Volume XXVII: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Lyran Commonwealth

Founded by three merchant kings, united under one powerful dynasty, the Lyran Commonwealth rose to economic and industrial prominence in the Inner Sphere, emphasizing trade over military prowess. With the ascendance of House Steiner and the foundation of the Steiner dynasty, the Steiner fist replaced the three-stringed lyre of the Commonwealth. But the promise of prosperity was not enough to safeguard the Lyran people from the threats of hostile neighbors. In the years of the Age of War, the Commonwealth lost more and more territory to its aggressive neighbors as its military—well-equipped, but poorly trained—fell in battle after battle. This run of misfortune would surely have swallowed the realm up had it not been for the capture of BattleMech blueprints from the Terran Hegemony’s Hesperus II factory, enabling the Steiner forces to gain the advantage over its enemies with the newly invented tools of war.

The Commonwealth owes its existence to the BattleMech—a funny realization, no doubt, for a nation built to pursue mercantile goals. Even though the “advantage” over houses Marik and Kurita lasted all of five years before spies and commandos captured them in turn from Steiner factories, had it not been for the success of Archon Alistair Steiner’s Operation Prometheus to capture ’Mech plans from the Hegemony, the Commonwealth military might have been totally shattered. The combined weight of the Marik and Kurita drives, in the face of Lyran military ineffectiveness, was smashing border defenses with ease, and creating a political crisis at home as the leaders of Tamar and Skye saw their chance to get even with the Commonwealth leadership. These pressures continued to build, leading to the so-called Dark Years after Alistair’s assassination, but the early successes of Steiner ’Mech armies over those of its enemies gave the nation breathing room at a critical time. —Liam Rolf, From Terra to Tharkad, Commonwealth Press, 3125

The strain of various social and political pressures created by the ascent of the Steiner line and the near loss of the Commonwealth to its enemies eventually led to the assassination of Alistair Steiner, the second Steiner Archon to sit on the throne. In the four decades that followed, the Commonwealth faced a period of uncertainty. The Duke of Fatima, framed for the crime, was cleared, and a new generation of Steiner leaders took Alistair’s place, including the indecisive Archon Steven Steiner, whose mystic wife, Margaret Olson, all but subverted his authority and would then enter into an alliance with the leaders of the Skye and Tamar regions.

When Steven Steiner died in 2501, he left no heir, a wife in the clutches of mystical charlatans, and a realm now more powerfully in the hands of its nobility than the central government. The atmosphere was ripe for civil war, which erupted soon after Robert Steiner, Steven’s illegitimate nephew, came to claim the throne, supported by a massive public following. The conflict ultimately resulted in an end to the Tamar and Skye bids for independence—at least for the time being—but when it was over, any advantage House Steiner possessed over its neighbors had been lost.

The last shots [of the Lyran Civil War] had barely been fired in 2505 when Robert Steiner put the realm back on the course of reconstruction and revival. The Age of War, though still fifty plus years from its official end, had begun to wind down for the Lyran quadrant. Increasing trade, promoting business, even paying war reparations to the people of Skye and Tamar from his personal fortune. In the run-up to Tracial Steiner’s decision to sign the Tharkad Accords and thus make the Commonwealth part of the unborn Star League, the Lyran economy flourished and grew. Business ethics were refined, with government support for small and large corporations alike, and civil rights were reinforced with the creation of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth. All the while, the Steiner family restored the integrity of the central authority over the nobility, which had been weakened during the conflict between Robert and Margaret. In 2558, when Tracial Steiner made history with the stroke of a pen, the Lyran Commonwealth was once more the economic giant of the Inner Sphere, so much so that many Lyran merchants and business leaders questioned why they needed League membership in the first place. . . . —Kevin Duelli, A Cynic’s Guide to Politics, 3rd Edition, Dark Skye Press, 3090

Through the Star League era, and even the Succession Wars that came after, the Lyran state continued along its path of financial prosperity, industrial prominence, and—admittedly—military mediocrity, earning a reputation as one of the most static realms in the Sphere. There were internal difficulties, of course, but the worst came during the Star League era, when rumors that the Dukes of Skye and Tamar had taken part in the abduction of her son set Archon Viola Steiner-Dinesen against their forces during her infamous “Day of Rage” during the Reunification Wars. In actuality the work was of the Steering Committee of the Estates General—a fact that led to the brief disbanding of that body—the sheer violence unleashed that day forever marred the relations between the Steiner family and the Kelswas and Lestrades, who ruled Tamar and Skye, respectively. For the Succession Wars themselves, much of the fighting done by House Steiner was defensive in nature, with a few offensives thrown in to reclaim lost territory or secure a vital border world. Indeed, until almost three centuries after the fall of the Star League, the Lyrans never initiated any of the wars that engulfed the Inner Sphere, but attempted time and again to broker peace initiatives to end them.

When, at last, one such effort finally did bear fruit, the course of history changed forever.

No historical account of the Lyran Commonwealth would be complete without some address to the Fourth Succession War and the peace proposal by Archon Katrina Steiner that precipitated it. Hanse Davion’s realm, which rarely confronted the Commonwealth, of course made the ideal candidate for alliance, given much of the same views on planetary autonomy, human rights, and even their shared western-European cultural bent. It’s ironic to note, of course, that the Lyrans actually bought into the plan even after Hanse further proposed that its final objective would necessitate yet another war. Yet go with it they did. Gladly. Eagerly. For the first time, Steiner troops began their own war of conquest, pushing deep into the Draconis Combine and along the Free Worlds front to support Davion’s war against the Capellans and House Kurita. In two years, the two states claimed more victories than any nation could claim in the three centuries before. But the bloodlust subsided soon afterward. After losing their military gains to the political maneuvers that created the Free Rasalhague Republic, it seems the Steiners lost their stomach for war once again, as evidenced by their dismal showing in 3039. —Kevin Duelli, A Cynic’s Guide to Politics, 3rd Edition, Dark Skye Press, 3090

The unification of the Steiner and Davion realms with the Fourth Succession War and the marriage of Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner to First Prince Hanse Davion created a military and economic power bloc that none of the other Successor States could hope to match, but it was one that began to crack almost immediately. The separatist district of Skye attempted to rebel, and the rulers of the Tamar Pact, having seen their hard-fought conquests lost to the newly formed Rasalhague Republic, grumbled about following suit. Both perceived the union with the Federated Suns as one more sign that their mother nation was out of control, but soon Melissa’s Steiner strength and firm yet even-handed rule, reassured the people that Steiner leadership was as strong and secure as ever.

Before the Clan invasion, odds strongly favored the eventual conquest of the Inner Sphere by the united Steiner-Davion alliance, with Lyran economic might and flair for diplomacy bolstering the military prowess and efficiency of the Federated Suns. The arrival of Kerensky’s descendants, however, dashed these dreams of empire, reawakened the old rivalries, and strained both nations’ military and economic bonds to their breaking point. For these and a host of other reasons, the time was right for chaos in 3057, the year the Federated Commonwealth finally crumbled.

Join us next time for our final look at the Lyran Commonwealth of today, as we continue our tour of the stars! I’m Bertram Habeas.