Word of Blake - ComStar

ComStar

ComStar is a politically influential, quasi-religious organization which maintains a monopoly over the HyperPulse Generators, which are crucial to interstellar communication; the threat of a communications blackout, also known as an interdiction, made ComStar a significant power within the Inner Sphere. Its currency, the C-bill, is considered the safest among the circulating currencies. They profess to be neutral to the politics of the Inner Sphere; this is known by most political leaders to be false, as every Successor State has felt the meddling hand of ComStar in their affairs at one point or another.

Jerome Blake was a religious figure to ComStar; oaths such as "By the blessed Blake" or epithets such as "Blake's Blood!" are not uncommon. Jerome Blake was the founder of ComStar, after the Star League fell, and is considered by those within ComStar to be the savior of the Inner Sphere.

Philosophically, the Word of Blake are religious fanatics and extremists, showing intense dedication to the writings of Jerome Blake, and revering the man himself on a level approaching sainthood. Following the example of their leader, Precentor Apollyon, most Blakists undergo extensive cybernetic augmentation; as a result, Word of Blake soldiers are known and feared for their enhanced strength, speed and overall durability.

Some Blakists are inducted into the ranks of the Manei Domini (an elite Word of Blake spec-ops division); in addition to the expected round of enhancements, Manei Domini operatives are usually implanted with explosives, set to detonate as a suicide attack or if an operative is captured or killed. Coupled with specialized implants that redirect or block pain reception, the explosives make a Manei Domini operative an extremely formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat, capable of shaking off blows that would incapacitate a non-enhanced being (whom the Manei Domini disparagingly, and somewhat appropriately, call 'frails').