Difference between revisions of "Blackout"

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:'''''Clarion Note''' redirects here.''
+
:'''''Gray Monday''' and '''Clarion Note''' redirect here.''
 +
==Overview==
 +
Known alternately as '''Gray Monday''', the '''Blackout''' of [[3132]] saw unknown perpetrators disable some 80 percent of the [[Hyperpulse Generator]] network in simultaneous attacks and acts of sabotage not only in the [[Inner Sphere]], but also in the [[Clan Occupation Zones]] and the [[Periphery]],<ref>Loss of HPGs in the periphery confirmed by Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II in an official chat on 24 February 2013; see also [[Talk:Blackout|this article's Talk page]]</ref> effectively crashing the network and crippling interstellar communications. The [[Clans]] were affected as well.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 12, "History and Review - The Fall of Darkness - What about the Clans?"</ref>
 +
 
 +
As a result of the Blackout, interstellar communication by and large collapsed, and was reduced to relaying messages via [[JumpShip]] in "[[pony express]]"-style. By early [[3134]], [[Paladin (rank)|Paladin]] [[Kelson Sorenson]] and a select group of [[Republic of the Sphere]] knights and diplomats had united a disparate collection of cargo lines, free traders and repurposed military vessels into a relay network dubbed "Solar Express".<ref name=EDDA5>''Era Report: Dark Age'', p. 5</ref>
 +
 
 +
The communications blackout had widespread and far reaching ramifications, plunging the Inner Sphere into chaos. Civil unrest grew when it became apparent that the Blackout would not be quick or easy to fix.
 +
 
 +
"[[Black Box]]" faster-than-light communication was apparently not affected by whatever caused the Blackout, using a fundamentally different working principle.{{cn}}
  
Known alternately as '''''Gray Monday''''', the '''Blackout''' saw unknown perpetrators disable some 75-80 percent of the [[Hyperpulse Generator]] network in simultaneous attacks and acts of sabotage, effectively crippling interstellar communications.
+
==Two-pronged attack==
 +
There were in fact two simultaneous attack vectors against the HPG grid which are lumped together in the public perception of the Blackout.
  
==Overview==
+
Overall, 77 percent of all HPGs in the Inner Sphere succumbed to core burnout or other technological glitches, and another 3 percent were sabotaged or attacked outright.<ref name=EDDA4/> The HPGs that were directly attacked on 7 August were those that were somehow immune to whatever took down the rest. Although sources on the Blackout tend to lump the force-of-arms and sabotage attacks in with the Clarion Note core burnout, it is worth noting that the direct attacks apparently sought to disable the HPGs without destroying them, in a fashion where repairs were possible, whereas the core burnouts utterly destroyed the HPGs "with little collateral damage".
On Sunday, 7 August [[3132]] many HPG stations in the [[Inner Sphere]], the [[Clan Occupation Zones]] and the [[Periphery]]<ref>confirmed by Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II in an official chat on 24 February 2013; see also [[Talk:Blackout|this article's Talk page]]</ref> were taken down by what appeared to be some sort of system-virus which caused the HPG core to overload and burn itself out with little collateral damage. A few HPG stations didn't burn out but suffered different, sometimes bizarre failures which also discount a virus being the cause.<ref name=ER3145-12>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 12 "History and Review - The Fall of Darkness - What about the Clans?"</ref>
 
  
A number of stations (at one point referred to as "more modern ones"{{cn}}) appeared to be immune to whatever affected the rest, but most of these were taken out in a combination of internal attacks of sabotage and swift and efficient military strikes concurrently with the burnout of the others. With the saboteurs either escaping or dying before interrogation, and the surprise of the military assaults, nobody was able to prevent the attacks or learn who was behind the Blackout. The sole piece of identifying information was a strange insignia worn by some of the attackers: a snake coiled around a sword and set against a blood-red disk.<ref name=ER3145-12/>
+
===Core overload===
 +
Most HPGs were actually taken down not by force of arms or on-site sabotage but in a more insidious way, by what appeared to be some sort of system-virus which caused the HPG core to overload and burn itself out with little collateral damage.<ref name=ER3145-12/> Even brand-new replacement cores showed the same symptoms and burned out.<ref name=ER3145-12/> This proved impossible to fix, until [[Tucker Harwell]] surmised that the cause must lie with the medium of hyperspace itself (see Clarion Note below).
  
