Special Era Report: 3142 - Beyond the Looking Glass (BattleTech Concertverse AU Sourcebook)

[Steve]

Yes. I am a nerd. Yes. I am also not sane. But what can I say? BattleTech brings out the world-building nerd in me, and writing this out makes my brain produce happiness chemicals. Needs my dopamine hit yo.

Table of Contents​

Fatal Expectations

Introduction

The Distorted Reflection

The Points of Divergence​

Sidebar 1: The Fateful Discovery​

After Kerensky's Loss
The Collapse​

Sidebar 2: ComStar — A Different Path
Sidebar 3: What about Kerensky's children?​

Chaos Reigns​

Sidebar 4: Dominion By Strength​

A New Renaissance
The Second Age of War
Operation REVIVAL: The Terran Crusade​

Sidebar 5: The Responses to the Terran Ultimatum of August 3050
Sidebar 6: Operation SERPENT​

Terra's Fall and the Successor States' Stalemate
The Fourth Succession War​

Sidebar 7: The Dragon's Contempt​

The Congress of Dieron
The Concert of the Sphere​

Sidebar 8: A Hidden War in the Deep Periphery?
​

The Successor States of 3142

Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague​

First Einherjar
Eridani Heavy Cavalry Sixty-Sixth Cavalry Regiment
Knights of St. John First Regiment
Takeda Cavalry​

Azami Confederacy​

Al-Murabutin
Azami Heavy Guard
Sixth Spahi
Second Arkab Legion​

Draconis Combine​

Second Sword of Light
Barlowe's Raiders
Ninth Galedon Regulars
Fourth Legion of Vega​

Tikonov Union​

First Tikonov Guards
Arcadian Cuirassiers
Northwind Highlanders MacLeod's Regiment
Seventh Kentares Guards​

Kilbourne Suns' Concord​

Lexington Combat Group 249th Command Regiment
Eridani Light Horse 71st Light Horse
First Solar Legion
Fifth Concord Guards​

Free Traders' Union​

Traders' Militia First Brigade
3311th Armored Cavalry
Wynn's Aces
Castro's Cowboys​

Federated Suns​

Third Davion Guards
Sharpe Rifles
Second Victoria Rangers
First Robinson Avengers​

Oriento-Capellan Empire​

Death Commandos
The Order of the Red Sword
Warrior House Aquila
First Sian Dragoons​

People's State of Andurien​

Second Defenders of Andurien
Chamberlain's Fusiliers
Third People's Defense Brigade
Lancaster's Filibusters​

Magistracy of Canopus​

Canopian Lifeguards
Four Canopian Grenadiers
Canopian Highlanders
Arano Royal Guard​

Flavian Principate​

IX Legio
Gladiator Auxilia (Gladiators Legion)
Pilpala Auxilia (The KING of Pilpala's Legion)
I Rim Auxilia (First Rim Commonality Cuirassiers)​

Royal Federation​

Proctor Heavy Guards
Eighth Strikers
Fourth Skye Rangers
First Atrean Dragoons​

Kingdom of Ghastillia​

Fourth Ghastillian Grenadiers
First Winter Lancers
Second Ghastillian Regulars
Twenty-Fifth Ghastillian Heavy Defense Brigade "Mangeurs de Feu"​

Communal League of Sudeten​

Second Autonomous Brigade
First Autonomous Wing
Communal Assault Brigade
Seventh Jaeger Brigade ​

ComStar​

Sidebar 9: The Terran Oversight Force​

Mercenaries​

Dumas' Musketeers
Gray Death Legion
The Gravediggers
Black Pants Legion​

Major Personas

Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague ​

Haakon Magnusson
Margrethe Maxwell
Lars Skafte
Anastasia Takeda-Suvorova
Tristan Denaro ​

Azami Confederacy ​

Khalid al-Abbas
Yasmin Rashid
Nasruddin Hekmatyar
Oleg Petrovsky
Maryam Nyobe ​

Draconis Combine ​

Yorinaga Kurita
Ichiro Tetsuhara
John Ballymont
Katarina Takeda-Suvorova
Musashi Honda ​

Tikonov Union ​

Martina Timoshenko
Alvin Rozhenko
Tanya Campbell
Mikhail Kamenov
Joseph Dresari ​

Kilbourne Suns' Concord ​

Milos Kavanaugh
Joan Arseid
Lawrence Avellar
Harris Tostig
Shlomo Rubenstein ​

Free Traders' Union ​

Duane Sandusky
Fidel Raoul Castro
Gerard Fetladral ​

Federated Suns ​

Grace Silver-Davion
Erik Sandoval
Arthur Silver-Davion
Victor Silver-Davion
Bao Chen Luo ​

Oriento-Capellan Empire ​

Robert Halas-Liao
Eris Halas
Xiaoli Halas-Liao
Daniel Hawkwood
Salma Chen ​

People's State of Andurien​

Karla Humphries
Jacob Chamberlain
Rama Choudhuri
Halime Cifti​

Magistracy of Canopus ​

Kamea Centrella-Arano
Alistair Wainwright
Pauline Oliver
Mateo Arano ​

Flavian Principate ​

Julia O'Reilly
Sanjeet Vulcan-Maximus
Marcus Anthony Zielinski
Mark O'Reilly
Enver Cifti-Jimenez ​

Royal Federation ​

Nathaniel Proctor-Steiner
Peter Proctor-Steiner
Arnold Proctor-Steiner
DeMarcus Bridger
Katherine Tremaine ​

Kingdom of Ghastillia ​

Gerda Bradford
Sean Callahan
Roger Cook
Joachim von Istenberg
Regina Mackey ​

Communal League of Sudeten​

Karl Luvacs
Jorge Ramirez
Silvia Dubček
Lena Zuk
Mattias Whitbrook ​

ComStar​

Evelyn Katanga
Jason Hollings
Samanthan Praust​

Mercenaries​

Roland Carlisle
Jean-Paul Dumas
Christopher Hoyal​

The Broken and the Reformed: Former Successor States of the Second Age of War

The Broken ​

Terran Union
Oberon Confederation
Rengo Directorate
McAllister Shogunate
Canaan Accord
Lancaster Authority
United Outworlds Republic
Duchy of Vicente
Filtvelt Coalition
Colorado Empire
Peripheral Union
Hyades Rim Republic
Jaipur Empire
Muskegon Empire
Capellan Hegemony
Unity of Bellatrix
Saonara Dominion
Marik Commonwealth
Kashamarka Antisuyu
Interstellar Governments Council
Grand Duchy of Tamarind
Circinus Federation
Grand Principality of Bolan
Federal Star Republic of Skye
Rift Republic
New Commonwealth
Rim Worlds Empire
Duchy of Buckminster​

The Reformed ​

Principality of Rasalhague
Rasalhague Commune
Tamar Pact
Hartshill Federal Alliance
Galedon Directorate
Lexington Concord
Solar Union
Kilbourne Commonwealth
Crucis Pact
United Hindu Collective
Brethren of the Stars
Aurigan Coalition
Marian Hegemony
Rim Commonality
Grand Duchy of Oriente
Royal Protectorate of Harsefeld
Niops Association
Arcadian Free March
Kingdom of Donegal
Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant​

 

[Steve]

Fatal Expectations​

Harlow's Wood
Umberland Continent, New Wessex
Vega Prefecture, Tok Do Military District
Draconis Combine
15 May 3140


The flash of laser fire lanced through Harlow's Wood, cleaving burning trees along the beam's path. The contours of a Tengu OmniMech showed through the smoke lifting from the smoldering forest floor. Second Lieutenant Frederick Wolfe, Third Proctor Guards, flipped to magscan to get a better image of the Drac 'Mech before centering his crosshairs on the inhumanly-shaped bipedal 'Mech and squeezing his triggers. The extended range pulse lasers in the OmniPods fitted to his Cobra's right arm and chest flashed to life in twin beams of pulsing light. He held the beams as long as possible over the machine, drilling into the armor of the Tengu.

The Tengu pilot juked, throwing his aim off enough that his torso-mounted pulse laser drifted off target, leaving a glowing streak of molten material over otherwise-intact ferro-fibrous armor. The right arm weapon kept on target until the beam ended. A deep wound in the belly armor of the Combine pilot showed, though with no spike of heat or change in balance to indicate the engine or gyro damage he'd hoped to inflict.

Wolfe extended his Cobra's straight-jointed left leg to side-step in an evasive maneuver. It kept one of the sizzling particle bolts from the enemy machine from blasting his protective armor, but the other was a direct hit on his left side. The armor held but the sensors built into the plate flashed black on his warning screens. The armor plate itself was no longer intact. Another PPC hit to that section would wreck everything.

"Battalion Command, this is Charlie Company, I say again, we have Dracs in the woods," His Company CO, Captain Minissha Kaur, spoke with deceptive calm. "Our Recon Lance is reporting enough signatures to be a battalion."

"Impossible, Charlie Command," a voice from the 3rd Battalion's HQ replied. "We have confirmation that all Second Sword of Light battalions are accounted for. There's not supposed to be anyone else here. Can you make positive unit identification?"

Wolfe wasn't going to wait for someone else to do it. Despite the smoke he switched from magscan to normal spectrum and enhanced as best he could. The Tengu was still shrouded in smoke from the burning forest floor, but another of its type and a Tanto moving up behind it, were just far enough from the thickest plumes to get a visual ID. His left hand moved over and hit a quick sequence of keys. The paired RussTech targeting and comm systems built into the Cobra collaborated electronically to transmit the data in live tri-V to Battalion Command. "Charlie Bravo-Three sending visual data, Charlie Command, Battalion Command," he said.

The opposing Tengu's arm track Wolfe fired his pulse lasers once more. One beam was a complete miss and the other slipped off too quickly to penetrate armor, but the Tengu had to jerk in a way that caused their own PPC blast to miss Wolfe and blow up a tree behind him. Particle backwash rippled over the Cobra and distorted some of his electronic displays for a couple seconds. When the effect faded Wolfe still had his target in sight.

Before he could fire, the Drac Tanto rushed into view. Its black and red color scheme and the black dragon sigil of the Draconis Combine were prominent, as was another insignia that, even if he couldn't make out the detail, made his blood chill. Instead of the blazing sword he'd expected to see, it was a bi-colored square with a sword and numeral the smoke obscured.

They're not from a Sword of Light regiment! There's another outfit here!

The Tanto was a lighter machine than the Tengu, built like one of the classic Jenners, and armed like it too. SRMs corkscrewed from the mounts built into the chest of the armless 'Mech, eight in all. Wolfe twisted to his left to take the hits on the intact right side armor. In the same motion his leveled his right arm and triggered the pulse laser mounted beside the hand. Pulsing sapphire light flashed over the Tanto just as half its missiles slammed into his arm and torso section. The powerful warheads tore chunks from the armor but did not penetrate.

The Tengu's PPC fire did.

Dammit. Wolfe watched his right arm, and almost half his firepower, go flying off at the shoulder joint. The second PPC blast smashed through the armor on the right side entirely and wrecked the Defiance B6M laser built into the housing. Okay, make that over half my firepower gone.

Heavy autocannon fire tore into the Tengu the next moment, ripping through its heart and blasting the engine to pieces. A salvo of large missiles — VCTMs! — struck at the Tanto. Though only nine hit the torso the explosions blew through the 'Mech with enough power to tell him the shooter was using short-ranged HE warhead VCTMs. A pair of emerald pulse lasers finished it off.

The remaining Tengu faded back through the smoke and began evasive maneuvers. Freed from imminent danger, Wolfe's attention switched to the machines moving up beside him. One was a Cobra like his own, but with the right side of the torso dominated by the imposing sight of a Defiance Doomblossom VCTM-12, and the name of Lieutenant Yasmin al-Garoub now erased by a laser burn beside the cockpit. The other was Lieutenant Tristan MacDougal's Culverin, five tons heavier and built like the smaller, reverse-knee-jointed cousin of the legendary Hunchback. A few wisps of smoke still gently wafted from the barrel of the massive Kali Yama Deathhammer autocannon installed in the pod space within the bulkier right torso. The Culverin was missing one of its arms and the Cobra had plentiful laser burns with no visible damage.

"Bravo Three, this is why you don't ride out too far," said the soprano voice of his immediately commander, Lance Lieutenant Sandra Miller. Her low-built chicken-legged Sunhawk stomped up. Like his machine and the others it bore battle damage on the plates of silver, gold, and red. Underneath the beak-like cockpit over the central torso was an insignia not dissimilar to the Draconis Combine emblem, save for the hawk-winged silver sword plunging through the black dragon's chest. Six SRM tubes were still intact to either side of the beak-ish protrusion of the cockpit, as were the four extended range medium lasers built into the arms and below the SRM launchers. A blackened ruin of a lens marked where enemy fire had killed the Defiance LightSweeper micro-pulse laser mounted just to the right side of the chest. "Their skirmishers got past you. If we hadn't been in position you'd have been flanked by two more of the bastards."

Wolfe swallowed and nodded. "Apologies, Lance Loo. Won't happen again." He turned his eyes to the wider sensor display. Aside from the Tengu falling back, more amber lights were forming in the far distance. He brought up his magscan visuals and zoomed in. The magnetic sensors looked past the trees, smoke, and flames to seek out metals and electric emissions.

The sight made him swallow. There was another company out there. No, more than one. Sixteen. Twenty. Guess that's the battalion the recces spotted.

More icons showed on his screen. Blue ones, at least, coming up beside them. "Charlie Company, assume defensive positions," Captain Kaur said.

"Battalion Command here. Good work, Charlie Bravo-Three. We've made identification. It's the Ninth Galedon Regulars."

"Figures," MacDougal snorted in his Skye brogue. "Intel didn't warn us they'd be here."

"Cut the chatter, Bravo-Four," Kaur snapped. "Battalion Command, enemy 'Mech battalion is nearly on us. Orders?"

"Hold until relieved, Charlie Company. We're vectoring supporting armor and armored infantry units as quickly as we can, but the Dracs are hitting us all along the Wood and the artillery's already tasked. If you don't keep them out they're going to cut through the forest and hit our LZ."

Wolfe swallowed. Hold and die. His heart quivered in realization at just how long the odds were. So much for avenging the Dracs' border attacks, and so damn much for the bloody 'Concert of the Sphere' and their damned Peace. He brought in a breath and gripped his joystick tightly.

Movement showed ahead. The Dracs had regrouped. They were coming.

"Alright everyone," Kaur said over their company line. "This is the job. We're the Third Proctor Guards. They call us the Dragonslayers for a reason, and I see a whole lot of Dracs coming. We hold. For the Federation!"

"For Freedom and Federation!" one of the other company pilots called out.

"For God, Liberty, and House Proctor!" Lance Lieutenant Miller added.

Wolfe added his own cry, if just to break the icy fear filling his chest. "For Donegal and the Federation!"

The first Drac 'Mechs pierced the smoke and flames. Wolfe's joystick centered on another Tengu. His finger tensed on the trigger.

Harlow's Wood burned.

 

[Steve]

Introduction




****INTELLIGENCE REPORT - ULTRA PRIORITY - READ IMMEDIATELY****​

FROM: Lady Janella Lakewood
TO: Exarch Jonah Levin
CC: Council of Paladins
RE: Timkovichi Event
DATE: 7 June 3143

By the time you're reading this, Exarch, I will have already shown you the news that Brigadier Huyten and his people delivered to us at Imbros two weeks ago. The miracle we were hoping for may have finally come in a form none of us could have ever imagined.

The Timkovichi Event on 15 August 3142 ended the threat Malvina Hazen posed to our Republic; frankly, to every soul living within the Inner Sphere. The formation and persistent existence of what has been dubbed "the Looking Glass" has also changed much of what we presumed true about the nature of reality or the functions of the Kearny-Fuchida Drive that makes interstellar civilization possible. It has enormously complicated the duties of our intelligence-gatherers now that we have to account for an entirely different Inner Sphere existing "beside" ours, one we have only limited access to at this time. We do have a starting point for that effort, at least.

Brigadier Huyten and his team compiled a lot of data for us on our cousins beyond the Looking Glass. The battleROM footage from the fighting on Timkovichi is of immense value to Paladin-Exemplar McKinnon's efforts in understanding the weaponry, machines, and fighting doctrines from the other side. Huyten also includes interviews he and his people had with the Arcadian personnel on Timkovichi, the reports through the Glass he obtained, and even some of the material Lady Trillian Steiner-Davion sent to the Kells from the other side. My staff and I have done what we can to compile it into the information within this document, which I expect to complement the personal briefing I've given you. Hopefully Huyten or one of his people will return with yet more information for us, but until then, this is what we have.

Everything has changed. And I think Huyten is right. This might just be the salvation we've been looking for.

 

[Steve]

The Distorted Reflection

There is a long-standing theory in high-level physics called the "many worlds" theory. It existed more as a thought experiment than anything, a way of resolving how time travel might resolve paradoxes, or certain exotic concepts of quantum mechanics. The Timkovichi Event has proven it more than a mere thought experiment, however. We have physical, incontrovertible proof that more than one "universe" exists. Another Inner Sphere that appears to match our own, in terms of astronomy and placement of stars and worlds, even in our histories. Up to a point.

The Points of Divergence


We're not sure precisely where the earliest divergence point is. It's possible, even likely, it was so small that it had no bearing on the flow of history. It may have been something as simple as a farmer in ancient Terra stubbing his toe on a stone in one Inner Sphere but not the other. Or Emperor Nero tried a different tune on his purported fiddle on some specific day. There is no way of knowing how many divergences exist, simply indicators that they did.

One significant example that we can confirm thanks to Arcadian records and modern news reports is that the Lyran world Gienah has a different history and culture. By the historical record there were fewer colonists of Scots and Indian extraction and more from the Middle East and North America. As a result the Gienah beyond the Looking Glass has the cities of Garvey and Armstrong on the Borealis continent at the spot where our Inner Sphere's Molfetta was built on the continent Carrobesto. The original planetary capital of Ooessay on Alliago Major is known there as Athanasius and the planet's capital is instead the city of Eilat on the coast. That city is near but not on the site of Alliago City on our side of the Glass. Alliago Major is not the name of the continent there either; the main continent of Gienah is called Tikvah, and our Alliago Minor is their Australis. The Shaltiel family have governed as Dukes since virtually the start of the Lyran Commonwealth, while in our timeline there are no records of a House Shaltiel ever holding even a barony on the planet. Each of these represents multiple, compounding divergences, and collectively are just one example of many that might exist once the records are thoroughly examined.

It is most likely one of these sorts of divergence points led to, or "butterflied", into the single most important historical diversion between our Inner Spheres. That came in early 2777 when Aleksandr Kerensky led the SLDF to Terra. During the early fighting in Eurasia Kerensky personally assumed command of the liberation of his hometown Moscow. On February 2nd, 2777, our history violently diverges from that beyond the Looking Glass. In our history nothing of special note occurred on that day. In their history the 33rd Amaris Dragoons detonated a fifty-five kiloton atomic device in the Kuntsevo District of the city. The blast inflicted serious casualties to elements of the 146th Royal BattleMech Division and destroyed their forward staff HQ. The divisional command staff were all killed, as was their visitor: Kerensky himself.

I have consulted a number of official records and historical accounts of Operation LIBERATION and the fighting against the Usurper. There are always allegations and reports that the 33rd Amaris Dragoons may have had atomic devices, and certainly Amaris would have ordered them used on Kerensky if at all possible, but in our history this obviously did not occur. Perhaps on our side a soldier was in the right place at the right time to thwart the weapon's activation, or a different junior officer made a choice the one on our side did not that saw the weapon's use. Maybe their Kerensky made his presence in Kuntsevo too obvious, costing him and many of his soldiers their lives. A more exhaustive examination of the historical record might or might not reveal the why. It does reflect the nature of these differences in history, as history is a continuing chain of linked decisions and choices. Change one link, no matter how small or insignificant, and the resulting cascade might end up with profound implications.

As we shall see, this divergence would cascade until it left the Inner Sphere beyond the Glass a very different place from our own.



Sidebar 1: The Fateful Discovery

<RECORDING OF COMMUNICATION, 2 FEBRUARY 2777, 146TH RBMR S&R DETACHMENT, OA: KUNTSEVO DISTRICT, MOSCOW, EURASIA>

"Battalion Command to SR One. Verified enemy no longer present in your OA. Have you reached 146th PHQ?"

"SR Detachment entering the building now. *crackle* Not a lot of rubble. Blast blew the thing over and exposed the room. We definitely have remains. Checking for dog tags."

"How's your counter, SR One?"

"Crackling away. Rads are still evident and above recommended. Good thing we've got the suits. Didn't matter for the staff. Surprised there's enough of them left…"

"Can you confirm identity?"

"Uniforms are burnt to a crisp, no identifying rank insignia left intact. Looks like the dogtags didn't quite melt. I've got… Colonel Jerricks, looks like."

"SR Two here, tag for Major General Scott. Only thing we'll be identifying him with. Good God the Rimmer nuke did a number on them."

"Battalion Command here. I'll inform Lieutenant General Frantisek he's in charge of the division. Any other remains?"

"SR One here, on to my next— Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!"

"SR One? What is it?"

"Dear God, it can't… oh God…"

"SR One? SR Detachment, proceed."

<several second pause>

"SR Detachment, this is Colonel Primmon speaking at Battalion Command, talk to me. Are you having counter problems? Rads spiking? We need an answer."

<sounds of retching are heard>

"SR Detachment—"

"SR Two here, Battalion Command. No change to rads. It's… Good God, Colonel, it's him. It's the General!"

"You already accounted for General Scott, who are you—"

"It's the General, sir! It's… it's General Kerensky!"

 

[Steve]

After Kerensky's Loss

Kerensky's death did not significantly alter the outcome of Operation LIBERATION. Aaron DeChavilier and his subordinates took over and continued to execute the plans Kerensky laid out, and while Amaris' forces did attempt further atomic attacks, SLDF special forces and the loss of critical assembly facilities did little more than buy time. In 2780 Amaris' forces laid down their arms. DeChavilier, who had already found the rotting remains of the Camerons in Unity City, did not permit Amaris and his family even a day of captivity, ordering their executions the moment Amaris' Imperial Palace was taken.

The end of the Usurper brought DeChavilier to the same situation that Kerensky faced in our own. There were no legitimate claims to the Cameron throne. The other Council Lords all claimed they had the right to become First Lord and would not vote for another. The key difference was that DeChavilier, by himself, did not, perhaps could not, envision the Exodus as Kerensky did in our history. He focused on rebuilding the SLDF and securing the former Hegemony, but he could not stop the Houses from recruiting their citizens among his forces. The battered SLDF shrunk yet further, almost to the point it could not even defend Terra. As in our history, only Jerome Blake found any headway, being made Minister of Communications by the feuding Lords of the Council in an effort to rebuild interstellar communication.

At this point the divergences pick up. The ripples are now tidal waves. Their armies much enhanced, the House Lords were even less-inclined to a diplomatic solution, and in one final vote ordered the SLDF itself to disperse. DeChavilier was stripped of all commands. At this point, DeChavilier rebelled. He could not personally suppress the Houses, but he had the support of the remnant SLDF in refusing the dispersal. In 2784 the Commanding General issued the Emergency Defense Decree, ordering all SLDF units still existing to refuse efforts to disperse them and, where applicable, withdraw to Terra or surrounding worlds. The Council Lords were understandably irate, but by this point they were already preparing for the coming contest with their rivals and did not stop DeChavilier's actions, though they all made opportunistic grabs at the former Hegemony for territory.

DeChavilier did not retaliate because he could not with his existing forces, but he used the pretext to reform the Terran Hegemony as the Terran Union. To ease concerns from the populace he invited civilian leadership to form and constitute a legislature and government, which became the Terran Union Congress, while as Director-General of the new Union he would lead what he now called the "Terran Union Defense Forces". A number of worlds within one or two jumps of Terra acceded to the new Union and the new TUDF, formed as they were of Star League veterans, easily repulsed the House forces that tried to take their worlds. In 2784 the Titan Shipyards were re-opened and allowed DeChavilier's fleet to become active. They were, despite the hellish losses in the war against the Usurper, still the largest fleet in the Inner Sphere. The invasions ceased under their guns. The Terran Union borders were secure. Reportedly DeChavilier considered a proposal to intervene more forcefully, but with the state of the Terran Union's economy and industry and how thin his forces were, even his fleet, he lacked the means to forcibly suppress the remaining Houses. All he could do was stand on the defensive and hope they left him alone.

In 2785 the other House Lords gave a grudging, halting admission of the new Union's status, charging them as "protectors of Terra and the rightful holdings of the First Lord". DeChavilier accepted even with the implication he would be expected to defer to whichever Successor Lord prevailed. As he and his new associate, Jerome Blake, privately discussed, the situation was unlikely to see any of the contenders prevail, either through diplomacy or force. Staying out of the dispute to allow the rebuilding of Terra and adjoining worlds was the wise choice.

When Minoru Kurita declared himself the rightful First Lord and demanded the others accede to his wishes, DeChavilier still did nothing but declare that he would act to uphold the Ares Conventions and SLDF humanitarian guidelines against "excessive and gross violations by a belligerent". He and his forces would otherwise remain behind their borders as their worlds became the sole island of calm in the raging torrent of the First Succession War.

 

[Steve]

The Collapse

No one need speak of the horrific devastation that came with the First Succession War. The same conflict was even more bloody on the other side of the Glass, with more SLDF-trained veterans on all sides to intensify the fighting of the conflict. The threat of Terran naval intervention restrained the conduct that saw some of the more infamous massacres on our side, preserving New Dallas in one instance and constraining even the volatile Jinjiro Kurita at Kentares. As you might imagine, this had follow-on effects that intensified the war elsewhere. The Federated Suns, for instance, never had the rage of Kentares to boost their faltering morale from defeats. For much of the war House Davion's armies were desperately pressed on all sides and would barely hold in the heart of the Crucis March. At the same time, the successes Liao and Kurita enjoyed against the Davions further strained their own economies from the logistical demands and the continued raiding by the desperate Federated Suns. With similar strains and damage striking at the realms of Steiner and Marik as part of their conflict, all five Great Houses were burning their muscles and sinew, their very bones, to sustain the war effort.

By the 2820s this process was breaking them down. The final offensives petered out with all Houses having gained and lost worlds to the very end, but simply incapable of continued effort. The horrific damages being inflicted were undermining the integrity of their states. Piracy was on the rise and undermining public confidence in the Successor States' ability to protect them. Local planetary governments, expeditionary commanders, and nobles were openly or quietly clawing power away for themselves. Three out of five House Lords — Paul Davion, Jinjiro Kurita, and Ilsa Liao — were killed in action in 2827, and the sons of Thaddeus Marik were waging a quiet civil war against each other and their sister Jeanette, a reluctant Captain-General who had no ComStar to flee to in this history. Jeanette's contribution to history here was her reaching out to Conrad Toyama, Chancellor of the Terran Congress, to request Terran intermediation to end the war.

Much like our history, Toyama was an associate and close friend of Jerome Blake, but as his title indicates, ComStar was not the same organization that developed in our history. With DeChavilier and a functional Terran government in place, Blake never adopted the quasi-religious organization or ideology that ComStar came to be known for here. He founded ComStar as a communications company and a company it remained. Toyama had risen in the ranks of the organization before running for public office at Blake's recommendation. As Chancellor he served in conjunction with the Director-General as head of the military. After consulting with Director-General Sarah McEvedy, Toyama agreed to the proposal. The resulting peace talks were hosted in the rebuilt sections of Unity City. An early proposal by McEvedy to restore the Star League in part was soundly rejected and the Houses would only agree to a peace at the current lines. Everyone needed to rebuild, everyone still wanted more, and the First Succession War came to a stop much as it did in our history; an armed ceasefire instead of the badly-needed general peace that came into force in 2829.

Toyama and McEvedy did what they could to promote a more permanent peace. But the former lost a key vote in Congress promoted by an emerging political rival, Raymond Karpov, and was forced to resign. Karpov assumed the Chancellorship and began a twenty year long struggle for power with McEvedy and her successors while pressing for isolationism and self-interest for the Terran state. His control of Congress and the infighting took the intact Terran fleet and all of the Union's potential influence out of the issue of enforcing and promoting the peace.

The Great Houses should have stopped at this point. But none did. Just as in our history, the Second Succession War broke out a mere few years after the First ended. With Oskar Marik's death by assassination, Jeanette Marik was outmaneuvered by her surviving brother Charles and forced to flee to Terran exile. The war between the Steiners and Mariks recommenced. Michael Davion likewise ended the peace with Liao to reclaim the Capellan March, a campaign that cost him his life on Kathil but likewise tore the guts out of the Confederation's military command. Coordinator Zabu Kurita, more conscious of the toll the first war had left on the Combine, refused to be drawn in even with the Davions and Steiners' distraction. He paid for this when armed assailants loyal to Hoichiro Ueda, the Warlord of Pesht, broke into his rooms and slaughtered Zabu and his domestic staff. His son Yoguchi and daughter Rowena sought revenge. The resulting civil conflict with Ueda accelerated the breakdown of the Combine as a state while forces from the Isle of Skye and the Draconis March continued to engage Combine forces holding worlds taken from them..

Yoguchi was not willing to ignore the war, even if his conflict with Ueda drew much of his attention. In collaboration with the ISF he arranged the delivery of a bioweapon, a debilitating respiratory illness modeled on a Terran coronavirus sample, to Tharkad. The infectious disease lingered asymptomatically in some while being crippling, even fatal, to the respiratory systems of others. Its rapid spread across Tharkad panicked the court of Archon Marcus Steiner, who was stricken from the illness. His wife and sons fled at his command to Donegal while appeals were sent to Terra for assistance. The resulting loss of confidence in Steiner authority proved the final straw in Skye, which broke into open revolt. The dissolution of the Lyran Commonwealth had begun, with Tamar later breaking away and the former Rim Worlds rebelling in 2953. By 2960, Elizabeth Steiner made the change official by declaring herself Queen of Donegal and ruling the Archonship in abeyance. The first Great House had fallen.

The Draconis Combine followed through the middle of the century. To prevent the disloyalty that killed his father, Yoguchi placed most of his commanders under ISF control, angering both the DCMS and the ISF. The various Warlords and lower ranked officers started vying for influence among Kurita, Ueda, and each other. Rowena attempted to manipulate this for the benefit of House Kurita but repeatedly saw it backfire. The Warlords of Galedon and Rasalhague, Tadakatsu Honda and Frederik Gunnarson, remained loyal but faced internal revolts, as did the Warlord of Benjamin Marcus Tachibana, who sought power for himself. In 2850 a thoroughly frustrated Yoguchi Kurita led the Swords of Light to Pesht to personally destroy Ueda, but his own forced mingling of the ISF and DCMS left to his downfall. Numerous units of the Pesht Regulars turned on him and protected Ueda, turning a lighting bolt raid into a grueling campaign that killed both Ueda and Yoguchi. Rowena was disqualified from ruling so she supported her younger brother Miyogi as the new Coordinator, with the new Warlord of Pesht Jinchiro McAllister pledging his support. McAllister suggested that to consolidate the Combine's faltering gains in the Suns' Draconis March, Miyogi should gather the DCMS' reduced WarShip fleet and reduce New Avalon. To succeed where Jinjiro had failed a generation before would give Miyogi the legitimacy to crush his rivals.

After years of getting the fleet ready and marshaling the resources of a Combine disintegrating around him, Miyogi led the surviving Combine fleet to New Avalon. Like Jinjiro, he claimed the life of a Davion ruler, and like Jinjiro, he lost his own. The Davion defenders repulsed the Kuritan assault. Back on Luthien, McAllister promptly withdrew his support and ordered Roweena placed under house arrest. The resulting violence drove both off the world and led to such widespread devastation on the already-polluted planet that civil authorities eventually turned to ComStar for governance and support. McAllister focused on reform of the Pesht District and formed the McAllister Shogunate on the corpse of the broken Dragon. By 2860, the black dragon of the Draconis Combine no longer flew in pride, and House Kurita were broken exiles living on Terra or whichever other world would take them.

The Free Worlds League remained a fiction more than a reality under Charles Marik, who was never able to exploit the collapse of the Commonwealth or the Confederation's disintegration as he was more often trying and failing to compel obedience from his own provinces. The death of House Allison's main line plunged Oriente into a civil war that further undermined Charles' military efforts, while the cadet Allisons leading the invasion of the Confederation from Harsefeld were building themselves up more than they obeyed him. At the close of the 2840s resistance from Regulus rose to the state of open rebellion with the Cameron-Joneses declaring the Regulan Principality an independent state. Charles sent his son William with the Marik Guards to restore his authority. William's subsequent death in battle with the Regulan Hussars drove Charles to allowing atomic weapons to be used "in limited fashion" to compel surrender, and the local commander chose to obliterate the Hussars and half the cities of the planet upon the permission. The Regulan Massacre broke the League's political legitimacy and Charles' Captain-Generalcy. Not even the trial and execution of the commanders on site was enough. Marik-controlled worlds were cut off from the HPG system by ComStar and the victorious Marik forces were utterly crushed by the Terrans' 3rd Regimental Combat Team, the famous Eridani Light Horse. As with Tharkad and Luthien, as well as Kentares, control of Regulus passed to ComStar to help rebuild the damaged world. Restoring the HPGs required Charles to virtually bankrupt the Marik Commonwealth, with resulting heavy levies on the nobility that sapped at his support.

When Charles died in 2854, his son Gerald spent ten years trying to restore confidence and rally the populace with further assaults on the decaying Liaos and former Lyran states. Lack of funds and the general chaos caused several FWLM units sent on offensives to go rogue. Those sent towards the Confederation tended to be snapped by promises of pay fighting in Oriente's civil war or by joining the Harsefeld Allisons' forces. The rest, especially those dispatched towards Lyran space, became pirates contributing to the destabilization of many of the systems of the League. The Oriente Civil War, and social upheaval on Andurien, did little to restore confidence. More and more members of Parliament chose to simply adjourn year after year with little done. Finally, in 2864, a motion from Andurien spelled a final end with the Parliament voting, over Gerald's passionate objection, to dissolve the Free Worlds League. Shortly thereafter nobility on and around Atreus rose up in revolt against Gerald's taxation. Gerald was killed trying to resist the rebellion with what loyal forces he could muster. Much like House Steiner, House Marik fled their own capital for the safety of a more secure system, using their original throneworld of Marik as the new capital.

The Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation survived the 29th Century in name only. Though the Davions regained Robinson, they lacked the strength or resources to restore their Federation's authority in the long run. After Melissa Davion's death resisting Miyogi Kurita's descent on New Avalon, First Prince Zachary Davion struggled to reassure the distant Periphery worlds of coming aid that his faltering government simply could not provide. His diplomacy delayed the reckoning but did not prevent it. In 2873 Filtvelt and Kilbourne both declared independence, leading several local systems out of the Federation in a cascading reaction that broke away the entire Periphery region from the Outworlds to the borders of the Hindu Collective. On New Syrtis the Haseks followed suit, save for a loyalist branch that were compelled to flee to Wernke by their kin. Kathil and Robinson remained loyal for the moment, but it was not enough. Beset by crippling depression worsened by his helplessness, Zachary committed suicide on June 26th 2873. His younger sister Laura defiantly tried to maintain the Federated Suns even as more systems broke away or were taken by other states, including Kathil and Robinson. Finally in 2916 her son Julius declared the Federated Suns were gone. House Davion had been reduced to the Crucis Pact, though it had avoided the fates of Kurita, Steiner, and Marik in losing their capitals.

Smallest of the Successor States, the Capellan Confederation lasted the longest, though only out of pure stubbornness. Their disastrous invasion of Kathil in 2833 and a failed effort to dislodge the Allisons from Harsefeld and New Delos in 2835 broke the CCAF's officer corps. Infighting between House Liao, the Chamber of Scions, and other representatives of the sheng and the directorship broke the unity of the state. Ineffectual and incapable, Dainmar Liao spent his time alternating between factions trying to hold his throne. The collapse of the Free Worlds League and the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine breaking one another seemed to pave the way to safety, but Dainmar was charmed into what became a disastrous effort to reclaim Andurien. The Allisons, Haseks, and the Narayans of Jaipur struck at the Confederation from different fronts. To save their surviving mercantile interests the sheng of St. Ives declared themselves independent of the Confederation. Tikonov would follow suit and Dainmar, struck by nerves, surrendered power to his son Otto. Otto began a reform and buildup program to restore the CCAF and Liao authority. He promulgated a new series of harsh taxation decrees and compulsory relocation and labor orders, citing the usual Capellan ideology for justification.

Decades of suffering and pirate raids had eroded the national support to greatly for this to work. The orders instead triggered revolts on Sarna, Capella, and several systems at the heart of the Capellan Commonality. Otto briefly suppressed them but could not maintain the effort and throw back the assaults on territory. His angering of the House of Scions finally came back to haunt him. An open revolt on Sian itself saw Otto slain fighting intruders in the Forbidden City. His son Merlin was captured by the Scions' retainers and he was forced to agree to their terms to remain as Chancellor. Those terms allowed the Scions to recover their fortunes, somewhat, but it put an end to the attempt to suppress the anti-Confederation revolt in Capella. With the loss of these worlds, the rump remnant of the Confederation lingered on through the 29th and the 30th Centuries, bleeding system after system all the while, a pale shadow too stubborn to reform and too weak to reclaim its lost glory.

In the Periphery the brief elation of the fall of the Star League likewise gave way to economic catastrophe from refugees and the collapse of interstellar trade. The remnants of the Rim World were, like in our Inner Sphere, conquered by the Lyran Commonwealth, but with the Commonwealth's dissolution there was no accepted central authority to restore the old Republic. Likewise the economic catastrophe and raids from Kuritan and Davion commanders desperately looking for supplies hastened the retraction and then forced reform of the Outworlds, who had to abandon many colonized systems from the loss of the means to sustain them. Civil strife and conflict toppled House Avellar and forced social and religious reform upon the Omniss and other Outworlders, even as their territories were besieged by the growing numbers of pirates and warlords. The Taurian Concordat struggled through the 29th Century to rebuild from the collapse. A plan to reclaim the Pleiades from the collapsing Federated Suns instead turned into a brutal civil war that saw the ravaging of Taurus, the dethronement of the Calderons, and the Concordat's dissolution in the early 30th Century. Only Canopus weathered the storm intact, if reduced.

While the dates of their official ends stretch from 2860 to 3005, the plain fact is that the Second Succession War, such as it was, utterly broke the entirety of known space. Only the Terran Union remained intact. The Collapse was over; where five Great Houses had once ruled hundreds of star systems, now hundreds of star systems were left to fend for themselves in the chaos of an Inner Sphere teeming with warlords and pirates.

 

[Steve]

Sidebar 2: ComStar — A Different Path

(From the notes Lady Trillian wrote to the Kells that Evan Kell saw fit to share with me. — Brigadier Huyten)

Sometimes similarities can make the differences all the more stark. Traveling through the Royal Federation had been one thing. Changing JumpShips from time to time was no different, even if the number of them was greater than I was used to. Seeing at least three Olympus-class or similar-sized jump stations at every system jump point I moved through, that was the first sign I was in a completely different universe. But nothing compared to the shock I received once I was on Arcadia.

A few days after my arrival, I received a gentlewoman caller. She was a woman of fine and handsome features who came from the Flavian Principate's Kashamarkan worlds. Her clothing matched most fashions I'd seen for the business class on Arcadia and I assumed she was an executive from one corporation or another, perhaps a representative from one of the arms manufacturers I was contacting on behalf of the LCAF. Yet even then I noticed the familiar logo of ComStar on her lapels. When Lord Marienberg invited her to introduce herself, I was stunned to hear the answer: "Luz Yupanqui-Georgiu, Planetary Communications Manager for ComStar Communications".

Planetary Communications Manager. Not Precentor. Not Demi-Precentor. Just… "Manager". She was the woman in charge of all five (five!) HPG stations on Arcadia, a position that would have demanded a highly-ranked Precentor of our ComStar, but she might as well have been the arms manufacturer I took her for in her presentation, demeanor, and speech. Indeed, throughout our ten minute conversation she never once brought up a purported saying of Jerome Blake or referenced anything you or I would hear even the newest ComStar acolyte say. She was simply present to express support for my efforts and give me the finer details of the communications channel that High King Nathaniel was funding for my reports back to you.

It is not that I found Manager Yupanqui-Georgiu objectionable. I just wasn't prepared for the shock of the difference. Even today, with ComStar a broken organization on our side, a lifetime of interacting with robed acolytes and adepts and precentors left me conditioned to not conceiving of it being otherwise, not as it is on this side of the Glass.

The ComStar here never became the Order we know,. The Blakist ideology and ideals never developed. To these people, the very idea of ComStar as we know it is as surreal as if we witnessed Defiance Industries executives wearing robes and declaring House Brewer to be a source of spiritual wisdom. Jerome Blake is remembered solely as the Star League's last Minister of Communications and the founder of ComStar the corporation, as well as being a known political supporter of DeChavilier in the early decades of the Terran Union. His successors in our history, Conrad Toyama and Raymond Karpov, worked for ComStar at first, but they became politicians and are remembered as Chancellors of the Terran Union during the Succession Wars. They applied no mysticism or theology to ComStar's role. Karpov even threatened ComStar with nationalization due to violations of his strict isolationism policies.

It makes me wonder. Was the lack of a ComStar like ours a major contributing factor to the Collapse? I can't help but think about that matter, when I have time to anyhow.

It would be a mistake to think they're harmless though. While I've had nothing but amicable relations with ComStar here, there seems to be an uncertainty about them and their long-term goals. It's easy to see why. They were joined at the hip to the Terran Union when it tried to crush the Successor States, yet they not only survived the Terran War but have continued to be involved in all levels of diplomacy, interstellar finance, and communications. ComStar either directly runs or provides ready support for most HPGs in the Inner Sphere. They're arguably more influential now than they were before the Terran War. They had a direct hand in the Congress of Dieron and the peace treaty that ended the Fourth Succession War. They wield a lot of soft power and influence for a company that barely survived the fall of Terra. Is it just through being the honest broker? Or could they be playing some kind of long game?

As a final note, strangely there was at least one Blakist cult in the Cisglass Inner Sphere. It was founded by a distant descendant of Toyama on Drosendorf over a hundred years ago. When Arcadia captured the world in 3033 the cult led one of the insurgencies against them before being stamped out in 3034. If I have more time I might research that for the sheer familiar oddity it represents.



Sidebar 3: What about Kerensky's children?

(Like Lady Trillian, I have no clue how or even if we can handle this, or if we'll need to. I figure that's well above my paygrade. — Brigadier Huyten)

FROM: Lady Trillian Steiner-Davion
TO: Archduke Martin Kell
CC: Colonel Evan Kell
RE: Nicholas Kerensky's Legacy

Martin, Evan, I'm sending this information to you first because you know more about your uncle's branch of the Wolves, and the Clans in general, than anyone else I know and trust. I don't know how they're going to take this, and I'd like to be ready for it in the event someone brings this information through the Glass.



<EXCERPT FROM HISTORICAL ARCHIVES, ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF ROSLYN LAUGHLIN COLLEGE OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL SCIENCE>

<COMSTAR BROADCASTING SERVICE FOOTAGE, "Union Affairs Weekly", 18 March 2820>

Figures Present:
John Cavanaugh, Presenter
Major General Sarah McEvedy, TUDF
Congressman Nicholas Kerensky, Moscow District

J. Cavanaugh: Welcome back, dear viewers. Once again, I am here with my guests, Major General McEvedy and Congressman Kerensky. We are discussing the ongoing Succession War between the Houses and government policy on the matter. Major General, before the break we were discussing the latest terrible developments in the conflict, so I may as well ask: as you are the leading candidate to replace Director-General Hazen, what are your thoughts on the subject of intervention?

S. McEvedy: It would be the greatest mistake we could make. There's a reason General DeChavilier kept us out and that has not changed. We would simply get sucked into the fighting and we lack the strategic depth to absorb losses like the Great Houses can.

J. Cavanaugh: So you would continue the policy of neutrality?

S. McEvedy: Definitely. We should only provide diplomatic mediation or localized intervention to prevent gross war crimes. Kentares remains the greatest example of that.

N. Kerensky: The General is correct in that matter and I support this policy myself.

<McEvedy casts an annoyed glance at her co-guest>

J. Cavanaugh: <cough> Yes, Congressman, I was about to ask you about that, thank you for the input. Does that mean you support General McEvedy's candidacy?

N. Kerensky: I agree with the non-interference but I cannot endorse General McEvedy. She lacks the vision to do what is necessary to safeguard the people of the Union.

S. McEvedy: Excuse me?

J. Cavanaugh: Can you specify what you mean, Congressman?

N. Kerensky: It is quite plain that our society, all human civilization, is collapsing. We cannot live as our ancestors did. We need to rethink how we govern ourselves, how we organize ourselves socially.

S. McEvedy: <groan>

N. Kerensky: Everything must change if we are to survive the Succession War and rebuild Humanity. Everything. My voters agreed with me on that and I intend to press this to the very limits of my strength. I will see the Terran Union transformed, the Defense Forces transformed, everything—

<McEvedy bursts out laughing, Kerensky glares hatefully>

J. Cavanaugh: General?

N. Kerensky: What are you laughing at?!

S. McEvedy: You. You're a sad joke and you continue to be. <Kerensky visibly seethes> You've spent years obsessing over these bizarre social transformation ideas. Wanting to put Terran soldiers through repeated, what did you call them, duels, trials? Constant conflict with each other to "prove" their worthiness to keep their position or advance. And all this stuff about re-organizing society into castes like the Capellans—

N. Kerensky: We need a change! Our society as it is cannot survive the collapse around us! This would make us stronger! <Gestures wildly towards McEvedy> This, Mister Cavanaugh, is precisely what I have warned you, your viewers, and my colleagues about. People who live off the glories of the past and won't let go! I— <McEvedy resumes laughing, this time harder> —would see us rejuvenated, see Humanity reach its full potent— Stop laughing!

S. McEvedy: You accuse me of living off the past? You only reached your rank because of your name and because your poor brother took pity on you! You got into Congress because, let's be frank, some people would vote for a ham sandwich if it was named 'Kerensky'! Your entire career is built upon being your father's son! At least Andery earned his way through the TUDF, and we feel his loss every day!

N. Kerensky: You shut your mouth!

S. McEvedy: Poor Nicky Kerensky, the mad one, that's what you've been since the first day you signed up! But you're so full of yourself you don't see it! Instead of seeking the help you need— <Kerensky gets to his feet, McEvedy does the same as he advances> —you wallow in your narcissistic pride and—

<Kerensky punches her in the face, McEvedy takes the blow with visible blood on her lip and throws a retaliatory punch, the two start grappling and striking one another>

J. Cavanaugh: Please, Congressman, General, please return to your chairs and— cut the feed, cut the feed, and get security! We need security in—

<END OF RECORD>

 

[Steve]

Chaos Reigns

The historians across the Glass refer to a Third Succession War that is an enigma. Nobody can agree on when it started, or who fought it, and most certainly not who won. The historical profession as a whole cannot even define when it ended or which battles were part of it. Much like our Third War became a catchall term for the persistent warfare of the 30th Century, theirs became the term to describe the utter chaos and warfare that gripped the Inner Sphere after the Collapse.

It is the same story that has plagued Mankind whenever civilization retracts and government authority collapses. Chaos breeds anarchy, and in the anarchy petty empires are born and crushed and born anew under a different name. This occurred on a vast scale across the Inner Sphere on the other side. With no Great House to call upon for economic aid or military defense, hundreds of star systems were left to fend for themselves. Some failed and were abandoned, much as in our history. Refugees from failed systems across the Sphere flooded the remaining systems, creating humanitarian crises that collapsed social support systems on the remaining worlds. Furthermore, with the House armies broken, the military units that once served to protect these worlds turned to brigandage or warlordism (or both) to provide for themselves. They either eradicated or subjugated the existing power structures for their own power or were suborned to the interests of existing nobility with the means to do so. The new governments were often autocracies of one form or another, led by pirate kings, warlords, or ambitious nobility. Most planets regressed socially and technologically as they suffered repeated raids from bandits and rogue units, their populaces often reduced to little more than serfs. Even the wealthier systems that retained their pre-Collapse political and economic systems were left scrambling to assemble defenses and build what they must for protection.

The suffering may not have matched the kind of wide scale destruction the House armies could visit on worlds in our Third Succession War, but it knew no borders. Even in the remnant states that initially arose from the Collapse pirate raids or other attacks were a part of life, whether you were from Argyle, Harbin, Avon, Atreus, or Donegal. A single light BattleMech may very well decide the fate of an entire community for better or for worse. For those that lost in these fights, the lucky ones only lost property looted by the victors. Those less fortunate were killed or carted away as slave labor for warlords desperately replacing myomer muscle with human muscle in their industries and resource operations.

A single light stood above this miasma of terror and pain: the Terran Union. They had rebuilt enough that at this point they were the one place in the Inner Sphere where citizens could sleep at night without wondering if pirates were going to jump into their system. While other worlds regressed to the point they could no longer produce myomer, fusion engines, or holography — sometimes not even industry at all — the Terrans not only kept the Star League's height of technology alive, they were steadily improving on it. From Terra ComStar and other agencies spread across the Sphere, keeping interstellar communications alive and making the C-Bill the preferred currency of choice (much like it was in our own Inner Sphere until very recently). For those pirate warlords or fallen Successor Lords who went too far in their raiding and pillaging, or the fanatic ideologues and demagogues who might come to power on a broken world through talk of genocide, the prospect of a visit from the Eridani Light Horse provided pause.

In truth, at this point the Terran Union might have decisively intervened to restore the Star League over the broken Houses. It's debatable whether they would have even been resisted. But they did not. Chancellor Karpov's reign had reinforced an isolationist streak in the circles of Terran power. Even his downfall in 2848 did not change that. Humanitarian interventions aside, the Terrans did not care for involving themselves with the broken Inner Sphere. The general attitude was that the rest of the Sphere were "getting what they deserved" for letting the Great Houses destroy the Star League. While individual Terrans, even those in leadership, often proved thoughtful and gave heart-rending appeals to intervene in one situation or another, the general culture of the Union shifted towards a sense of assured superiority. The peoples beyond their border were seen less and less as fellow Human beings struggling to regain normalcy and restore civilization and more as barbarian hordes of a sort. They were a mass of dirty, illiterate peasantry who bent over for whatever strongman took over their world on any given day. This attitude became more and more prevalent in Terran media and pop culture and induced apathy and distrust towards any effort to do anything more than the occasional intervention against mass-murdering forces. By 2905 even those interventions had become grounds for political debate and became reduced in frequency and intensity.

They did not, could not, end however. It was not humanitarianism that preserved them but economic necessity. The Terrans held the oldest settled worlds in the Inner Sphere, and that meant their resources were played out. Not in absolute terms, of course, but the easiest-to-reach deposits of valuable mineral, metals, and hydrocarbons had long been exhausted. More and more intensive methods were needed, at prices that were soon competing with the transport costs of more-easily-extracted resources from outside the Union. This meant the Union could not simply cut off from the rest of the Inner Sphere without pain for their own economy. Moreso, to keep their prosperity intact, the Union had to keep exporting finished goods that their own markets had no capacity for. And in the ruins of the Successor States, the most common and most desired export were armaments.

By the early 30th Century, the Terrans were, bar none, the arms suppliers for the remaining or extant states of the Inner Sphere. Factories on Terra, New Earth, and virtually every other Union world were producing standard components for Age of War-era weaponry and machines that would keep the broken down armies of the rest of the Inner Sphere fighting. To ease these efforts ComStar agreed to allowing Terran arms manufacturers to establish or rebuild armament factories on the former House worlds they held in trust. These facilities on Tharkad, Luthien, Regulus, and Kentares further expanded the reach of Terran arms merchants. Those worlds and governments that could afford the prices could even buy Star League-era material if they weren't on export control lists. While the TUDF did sometimes grumble about this trade, the economic logic made too much sense. Indeed the Terran Congress would even refuse to ban Terran engineers from helping to reactivate dormant Star League-era automated factories since said factories were reliant upon components and parts that were produced exclusively on Union worlds. Thus the Terrans were simultaneously easing the worst of the chaos while they profited from it as a whole. If they ever wondered if the chaos would end, and their actions might backfire on them, few spoke of it, and most seemed not to have considered the possibility that recovery would come to the rest of the Inner Sphere. History would prove them short-sighed.


Sidebar 4: Dominion By Strength

(Got a digital copy of the autobiography of the founder of House Proctor from one of the Arcadian officers on Timkovichi. It made for some interesting reading on the way to Imbros so I figured I'd include some of it. This part especially. It shows just what our cousins across the Glass were going through after the Great Houses fell. — Brigadier Huyten)


The day finally came I could no longer silently endure the pain of my daily condition. Perhaps it was the way Tabot entered the stables, or how his eyes thoughtlessly passed over the remaining stain left when he murdered Sean. My guilt drove me, or fury, or maybe the hand of God stirring my soul for His unknowable purpose. Tabot barked an order at me to move a bucket of droppings from his path and I simply stood there, water bucket in hand, and glared. I remember the surprise on his face. He was used to my being meek and scared. After all he'd done to me, it was as if I was a mute and dumb creature to him, not a person. Not someone whom he had injured so greatly, had taken so much from.

"Move it yourself," I said to him. Words that might well have seen my brains decorate the wall as Sean's had… as mine should have, if not for his courage and love.

But I was not shot dead where I stood. "Well, someone woke up with a pair of balls today," the tyrant sneered.

"What gives you the right?!" I can still feel the fury that shook in my voice here, now, almost eighty years later. "We're people! We have feelings, we feel pain, what gives you the Goddamned right to use us like tools?!"

Something clicked behind Tabot's eyes. He laughed. He turned to his bodyguards who laughed as well. "She… she wants to know what gives me the right! Isn't that adorable? Isn't that just fucking adorable?!" He motioned to me with an amused glint in his eyes. "Bring the bitch to the 'Mech Bay. It's time she learned how the world works."

Two of his men grabbed me by the arms, knocked the bucket from my hands, and forced me ahead. We left the stable behind and journeyed through the halls. The other slaves averted their eyes wherever we came upon them. Even Ruthie. None dared seem in sympathy with me for fear of what I'd done to provoke Lord Tabot.

When we arrived at the 'Mech bay Tabot stepped forward to one of the tallest machines there was. It was painted in his preferred colors of gold and dark red, with the clenched fist sigil of his "house" on the chest. I was not familiar with BattleMechs, but he was happy enough to identify it. "The Zeus", he said. "ZEU-5T model. One of the last new 'Mechs made before the Great Houses started smashing themselves to pieces. You can't find these outside Terran space anymore, that makes it rare, makes it one of a kind, and this one is mine. You wanna know why you're my slave? Why I get to do what I want and you can't? Because of that!" He pointed his finger at while leaning toward my face. His breath was hot and stank of wine. "Because I'm a badass MechWarrior with a badass 'Mech. Eighty tons of heavy metal death, you little bitch, and she's mine! I could go to whatever shithole town you called home and level it in a couple minutes! I can wreck whole cities by myself if I wanted, and I have."

"It's not right," I said.

"Not right? Who gives a shit what's right? Nobody, sweetheart, nobody gives a shit. There's no right in this world. There's just the weak — that's you — and the strong. Me. My 'Mech, and the 'Mechs of my followers, let me do whatever I want. You're weak, so you do as you're told or you get the boot. Servitors, serfs, peasants, Unproductives, whatever the hell your type are called, that's what you're here for. You're slaves to anyone with the strength to take what they want. I'm just honest about it. And it's not like anyone's going to stop me." He tapped at the ring on his right hand's middle finger. It bore his signet, that cruel clenched fist, etched in stolen gold. "Dominion By Strength. My new family motto. That's the world in a nutshell, slave. I have the strength, I have dominion, and you obey. Nobody's going to change that."

An instinctive protest came to my lips. "The Terrans—"

"Oh please! They don't give a shit, they never have. We're just barbarian scum to them and we always will be. Hell, they sell me the parts for my 'Mech and weapons I've had Terran arms merchants here all the time and they don't blink at slaves. So no, the Eridani bloody Light Horse aren't riding in to save your ass, the Terran Navy's not showing up to free you. You are my slave and you always will be. And to hammer that point home…"

He punched me in the gut. I had been struck before, but never like that, and never with such force. I doubled over and fell to the ground. Once there he kicked me once, twice, three times. No, four. The pain was familiar, but as unpleasant as it had ever been. The last kick hit with enough force to turn me onto my belly. Before I could move Lord Tabot set his boot on the back of my head and neck. "This is your place. Remember that." I couldn't see if he turned his head to his men or not, but I imagine he did. He was posing, and beating me made him feel strong, I'm sure. "Now boys, have some fun. Nothing too saucy, she's going to need to be intact when I ship her to Mull. We'll see how long she lasts in the mines."

His throaty laugh still echoes in my mind He had just signed my death warrant. The mines in Mull provided the raw ores he exported to the Terrans and Hesperus. But they were in the continent's interior, that harsh high desert plateau everyone called "Leng". The mine slaves there died by the hundreds. The thousands, some whispered.

The beating began. It was the worst I would ever endure. But through the pain, I prayed to the Lord God for strength and wisdom, and I made my vow. For Sean, for our lost little one, for my parents and my cousins and all those I loved, I would not die.

I would live, and I would escape.

—Excerpt from The Life of Sara Elizabeth Proctor, in her own hand, privately published 2986, publicly published 3062, © House Proctor Trust


(It gives me great satisfaction to know how that son of a bitch Carl Tabot met his end two decades later. As it turns out, Sara Proctor was one hell of a natural MechWarrior. I'm pretty sure it was humiliating to lose to his own escaped slave. Serves the bastard right. — Brigadier Huyten)

 

[Steve]

A New Renaissance

Just as the Third Succession War has no agreed-upon start, the recovery that came to be called the Renaissance Era, or the Interstellar Renaissance, has a number of proposed starting points. Some date it to 2900, others to 2920, or 2930, or as late as 3000. The general consensus seems to have settled for a gradual start stretching the second quarter of the 30th Century and firmly setting in after 2950.

It seems inevitable to us that the Inner Sphere would recover, though for those suffering in the early 30th Century it might not have been so obvious. The remnant Successor States, while small, could more and more easily defend what they had left. Given time and opportunity, they would form islands of stability that might draw in other worlds not given over to warlordism. They would attract refugees from the worlds still being torn apart by pirate raiding and feudal conflict This process began in the first quarter of the 30th Century with many of the remaining or reformed states finally ceasing the bleeding of worlds from their holdings. This stabilization of their territorial control, with attendant political reforms, allowed a gradual re-establishment of their economies. From Inarcs in the former Rim Worlds to Islamabad in the United Hindu Collective, and from Tematagi of the Rim Commonality to Hartshill in the far Kuritan Periphery, small states started to form around the surviving regional governments or the new powers arising across the Inner Sphere.

An in-depth examination of those states would be exhaustive to cover. They included the Great Houses still holding onto power — excluding only Kurita at this point — and pre-existing regional authorities like the old Hindu Collective of the Crucis March, House Sandoval's Canaan Accord in the Draconis March, and the Skye Federation and Principality of Rasalhague. Galedon and Pesht, the old Military District Capitals of the Combine, likewise became the centers for Houses Honda and McAllister to claw back order among the "Warring Planets" of the ex-Combine. Tamarind and Bolan, Oriente and Andurien, St. Ives and Tikonov. From all of these natural centers of power new states would, in one way or another, begin the slow rebuilding.

Other states arose because of the actions of individuals or groups. On Tok Do the Rengo Social Restoration Movement successfully became the new Rengo Directorate, forming a new Japanese-speaking culture to unite the worlds of the Benjamin District. Johann Sebastian O'Reilly's discovery of the Alphard Trading Company's germanium wealth brought forth the Marian Hegemony out past the League Periphery. Sara Proctor and her Liberation Army, the Lexington Combat Group, House Brewer's Defiance Industries, all are examples of the forces creating new states within the chaos. From each of these points prosperity began a slow but steady return.

We should not presume it was a peaceful time. The Renaissance of ancient Europe was not peaceful, nor was this time. Civil wars and dynastic struggles continued to afflict a number of these states. Others waged wars with one another to claim territory and expand their resources. States like the Atrean Kingdom, the Rayhannid Sultanate, and the Duchy of Antares arose and fell. Mercenaries still plied their trade and often turned pirate on employers who could not pay or from lack of paying employers. Brutal raids by pirates afflicted worlds straight into the 3020s and some of the new states engaged in predation themselves to secure supplies, resources, or in some cases, forced labor. This was not a kind era, and the hope it presented for improvement was a faint one that only improved as the 31st Century came about and more worlds came under Successor State control.

Through it all the Terrans continued to watch and observe. Terran companies won favorable contracts and trade deals with the forming Successor States. Engineers continued to provide assistance in recovery. And the factories continued to deliver BattleMechs, vehicles, and fighters to any who would buy. When the Capellan Confederation finally dissolved in 3005 House Liao was so deeply in debt they were forced to accept ComStar control of Sian, giving the Terrans access to Sian's surviving Hellespont and Ceres factories to increase production and expand their markets in ex-Capellan territory. With the recovery came demand for ever more sophisticated products and the Terrans delivered, not only expanding their production of Star League gear but developing more of it. They also offered and sold the field upgrade module, a pre-packed set of components and instructions so MechTechs could upgrade designs of Age of War-era technology with Star League improvements. (Much like the field upgrade kits that the Free Worlds League provided the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine ninety years ago, at the height of the Clan invasion — Lady Janella). Battle armor suits, a cutting edge technology during the time of the Star League, were sold in bulk for high prices.

The Terrans' monopoly would eventually be challenged. Thanks to their recovery the Successor States started to re-discover the means to manufacture these technologies themselves. It took them decades and it was not until the mid-31st Century they had finished recovering them all and improving upon them. By 3020 many Successor States were capable of not just designing their own BattleMechs but making Star League-level machines. The Arcadian Mad Cat, the Solar Union's Sunwalker, and the Harsefelder Guardsman all employed Star League XL Engines, Extended Range Lasers, and other similar technologies. New factories that once produced basic infantry gear were being engineered to produce battle armor suits of native design. The factories producing them couldn't meet the output of the Union's massive complexes yet and Terran imports were still vital. But given time and resources, these factories would eventually provide for a significant portion of armaments in the Successor States, reducing their reliance on the Terrans.

Terran naval supremacy was likewise fading. During the early Renaissance what shipyards existed were primarily building vessels for the rebuilding economies of the reforming Successor States. For military orders they were limited to DropShips given the lack of means or knowledge to make Compact K-F Drives and WarShip-scale fusion engines. These "pocket WarShips", or "pickets" as they would later be known, populated a number of Successor State fleets in the late 30th Century. But they were only the beginning.

Through the Renaissance a number of these states found some of the derelict ships of the Star League or post-Star League eras while the surviving states like the Crucis Pact and Marik Commonwealth had carefully preserved their League-era ships through the Collapse. With their recovered economies demanding more DropShips and JumpShips and bringing expanded capabilities to their remaining shipyards the Successor States started refurbishing these ships. Naval engineers went over recovered derelicts and surviving ships alike to learn the machinery. After the turn of the millennium the Terrans found the "neo-barbarians" beyond their borders were actually building new WarShips. Small corvettes, like the Arcadian Hawk-class, supplemented the refurbished ships of the past and could at least ferry fleet carrier or picket DropShips into combat at their side. Aerospace force doctrine evolved to meet this capability and "blackwater" naval warfare started to make a comeback, at least in wargames and training. Some of the Successor States prepared to build even larger ships as their resources expanded.

It was not that these developments posed a threat to Terran superiority, not immediately. As one would expect the Terrans had not remained idle through the centuries. Most of their armies were increasingly outfitted by superior weaponry developed during the 30th Century for TUDF expeditionary forces. Their weapons fired farther, took up less space, and weighed less. Their ferro fibrous armor and endo-steel bones took up half the space of the older Star League material. Their XL engines were smaller and just as efficient as the ones they were helping the Successor States man their armies with. This "Royal" technology, so-called because it was concentrated in the "Royal" divisions with SLDF lineages, was sold in some limited quantity through 3000 to 3020. The sheer price demanded and the parts costs meant most sales were to individual nobles, with state-scale buys being used to arm the most elite forces of a state. (In short, the Terran scientists and engineers followed the same developmental paths of the Clan scientist castes and produced weaponry of the same capabilities — Paladin Max Ergen)

The 3020 election of Chancellor Daniel Tiepolo brought with it a change in Terran politics. The Terran Union was still the strongest state in the Inner Sphere by all indicators. For Tiepolo and his supporters, however, the recovering Successor States were growing too powerful to simply continue arming them with whatever weapons they wished. Sales of Royal gear were curtailed by new arms control acts that made it impossible for the Successor States to field more units of such machines. No restrictions yet existed on Star League-age machines and equipment, but the export restrictions were tightened. Of greater influence was the ordered restructuring of the TUDF to expand the number of Royal-geared units, which in turn necessitated more factories devoted to producing these weapons and not the export versions. To Tiepolo and his supporters, this would gradually drive up the price on these weapons and restrain the Successor States' use of them.

It was too late to prevent it outright, however. Too many Successor States could produce their own Star League-era technology. The Renaissance had finally born its fruit and the Terrans could do nothing about it, not without more drastic measures that they, at this point did not wish to employ. But with the Arms Export Control Act of 3022 the Terran Congress signaled to their neighbors that a change had come, one they would need to heed in further dealings with the Terrans. Whether or not this had a hand in what came next remains a point of contention for historians, but it likely played some role in it.

After a century of slow, painful recovery, the Inner Sphere was the most peaceful it'd been in nearly three centuries. But this was the mere calm before the storm. The Successor States had solidified. Their economies were stable. Their armies, once collected formations of whatever 'Mechs and vehicles could be scrounged together and supported by meager supply systems, were now formed of organized regiments of BattleMechs, battle armored infantry, and aerospace fighters, all trained to fight with organized tactical doctrines backed by robust logistical organizations. Their combat DropShips and WarShips were small but efficient navies organized to support whatever campaigns might be ordered.

It should be no surprise that with this much power at their disposal, the Successor States would not remain idle. As the year 3030 came to the Inner Sphere, the quiet of the later Renaissance period ceased. A new age had come, and it was an age of war.

 

[Steve]

The Second Age of War

Unlike the previous ages mentioned, there is little dispute about the start of the Second Age of War. While some of the planning or intention likely dated through the prior decade, it was the 3030s that would be remembered for the profound and drastic change that decades brought to the Inner Sphere. For the next fourteen years, the political map of the Inner Sphere would change more rapidly than ever before.

The timing was such that one might almost think it was pre-arranged, or some sort of race that was suddenly declared among the Successor States. Historians have argued over which state set off the Second Age for over a century. The very question itself has become politically charged in some instances. What the historical record does show is that by the end of January, 3030, the armies of over half of the Successor States were on the move. Targeting one, two, a half dozen systems at a time, line regiments of BattleMechs with supporting forces overran the unaligned worlds over their borders, month by month. A multitude of reasons were given. Counter-attacks against pirate raiders, stabilization of faltering neighbors, humanitarian interventions, restoration campaigns to rebuild the fallen states of the past, all these reasons were asserted by various governments. Some just admitted it as open and naked expansionism. The end result was that some states literally doubled in size over the course of 3030 alone.

