Outbound Light

The Outbound Light was a ComStar Explorer Corps JumpShip that inadvertently entered the Clan system of Huntress, precipitating the beginning of Operation Revival - the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere.

History

The ComStar Explorer Corps was founded in 2959 by Primus Adrienne Sims. Its mission was to survey the space around the Inner Sphere to identify any potential threat to ComStar's technological superiority from beyond the Periphery, most notably discovering what happened to the Exodus Fleet. The corps sent hundreds of missions in every direction since it's formation searching for even the barest evidence to their fate without success.

The Merchant Class Outbound Light, carrying two DropShips, the Knox (Union-class) and the Golden Hind (Buccaneer-class), departed from Bone-Norman in June 3046 on a standard three-year exploratory survey and was manned by a crew of 46, with a standard seven-person Explorer Corps survey team. After a relatively uneventful survey, on 27 September 3048 the Outbound Light jumped into what they thought was an unknown G7V star system. Unfortunately, it was the Clan Smoke Jaguar capital of Huntress.

Captured by the Clan

Sensing an opportunity to break the deadlock in the Great Debate in favor of the Crusader faction, but fearing that the Inner Sphere might be on the verge of discovering the location of the Clan homeworlds, Khan Leo Showers ordered that the vessel be taken intact, with the crew unharmed. In the subsequent weeks, Leo Showers had the crew of the Outbound Light interrogated to assemble a picture of the current state of the Inner Sphere. When Khan Showers finally announced the capture of ComStar vessel, he selectively presented the most damning evidence, such as the growing power of the Federated Commonwealth and the rediscovery of much Star League technology that had been lost over two centuries of near-constant warfare, and was able to convince the rest of the Clans that they themselves faced imminent invasion from the "barbarians" of the Inner Sphere. The result was a Grand Council vote in favor of invasion, with only Clan Wolf voting against. Khan Leo Showers took advantage of pro-Crusader sentiment, and was elected ilKhan of the Grand Council. Preparations to invade the Inner Sphere began immediately. Their plan was named Operation Revival.

Aftermath

The fate of the Outbound Light's crew is unknown. Initial reports from the early days of the Clan invasion indicated that the crew and ships had been returned to ComStar, though with their memories and databanks of their route wiped, but such reports turned out to be false. More than likely, they were taken as bondsmen by the Smoke Jaguars, though their disposition following the destruction of that Clan is not known.

According to Explorer Corps doctrine at that time, the crew did not file a predetermined route along which it would travel, allowing the crew the freedom to change their route should any promising leads develop. While this allowed them to stumble upon Huntress, it also made it virtually impossible for ComStar to discover the route the Outbound Light took and locate the Clan Homeworlds.