to boost the income of
the Alliance: the recently issued currency named the escudo is
gaining wider-spread use; the BattleMech games on Lushann enjoy
growing acceptance as a less expensive but equally entertaining
alternative to the Solaris games; and several spices unique to
Alliance worlds have come into greater demand throughout other
Periphery realms and the Capellan Confederation.
Though President Avellar's business principles are sound and
his advisors and the Executive Parliament agree with his proposed
solutions, much of what he is trying to do has been repatedly
delayed by the Alliance's painfully slow democratic process.
Because the Parliament must approve all internal and foreign
policies by unanimous vote, even the smallest reform requires
lengthy deliberation and debate - and Mitchell Avellar's
suggested reforms are substantial. Presiden Avellar also blames
himself for some of the delays, admitting that his relative youth
has caused some to question his credibility and the wisdom of his
plans. His only effective response to such naysayers is to point
out that he was raised practically from the cradle to assume
leadership of the Outworlds Alliance, and there is no one better
suited to do so. Though he hopes that his people will eventually
accept his leadership on faith and on his good record, he
recognizes that he might be forced to accept the assistance of
media coaches to establish his credibility outside his realm.
Even though Mitchell Avellar has abrely held the office of
president long enough to demonstrate competence or incompetence,
he faces strong opposition from a group known as the Separatists
(who also opposed his father's rule), and he must answer the
concerns of several factions that believe the military should
receive a larger share of the available resources.
Led by Barnabas Hyard, chairman of the planet Baliggora, the
Separatists believe that the Alliance can no longer exist as a
cohesive state. This group advocates dissolving the realm and
allowing the settled worlds to succeed or fail on their own,
obviously trusting that individual planets will conduct their own
affairs more efficiently than a central government. Though this
organization boasts a devoted following of the disaffected, Huard
himself lacks the charisma and leadership skills necessary to
forge the Separatists into an effective political force. Until
such a leader rises to the fore, this grgup will remain nothing
more than a very vocal club of dissatisfied citizens.
In marked contrast to their traditional views, a growing
number of Alliance worlds currently believe that President
Avellar's reformation policies do too little for the Alliance
Military Corps. Probably as a result of their exposure to our
Order's philosophies regarding the deterrent value of a strong
defensive force, these worlds are calling for a rapid military
build-up and for immediate acquisition of Star League technology.
Though counseling the wisdom of establishing a solid economic
base before investing in a stronger military, Avellar's words
seem to be falling on deaf ears.
Though the Clan invasion did not touch the planets of the
Outworlds Alliance, the realm felt the impact of that conflict.
The small financial investment the Federated Commonwealth made
years ago in the Alliance by building minor industrial bases on
certain planets gave the Alliance economy a significant, if
short-lived boost. But when the Federated Commonwealth turned its
attention to battling the invaders, those manufacturing plants
were the first to lose financial and military resources. The
increase in economic support hoped for by President Neil Avellar
simply familed to materialize, though the troops guarding Davion
assets remained. President Avellar's negotiations with Prince
Victor seem far more likely to establish lasting economic
improvement.
Because the Outworlds Alliance never gave much effort to
maintaining communications with Inner Sphere powers other than
those directly on its doorstep, Katherine Steiner-Davion's move
to separate the newly christened Lyran Alliance from the
Federated Commonwealth has had very little effect on the
Periphery state. If not for Victor Steiner-Davion's willingness
to authorize otehrs in his administration to conduct negotiations
with the Periphery realms, however, this internal problem could
have seriously delayed President Avellar's recovery plans.
Offering another major boost to the Outworlds Alliance's
meager industrial base, the Draconis Combine recently began to
subsidize increased production of aerospace fighters. The one
military asset the Alliance continually supported regardless of
the competence of the realm's leader, the aerospace industry
remained in place and ready to implement renewed and expanded
production schedules as soon as opportunity allowed.
Cordial relations with its nearest neighbors has allowed the
Outworlds Alliance to resume trading for much-needed resources.
The Taurian Concordat, always friendly toward the Alliance, has
begun negotiations to trade services - manual laborers from the
Alliance to help with colonization efforts in exchange for
Concordat military advisors and instructors to help improve the
effectiveness of the Alliance ground forces.