As a result of the Blackout, interstellar communication by and large collapsed, and was reduced to relaying messages via [[JumpShip]] in "pony express"-style. The communications blackout had widespread and far reaching ramifications, plunging the Inner Sphere into chaos. Civil unrest grew when it became apparent that the Blackout would not be quick or easy to fix.
+
On Thursday, 4 August [[3132]], several class A HPG stations across the Inner Sphere began reporting strange and disruptive power spikes and signal modulations, though at the time these were regarded as isolated cases and that the problem would eventually correct itself. On Sunday, 7 August, affected HPGs began to fail one by one.<ref name=EDDA4>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 4 "Gray Monday"</ref>
  
Despite the considerable differences between Clan and [[ComStar]] HPG protocols and years spent by ComStar's programmers trawling through centuries of kludged-together code updates and patches nothing was found, and even newly manufactured cores showed the exact same symptoms before burning out themselves. ComStar, whose primary reason for existence was the operation and maintenance of the HPG network, threw everything at the problem, but save for restoring the HPG on [[Wyatt]] in [[3135]], and [[Millungera]] in 3137, temporary in the last case, nothing has worked, threatening the organization with irrelevancy, bankruptcy and total collapse.
+
===Direct attacks===
 +
Also on 7 August, most if not all [[ComStar]] alpha circuit HPGs<ref>In ''Ghost War'', chapter 14, [[Janella Lakewood]] mentions "Hitting all of the alpha circuit in one fell swoop" while an earlier report just said that "stations on the alpha circuit" were hit.</ref> and many on the beta circuit were attacked and disabled. Most of the beta cicuit stations were taken down over the next two weeks.<ref name=GW14>''Ghost War'', chapter 14</ref> It is not entirely clear from the wording if these "attacks" refer to force of arms and sabotage only, or include the core burnouts that began to materialize on the same day.
  
"[[Black Box]]" faster-than-light communication was apparently not affected by whatever caused the Blackout, using a fundamentally different working principle.{{cn}}
+
The [[Vega]] HPG was one of the first to be attacked by force of arms.<ref name=ACtA012>''A Call to Arms'' p. 143</ref>
  
==Clarion Note==
+
Over four dozen stations across the [[Inner Sphere]] fell victim to sabotage.<ref name=ER3145-12>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 12, "History and Review - The Fall of Darkness"</ref> Others were assaulted by military forces. The attack patterns included standoff weapons, missiles and other [[DropShip]] weapons, [[aerospace fighter]] strafing attacks, and in at least one case a zero-g assault team.<ref name=GW14/> Some stations were warned and defended themselves against the attack, and some could effect (crude) repairs. Still, 80 percent of the HPG grid was effectively taken down.<ref name=GW14/> Computer viruses were used to disrupt communication between arrays and ground stations.<ref name=GW11>''Ghost War'', chapter 11</ref> A few HPG stations remained technically functional but were incapacitated by different, sometimes bizarre failures such as being able to transmit but unable to receive data packages ([[Ayacucho]] station) or looping all outgoing transmissions right back to themselves ([[Jacson]] station).<ref name=ER3145-12/>
[[Tucker Harwell]] discovered references to a "'''Clarion Note'''" emergency protocol, which described the use a [[Super-HPG]] to disrupt interstellar communication; it was known to (and possibly devised by) the [[Word of Blake]], who considered Clarion Note a weapon of mass destruction and never actually implemented it.<ref name=ABoWc10>''A Bonfire of Worlds'', Ch. 10</ref>
 
  
Evidence gathered by Harwell indicated that [[Devlin Stone]]'s [[Republic of the Sphere]] had acquired the technology, and the protocol had been initiated.
+
Overall, the impression was that the attacks and acts of sabotage were surgical strikes that took out the HPGs without destroying them outright, and that the damage could be repaired; however, it vastly overtaxed Inner Sphere capacity for building replacement parts for devices that had been built to last centuries, especially with technology and industrial capacity having been [[lostech|degraded]] by the [[Succession Wars era]].<ref name=GW11/>
  
 
=="Gray Monday"==
 
=="Gray Monday"==
It has been speculated<ref>By Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II; see Bibliography section</ref> that the appellation "Gray Monday" for a date that is actually a Sunday comes from the fact that the full impact of the event was not felt until the following day (Monday, 8 August 3132).
+
Although the first signs of the Blackout appeared as early as 4 August, the direct attacks against HPG stations happened on 7 August, the same day the first HPGs experienced core burnouts. Thus, Sunday, 7 August 3132, is usually given as the date for the Blackout.
  