Given the hundreds of unaligned systems and worlds one might have imagined it would take time for the Successor States to begin conflicts with one another. But the opposite was proven true on a number of fronts, most notably in former Lyran space. Defiance-Hesperus and their allies, the New Dallas-based Interstellar Governments Council, ended the year with a massive invasion of the Skye Federal Republic, including a direct strike at Skye itself. The Second Age of War's first great conflict, the First Skye War, soon expanded to include over half a dozen Successor States in ex-Commonwealth and ex-League territory. Given the lack of strategic depth and the naval power the States could wield, no less than four capital worlds would be raided or invaded over the two year conflict, and when it came to an end, the Skye Republic and the IGC collapsed from the strain.

A host of other conflicts and campaigns likewise raged. The Marian Hegemony exploded into former League space and even Lyran space, striking at Kogl and Timbiqui. The pirate kingdom of the Brethren of the Stars, under the ruthless Long Tom Silver, struck out from St. Ives to conquer their own neighborhood of former Confederation and Federated Sun worlds. Harsefeld and the Capellan Hegemony went to war over the heart of Capellan territory. After Harsefeld's victory following a direct strike at Capella itself, they joined their allies in the Grand Duchy of Oriente in an invasion of the Peoples' State of Andurien that won them a number of key systems. The invasion of Andurien itself did not succeed due to intervention from other ex-League states backed diplomatically by the Marians, establishing a growing animosity between the Allisons and the O'Reillys.

Across the Inner Sphere Prince Ian Davion started a campaign of mixed military and diplomatic initiatives to restore Davion and Crucis Pact control over the Crucis March and into the old Capellan March, including securing Kathil's admission by a marriage of alliance with Grand Duchess Maria VanLees of that world. Three years of victories regained a large number of worlds in the old Crucis and Capellan Marches that led to Ian completing the dream of his life. At his 3033 wedding to Grand Duchess Maria, Prince Ian declared his wedding gift to her and to their people to be the rebirth of the Federated Suns. The formal declaration came afterward and the legend of First Prince Ian Davion the Restorer was firmly set.

In the heart of Draconis space Director Masako Honda of Galedon declared her forces were pacifying their borders as justification for her expansion campaign. House McAllister, House Takeda-Suvorov of Hartshill, and the Rengo followed suit, followed aftward by the Azami securing their new Confederacy and advancing through the old Combine-Terran Hegemony border region.

Not every state joined the rush at first, but few who didn't survived. One state that came out ahead was the Rasalhague Commune based on Nox, under the bombastic but practical ex-mercenary Karl "One-Eye" Sleipson, who only commenced offensive operations in 3031 but quickly became a major power along the old Lyran-Combine border region. When the Rengo Directorate defied Rasalhaguan threats and attempted a large diplomatic charm offensive to claim five worlds that the Commune considered rightful Rasalhague systems, Sleipson invaded the worlds before they could officially join the Directorate. In an act that inspired shock and outrage in the Rengo and a number of other states, he had the Rengo diplomatic team on Paracale marched into the planetary capital's state house before having it demolished with Inferno missile barrages. The Terrans in particular reacted, imposing export list controls on the Commune so tightly that they were banned from getting any advanced or even Star League-quality gear, but it was a sign of the times that it did not lead to a descent on Nox by the Eridani Light Horse as would have happened a century or even half a century before.

Another fortunate latecomer was the Arcadian Free March of House Proctor, along the old Lyran-League border. March-Princess Sara-Marie initially held off on offensive actions, but as the First Skye War came to a close and it was clear her state's survival was dependent upon keeping pace with their neighbors, she relented to the pleadings of her generals. In 3033 the Arcadians surged into the unaligned systems between Hesperus, Bolan, and the Marik Commonwealth, doubling in size in the space of a year thanks to the aggressive campaign. While this guaranteed the Proctors would be courted by the Mariks and Brewers to join any future Skye War, it also placed them in the path of the Marian Legions overrunning Bolan. Not content to simply stand passively by, the Arcadians became the first organized Successor State to strike at the Marian advance, landing a heavy rescue force at Bolan to extract Grand Princess Gita Umayr and her family along with thousands of other refugees. "Die Rettungsaktion", as it came to be called, provided a rallying point for Lyran unity that would see the creation of the Lyran Alliance by year's end.

The Lyrans were only one of many such alliances to form. While House O'Reilly remained politically volatile — they would see four Imperators in the span of five years, three killed by internal violence — their alliance with House Yupanqui of Cajamarca and the House Ciftci-dominated Rim Commonality had already restrained the advance of Harsefeld and Oriente. The Allisons and Halas aligned more closely in response and, due to the diplomacy of Long Tom Silver, joined a wider bloc with the Brethren and other allies, including House Davion. This St. Ives Compact, as it came to be known, was challenged by the unlikely but tightly-held alliance between Director Masako Honda's Galedon and the mercenary-led Lexington Concord. During a wedding function on Terra in 3031 Masako forged a close friendship with General Penelope Reynolds of the Lexington Combat Group, effective ruler of the Concord. Their alliance, often referred to in chatternet lingo as "GaLexi" or "the Blood Sister Pact", dismembered House Lancaster's Lancaster Authority and became the dominant power of the Anti-Spinward systems of the Inner Sphere. Gothi Sleipson meanwhile forged an alliance with the Anarcho-Syndicalist government of the Communal League of Sudeten, COMINTERSTEL, to better secure his borders and deter Donegal and the other Lyran states from striking at Arcturus.

It would be a long volume in of itself to cover every conflict and every campaign of this decade. The map of the Inner Sphere changed so often that cartographers scrambled to keep up. Worlds across the Inner Sphere armed as heavily as they could to resist whatever came for them, but to no avail. Most were easily subdued, and even insurgencies typically failed to dislodge the invading states. On the occasions such worlds did regain their independence, it was only from the collapse of their invaders due to political upheaval or outside invasion, and their typical fate was to be invaded and taken by the next power to come along. The Terrans provided discreet aid to such worlds to try and stem the tide of the Successor State expansions, often marking down weaponry and gear for them to buy beyond their capacity to pay for, but it was never enough. Some rare worlds like Palladaine may bloody their invaders and hold out for months, but in the end they lacked the resources to sustain resistance. The era of independent worlds had ended with the coming of the Second Age of War. The Inner Sphere would once more be divided amongst interstellar houses.

The new conflicting blocs and territorial disputes kept the fighting going even as the remaining independent worlds submitted or were wooed by diplomacy. The Successor States started to consume one another in a series of escalating wars. The Outback Wars in the old Davion Periphery, the War of Rasalhaguan Unification, the Second Skye and Second Andurien Wars, and the Davion Wars of Restoration saw numerous states consumed by their stronger neighbors. Even the former Great Houses were not immune, as seen in the Second Skye War when House Marik's Commonwealth succumbed to the Lyran Alliance on one front and the ambitious Halas-Allison alliance on the other. Halas and Allison later acted to prevent a Canopian conquest of Andurien, escalating the Second Andurien War to a clash to decide the future of the former Free Worlds League that drew in the Lyran Alliance against them. In turn the Halas and Allisons, unified as the Oriento-Capellan Empire, would lead their Compact allies into an attempted intervention in the War of Donegalian Succession, changing the borders yet again. Every year the borders shifted somewhere in the Inner Sphere and, up into the 3040s, states were still being wiped from the map.

At the center of the Inner Sphere, the Terran Union observed the carnage with increasing concern. Chancellor Tiepolo began a ten year long campaign to further retract the arms export business in an effort to starve the Successor States of the hardware helping to propel their advance. He was opposed by the manufacturers themselves who were enjoying record profits with the vast expanse in demand. Repeated efforts to tighten the Arms Export Control Act failed throughout the decade. At the same time, Tiepolo himself had no desire to become interventionist like a number of parties called for. Through political machinations he ensured the appointment of a like-minded Director-General in 3032. A former TUDF regimental colonel known as a skilled MechWarrior who had been forced out of the 3rd RCT for repeated violations of the ELH's honor codes, Natasha Kerensky's rise to power was not greeted warmly by her former superiors. A number of the TUDF General Staff were incensed by the appointment of such a junior officer, but Tiepolo's control of the Congress was too firm to stop it. Kerensky's subtle threat of direct intervention in the First Skye War served to consolidate her support among the populace and brought about that conflict's end. Over the course of the decade Kerensky and Tiepolo consolidated their power over the TUDF and the Union as a whole, scaling back the Union's interventionism while greatly increasing its own military power.

When General Aaron Winston, Commanding Officer of the 3rd RCT, publicly protested the failure to intervene against Harsefeld and the Brethren for reported atrocities on Capella and Sarna, Kerensky sacked him and appointed a replacement from outside the unit. The following year, over seventy-five percent of the Eridani Light Horse personnel resigned, and most of them outright left the Terran Union to take up service with the Lexington Concord, where they reformed the unit under Concord service. Director-General Kerensky defiantly had the defectors stricken from the record as deserters, not resigned officers, and reconstituted the unit with the best and brightest personnel from Terran academies.

The decade did see occasional challenges to the Terrans but it was in 3038 that the Terrans found their neighbors were truly no longer frightened of the former hegemon. In May of that year a massive force of troops from the Oriento-Capellan Empire, the newly-formed union of Harsefeld and Oriente, arrived at the Regulus system. Tense negotiations followed with ComStar's control of the system being signed away in exchange for commercial rights and basing rights. The flowery language aside, the truth of the matter was plain: the Allison-Liaos and Halas had just used naked force to compel ComStar, and thus the Union, to cede a valuable star system. This became a political disaster for Chancellor Tiepolo given his previous anti-interventionism had been of clear benefit to the new Empire. A public demand for action was raised, but Tiepolo resisted an outright invasion. It would cost too much and, given the Empire's Compact allies surrounded most of Terran space, embroil the Union in a larger conflict. They would have to ally with other States first; an unthinkable prospect for the Terrans given their low opinion of "the neo-barbarian Successor States".

Kerensky proposed a limited reaction, a reprisal to embarrass and humiliate the Empire. The perfect prospect soon came with confirmation the Empire's agents had spirited away Frederick Steiner, a respected senior officer of the DefHes Consolidant, to be used as a rallying cry for anti-Brewer rebellions to break up the Consolidant state and weaken the Lyran Alliance. In November 3038 TUDF Military Intelligence commenced a successful extraction mission that intentionally inflicted severe losses on Steiner's minders on the way in and out, even injuring Steiner himself. It was not just a slap in the face, but an act of intimidation, a reminder that the Terran Union was still greater than any Successor State.

It backfired. The Empire was one of the largest Successor States and the inheritor to the Capellan national cause. They would not let the Terran provocation pass. In February 3039 the Empire's gathered forces fell upon Sian to reclaim the Capellan Confederation capital. This time no face-saving deal was offered and, after a fierce battle, the outnumbered Terran aerospace forces were pushed aside and a large army of Oriento-Capellan regiments started seizing the planet against the Terran Union and ComStar garrisons. The Terran response was swift. ComStar shut down the Empire's HPGs and a task force of troops were dispatched to invade Harsefeld, the Empire's co-capital system, with the reconstituted Eridani Light Horse leading the way. But where just twenty years ago such a force would have likely carried all before it, the Terrans found that even with their superior kit, the Imperial forces were refusing to break. Though it cost the life of the former ruler Alexander Allison, the Harsefelders managed to hold their capital city and several strategic points until Sian fell. Imperial possession of black box technology allowed continued interstellar command of the Empire's forces in defiance of the interdiction. Moreover, the Azami and Tikonov mobilized to support their ally against any further "Terran aggression". With Sian's capture Emperor Jonah Allison-Liao offered a peace that involved paying reparations but which would see Sian and Regulus remain his.

Tiepolo felt compelled to accept, as did Kerensky. It was a death blow to Tiepolo's control of Congress. The poor performance of the Terran units in comparison to expectations should have destroyed Kerensky too, but she proved wilier than Tiepolo. She provided evidence to his political enemies, materials and orders revealing his refusal to send the overwhelming forces she wished to dispatch, and recast the matter as Terran troops being betrayed by the civilian leadership. Tiepolo lost a vote of no confidence and was replaced, in quick succession, by four more chancellors over the following two years. The sundering of Tiepolo's political bloc, and the shock of the defeat at the hands of Inner Sphere barbarians, had disrupted the entirety of the Terrans' political spectrum.

Kerensky stepped into the vacuum, finishing two centuries of consolidation to firmly place the Union state under the Director-Generalship. She used the Harsefeld and Sian fiascos as a pretext to clamp down on dissenting commanders, promoting those she felt best fit her vision of what was necessary for the future. Under her leadership plans were put into place that would take years to come to their fruition. In the short term, she expanded mercenary hiring and forced takeovers and pressed Congress to pass the Arms and Defense Coordination Act of 3040. With that law empowering her to directly assume control of the defense industries, Kerensky quickly suspended all arms exports to all of the Successor States, regardless of their previous stance with Terra. The factories would be overhauled and churn out weapons for just one buyer: the Terran Union Defense Forces. Much of these purchases were done secretly while publicly it was proclaimed armaments were being scaled back to avoid "fueling the suffering of this new age of war". Kerensky likewise struck at domestic dissent with investigations into purported corruption or support from foreign states. All the while, the frightened Congress became more and more of a rubber stamp. The Terran populace reeling from the shock of their obvious defeat repeatedly supported Kerensky in public polls and, at her insistence, a 3042 plebiscite to approve her proposed expansion of civil powers. The Terran Union was quickly transforming into a dictatorship.

But the Director-General's goal was not mere power. She had a wider agenda, one she had already placed into action. While the Inner Sphere's armies, now bereft of easily-available Terran imports, exhausted their resources in the struggles over the Donegalian throne or other local conflicts, the Terrans began quietly building up supply bases in uninhabited and dead systems across the Inner Sphere. The shipyards started expanding the fleet by reactivating the derelict Star League ships long kept as a reserve. Regiment upon regiment of advanced BattleMechs covered in Royal technology marched from the factories on Terra, New Earth, New Dallas, Northwind, and a host of other worlds. Factories churned out infantry battle armor and new, light power armor capable of outfitting the Terrans with an army of armored infantry beyond anything the Inner Sphere had seen.

The Successor States understood that something was going on inside Terran space. But they were busy reorganizing and rebuilding. Their factories had to be greatly expanded to replace the Terran parts and components no longer flowing into their depots. Many states had new and sometimes troublesome worlds to integrate and a number of newly-fused governments had to finish the work of consolidating their institutions. The outcome of the War of Donegalian Succession, another compromise peace for ten years, had not satisfied the strategic goals of the Compact states. Yet their territorial gains had incensed the Lyran states. Hostilities between them were clearly not over. With this and other more immediate problems to deal with the Successor States were more inclined to "leave the sleeping dogs lie" when it came to the sudden Terran disengagement from their affairs.

Many even started to feel that the end to Terran arms shipments was a good thing. That with the Successor States having to scale back their expansion of armaments, they would be less aggressive, with the relative peace of the late 3040s bearing this perception out. The end of the independent systems, the sharp curtailment of piracy, and the complicated power balance of the competing blocs of states all prompted optimists to argue that the Second Age of War was already at an end. Peace had finally settled on the Inner Sphere.

They would soon find out just how wrong they were.

 

[Steve]

Operation REVIVAL: The Terran Crusade


The year 3050 started with relative quiet across the Inner Sphere. The news was focused on domestic issues and speculation on whether the sporadic raiding along the borders would continue to de-escalate or would intensify. New factories were churning out all sorts of advanced technologies not seen beyond Terran borders in two centuries. Some states had even successfully reverse-engineered Royal gear and were beginning mass production. Many had significantly increased naval spending through the 3040s thanks to expanded shipbuilding capacity, lack of reliance on Terran-based supply chains, and the lessons learned from the fighting up through the Oberon War and the War of Donegalian Succession.

The unsettling quiet from Terra itself persuaded many the Terrans were still upset over their humiliation at Sian and Harsefeld, but diplomats issued their usual confident proclamations that in private discussions the Terran Union was opening up once more. Everything seemed to be proceeding in such a way as to continue the quiet of the previous few years. 3053 was the year everyone was concerned of, and whether or not the Lyran Alliance and St. Ives Compact would commence hostilities once more when First Prince Ian's latest peace expired.

The first sign of trouble came on an otherwise auspicious holiday. On Valentine's Day 3050, over half of the HPGs in the Inner Sphere shut down without warning. Markets shook from the impact before swift ComStar reassurances came. A firmware update had been pushed that had an unexpected side effect. The restoration of communications would proceed soon. In most cases, it did, with most systems having their HPGs back up within 72 hours and every system online again within two weeks. ComStar offered refunds and paid reported damages with its usual calm reassurance. They resumed regular service and shuffled their personnel around, recalling some for "retraining" while new technicians were brought on site. Governments and populaces relaxed. Errors happened. Nothing was going wrong.

On July 4th, 3050, every HPG in the Inner Sphere went down. And this time, they didn't come back up.

Hours passed, then days, as governments, corporations, and private citizens waited patiently, then not so patiently, for ComStar to explain. But this time the explanations were terse and basic. An unknown error was at fault. Nothing more was known. ComStar personnel on Terra would deal with the problem. Nothing else could be done. As the days turned to weeks and these excuses continued, suspicious governments started investigating. Their intelligence services found a disturbing pattern in the reassignments. Experienced HPG technicians had been recalled to Terra and their replacements were overwhelmingly non-Terran and barely-trained, capable only of the most basic maintenance but lacking any higher technological knowledge. Those who did have such knowledge were uncooperative or had gone missing before or on July 4th. As August began a number of governments dispatched orders to their representation on Terra to insist on explanations. They began quiet preparations as best they could for whatever might be coming their way.

On August 15th, six weeks after the Blackout began, WarShips and JumpShips of the Terran Union conducted a massed, pre-planned operation. Every capital system across the Inner Sphere and Near Periphery found squadrons of ships and combat transports arriving, typically at pirate points. They sent messages to each government. It was an invitation to restore the peace lost three centuries before by adhering to a new Star League, under Director-General Kerensky as First Lord, with all who agreed to the terms for joining the new League promised Council Lordship seats and the support of the League against any state that refused. The terms amounted to complete naval disarmament and a strong restriction on the troops they would maintain, including the technologies they could field. All WarShips and DropShips above fifty thousand tons in mass and all war machines using Star League-era technology would be transferred to a reborn Star League Defense Force built around the TUDF. As a final condition, they would have to swear recognition of whichever Director-General the Terran Union chose to appoint as the new First Lord, acknowledging the Terran Union as the perpetual leader of the League. It was, in short, a demand to make the Terran Union the perpetual hegemon of the Inner Sphere and the Successor States its eternal subordinates.

This was the culmination of a decade of planning by Kerensky and the undoing of two centuries of Terran policy. In the near-century since it has been debated and discussed repeatedly, Some have dismissed it as egomania brought on by a wildly-successful early career as a MechWarrior and the cult of personality she built up among the Union's denizens, or of a reported fascination with her ancestor Aleksandr and an imagined sacred charge to restore what was taken. But there are clear indicators of how this was an obvious evolution of Terran attitudes and policy. The Terran mindset, for centuries, had been one of assumed superiority. They were the Cradle of Humanity, the root for all civilization, and they had a claim to the loyalty and support of every Human being. The fall of the Star League was from the betrayal of the Terran Camerons by those who owed them fealty, not just that of Amaris but of the House Lords that did not act to stop the Usurper. Since the later 29th Century the Terrans had been able to sit above the bloodshed and horror of the Collapse, letting this perceived injustice and their conceived superiority build and build in each generation. The rise of the Successor States, the defiance of Terran wishes, and the humiliating losses wrought on Sian and Harsefeld, they had all struck directly at that perception, and the resulting fury empowered Director-General Kerensky's militarization of the Union. The Successor States would either be brought to heel once more as subordinates in a reborn League, or they would be crushed and broken to reset the board.

It is quite clear that the Terrans did not accept submission from all. But they clearly expected they would get some supporters from those states recently injured or unwilling to risk their enemies submitting. It was a classic Prisoner's Dilemma situation that Kerensky thought she could exploit. But she did not account for a failure of the Successor Lords to calculate as she had. How pride, distrust, or insightfulness, from themselves or their advisors, might make them choose defiance. And here the Terran strategy failed, with long term consequences.

The vast majority of the Successor States chose resistance. Only pacifist Andurien and the outmatched United Hindu Collective accepted the terms. Suddenly the Terrans found themselves having to wage war against the entire Inner Sphere at once. It was a sobering task to handle. And it was one they quite nearly succeeded at. The refusals triggered Kerensky's fall-back plan of forcibly resetting the board. Most of the capital systems would be seized and the outermost capitals subjected to a heavy raid. Military production and advanced civilian production would be razed and every effort made to tear down the governments of each Successor State. Where feasible alternative claimants to thrones would be sought and installed to accept Terran control. One such example was used to justify the capture of Atreus, where Archduke Joshua Marik was forced to flee and hide among the population while a cousin, Alistair, was installed as Duke-General of a "restored" Marik Commonwealth. This attempt to rouse rebellion against the Arcadians and Oriento-Capellans only succeeded in spawning a few insurgencies, much to the Terrans' irritation.

The Terrans had learned many lessons from the debacle at Harsefeld. Multiple divisions and supporting brigades struck each world, with Royal-level technology giving them significant superiority over their foes' weapons. Their infantry forces were entirely in battle armor or powered armor that made them greater threats to enemy machines and absolute death to unarmored conventional infantry. The invasions were not uniformly successful, but even where Terran forces failed they inflicted significant casualties on Successor State forces and carried out their industrial razing with brutal effectiveness. While the Successor States battled to relieve or reclaim their capitals, Terran second wave forces commenced invasions across their frontiers. While these were not the elite royal units, their widespread use of power armor infantry and their mix of Royal and Star League-quality machines were more than a match for many units they faced. By the end of the year a number of major systems and former capitals had fallen, including Tikonov, Albalii, Harsefeld, Nox, Skye, and Atreus, though most of these worlds sustained significant insurgencies or local resistance, especially Harsefeld and Atreus. The Azami Confederacy was almost completely occupied, as was the Tikonov Union, and the Terran conquest of the Isle of Skye and systems near Hesperus through 3051 reduced House Brewer significantly. Much of the original Allison holdings around Harsefeld and Galedon's conquests in the former Rengo worlds likewise fell to the Terran advance.

Through 3050 and 3051 the focus of the Successor States was on fighting back. The wide scale use of "black box" fax machines enabled a degree of communication and common strategy from the start, but the early years of resisting the "Terran Crusade" was a disjointed affair. Marauding Terran naval units wreaked havoc on shipyards and facilities. Recharge stations were captured or demolished. The reformed Eridani Light Horse and similar striker and armored cavalry units frequently descended upon systems with modernized industry to destroy these factories. The Successor States scrambled to repair such damage and defend from new attacks even while trying to hold their worlds from the advancing Terran tide. On a few fronts they even managed offensive success, such as a surprise Compact attack in late 3051 that liberated Harsefeld and a thin salient of worlds connecting the Allison throneworld to the rest of Imperial territory. The last of the capital sieges, Galedon, ended early in 3052. Royal Federation forces reclaimed Tharkad from ComStar the same year, ending its use as a staging ground and, most vitally, preserving its industries to replace those the Terrans had razed on Arcadia and Donegal. Galedon completed a similar feat the same year, retaking Luthien and establishing a wider connection of systems to support Rasalhague's defense. 3053 saw a series of meeting engagements on all fronts that lasted through 3054, with Terran invasion waves being met by ever-increasing numbers of Successor State forces, now working in tandem with one another and counter-attacking wherever the Terrans made it possible.

Many volumes of material have been written on these decisive years and the major battles that raged in every corner of the Inner Sphere. To review them further in even minor detail would go beyond the scope of this document, so as a brief summation the strategic situation shifted gradually. The Terrans had indeed inflicted severe, even grievous, damage to the Successor States' capitals and other industrial worlds. But the failure to secure cooperation from more than a couple of the smallest states meant the Terrans were now a fine blade set against the grindstone. Their power-armored infantry might be using modified crew-served weapons to mow down ten times their number in conventional infantry, but another ten would simply hit them in the flanks with heavy weapons to bring them down. Their best 'Mechs were worth two or three of those the Successor States used, but as industry recovered, the Successor States could double that margin. On battlefields across the Inner Sphere, the finest and most powerful military since Aleksandr Kerensky's Star League Defense Force was being ground down by the rest of the Inner Sphere. The Terrans had, quite simply, waited too late to begin such aggressive actions, and their own sense of superiority had made the more reasonable alternative of equal alliances unthinkable. They had chosen to conquer before they might be overwhelmed; now they had to conquer or they would be overwhelmed.

It was the great and tragic irony that the state that had avoided the horrors of the Succession Wars now brought upon the Inner Sphere the most savage conflict since those wars. While the combatants bore the generational psychological scars of the Succession Wars and could not, would not, employ weapons of mass destruction to the same scale, for the first time in over a century atomic weapons were detonated in anger across the Inner Sphere. In most cases they were of tactical variety, with most Successor States using Alamo missiles and similar naval atomics on the Terran WarShip fleet and receiving the same in response. On a number of worlds the Terrans turned to tactical nuclear weapons to break enemy defenses when casualties grew too high, and were retaliated against in kind. That they petered out towards the end of the war was from an exhaustion of said devices' availability and a general unwillingness to escalate, though the Terrans would detonate nuclear mines to defend their systems in the final years. Yet even without atomics, the devastation of the war was widespread. The Terrans were out to reproduce the Collapse and targeted everything that provided for the recovery of the Renaissance. War factories were the priority targets, but civilian goods production was attacked as well, as were modernized hospitals and universities. It was as if the Terrans could not stomach that the "barbarians" might lift themselves out of barbarism, and in doing so, bring the Terrans down from their lofty perch.

By mid-3054 the TUDF Navy was reduced in strength enough that a summit was finally held by the Successor States, called and hosted by Lord Protector Jessica Sandoval of the Canaan Accord upon her battered capital world of Robinson. With a few exceptions the attendees were the actual rulers themselves, come to decide on how they would prosecute the war and how far. While Sandoval was the hostess, it was Commanding General Penelope Reynolds of the Lexington Concord who became the driving force of the summit. While usually not credited as a diplomat among her peers (though many historians hold she was woefully underestimated in her capacities there), the summit in Bueller was the proverbial woman and hour meeting. With passionate and forceful argument Reynolds stamped any thought of a negotiated settlement with Director-General Kerensky out of consideration. She argued this was not merely a single act of aggression by an ambitious woman with power but the culmination of "nine centuries of misrule, neglect, abandonment, and abuse" by Terra. The Terrans could not be allowed to rebuild or they would try again one day. Their power must be permanently, irrevocably broken. The other states agreed one by one, with varying levels of persuasion needed, until the matter was settled. A careful negotiation of spoils followed, with Reynolds again pressing forward for a united front and cooperation, until the Robinson Accords were successfully completed and signed. The Successor States, for the first time in centuries, were unified. As the year closed out, victories at Atreus, Axton, Franklin, and Sarna reflected the growing coordination between the Successor States. Furthermore, between internal political shifts or outright domestic revolt, Andurien and the United Hindu Collective broke with their Terran overlords. While Andurien initially sought neutrality, ultimately the diplomacy of Magestrix Emma Centrella and High Lady Kamea Arano brought them around to the necessity of a firmer stance. Like the Hindu Collective, they signed the Robinson Accords.

In February 3055 Director-General Kerensky transmitted a peace proposal. The fighting would end and the Terran Union would reclaim the historic borders of the Terran Hegemony and portions of the territories their forces still held. A new Star League would be formed under the basis of equality with a rotating First Lordship every three years. A vow of endless resistance, and further individual communications aimed at sowing distrust amongst the allied Successor States, accompanied the proposal. Given the holdings still under Terran control the offered peace line was a concession, but Reynolds rallied the others into a sound rejection. The Terrans could not be trusted and the new League would still be their tool to control the rest of the Inner Sphere. One by one, the other governments agreed. The war would continue through the year, with more worlds reclaimed. By year's end the Terrans had been forced out of the last deep salients and pockets lodged within the Successor States in the first year of the war. The battle would now turn into an advance towards Terra itself.

The Terrans reacted with the declaration of the Fortress Doctrine and the Reprisal Doctrine. The former was Kerensky's order that all worlds would be held tightly and all efforts made to bleed invading forces to death, even if a world could not be held. It was a signal to the Terran units on worlds like Skye, Tikonov, and Albalii to fight without regard for collateral damage and to use brutal methods to suppress domestic dissent. The Reprisal Doctrine was a suspension of all remaining laws of war, charging that by their conduct the Successor States had made this a war of annihilation against the Terran people and it would be responded to in kind. It was approval to the TUDF to expand upon collateral damage and conduct a war of terror on the Successor States. Terran raiding forces would not simply attack military targets, be they factories or power generation or industrial targets, but blatantly civilian targets like housing and commercial developments. Across the Inner Sphere the Terran Armored Cavalry regiments gained a reputation akin to Amaris' worse troops with the viciousness they employed. Their 'Mechs would spend hours leveling entire cities and industrial blocks just for being near a factory, on the grounds that they were eliminating the workers manning war material factories. Likewise the housing districts of military bases and facilities were targeted and the dependents of entire units sometimes slaughtered in rampages by light raiding 'Mechs. These two doctrines, and especially the latter, ended any remnant of humanitarian thinking in the conflict. Director-General Kerensky had ceded all moral claim to upholding the Star League and its ideals. This was to be a war of subjugation or annihilation; either Terra would be crushed and broken, or they would prevail and erase a hundred and fifty years of recovery from the rest of the Inner Sphere.

This caused a crisis in morale among some of the TUDF, including — unsurprisingly — the reconstituted Eridani Light Horse. They had loyally raided and bedeviled the Successor States for years at this point, but upon finding an attached armored cavalry regiment committing war crimes on the planet Corfu, the ELH turned on them and compelled the Terran force to submit. Director-General Kerensky replied not with approval but an order for the arrest of General Mikaela Hazen and her officers. The "New ELH" refused the orders and defected to Rasalhague. A handful of other TUDF units with prized Star League histories did the same, mostly to the forces of the Lexington Concord, or individual pilots deserting and defecting to join the remnant mercenary units like the Vegan Rangers or, for the more spiritually-inclined, the Warrior-Monks of St. Cameron.

3056 brought with it the liberation of the final occupied worlds, though Zion, Skye, and Tikonov were thoroughly wrecked worlds by the time the overwhelmed Terran survivors surrendered. The following year the invasions of Terran Union systems began. It took two and a half years of arduous fighting to push the Union back to Terra itself. With their war industries recovering every month and battle-tried veterans to lead the way, the superiority of the Successor States was obvious and the fate of Terra was clear. At Northwind in 3059, the gathered Successor Lords or suitable representatives had their final summit. A last desperate peace offer proposed by ComStar, which would have forestalled the invasion of Terra but left the Terran Union a mostly-disarmed rump state of systems only one jump from Terra, was rejected. So was the counter-offer proposed by the Robinson Accord states in general council: unconditional surrender, enforced neutrality and oversight of the same, and the relinquishing of their fleet, military hardware, and military factories as reparations to the Accord nations. Director-General Kerensky personally transmitted the rejection. Afterward General Reynolds provided a plan for the taking of Terra itself. "We will end this once and for all by striking the serpent in their lair" she told the assembled, and with those words, Operation: SERPENT was introduced, refined, and concluded.

On 28 November 3059, the largest gathered force since Kerensky's Operation LIBERATION jumped into Sol System. It consisted of over eighty percent of the Successor States' active WarShips, ninety percent of their available capital WarShips, and a mass of naval combat DropShips. Even with the battered armies of the Successor States maintaining occupations and campaigns on systems like Sirius, Caph, and Carver V, fifty-five BattleMech regiments and even more supporting units were part of the invasion's first wave. Another sixty were to follow in the succeeding waves. Divided into task forces to secure the Titan Shipyards, Mars, Venus, and Luna, with a main force to begin operations on Terra itself. Wave One was under the command of a council of current or future Successor Lords; High King Thomas Proctor, Gothi Ragnar Magnusson, First Prince Ian Davion, and Consul Lucia O'Reilly-Logan, with the lead position held by General Penelope Reynolds herself. Admiral John Silver, son of the famed pirate Grand Admiral Long Tom Silver of the Brethren, oversaw the council commanding the Inner Sphere's combined fleet. Other leaders or senior commanders would lead the upcoming waves, with Wave Two directed by a council under Director Masako Honda and Wave Three's command overseen by Emperor Jonah Allison-Liao. (Reminds me of Stone and Operation: SCOUR —Lady Janella)

The Terrans did not go quietly. Half of the invading capital WarShips and over a third of the remaining number were destroyed or badly damaged in the fighting over Terra, Luna, and Titan that finally eliminated the once-almighty Terran Union Navy. Consul O'Reilly-Logan led I Legio and a ten regiment contingent in securing the valuable facilities and factories on Mars, prevailing despite bitter and savage resistance over four months of fighting into late March. As a preliminary strike, Reynolds personally commanded the combat drop that secured Luna's habitats and refineries, freeing the way for the landings on Earth after the start of the new year. Subordinate commanders oversaw the forces landing in Africa, Australia, and North America while the SERPENT Command Council brought the cream of their forces to Europe and the fight for Geneva.

In the following months of campaigning the TUDF was brought to ground in engagements across Terra. In some notable incidents the Terran defenders were fanatical enough to employ atomic mines against their foes, but in most cases the damages to come were from the sheer scale of conventional fighting. These campaigns continued on through almost to the end of the year, though it was in September that the climactic engagement was held in Geneva. Director-General Kerensky led the defense personally and inflicted serious losses on her opponents; as the fighting drew to the Palace of Unity in Geneva, she took to the field and led her troops in a final, desperate charge to take down Reynolds and the other commanders. Kerensky's Atlas II was a force on the battlefield and she scored numerous successful kills and cripplings, including High King Thomas' Black Knight. But even her legendary skill would not be enough to win the day. On the 16th of October 3060, the infamous Black Widow of Terra and would-be founder of a new Star League met her end under the boot of the Red Queen of the Lexington Combat Group.