Unable to offer much in the way of economic aid at present,
the Magistracy of Canopus nonetheless has pledged to provide such
support as soon as possible. In the emantime, the Magestrix
gladly schedules the Canopian pleasure circuses for regular stops
in the Alliance, events which always boost the local economy and
raise the citizen's spirits.
Of the other nearby Periphery worlds, only the tiny Mica
Majority possesses what can kindly be called an organized
government, and Alliance merchants regualrly stop at this
three-world realm to trade for the precious metals mined on the
asteroids orbiting all three planets.
The nearby world of Antallos, more commonly known as Port
Krin, poses a major problem for the Outworlds Alliance. President
Avellar would like nothing more than to establish diplomatic
relations with this pirate haven, for doing so would eliminate
his realm's most constant and damaging enemy. Needless to say, no
single person or band of pirates has been able to gain the upper
hand on this brutal, corrupt world, and so Port Krin continues to
serve as a convenient base from which bandits conduct their
devastating raids against the planets of the Outworlds Alliance.
Though the Alliance Military Corps is willing to mount an attack
against Antallos, the probable consequences of their failure to
subdue the entire planet are too terrible to risk.
The populations od Dneiper, Milligan's World, and Prinis
Prime, the three Alliance worlds closest to Antallos, have
gradually abandoned their holdings in the face of repeated bandit
raids. The people who stubbornly refuse to give up their homes
and lands are nearly self-sufficient and long ago ceased to feel
any loyalty to the Alliance government.
Pirate attacks continue to represent the greatest source of
trouble, both political and economic, that the Outworlds Alliance
faces, and at the moment they must try to conquer that particular
challenge alone.
As noted previously, ComStar enjoys a particularly strong
relationship with the Outworlds Alliance. Though many Alliance
citizens were initially attracted to our organization by the
Order's religious elements, the number of people from that realm
seeking to join ComStar has not declined since the Primus
demystified our technology and knowledge.
Steady enrollment figures and the marked lack of Word of Blake
factions in this Periphery realm may be traced to the same reason
- the people of the Periphery have always been independent
thinkers. We have always assumed that a certain percentage of our
members were not true believers in the words said to belong to
Jerome Blake, and though willing to follow the rules of our
Order, members who came to us from the Periphery often fell into
that pragmatic percentage. ComStar personnel stationed in the
Periphery were chosen specifically for their ability and
willingness to take initiative when necessary and for their
flexibility when dealing with native populations. Even if they
adhered to former ComStar doctrines to the letter, they were
eminently sensible and better able to adapt to the new direction
than other adepts and acolytes.
ComStar's Periphery outposts have taken on new importance
since the Draconis Combine has invested in revitalizing the
Explorer Corps. The HPG stations in the Outworlds Alliance, like
similar stations elsewhere in the Periphery, now serve as
launching points for ships in search of Clan homeworlds. This
increased activity, of course, provides new jobs for locals
living near the ComStar stations.
(Deployment as of 3058)
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld The Alliance Borderers (CO: Chairman Fitzroy Candly) 1st Battalion Regular 0.33 Ramora (CO: Chairman David King) 2nd Battalion Regular 0.33 Coraines (CO: Chairman Ross Hibler) 3rd Battalion Green 0.33 Mitchella (CO: Chairman Russell Potter) The Alliance Grenadiers (CO: Chairman Janet Rice) 1st Battalion Veteran 0.33 Praxton (CO: Chairman Cynthia Rice) 2nd Battalion Regular 0.33 Baliggora (CO: Chairman Wayne Girance) 3rd Battalion Regular 0.33 Ferris (CO: Chairman Irene Simonson) Avellar Guards (CO: Chairman Douglas Carmichael) 1st Battalion Regular 0.33 Sevon (CO: Chairman Ginna Maynor) 2nd Battalion Regular 0.33 Alpheratz (CO: Chairman Michael Nielson) 3rd Battalion Green 0.33 Alpheratz (CO: Chairman Robert Timborski) Spade's Brigade (CO: Captain Janey Spade) Green 0.11 Jordan Wais Bammer's Bunch (CO: Captain Harrison Bammer) Green 0.11 Rudolpho Golden Boys (CO: Major Charice Kush) Regular 0.22 Lushann Spade's Brigade (CO: Captain Amanda Huggins) Regular 0.11 Loparri Spade's Brigade (CO: Captain Seymore Hares) Regular 0.11 Tellman IV
[Back to the Periphery States]
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