Resurgence - Early Days of Discordant Mantle

August 3152
A day long awaited by many in the Inner Sphere. The voices in the stars were heard on many planets for the first times in decades, nearly twenty years later to the day.  Chaos ensued as people rushed the now working HPGs, at least on planets where they had reactivated.  Worlds spinward and rimward at the edge of the Periphery were the first to experience this return to normalcy.  It became apparent quickly that only worlds at the edges of the Inner Sphere in Draconis, Capellan, and Suns territories experienced this reactivation.
Technicians swarmed the great, dormant facilities as crews hastily formed to man them. Battling the crowds, this caused local government and garrison forces to be overwhelmed as each person tried to get a message sent to someone on another world, get news, or access the stock market. Some desired to talk to those long lost and others realized the sheer potential of the re-opening of the old business lanes.
***
On some worlds there was pure chaos.  In one case, on Agliana, a world known for troubling events, the crowds destroyed their own HPG.  A group mad with rage at the Inner Sphere and House Lords fought to destroy the machine.  Others fought back to keep it intact.  Then, the local garrison troops arrived and it turned into a great power struggle.  With no technicians or occupants in the HPG, all sides just surged in once the doors were torn open.  The fighting eventually reached the power core, detonating the delicate power source. Everyone inside the core chambers were killed instantly and the building caught fire. 
While the groups struggled, the facility continued to burn.  Eventually the fire was so bad that all the struggling combatants were pushed outside. Once the fire and its long-term effects really clicked in, all the sides stopped fighting.  Even the group that desired to destroy the marvel of human engineering stopped and realized what they had done.  With little resistance at this point the garrison was able to clear paths for the firemen and they got to work putting out the blaze while medical personnel recovered injured combatants. The crowd became quite somber as they watched the one communications device they had to the Inner Sphere burning in the night.
In the days after the fighting over the compound, six technicians that were part of Comstar prior to Gray Monday revealed themselves to the garrison to gain access and assess the damage. It was critically damaged and the world did not have the repair parts available. However, with some systems now functioning, repair would eventually be possible.
***
Another world, Delos, whose claim to fame was the original world the Wolf’s Dragoons made themselves known, experienced a calmer response.  In the morning hours, after the workday had begun, the HPG came to life.  People around the city were shocked as they witnessed the gigantic dish begin to rotate and turn.  This facility had been manned by a skeleton crew for years, just in the hope that one day it would live again. 
Many screens and outdated components had been replaced over the years as the local government had focused at least some of the budget on keeping it in good repair.  Few on the world truly believed the HPGs would never work again.  There were multiple sites on the net to make donations and people would occasionally come to the front lobby to drop off monetary donations. Over the years, a tour had even been created to show people around the grounds.
Plans had been created in years past, what would happen, should the HPG work again? Those plans finally came to fruition.  As the system went online, two techs ran outside and began setting up staged railing out to the parking lot. Looking out toward the highway from the city, the change in quantity of traffic quickly increased. The road that hadn’t seen more than a handful of hovercars travel down it each day for two decades began filling with a steady stream of vehicles.
As they completed the gated system, multiple helicopters began arriving.  Some were news crews and others were troops and police. People were hastily parking their vehicles and running up the front walkway as the police and troops raced to secure the perimeter.  Barely, just as the massing line was about to surge over the metal gates that made a line to the front door, the perimeter was secured.  Hundreds of people were in the parking lot alone.
It took a couple hours but the HPG could at least begin taking in message data.  Only a few nearby worlds were accessible but as more worlds were expected to come online as this one did, there was hope that people could once again connect.
***
Clan Sea Fox is well known because of their many HPG purchases over the years.  They have been under some scrutiny as the HPGs under their control seemed to have more functions than those under the control of the Great Houses.  Many attribute that to Davion, Liao, and Kurita just not wanting to put the resources into continued study of the dormant facilities and likely missed a lot that the Sea Foxes found.
In a strange series of events, a star of Battlemechs suddenly started patrolling and standing guard at the facility on Hurik from Clan Sea Fox. However, the Word of Blake had already arrived on world and taken control of the planetary government.  Some of the rumors in the population are of gigantic fleets from the Word of Blake that would arrive when a more violent conquest was needed. This did not happen on Hurik, however. A small force but, much larger than the local garrison arrived, and the garrison disbanded in days as the local leadership sought to avoid any violence. A Word of Blake militia force took over the garrison duties and began recruitment.
Pleading the case to the populace, the Blakists and politicians explained the situation in evening news conferences.  All of the nearby worlds had now joined the Word of Blake. Some worlds did so with celebration, some with short lived, yet overwhelming violence. The Blakist Precentor assured everyone that little would be changing, just that the flag and national leadership would be different going forward. The difference they will notice is stability as they are free from the corrupt House Lords with a true Star League in the future.
