Solaris VII

A Brief History of Solaris VII Solaris VII A Primer for Solaris Games A Whistlestop Tour of Solaris VII The Game World Solaris City A Tour of Solaris City International Zone Black Hills Cathay Kobe Montenegro Silesia Solaris City Location Index

Originally a planet of the Free Worlds League, Solaris VII was colonized for its industrial potential.  A water-rich world in a galaxy of mostly inhospitable planets, colonists could hope to thrive naturally where so many were still dependent upon the water-shipping cartel.  Solaris VII joined other planets in the systems that were surveyed for mineral deposits, providing what the settlers hoped would be an extensive source of raw resources. Situated at the border between the Free Worlds league and the Lyran Commonwealth, it seemed a prime location fro the growth of large industries.  In that era, one of the largest industries was BattleMech production.

The variety of terrain within easy reach and its rugged, primitive nature made Solaris VII an ideal site for BattleMech proving grounds. Soon several corporations maintained testing laboratories and live-fire ranges. Blue Shot Weapons was one of the first corporations, and remains there still. Prophetic, perhaps, was Blue Shot’s tendency to match their designs against each other to see which had better offensive and defensive, characteristics.  Other corporations moved in and out, turning over facilities to the next set of designers and manufactures looking for new design test sites.

Solaris City began to rise over an extensive network of tunnels connecting underground ‘Mech bays and testing facilities.  It began as a collection of apartments and buildings to house “leisure services” for a Free World League corporation, Silesia Battleworks, a Lyran-based enterprise, moved in nearby, bringing an influx of people and businesses.  They soon connected their underground facilities to the original set.  Designers were quick to see the advantages of this model, a full underground system able to support and move BattleMechs without disturbing the city above.  It became a mandatory feature of the expansion. The tunnels were ripped up and rebuilt so often that rumor about lost chambers and test facilities still exist, though seismic probing has all but invalidated such stories.

Another inadvertent result of the settlement was that the first two nationality-specific sectors of Solaris City formed. The line would blur overtime, but after another century would reappear in almost exactly the same place, as the idea of dividing up the city became policy rather than practicality.

The First Contest

In 2695, the first official battle took place between ‘Mechs of different manufacturers. Orguss and Defiance Industries were competing against each other for a valuable Star League Defense Force military contract.  Orguss was promoting its new Phoenix Hawk design while Defiance wanted to impress the SLDF with its tried-and-true Sentinel, long in service to House Steiner.  The Phoenix Hawk triumphed, and though both designs were eventually picked up, the prevalence of the Phoenix Hawk design for several centuries in the Inner Sphere is proof enough of the edge gained by its victory.

Noticing the raw appeal of the video footage shot of the battle, Orguss Industries distributed several edited versions as promotional infomercials and showed the full battle only to select audiences.  A few months later they were surprised to locate a bootleg video of the fights, reconstructed from infomercials and nearly as clean as the master copy.  It was then that the appeal of the BattleMech contest for Solaris VII residents became apparent.  Within the year, regularly staged battles were provided for the entertainment of local citizens.  Team battles and dueling became so popular, in fact, that many corporations financed the first ‘Mech stables in an effort to generate new profits.  The videos began making their way to the Inner Sphere worlds, while on Solaris the betting system that would eventually come to dominate the world was taking shape.

The Succession Wars

It is a common misconception that the Lyran Commonwealth seized Solaris VII from the Free Worlds League during the first of what would later be called the Succession Wars. Already considered something of a “free worlds,” by the time General Kerensky had led his followers away in the Exodus, Solaris VII was long accustomed to a kind of political autonomy.  It was left to the corporations who virtually ran the Game World to choose one side or the other. Contrary to popular belief, the fact that House Steiner was affiliated with a slim majority of the ‘Mech production industries had very little to do with the decision. The truth is that the Solaris VII owned one of the hottest commercial products in the Inner Sphere, and the Lyran economy was, and largely remains, the strongest of all Successor States’.  When House Steiner seized several nearby worlds, the Game World quietly declared for the Lyran Commonwealth.

By 2790, however, Solaris VII was feeling the drain experienced across the Inner Sphere, though a bit different in nature.  Some of the world’s best fighters had been drawn away by the war, and it was hard to compete with live footage from the front lines.  This became a period of reconstruction for the Game World, when Solaris City itself was rezoned into five sectors representing the five Successor Houses.  Each maintained one of the major arenas, tailoring it to the character of their sector.  The fights became reflections of the current struggles and a new venue for the animosities so prevalent at the time.

