ComStar

ComStar was The Friendly Neighborhood Phone Company a faction in the BattleTech universe.

Origins

In the early 27th century, Star League scientists developed the Hyper Pulse Generator (HPG). First deployed in 2630, HPGs could send messages faster than the speed of light. Just like the introduction of the Telegraph or Radio back on old earth this was a big deal, even if a network of relays was required due to range limitations and the high cost of building and repairing these complex mechanism. The Star League Department of Communications managed this big infrastructure project and everything was dandy, until the Ameris Civil War.

Surprisingly much of the HGP network survived the conflict and when the ashes cleared of the Civil War and among the most prominent civilian Star League figures left alive was Jerome Blake, a Department of Communications pencil pusher. While Star League was basically dead at this point, all of them still wanted the HGP network running and none of them wanted it in the pocket of the other four. Combined with some behind the curtains dealings with Kerensky to let Operation Exodus happen without a hitch, Blake was able to get things basically back into order on that front. Rebranded ComStar, they held control of Terra and officially declared their neutrality.

Organization and Ideology

Unusually for a Battletech power, there was no dominant dynasty in ComStar.

ComStar generally did not like to fight straight up, understandable given that it was badly outnumbered and it's influence came from being useful to the bigger powers providing services they could not. This did not meant that ComStar was a passive party who ignored the rest of the galaxy so long as they were left alone. Having a monopoly on FTL communication as well as banking gave them considerable influence. The last thing you wanted was for ComStar to suspend services so that the Draconis Combine could invade and your frontier, with word arriving at your court weeks later while the Coordinator could better Coordinate his forces which he could fund with low interest loans. Thats' before the fact that the ComStar guys were reading your mail.

Military

This is not to say that ComStar could not throw down when it needed to.