Comstar Historical Interlude 3010-3020
Introduction: This section of the textbook only refers to the Comstar historical period of 3010-3020 for information on the historical periods of 3000-3010 and 3020-3030 you should look at sections thirteen and fifteen.
It should be interesting to note, that Comstar in this period was not truly neutral as they are today, in fact, you could consider them a developing and hidden superpower until 3012 when their secrecy was broken by a lone Precentor's mistake. The first two years of this time period was of particular note because of the current Precentor ROM, Vesar Kristofur planting the seeds and assisting in beginning the tension that would later explode into the Marik Civil War(1). Comstar had encountered no problems of any note at this point until the Precentor of the then hidden world of Versailles(2) (Known as Taussen to Comstar) launched an attack on the world of Kentares IV, intending to pin the blame on the Draconis Combine. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated the sheer amount of defenses that were in place in the Kentares system, and the attacking forces lack of information security allowed this hidden world to be discovered.
Now, it should be noted that the ComGuards were mostly a security force at this time, with only Terra (And some other locations mentioned later) being guarded by more than a token force. This meant that the Comguards that they did have were not quite up to a comparable training level of the rest of the Inner Sphere.
After the failed attack on Kentares IV, the Federated Suns retaliated with a precision raid against the hidden world, stripping away many Lostech factories and facilities from the world, and beginning to try and reintegrate the population with the Federated Suns. Unfortunately, Comstar had sent the Warship Narbonne (Later known as the Defender) to investigate the lack of contact with said world. The Federated Suns forces had all evacuated by this point aside from the personal dropship and guard of Duke Hull of Kentares IV, who managed to escape with a minor amount of casualties.
Comstar disavowed any knowledge of Warships in this time period, which was effective for a time until their ROM intelligence department made a critical mistake in allowing their communications to be intercepted in late 3015. ROM had used stolen codes to activate sleeper cells of both the ISF and MASK that had been previously unknown to the Davions. This move, while if it had been successful may have postponed several of the issues that occurred later, ended up costing Comstar a large portion of their Black navy fleet when Duke Hull retaliated.
By late 3016, Comstar had suffered a major loss in the form of Primus Tiepolo, and a not insignificant portion of the fleet that they had been preparing. The theft of these Warships later allowed the FedSuns to begin reverse engineering compact K-F drives, and begin development of their own Warship.
The Comstar Civil War as it is known to many historians, doesn't have a specific date on it, but most assume that it began in 3016 when instead of electing a new Primus, accusations of Precentor Rom poisoning the Primus and other insults were thrown, leading the more radical elements of Comstar to begin persecuting and trying to eliminate what are now called Moderates, along with have been termed as the businessmen.
Comstar began to split in two major directions at this point, the radical elements who desired to subjugate the entirety of the Inner Sphere, with the Moderates and businessmen as the opposition to that. While the Moderates and Radicals were fighting (Sometimes literally) The businessmen were the ones ensuring that Comstar remained functional as an interstellar entity, continuing the services that Comstar was known for and essentially remaining neutral, (Though moderate leaning) in the civil war.
The Comstar Civil War didn't truly end until 3019, when the last known elements of the radicals were eliminated, with Precentor Thomas Marik of the Comstar Exploration Corps being elected Primus. Thomas Marik immediately set about fixing many of the issues with Comstar, and created a new position and council to hold oversight over the First circuit, this councils first Chair was the protege of Thomas Marik, Myndo Waterly, he had taken note of her technical skills and political prowess early on, and had supported her rapid rise through Comstar's ranks.
This odd power duo, created a truly neutral entity for trade and communications, with many HPG's in periphery worlds and places like the Outback of the Federated Suns and the Outworlds Alliance having schools and hospitals attached. With the funds that had been devoted to the Hidden Worlds(3) being devoted to other areas that promoted education and health, Comstar exploded with new recruits, and while they never truly lost their slight religious bent, they had transformed the culture of Comstar in such a way that by 3025, Comstar certifications and graduates were compared to the likes of NAIS and SLC(4).
Unfortunately for Thomas Marik, his home nation never recovered from the Marik Civil War, with the Anduriens splitting off to form their own independent state, and many others following suit. Nearly the entirety of the border between the Free Worlds League and the Lyran Commonwealth had voluntarily joined the Commonwealth by 3025, and the Marik's held a fraction of the worlds they once possessed. Thomas Marik never returned to the Free Worlds League, instead dying of old age many years after retiring as Primus, passing his title on to his protege Waterly, and she led Comstar to even greater heights.
The Marik Civil War ended up taking place a couple of years later, and ended up with the dissolution of the Free Worlds LeagueIt was later revealed in 3050 when it was declassified by the Kentares Guard that there were supposedly five Hidden Worlds based on different aspects of war production.Referenced previously, the Hidden Worlds had been where a massive amount of money was spent, and the ability to shift those funds allowed Comstar to begin the increase of Education levels in the Inner Sphere and the Periphery.Sharpshooter Learning Center, founded in 3018 by Dr. Adamina Rogers. Known as the premier engineering and materials science school in the Inner Sphere, only rivaled by NAIS' R&D team.