==Known attacks==
+
It has been speculated<ref>By Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II; ; see also [[Talk:Blackout|this article's Talk page]]</ref> that the appellation "Gray Monday" for a date that is actually a Sunday comes from the fact that the full impact of the event was not felt until the following day (Monday, 8 August 3132).
The [[Vega]] HPG was one of the first to be attacked by force of arms.<ref name=ACtA012>''A Call to Arms'' p. 143</ref>
+
 
 +
==Repairs==
 +
Despite the considerable differences between Clan and [[ComStar]] HPG protocols and years spent by ComStar's programmers trawling through centuries of kludged-together code updates and patches nothing was found, and even newly manufactured cores showed the exact same symptoms before burning out themselves. ComStar, whose primary reason for existence was the operation and maintenance of the HPG network, threw everything at the problem, but save for restoring the HPG on [[Wyatt]] in [[3135]], and [[Millungera]] in [[3137]], temporary in the last case, nothing has worked, threatening the organization with irrelevancy, bankruptcy and total collapse.<ref name=ER3145-12/>
 +
 
 +
Republic intelligence at one point stated that some HPG stations had effected "crude repairs" in the aftermath of the attacks,<ref name=GW14/> but from the context this apparently refers to secondary equipment that was damaged by sabotage or force of arms, and not to HPG cores.
 +
 
 +
==Perpetrators==
 +
With the saboteurs either escaping or dying before interrogation, and no known casualties among the attacking military forces, their identity remains a mystery. The sole piece of identifying information was a strange insignia worn by some of the attackers: a snake coiled around a sword and set against a blood-red disk.<ref name=ER3145-12/>
 +
 
 +
Republic intelligence dubbed the unknown perpetrators of the Blackout the "lions", and those profiting from it "jackals", with the caveat that the former may well be hiding among the latter.<ref name=GW14/><ref name=EDDA5/>
 +
 
 +
==Clarion Note==
 +
Tucker Harwell discovered references to a "'''Clarion Note'''" emergency protocol, which describes the use of a [[Super-HPG]] to disrupt interstellar communication in an unspecified way. Clarion Note was known to (and possibly devised by) the [[Word of Blake]], who considered it a weapon of mass destruction and never actually used it.<ref name=ABoWc10>''A Bonfire of Worlds'', Ch. 10</ref> Context implies that Clarion Note would have affected hyperspace in such a way as to burn out HPG cores.
 +
 
 +
Evidence gathered by Harwell indicated that [[Devlin Stone]]'s [[Republic of the Sphere]] had acquired the technology, and that the protocol had been initiated.
  
 
==Surviving HPGs==
 
==Surviving HPGs==
Only a handful of HPG stations throughout the Inner Sphere survived. The HPG's ability to send messages to places up to 50 light years away considerably boosted the strategic importance of the worlds with functional HPGs (a working HPG is required to send messages, but not to receive them as HPGs effectively "jump" radio waves which can be received with regular radio equipment). Known worlds with working HPGs after the Blackout include:
+
Only a handful of HPG stations throughout the Inner Sphere survived. The HPG's ability to send messages to places up to 50 (A class HPGs) or 30 (B class stations) light years away considerably boosted the strategic importance of the worlds with functional HPGs (a working HPG is required to send messages, but not to receive them as HPGs effectively "jump" radio waves which can be received with regular radio equipment). Known worlds with working HPGs after the Blackout include:
 
