It was supposed to offer protection to systems that withdrew from the League during that entities post-war breakup.penny wrote:tlb wrote:There is what I consider a very strong reason why the Renaissance Factor must never get involved in any fighting: they are protecting a secret wormhole that leads to Darius (or did I remember that incorrectly). If the GA were to gain control of it then all travel would have to be by hyperspace, and so much slower. Plus it might lead to the capture of ships from Darius with navigation data that indicates where the planet is.
I do not see any reason to attack the Solarian League, before any attack on the members of the Grand Alliance; the Solarian League is nothing of military importance now.
How does that work? The mission statement of the RFN was to provide shelter for any entity wishing to part with the League. How can a navy protect if it is not willing to fight???
To that end it was expected to be fighting only defensively against pirates and warlords. Not really engaging the SLN itself (that navy expected to have been largely destroyed in mutual annihilations with the PRN)
Given that the SLN survived far more intact than expected, and the reformed constitution reaffirms systems right to leave peacefully, the RF would both be foolish to fight them and also has no reason to. Plus the (future) RF members deliberately kept most of their navies small before it publicly declared itself, so it'll need time to build a modern fleet. And even the somewhat diminished League massively outweighs the RF in terms of industrial potential -- and will also be building a modern fleet. So by the time the RF has a major modern fleet the League likely will too.
But also, if the new League constitution holds then the SLN wouldn't be starting any fights over systems withdrawing (and then potentially joining the RF) - and the RF would be foolish to show their hand by turning conquistador and attacking League systems.
So what would trigger this war you've assumed will occur?