Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of ProximaThe Clones seem to have gone into sabre rattling overdrive. They are building up forces in their eastern empire, harassing and threatening the Eritrans, some HCS generals have even talked about attacking the DDS! So what is up?
I think this sudden outbreak of aggression and irrational behaviour is down to two things : restlessness and diverting attention from an economic downturn. We'll take the second first as its easier to explain. The Clone economy has had around 10 years of amazing economic growth but that has now ground to a halt. Unemployment is rising and optimism is falling. The Clone government have always been afraid of unrest, even though there isn't a great history of it in the empire. A psychologist friend of mine who specialises in xeno-psychological analysis told me the Clones are naturally a paranoid and rather insecure people, this may explain the need to placate the masses. In lieu of actual good news plan B for governments has often been nationalism.
But i think the main reason for the recent events is restlessness. The Clones have not been in a major war for a long time, their last serious conflict was against the Xenon and that was very localised and short. There is a genuine fear in HCS circles that the HCS is going soft. They have seen the DDS and Dinos engaged in regular wars over the last few years, helping to keep skills sharp, helping to develop new techniques and new technology and allowing for greater influence in astral-politics. The Clones in contrast have probably stagnated militarily. Technology wise they are now lagging behind the DDS and Dinos badly in some areas. Good as the Cosmos CS, Soulaki SLBK and Shark SKB (and they are good) are they aren't as advanced as the Panther or the Dinomark PT, and more importantly aren't as combat proven.
So the Clones are seeking a war? Well i'm not 100% convinced on that. It may be they see in the Eritrans a tough but winnable conflict but with the Eritrans gaining more DDS technology recently it could easily turn into a humiliation for the Clones. I think the Clones may be content with sabre rattling and brinksmanship, but the problem with that is one spark can easily set off a chain of events far out of control.