Director-General Kerensky's death did not end the fighting. While it broke the morale of many units, the Terrans continued to put up ferocious resistance until the weight of numbers and the realization of doom became too much. Even as this violence continued, ComStar stepped in. For ComStar President Gabriel Deakins, the continued fighting was pointless destruction. Terra had lost and it was time to get on with the business of rebuilding the Inner Sphere and saving what his company could preserve. He harangued the Terran Congress, which had retreated to momentary safety in Cairo, into approving an unconditional surrender instead of attempting to inflict a nuclear holocaust upon the invaders, one that would only see the complete destruction of Terra. Three prospective Chancellors resigned rather than agree, but an aged and broken Daniel Tiepolo finally stepped up to accept "the painful inevitability". Assuming the Chancellorship one last time, Tiepolo signed the surrender order on November 8th. While not every unit obeyed, and fighting did continue for weeks in some areas, the majority of the surviving TUDF laid down their arms.

The Terrans had gambled and lost. The Terran Union, the great beacon of hope in the darkest decades of the Collapse, was itself now a broken ruin. The safety net they had provided against a wider collapse of human civilization was gone. The Inner Sphere would never be the same again.


[In many ways, although larger in scale than SCOUR was, the fighting in the other Inner Sphere's SERPENT was much less vicious. The Terran Union was far less profligate in the use of WMDs than the Blakists were, and their troops generally more inclined to surrender over taking their opponents down with them — rare exceptions like Singapore, damn Hogarth to hell, aside. In many ways, I think that's probably a good thing; if the Terran Union's defenders had, at their twilight hour, been as committed to victory or death at all costs as many of the Blakists were, it's questionable if Terra herself could have survived as an inhabitable world. I don't intend this, of course, as any slight upon the men and women who extirpated that dark mirror of our own Republic; they did their duty, and did it well. And the worst of the fighting the Screaming Eagles saw in the tunnels under Geneva was as bad as anything I saw in Bratislava. - Paladin-Exemplar David McKinnon]

 

[Steve]

Sidebar 5: The Responses to the Terran Ultimatum of August 3050


"The choice is yours, my Lords. Either sit upon the Council of a reborn Star League as my closest advisors, or you will be destroyed by the Star League in the name of peace." —Natasha Kerensky, Director-General of the Terran Union and self-proclaimed First Lord of the Star League, pre-recorded message transmitted to Successor State rulers on 15 August 3050 when Terran Union forces arrived in their capital systems.

The responses were as follows:

Gothi Karl "One-Eye" Sleipson (Nox, Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague): "You think us beasts to be collared and leashed. Come then. Try to collar us. You will die with our fangs in your throats." (For the remainder of the Terran approach to Nox, Sleipson's military satellites transmitted archived footage of the immolation of the Rengo Directorate's diplomats on Paracale in 3032 and the orbital bombardment of McAllister Shogunate forces on Pesht in 3036)

Lawspeaker Haakon Magnusson (Rasalhague, Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague): "Better men than you have tried."

Director Masako Honda (Galedon, Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere): (a bemused laugh fills the line) "You finally worked up the nerve to act then? The answer is 'No', of course."

Lord Protector Jessica Sandoval (Robinson, Canaan Accord): "After two hundred years of watching our worlds burn, now you come. (scoffing noise) You're no better than the Dracs. Come then, and face the Lions of House Sandoval!"

General Penelope Reynolds (Lexington, Lexington Concord): "Nuts!"

Chancellor Jonasar Yalos (Urich, Solar Union): "If you wish for our weapons, come and take them. You will not be the first bandits the Solar Legions have buried."

First Prince Ian Davion (New Avalon, Federated Suns): "Eat shit, you Terran bastards. You can pry my world and my Federation from my cold dead hands."

Grand Admiral Long Tom Silver (St. Ives, Brethren of the Stars): "Hang me, will you? Many have tried and many have failed, lads. Now come find out why."

High Lady Kamea Arano (Coromodir, Aurigan Coalition): "Our answer is the same as the Periphery's was five hundred years ago: No."

Duke Charles Humphries (Andurien, Peoples' State of Andurien): "We accept only because it is the lesser of evils. History will hold the new First Lord responsible for the blood she is about to spill."

Magestrix Emma Centrella (Canopus, Magistracy of Canopus): "It cost the Star League a million dead last time. Did you bring enough caskets, or do you just want shallow graves?"

Imperator Corvus O'Reilly (Alphard, Corvid Principate): "In view of your actions, I believe the words of an old Terran writer would explain our response best:

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
'To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods,

'And for the tender mother
Who dandled him to rest,
And for the wife who nurses
His baby at her breast,
And for the holy maidens
Who feed the eternal flame,
To save them from false Sextus
That wrought the deed of shame?'"

Empress and Grand Duchess Eris Halas (Oriente, Oriento-Capellan Empire): "If." (When the confused Terrans transmitted a request for clarification, Empress Eris responds with evident exasperation) "Is this the state of education in the Terran Union that you do not learn the classics? Our answer is 'No'."

High King Thomas Proctor and High Queen Johanna Steiner (Arcadia and Donegal, Royal Federation, transmitted from Halfway as final rejection): "The choice of war is yours. But know that it is not for glory or wealth or honor that we fight, but for freedom, which no honest soul gives up but with life itself."

President Duchess Jacqueline Brewer (Hesperus, Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant): "I would be a poor businesswoman indeed to accept such a one-sided contract. Bring me a better offer or get the hell out of my system."

Konig Francis Callahan of Mahone (Inarcs, Kingdom of Ghastillia): "Did you think we of Ghastillia forgot our history because we adopted a new name? We of the Rim Worlds remember the Star League and we want no part in it!"

First Speaker Manuel Diaz Azaña (Sudeten, Communal League): "¡No Pasaran!"

[None of this particularly surprises me, considering our own history. As Houses Liao and Kurita learned in the First Succession War, the Clans in REVIVAL, and the Word of Blake in their lunatic Jihad, one of the problems with relying on speed and intimidation is that some people simply don't intimidate worth a damn.- Paladin-Exemplar David McKinnon]

Sidebar 6: Operation SERPENT

Without question, Operation SERPENT matched REVIVAL in organization and coordination, and was the single-greatest concentration of armed force in one place since Aleksandr Kerensky's SLDF jumped into Terra in 2777. Every Successor State contributed, ranging from the meager contributions of the Aurigan Coalition to the great armada of Galedon. Virtually every Successor State was represented among the Command Councils of the Naval Fleet and the three succeeding waves of troops. For one bright shining moment, the Terrans had indeed accomplished their claimed goal of unity among the Inner Sphere. Unfortunately for them, they were the much-deserving target.


Naval Fleet
WarShip Strength: 26 Capitals, 77 Cruisers, 15 Light Cruisers, 86 Frigates, 14 Carriers, 2 Light Carriers, 129 Destroyers, 94 Corvettes

Command Council:
Admiral John Silver - Brethren of the Stars (Council Chair)
Admiral Hassan bin Fahad - Azami
Admiral Mitsunori Ozawa - Galedon
Admiral Olga Kaganovich - Tikonov
Fleet Admiral Frederick von Istenberg - Ghastillia


FolksArme (Rasalhague):
2 Capitals
4 Cruisers
8 Frigates
6 Destroyers
6 Corvettes

AFAC (Azami):
2 Light Cruisers
2 Frigates
4 Destroyers
4 Corvettes

AFHFA (Hartshill):
1 Capital
3 Cruisers
4 Destroyers
4 Corvettes

GCSAF (Galedon):
5 Capitals
12 Cruisers
4 Carriers
8 Frigates
12 Destroyers
12 Corvettes

LCAF (Lexington):
3 Capitals
8 Cruisers
6 Carriers
2 Frigates
10 Destroyers
12 Corvettes

AFCA (Canaan Accord):
2 Cruisers
3 Frigates
4 Destroyers
4 Corvettes

AFSU (Solar Union):
1 Capital
4 Cruisers
6 Light Cruisers
6 Frigates
8 Destroyers

TUAF (Tikonov):
1 Cruiser
1 Light Cruiser
3 Frigates
3 Destroyers

KCAF (Kilbourne):
2 Cruisers
4 Frigates
8 Destroyers
12 Corvettes

AFFS (Federated Suns):
2 Capitals
6 Cruisers
8 Frigates
8 Destroyers
6 Corvettes

AFHC (Hindu Collective):
2 Light Cruisers
2 Destroyers
4 Corvettes

BTCF (Brethren):
1 Capital
4 Cruisers
8 Frigates
8 Destroyers
10 Corvettes

ACM (Aurigan):
1 Destroyer
2 Corvettes

APDF (Andurien):
2 Cruisers
4 Frigates
2 Light Carriers
4 Destroyers
6 Corvettes

MAF (Canopus):
1 Cruiser
4 Frigates
2 Destroyers
3 Corvettes

PAF (Principate):
3 Capitals
4 Cruisers
6 Frigates
10 Destroyers

RCAF (Rim Commonality):
4 Cruisers
2 Light Cruisers
2 Frigates
4 Destroyers
6 Corvettes

IOCF (Oriento-Capella):
4 Capitals
8 Cruisers
8 Frigates
12 Destroyers
6 Corvettes

AFRF (Arcadia-Donegal):
3 Capitals
6 Cruisers
2 Carriers
6 Frigates
10 Destroyers
7 Corvettes

AFG (Ghastillia):
4 Cruisers
4 Frigates
5 Destroyers

DISC (Defiance-Hesperus):
1 Capital
2 Light Cruisers
2 Carriers

CLAF (Sudeten):
2 Cruisers
2 Frigates
4 Destroyers


Wave One
Strength: 55 BattleMech Regiments
(* notes less than one regiment)


Command Council:
Commanding General Penelope Reynolds - Lexington (Council Chair)
Gothi Ragnar Magnusson - Rasalhague
First Prince Ian Davion - Federated Suns
Consul Livia O'Reilly-Logan - Principate
High King Thomas Proctor - Arcadia-Donegal


FolksArme (Rasalhague):
1st Einherjar
Knights of St. John 1st Regiment
Knights of St. John 2nd Regiment
2nd Berserkergang
4th Berserkergang
Tamar Dragoons
Steel Division
1st Snow Dragons

GCSAF (Galedon):
2nd Sword of Light
4th Sword of Light
4th Galedon Regulars
Barlowe's Raiders

LCAF (Lexington):
Lexington Combat Group, 249th Command Regiment
Lexington Combat Group, 10th Light Guards
Lexington Combat Group, 32nd Recon Regiment
Lexington Combat Group, 241st Battle Regiment
Lexington Combat Group, 38th Lancers Regiment
Lexington Combat Group, 187th Assault Regiment
Lexington Combat Group, 180th Dragoons Regiment
Screaming Eagles, 82nd Striker Regiment
Screaming Eagles, 101st Striker Regiment
Screaming Eagles, 75th Rangers
1st Lexington Minutemen
2nd Colchester Minutemen

AFFS (Federated Suns):
Davion Light Guards
Davion Heavy Guards
Davion Assault Guards
1st Davion Guards
3rd Davion Guards
1st Kathil Uhlans
1st Federated Suns Grenadiers
2nd Federated Suns Grenadiers
2nd Capellan Dragoons

PAF (Principate):
I Legio, I Cohors
I Legio, II Cohors
V Legio, I Cohors
V Legio, II Cohors
VI Legio, I Cohors
VI Legio, II Cohors
IX Legio, I Cohors
IX Legio, II Cohors
Black Warriors Auxilia
Pilpala Auxilia

AFRF (Arcadia-Donegal):
Arcadian Guards
Lifeguards*
1st Royal Guards
Proctor Heavy Guards
Proctor Assault Guards
1st Royal Assault Regiment
3rd Royal Cuirassiers
5th Donegal Guards
2nd Donegal Grenadiers


CLAF (Sudeten):
1st Autonomous Assault Brigade
1st Shock Brigade
4th Jaegers
22nd Communal Regulars


Wave Two
Strength: 30 BattleMech Regiments

Command Council:
Director Masako Honda - Galedon (Council Chair)
Duke Harris Arseid - Kilbourne
Magestrix Emma Centrella - Canopus
General Manuel Cifti-Jimenez - Rim Commonality
High Queen Johanna Steiner - Arcadia-Donegal



AFHFA (Hartshill):
The Queen's Own

GCSAF (Galedon):
Galedon Otomo
Tok Do Otomo
1st Sword of Light
5th Sword of Light
6th Sword of Light
2nd Izanagi Warriors
4th Izanagi Warriors
1st Galedon Regulars
3rd Galedon Regulars
7th Galedon Regulars
11th Galedon Regulars

KCAF (Kilbourne):
1st Commonwealth Guards
3rd Commonwealth Dragoons

BTCF (Brethren):
Admiral's Guard, 1st Fist
The Red Rose Regiment
The Star Vixens
The Black Regiment

MAF (Canopus):
Canopian Lifeguards
1st Canopian Grenadiers
2nd Canopian Fusiliers
Arano Royal Guards Expeditionary Company*
Oliviera's Marauders*

RCAF (Rim Commonality):
2nd Kashamarka Dragoons
1st Rim Commonality Cuirassiers

AFRF (Arcadia-Donegal):
7th Royal Lancers
2nd Donegal Guards
4th Donegal Guards
2nd Donegal Cavalry
Concord Borderers

AFG (Ghastillia):
4th Ghastillian Grenadiers
2nd Winter Lancers



Wave Three
Strength: 30 BattleMech Regiments

Command Council:
Emperor Jonah Allison-Liao - Oriento-Capella (Council Chair)
Lord Protector Jessica Sandoval - Canaan
General Malik Yalos - Solar Union
Duke Cesar Steiner - Defiance-Hesperus
War Chairman Pawel Zuk - Sudeten

AFCA (Canaan):
1st Robinson Rangers
New Ivaarsan Chasseurs

AFSU (Solar Union):
1st Solar Legion, Light Regiment
1st Solar Legion, Flanker Regiment
1st Solar Legion, Heavy Regiment
1st Solar Legion, Assault Regiment

KCAF (Kilbourne):
2nd Commonwealth Guards
1st Commonwealth Dragoons

AFFS (Federated Suns):
1st Crucis Lancers
2nd Crucis Lancers
1st Avalon Hussars
4th Dragonlords

AFHC (Hindu Collective):
Defenders of Shiva, 3rd Regiment

IOCF (Oriento-Capella):
Death Commandos*
1st Allison Heavy Guards
The Knights of the Shining Star
The Knights of the Rose
1st Knights of Liao
5th Free Worlds Guards
2nd Young Liao Guards
1st Sian Dragoons

APDF (Andurien):
2nd Defenders of Andurien

DISC (Defiance-Hesperus):
1st Wraith
Warguild Lyonnese

AFG (Ghastillia):
3rd Ghastillian Regulars
4th Ghastillian Regulars
10th Ghastillian Regulars

CLAF (Sudeten):
Communal Assault Brigade
2nd Communal Guards
3rd Shock Brigade
7th Jaegers

 

[Steve]

Terra's Fall and the Successor States' Stalemate

Two weeks into 3061, the leaders and representatives of the Successor States met in the hastily-repaired ruins of the Palace of Unity to sign the Treaty of Geneva. The broken Terran Union was officially dissolved as was the entire concept of the independent Terran state. The worlds that were once joined to Terra politically were apportioned to their neighbors, with all surviving industry to be divided among the Robinson Accord signatories according to that treaty's provisions. More importantly, while industrial toolings were limited and could not be given to everyone, the raw data to produce Terran technology was easily copied. Every Successor State now had the knowledge to reproduce Royal-quality weapons and machines. The effort effectively stripped Terra of its capability to support modern military forces, with over ninety percent of Terra's military industries gutted of valuable tooling and machinery. The Terrans would be, under treaty law, limited to a civilian economy only, with ComStar as guarantor of this status and an Oversight Force present composed of no more than one brigade each from the signing powers, and a minimum contribution of a combined arms regiment to include one battalion of BattleMechs.

The territorial division was not without issue. By common agreement the Tikonov Union received the largest share. Its armies had fought hard and well as exiles when the Union was mostly overrun, and they had the greater resource base to maintain control over their spoils. The Azami, their allies, were granted Dieron and neighboring worlds as compensation for their own efforts and suffering. This was the smallest of the apportionments but Dieron was a wealthy world and had come out more intact than others. It would provide for the rebuilding of the Confederacy.

The controversy came over the other two claimants. The Oriento-Capellan Empire was granted a swath of worlds from the Rimward Union, including Outreach, that was second only to TIkonov's in number, population, and wealth. Yet though these worlds had retained some of their pre-war economies and civilian manufacture, they had only a small portion of the surviving military factories. Their worlds would certainly aid in the Empire's economic recovery but not provide a solid addition to military production. Neighboring worlds that did retain military factories and trained personnel were those that were signed over to Defiance-Hesperus as the third of the worst victims of Terran aggression. New Dallas, Sirius, and Procyon were among the prizes awarded to the Brewers, as was the greatest prize of all; New Earth, the second world of the Union, and a major producer of many important military systems. The Empire protested this allotment, charging they had suffered grievously too and deserved a larger share. But under the Accord provisions, the Lyran forces taking Sirius and Procyon before the Empire ensured they were to keep them, so long as they maintained proper order. The protests were to no avail. But they planted the seed for what was to come.

For now ten years of war had left most of the Inner Sphere unwilling to face more. The Treaty of Geneva turned Terra into a neutral site for their diplomacy and a general truce was declared for five years, to be guaranteed by all signatories. With the treaties signed, the representatives and rulers of the Successor States returned home in exhausted triumph to rebuild their nations.

A sign of dashed hopes came with news from Lexington early in 3062. During a state meeting on reconstruction, Commanding General Penelope Reynolds collapsed at the table. The Champion of the Inner Sphere was soon diagnosed with having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage brought on by the damages of her long warfighting career. After two weeks of lingering she passed. As many Successor Lords as could make the trip attended her funeral at Fort Ballycastle to pay tribute to the leader of the resistance to Terra. With the living symbol of their unity gone, many wondered how long it would be before the old conflicts resumed.

The cracks were already widening. On Sudeten the Vanguardist movement were openly promoting rebellions and insurgencies against Ghastillia and the Royal Federation, defying the other political factions. The union by marriage of the Federated Suns and Brethren of the Stars heightened feelings among those outside the St. Ives Compact that the bloc might turn aggressive. This was born out the following year when mercenaries secretly under Maskirovka control started violent uprisings and disturbances on Sirius and Procyon. Before Lyran state reinforcements could aid the beleaguered defenders, Imperial forces swooped in and seized the systems, asserting the Consolidant had failed to provide proper security and that under the Accords they were taking control. At first diplomatic efforts were attempted at undoing this occupation, including revealing the connections to Maskirovka, but the Compact powers stood by their allies. An invasion by Arcadian and Defiance troops led to an Azami counter-invasion of Buckminster over "violation of the Robinson Accords", a war that expanded further in 3064 and 3065 when both sides commenced major offensives on one another with open intention to seize worlds as "sanctions for violation of the Accords". It took every iota of diplomacy First Prince Ian could muster to finally cajole the two sides into a delicate renewed peace in 3067, with both sides' territorial holdings roughly unchanged but Sirius and Procyon still decisively in Oriento-Capellan hands.

Ian had good reason to push for peace, as he had just negotiated another marriage alliance as a capstone to his dream of Restoration. His granddaughter Grace Silver-Davion was now betrothed to the son of Lord Protector Aaron Sandoval of the Canaan Accord, which would bring the heart of the old Draconis March into his Federated Suns. This proved controversial among the neighbors of both states, the Galedon Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Kilbourne Suns' Concord, a new union of the Kilbourne Commonwealth, the Solar Union, and the Lexington Concord. These states were, despite the losses against Terra, the mightiest of the Successor States and were already churning out multiple new machines and weapons of Royal quality. Ian was banking on the remaining power of the Robinson Accord and peace negotiations to maintain the post-Terran peace.

He failed to account for Director Masako's growing bitterness at an Inner Sphere that had, in her mind, squandered her beloved blood sister's victory and turned back to its divisive, chaotic ways. Masako wasted no time in preparing her forces and those of her allies for the struggle to come. She renewed her long-standing non-aggression pact with COMINTERSTEL and, in 3069, directly challenged Ian and his allies. The result came to be known as the Concord-Compact War, and to the rest of the Inner Sphere, it was seen as no less than a bid by Masako Honda and her ally , Chancellor Harris Arseid, to claim hegemony over the entire Inner Sphere. Her forces and those of the Concord swept over their former allies, invading the Federated Suns, the Canaan Accord, the Tikonov Union, and the Azami Confederacy in a wave of BattleMech regiments and WarShips. Within a year, all four states' capitals were under threat of invasion or already being invaded, and the last Compact member not fully engaged, the Oriento-Capellan Empire, refused to dispatch more troops. Nothing would be left to defend their worlds if they sent the requested forces. The increased urgent pleas of Ian Davion from his besieged capital were countered with the proof that the Lyran states were mobilizing. All parties expected the Arcadians and Hesperans to renounce the truce and support the Concord.

Instead, the Lyran Alliance pledged to uphold the post-Terran status quo. While they did not renounce the feud with the Compact outright, the Lyran states put it aside and threw into the war on the side of the Compact, not Galedon and the Concord. Over the next three years, until 3074, a bloody stalemate formed as Lyran and Compact forces threw back the Galedonian and Concord troops. New Avalon, Tikonov, and Albalii were all relieved and multiple systems recovered, at the cost of heavy losses for all concerned and the deaths of Ian Davion, Thomas Proctor, and Johanna Steiner. The rejoining of the United Hindu Collective to the Federated Suns further altered the war's balance and saw the Suns regain Filtvelt on the Periphery. But none of these victories was enough to forestall the fate of House Sandoval, whose survivors fled into exile at the end of 3073 after Robinson fell to the Compact forces. Finally, both sides were exhausted enough to heed Gothi Magnusson's call for mediation, and at Nox, the Peace of Nox ended the fighting. The Canaan Accord was swept off the map as conquests of Galedon and the Concord, with Galedon gaining captured worlds from the Azami as well, but the Suns and Canopians' Peripheryward gains were likewise accepted. By way of rewarding House Proctor for their aid, First Prince Victoria Davion ceded Sarna and adjoining worlds to the Empire in exchange for Emperor Jonah returning Stewart and its nearby worlds to the Royal Federation. A new truce was signed to maintain peace through 3080 and lasted until 3078 when fighting once more broke out on the long border between the two blocs.

The stalemated conflict had put a momentary end to the prospect of a Galedonian-Concord hegemony that had long cast a shadow over the rest of the Inner Sphere. It demonstrated that with the Terrans gone, a new status quo was emerging, one where the alliances and power blocs would fight for their claims but likewise were not out to overturn the board completely. The Second Age of War was still on, and over the decades it would continue to rage in a multitude of conflicts. The Third Outback War, the Vanguard War, the never-ending struggles between the Lyrans and the Compact along their mutual border, all of these conflicts saw occasional territorial changes but never permanent shifting. The era of Successor States being overwhelmed and consumed was over; the Later Second Age of War, as it came to be called, was a time of local invasions and counter-invasions, jockeying for control of vital border worlds, and above it all, the sustainment of the status quo.

The two greatest efforts to break this status quo, and which both failed, were directed at Lyran space. In 3081 a local political dispute on the major world of Odessa spiraled into open interstellar war between the Lyran Alliance and COMINTERSTEL. The Vanguard faction of Sudetener politics sought to break the economic and social structures of the Royal Federation and Ghastillia, believing their longstanding support for worker rebellions and activism had finally brought them to the point they could move and fulfill their revolutionary agenda. Fifteen years of fighting followed but did not end in the overthrow of the Lyran states, just a continuous stalemate that finally petered out into a low-level war by 3096.

At that time, the second great effort to shift the status quo came with the rise on Alphard of Scipio O'Reilly. Overthrowing his uncle Julius and declaring the state to now be the Scipian Dominate, Scipio sought a return to the conquering ways of the pre-Corvus O'Reillys. To fulfill his ambitions of conquest he decided to contest for the throne of Arcadia on the grounds of his Proctor ancestry. This conflict, the Dominate War, disrupted the entire balance in the old Free Worlds League, breaking the sixty year-old pact between Alphard and Arcadia and giving Halas-Liao a chance to gain at the expense of the Arcadians. In the end, intervention from the Federated Suns and the destruction of many of Scipio's most loyal legions on Arcadia itself put an end to his ambition. His cousin Flavius returned from Canopian exile and tore down the new Dominate, forcing through the last of Corvus' unrealized reforms to create the modern Flavian Principate. Save some worlds the Principate lost to the Federation, very little changed on the map. Even the most obvious change to the status quo, the end of the Principate-Arcadian alliance, was diminished by careful diplomacy and a continued understanding of mutual opposition to the ambitions of the Oriento-Capellan Empire. An Empire that, in turn, had seen its great moment of strategic opportunity yanked away by its own allies. The Principate-Arcadian alliance was gone, but now a gulf was forming within the Compact as well.

Almost unnoticed amongst these events was a slow change of matters inside Galedon's territory. Masako's passing brought to power her son Hoff, who died in 3092 from an accident. His daughter Yumiko Honda now claimed power. Throughout these events, the Black Dragon Society became a known fixture on many worlds, even with the Galedonian ISF acting vigorously to suppress it. Masako and Hoff had long despised the Kuritan restorationist movement as a threat to House Honda and Masako's vision of a more reformed, capable state. But unbeknownst to both, Hoff's younger daughter Kori fell in with the fanatics as she reached her majority in 3088. In 3095 she launched a palace coup that caused her sister's death. Assuming the Directorship, Kori began an open policy of "reconsideration" towards the Kuritan legacy, slowly relaxing the state's repression of the Black Dragons. She married Hidetada Kurita a year after assuming power and would have her first heir, publicly referred to as Yorinaga Honda to satisfy her advisors' concerns, before the century ended. In 3106 she made another milestone change, revoking her grandmother's security guarantee of the Hartshill Federal Alliance and demanding the isolated frontier state's submission to her authority. This was negotiated "peacefully" and the Hartshill state subsumed into Galedon's Co-Prosperity Sphere, along with its well-built armies and navies. In one swoop Kori Honda had become the single most powerful Successor Lord in the Inner Sphere, and her ambitions were not yet sated.

The order of the Inner Sphere by now hung by a tenuous thread. The fall of the Terran Union had ensured there was no power to compel the Successor States to remain peaceful or to unite for common defense. The outcome of the Concord-Compact War made clear that the Successor States, individually or in their competing blocs of interests, would not tolerate an effort by any one group to become hegemons by smashing the strength of another. The conflicts of the last quarter of the 31st Century became stalemates as all sides, their armies buoyed by Royal weaponry and expanded in size by their enlarged industrial bases, no longer had the means to quickly overwhelm one another. Through the first decade of the 32nd Century the conflicts of the Second Age of War seemed to abate. Nothing had been solved, but the clear stalemate discouraged further attempts to alter the status quo. A few optimistic voices spoke of a final end to the entire age and the start of a peaceful one, but for most, the sense was not one of optimism but of dread. The armies and navies of the Successor States had long been rebuilt from the war with Terra. Their troops were blooded and experienced. Their disputes were not settled. New war machines churned off the factory assembly lines and the dock spaces of the Successor States' growing war industries. This combination was a dangerous one, and it was increasingly clear that the status quo would not survive forever. Some action, any action, might start a chain of events that set off another large war. It was simply a question of when, where, and how.

 

[Steve]

The Fourth Succession War

The Second Age of War broke loose in 3110. After years of quiet frustration at the thwarting of their strategic opportunities and directives, House Halas-Liao started the plunge. Gregory Halas-Liao, heir and grandson to Jonah and Eris after their abdications at the turn of the century, struggled to balance the many differing factions of his Empire, particularly the vocal Liaoist and Capellan nationalist factions who had become increasingly discontent with the St. Ives Compact arrangement. For those who wished the Empire to restore the Confederation of old, continued hostilities with the Lyran states or the Principate was an unwelcome distraction; the hated House Davion, the enemies of old but now an alleged ally, were the foe they should be dealing with. Dowager Empress Eris maintained her own strong influence at the Imperial Court on Sian, however, and she continued to see the Proctors as the hated enemies of the Empire and the O'Reillys as a linked threat. Breaking with the Compact would leave the Empire friendless with these powerful states waiting to strike at the Grand Duchy.

In an effort to appease militants of both factions, Emperor Gregory seized upon a proposal. The continued independence of Andurien had long been an embarrassment to the Empire. A reminder of failure, military and diplomatic, for those from Oriente and Harsefeld, and for the Liaoists, Andurien remained a Capellan world that had likewise not been reclaimed (whatever the people of Andurien believed to the contrary). Gregory decided it was time to "lance the pimple on the face of the Inner Sphere", as he put it crudely. In February 3110, as Imperial forces quietly prepared and moved towards the Andurien border, Gregory issued his demarche to their ambassador on Sian. In this document he declared Andurien to be too weak to survive, therefore its continued independence was a threat to the Empire should the Principate or Canopus ever conquer them. Furthermore the document asserted that the new ruler, Duchess Karla Humphries, was a minor and her regency council "riddled" with Rim Commonality and Canopian agents. Andurien and their state must submit to the Empire or he would enforce the historic Capellan claim. The Regency Council begged a delay to the deadline of twenty-four hours but was only given twelve extra hours. Gregory feared not allowing any extra time might simply harden their resolve or cost him with his neighbors through being too blatant. He wanted the cover of being "reasonable". So little extra time would add to the tension Andurien had to endure, nothing more, he reasoned.

He reasoned wrong. The extra twelve hours proved vital, as it bought time for Andurien to ensure receipt of a warning to other states on what was going on. At the thirty-fourth hour the ultimatum was refused. The next day, February 18th 3110, the entire Young Liao Guards Corps and the four brigades of the Sian Dragoons became the first forces to strike at Andurien, one of many such strikes intended to overwhelm the small state quickly. With this act, Gregory had unknowingly knocked the first domino over.

Others followed. Canopus, in a reverse of the Second Andurien War, rushed troops and ships to Andurien's defense. The Principate and Rim Commonality sent forces to Canopus and on raiding strikes throughout the Grand Duchy. And as Dowager Empress Eris expected, High King Ethan Proctor-Steiner mobilized the AFRF and moved it up to the border. By mid-year, Arcadian and Hesperan troops were invading Imperial territory from New Olympia to Procyon. In defense of their allies, Tikonovite and Azami forces counterattacked into Lyran territory. First Prince Grace-Silver Davion ordered the AFFS to mobilize. What was being dubbed the Third Andurien War had commenced, but that name would fade in time.

(For those who know their Age of War history, you may be wondering about a 32nd Century "Third Andurien War" when that happened back in the 2500s. From what I've seen of materials those conflicts did still happen on the other side, but presumably commentators in the 3030s simply "reset" the numbers when the Second Age of War commenced. So what should have been the Fourth and Fifth Andurien Wars are known as the First and Second Andurien Wars on the other side. Given the Collapse and the shifting of historiographical focus in the Successor States, that should not be too surprising, though very confusing for historians of the pre-Star League era I imagine. - Lady Janella)

Complications soon arose. The Arcadians and Hesperans were committed, but as they were soon to unite under a single throne their double vote counted for less with the third member of the Lyran Alliance. Ghastillia's government had long tired of the Federation and Consolidant's continued fighting with the Empire, going so far as to refuse to deploy Ghastillian forces to the Isle of Skye without substantial financial support. Their state's energies were focused on their long-term colonization prospects and the continued fighting with Sudeten. A second faction that favored peace with Sudeten, the so-called Rim World Irredentists, had little appeal as an alternative for the Arcadians, as they wished to claim the rest of the former Rim Worlds from the Principate. To maintain the much-needed alliance, Ethan reluctantly committed to an open campaign against the Communal League in retaliation for their insurgency support. This now placed the Lyran Alliance into conflict with COMINTERSTEL, who fought viciously to protect their systems and launched counter-attacks into Lyran territory.

Nor did their mutual alliance against the Oriento-Capellan Empire prevent fighting between Arcadia and the Principate. While Imperator Flavius might be in accord with High King Ethan, their regional vassals were anything but. The new "KING of Pilpala", a vassal auxiliary who governed in the former Bolanese worlds still held by the Principate, openly desired to reclaim worlds lost a decade before when Scipio's armies fell away. The Grand Princess of Bolan, Amita Umayr, likewise harbored ambitions of reclaiming her family's old worlds from the O'Reillys, as did Gyanendra Shah, Archduke of Tamarind. While their respective rulers fought a common foe, these vassals began what came to be called "the Hidden Front fighting" of the war, sending mercenaries and their local forces in raids and invasions to jockey for position and provoke open conflict.

On Galedon Kori Honda watched with glee. Her moment had come. Coordination was arranged with her allies, who looked forward to the chance to smash the Compact as they'd desired to forty years before. In late 3110 the two states struck at the Azami, Tikonov, and Federated Suns once more, spreading the conflict to the other side of the Inner Sphere. It was no longer the Third Andurien War; after eighty years, the Second Age of War had finally culminated in the long-dreaded Fourth Succession War.

