In the MechWarrior PC gaming universe, giant stompy robots are the order of the day. These are BattleMechs, weighing many tons and loaded with devastating weapons, piloted by skilled MechWarriors. But who do these MechWarriors fight for? In the past, they fought for the Star League, now a long-lost empire.
Many sci-fi franchises feature an elder race or lost empire element, from Mass Effect's Prothean Empire to Halo's Forerunners. The Star League is MechWarrior's take on that concept, but it was not built by ancient aliens or space wizards. Instead, this was was the crowning achievement of humanity, showing what a united human race can do.
The Rise & Fall of the Star League
In MechWarrior lore, humanity expanded across the stars in all directions from Earth. By the mid-2500s, the human race lived on hundreds of worlds organized into several great nations. In the center surrounding Earth was the Terran Hegemony, the wealthiest and most powerful state (with Earth as its capital). The royal Cameron dynasty ruled the Hegemony, and they watched as the rest of humanity waged endless war on itself.
The great nations feuded nonstop, and the invention of the BattleMech in 2439 only fanned the flames of war. Finally, a certain Ian Cameron decided to formally unite the feuding nations into one, with Earth as the capital of this new union. The great Star League was created by 2571. The League had a rough start, since there were a lot of kinks to smooth out, but the five greatest nations soon signed up and started reaping the benefits.
However, the peripheral nations refused to join, and the Star League waged the Reunification Wars to bring them into the fold by force. Once that grim task was accomplished in the 2590s, an era of relative peace began. Humanity flourished more than ever. Under the Star League, civilian and military technology boomed, and factories churned out endless 'Mechs, tanks, warships and more for the Star League Defense Force.
For nearly 200 years, all was well, but cracks were forming under the surface. In particular, the Rim Worlds Republic simmered with resentment, and the Amaris family (which led the Republic) hated the Camerons more than anything. By the 2750s, the Star League was getting sluggish and complacent, and Stefan Amaris, the greatest villain the Inner Sphere had ever seen, struck.
Stefan Amaris cut off the head of the Star League in December 2766, assassinating the First Lord Richard Cameron in person. His master plan unfolded, allowing him to reshape the Star League into the terrifying Amaris Empire, a cruel and oppressive regime. The Star League effectively died with the Camerons, and even when General Aleksandr Kerensky defeated Stefan Amaris in 2780, it was too late to bring back its glory. The Terran Hegemony was ruined without the Star League to support it.
The five great nations of the Inner Sphere couldn't decide on a new First Lord, especially with the Cameron line dead at the hands of Stefan Amaris.Kerensky led the SLDF on an exodus to unknown space to recreate the Star League in secret, and the bloodthirsty Successor States waged all-out war, the Succession Wars. The last vestiges of the great Star League were gone, and even the League's advanced technology was lost in the flames of war. However, some hidden caches of Star League tech remained, planting the seeds for future hope.
The Star League in the MechWarrior Games
The Star League does not appear directly in any of the MechWarrior PC or Xbox games, since those games take place long after the League is gone. Besides, since it existed in an era of relative peace, the League wouldn't make the best setting for action and adventure. However, the Star League casts a long shadow over the franchise.
For example, 1999's MechWarrior 3 takes place right after the Second Star League is born, and this new Star League sends a huge task force to destroy the villainous Clan Smoke Jaguar once and for all. It's a symbolic victory, since the new Star League's task force includes elite regiments from all member states, showing what a reunited humanity is capable of. The player controls a lance of such Star League warriors during a campaign in Clan space.
Meanwhile, the 2018 BattleTech PC strategy game from Harebraned Schemes is largely set in the era right before the devastating Clan Invasion, in between both iterations of the Star League. However, the heroine Lady Kamea Arano stumbles upon some incredible treasures during her war in the periphery of space: Star League-era spaceships and bunkers.
Lady Arano's rag-tag crew gets a real boost from dusting off these high-tech Star League 'Mechs, and the player can have a blast destroying their enemies with ancient but sophisticated technology. For a short time, the player can wield double heat sinks, Gauss rifles, ER lasers, Artemis IV-guided missiles and more. Long after its dissolution in the 2780s, the great Star League is serving humanity once again, and Lady Arano treats these prized relics with all the respect and awe they are due.