The Malthus Confederation
Sarna News
 | This article needs to be updated with material from Shrapnel Issue 8. Once these titles clear the Moratorium period, or if they already have, please consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material. |
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| The Malthus Confederation | |
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| Story information | |
| Author | Eric Salzman |
| Pages | 4 |
| Type | Article |
| Product | Shrapnel Issue 8 |
| Content | |
| Era | ilClan era |
| Timeline | 3152 |
The Malthus Confederation is an article by Eric Salzman that was published in the eighth issue of Shrapnel.
Plot summary
A Sea Fox Watch report summarizes known intel on the Malthus Confederation. It notes the emergence of House Malthus on Romulus during the Exodus period and its tendency towards self-serving and criminal activity as it formed the Malthus Syndicate – one of the largest organized crime networks in the Lyran Commonwealth.
During the Clan Invasion of 3050, the Jade Falcons discovered distant links between the Malthus Syndicate and the founder of the Malthus Bloodhouse. Enraged, they refused to accept dezgra bandits who sullied the reputation of the Malthus line into their Clan, and instead remanded captured Syndicate personnel on conquered Lyran worlds to the Free Guilds, intending that they be worked to death performing menial labor.
Instead, the Syndicate members found the Free Guilds amenable to dealings with the "dark caste" and open to extra profit from smuggling goods into and out of the Clan occupation zones. Accordingly, Guilds that made good use of their inductees' connections to the Malthus Syndicate prospered. By the 3130s, many of the most powerful Free Guilds in the Occupation Zones were headed by descendants of Syndicate members. During the "Pax Republica," these Guilds secretly built up their military capabilities – bringing in black market Inner Sphere weaponry and trading exotic Inner Sphere goods to Clans such as the Hell's Horses in exchange for second-line Clan military equipment. In coordination with the Malthus Syndicate, the Guilds provided heavily discounted "logistical support" for Clan Jade Falcon during a period of intense raiding along the Lyran border, stashing their illegal arsenal in abandoned mines on the Malthus Syndicate headquarters world of Dustball.
When Dustball fell to Malvina's "Mongol" offensive, many senior Malthus Syndicate bosses were captured. Per standing Jade Falcon policy, they were remanded to the Free Guilds, where they received a warm welcome from their longtime allies.
When the Jade Falcon touman departed from their Occupation Zone, the Free Guilds with Malthus leadership gathered on Dustball and determined the time had come to begin operating openly, bringing together the smuggling guilds as the Malthus Confederation. They quickly seized Dustball from the miniscule Falcon garrison and then offered nearby worlds protection against pirate raiders and invasion. As payment, they requested raw materials and labor levies – the same sort of terms that had placed the Malthus Syndicate into the Guilds to begin with. Many worlds in the Hinterlands eagerly accepted their terms, though more recently conquered Lyran worlds decried their demands as slavery.
When the Hell's Horses' Operation STAMPEDE threatened client worlds under Confederation protection, they sought to send a message to Horses leadership – that their incursion was unwelcome and would invite retaliation – by having their agents kill and mutilate Khan Amirault's prized Hell's Horse mare. Rather than dissuading the Clan from further aggression, this act has reportedly enraged the Horses, who have sworn to Annihilate the Malthus Confederation.
The Confederation has worked out amenable relationships with the Tamar Pact and Vesper Marches, while the Alyina Mercantile Coalition is taking a wait-and-see approach. Jiyi Chistu's Jade Falcons loathe the group for the dishonor they bring to the Malthus Bloodname, and join the Horses in wanting them destroyed.