As 3111 dawned, the conflict continued to spiral. All sides suffered amazing victories and painful defeats. The Lyran thrust into the Empire was dampened; Andurien remained defiant under siege, supported by Canopian troops; the Hidden Front fighting spread to include Ghastillian noble houses seeking to reclaim old Rim Worlds territory while local legionary commanders supported the KING of Pilpala. Tikonov and the Federated Suns were fighting hard to hold their lines while the Azami, pressed on two fronts, were forced to abandon the core of their territory and relocate the Confederacy capital to Dieron. Their collapse seemed assured as the Lyran and Galedonian forces met on Vega, where Galedon's forces immediately engaged in offensive strikes on the Arcadian and Hesperan troops. Over the course of weeks it became abundantly clear Kori Honda had no intention to share her conquests or to stop at the Consolidant border. Lyran forces attempting to exploit the Azami near-collapse were themselves facing Galedon's forces. Further terrible news for the Lyran cause came as Ghastillia's invasion of the Communal League was repulsed with heavy losses at Antares. On the Oriente front, a counterattack at Nova Roma led to the mortal injury of High King Ethan in the field. He would be dead by year's end, his daughter — crippled in the fighting on Vega — would be High Queen, and Mathilde Brewer-Steiner would be rendered incapable between emotional strain and the worsening of her early-onset Alzheimer's. The Royal Federation's leadership was in shambles, their strategy a ruin, and their forces facing attacks on four fronts that cost them all their gains and, early in 3112, saw the capture of New Dallas by IOCF regiments.

What saved them was that COMINTERSTEL's situation was no better. In September 3111 Honda ordered a military offensive she termed Operation REBIRTH. Pesht, Avon, Irece, and a dozen other worlds were struck by three or more 'Mech regiments and attached forces. Other invasions occurred from Constance to Arkab. Galedon, still enmeshed fighting the Lyrans and the Compact, was now conducting a full-scale invasion of the Rasalhague Republic, adding COMINTERSTEL to their list of enemies. WIth most of their forces drawn off to save Sudeten from the Lyran states, Rasalhague found itself in a two-front war. The Director of Galedon made it publicly known this was not merely a landgrab, nor some reclamation of worlds once held by House McAllister. Her goal was complete conquest, of Rasalhague and every world within the Republic. Rasalhague was forced to divert most of their troops to meet the Galedonian wave, giving the Lyran states relief from their own woes. But even as their resistance increased, world after world fell to Kori Honda's forces. The collapse of COMINTERSTEL seemed inevitable as Lyran forces struck Sudeten itself in January 3112.

But while the Lyrans had recovered their poise with High Queen Jacqueline firmly in command, Sudeten's ferocious resistance became a trap that ground their armies down. For seven bitter months the pride of the CLAF held their capital against some of the best units that the Royal Federation and Ghastillia had available. In that summer COMINTERSTEL, with what Rasalhaguan units could be spared, struck at the Arcadian salient from Odessa. It came just after the diversion of forces to meet a Galedonian strike at Buckminster, leaving the Lyran units insufficient to hold. Ballynure, Pandora, and Graceland were all retaken. The Lyran strategic offensive on Sudeten had failed and the attack was abandoned. Over a dozen regiments worth of BattleMechs lost and many more losses in vehicles, ships, and lives bought the Arcadian-Donegalian forces nothing. They fell back on the defensive and diverted forces to drive the Empire from the beleaguered Principality of Atreus and the Isle of Skye. After harsh negotiations with her Ghastillian allies, High Queen Jacqueline began considering a new strategic direction towards COMINTERSTEL.

The warfare between the Compact states, principally the Tikonov Union and Federated Suns, and the Concord-Galedon forces was a rapid, vicious war along a vast front of systems. The AFFS was throwing everything into holding in the Crucis and Periphery Marches while preparing a strategic advance on Robinson. Tikonov used a series of spoiling advances and newer technologies from their research facilities to bedevil enemy units, with many worlds remaining contested. Like the Federated Suns they were forced to strip their units near Terra. Both states went so far as to remove all but a token infantry regiment from their occupation forces on Terra. To protect their vulnerable rear, the Compact states negotiated a limited truce with the Lyrans through their mutual forces on Terra, by which both parties agreed they would not conduct strikes that meant jumping "through" a circle around Terra of ten light years width. This effectively eliminated the risk of Tikonov or FedSun units striking New Earth and Arcadian forces going after Northwind or Caph. This did not go unnoticed by the other Compact states, but the Azami were in no shape to protest. The Empire did, strenuously. Between this and earlier points of dissension, a gulf was forming between the major members of the Compact.

As the war finished its third year, strategic stalemate continued on all but one front. Galedon may be holding on their front with the Lyrans, but they were advancing through Rasalhague steadily. Behind a line drawn from Holmsbu to Sulafat virtually every world had fallen to Galedon's forces, though some still had vigorous insurgencies resisting the imposition of Galedonian rule. Rasalhague's strategic situation worsened when Susquehanna fell in the first month of the year. Two months later, Galedonian invasion forces arrived at Rasalhague itself. The beginning of a fourteen month siege was under way. Sudeten vowed reinforcements to shore up their lines but could not send enough, not with the threat posted by the recovering Lyrans. The two allies faced their darkest hour since 3051.

But it was not an invasion from the Lyrans that came, but a surprising offer. High Queen Jacqueline, faced with her collapsing entente with the O'Reillys and a bloody stalemate with the Compact, had made her own strategic calculation. COMINTERSTEL's defeat, though longed for by Ghastillia, was not going to benefit the Lyran states. They had too many distractions, and had endured too many losses, to quickly overrun Sudeten and take enough of Rasalhague to offset the looming threat of a three hundred light year front with the Inner Sphere's mightiest military. After browbeating Ghastillia into agreement, Jacqueline submitted terms to Sudeten and Rasalhague for a territorial disposition. It would see Ghastillia keep a few of the worlds they had held from the League, return others, and to benefit both parties, the Royal Federation and Rasalhague would exchange Buckminster and the remaining portion of the old Duchy for Arcturus and a few of its adjoining systems, shifting their defensive burdens and smoothing out their borders. It took very little time for COMINTERSTEL to accept the offered terms despite heated opposition from the Vanguardists. The treaty was signed and enacted in May at Buckminster. The two blocs had become allies against the greater foe.

That threat did not remain common. Kori Honda had astonished the Inner Sphere once and she would do so again. With her forces poised to seize Rasalhague itself and Lyran forces not yet recovered from their defeats at Sudeten and Vega, Kori decided the time had come to advance on another front against a foe even less ready for her forces. She started with a demarche transmitted to Kilbourne that March, insisting that rightful claims to systems in the Outworlds should be transferred as payment for her forces supporting the Concord's advance on Tikonov. Chancellor Alistair Yalos rejected the proposal out of hand, pointing out he was being the loyal ally supporting her efforts, and the Concord had less to show for it, not Galedon. Sensing what was coming, the Concord ordered its militia and handful of minor units in the Outworlds to full alert, and orders to be cautious around the Galedonians went out.

It would not be enough. In April, across what had been the most peaceful border in the Inner Sphere for nearly a hundred years, Galedonian troops descended violently upon their one-time allies. On David, Kentares, and other worlds with joint forces cooperating, the Galedonians opened fire on their former allies and, even with forewarning, a number of Concord forces took losses out of sheer surprise. Kori Honda's fanatic dream to fulfill her vision of destiny had led her to break the most sacred of her grandmother's alliances. Given the power of her forces and the exposed strategic position they left the Concord in, there was nothing that Yalos could do but order a general strategic retreat. Robinson and the old Canaan Accord were abandoned to preserve the outflanked units of the Concord. New lines of defense were drawn up to protect the heart of the old Concord, though even there the Galedonians surged until they were besieging Lexington and had captured Colchester and Macomb. The Concord's situation was now dire. Galedon could not exploit this, however, as their push for systems brought them to grips with the classical foe. Invasions and counter-invasions of Robinson and other former Accord worlds would mark the next six years as the Federated Suns struggled to reclaim the birthright of First Prince Grace's children while the Galedonians fought to keep their ill-gained conquests.

Unsurprisingly this diversion proved a major setback for Kori's expectations elsewhere. Rasalhague did not fall. In September, Ghastilian and Sudetener forces landed on New Oslo to drive out the invaders while Nox saw the arrival of Arcadian troops to reinforce the garrison. Galedon's war against Rasalhague, once on the cusp of success, was now doomed to become a brutal slog. The vast superiority in armaments that Kori Honda had built since beginning her reign was being burned away in the fires of battles ranging from the Rasalhaguan Periphery to Kessel to the Outworlds. That the Galedonians still managed strategic advances and captured worlds is a testament to both their preparation and ferocity. Kori's treachery might have become legendary, but it did not seem as foolhardy as might be expected. Hartshill had turned the old Kuritan Periphery from a backwater to an armaments factory. Claiming it intact and adding to the already considerable strength of Galedon had given the Director the means to defy the entire Inner Sphere now that it was riven by war. The old Kuritan dream of universal hegemony over all Humanity seemed possible, even with the general stalemate forming. As in the Terran War, this would be a conflict of endurance, the victory to go to those who held out the longest. (It does seem a major strategic blunder to strike her own ally while she's fighting from Rasalhague to Lyons, but Kori Honda would not be the first megalomaniacal ruler to be taken in by Victory Disease and make too many enemies too quickly. The Blakists could've taught master courses on that subject; and hopefully it's a lesson we can teach Daoshen Liao before too long. - Paladin-Exemplar David McKinnon)

Volumes about the Fourth Succession War continue to be written. This section is already large and vast in covering the forces that brought it about and expanded it to cover nearly every corner of the Inner Sphere and Near Periphery so details will be kept sparing from this point forward. With one exception, the combatants were in place, the fronts laid. Campaigns continued to be fought and battles lost or won a thousand times over in hundreds of star systems across the Inner Sphere. The Terran War was the last conflict to have raged so hotly, and in many ways this war eclipsed it. Fears mounted that the Inner Sphere was about to repeat the senseless and deadly mistakes of the 29th Century. That it did not, that in fact this conflict saw almost no atomic weapons use even in WarShip combat, can be attributed to each combatant's belief they could prevail without such extreme measures. No state felt their very existence was so threatened the final measures must be taken, though some would come frightfully close to that belief.

As the decade drew into its final four years, the stalemate did not fracture so much as slip here or there. New diplomatic and military developments caused a change in strategy. The end of the Hidden Front fighting in 3117 allowed the Lyran states and Principate to redouble their efforts on other fronts. This opened the way for the continued pressing of the Galedonians back from Rasalhague and Nox and towards the old border, though Kori Honda would keep her forces launching offensive invasions despite being on the strategic defensive. Another major shift in the strategic situation came with the Oriento-Capellan Empire accepting its failure in Andurien. Repeated strikes at Andurien and outlying worlds had failed against fierce resistance. Emperor Gregory's gambit was over, and with it he faced a severe loss of authority over his Liaoist subordinates. This loss only intensified when he refused to approve their own shocking proposal in favor of his strategic plan against the Principate and Royal Federation. Regulus had fallen to the Rim Commonality and the Royal Federation was striking to reclaim New Dallas and take the Sirian Commonality. Rather then rush troops to fight the Arcadians, however, he ordered local forces to fight on the defensive and inflict maximum losses while gathering his naval and army resources for the Commonality front. A major victory at Kearny led to such extensive losses for the Rim Commonality and principate that the Empire was able, through 3118 and into 3119, to press on and capture Tematagi itself. Exploiting their local superiority, they also commenced another invasion of the Federation's Principality of Atreus, with all of Oriente's Knightly Orders landing to claim Atreus for Dowager Empress Eris. They were still losing ground towards their Terran holdings, but the AFRF was paying in blood for every step and, combined with their losses in the Atreus Principality and on the front with Galedon, the Royal Federation's armies (merged with Defiance's surviving forces in 3116) were being ground to a nub.

Yet Emperor Gregory's strategic vision was not enough to spare him the embarrassment of his own forces going rogue. Liaoist commanders of the Sian Dragoons and Young Liao Guards cared little for the victories in the old Free Worlds League. Rather, with the support of sympathetic figures in Maskirovka, they had learned of a once-in-a-lifetime strategic opportunity. Across their common border, the Federated Suns' St. Ives March had been stripped of almost all regular troops. Only their local militia and a handful of broken units rehabilitating from the savage fighting in the Draconis March defended key worlds like Grand Base and Bellatrix, even Victoria itself was lightly defended. In June 3018, while Emperor Gregory was at the front overseeing the plunge towards Tematagi, Strategos Lu Sen Wei dispatched the orders to those he knew would listen. Using WarShips fresh from the Boras yards or still only half-repaired for cover, and whatever civilian JumpShips could be commandeered to join their own, a scratch force of twenty regiments made up of devout Liaoist units descended upon the Federated Suns' Duchy of Victoria. The local march militia and supporting mercenaries were swept aside. The battle-hardened AFFS forces pulled from the active fronts bloodied the invaders where they could, but the invasion could not be stopped with the meager resources on hand. Secondary strikes were soon launched around Sarna, clearing worlds like New Sagan and Minnecora of their defenders. The Oriento-Capellans advanced clear to the Periphery at Renown and went after Victoria, where they would be repulsed as their forces were worn down and lacked the means to sustain their campaign.

Emperor Gregory was given a chance by First Prince Grace to renounce his forces and declare them rogues, but Gregory could not. He'd failed to secure Andurien and yet again devoted himself to fighting for non-Capellan worlds against states that were not enemies of the Capellan people. To turn on "loyal" Capellans on behalf of the hated "Fedrats" would destroy his legitimacy. Gregory instead declared the worlds former Capellan planets rightfully returned to House Liao and offered Grace a face-saving way of backing out. Instead, she expelled the Imperial ambassador from New Avalon and won the Empire's expulsion from the Compact by a vote of her allies. The last of the power blocs was now fractured, and the desperate need for troops to man defenses facing the Davions forced a transfer of troops that saw a successful Canopian-Andurien thrust that took Kearny, threatening the strategic flank of the Empire's lunge into the Rim Commonality. Surrounded by foes or potential foes, their armies hollowed and their once-mighty navy dwindling with every battle, win or lose, the Empire stared into the abyss of disaster.

The Federated Suns was likewise badly pressed, as were House Silver-Davion's foes. Under the leadership of Chancellor Joan Arseid, the Concord's forces were reformed and rebuilt with what resources they had left. In what was a desperate gambit to reclaim the resources necessary for the Concord to survive being surrounded by enemies, the Concord commenced a large-scale offensive into the Draconis March and Outworlds at the start of 3119. Their forces were spirited and organized, but they were all that the Concord had left. This offensive had no depth, only width. If they needed reserves, if they were held up, they would be stopped. But the six years of savage warfare in the Draconis March had left the AFFS and GCSAF too weak to resist the intact regiments sweeping over their ad hoc, loss-riddled units, especially with many AFFS units now rushing to Victoria and St. Ives to resist any further Imperial advances. In the span of ten months the Concord reclaimed virtually everything it'd lost in 3113. The process left their army a hollow shell that would collapse the moment any neighbor put pressure on it, but for the moment, they had succeeded.

Kori Honda raged at being driven out of the Draconis March, but Galedon's struggles likewise continued on other fronts. A strategic plan for a 3117 counter-offensive into the heart of Lyran territory was countered by an unexpected Arcadian-Rasalhaguan invasion of the marshaling world Tukayyid. The combined forces of COMINTERSTEL and the Lyran Alliance were pressing on, bleeding for every world they retook as they advanced through 3118 and 3119 against fanatical Galedonian defenses of their captured systems. Arkab, Schuyler, Luzerne, Itabiana, and a number of other systems were liberated, where tales of Kuritan atrocities spurred the enraged Rasalhaguans to burn their units down to their very cores if it meant saving more of their people. Kori, seeking to redirect the pressure, ordered a counter-attack that pushed the Arcadians back in the vicinity of Vega, reclaiming that system and several worlds. But her generals made clear this was their last gasp. The Co-Prosperity Sphere's economy was groaning from the strain of maintaining her armies. It lacked the power to rebuild the many regiments that were now broken husks. Their forces were already so thin that a determined Compact offensive had regained a portion of the Azami Confederacy, including beginning a siege to retake Albalii. With their forces fighting the Lyrans around Vega, manning the long front with the Concord, and trying to hold Rasalhague, Galedon did not have the strength to push the Compact out.

Their foes were in no better position. The Concord, as examined, had spent its last reserve in their great offensive. Tikonov's years of fighting and losses to Concord and Galedonian raiders had left their military as worn as any other. The Azami had a mere twenty BattleMech regiments on the rolls and half of them only consisted of a reinforced battalion backed by armored vehicle support. The AFFS was in shambles and unable to continue operations so far from their main lines of supply. The Rasalhaguan effort to advance on to Pesht failed, with a second forced retreat from Yamarovka spelling the end to the advance. While the Republic had endured, they and their COMINTERSTEL allies were a spent force and needed time to rebuild to effectively hold what they'd liberated.

In the Lyran Alliance, Ghastillia now faced tax revolts in a number of key systems and a peace movement was demanding they stop dying "for the benefit of Lyran pride". More Ghastillian forces were ordered on defensive action only. The Arcadians did not have this issue yet but even with the populace willing to fight on, the Royal Federation's need to fight on so many fronts had left even their most proud units reduced sharply in size. Entire RCTs and divisions were little more than brigades at this point, and in their desperation for line personnel eighteen and nineteen year old cadets were being called to the front as lieutenants where twenty-two year old breveted majors and twenty-six year old breveted colonels were leading them into battle. In a last gasp effort for 3119, the AFRF threw a relief force into Atreus that prevented the Marik throneworld's fall to the Dowager Empress' Knight Orders. Another force commenced invasions of Sirius and Procyon with the best remaining units. Their efforts prevailed on both fronts but at continued bloody cost, including a significant one with the death of Prince James Proctor, Prince of Atreus, on the battlefield at Sirius. A bereaved High Queen Jacqueline was left to mourn her eldest son and heir and the small family he left behind.

As the final quarter of 3119 came, the Inner Sphere's armies finally dropped in mutual exhaustion. Only a handful of offensive operations were launched, most notably the retaking of Tematagi from Imperial forces, failed Galedonian efforts to expand their salient at Vega, and a joint offensive by what was left of the Compact that finally regained part of the pre-war Azami-Galedonian border. After a decade of high-intensity warfare the militaries of the Successor States were bloodied and broken. It only remained to be seen if they were willing to end the war or if they would merely rest and prepare for more rounds of bloody fighting.





Sidebar 7: The Dragon's Contempt

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE STATE CHAMBERS, GALEDON CITY, 11 SEPTEMBER 3111

Chamberlain: Presenting the Most Excellent and Noble Ambassador Naomi Minamoto of Rasalhague, Great Director.

Kori Honda: Ah. I had expected you an hour ago. I had my schedule clear then. You disappoint me with your lateness, Ambassador.

Naomi Minamoto: Do not patronize me! I have received the official notification from ComStar! Pesht, Arkab, Irece, Avon! Over a dozen of our worlds have your forces on invasion approach, and you have not explained yourself!

K. Honda: I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you.

N. Minamoto: What are you doing, Director? Our nations have been at peace for decades. We have never threatened you.

K. Honda: Nor have you ever been capable of threatening my realm. As for what I am doing, I believe even for a mead-swilling dullard like you, it should be painfully obvious. I am undoing a great historical error.

N. Minamoto: What do you mean? What 'error'?

K. Honda: The error of a Rasalhague independent of House Kurita.

<At this point the Director nods to her bodyguards. Two power-suited Otomo wearing Black Dragon Society insignia step forward and grab Minamoto>

N. Minamoto: What is the meaning of this?! I am a diplomat!

K. Honda: So were the men of Rengo your Gothi One-Eye burned alive on Paracale back in 3032. And you are no diplomat. You are a rebel to the true rulers of your world, and Rasalhague is nothing but a rebellious province that we have humored long enough.

N. Minamoto: Director Masako vowed to support our existence! She gave her word!

<Director Honda approaches the woman, who still struggles. She smiles in amusement>

K. Honda: My grandmother ruled in a different time, which required her to be circumspect. I have been relieved of that need.

N. Minamoto: Rasalhague will not submit! We will fight! We will—

K. Honda: You will die. If I did not value the lives of my servants on your world I would take your head now. Instead you will be held and treated with the contempt a rebel deserves until ComStar comes to exchange you. <gestures to her guards> Take her away.

<Ambassador Minamoto is removed from the State Chamber, shouting insults and threats>

 

[Steve]

The Congress of Dieron

As the bloody decade of warfare ended, the Successor States seemed no closer to peace. Their armies were broken skeletons of what they'd been at the start of the war and their fleets had been reduced by over half from battle losses and attrition. Yet for all it was clear a pause was needed, every side had advocates for pressing on. For all their own armies were swaying in the wind, so too were their foes. Just one more victory, just one more firm stand, might yet bring the decisive, absolute victory that had been denied them for those ten bloody years.

At this stage, ComStar stepped forward once more. Left as the custodians of Terra after the Terran War, the interstellar communications firm had regained some of its prestige lost in the Terran War through scrupulous business practices and improving the capacity and speed of the Inner Sphere's HPG network. They were either directly running or supporting HPG operations in over half the Successor States and had likewise become the organization of choice for delicate diplomatic arrangements, though never to the extent that our ComStar did in its history. The organization itself was multinational as well, only a quarter of its personnel hailing from Terra or former Terran Union worlds. What little remained of the ideals of the Star League was embodied here.

Thus for ComStar the ongoing Fourth Succession War was a disaster that needed to be halted. They had quietly promoted diplomacy throughout the war and now President Jason Hollings saw a brief window of opportunity to bring the bloodshed to an end before desperation drove the combatants to greater and more destructive efforts. As the final battles of 3119 were waged, he persuaded the Successor Lords to hear out his proposal and join in peace talks. Since a number rejected using Terra or any part of Sol System as a meeting place, Hollings suggested the ComStar facilities on Dieron in the city of Tahlwynn, where ComStar not only maintained the planet's new primary HPG but had established a technical and engineering university. While the planet was not a neutral site itself, the Azami Confederacy was one of the more desperate states and agreed to ComStar's proposed summit, including hosting bodyguard forces and withdrawing all Azami troops from the hemisphere.

At first only delegations were sent, mostly the diplomatic staff on Terra. This allowed the Dieron talks to commence in late January instead of later. In an early session Hollings proposed that a general ceasefire be observed for the duration of talks. Arcadia and Galedon protested initially but accepted in the end, as it would buy time to reform their ravaged units. The ceasefire declaration ended the fighting across the Inner Sphere for the time being, though a number of systems still bore contending armies who were not yet withdrawing. While that was the obvious next step in de-escalation, Hollings did not press it out of the reasonable concern it would derail the talks. Despite the danger of this continued contact of forces, he pressed on with the agenda of settling the mutual hostilities. He kept the delegates on track in establishing positions for peace while letting the ceasefire do the rest of the work. Commanding officers from all services noted the improving morale from an end to the warfare while warning their superiors of a growing discontent at the prospects of resuming the fight. A general feeling of not wanting to be the last person to die in a war that was about to end peacefully set in to varying extents. A similar desire for peace to last came from the civilian populaces of many worlds, further increasing the political pressure to protect the ceasefire.

As it became clear the talks were not going to collapse and that real pressure for peace was going, more and more of the Inner Sphere's leaders converged on Dieron. With a few exceptions due to distance or disinterest (Kori Honda was a noted no-show) by June Dieron hosted the greatest gathering of Successor Lords and leaders since Penny Reynolds' funeral in 3062. Even those who did not attend in person sent senior advisors to represent them. Negotiations for peace began in earnest. It is unknown how much of these negotiations were part of the main sessions of what was coming to be called the Congress of Dieron and how much of the handling was being done behind the scenes, likely with Hollings and other ComStar leaders quietly nudging terms around to create working compromises. There were many tight knots to untangle, particularly with the expansive claims of Kori Honda and her representatives' threat to walk out if they were not honored.

The knots started to break when the Rim Commonality and the Principate agreed to recognize the Oriento-Capellan Empire's capture of Grand Base, Bellatrix, and the other former Capellan worlds, and to their return to Sirius and Procyon. The Empire in turn agreed to accept the loss of Regulus and to withdraw back to their pre-war frontiers, effectively ceding over twenty systems captured during the course of the war. A similar agreement earned Andurien's support, including the cession of Kearny itself (reportedly a bitter pill for the Dowager Empress on Oriente), Mosiro, and a number of systems captured from Andurien in 3032. High Queen Jacqueline was furious when informed and accused the Rim Commonality First Minister Semiha Cifti and Flavius of treachery, declaring she would never accept returning Sirius and Procyon. In turn Semiha and Flavius bluntly informed her that if she did not agree to the cession they would sign a separate peace with the Empire, as neither state could fight on anyway. The legions were on the verge of revolt and the Rim Commonality's economy was disintegrating from the damages and the lost worlds vital to their internal trade network. With the Empire agreeing to recognize the loss of the Irian Province and the Marik system to the Federation, Jacqueline's own advisors counseled acceptance. In their state, to face the Empire alone while still fighting Galedon and the Azami would destroy the AFRF and cost them everything they'd gained. Given she was ceding the world her son died to take, it was a truly bitter pill for Jacqueline, and would forever cement her loathing for the war's outcome.

The Federated Suns was no happier. The Empire's diplomatic maneuver had ended any prospect of pinning them in a two-front war to reclaim the worlds lost to the Liaoist offensive. First Prince Grace consulted with her own Privy Council who pointed out the obvious, that the AFFS was badly in need of refit and re-establishment. Even storied units like the Davion Assault Guards had been completely destroyed in the fighting. A new wave of riots and dissensions was spreading through the Taurian March and Liaoist agitation was likewise undermining Silver-Davion rule in regions of Victoria and St. Ives. The Federated Suns, bluntly, needed peace, even at the cost of net territorial loss. After this consultation (and an alleged searing row with her disappointed husband Erik Sandoval), Grace conceded to terms on the grounds of the Empire supporting the few gains made against the Concord's forces, primarily in worlds lost in the Concord-Compact War. Emperor Gregory, after a personal and very tense meeting with Grace, agreed.

Emperor Gregory's role at Dieron is a subject of much debate. A number of observers (most of them FedSun or Royal Federation) attribute to him mere self-interest, trying to consolidate what gains his Empire could most likely hold at minimal cost. Others (especially Capellan) have argued there was a measure of personal responsibility at play. Gregory himself is purported to have been emotionally devastated by his responsibility for the conflict. The ten years of warfare had nearly destroyed the Empire his grandparents forged and his father died to defend. His own subjects had defied him, invaded an ally, and maneuvered him into a ex post facto justification of their defiance. Even if they survived, the Empire was now in dangerous territory, surrounded by enemies. To those who hold this interpretation, securing peace to end the war he foolishly ignited became almost an obsession given how actively Gregory pursued matters at Dieron. Their greatest evidence is arguably how he treated the final holdouts, the Concord and Galedon.

The Concord had been winner and loser. It had, despite its great territorial losses and suffering the most grave betrayal a state can suffer, regained most of what it lost. A mere half dozen systems had been lost to the Federated Suns and the exchange with Galedon was even. For Chancellor Arseid the primary need was to buy time for her forces to rebuild given how hollow the KSCAF were on the ground. But with her strategic isolation, peace was perilous. The Concord was now isolated and alone. Gregory provided her encouragement in ending the conflict, offering to mediate with Kori Honda's representatives. Arseid agreed to support the peace if Gregory secured her Concord's current border with Galedon, an impossible-sounding task given Honda's representatives would only loudly assert that every world captured was now rightfully Kori Honda's and must be returned for peace.

Yet even President Hollings would give credit to Gregory for talking Honda down, through her intermediaries. Whether he pointed out her impossible strategic position or made other promises, in August of 3120 the Galedonian delegation to the Congress agreed to a "status quo" border arrangement. Galedon would get to keep what they had held, would lose what they had not, and would support an end to the war. This was, understandably, not popular for Rasalhague or the Royal Federation, as it meant the loss of worlds they'd held or felt they had rights to. But with the rest of the peace forming, it was not enough to justify holding out. Despite all expectations that went into the beginning of the talks, Director Kori Honda had indeed agreed to make peace. Nobody wished to be the ones who continued to resist it given that fact.

The final dispensation was with the hosts. The Azami, with their allies' backing, pressed for the return of a number of occupied systems, but gradually accepted the loss of Sabik to the Royal Federation in exchange for the return of Kessel and its valuable shipyards. Likewise they accepted the terms laid out for Galedon. With not a world gained and several lost they were one of the undoubted losers of the conflict, but since their losses could have been far greater if not for the sacrifices of their allies, the Azami felt bound to honor them. They conceded to the peace.

As the final terms were drawn up, jubilation and frustration filled all involved. While some won or lost more than others, it was clear that everyone had reason to feel they had at least gained something and that further conflict would cost them far more than they might hope from further gains. Many bitter pills were swallowed, but with a couple exceptions, none were so bitter to indigestible. Even the exceptions needed time to recover and could not justify refusing the final agreement. When the Congress of Dieron held its final sessions, they were united in the sentiment that the peace, while maybe not desirable, was necessary and must be maintained. To protect it, many were openly willing to act in concert with even former foes.

On the 11th of November, 3120, the final session of the Congress was held. One by one the Successor Lords or their senior delegates cast their votes for the final document that came to be known as the Peace of Dieron. In a solemn ceremony, each thereafter signed the Peace. The Fourth Succession War was over. With it a new order arose in the Inner Sphere, and after the false starts of the Terran Export Ban, the Robinson Accord, and the Treaty of Geneva, many now wondered if at last they had brought an end to the Second Age of War.

 

[Steve]

The Concert of the Sphere

The Peace of Dieron ended the Fourth Succession War, despite all expectations the Congress would break up in the end or any peace would collapse immediately. The skepticism directed at the achievement did not end with the treaty. A year had already bought time for the armed services of the Inner Sphere to begin recovery. Certainly, after a few years, it was easy to imagine conflict breaking out once more. Some even refused to consider the Fourth Succession War truly over and fully expected this to be a mere lull. Yet, with few exceptions, the Peace held, backed by the concerted agreement of the Successor States.

Kori Honda was already en route to Luthien when word came the peace was signed. She declared January 1st to be the first day of a week of celebrations, with a work holiday and festivals across her realm. Many thought this to be in celebration of the peace, which publicly Kori took credit for no matter how much she is rumored to have seethed over it. But her true motive was revealed with the victory parade she held in the streets of Unity City. At the steps of the Unity Palace, with her husband and her son Yorinaga in attendance, Kori had a great covered banner hoisted and the cover pulled away. Underneath, in full view of the crowd, the black dragon of the Draconis Combine started to sway in a very timely wind. With that gesture a host of other banners were unfurled along the palace's wall and central structure and on the great buildings of Unity City, all bearing the Combine crest. Across the worlds held by Galedon, similar ceremonies were held at her instructions. Addressing the crowd, Kori announced the end of the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere that her grandmother Masako formed. She proclaimed herself to be Coordinator Kori Kurita of the Draconis Combine. The state was reorganized into new Military Districts based on Galedon, Tok Do, Pesht, and Hartshill, with Luthien as the restored Black Pearl of House Kurita. The ISF was charged with putting down any grumbling from those who honored Masako's work and were displeased by the transformation, and to ensure against the ISF sharing in that displeasure, Kori formally empowered the Black Dragon Society as the Order of the Black Dragon. Where the Order of the Five Pillars had failed, they would succeed, and ensure the Dragon never again succumbed to civil strife or enemy action.

The formal return of House Kurita and displacement of House Honda seemed a final stamp to the changes Kori had helped wrought upon the Inner Sphere. She had destroyed her grandmother's alliances and treaties and turned her new Combine into a pariah state, but it was a pariah to be feared given it retained all of Galedon's industrial might, empowered further by the captured worlds of Pesht District, the retention of Vega, and Hartshill's continued strength in production. Yet, surprisingly, she was not the first ruler to challenge the new status quo and reveal the surprising strength underlining it.

From the Royal Palace in Roslyn, High Queen Jacqueline of Arcadia held no more love for the peace than the Kuritas. Her son had died to reclaim a world she was forced to cede back. Sirius and Procyon's forced return became a sticking point in acceptance of the peace. Many in the AFRF especially felt that they had been on the cusp of final victory, that had they not been compelled to the ceasefire, one last push would have finished the Empire off and they could have regained everything. A deep resentment of the Principate and Rim Commonality formed, but even that paled in comparison to the hatred of the peace and devotion to claiming those worlds anyway. Senior planners shifted troops about quietly, moving broken units out of the New Earth March and bringing in those units fully rebuilt. With the High Queen's blessing the AFRF prepared for what was dubbed Operation MORNINGSTAR, an invasion to capture Procyon and Sirius quickly enough that they could be defended and the onus of starting a new war placed on Gregory Halas-Liao. They had their opening in January 3123 after a Liaoist cell on Irian blew up several power stations as part of a declared uprising. Though the Empire disavowed these actions and the cell was easily rounded up by local authorities, the invasions proceeded.

They were a disaster. Maskirovka had some indications of what was coming and the Empire had quietly reinforced the systems with WarShips and extra aerospace regiments. What was meant to be a swift and decisive orbital approach and landing became a ferocious naval battle. Four Federation WarShips, including a heavy cruiser, were lost breaking a hole through the Imperial orbital defenses, and those units that made planetfall found garrisons alerted and dug-in. In the resulting fighting the Empire very nearly drove the invaders back to their LZs. With casualties mounting the Royal Federation's troops held fast and pushed back, gaining some ground, but the rapid blitzkrieg capture had become a drawn-out fight. Instead of a fait accompli to present to her peers, High Queen Jacqueline had an active shooting war. Nevertheless she pleaded intently that those worlds were by rights the Federation's, stolen from her mother's Consolidant by Imperial avarice. She swore she had no further ambitions against the Empire, who predictably painted the conflict as a land grab in violation of the peace agreement. Emperor Gregory called upon his peers to censure Jacqueline and her Federation for disturbing the new peace. Much to Jacqueline's dismay, this was precisely what they did. Every government in the Inner Sphere, even her own allies, declared the Royal Federation in violation of the Peace of Dieron. They demanded Jacqueline withdraw from the worlds and make amends for the invasion, or the other signatories would use force to compel her to obey.