It was this symbiotic-some say parasitic-relationship with the Succession Wars that allowed Solaris VII not only to survive, but also to thrive. The wars created no end of experienced MechWarriors looking for something other than live on a battlefield, and audiences grew as the BattleMech stables played off nationalistic loyalties and the rivalries fostered between them. Soon the entire Inner Sphere looked once more to Solaris City, where the latest offensive only meant another round of fighting for the same patch of ground.  But in the evening’s line-up, someone would emerge the certain winner.

And everyone wanted it to be their side.

The Clan Frenzy

In the years between the end of the Fourth Succession War and the return of Kerensky’s descendants, Solaris VII continued to expand its presence in the Inner Sphere markets, though peace kept threatening to break out at every turn.  The Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth had combined politically into the Federated Commonwealth, and no one seemed ready to challenge the great state.  There was talk of a Star League reborn under the Steiner-Davion lineage, and people dared to believe that finally the battle might be confined to the Game World alone.

The blitzkrieg invasion of the Clans quickly showed the illusion for what it was.  In a fraction of the time taken by the first three Succession Wars, the newly formed Free Rasalhague Republic was more memory than fact.  The Draconis Combine and Lyran side of the Federated Commonwealth were both reeling from devastating losses.  In response, the action on Solaris seemed to burst out of control.  The proverbial end seemed to night for many, as an apocalyptic feeling swept the Inner Sphere’s populace. For those looking for that one last wild fling of a final high score, the Game World was there to cater to their needs. Money poured into the accounts of the stable owners, broadcast corporations and distribution circuits.  Organized crime rake in its heady share, and politician dipped into the cash flow through graft and payoffs. Even the MechWarriors risking their lives in the arenas saw some of the influx.  Those on Solaris VII were living the high life.

The Recession

All good things come to an end, and when the Clan War was halted by ComStar’s intervention, the Game World found itself ill prepared for the cessation of hostilities.  Too many Solarans waited until the cash flow had dried up before instilling economic prudence back into their lives, and many self made millionaires went back to the penniless ranks from which they’d sprung. Several corporations went bankrupt, and even a few stables were forced to go under.
Even worse for the Solaris’ fortunes, the frantic pace of the Clan invasion and circulating video footage of its battles had jaded the viewing public.  Now everyone looked to the Solaris City arenas and said, “Top that!”  The old hype wasn’t going to be enough. Stable owners cast about frantically for the next big thing, certain they’d know when it arrived.

Lacking direction, the Game World fell back on its underlying strength-the MechWarriors themselves.  The fighters with interesting histories or a commanding holovid presence were suddenly in higher demand. War veterans played off their experience against the Clans.  Combine nationals styled themselves samurai again, as House Kurita lifted its ban against the Solaris games. Capellan-affiliated stables managed to play all their warriors off as the underdog making good.  Personality cults became the rage, and even a fighter’s lack of history could be made up in extravagance and showmanship.

Flamboyant dress, new special effects in the arenas, feuds and grudge matches were all tools of the trade, used to keep the stands full.  The distribution network sent out videos and brought much-needed C-bills back into the Game World system.  Some fighters even hired personally public relation managers, managed to get their stables to hire one for them

The Current Score

A sign of new changes came in 3057 when Katrina Steiner-Davion broke apart the Federated Commonwealth. The same year, the Marik-Liao joint offensive reversed some of the gains made against them in the Fourth Succession War.  The Solaris VII propaganda machine was hyping as many nationalistic rivalry matches as ever before, only with MechWarriors now in play as commanding proxies for the Great House leaders.

The fact that such matches remained in high demands, even as the Star League was reborn, offered some proof that not all of the bad blood was vented with that alliance of political necessity. The re-emergence of House Liao as a political power was heralded with the first Capellan champion in over fifty years. Feuds long thought buried between the old-guard Steiners and the hot-blooded Davions resurfaced even as the Star League smashed Clan Smoke Jaguar and drove them from the Inner Sphere.

When a few Jaguar exiles actually found their way to the Game World, only the Jaguar-Kurita feuds could compete with the intensity of the Lyran-FedSun matches. Then, just as the Combine-affiliated warriors gained the upper hand, the Capellan stables began to cannibalize each other.  Numerous-and very popular-grudge matches flared up as the hard-line Liao warriors echoed the civil conflict taking place between the Capellan Confederation and the St. Ives Compact. Spirits were running so high, and tensions were so taut, that a rash of civil violence broke out between the various sectors of Solaris City.

Now Solaris VII stands as it ever has, offering warfare turned-entertainment to the Inner Sphere and a few Clan members as well. It remains a world of dark drama and high adventure, a mirror to be held up to the Inner Sphere, reflecting back whatever the viewing public wants-and will pay-to see.