+
*[[Achernar]]<ref>''[[A Call to Arms]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 4 "Functional Republic HPGs as of 01 January 3135"</ref> (class unknown)
*[[Achernar]]<ref>''[[A Call to Arms]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 4 "Functional Republic HPGs as of 01 January 3135"</ref>
+
*[[Albalii]]<ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Albalii]]<ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Algot]]<ref name=BTW>''[[By Temptations and by War]]''</ref><ref name=EDDA-4/> (class B)
*[[Algot]]<ref name=BTW>''[[By Temptations and by War]]''</ref>
+
*[[Ayacucho]]  (class unknown) - send only; incapable of receiving "anything but the simplest carrier packet"<ref name=ER3145-12/>
*[[Bondurant]]<ref name=FW>''[[Fire at Will]]''</ref><ref name=ABoWc10>''A Bonfire of Worlds'', Ch. 10</ref>
+
*[[Bondurant]]<ref name=FW>''[[Fire at Will]]''</ref><ref name=ABoWc10>''A Bonfire of Worlds'', Ch. 10</ref> (class unknown)
*[[Devil's Rock]]<ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Devil's Rock]]<ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Gacrux]]<ref name=LN>[[LinkNet]]</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Gacrux]]<ref name=LN>[[LinkNet]]</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Genoa]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Genoa]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Hsien]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Hsien]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class B)
*[[Imbros III]]<ref name=FoF>''[[Flight of the Falcon]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Imbros III]]<ref name=FoF>''[[Flight of the Falcon]]''</ref> (restored [[3133]]<ref name=EDDA-4/>) (class unknown)
*[[Irian]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Irian]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class A)
*[[Kessel]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Jacson]]  (class unknown) - technically functional but useless as hyperspace loop routes all messages right back to Jacson HPG<ref name=ER3145-12/>
*[[Menkar]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Kessel]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class B)
*[[Millungera]] (temporarily; HPG fix did not last)<ref>''[[Fire at Will]]''; restarted by ComStar during timeframe of novel, but ''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' mentions that it didn't last</ref>
+
*[[Menkar]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[New Aragon]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Millungera]] (class unknown) - temporarily; HPG fix did not last<ref>''[[Fire at Will]]''; restarted by ComStar during timeframe of novel, but ''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' mentions that it didn't last</ref>
*[[Northwind]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[New Aragon]]<ref name=BTW/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class A as of [[3067]], class B as of [[3130]])
*[[Palmyra]] (destroyed or irreparably damaged during the [[Battle of Palmyra]])<ref name=ER3145-34>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 34</ref>
+
*[[Northwind]]<ref name=LN/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class B)
*[[Ronel]]<ref>''[[A Call to Arms]]'', ''[[Fortress Republic]]''</ref>
+
*[[Palmyra]] (class unknown) - HPG core destroyed or irreparably damaged during the [[Battle of Palmyra]] in [[3144]]<ref name=ER3145-34>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 34</ref>
*[[Shasta]]<ref name=FW/>  
+
*[[Ronel]]<ref>''[[A Call to Arms]]'', ''[[Fortress Republic]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Terra]]<ref name=FoF/> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Shasta]]<ref name=FW/> (class unknown)
*[[Thorin]]<ref>''[[Target of Opportunity]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4></ref>
+
*[[Terra]]<ref name=FoF/> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class A)
*[[Towne]] (uncertain due to conflicting information)<ref>Functional HPG available according to [[LinkNet]] articles "Swordsworn, Highlanders Representatives on Towne", dated 01/18/3133; "Jurik: Centauri Lancers Coming to Towne", dated 08/03/3133; ''[[Blood of the Isle]]'' while LinkNet articles "HPG Working on Achernar?", dated 07/26/3133, and "Message From Achernar", dated 08/02/3133, plus several other INN articles suggest otherwise</ref>
+
*[[Thorin]]<ref>''[[Target of Opportunity]]''</ref> <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class A)
*[[Tsamma]] (possibly; noted as an 'AFFS hub')<ref name=ER3145-34></ref>
+
*[[Towne]] <ref name=EDDA-4/> (class unknown)
*[[Wyatt]]<ref>''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'', The book indicates it's still operating in 3143.</ref>
+
*[[Tsamma]] (class B) - unclear; ambiguously noted as an "AFFS hub"<ref name=ER3145-34/>
 +
*[[Wyatt]]<ref>''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' indicates it is still operating in 3143.</ref> (class unknown)
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 60: Line 84:
 
==Bibliography==
 
==Bibliography==
 
* ''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' (novel)
 
* ''[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]'' (novel)
 +
* ''[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]''
 
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
 
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
 +
* ''[[Ghost War]]'' (novel)
 +
* ''[[Trial by Chaos]]'' (novel)
 
*[http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,20559.0.html Official Line Developer ruling on the correct date], including explanation on why a Sunday would be called "Gray Monday". (Also copied to [[Talk:Blackout|this article's Talk page]] for archiving and reference.)
 