With the Federation Parliament in an uproar and a ministerial revolt gripping her Privy Council, Jacqueline succumbed to the pressure, though it did nothing but intensify her hatred of the Peace. The AFRF Command Staff protested bitterly, insisting that reinforcements would prevail and that the other Successor States were bluffing, that no one was currently able to actually attack the Federation. Jacqueline rebuked their protests and demanded their obedience. Many of the officers involved, from division commanders up to the Command Staff, resigned in protest or from the insistence of Parliament and the ministers. Under direct orders from the High Queen, the Arcadian regiments that landed on Sirius and Procyon departed along with their surviving naval escorts. Emperor Gregory, grateful to have avoided a resumption of the war, did not press the demanded reparations angle strongly. The Empire settled for the Federation paying for a care fund overseen by ComStar that would fix all damages to Sirius and Procyon and compensate the Empire for the pensions provided to the dead and wounded soldiers. For Gregory and most other rulers, the important thing was that the Peace of Dieron had faced its first test and survived. The unity with which the Inner Sphere stared down the Royal Federation prompted the first use of the term that has come to define this era of history: "the Concert of the Sphere".

With peace now enforced by common agreement the governments of the Inner Sphere turned to the rebuilding. Hundreds of worlds had been fought over at one point or another and recovery was expensive. The rebuilding of shattered armies was delayed to pay the necessary costs for these repairs. While a universal need not all states suffered equally. The Rim Commonality in particular had seen much of its economic heartland gutted by Emperor Gregory's offensives. A depression gripped that Successor State and caused the assassination of First Minister Semiha Cifti, bringing the Commonality to such a point of political deadlock and fear of collapse that they agreed to a unification offer from Alphard, joining the Principate directly before the decade was out. This has not been broadly popular and in the years since a persistent nationalism movement has resisted Alphard's control with rumored, though not proven, support from Maskirovka.

In 3126 a brief outbreak of fighting on New Aberdeen caused by Barlowe's Raiders proved the next challenge to the Peace. Like before the aggressor — Kori Korita this time — faced a united opposition that compelled them to back off. The difference was that Kori Kurita was willing to try again, elsewhere. Further raids were launched, this time along the disputed Outworlds border, and the Concord responded in kind. The Concert stirred enough that the two sides toned their fighting down. But it did not end entirely. The Outworlds were too far from any other interests to matter and the Concord, like the Combine, was strategically isolated. So long as a general war did not break out between the two former allies the Concert would remain undisturbed. So began a low-intensity conflict that has lasted since 3128 to the modern day, escalating to "proper" warfare on a number of occasions with both sides hiring mercenaries to supplement their forces and avoid stirring the Concert to action with further mobilization. Smaller petty raids by Azami Spahi regiments started up along both the Combine and Royal Federation borders, including ambitious company-sized strikes at the factories on Sabik. The Combine responded with retaliation strikes while the Arcadians, hoping to detach the lingering association between the Empire and Azami, refrained from retribution while improving their defenses. Again, the Concert stirred, but self-restraint kept the matter from becoming a crisis. The raids tapered off through the 3130s, though they never quite went away.

Given these raids the Arcadians soon took another lunge at a neighbor, but with a more restrained objective. Responding to a rebellion in Vega Prefecture in the early 3130s, the AFRF commenced Operation SOVEREIGN SON and sent a four-regiment force to extract the rebellion's leader: Chu-sa Musashi Honda, an officer of the 3rd Legion of Vega and revealed to be the son of Yumiko Honda, the slain sister of Coordinator Kori. Given the months of transit time the Vega system requires this could not be a quick affair, but Kori was too proud to react as Gregory or another ruler would have and ordered her local forces to crush the invasion. After two months of hit-and-run fighting and engagements, the AFRF withdrew with Musashi safe and sound on their ships. This humiliation infuriated Kori. Whether she planned a larger retaliation is undoubted, but before it could be enacted, Kori and her husband were killed in an industrial accident at Luthien Armor Works. Yorinaga Kurita assumed his mother's throne and decided on a delayed series of retaliations so as to not provoke the Concert. Only in 3139 did he give leave for a larger-scale strike, sending the 2nd Sword of Light to sack the planet Freedom in an effort to bring his cousin Musashi to ground. The attack inflicted significant losses on the planet's defenders, thousands of deaths, and billions of C-bills in economic damage before withdrawing without Musashi's location. This embarrassment was made up for the following year when the 2nd Sword, working with the 9 Galedon Regulars, inflicted severe losses on the 3rd Proctor Guards' retaliation raid on New Wessex.

Yorinaga's shifting of priorities showed in 3136 when the greatest battle since the end of the war was waged on Alpheratz, where a dozen regiments of mercenaries and regular DCMS forces attempted to conquer the former Outworlds capital from a mixed Concord/mercenary force. An eleven month campaign finally did win attention from the Concert. The Combine withdrew, having failed to take the world but leaving much of it in rubble. Further such attacks came yearly, at Sevon, Quatre Bell, even Bryceland in 3140. The Combine's intentions seemed to be more combat than conflict, though to the civilians caught in the war zone and the Concord forces fighting against them, it changed nothing concerning their suffering.

The Peace was still intact when, in 3137, Emperor Gregory Halas-Liao died. It was noted by many that he was a mere seventy-six years old, just a little over half the age of the still-living Dowager Empress Eris. That he died at such a relatively young age despite the best medical care in the Inner Sphere was a shock to the people of the Empire and many across the Inner Sphere, giving credence to the belief that his personal responsibility for the Fourth Succession War had left a deep wound on him. In what must have been bitter irony for those who remembered why Gregory invaded Andurien,he died with significant popularity among the Capellan people. Where in life Gregory had once been dismissed by ardent Liaoists and Capellan nationalists, in death he was fondly remembered as a champion of the Capellan people for recovering the "stolen worlds" and finally ending the hated alliance with the perfidious Davions. For a month the peoples of the Capellan portion of the Empire flew flags at half-staff and wore armbands of mourning to honor their fallen ruler. His grandmother Dowager Eris likewise ordered mourning among the Grand Duchy for her lost grandchild. Gregory's son and heir Robert assumed the throne, spending the rest of 3137 and 3138 attending coronation ceremonies at Oriente, Harsefeld, and Sian, where the new Celestial Wisdom was greeted with adulation. Robert responded to this with popular economic decrees to improve the quality of life for the subjects and expanded the ranks of the directorship to better process the citizenship applications of the casteless.

(Casteless? These Liao don't have servitors? —Paladin Max Ergren) (Apparently not, as part of the Allison-Liao reforms before the Empire was formed. Though going by Huyten's interviews with the Arcadians, the casteless basically are the servitors. —Lady Janella Lakewood)

The Empire's continued strategic isolation has remained an obvious thorn for Robert to deal with. Since rebuilding bridges with the Davions is impossible and his great-grandmother's iron grip on the Grand Duchy and sections of the sheng and directorate make reconciliation with House Proctor unlikely, Robert has attempted some diplomacy with the Principate, Tikonov, and the Azami. It is also rumored he has established direct communications with Coordinator Yorinaga, though ComStar will not confirm any special arrangements on the HPG networks and the is no evidence of this. On the military front he has resisted calls to accelerate 'Mech production but has invested in a significant naval arms program to counter House Silver-Davion's naval power. The Oriento-Capellan Empire has committed to a great long-term naval expansion program that will make them the strongest naval power in the Inner Sphere (bar perhaps the Draconis Combine, which maintains strict secrecy on its naval program but inherited Galedon's massive naval industrial complex). The Federated Suns has responded with its own expansion of its planned naval program, with a Concord commitment to a naval buildup made thereafter in a tight vote in their legislature. The Royal Federation has committed to a limited expansion but as of yet has not gone to the extent the AFRF and their supporting Defense Bloc in Parliament demanded. To many Assembly members and Senators, expanding the fleet or the armed forces runs the risk of emboldening the officers into trying another provocation like MORNING STAR. High Queen Jacqueline's growing detachment from governance exacerbated these issues and kept the controversy going. Her hatred of the Peace was known and could be counted upon to color her judgment, but without an engaged ruler, the Royal Federation's system leaned towards continued drift.

Things changed after Jacqueline's death by misadventure in May 3142 brought her grandson Nathaniel, only child of the dead Prince James, to the throne. At the age of 26 he is the youngest monarch the modern Royal Federation has known. Only Sara-Marie, as March-Princess, started as a younger ruler in the entire history of House Proctor. Released from field service with the AFRF, Nathaniel has taken charge in Roslyn and has brought a new energy to the Crown, asserting himself in a number of policy fields. Prominent among them is initiating a new peace policy towards the Empire, engaging Emperor Robert in bilateral discussions on reductions to their troops along the border systems. Where his grandmother's contempt for the Concert was plain to all, Nathaniel's support for it has been publicly stated. In many ways, his ascension has been both a disruptive element to Inner Sphere politics and a boon to the security of the Peace, with the Concert of the Sphere now into its third decade.

Undoubtedly very few realized how stable the Concert would prove. It has not stopped all conflict, as the ongoing Outworlds fighting regularly shows. Yet the Cisglass Inner Sphere of the last twenty years is seeing peace it has not known, arguably, since the second quarter of the 28th Century, if not the 27th Century and the noted "golden age" of the Star League. It was not known at the time but the Second Age of War ended when the Congress of Dieron agreed to sign the Peace. Conflict and dissension have been primarily expressed in the diplomatic and economic fields, not the battlefield. Yet the Peace was not a perfect settling of accounts, it was an acceptance of mutual exhaustion and the desperate need to end the bloodshed of the Fourth Succession War. It bandaged the wounds of the Inner Sphere, but underneath the dressings the injuries still seethe and ache. The Arcadians, the Sudeteners, the Federated Suns and Oriento-Capellan Empire, they all want more than the Peace gave, and given time their desires will place the Peace under greater and greater stress. It would be naive to pretend the Concert will last forever.

Yet, so long as it does survive, so long as no new age of war or succession war break out beyond the Glass, the Concert will continue to exercise a hold on the minds of those in power and the ordinary citizen, and there is no telling how long that hold will keep the Concert going, even in the face of the unexpected.

And by the unexpected, I mean the Timkovichi Event. Whatever our destinies would have been without the Event, whatever their destinies would have been, our futures are now linked. We have both diverged from the paths our Inner Spheres were walking. And only time will tell us where those paths will lead us.




Sidebar 8: A Hidden War in the Deep Periphery?


You hear all softs of scuttlebutt from soldiers. Tall tales. The ones that got away, Chargers that fired five large lasers but still ran the 1A1's speed, all the usual. And nobody spins them like Intelligence officers, since they get to play with you and make you wonder. This is one I got late, from a Ghastillian intel liaison attached to the Arcadians' command on Timkovichi after they reopened the Glass. He showed me the article and made the usual pointed 'might just be true' remarks. I included it for your benefit since, if true (and I think it might be), it's one hell of a powder keg that might just blow up the Concert when we least expect it. — Brigadier Huyten


Frontier News Network
10 June 3142 Edition
"A War Beyond the Rim"
By: Simon Weisman

Everyone knows the Concert of the Sphere hasn't kept the peace perfectly. The Dracs and the Lexis are keeping up their bitter divorce grudge match in the Outworlds. The Cadies keep growling at the Cappies, and the Davions are right there with them, and the Dowager Eris needs to start killing Proctors again if she's to gain another century for her life The Azami are raiding something in Skye every other week or something. The Flavian Legions are restless. The stories of all the places where the Concert is buckling and the next real war might break out keep coming, to the point you think some people want to see it.

But there's another place nobody's talking about. A war hidden from the eyes of the Inner Sphere but no less bitter and no less dangerous. It's so hard to find I can scarcely believe it exists too, but the evidence is there if you know what to look for and do some reasoning.

Over the last fifty years Ghastillia's been re-settling every world that can take a dome. Half the reason the Cadies are so pissed at us is because we're spending trillions of rands on the colonies and not the 'Mechs and ships they need us to have so we can bail them out when they fight their twentieth war to retake Sirius or Vega or whatever other world they want back today. But while there's always been some naval and ground troop presence in the Colonies, these past several years that presence has gone up. There seem to be more Ghastillian ships and troops moving through even though, by every public account I can find, they're not actually deploying more troops to those colonies. Pirate activity's not faltered at all either, so whatever they're doing, it's not hurting the pirates.

What's more is that you've got an uptick in sudden deployments of companies of Ghastillian Regulars who leave behind their families because they're being sent to "Temporary Duty Stations", and when they come back (or if they come back) they've lost people on "training accidents" or "pirate attacks" that nobody can find records of. Anyone who asks a lot gets a nice visit from some suited and uniformed people and suddenly they're happily accepting a larger pension for their dead family members. Sometimes the detachments can get pretty big. From 3137 to 3140 the 1st Winter Lancers literally dropped off the edge of the Inner Sphere, the whole brigade! "Training operations in Arcadian territory" or "joint training in the Principate" were given as reasons, with the usual spiel about "sensitive aspects". Why would you need to hide training missions?

And whatever's going on, Konigin Bradford's mixed up too. She ran in her '36 election on a campaign of focusing on domestic issues, armament cuts, all that fun stuff. Within a year she was approving the highest armament spending since the Peace of Dieron. She's added half again to the navy's orders for the next five years, even as she talks about the Arcadians needing to come to an arrangement with the Empire. "Why?" I ask, as should you. Just what is going on.

The answer is terrifying. They're fighting a war out there, somewhere beyond the Nyasa District, where there are no colonies and no known interstellar societies, just the usual Deep Periphery failed colonies that have gone caveman. But who against? Aliens? Some sort of Deep Periphery nation that's infringing on the Inner Sphere? An empire of mad clones preparing to conquer us? Does this have anything to do with the recent incident at Farcry where an unidentified 'Mech force came in and wrecked half the colony's production facilities for military-grade ores?

Until weeks ago I was at a loss. Then I noted something else peculiar. Our neighbors have been acting odd as well. No, I'm not talking about the Rome tribute cover band, they're the usual oddness, and the Cadies are doing their usual fussing. I'm talking about those damned Commies. The Communal League's always been annoying the crap out of everyone with their 'Vanguardists' going around raiding worlds, killing industrialists and financiers with raids by whole 'Mech companies, all that usual commie crap. But they've been sorta quiet lately. Then I notice some odd note in the Rim Worker's Daily published in that pirate press they keep in the old Rim Empire worlds. On May 1st, they published a tribute to "brave comrades of the Second Autonomous Brigade who gave their lives for oppressed workers". But that unit's position's been established by ComStar's ConcertWatch service. They're on Far Reach.

Something dawned on me when I read that. Far Reach. The Second Brigade. One of the most hardcore, in-your-face, 'grind those bourgeoisie oppressors slowly and painfully under your Guillotine's boots!' forces of the entire damn CLAF, are out on a damn colony world?! In the middle of nowhere?! What are they going to do, raid Snowdon? There's nothing there! The richest guy is the colony sheriff and even he's slumming it! So why would they be there?

So I checked. Turns out something like three quarters of the Autonomous units, pretty much all the CLAFers who are Vanguard types, stationed themselves around the Chaineline systems.

There can only be one answer to that, my dear readers. Somewhere out there, somewhere in the Periphery, there's some world, or maybe even group of worlds, where we and the Commies are having an actual, no shit, real life shooting war. Here we are, supposed to be living up to the Peace of Dieron, 'God save us from the Fifth Succession War ever happening' and all that jazz, and our government and their government are fighting an actual war!

Maybe I'm wrong. I want to be. It's all nice and easy to think that maybe it's just some skirmishing, and if they're not doing it here then it doesn't count… but what if it does? What happens if someone wins, or is about to win, and the loser decides to escalate it by going after their supply routes in the nearer Periphery. In the colonies, maybe? You can't hide a war in the colonies! Colonists will never shut up about it, just like they never shut up about water purifiers!

And if the war comes here… what will it mean for the Peace of Dieron? Can the Concert make them stop? Or might it just be the thing that causes the whole damn arrangement to blow apart? As my nine year old would put it… that would really suck.

P. S. I figured I'd add something That Ghastie intel officer didn't just talk about this article. We'd been discussing the differences between our Inner Spheres and I mentioned merc stories I'd picked up on the Deep Periphery. Not just any, but stories about what's going on out beyond the Lyran Periphery in our Inner Sphere, with the Goliath Scorpions. He didn't blink at that, but he gave me an awful funny look when I mentioned the Hanseatic League as their next possible target. Then he starts talking about old legends of the Lyrans who settled the worlds that formed Ghastillia, and how not all of those Lyran refugees stuck around Inarcs but kept going out through the Periphery. Sounds awful familiar, doesn't it? Mr. Weisman here obviously doesn't know it, but I think I can guess just where this 'hidden war' he's talking about is being fought. Makes me wonder just what's going on out there and if it's going to blow up in anyone's face when we don't need it to.

 

[Steve]

The Successor States of 3142


As of today fourteen Successor States continue to exist beyond the Glass, not including ComStar and Terra itself. Their Inner Sphere has, on the whole, been more peaceful than our own these past twenty years. They have fully recovered Star League-era terraforming technology that has allowed the restoration of many abandoned worlds and systems depopulated by the First and Second Succession Wars and the Collapse.

Additionally, as you can imagine, the systems we lost to the Blakist Jihad remain alive on their side. More than anything, the lack of a cataclysmic war like the Jihad explains the differing scale of our two Inner Spheres. Their economies are stronger and their capacity for production is sobering going by even the public statistics. Every state can produce Clan-equivalent technology at some scale, and Star League industries are widespread. The public figures for their armies would give even Daoshen Liao pause.

Most states on our side have only one or two JumpShip yards, and no one can afford a new WarShip. On theirs, even a small realm like the Azami Confederacy has eight yards of some size, although they seem to be an outlier. The Royal Federation has over a dozen. It is no surprise that one of the most significant threats to the Peace of Dieron is a growing naval arms race, and many of these states already possess fleets that would have crushed the Clans ninety years ago.

That peace's staying power has surprised many commentators on the other side given all of the tension points against it. For now the benefits of maintaining the Peace of Dieron outweigh the benefits of overturning it. Their Fourth Succession War may have lacked the mass slaughter of the Jihad, but the state it left their armies was similar. Many of these states have not rebuilt to their peak condition in 3110. I shudder to think of the carnage they will experience if the Peace fails spectacularly.

This section is not meant as a history of these realms but a summary of their current status, the challenges they face internally and externally, and an idea as to the character of their realms. The count of worlds under each state's control will be included, along with a rough known estimate of their BattleMech forces by regiment and their WarShip fleet by number. Since not every state uses the standard SLDF "triangular" 'Mech regiment, this figure does not necessarily conform to the listed units in other public materials, it is an estimate based on ComStar's ConcertWatch service and other information Brigadier Huyten compiled. I must stress this means we cannot be sure of the accuracy of some of these figures. The Draconis Combine in particular is suspected of hiding some of its rearmament, and other states may have as well. Likewise, the raw world count is not always a sign of economic or military power given the large-scale resettlement efforts throughout the Inner Sphere and Near Periphery. Some of these worlds still have populations numbering only in the low millions or even hundreds of thousands.

​

Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague

​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Rasalhague
Ruler(s): Gothi Haakon Magnusson and Lawspeaker Margrethe Maxwell
Worlds: 212
BattleMech Regiments: 200
WarShips: 104


The Rasalhague that broke away from the Draconis Combine almost three hundred years ago has evolved significantly in the centuries. Today it is a fusion of multiple influences and the legends that forged the modern state. The Republic has embraced a more revolutionary economic model than most Successor States without becoming as radical as its allies on Sudeten. It has expanded the idea of Rasalhague past the nationhood it once represented to draw in the more diverse populations like Arkab and Tamar and their own identities. The Districts of the Republic allow for these diverse populations to retain a measure of identity and self-rule, even as they and all other worlds send delegates to the Assembly to work under the direction of the Lawspeaker, the Assembly member selected to oversee the legislative process and oversee the civilian side of the government.

A state as diverse as Rasalhague cannot avoid partisanship and factionalism, particularly as the former Oberon world and restored Periphery colonies gain in economic power and influence. As a complement to the power of the Lawspeaker their political institutions have a strong anchor in the institution of the Gothi. Popularly elected and confirmed by the Assembly, by law the commander of the entire FolksArme, they are part ruler, part war chief, and are held as above petty politics by the nation. A sitting Gothi, once they accept the position, will never be allowed to hold another office in the Republic again, as a bar to the ruthlessly ambitious. The Gothi, more than any citizen, is expected to give everything for the cause of Rasalhague, even their life. Unsurprisingly, six out of eight Gothis over the past century were active duty military personnel when considered for election, and the two exceptions were retired from military service. The Gothi's badge of office includes the use, ceremonially or for combat, of the rebuilt STK-8Q Stalker of Karl "One-Eye" Sleipson.

Rasalhague's economic model is based off old Terran social democracy economic models adapted to local planetary conditions, with a strong socialist aspect. Where corporations exist, the majority owners are always the workers of said company as a collective whole. Corporate officers are all elected by the body of employees and subject to oversight. Corporate property rights are limited by law and tradition and wage guarantees and work conditions supported by collective bargaining with trade union associations backed by government law.

The Fourth Succession War brought Rasalhague to the brink of ruin. Reckless courage, stubborn defiance, and careful alliances saved the nation, but it walked away from the war with net territorial loss, and most of its districts having known brutal occupation that has left scars upon them as a people. The decades of assuming that the word of House Honda would be kept have cost them in blood and pain. Now their security partly rests in the hands of former enemies and an ally that has not always been understanding of Rasalhague's needs or desires. It is easy to understand their unease as the Concert persists year to year, and why they have been one of the quickest states to re-arm their forces since the Peace of Dieron. The people of their Republic do not need to voice their feelings about the Peace; it can be seen on every world still bearing the scars of Kori's invasion troops, on every defiantly-displayed map of the pre-war Republic, and in the speeches of furious Assembly Representatives voting more dollars to the FolksArme and the military industries for rebuilding.

It has not been an easy road and more challenges undoubtedly await in the future. The costs of maintaining defenses against House Kurita are significant. Their relations to the Royal Federation have solidified since the Peace of Buckminster in 3113 at the cost of strained relations with their oldest ally. The COMINTERSTEL alliance has lasted a century in spite of very real and sometimes deep differences between the Communal Republic and the Communal League. The latter state's makeup, and the resulting bursts off aggression against the Lyran states it sometimes causes, are a threat to the unofficial alliance with Arcadia to resist further Kuritan encroachment. Of all the potential breaking points in the Concert, Rasalhague may be the most unpredictable. For twenty years they have focused on defense and rebuilding, but the fury in their society is palpable, and one day it may erupt in a sudden and surprising fashion.

It was some of these sentiments that prompted a change with the retirement of Gothi Peter Lundsen in 3136. After a long line of former senior officers taking the post of Gothi it fell to a comparatively younger officer. The election brought into the position forty-three year old Haakon Magnusson, a grandson of Gothi Ragnar Magnusson of the Terran War, who was elected to serve on the strength of his war service with the Einherjar. Not a political man by most measures, Haakon is establishing a reputation for forthright honesty tempered slightly by a sense of tact. For the last six years his focus has been on reassuring the public that the FolksArme are ready to protect their nation and keep the Combine from ever following through on their threats against Rasalhague's independence. His speeches often contain blunt threats of the coming day when Rasalhague will "reclaim what was taken, and our dead will finally be avenged", and each time it has won him the acclaim of his bitter nation. It has also led to some tenuous relationships with the Assembly's senior members and the Lawspeaker. As it is generally accepted that a Gothi serves until they retire or are killed in combat, it is likely Haakon will serve as long a term as his grandfather, a prospect that has some fearing he might form a cult of personality among the FolksArme given how well his personality fits the ideal for a Gothi.

These internal issues have not kept Rasalhague from remaining aware of developments elsewhere. Recently they have joined the alliance to support the Lyran Commonwealth against the Clans. It cannot be certain they will provide significant forces, not with the Combine threat on their frontier, but it is known they have dispatched several 'Mech regiments to the Glass. And like their COMINTERSTEL partners, they are not bound by the truce Stephanie Chistu imposed as a condition for her agreement to duel for the fate of Timkovichi. By the end of summer 3143, it is expected the FolksArme will be engaged against the forces of the Jade Falcons. It is unlikely the Falcons will enjoy the experience. The greater question mark may be what will occur if the Republic advances to the Rasalhague Dominion border and meets their counterpart on our side of the Glass. Neither is entirely the same as they were a century ago, but for all the similarities they enjoy, the Clan influences on the Dominion might be the catalyst for bitter opposition.


First Einherjar

Since Gothi One-Eye famously assembled his finest warriors to serve the cause of Rasalhague, the Einherjar have been simultaneously the most sought after and most demanding posting in the FolksArme. Today they are a corps of three combined arms brigades, each centered on a 'Mech regiment. Among them, the First Einherjar are the most prestigious, as they are the personal regiment of the Gothi of the Republic. Wherever the Gothi goes, whether it is to directly intervene in squabbles in the districts or to smash raiders on the frontier, the First are always with them, typically in gleaming 'Mechs and vehicles and battle armor replete with Terran-grade weaponry.

During the Fourth Succession War Gothis Fredriksson and Minamoto led the First into a number of the most significant battles of the conflict against the Lyran states and Galedonians. Many of the unit died alongside Gothi Fredriksson defending the Peoples' Assembly Hall in Asgard City from the First Sword of Light in 3113. The survivors rallied around Gothi Minamoto during her battles to save Rasalhague and to throw the invaders out of the Republic, including the major battle for Tukkayid and the later extraction of FolksArme, AFRF, and CLAF troops from Yamarovka. At war's end they were at twenty-five percent official strength and have been rebuilt since.

Concerned about the state of the FolksArme and his unit in particular, Gothi Magnusson recently took the Einherjar on a rapid tour and series of war games across the Republic, including an anti-piracy campaign out on the Periphery and, it is rumored, a raid into the Hartshill Military District of the Combine. The unit sustained obvious losses during this time period and had only returned to Rasalhague to rearm and refit when word came of the creation of the Glass. By all reports, they are standing by for a final decision on whether Gothi Magnusson will join the expeditions through the Glass.


Eridani Heavy Cavalry Sixty-Sixth Cavalry Regiment

When Director-General Kerensky reformed the Eridani Light Horse in defiance of the originals' defection to the Lexington Concord, she staffed the unit with the best and brightest from the Terran Union's Royal units. The spirit of the unit was greater than patriotism in the end, and the sight of other Terran units engaging in atrocities against the people of Corfu drove the new Light Horse into defection as well. In deference and newfound respect to their predecessors, they renamed themselves as the Eridani Heavy Cavalry and took on new unit designations.

Among the new RCT, the Sixty-Sixth Cavalry gained a reputation for fearless tenacity in battle. On repeated occasions these daring light and medium 'Mech pilots and vehicle crews have exposed themselves to prolonged enemy fire to gain an advantageous position or storm an objective. The FolksArme has loyally kept them well-equipped despite their propensity for risking that equipment in battle.

Nearly shattered in the Fourth Succession War in the battle for Schuyler, their reconstitution became a priority for the Eridani Heavy Cavalry. For the past ten years they have moved up and down the border with the Combine, waiting and hoping for the old foe to pounce. But so far they have only faced a few raids by deniable mercenaries or pirate groups, enough to get the unit some combat experience but nothing like the fight they long for. Some FolksArme commanders fear the Sixty-Sixth might just try a little deniable raiding themselves if the Combine's restraint continues for too much longer.


Knights of St. John First Regiment

The Knights of St. John trace their lineage back to ancient Terra and the Crusades. The most recent incarnation were derived from ex-Terran Union troops who, hearing of the brutality their co-religionists on Rasalhague were suffering trying to break away from the collapsing Combine, departed the Union and served as mercenaries for the reborn Principality from the mid-29th Century onward. A cornerstone elite unit of the old Principality's KungsArme, the Knights enjoyed the respect even of Gothi One-Eye despite his embrace of the old Norse ways.

While they hold equivalent ranks with the FolksArme and have the right to wear a FolksArme uniform, the Knights employ their own ceremonial and duty uniforms and their own rank system. They also make use of some independent sources of funding beyond FolksArme procurement and support chains, typically donations from supportive citizenry or particularly devoted recruits signing their assets over to the Order. It is not a required practice but many who join, especially those who become Knight, will sign their incomes, properties, even their personal 'Mechs over to the Order. They are a remarkably well-kitted outfit as a result.

The First Regiment, the senior regiment of the Order, is currently deployed to the planet Buckminster to keep watch over the restive region of the Combine's Vega Prefecture and the ongoing skirmishing and raiding the Combine and Royal Federation have engaged in since 3134. In 3141 the Knights deployed to the Royal Federation world of Shionoha against orders upon learning of an imminent Combine attack. Their arrival might have caused a diplomatic incident if not for the arrival of the Ninth Galedon Regulars on a major raid against guerrilla support networks on the planet. The Ninth, only expecting light resistance from an outmatched Arcadian militia, quickly ran afoul of the Knights while raiding into a city and were soundly thumped. The Knights returned to Buckminster to face a formal reprimand and an informal congratulations from Grand Master Montelbano.


Takeda Cavalry

This unit was formed from defecting officers and soldiers led by Princess Anastasia Takeda-Suvorova, all whom fled Hartshill when their nation submitted to Galedon in 3106. They faced immediate hostility due to the poor history between their realm and Rasalhague and concerns they would provoke animosity with House Honda. When Rasalhague faced invasion anyway and could no longer afford to distrust the Hartshill loyalists, the Takeda Cavalry proved their courage again and again on battlefields from Rasalhague to Itabiana. On several occasions they launched raids into their former homeland, departing with DropShip holds full of captured material and countrymen liberated from ISF holding facilities. Many would volunteer to serve with their liberators, allowing the unit to keep their manpower up even as they relied more and more on battlefield salvage rushed back to the field.

The culmination of their raiding campaign came in 3119 and a seven month ride that brought them to multiple worlds, including Hartshill itself. While their raid caused some damage to the Galedonian war machine, it is long rumored Anastasia's real purpose was to raise the flag of revolt on Hartshill itself or persuade her niece Katarina to rebel. Anastasia notably went absent for a time during the Cavalry's strike into Nova Petersburg, long enough to have attempted a meeting with Katarina, but in the end the Takeda Cavalry were forced to withdraw after suffering severe losses at the hands of the Hartshill Otomo and the First Hartshill Regulars. They returned to Rasalhaguan territory just before the end of the year to begin rebuilding.

The unit spent many years moving about the Republic until a long period away from public notice from 3135 to 3138. During this time the Cavalry were officially slated as in "sensitive training operations", though a number of intelligence services and ComStar's ConcertWatch service couldn't help but note that a sizable mercenary outfit called "Stasia's Cavaliers" were among the Concord-hired forces listed on Alpheratz during the Combine invasion and were later employed in numerous Concord counter-invasions and raids.

Today the Takeda Cavalry are posted to Tamar, guarding the communities of Hartshill expatriates and defectors who grow with new refugees every passing year. They do not enjoy the same level of support of more elite or classically Rasalhaguan formations, but that has not dampened their keenness to prove their worth to their guardians, and they have won great support from the people of Tamar and their own Tamar Dragoons regiments. Princess Anastasia grows restless, it is said, wishing to be placed back on Schuyler or another world on the Hartshill border, but it is likely to be why Gothi Magnusson refuses the idea whenever pressed. It is probable that due to the unit's skill and desire for action they will be among those selected for service in the Transglass. How well they accept that alternative to a chance to face their homeland's oppressors, one cannot yet know.

 

[Steve]

Azami Confederation

​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Albalii
Ruler: Prime Minister Amir Khalid al-Abbas
Worlds: 58
BattleMech Regiments: 52
Warships: 48


Inshallah. "If God wills". This expression of hope is a common refrain among Muslims and Arabic-speakers in general across the two Inner Spheres, and no other word so easily sums up the experience of the Azami people. For centuries they have patiently abided trial after trial, and the past century is no different. Three times in the past ninety years the Azami Confederation faced conquest and each time it emerged alive. Never unbloodied, and with territorial loss twice, but the Azami state has survived despite the odds.

One of the few minorities to enjoy a certain degree of autonomy under the Draconis Combine, the Azami have adapted that lesson to their own state. Despite the fervent wishes of the most extreme clerics, Islam is not imposed upon the populaces of their worlds, though it is openly offered and encouraged. Non-monotheistic faiths endure some level of open scorn and derision among the more conservative, though planetary and confederal courts always side against any sign of discrimination. The monotheistic religions are given rights liberal enough that it offends the more traditionalist clerics. That said, non-Muslims are uncommon in the upper halls of power within the Confederation. Prime Ministers have been many stripes and combinations of ethnicity, culture, and gender, but they have always been Muslim, as have two-thirds of the AFAC's Mushirs (Marshals), and three-fifths of people appointed to the Council of Ministers. No law enshrines this apparent discrimination. A number of non-Muslims have been considered for the leadership and have even come within a vote or two of winning it. It is simply how it is. Or, as the Azami would put it, as God wills it to be.

But that should not be taken as an indicator that the Azami practice uniformity. Politically the Confederation has a number of factions and debates in the Confederation's Chamber of Deputies have sometimes degenerated into fistfights. The Chamber of Notables maintains stricter decorum, but it speaks for itself that simulator pods are included in the recreational facilities for the Confederate Palace of Legislature. Whether it is over subsidies for their shipyard industry, the demand that easing tariffs on consumer goods should exclude alcoholic drinks as haram, or who should hold the Prime Ministership, the Azami people can and do argue vigorously over their principles and beliefs.

