Timbuktu Collective

Timbuktu Collective
State Profile
Founding Year June 3148
Capital world: Timbuktu
Controlled system(s): 17 (as of March 3151)[1] [2]
Government
Military
Army Collective Armed Guards[3]

The Timbuktu Collective is a protective alliance formed in June 3148 from the merger of the Rim Collection and five worlds from the Lyran Commonwealth's Timbuktu Theater.[4]

History

The Timbuktu Collective officially declared its independence from the Lyran Commonwealth on 24 June, 3148. With the Commonwealth weakened by Clan invasions and another breakaway state, the Timbuktu Theater capital and four neighboring worlds decided to leave an apparently sinking ship.[3] Soon after the Rim Collection merged with the Collective, forming a new Periphery nation.[4]

The Collective steadily expanded its borders over the next three years absorbing Pocologan and Viborg in September 3150, and following a devastating pirate attack on Sapienza in early 3151, that planet, Firenze and Kladnitsa. Despite chafing at the loss of more worlds to the separatist state, Archon Trillian Steiner lacked the resources to simultaneously reconquer the Collective and address more dangerous threats to the Commonwealth.[5] [2]

Military

The Collective Armed Guards initially fielded just one BattleMech unit, the First Timbuktu Guards, formed from willing members of the Florida Timbuktu Theater Militia.[3] Between salvage from pirates on Sapienza and an upswing in recruitment, the Second Timbuktu Guards were created in 3151, albeit the unit was little more than a battalion in real strength.[2]

Economy

The Collective's region of space was once highly dependent on ComStar subsidizing JumpShip traffic in their region for trade and exchange of information. The collapse of ComStar saw most JumpShip captains move on to more profitable regions, leaving the Collective reliant on the occasional independent or Sea Fox trader. Due to this drop in traffic by 3152 the economy was struggling, and some citizens questioned whether their old way of life would ever return[6].

References

  1. Shattered Fortress, p. 102, "Inner Sphere - 3151" (Map)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 IlClan, p. 111, "Further Assimilation" - added three new worlds to the fourteen already controlled.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Shattered Fortress, p. 48, "Timbuktu Collective, Florida TTM Formed"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Shattered Fortress, p. 90, "Dissidents and Breakaway States"
  5. Shattered Fortress, p. 91
  6. Shrapnel: Issue 14, p. 20, "Voices of the Sphere: ComStar"

Bibliography