BattleTech Universe

File:Battletech cbt 20year tri 800.jpeg

20 Year Anniversary of BattleTech logo.

BattleTech ("BT" for short) is a science fiction universe comparable to the Star Trek or Star Wars media franchises. Originally conceived in 1984 as a fictional background setting for a futuristic wargame, it was since expanded into an intricate fictional universe by various authors through a multitude of media.

The BattleTech universe

BattleTech aesthetics

The BattleTech universe in its early stages was heavily influenced by concepts from fantasy literature including feudalism (the Successor States with their established hereditary nobility), knight-errants (MechWarriors) and mercenaries, mysticism (LosTech gadgets that are not understood anymore) and a mysterious and powerful church (the ComStar order).

While a plethora of alien flora and fauna are used to give an exotic feel, sentient Aliens are notably absent from the BattleTech universe and play no significant role. The fiction works on the premise that man is his own worst enemy.

Although by nature a violent universe, graphic violence in BattleTech is largely restricted to machinery and typically depicts war machines in combat, with ruins and wreckages in the background. Human suffering is rarely shown directly.

The original 3025-era setting suggested a dystopic scavenger culture among the ruins of the fallen Star League. As the evolution of the setting progressed, lost technology was gradually recovered and additional factions appeared. A cataclysmic war (the Jihad) then caused another Dark Age.

(See also: History)

Technology

BattleTech has been described as "the future of the 80s" for its aesthetics and technological ficion. Real-world technology developed quite differently from than the BT authors believed at the time of the inception of the game, leading to occasionally odd concepts of what is supposedly possible and what is not. The most glaring mismatches are weapon ranges in BattleTech, which are mere fractions of the ranges easily achieved with similar weapons in the real world, and the percieved size and performance of computers. The internet was also not part of the early fiction, but comparable communication networks were later written in.

Some key premises of the BattleTech universe are science fiction in that they seem to defy the laws of physics as they are currently known. These include super-efficient fusion engines that supply vast amounts of power from relatively small and compact devices, starship thrust drives that outperform any currently known thrusters technology, and Kearny-Fuchida Drive technology that allows for faster-than-light movement and communication.

Iconic fictional technologies from the BattleTech universe includes:

• BattleMechs: A basic premise of BattleTech is the evolution of the BattleMech as a superior, fusion-powered weapon carrier platform. Driven by human pilots with the help of neurohelmets, 'Mechs are gigantic humanoid walking tanks that imitate human movement patterns which makes them easier to control (as they can be used like super-large battlesuits) and supposedly gives them a significant advantage in mobility and versatility over other vehicles.

• DropShips: Powered by fusion engines and highly efficient thrust engines, these are extremely rugged and versatile shuttlecraft ranging from anywhere between 200 to 100,000 tons in mass. They are generally easily capable of landing on planets and taking off into space again under their own power. In space, they can maintain acceleration of 1g or more for several days or weeks. Most space traffic is handled with DropShips.

• JumpShips: JumpShips can perform jumps of up to 30 lightyears between Jump Points within mere seconds (typically from one star system to another). They are essentially Kearny-Fuchida Drive cores to which DropShips can attach themselves for faster-than-light transportation.

• Hyperpulse Generators: Known as (HPGs) for short, these employ the same Kearny-Fuchida principles as jump drives, but instead of moving starships they transmit data at faster-than-light speed. Their range is around 50 lightyears, and messages are usually bundled and sent out in certain intervals (as opposed to continual transmission, which is also possible but rarely used). A communications network of HPGs was established that survived the downfall of the Star League and now marks the boundary of the Inner Sphere. The HPG network is generally associated with ComStar who exclusively operated it and evolved into a religious body over this.

Factions

The sundering of humanity’s Star League followed by centuries of Succession Wars had brought about the Successor States, five large nations (feudal realms, modeled after stereotypical cultural templates). They collectively comprise the Inner Sphere. Numerous other factions came and went over the course of the perpetual conflicts. The most notable and long-standing BT factions are:

• Federated Suns

The Federated Suns — House Davion
North American/West European cultural template. Lacking any serious drawbacks or flaws, the Federated Suns are often the protagonists in BT fiction.

• Draconis Combine

The Draconis Combine — House Kurita
Feudal/medieval Japanese cultural template. Earlier sources typically depicted the Combine’s honor-based samurai culture as single-minded, cruel, merciless and often irrational; the realm remains somewhat xenophobic and aggressive.

• Lyran Commonwealth

The Lyran Commonwealth — House Steiner
German/West European cultural template. Economic powerhouse with a strong but sluggish military. Bureaucracy, inflexibility and a lack of military skill prevents them from successfully campaigning abroad, but their traders are active everywhere.

• Free Worlds League

Free Worlds LeagueThe Free Worlds League — House Marik
East European cultural template. More a loose coalition of minor states than a unified realm. The limited powers of the state leader versus the parliament render the League largely incapacitaded and suffering from frequent infighting. A political minefield of treachery and deceit, violent uprisings and outright revolt.

• Capellan Confederation

Capellan ConfederationThe Capellan Confederation — House Liao
Communist Chinese/Soviet Union cultural template. A vain state of relatively few worlds but with a large population, weakened from a long string of military defeats and territory losses. Relies on nefarious scheming and notoriously ineffective secret operations. Hamstrung by communism and rampant paranoia. Described as cunning and dangerous in the initial setup, but depicted as irrational villains in subsequent publications.

• ComStar

ComStar
This quasi-religious sect evolved out of the Star League's Communications Ministry under Jerome Blake. Controlling all interstellar communication and acting as a supranational arbitrator, mediator and banking house, they regard themselves as the saviors of humanity and keepers of lost technology. Later revealed as devious schemers who ruthlessly misused their trusted position to manipulate others, they have secretly maintained a strong army with cutting edge technology.
The radical splinter group Word of Blake eventually launches the Jihad, a destructive total war against all of humanity and secular ComStar.

• Federated Commonwealth

A short-lived unified realm of Houses Davion and Steiner.

• Free Rasalhague Republic

The Free Rasalhague Republic — House Magnusson
Scandinavian cultural template. Created from wayward provinces on both sides of the Kurita/Steiner border after the Fourth Succession War. At the time of its inception it was the sixth major Inner Sphere power, just after the five Successor States, but it was overrun by the Clans save for six worlds and eventually rejoined with its occupied territories as the Rasalhague Dominion.

• Lyran Alliance

The Lyran Alliance — House Steiner
Created when the former Lyran Commonwealth part broke away from the Federated Commonwealth, and eventually reformed back into the Lyran Commonwealth.

• The Clans

Successors of the self-exiled Star League army, the Clans developed into a culture of genetically engineered superwarriors in deep space and eventually returned to invade the Inner Sphere in 3049.

• The Republic of the Sphere

The Republic of the SphereThe Republic of the Sphere
Formed around Terra in 3081 by Devlin Stone following the devastating Word of Blake Jihad.

• The Periphery

Beyond the aforementioned five Successor States of the Inner Sphere, on the fringes of the HPG network, lies the Periphery, a lawless region that has descended into barbarism. Numerous minor realms and pirate bands exist here.

• Mercenaries

In addition, mercenary units play an important role and many of them have achieved considerable fame and power to the point of being considered an independent faction unto themselves.

The BattleTech franchise

The enormous instant success of the boardgame gave rise to a plethora of products that shaped, and still shape, the BattleTech universe. However, like with most fictional settings, not all products pertaining to the franchise are actually considered Canon for the BattleTech universe.