They have had much to argue about. Only the Rim Commonality and Andurien suffered greater proportional economic damage from the Fourth Succession War. Virtually every planet in the Confederation was invaded in the decade of conflict. Cities across the Confederation were rubble by the time the fighting stopped. While war factories were mostly untouched, the supporting domestic industries and services were severely disrupted between war damages and, on Galedonian-occupied worlds, conscription efforts and forced labor decrees. The Confederation came out of the war deeply in debt to a host of interstellar institutions and had to be bailed out by ComStar and the Federated Suns after the post-war Raisuli Government declared bankruptcy in 3122. After twenty years of rebuilding efforts the economy is again on stable footing, but vast debts are still owed to creditors. Paying down this debt has inhibited rearmament, especially naval armament, as the great majority of the Azami fleet is composed of corvette and destroyer-tonnage WarShips while their large shipyard industry — proportionately the largest in the Inner Sphere with eight prominent yard facilities in the Confederation — primarily produces transport DropShips and JumpShips for export. In light of the growing naval arms race this is of obvious concern to the Azami government, but the proceeds of their yard sales are too important to their debt repayment plans to shift more yard space to WarShip and assault DropShip production.

The AFAC has become notoriously frustrated with this state of events and it has created a culture of "I see nothing" towards aggressive commanders who raid their neighbors for looting or to capture supplies that the AFAC is short of due to the budget shortfalls. Likely due to their precarious situation during and after the Collapse, raiding is in some ways now a religious duty, at least to some Azami, as the survival and benefit of the Azami people and faith are the highest obligation of the Faithful. So long as the spoils are taken for the benefit of the Azami people as a whole and not for personal gain, it is not deemed a sin against Allah. Unfortunately this has not helped their position, as the raids undermine efforts to regularize relations with the Royal Federation and open up the Azami economy to the pounds and rands that Lyran investors have at their disposal. Furthermore, retaliations by the DCMS have prompted further economic damage to frontier systems and diplomatic vulnerability. As an alternative to raiding, some Azami units have been hired out as mercenaries to the Concord and other states, but the long border with the Combine and the Confederation's need for troops for self-defense limit how far this can go.

It is no surprise that Prime Minister al-Abbas has faced particular challenges since winning his appointment in the Chambers. With his military mutinously opposed to further budget drawdowns and his economy still climbing out of a debt hole, al-Abbas has had a further complication from advocates to changes in the Confederation's diplomatic alignments. Anger over the Royal Federation's claiming of Sabik at Dieron has maintained enmity towards House Proctor that the rest of the Compact does not share, and which is of particular frustration and embarrassment to the Federated Suns and First Prince Grace's efforts at closer ties with the Arcadian-led realm. A number of ranking government officials and military officers are believed to be agitating for a re-alignment of the Confederation towards the Oriento-Capellan Empire as their primary ally. If so it is certainly a minority view, and would be strategically disastrous, but it reflects the depth of Azami fury at those who seized worlds from them in the last war.

It need not be said that the Combine has earned even more fury. Pundits have noted it is virtually impossible to reprimand, much less court-martial, Azami officers who raid the Combine. The likelihood of a pro-Combine re-alignment seems very slim. But a handful of figures have mooted it delicately with a few articles postulating, "hypothetically", that the rebirth of House Kurita means the covenant with the Dragon made centuries ago should be honored. It remains a minority opinion and a dangerous one to hold on many worlds, but that it persists despite these contrary pressures gives some opening for future developments.

So far there are no signs the Azami have particularly noted the forming of the Glass, aside from theological debates by clerics. They have enough problems that getting involved in ours would seem ridiculous. But events can be unpredictable, and as the Arcadians shift troops to cover for their expedition against the Wolves, it is always possible the Azami will act.

If God wills it, of course.


Al-Murabutin

Since the start of the Confederation the al-Murabutin brigade have a key force in the frontline. These flankers and raiders ride into combat with their battle armor-clad infantry comrades riding on their machines, often striking at identified weak points in enemy positions or in the cracks along a front. Too fast to be caught by line units and too strong to be dispatched by light cavalry, they have bedeviled many a foe in their centuries of existence.

Assumed destroyed when Albalii fell to the Terrans in 3051, the survivors arose from hiding four years later to aid in the liberation of the Azami capital, and would land on Dieron with the rest of the Robinson Accord's forces to claim the world for the Confederation. In the conflicts since they have raided from Bolan to New Samarkand with unshaken devotion in their ability to fight their way around any enemy obstacle.

Initially posted along the frontiers since the Peace of Dieron, the unit's whereabouts became unknown after 3138. In 3141 they were recently recalled to become part of Albalii's garrison, arriving on-world with holds full of foreign weapons and equipment and missing personnel. Amid Nyobe, their commanding officer, was recently in several classified meetings with Prime Minister al-Abbas and other ranking AFAC officers, but nothing substantive is known. The leading suspicion by commentators from ConcertWatch is that like other Azami units, the al-Murabutin hired out as mercenaries to the Kilbourne Concord and saw action in the Outworlds.


Azami Heavy Guard

Even a nation of raiders can't go without a big hammer for targets too entrenched to outflank. The Azami Heavy Guard are that hammer. A collection of heavy and assault 'Mechs attached to equally heavy vehicles and battle armor troops, the Azami Heavy Guard have survived battles that crushed lighter formations. They were one of the few units to escape the Terran invasions, falling in with the Concord and Galedonian forces to fight as exiles until the liberation of Albalii in 3055. If not for their significant losses digging Terran defenders out at Dieron, they would have undoubtedly been assigned to Operation: SERPENT.

The importance of Dieron to the Confederation can be rated to how often the Heavy Guard are kept posted to the planet. By the end of the Fourth Succession War their status as the defender of the ex-Terran world was made official, and unless needed for other operations, they are kept at dedicated sites around Dieron to ensure the world's protection.

One of their rare excursions from Dieron came in 3138, when they were selected to participate in war games exercises on Tigress with the other members of the Compact. Any considerations that the unit had gone soft were lost in the simulated fighting along the approaches to the Four Cities. The Azami Heavy Guard repeatedly repulsed the Second Federated Suns Grenadiers and the First Kearny Highlanders. They were only considered dislodged when the Aggressor Force brought in the Davion Heavy Guards to finally crack their position, and the resulting engagement won them the accolades of that elite AFFS force.


Sixth Spahi

The Sixth Spahi have been the most vigorous of border raiders over the past fifteen years, launching repeated heavy sorties into the Draconis Combine and the Royal Federation under the command of Amid Oleg Petrovsky. Their casualties have been commensurately heavy and the unit has gained a dual distinction; an outfit to avoid for those AFAC personnel who favor peace and quiet and the outfit to seek out for those who want to see action.

Their earliest raids were likely due to their status as the last Spahi outfit to be rebuilt after the war. As late as 3135 the brigade was short its proper allotment of 'Mechs and vehicles, which were often filled out with "borrowed" material from planetary strategic stores or militia. This finally changed in their first heavy raid in 3133 when they struck the Combine at Proserpina. A diversionary raid drew the Proserpina Hussars out of their bases and into a pursuit through the wadis near Conquerer's Pride on the continent Bragadin, allowing the rest of the brigade to descend upon the Hussars' supply warehouses and capture nearly two thousand tons of hardware and munitions, including four newly-delivered Nekakami OmniMechs. The unit withdrew with minor losses sustained. Upon their return to Cylene, the command staff were briefly confined for the raid before popular fervor for their strike compelled the AFAC to give them a "misfiled" order for the raid.

After a 3140 descent on New Earth and the capture of several hundred tons of material the Sixth's activities finally brought a measure of retaliation on their heads. A counter-raid by elements of the Eighth Skye Rangers against their base on Imbros led to the loss of a company of 'Mechs and vehicles and the recapture of the materials, as well as the theft of the DropShip they were still loaded upon. It remains to be seen if the Sixth Spahi has had its enthusiasm for testing the Peace of Dieron dampened or not.


Second Arkab Legion

The Arkab Legions were the Azami contribution to the Combine's military power before its fall in the 29th Century. They survived the Collapse as the armed force, such as it was, of the Azami people, and are the oldest units of the AFAC. The Second celebrates its battle records going back to the Age of War and remains a choice posting for many committed Azami.

The Second Legion's more recent history is bloody. It has been reduced to less than twenty-five percent strength no less than five times in the past century and rebuilt each time. Even in defeat its reputation for hard, fanatical fighting has won it many accolades from friends and enemies and the love and admiration of the Azami people.

The popularity of the Second and its fellow legions is not so universal among upper echelons, however, as the units tend to attract the most fanatical and aggressive Azami nationalists. Since early in the Second Age of War they have agitated for the forced recovery of their homeworld, now a part of the Rasalhague Republic, and no peaceful overtures from Rasalhague have dispelled this. One of the occasions of the Second's near-extirpations was the famous "reconquest" effort of 3088 when the entirety of the Arkab Legions strove to capture their old homeworld from Rasalhague. The invasion became a disaster and the Second was nearly destroyed saving the broken Third and Fifth Legions from the Eridani Heavy Cavalry's counter-attack. The incident was a serious blow to Azami diplomacy and nearly saw the unit's dissolution. AFAC leadership is now very discerning in whom they appoint to be the Amids and Liwas commanding the Legions.

In recent years the Second's only act of note was the 3138 strike at Sabik. Using heavy forces they roughly handled the defending Alarion Rangers and local security forces and struck multiple targets, looking to capture new examples of Arcadian weaponry. The Alarion Rangers rallied quickly with the aid of the mercenaries of Dumas' Musketeers, forcing the Second to abort from its most valuable targets. The AFAC considered the raid a partial success and commemorated the unit for upholding the Confederation's honor over "the stolen world".

In recent years the 2nd's only act of note was the 3138 strike at Sabik. Using heavy forces they roughly handled the defending Alarion Rangers and local security forces and struck multiple targets, looking to capture new examples of Arcadian weaponry. The Alarion Rangers rallied quickly with the aid of the mercenaries of Dumas' Musketeers, forcing the 2nd to abort from its most valuable targets. The AFAC considered the raid a partial success and commemorated the unit for upholding the Confederation's honor over "the stolen world".

 

[Steve]

Pay no attention to the fact the history sections called them the Confederacy. No. It was always Confederation. It was not my faulty memory over two years causing me to switch the two terms. Nope.

Also typos. They're all just typos!

 

[Steve]

Draconis Combine



​

Ruling House: Kurita
Capital: Luthien
Ruler: Coordinator Yorinaga Kurita
Worlds: 303
BattleMech Regiments: 300 (estimated)
WarShips: 160 (estimated)

(ComStar's ConcertWatch service appears to be highly respected and accurate in tracking the number of standing units for each Successor State, but the Draconis Combine's strict secrecy and control of their own military HPG network severely restrict how well ComStar's people can follow the growth of the DCMS. I concur with remarks Huyten relayed from Arcadian and Ghastillian intelligence people that this estimate is conservative and the number of 'Mech regiments could be as high as 350. If another Glass forms along our border and the Combine the threat the Cisglass Kuritans pose to the Republic may exceed Daoshen Liao and the Wolf Empire combined. — Lady Janella)

The Draconis Combine is a name that has long struck fear and hatred in the hearts of peoples across the Inner Sphere. In recent years we in the Republic have watched our Combine regress more and more towards their older state, but even the likes of Matsuhari Toranaga and Yori Kurita hold nothing to this incarnation. The Cisglass Draconis Combine is like one of those sequels to a holovid horror where the monster is brought back to life with even greater power and rage than it showed before, as if spurred by fury it had once been killed. Even with the secrecy covering their post-Dieron rearmament and rebuilding programs, it is still an accepted fact that they have the largest military of the Successor States, and it has been the most aggressive as well.

Of the three (arguably two) official Great Houses restored to their full pre-Collapse state (if not power), House Kurita's rebirth is the most recent. For over two hundred years the survivors of the fall of the Combine enjoyed shelter on Terra. Their return is through an old familiar name for those of us in the Republic tasked with observing the Combine: the Kokuryu-kai. A secret society outlawed by Galedon and most of the Draconis Successor States, their quiet patience brought them a recruit within House Honda itself. Masako Honda had been one of the most brutal and decisive enemies of the Black Dragon Society, but after her death, the Society managed a true coup in the recruitment of Masako's granddaughter Kori. Through her power they accomplished their dream of two and a half centuries with the restoration of the Combine. Now known as the Order of the Black Dragon, they are the eyes, ears, and voice of the Coordinator and House Kurita, fanatics devoted to the success of the Combine's manifest destiny of domination of all Humanity.

There has always been a certain brutal honesty about the Draconis Combine. No Great House is innocent of aggression against neighbors or seeking domination. But only the Combine openly declares it as their mission statement. They intend to rule us all one day. That the Combine fell on the other side only to rise again has intensified their faith that this is manifest destiny while adding to their fury that their neighbors dare to defy them. For them the Peace of Dieron was a mere ceasefire with which to rebuild and retrench. While many states fear it will not last, the Combine often seems to be the most eager for it to end, but only if it does so in a way that benefits their expansion.

Kori's son Yorinaga governs now and has only slightly moderated his tone, though it has been noticeable, with a cessation of the weekly HPG broadcasts to Rasalhague and Albalii threatening punishment if their governments did not immediately submit to the Dragon. Yorinaga has also re-opened diplomatic relations in a few instances, with active embassies with the Oriento-Capellans, the Flavians, the Canopians, and Andurien, and they have remanned their Terran embassy as well as properly maintaining their treaty-required contribution to the Terran Oversight Command. But it is considered highly unlikely he has any intention to liberalize or soften the Combine as a whole. It was under his orders that the DCMS launched the greatest military operation in over ten years, the 3136 invasion of Alpheratz in the Concord, and he has greatly stepped up the fighting in the Outworlds with repeated raids and invasions across the frontier. Observers are still uncertain as to any wider strategic plan as the Combine, even when victorious, more often than not withdraws from a prostrate world instead of holding it. A leading theory is that Yorinaga is testing the Concert, picking up and dropping off his pace of strikes as the rest of the Inner Sphere reacts. He has been more circumspect on the other side of his frontier, holding back retaliations against Azami raids and showing similar restraint in the minor attacks into the Royal Federation's Arcturus Theater. There has been only one significant strike against the Arcadians under his rule.

Yorinaga has also done little to ease the burden of life for his people. The governments of House Honda had not been soft, but under his mother Kori and now his rule, the restored Combine has reimposed all the old controls. High taxation, forced labor for military projects, and compulsory military service are facts of life. The militarization of the Combine demands warm bodies for the military, and every conscript dreads the notice of "honorable retention" that turns a three year stint in a planetary militia regiment to a twenty year assignment to support of a regular DCMS unit. For either group, their greatest dream is the testing to determine worth in specialist fields like aerospace piloting or MechWarrior service, even if it means being assigned salvage yard-quality 'Mechs as part of the Dragon's Scales garrison regiments.

Civilian life is little easier. As with our Combine, work days can last upwards of sixteen hours depending on the industry and the management of the enterprise. While Yorinaga's "Sustenance Assistance Initiative" ensures no one starves, it is often provided in the form of excess nutrient pastes and not food that any palate might enjoy, just grumbling empty stomachs. Civilians must also be careful with what they do during their free time, as the Persuaders are out in force on every world to keep order. The penalties for even minor crimes can ruin a life. Better off civilians have more luxuries and entertainments to enjoy but are more likely to be directly pressured over missed production goals or budget shortfalls. The nobility are meanwhile expected to behave as samurai and show absolute loyalty to the Dragon in thought and deed. Those who meet these requirements enjoy greater power and a greater share of what luxuries do exist within the Combine. All of these classes are constantly watched by the ISF for disloyalty or corruption, especially the nobility and uppermost middle class, and the ISF are in turn watched by the Order of the Black Dragon to ensure their loyalty.

Yorinaga has reason to be paranoid. The Inner Sphere's newsvids and scandalvids are heavy with stories about his parents' death in 3135 in an industrial explosion on Tokyo Island. This was after the humiliating Arcadian victory on Vega and their successful withdrawal with Yorinaga's cousin Musashi Honda, who had prompted a rebellion among the Legions of Vega in the name of House Honda's old realm. The fact that Musashi's identity and relation were unknown for over forty years revealed that Honda-loyalists remained entrenched in the ISF and possibly other branches of the Combine government. Crackdowns and investigations have raged since, with two Warlords of Galedon District ordered to commit seppuku and another believed to have been assassinated. The current Warlord, Mitsuki Honda-Sakamoto, has faced significant curtailment of her authority by the OBD and the ISF, and many of the Galedon Regulars are assigned to other Districts to reduce Galedon's power base further. Some speculate the real reason for the higher tempo of operations against the Concord is not to hurt the enemy but to undermine Honda-Sakamoto, and her District, further.

The issue with Galedon District is a sticking point. For one, Kori relocated much of the government power base to Luthien, and the new Pesht Military District, when she reformed the Combine, including stripping two interior prefectures from Galedon's to Pesht's control. While traditionally Galedon and New Samarkand enjoyed prestigious roles in the old Combine, the centuries of being their own state had built a power structure that resented her relocation of the capital and taking their worlds for Pesht's benefit. Moreover, state propaganda aside, the state of House Honda had rarely evoked the old Draconic identity even if they employed Draconic elements like the Swords of Light and the ISF. Kori's obsession with restoring the Combine alienated many otherwise-loyal supporters of her House, including significant portions of the ISF that may or may not have been successfully purged.

The secrecy with which the Combine operates makes it difficult to accurately gauge internal matters, but this data suggests that for all their aggressiveness and strength, there may be internal dissension and weakness holding them back. This more than anything may explain why Yorinaga has not yet made greater moves to disturb the Peace of Dieron. Time will tell if he sees an opportunity with his neighbors' participation in conflict with the Clans.


Fifth Sword of Light

While claiming the battle history of their ancestors this version of the Fifth Sword only came into being in 3028 as part of Masako Honda's arms build-up at the end of the Renaissance. From the beginning the Swords of Light were formation of the best and most experienced pilots and the main striking corps of the Director. In the hundred and fourteen years since their founding they have waged numerous battles and won battle honors for everything from the defense of Galedon against Terra to the final victory of the Fourth Succession War with the bloody ejection of the Arcadian defenders of Vega in 3119.

The unit's reputation and prestige took a savage blow in 3134. Assigned to the extirpation of the Third Legion of Vega and other formations that had joined Musashi Honda's revolt, the Fifth were repeatedly outmaneuvered by Honda's forces. To make matters worse, Arcadian troops arrived and despite the long warning time from the system's notoriously-long burn-in time the Fifth was not ready to receive their landings in the field. A two month campaign of missed opportunities and wasting battles, including raiding strikes that frequently dodged Fifth Sword forces, allowed the Arcadians to spirit Honda and his surviving forces away.

The humiliation was so severe that the entire unit was threatened with disbanding by Kori Honda and forbidden from earning any military commendation or wearing those they already had. Every command officer above the rank of Tai-i was ordered court-martialed en masse. Sentenced to be cast into the Unproductives, the officers were granted a reprieve and a fresh court-martial inquiry by Yorinaga Kurita; only the senior battalion and regimental commanders had their sentences sustained, but they were offered the alternative of seppuku to save the honor of their regiment and their families. The offers were universally accepted and the sentences suspended. Yet even with this mercy, the Fifth found itself cut off from the usual largesse of a Sword of Light formation, and replacements were few and unwilling.

Transferred to the Concord front, the Fifth was particularly vicious during the fighting on Alpheratz. They suffered enormous casualties in repeated battles with the Eridani Light Horse's Nineteenth Striker Regiment while trying to capture industrial targets near Carolinas. Though they did not succeed, they did tie down the Ninteenth long enough for other regiments to achieve similar targets. Yorinaga responded to their battlefield exploit by lifting the prohibitions on honors and approving several Bushido Blades and other awards. Through this success the Fifth has begun recovering some of its shine and has received some new machines from the Procurement Department, which the unit has used in numerous strikes and raids into the Outworlds, particularly Morthac where they have engaged in multiple battles with the Warrior-Monks of St. Cameron's Second Regiment. These attacks recently abated and word is now that the unit is off the front. A persistent rumor is that they have been recalled to Vega Prefecture, though as of yet there is no firm intelligence of their whereabouts.


Barlowe's Raiders

Originally a combined arms regimental combat team of the Lancaster Authority, Barlowe's Raiders came to the personal attention of Director Masako Honda of Galedon for their behavior during the overwhelming conquest of the Authority. Instead of fighting a pointless battle among civilians on Misery the Raiders challenged the Second Sword of Light to a duel of honor between the two units away from civilian centers. They had little hope of prevailing over the elite unit, but after the battle their conduct led to Masako offering to rebuild the unit as a regiment of Galedon's forces. Given the stark alternatives the regiment agreed.

Since then Barlowe's Raiders have become the go-to unit for Galedon, and now the Combine, where their mix of combined arms tactics and raiding and interdiction operations is needed. From staying one desperate step ahead of roving TUDF hunters during the days of the Siege of Galedon to their famous raid on Defiance Industries' complex on Skye in 3116, Barlowe's Raiders are known for hitting where they're not expected and fading away before heavy enemy forces can interdict them.

In one of the more daring acts to rattle the Concert of the Sphere, Barlowe's Raiders struck at Lexington in 3141, presumably as part of Yorinaga's intensification of the Outworlds campaigning. In an apparent attempt to draw defenders away from the Concord Combat Systems factories near Heath's Creek the Raiders set down in Parker River Valley State Park. Defenders from the Second Lexington Minutemen sortied to face them in the region, supported by elements of the LCG Thirty-Second Recon regiment. This heavier-than-expected response appears to have caused the Raiders to call off the strike, costing them several pilots and machines before they retreated to the safety of their LZs. They escaped the system with the Lexington Combat Group's aerospace squadrons on their tails. Yorinaga has relocated the unit to Pesht District since, though whether to reward them for initiative or as a means of punishing them for failure remains to be seen. The only certainty is that the claim it is to "protect the Peace" is almost certainly a lie.


Ninth Galedon Regulars

The Ninth Galedon Regulars have a long battle history under both the Combine and Galedon. Like all Regular brigades they are drawn almost entirely from Galedon District's worlds. It is the nature of these units that whatever their battle histories they will not gain the notoriety or fame of units like the Swords of Light, but compared to the Dragon's Scales they are taken care of with reliable equipment and weapons.

The Ninth's profile rose in recent years. Assigned to New Wessex to help suppress Arcadian-supported rebels, the Ninth's arrival actually went unnoticed by the Royal Federation's SIS. When the Second Sword of Light were posted to the planet to recover from the damages incurred on Freedom, they were brought under attack by the Third Proctor Guards. The Ninth, seeing a chance for glory and greater respect, enthusiastically rallied to the battle zone and struck the Arcadian forces in their flank at Harlow's Wood. Though their optimism did not bring them the glory of throwing the invaders into their DropShips by themselves, their aid allowed the Second to counter-attack and accomplish the deed, and only heavy artillery support spared the Third Proctor Guards long enough to manage a retreat.

The Ninth was awarded handsomely for the deed, with a shipment of the newest generation of OmniMechs from the Combine's factories delivered the following year, and several officers and the best MechWarriors granted assignment to the Second Sword of Light to replace losses. As part of the anti-insurgency campaign elements of the Ninth were sent on strikes at Baxter and Phalan that succeeded. A later raid on Shionoha was thwarted by the unexpected intervention of the Knights of St. John from Rasalhague.

Through these events, the Ninth has remained posted to New Wessex to finish rooting out the insurgents. ConcertWatch has confirmed several reports of human rights violations with the killings of refugees. After one scathing report in June 3142 was broadcast to the entire Inner Sphere, the Ninth's directing commander Tai-sho John Ballymont personally recommended every MechWarrior, vehicle crew, and armored infantrymen mentioned for the Bushido Blade. In July he gave out the approved awards in a mass ceremony, praising the Ninth's devotion to the Dragon in a deliberate snub to ConcertWatch and the Royal Federation. The Ninth's loyalty was bolstered. A few wonder if Ballymont may have hoped to provoke another Arcadian attack on the planet, but if so, he has been disappointed so far.


Fourth Legion of Vega

There are a number of bizarre connections linking our Inner Spheres that one might not expect. The Legions of Vega existing in both is one of those, even if a century and a different role separate the two. The Legions of Vega in the Cisglass were spawned from the Tok Do Regulars after Vega was secured in 3115. They have over time taken on more Vegans but they remain unpopular on the planet, to say the least. The brigade did come under scrutiny when Musashi Honda emerged from their ranks to lead his Third Legion, and contingents of the others, on the ill-fated rebellion for Vega. The Second Sword of Light and other formations defeated them, though not before being embarrassed by the Arcadian intervention that saw Honda and many of his supporters successfully flee.

Since then the Fourth Legion has become the stand-out among their compatriots. Though little better equipped than the other Legions, they are veterans of the 3134 fighting and hone their talents in mock battles. Elements of the Fourth have been employed in company-sized mixed arms formations to raid suspected communities on nearby Arcadian worlds. They might rate higher if not for so many of their most blooded troops getting much-sought-after re-assignments to the Tok Do Regulars or other line formations.

The ISF attention to the unit is particularly direct given the potential discipline issues among the soldiers. More surprising are recent reports of OBD members interviewing ranking officers among the Fourth. The Order of the Black Dragon tends to overlook units like the Legions, so their possible involvement with the Fourth has Combine watchers wondering just what might be happening. Is this a part of the quiet power struggle between the ISF and OBD or has the Fourth been tapped for some yet-unknown purpose?

 

[namar13766]

I half want a Dance of the Dragons…But I'm scared that Would make them more conquering assholes.

 

[Steve]

Note: Slacker did the map for this one, I just used it because it looks nicer and I'm too damned lazy to make another.

Grand Union of Tikonov

​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Tikonov
Ruler: Premier Martina Nikolayevna Timoshenko
Worlds: 110
Battlemech Regiments: 84
Warships: 72


Tikonov's history goes back to the first settlement waves from Terra in the 22nd Century. There appears to be no divergence between their Tikonov and ours until the Collapse. The failure of the Confederation in the mid-28th Century brought back the pre-Confederation Tikonov Grand Union, which enjoyed relative stability compared to other formative Successor States in the Collapse era due mostly to their proximity to the Terran Union. Their eventual absorption of a plurality of the Union's former worlds after the Treaty of Geneva have turned the Grand Union into a polyglot culture, even if the Russian origins of Tikonovite culture remain the strongest influence and maintain Russian as the second primary language of the realm (along with the ubiquitous Star League English).

Gaining so many universities, research labs, and educated populations also ensured Tikonov's pre-Terran War reputation for technological rediscovery, refinement, and advancement would have plenty of raw material to expand upon. Tikonov in the 32nd Century has been called "the Brain Trust of Human Civilization" due to its government-backed focus on research and scientific endeavors. A shift away from aristocratic governance that started from Terran influence during the 29th Century has seen what little remains of the old aristocracies replaced in esteem by people of learning. "Earning a doctorate gets you more respect than becoming a duke" has become one way of explaining Tikonov's current culture. Tikonovite scientists and engineers have been at the forefront of the efforts to redevelop the advanced terraforming technologies and techniques of the Star League. Colonies from the old Rim Worlds of Ghastillia to the Federated Suns' Periphery March are growing thanks to the efforts of Tikonovite geo-engineering colleges. Their purifiers are now working on cleansing atmospheres across the Inner Sphere that are choked with particulates or toxic byproducts from First Succession War battles. These vital technologies are produced with the active economic and political support of powerful industrial trade unions that jealously guard their rights and privileges. The research and manufacturing unions cooperate on most levels, economically and politically, and wield sufficient power to restrain the remnant nobility. The Grand Union is, in short, a "research-industrialist complex oligarchy", as one Communal League pundit put it.

There are disadvantages to their wealth, technology, and central position, however. While once they needed only worry about the frontiers with the Concord and Galedon, a severe enough threat, Tikonov now faces potential hostilities on her three longest borders. The Draconis Combine makes no secret of coveting the Union's worlds and the Kilbourne Concord maintains a frosty distance from the Compact states given all the blood spilled between them. Now their opposite frontier needs protection as well. The expulsion of the Oriento-Capellan Empire from the St. Ives Compact in 3118 ended the security of that border, and the cause for that expulsion — the strength of Liaoist irredentism and expansionism in the Empire — compounds the need. Though diplomacy from Sian and Oriente has been cordial, there is no doubt that the Empire's Liaoists wish for Tikonov's return to the fold of the Capellan State, seeing them as Capellans despite the wishes of Tikonovites to continue being their own people. Facing these threats has mandated the maintenance of an army of some size, with a large force of Prefecture Militia Brigades and a smaller core of frontline units that can counter-attack invaders. The Northwind Highlanders provide a further boost to this strong inner core, with at least half of their regiments retained in the Union for defensive purposes under the common agreement with the unit and the Union government. On the diplomatic front it makes continued relations with their remaining Compact allies, the Federated Suns and the Azami Confederation, all the more important, as well as other potential strategic partners like the Royal Federation and Rasalhague Republic.

There are indications the Empire's long-term threat is not military, however, but in civil matters. For a century, "pan-Capellan" groups have agitated on Union worlds for a "return to the glories of our Capellan past". While a number of these groups have remained peaceful and primarily just involve themselves with typical civil affairs and promotion, the militancy of some has raised suspicions of Maskirovka involvement, and several of the depowered nobility on ex-Capellan worlds are particularly connected to these movements. Their activity has only intensified since Tikonov stood with the Federated Suns and voted to expel the Oriento-Capellan Empire from the Compact. While not a significant political force yet, the sentiment of promoting Capellan identity has increased since the war. Counter-intelligence has found few signs of any major assistance from the Empire, just civilian-level "promotion aid", but even that has led to both diplomatic tension with the Halas-Liaos and legal efforts to interfere that have prompted counter-protests. The Pan-Capellan movement may be a future threat to the Grand Union, either as an internal foe or a means by the Empire to justify aggression.

Given the Concert's surprising strength, the TUAF has not had to fight battles since the War. Even the Combine has primarily focused its aggressions elsewhere. Keeping their 'Mech regiments sharp has fallen to new and improved war academies and war game simulators and repeated yearly war games with their allies, with assistance from the Northwind Highlanders from the regiments that have fought outside the Union. But Tikonov's true military might isn't just in well-trained 'Mech regiments with the highest concentration of Terran-grade weaponry in the whole Inner Sphere, or the vast factories of Tikonov, Northwind, and Quentin that produce them. Their research includes new systems and equipment for their war machine, and over the decades since Terra's fall they have pushed the boundaries further in military technology. New, improved Cellular C3 systems, Streak-tech Mixed Missile Launchers, endo-composite structural alloys, improved fire control systems for DropShips and WarShips, and more efficient K-F drive cores are all coming on line thanks to the ingenuity of Tikonovite engineers and the discoveries of their scientists. Enemies fighting the forces of Tikonov will need to be wary for unexpected surprises that may yet lie in store in the research labs and test ranges of the Grand Union.

Though it has pressed forward with military development, Tikonov remains one of the most committed adherents to the Peace of Dieron. Prime Minister Timoshenko holds to continued efforts to negotiate the ongoing disputes with neighboring states and her allies. In recent years she has made slight progress with the Concord, but the Combine remains deaf to her concerns, and the Azami recalcitrant to settle problems with the Arcadians. Emperor Robert Halas-Liao and First Prince Grace Silver-Davion have been partly supportive even in public, but until the Federated Suns recognizes the Empire's claims Robert asserts he cannot agree to a long-term settlement. Nor did Timoshenko get much support from the Royal Federation under High Queen Jacqueline. Her successor, High King Nathaniel, has given her hope of a change from that direction as well, though whether or not Nathaniel could ever dare to agree to an unalterable Azami term — relinquishing Sabik — will remain a block to a permanent settlement. Timoshenko's ability to support Nathaniel's efforts to settle disputes with Robert Halas-Liao are likewise limited, though for a more practical reason: the injury to the Compact as a whole if the Empire were to gain security from Arcadian intervention against Liaoist aggression on other fronts.

So far Tikonov's response to the formation of the Glass has been the dispatch of advisors and scientific teams to examine the stable jump field. There are no signs of wider intention to intervene in the situation in Lyran space. Some news service reports relayed through the Glass hint that the Tikonovites are not merely studying the Glass but may be experimenting with JumpShips to determine more about what caused it. This has fueled speculation that they are not merely looking to examine the process scientifically but seek to duplicate it, but this seems an uncharitable line of thought for a state known for its scientific interests and a strained strategic situation.



First Tikonov Lancers

One of the premiere units of the TUAF, the First Lancers have existed since the late 29th Century to be the tip of the Union's offensive spear. Fighting pirates and neighboring warlords to stabilize the Union through the 30th and early 31st Centuries honed them for the battlefields of the Second Age of War. They were pivotal in the captures of Summer in 3041 and Gladius in 3042 and very nearly preserved Summer's conquest in the Lyran Alliance's final counter-offensive in 3043. It is no surprise they were the only Lancer formation to effectively survive the entire Terran War.

In the Fourth Succession War the Lancers were supporting the Azami invasion of the Isle of Skye when the Concord-Galedon invasion of the Compact states commenced, giving them experience in fighting on every front Tikonov faced in the war. Their peak effort came in 3118 when they led a joint TUAF-AFFS task force in an offensive that brought them to New Aberdeen and saw its capture.

After the war the First Lancers have been primarily assigned to Tikonov itself, guarding the beating industrial heart of the Grand Union. They are always the first regiment to receive new weapons or equipment, and put it to work in the countryside and the rest of the system in vigorous wargames meant to keep their edge. The Compact's Operation TRISTAN wargames in 3139 saw their most impressive success, going three out of five in engagements with the Davion Heavy Guards.


Arcadian Cuirassiers

Students of the history of the Federated Suns undoubtedly recognize the Arcadian Cuirassiers of Demeter. Like the regiment in our history, the Cisglass Cuirassiers have a history going back to the 23rd Century. One of many Federated Suns regiments destroyed in the Collapse, the unit made a surprising comeback in 3044 when Prince Ian Davion, in an effort to further consolidate friendly relations in the Compact, provided the funding and machines for the people of Demeter to reform the famed unit of their ancestors as a TUAF brigade. "A symbol of the friendship between the peoples of the Federated Suns and the Grand Union."

