Hidden Hope Doctrine
In the wake of the Prinz Eugen Mutiny, General Aleksandr Kerensky had to address the faltering morale of his Exodus fleet. The fleet had been travelling for nearly a year without any end in sight and many among the former SLDF had begun to lose faith in their General.
Kerensky's response to the unrest was to issue General Order 137, in which he set forth the goals and beliefs of the Star League exiles and emphasized the need for discipline in the face of adversity. At the core of General Order 137 was a passage that became known as the Hidden Hope Doctrine:
"Return to the Inner Sphere is impossible for us. Our heritage and our convictions are different from those we left behind. The greed of the five Great Houses and the Council Lords is a disease that can only be burned away by the passing of decades, even centuries. And though the fighting may seem to slow, or even cease, it will erupt again as long as there are powerful men to covet one another's wealth. We shall live apart, conserving all the good of the Star League and ridding ourselves of the bad, so that when we return, and return we shall, our shining moral character will be as much our shield as our BattleMechs and fighters."
This statement by General Kerensky boosted the morale of his followers and gave them hope to continue their journey. To this day, General Order 137, the Hidden Hope Doctrine, is inscribed just above eye level in the common rooms of all Clan vessels as a reminder of the Great Father and his ideals. The Hidden Hope formed the basis of the Clan belief that they would one day return to the worlds of the Inner Sphere, though the circumstances of that return would be interpreted differently by the Warden and Crusader movements.
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