*[http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,20559.0.html Official Line Developer ruling on the correct date], including explanation on why a Sunday would be called "Gray Monday". (Also copied to [[Talk:Blackout|this article's Talk page]] for archiving and reference.)
* ''[[Trial by Chaos]]'' (novel)
+
 
  
 
[[Category:Science and Technology Events]]
 
[[Category:Science and Technology Events]]

Revision as of 11:07, 8 December 2019

Gray Monday and Clarion Note redirect here.

Overview

Known alternately as Gray Monday, the Blackout of 3132 saw unknown perpetrators disable some 80 percent of the Hyperpulse Generator network in simultaneous attacks and acts of sabotage not only in the Inner Sphere, but also in the Clan Occupation Zones and the Periphery,[1] effectively crashing the network and crippling interstellar communications. The Clans were affected as well.[2]

As a result of the Blackout, interstellar communication by and large collapsed, and was reduced to relaying messages via JumpShip in "pony express"-style. By early 3134, Paladin Kelson Sorenson and a select group of Republic of the Sphere knights and diplomats had united a disparate collection of cargo lines, free traders and repurposed military vessels into a relay network dubbed "Solar Express".[3]

The communications blackout had widespread and far reaching ramifications, plunging the Inner Sphere into chaos. Civil unrest grew when it became apparent that the Blackout would not be quick or easy to fix.

"Black Box" faster-than-light communication was apparently not affected by whatever caused the Blackout, using a fundamentally different working principle.[citation needed]

Two-pronged attack

There were in fact two simultaneous attack vectors against the HPG grid which are lumped together in the public perception of the Blackout.

Overall, 77 percent of all HPGs in the Inner Sphere succumbed to core burnout or other technological glitches, and another 3 percent were sabotaged or attacked outright.[4] The HPGs that were directly attacked on 7 August were those that were somehow immune to whatever took down the rest. Although sources on the Blackout tend to lump the force-of-arms and sabotage attacks in with the Clarion Note core burnout, it is worth noting that the direct attacks apparently sought to disable the HPGs without destroying them, in a fashion where repairs were possible, whereas the core burnouts utterly destroyed the HPGs "with little collateral damage".

Core overload

Most HPGs were actually taken down not by force of arms or on-site sabotage but in a more insidious way, by what appeared to be some sort of system-virus which caused the HPG core to overload and burn itself out with little collateral damage.[5] Even brand-new replacement cores showed the same symptoms and burned out.[5] This proved impossible to fix, until Tucker Harwell surmised that the cause must lie with the medium of hyperspace itself (see Clarion Note below).

On Thursday, 4 August 3132, several class A HPG stations across the Inner Sphere began reporting strange and disruptive power spikes and signal modulations, though at the time these were regarded as isolated cases and that the problem would eventually correct itself. On Sunday, 7 August, affected HPGs began to fail one by one.[4]

Direct attacks

Also on 7 August, most if not all ComStar alpha circuit HPGs[6] and many on the beta circuit were attacked and disabled. Most of the beta cicuit stations were taken down over the next two weeks.[7] It is not entirely clear from the wording if these "attacks" refer to force of arms and sabotage only, or include the core burnouts that began to materialize on the same day.

The Vega HPG was one of the first to be attacked by force of arms.[8]

Over four dozen stations across the Inner Sphere fell victim to sabotage.[5] Others were assaulted by military forces. The attack patterns included standoff weapons, missiles and other DropShip weapons, aerospace fighter strafing attacks, and in at least one case a zero-g assault team.[7] Some stations were warned and defended themselves against the attack, and some could effect (crude) repairs. Still, 80 percent of the HPG grid was effectively taken down.[7] Computer viruses were used to disrupt communication between arrays and ground stations.[9] A few HPG stations remained technically functional but were incapacitated by different, sometimes bizarre failures such as being able to transmit but unable to receive data packages (Ayacucho station) or looping all outgoing transmissions right back to themselves (Jacson station).[5]

Overall, the impression was that the attacks and acts of sabotage were surgical strikes that took out the HPGs without destroying them outright, and that the damage could be repaired; however, it vastly overtaxed Inner Sphere capacity for building replacement parts for devices that had been built to last centuries, especially with technology and industrial capacity having been degraded by the Succession Wars era.[9]

"Gray Monday"

Although the first signs of the Blackout appeared as early as 4 August, the direct attacks against HPG stations happened on 7 August, the same day the first HPGs experienced core burnouts. Thus, Sunday, 7 August 3132, is usually given as the date for the Blackout.