The news media had recorded numerous interactions where the Sea Foxes allowed the new Blakist leadership to enter the HPG compound under heavy guard. Some became suspicious and others theorized it was just to keep peace.  While Clan Sea Fox is nomadic in nature, they are also formidable with their ArcShips. A war between such great fleets of starships would be devastating.
When the day came that the HPG rose from its slumber, the response was far calmer from the population as many did not even want to go near it for fear of the Blakists that would naturally be drawn to it. People calmly formed lines and listened to the commands of the Clanners and Blakists.  It was an easy choice for people to behave at the HPG. Clanners who are clearly Elemental troopers standing 2.5 plus meters tall strode about the compound with rifles. Blakist Battlemechs such as a Lightray and Raijin II stood guard at the property gates while the Sea Fox Battlemechs stood around the compound itself.
Messages meant for worlds that did not have a functioning HPG at this time were queued up and for the first time in years people could communicate from planet to planet.
***
The world of Filtvelt was in the middle of a chaotic battle as its HPG came back to life.  The Botherhood of Randis had only just arrived and begun to turn the tide of fighting against Federated Suns mercenary and pirate attackers who seemed to be working together based on their timing. 
Days after the fighting subsided the cleanup began and the Prime Minister began holding press conferences at the HPG. Each day the facility came closer and closer to 100% functionality with a constant flow of people, some even camping out. A text transcript of a conference question follows:
“Prime Minister Gardiner, what about the Federated Suns, their mercenaries attacked us, killing hundreds of our people trying to get to the HPG?” asks a reporter as this conference had become somewhat tense due to prior questions.
“We know now that the Duke did not issue those orders to attack us and he has made it clear he did not have anything to do with the pirates.”
“We understand that is what the official story is but, given that the HPG reactivated shortly after the Brotherhood arrived, when we were on the cusp of defeat, it seems too convenient of timing, doesn’t it?”
“The convenience of timing is in favor of the mercenaries Ms. Neeley. If the HPG did not activate when it did, the mercenaries would have been crushed by the Brotherhood of Randis.  We all owe the Brotherhood a huge debt for arriving so promptly after our calls for aid, thank you for your question, nex….” The Prime Minister is interrupted by the persistent reporter.
“But, Prime Minister, the Brotherhood would not have been an expected challenge to the mercenaries, how do we know this wasn’t a MIIO led operation to get control of the HPG and bring us back into the Federated Suns?” Ms. Neeley pushed.
With a forced smile the Prime Minister looks at her, “Ms. Neeley, we are not going to amplify some dissident sentiment toward the Federated Suns. They do not rule us, we are the Filtvelt Coalition. Now, let’s give ano….”
“Sir, these are real concerns, the timing is too perfect in favor of the Federated Suns. We know the First Prince only just took back New Avalon and their armed forces are spread thin.  Any additional economic income from our Coalition worlds would benefit them rebuilding.”
“Okay, I think we have reached the end of this conference, thank you all!” the Prime Minister says backing away from the podium, his face showing frustration as he tries to keep a smile.
“They want our home, what we have, Feddie!” shouted a voice from the back of the room as a round metallic object is hurled toward the podium, causing wood to splinter off, leaving a crack and dent before clanking to the floor.
Filtvelt is experiencing some challenges with unrest as the Coalition is chafing at the suspicions that the Federated Suns knew something about the HPG restoration.  For now, there is some peace but, only the future will tell.
***
Transcript of video advertisement:
“Really?! After 20 years, this is the first update I get?!” a man looks at his device, distraught and a fist balled up.
“Honey, what is it? Is the HPG still not working?” his wife comes over to him with a skeptical look on her face.
He shows her the holopad device with an alert message. She looks at it for a second, then bursts out laughing alongside her husband. The camera zooms in to the holopad screen. “Greetings, this is your local Comstar representative, according to our records your bill is over seven thousand three hundred days late.  Please visit your local Comstar office to resolve your outstanding balance of four hundred twenty-seven thousand, three hundred and eighty-six C-Bills.”
The camera zooms out and blurs to reveal the Word of Blake sword insignia hovering against a white background. A pleasant female voice begins to talk, “The Word of Blake welcomes all our new citizens as we bring you out from the Dark Ages where you have lived under the House Lords. Your hyperpulse generator services will be restored soon. All bills will be adjusted back to their original status as of August 7th, 3132.  Many users will note that they will have high outstanding balances upon their first connection to the network due to calculated interest. You will see the adjusted balance in the coming days. The Word of Blake has access to all demographic data for all users on the previously run network and is ready to receive and secure all funds owed for services. Thank you!”
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Guardians of the Periphery
Chapter 3: Discordant Mantle
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