The lore of the MechWarrior PC game franchise is remarkably deep, and it has been explored in novels, short stories and other products since 1985. In fact, there is no single, overall protagonist or storyline; instead, this is an extensive chronicle of the rise and fall of empires, great interstellar battles, conspiracies and more. An organization called ComStar was there to witness most of it.
The heartland of human space, the Inner Sphere, is divided into feuding Great Houses, each of which controls vast interstellar nations. The neutral party in all this is ComStar itself, which serves a public role as a universal communications company, hence its name -- but there is far more to ComStar than e-mails and video chat services.
The horrific Amaris Civil War finally came to a close in 2780, but the nations of the Inner Sphere soon had another problem: the question of succession. The once-great Star League was in ruins, and the five Great Houses aimed to claim its power and rule the universe in its stead. Alarmed, General Aleksandr Kerensky not only launched his exodus fleet to remove the mighty SLDF from the equation, he also sponsored the creation of ComStar.
This brand-new entity was born from what remained of the Star League's communications and administration departments, and a man named Jerome Blake was entrusted with this new company and its vital role. ComStar would serve as a neutral party during the coming conflicts, ensuring that communication would be maintained, no matter how bad the fighting got. Without quick and reliable communication, interstellar civilization would fall apart. ComStar certainly served this purpose in the destructive Succession Wars, but under the surface, ComStar secretly became radical.
Jerome Blake and his successor, Conrad Toyama, were convinced that mankind was becoming corrupt, unable to create lasting peace or find its true destiny. Therefore, they felt it fell to ComStar to act as a benevolent but strict shepherd to guide humanity to a better future. To that end, ComStar took on a more zealous edge, with all its members wearing hooded robes and treating technology as divine and sacred.
Additionally, ComStar actively made sure that the five Successor States were sabotaged and weakened not just by each other, but by ComStar's hand as well. That way, no state would be strong enough to rule the Inner Sphere and re-create the Star League on its own. In particular, ComStar's Operation Holy Shroud saw the assassination of many top scientists and engineers from all nations, ensuring that ComStar alone had the technology and vision to unite humanity one day. Thus, the Succession Wars were perpetuated well into the 30th century. However, when the Clans arrived, ComStar had to prepare for a new phase of history.
In 3049, the warrior Clans assembled their invasion fleet at the Periphery, but ComStar met them before the invasion could begin. ComStar's leader, a woman named Myndo Waterly, saw these vicious Clans as the final step toward bringing the five Great Houses to their knees; if ComStar cooperated with the Clans, then the Successor States would finally be weak enough to require ComStar's aid.
Myndo sent her top agent, a man code-named Anastasius Focht, to negotiate with Clan leaders and work with them. If the Clans promised to not attack ComStar holdings, then ComStar would help the invading Clans administer and control their conquered worlds. The deal proceeded as promised. This allowed the Clans to make quick progress, but a couple of years later, Anatasius Focht learned from Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf that the Clans intended to conquer Earth, ComStar's home base, something Focht considered unacceptable.
After this revelation, ComStar stood up to the Clans with its secret army, the Com Guards, and challenged the Clans to one final battle on the rural world of Tukayyid. A bargain was struck, and once the Com Guards won that massive battle, the Clans had to agree to a 15-year truce line. But there was more. Myndo Waterly launched what she called Operation Scorpion, turning on her former Clan allies and trying to beat them into submission with surprise attacks. However, the Clans survived this betrayal, and Anasasious Focht, who was fed up with Myndo's scheming, personally assassinated her and assumed her role as the Primus of ComStar.
Anastasius Focht was tough but fair, and he did his best to maintain peace across the Inner Sphere among all parties. However, years later, disgruntled extremists among ComStar's ranks split off to form a deadly splinter faction called the Word of Blake. The Word would eventually declare war on everyone else in 3067, including its ComStar cousin. ComStar's work is never done, it seems.
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