It has been speculated[10] that the appellation "Gray Monday" for a date that is actually a Sunday comes from the fact that the full impact of the event was not felt until the following day (Monday, 8 August 3132).

Repairs

Despite the considerable differences between Clan and ComStar HPG protocols and years spent by ComStar's programmers trawling through centuries of kludged-together code updates and patches nothing was found, and even newly manufactured cores showed the exact same symptoms before burning out themselves. ComStar, whose primary reason for existence was the operation and maintenance of the HPG network, threw everything at the problem, but save for restoring the HPG on Wyatt in 3135, and Millungera in 3137, temporary in the last case, nothing has worked, threatening the organization with irrelevancy, bankruptcy and total collapse.[5]

Republic intelligence at one point stated that some HPG stations had effected "crude repairs" in the aftermath of the attacks,[7] but from the context this apparently refers to secondary equipment that was damaged by sabotage or force of arms, and not to HPG cores.

Perpetrators

With the saboteurs either escaping or dying before interrogation, and no known casualties among the attacking military forces, their identity remains a mystery. The sole piece of identifying information was a strange insignia worn by some of the attackers: a snake coiled around a sword and set against a blood-red disk.[5]

Republic intelligence dubbed the unknown perpetrators of the Blackout the "lions", and those profiting from it "jackals", with the caveat that the former may well be hiding among the latter.[7][3]

Clarion Note

Tucker Harwell discovered references to a "Clarion Note" emergency protocol, which describes the use of a Super-HPG to disrupt interstellar communication in an unspecified way. Clarion Note was known to (and possibly devised by) the Word of Blake, who considered it a weapon of mass destruction and never actually used it.[11] Context implies that Clarion Note would have affected hyperspace in such a way as to burn out HPG cores.

Evidence gathered by Harwell indicated that Devlin Stone's Republic of the Sphere had acquired the technology, and that the protocol had been initiated.

Surviving HPGs

Only a handful of HPG stations throughout the Inner Sphere survived. The HPG's ability to send messages to places up to 50 (A class HPGs) or 30 (B class stations) light years away considerably boosted the strategic importance of the worlds with functional HPGs (a working HPG is required to send messages, but not to receive them as HPGs effectively "jump" radio waves which can be received with regular radio equipment). Known worlds with working HPGs after the Blackout include:

Notes

  • In the BattleCorps PDF edition of the novel A Bonfire of Worlds, the date of Gray Monday is given as 1 August (instead of 7 August) which, being a Monday, may originally have been the correct date. However, according to the Line Developer, the date is corrected to 7 August in a proof of the novel which is in line with virtually all other Dark Age era publications (save one novel by Blaine Pardoe).

References

  1. Loss of HPGs in the periphery confirmed by Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II in an official chat on 24 February 2013; see also this article's Talk page
  2. Era Report: 3145, p. 12, "History and Review - The Fall of Darkness - What about the Clans?"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Era Report: Dark Age, p. 5
  4. 4.0 4.1 Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 4 "Gray Monday"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Era Report: 3145, p. 12, "History and Review - The Fall of Darkness"
  6. In Ghost War, chapter 14, Janella Lakewood mentions "Hitting all of the alpha circuit in one fell swoop" while an earlier report just said that "stations on the alpha circuit" were hit.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Ghost War, chapter 14
  8. A Call to Arms p. 143
  9. 9.0 9.1 Ghost War, chapter 11
  10. By Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II; ; see also this article's Talk page
  11. 11.0 11.1 A Bonfire of Worlds, Ch. 10
  12. A Call to Arms
  13. 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 4 "Functional Republic HPGs as of 01 January 3135"
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 By Temptations and by War
  15. 15.0 15.1 Fire at Will
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 LinkNet
  17. 17.0 17.1 Flight of the Falcon
  18. Fire at Will; restarted by ComStar during timeframe of novel, but A Bonfire of Worlds mentions that it didn't last
  19. 19.0 19.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 34
  20. A Call to Arms, Fortress Republic
  21. Target of Opportunity
  22. A Bonfire of Worlds indicates it is still operating in 3143.

Bibliography