The symbol barely survived the decade. Believed destroyed when the Eighty-Ninth Mechanized Infantry overran Demeter during REVIVAL, during the planet's liberation in 3055 Brethren and Tikonovite troops found their invasion aided unexpectedly by the surviving remnants of the Arcadian Cuirassiers. Through the remainder of the Second Age of War and the fires of the Fourth Succession War the Cuirassiers showed similar pugnacious survival against significant odds, emerging intact enough to be kept on the rolls during the post-Dieron restructuring and rebuilding.

The new developments since the Peace of Dieron make the Cuirassiers' homeworld a vital point on a now-unsecure border. The Oriento-Capellan Empire is no longer an ally and the stronger Capellan half of that state has a long-term goal of restoring the Grand Union to Capellan rule. This combination of security issues ensures the Cuirassiers enjoy the very best in support from the TUAF's quartermasters, and the unit has put such largesse to proper use in arranging their defenses and deployment plans. If the Empire starts a fight, they are prepared to renew their predecessors' long grudge with the Liaos.


Northwind Highlanders MacLeod's Regiment

The Northwind Highlanders of the Cisglass followed a history much like our own Republic's Highlanders, up until the First Succession War anyway. Without Northwind falling to the Federated Suns, there was no exiling of the remaining Highlanders to the Confederation they were serving as mercenaries. MacLeod's Regiment came about earlier in this history, still formed under the command of the same family but done for mercenary service in the collapsing Inner Sphere as the crumbling states of the Great Houses and their former vassal leaders tried and failed to hold on. MacLeod's fought in a number of conflicts through the years when they weren't part of the rotation of Highlander formations contracted to protect ComStar's protected worlds. When the Terran War came MacLeod's Regiment, and the Highlanders as a whole, fought with distinction across the Inner Sphere, ultimately laying down arms in a negotiated surrender of Northwind itself in exchange for being permitted to remain active as a mercenary command so long as they never accepted contracts against the Grand Union.

For the remainder of the century MacLeod's Regiment and other formations were hired out, typically to the Compact governments though not always. MacLeod's Regiment joined Marion's Highlanders for service with the Royal Federation during the 3092 campaign on Lyndon, and would later fight for the AFRF again in protecting Alarion from the V Legio and Pilpala Auxilia in 3099. Their mercenary days came to an end with the Emergency War Act of 3112. Under the Act, the Grand Union effectively nationalized the Highlanders to ensure their service. MacLeod's Regiment won permission to finish their term with Rasalhague in 3114 before returning to Northwind. They were resting and refitting on Radstadt when the Galedonian invasion struck the world, thwarting the Galedonians' hopes of a quick seizure with the Amphigean Light Groups and Barlowe's Raiders. Outnumbered, the Highlanders and the Radstadt Landgruppe fought delaying actions until 3114 and their relief. Saving Radstadt cost MacLeod's Regiment severely and they were forced to return to Northwind to recruit and rebuild. Due to a variety of factors, MacLeod's remained at half-strength for the rest of the war, and became a training unit for fellow Highlander regiments until the Peace of Dieron.

Since the end of the war and the repeal of the Emergency War Act, MacLeod's Regiment has gone back to mercenary life, serving with the Federated Suns, the Magistracy of Canopus, and the Kilbourne Concord, where they repulsed the Third Amphigean Light Group in a raid on the Outworlds planet of Sevon. In 3139 they returned to Northwind for replenishment and rest. Sevon has made them the most battle-hardened Northwind regiment today, and it is likely that the Grand Union is going to request their assignment to the Highlander contingent under TUAF contract to further dispense their hard-earned battlefield wisdom to the rest of the TUAF.


Seventh Kentares Guards

The Kentares Guards were formed after ComStar assumed custodianship of the planet in 2802. After the Terran War they were re-established as a frontline force of combined arms regiments for the Grand Union's depleted army, including receiving BattleMechs for the first time. The Seventh made their names during the Concord-Compact War as the only Kentares Guard formation not to surrender during the long Galedonian occupation of Kentares. For three years the Seventh fought the occupiers in the bush, supported by the population and occasional supply efforts by the rest of the Compact. When a task force of the Second Azami Confederate Brigade, the Third Tikonov Grenadiers, and the Fifth Donegal Guards arrived to liberate the planet, the Seventh arose in support of the effort, cementing their renown to the rest of the Inner Sphere.

During the Fourth Succession War the Seventh Kentares were called upon again to fight to defend their homeworld after their failed defense of Exeter. Heavy Concord forces attempted to seize the world starting in September 3111, backed by Galedonian regiments. When Galedon betrayed the Concord two years later the Seventh and their fellow Guards formations on-world exploited the fighting to counter-attack and reclaim New Derry and its vital factories, giving them the means to continue resistance until 3115 when Compact troops landed to claim the world. Exhausted by the fighting, the 7th Guards were kept on-world to rebuild. In 3118 a raid by the Second Amphigean Light Group was repulsed with modest losses and minor damage to the Ceres Metals factory in Edgars, showing the Seventh's remaining forces were still capable combatants even after three years of garrison duty. The Peace of Dieron would nevertheless be welcomed among the Seventh Guards' survivors as it was other units.

Since the war the Seventh Guards has been singled out for assignment to other systems as needed, seen (understandably) as the best of the Kentares Guards formations. They are the typically among the first to receive the latest technologies developed for the TUAF. Their participation in Tikonov's TRISTAN war games, where they debuted the first sets of Improved Cellular C3 systems, and the WALLACE war games of 3141 on Northwind have been the main highlights of the Seventh's history of the last two decades.

 

[Steve]

Kilbourne Suns' Concord

​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Kilbourne
Ruler: Chancellor Milos Cavanaugh
Worlds: 323
BattleMech Regiments: 250 (estimated)
Warships: 76


(Like the Combine, Kilbourne plays its forces close to its chest, though its open society somewhat limits the secrecy and gives ConcertWatch extra data. The real issue with the data isn't secrecy on their building levels so much as uncertainty about the duration and status of their mercenary contracts. Twenty-two BattleMech regiments worth of mercenaries openly serve under the KSDF but there may be just as many as that figure working for Concord Combat Systems, Helios Industries, and Arseid MechWorks, as well as other major industrial concerns. ConcertWatch usually does not list such units as under a Successor State force given they're typically only used for anti-piracy defense and security, but there is suspicion the Concord has secret clauses with its defense industries to allow it to employ these units directly. Even not counting the uncertain status of some of their forces, this creates some uncertainty as to the exact scope of the KSDF's 'Mech forces. — Lady Janella)


Much like our common Age of War, or the First Age of War as those across the Glass call it, the other Inner Sphere saw many states unify to meet the threats and dangers off the tumultuous age. In many cases this was by marriage, as seen in the merger of the Federated Suns and the Brethren of the Stars or the union of Arcadia and Donegal in the Royal Federation. Yet no fusion was a more ambitious affair that that of the three organized states that formed the Kilbourne Suns' Concord. Their unique political and economic systems seemed to argue against a successful merger, or simply the absorption of the two weaker states with the strongest. Yet the end result has been a true union of the characters of the three states. The end result of the effort blends the brash assertiveness and high Star League ideals of the Lexington Concord, the ruthless military mindset of the Solar Union, and the flexible pragmatism of the Kilbourne Commonwealth into one of the most unique Successor States of the Cisglass.

The Concord has no ruling house. The traditional nobility of these worlds have either been cast down or transformed into de-politicized military families providing their children to the maintenance and leadership of the Concord's powerful armed might. The combination of the Solar Union's state-directed mixed ownership companies and the Lexington Concord's social-democratic focus have turned the Concord into a vast social democracy with large-scale business and manufacturing under public trusteeship or ownership. A social safety net as extensive as the best the Lyran Commonwealth ever developed provides for the average citizen, along with a robust education system that mocks our Federated Suns' noted Vagabond schools by comparison. After decades of development the "Outback" as we call it does not exist on the other side of the Glass. Politically a bicameral Congress meets on Kilbourne and elects a Chancellor to govern the Concord, as this parliamentary model is seen as preferable to any formalized head of state, even an elected one, who might be enamored of refounding formal nobility. The Chancellor holds control of the executive branch and is the civilian leader of the military, appointing with Senate approval the Commanding General of the Kilbourne Suns' Defense Force or KSDF. The average citizen of the Concord votes on their world's delegation to Congress in democratic fashion. With a safety net and plenty of opportunities, Concord citizens live by their own conscience, though never being allowed to forget the duties they owe to their fellow citizens or the benefits of mutual action and support. Civic duty is the calling of every citizen of the Concord, whether it be voting by genuine conviction and not mere personal gain, respect for the rights of other citizens, or by accepting calls to service in the military or civic branches of the government such as the Civic Works Administration that builds, maintains, and repairs civil infrastructure. For inspiration, Concord media and education praise Penelope Reynolds and a number of other figures of the past as examples of selfless greatness and paragons of civic virtue all should aspire to emulate.

If one reads this and sees them as a natural counterpart to our own Republic, then I must warn you to temper such thoughts, or perhaps be chilled by them. While they were the leaders in the war against Terra, since then the Concord has become a society embittered by the aftermath of that conflict. They are a people who feel betrayed by the entire Inner Sphere, a sense that has only grown and festered since Kori Kurita's invasion in 3113. While they continue trade with their neighbors they are, with a few exceptions, contemptuous of the other Successor States as opportunistic world-grabbers or power-mongers who fail to live up to the example of the Terran War and the Inner Sphere's unity there.

Their immediate neighbors they harbor the harshest feelings for. For all their democratic mindset, Davion Restorationism and any hint of support for the Federated Suns is repressed with ruthlessness in the Concord, with the support of the populace on a number of worlds practicing immense social pressure against holdout Davionists. For the same reason the former Canaan Accord still lives under what is essentially a military occupation due to the persistent (if now finally waning) support for House Sandoval and its dynastic merger with the Davions. As far as the majority is considered, they owe no allegiance to House Davion for its abandonment of their worlds to the chaos of the 29th Century, and the Davions' Restorationist movement is nothing more than power mongering. They still openly desire to recapture, or in their phrasing "liberate", Filtvelt and Malagrotta from the Federated Suns and to break House Davion's power permanently.

The hatred for House Kurita is a newer one but no less potent. The sheer violation of the treachery that tore asunder what was the most powerful alliance in the Inner Sphere has tremendously soured the Concord's denizens and, regrettably, serves to intensify their disdain for the rest of the Inner Sphere. When it comes to the Kuritans, the warfare in the Outworlds is a two-sided affair, and even if the Dracs relented it is likely the Concord would maintain an aggressive posture on that front, to regain worlds not reclaimed at Dieron if not to just get a chance to fight and kill the thralls of the reborn Dragon.

One of the exceptions to their distrust of non-Concord forces is mercenaries. The Lexington Concord had always recruited from mercenary commands, especially those of Star League vintage, and the Solar Union had its own history of appreciating professional, capable mercenary forces. The costs of rearmament after Dieron and the devastation wrought on so many worlds in the war has prompted the hiring of many mercenary outfits at one time or another, including House units masquerading as mercenaries for a chance to hone themselves on the distant battlefields of the Outworlds. The latter are sometimes regarded with suspicion but the Concord has never denied them the chance to work nor attempted to cheat them of rightful salvage and bonuses. This has permitted some slack in the Concord's economy that allows them to maintain their cherished social systems. The most accepted foreign troops are those from COMINTERSTEL, particularly Rasalhague, who are the one Successor State the Concord still retains warm relations with despite having their greatest foe in the way. Occasionally rumors arise that the Concord is secretly considering signing into COMINTERSTEL, but so far there has been no confirmation of this and it may simply be rumor.

Given distance and their current issues, the Concord has shown no reaction to the Glass that is discernible from public sources. Of course, this does not mean they aren't intending to react. They have their own research and scientific base, and if a method of intentionally forming a Glass is ever devised, they have the means. But while this would be undoubtedly unsettling to the state of affairs between the Combine, Federated Suns, and Raven Alliance, this is not the source of my unease about the Concord. I see in them a potential, sad future for our Republic. If we survive this dark age, will our people look back and feel the same bitterness that the Concord feels towards its neighbors? Will the ideals of the Republic be submerged under the rancor of betrayal by the neighbors we sought to help keep the peace for? Every House snapped at our worlds, every House and the Clans alike have sought to take their piece of our Republic. It is understandable we would resent them, hate them, for this. And that, I fear, would be a tragedy for us all.

Lexington Combat Group 249th Command Regiment

The 249th Command Regiment may sound like it is some form of specialist unit from the SLDF days, but it is anything but. Long nicknamed "Big Red" but now just as likely to be called "Penny's Fists" or "the Reynolds Regiment", the 249th are one of the Cisglass Inner Sphere's best fighting forces and with little dispute are considered the most potent assault drop forces available, providing the model for the Arcadian Royal Assault Regiments, the Oriento-Capellan Empire's Dynasty Guards, and the Combine's Ryuu-no-tekken. They are a collection of assault and heavy 'Mech pilots trained in combat drop tactics and warfare, with a near perfect record.

In the Concord-Compact War they were responsible for the capture of Robinson's Fort Masada and the combat death of Lord Protector Aaron Sandoval, bringing victory to the long war with the Canaan Accord that ensured the absorption of that nation into the Concord. The Fourth Succession War saw the 249th tasked with a defensive brawl, fighting to save their headquarters of Fort Ballycastle on Lexington from repeated assaults by both Davion and Galedonian forces. Despite horrible odds at times, the 249th never wavered nor broke under siege, and by 3117 had driven both foes from the planet. They would return to Robinson in 3119, replicating their prior feat in seizing the planet and completing the annihilation of the Davion Assault Guards attempting to hold the Sandovals' old throneworld.

Given the 249th's storied legacy, it took little time to replenish them to full strength. In 3137 they participated in the counter-attack at Alpheratz in their typical style, conducting a combat drop right on the planetary command HQ for the entire DCMS force and wrecking the 2nd Izanagi Warriors in a vicious fight. Three years later they struck Dnieper as part of a Concord spoiling offensive, catching the Ryu-no-tekken-go and the Thirteenth Tok Do Regulars by surprise and inflicting major casualties on the Thirteenth especially. The destruction of supply depots on Dnieper contributed to the nullification of the Combine's 3141 offensive plans. They returned to their traditional posting on Lexington and await the call to pummel the Concord's enemies once more.


Eridani Light Horse Seventy-First Light Horse

The Eridani Light Horse is a name respected and admired on both sides of the Glass. Though the SLDF's Third Regimental Combat Team's history diverged with Kerensky's death on Terra, both could claim to legendary status through their accomplishments in combat. On the other side of the Glass, the Third RCT became the humanitarian fist of the Terran Union, crashing down on those leaders who were most vicious and cruel during the Collapse. When the Terran Union slid into cruel indolence and then open hostility to the old ideals they defected to the Lexington Concord, and when REVIVAL came, they fought their old comrades in the name of the Star League ideal against the Terrans' corrupted replacement.

The Seventy-First Light Horse started as a heavy cavalry formation, but has since adapted to become a regular cavalry outfit with primarily medium-weight machines. Excelling at raiding enemy supply lines with quick and deadly combat deployments from their DropShips, the Seventy-First acquitted themselves in the Concord-Compact War by demolishing Federated Suns supply lines within the Crucis March to support the efforts to capture New Avalon. Their August 3071 raid on Galax itself, supported by Concord naval forces, led to the destruction of the half-completed FSS Julian Davion and severe damage to multiple planet-side sites before outmaneuvered FSN assets could force the unit's withdrawal. The Fourth Succession War saw numerous similar raids that were used to undermine the AFFS and GPSAF forces before the Concord's DYNAMO offensive reclaimed the lost worlds of the former Draconis March.

In recent years the Seventy-First has been particularly active, striking across the Galedon Military District to lessen pressure on the ongoing fighting in the Outworlds. Strikes at Brasha and Zlatousi during 3141 are reported to have severely undermined the Combine's invasion of Morthac and prevented a wider Combine offensive. ConcertWatch has the Seventy-First on De Berry in September of 3142, reportedly undergoing unit refit and rest in preparation for more Combine strikes.


First Solar Legion

The pride and joy of Urich, the First Solar Legion were the heart and core of the Solar Union's armed forces for decades before the Union expanded its military in the late Renaissance. Even as other Legions came into service, the First maintained a primacy of place in leading the Union to victory after victory over Vicente, the Outworlds, Filtvelt, and Terra itself, their record for victory lead to the unit's prized nickname "Sol Invictus", "The Unconquered Sun". They proved this most of all in the brutal war to defend the Solar Union's capital of Urich against the Terrans' Operation: REVIVAL, taking seventy percent equipment and sixty percent casualties in the effort of preserving the Union capital from conquest.

The First Solar Legion contributed to the invasions of the Canaan Accord in 3070 through 3073, prevailing on every world. In the Third Outback War they participated in both the 3090 and 3094 invasions of the Periphery March, reclaiming Broken Wheel, Lackland, and Memphis for the Concord. For the long period of the Fourth Succession War they fought on the Filtvelt Front, trading worlds with the Filtvelt Guards as part of the greater struggle. Towards the end of the war they were the spearpoint of SWORDBREAKER, part of the DYNAMO offensive meant to finally isolate and take Filtvelt. The First Legion landed on Baranda to secure it and cut the main lines of supply to Filtvelt. They took most of the world and were on the outskirts of Vilareal when a staunch defense from the remnants of the broken Fourth Filtvelt Guards held them long enough for the Second Messengers of Shiva and the Islamabad PMM to join the defense. With both sides in rough stalemate, the offensive halted to wait for reinforcements that would never come. The Congress of Dieron convened and the First Legion would leave Baranda on the 29th of November 3120, unbeaten if not victorious.

Since the War the First Legion has returned home. Reforms under Commanding General Jonasar Yalos II have ended the Legion's old brigade-sized strength of four 'Mech regiments. It has been re-organized as a combined arms force, a heavy unit with a regiment of mostly assault and heavy 'Mechs with attached heavy armor, light vehicle, and armored infantry regiments. Though slimmed down to fit the needs of the post-war KSDF, the First Solar Legion is as potent as ever. They reconquered the world Niles from the Combine in 3138 and formed part of the defense of Bryceland when it was subjected to heavy assault. Even if the Solar Union they once served are now part of a greater whole, the Legio Sol Invictus remains unconquered.


Fifth Concord Guards

The Fifth Concord Guards spent many years as the 5th Commonwealth Guards of Kilbourne before being renamed for their new state. Hardened veterans of the Terran War who had fought on battlefields from Sakhara to Caph, the Fifth were the premiere unit from the old KCAF to become part of the new KSDF in 3066. They were part of the advance into the Crucis March during the Concord-Compact War, conquering Cahokia and Coloma before joining the invasion of New Avalon. They'd nearly secured the Rostov continent when Arcadian relief arrived and broke the Concord's blockade over the planet. Faced with the First Atrean Dragoons and the Second Free March Cavalry Brigade, the Fifth fought a strenuous defensive battle before retreating, battered but having damaged the two formations enough that they were withdrawn for rebuilding back in Arcadian territory.

During the Fourth Succession War the Fifth Guards were part of the advance into Tikonov, landing on Kentares and pressing on to Edwards in the effort to capture Tikonov itself. It was on Edwards that the unit was one of many to fall prey to treachery, as the Eighth Galedon Regulars and Ninth Izanagi Warriors struck at the Fifth Guards from behind and inflicted heavy losses before withdrawing from the planet. Forced to retreat, the Fifth Guards ultimately joined the stand at Quincy that put an end to the Concord's retreat in 3113-14 and held the line against repeated Davion and Galedonian assaults, enduring colossal losses that left them relegated to the reserve for most of the war. In 3119 they were rushed back to the front to exploit the collapse of Galedon and the Federated Suns in the Draconis March, reclaiming Exeter in a landing in December 3119 just before the Congress of Dieron was convened.

The Fifth Guards have remained on duty in the Robinson State of the Concord since the end of the war. Rebuilt to full strength, they have not faced combat directly, though in keeping with Commanding General Tostig's policies, the unit has received a number of transferred pilots and personnel from units that have fought the DCMS in the Outworlds, allowing them to pass their knowledge and hard-won experience on to their new comrades in training. They are currently on Corydon and have gained some attention for repeated disturbances with the domestic population, who remain fervently Restorationist in sentiment and see the Concord troops as occupiers, not defenders. The recent use of Fifth Guards armored infantry to secure the arrest of a Restorationist planetary councilwoman on charges of inciting riots and sedition against the Concord is unlikely to calm matters.

 

[Steve]

Free Traders' Union​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Wynn's Roost
Ruler: President Duane Sandusky
Worlds: 12
BattleMech Regiments: 5
Warships: 2

During the Collapse, the Outworlds Alliance retracted, abandoning dozens of star systems colonized after the rise of the Star League. While many of these systems had their populations evacuate or die off, a few persisted, scraping together limited technology and mechanical knowhow to maintain a scant handful of JumpShips and DropShips to maintain trade with one another. These hardscrabble worlds, bolstered by fortunate refugees from the Outworlds that found them, gradually came together under the government at Wynn's Roost to form the Free Trader's Union as a central government to manage life-sustaining trade among these frontier systems. The government is elected in theory though in practice it is controlled by about three dozen major families who control the most productive industries and agricultural properties. Minor squabbles cause violence all of the time but the Traders' Militia and supporting Union units, mostly mercenaries, ensure such squabbling never damages the valuable properties involved. A small but politically active middle class provide managers and skilled personnel for these landowners. The majority of the population remain rural and urban laborers with only the figleaf of political representation, with even the best worlds having only an early twenty-first century level of every day technology. Only recently have their energy needs been fully met by the use of protium fusion reactors, as for centuries fission and hydrocarbon power were the only means available technologically. The worst-off worlds have remaining pre-industrial communities, especially Omniss who refuse to use higher technology and eke out a living in agricultural communities, selling the produce of their farms for the raw materials used by their cottage industries for tools and non-technological luxuries.

The Union must be careful given how precarious their position is now, a dozen worlds with a combined population not even reaching a billion souls bordering two of the Inner Sphere's strongest military powers. For centuries they were able to avoid the attention of conquerers because they were believed to be dead or pre-industrial systems. Since their revelation to the Inner Sphere in the Terran War, their strongest defense has gone from being unknown to not being worth conquering. Given their remoteness and the primitive conditions of many of these worlds, the Concord and Galedon, then the Combine, have mostly left them alone. Only occasional trading missions came by to purchase ores and rare agricultural goods in exchange for the industrial toolings, parts, and luxury goods the Union cannot produce locally. Such trade is vital to maintaining what defense forces they do have. They are the minnow trapped between two whales, trying to avoid being eaten.

One of the few items in abundance for the Traders' Union is land. While they only control a dozen systems, and not all are the best worlds for agriculture, the prospect of mineral wealth draws just enough external investment to keep the economy thinly connected to the wider Inner Sphere. The three systems closest to Wynn's Roost — Vangburg, Zebuluraski, and Renorsal — have known quantities of various rare earth minerals that make them the second worlds of the Union. These worlds and a few others also have widespread tracts of actual arable land attractive to mercenary units willing to settle down and permanently bind themselves to the Union, the most prominent of these being Castro's Cowboys, who represent roughly half of the Union's strength in BattleMechs with two regiments' worth and have been given their own continent ib Renorsal. Other smaller mercenary commands contribute another regiment of 'Mechs and attached forces that give the Union a decent anti-pirate force, though they would not be a major deterrent against a determined Combine or Concord invasion. The mercenaries, especially Castro's cowboys, have become a formidable political bloc within the Union, having gained the adherence of several leading families and in virtual control of at least five systems within the state.

In addition to the mercenaries, refugees from the Terran Union have become an outsized political force thanks to their control of the smattering of high technology in the Union. Their main enclave, McEvedy City on Wynn's Roost, even boasts a decent factory capable of producing power armor suits, Patton tanks, and by some reports, a special variant of Wolverine BattleMech with Terran-grade ferro-fibrous armor and lasers. The city is also home to the McEvedy Technical College, the sole institution of higher mechanical and engineering education in the entire Union. As indispensable as this makes them, they do not hold a greater proportion of political power than the mercenaries or the traditional families. The Terran expatriates' political power is restrained not so much by their minority of population but by the very real threat that assuming greater control of the Union will bring the Kilbourne Concord or the Draconis Combine down upon them.

Recently elected by popular vote, President Duane Sandusky has embraced continued neutrality and a policy of slow, grinding expansion of influence into neighboring worlds. Their primary threats tend to be pirates, and that is enough of an issue with a military of just five regiments worth of active duty BattleMechs and two dilapidated old Terran corvettes. This state of affairs is unlikely to change given they also lack more of a military industry, though that is to their benefit. The survival of the Union demands caution that restrains them from greater efforts, or they will undoubtedly bring down the DCMS or the KSDF (or both) on their hopelessly-outmatched forces.

Given the distance there is no indication that the Glass has even been heard of in the Free Traders' Union, much less that they will act upon it. Their most likely influence on events will be if Sandusky or one of his subordinates miscalculates and finally triggers an invasion by their vastly more powerful neighbors. The Peace of Dieron has survived the Combine and Concord conflict so far, but any escalation may yet prove too much, and that would have ramifications for us as well.

(A part of me also wonders just how this place would deal with it if the Ravens showed up through another Glass, should one ever form in the vicinity. Given how remote they are, any party from our side could take them over and cause a mess in the Outworlds. — Paladin Maya Avellar)


Traders' Militia 1st Brigade

The 1st Brigade are assigned to the capital and are the trouble-shooters of the Union Militia. They are the only unit to possess assault-capable DropShips and a dedicated squadron of aerospace fighters with which to protect their ships, and are often deployed with the rechristened TUS Wynn's Aegis, the larger of the two Terran WarShips that remain in service. The brigade is primarily armor and armored jump infantry with a battalion of BattleMechs as their heaviest firepower.

Their combat history is wholly one of fighting pirates, a foe they are quite capable of handling. When word comes of heavy pirate attack upon the Union's worlds they are typically the force sent, if just to ensure the pirates do not set up shop on the more sparsely-inhabited Union worlds. When they're not enforcing the Union's sovereignty, they are assigned to Wynn's Roost and the capital Turnerville to protect the Union government.

3311th Armored Cavalry

The 3311th Armored Cavalry Regiment are something of a mystery that has brought closer attention to the Trader's Union over time. Assigned to Wynn's Roost, they are the primary defense unit for McEvedy City, a mixed regiment with two companies of maintained Terran BattleMechs and a multitude of vehicles and armored infantry, and while ostensibly part of the Traders' Militia they have only ever answered to the Mayor of McEvedy City in practice. The unit recruits primarily from the Terran refugees and their descendants, with a handful of local Trader Union residents having been accepted with sponsorship from officers of the regiment.

The mere presence of one of the hated Terran Armored Cavalry would argue for a descent by the Concord upon the Union, but the records show the 3311th was not an active unit during the Reprisal campaigns of the Terran War. At one point a regiment of the Star League 331st Royal BattleMech Division and then the Terran continuation of that formation, they'd been deactivated in 3042 when they protested the imprisonment and court-martial of their commanding officer Brigadier Harland Fetladral by the Director-General. Many of the personnel were assigned to various units outside the 331st as punishment and so were not with the unit when it was annihilated on Galedon by the defenders' orbital bombardment in February 3052. The common theory, and the one that the KSDF announced publicly during a political debate on whether the Union should be compelled to disband the 3311th, is that survivors who had once served with the unit were among the emigrants. Since the 3311th had not been active in the war crimes the other Armored Cavalry regiments were notorious for, the Concord let the matter drop.

The 3311th's combat record is not known on any available public record. But the mystery of the unit deepens from recordings taken of a recent reported skirmish with pirates attempting to raid McEvedy City. A lance of traditional SLDF-era 'Mechs wore not just the 3311th's insignia but the famed outline of North America's Minnesota region attached to the number "331". Famously this was the 331st Royal's chosen insignia while under the command of James McEvedy during the Amaris War, but in more recent history, it was also known as the insignia of a Periphery-wandering mercenary band called the 331st who were famously wiped out during the Hyades Rim Republic's conquest of Bellatrix in the early Second Age of War. Given the 'Mechs in question used the mercenary 331st's color scheme and that the 'Mechs match public records of machines in the 331st and not more unique Terran designs, it has left many conspiracy theorists and military history enthusiasts alike scratching their heads.

Wynn's Aces

Wynn's Aces are the sole dedicated aerospace formation of the entire Trader's Union. Assigned to protect Wynn's Roost, they number just a couple dozen aerospace fighters and pilots, with most of their craft First Age of War-vintage machines constantly in need of repair and refit. Yet they remain a potent unit regardless, arguably the epitome of the Outworlds cultural influence on the Traders' Union.

Formed in the 29th Century during the Collapse, Wynn's Aces have been the first and often last line of defense against pirate raiders and other forces looking to strike at Wynn's Roost. The pilots are often drawn from the ruling families or other dynasties of the unit's most successful fliers. Training is almost entirely by experience behind the controls and the machines are far more valuable than the pilots flying them. While not to the standards of the Inner Sphere's flight academies, Wynn's Aces' continued survival and function argues their approach may work, at least for them.

Despite the technological inferiority of Wynn's Aces and their obvious deficiencies in training, a recent report indicates they are not to be underestimated. A ConcertWatch update on the DCMS indicates the aerospace contingent of the 4th Galedon Regulars had suffered evident losses when the unit was inspected at Dnieper by Tai-sho Fukuyama. Though the Combine has refused to comment, news reports relayed via the Concord indicate the 4th had attempted to raid Wynn's Roost in March 3142. A Leopard CV DropShip assigned to the unit was reported nearly-crippled and its entire complement of fighters lost, and a Yamashita-class DropShip for armored infantry likewise reported significant damage. The 4th Galedon's aerospace wing CO was recently replaced and the prior commander is no longer listed on any active duty rosters, at least according to ComStar.

Castro's Cowboys

Both Inner Spheres have their history of odd mercenary bands. Our own had Snord's Irregulars, for instance, while for the Cisglass inner Sphere, one such group is Castro's Cowboys. Raised on the former Free Worlds League world of Antipolo by a local noble family, the Cowboys were on contract to the Grand Duchy of Tamarind when, in April 3030, their world fell to the Grand Duchy of Oriente. Rather than transfer his allegiance, Lord Castro signed on his cattle-rancher pilots, picked up his herds, and used his remaining wealth to hire the necessary DropShips to transfer it all to whichever employer would give him a permanent or temporary land grant to mind his herds.

Despite such an odd requirement the Cowboys frequently found contracts due to their piloting skill, if not their fighting prowess, and would participate in many campaigns of the Second Age of War. Service to the Oriento-Capellan Empire during the Terran War briefly regained them access to their homeworld, but a dispute over the inheritance led Juan Pedro Castro to take his share of the herd, all the willing pilots, and depart yet again. The Cowboys would thrive in the stalemate of the late Second Age of War, growing to three regiments of 'Mechs and two attached regiments of vehicles and infantry at their peak strength. They commanded a high price on the mercenary market by 3110. Despite the lucrative officers he received, Count Castro was unsettled by the outbreak of what became the Fourth Succession War. He decided to find a permanent home on the unaligned Periphery with which to keep his herds. His ships traveled to the Trader's Union and offered the perpetual service of his 'Mechs and forces in exchange for a continent on one of their resettled worlds. Renorsal's Andalusia Continent was offered and accepted, as the mineral-rich world needed some defense against pirate forces and had a suitable biosphere for the herds. To raise funds to help build up his new demesne, Juan Castro reluctantly hired out the 3rd Cowboys regiment to the Concord. His misgivings proved fruitful when the 3rd Regiment was virtually wiped out by Galedon in the fighting on Sevon in 3116. The handful of survivors eventually returned to Renorsal with their broken machines and were absorbed into the other regiments, their combat pay having been spent on the needed materials to fully exploit Andalusia.

In recent years Lord Castro, who has been adopted as Renorsal's "El Jefe" even if he is only one of three governors of the planet, has relinquished command of his Cowboys to his son Fidel Raoul Castro. "Prince Castro" has been mostly staying on Wynn's Roost, politicking with Militia leaders and other Union officialdom and by reports growing restless with the thought of returning to his father's rugged home compared to the higher technology and comfort available in Turnerville. Rumors are Fidel may seek the Presidency and has been approaching the Terran expatriates of McEvedy for their political support in exchange for greater consideration of their position in the Union. These political games are seen by many as coming at the expense of the Cowboys themselves, though the unit are currently content to use their 'Mechs as AgroMechs in maintaining the herds of fenreeroceroses and other cattle creatures that populate the Castro ranches.

(What in blazes is a 'fenreeroceros?!' I can't find any record of such a thing! — Paladin Max Ergen) (Quite possibly another of the divergences between our universes, though maybe it's just a rare species? — Lady Janella)

 

[Steve]

Federated Suns



​

Ruling House: Silver-Davion
Capital: New Avalon
Ruler: First Prince Grace Silver-Davion
Worlds: 455
Regiments: 137
WarShips: 178

The Federated Suns of the Cisglass can seem much like our own at first glance. The same iconography, the same values, the same names for the great families appearing in its ranks. It is the largest Successor State in terms of the worlds flying the Sword-and-Sun banner while still having the hardscrabble nature of the frontier on many of them. It is when you examine the finer details that the differences become apparent. Given the bitterness many of us feel over Caleb Davion's callous disregard for the long alliance between the Federation and the Republic, it is best to focus on those differences, and remember we are not dealing with the same people.

[With all respect to Lady Lakewood's analysis, I feel that we do need to look at the facts. I have no love for Aaron Sandoval — the man has the morals of a Lyran banker, and the effrontery of a dockside rat; we should have arrested him the instant he set foot in Terran space, Jonah, and you know it — but considering the fate of all but one of the buffer states we tried to establish outside the Fortress, the question isn't whether those worlds remaining independent or being annexed by the Federated Suns was preferable, but a matter of choosing between a Davion or Liao takeover. And accounting of how badly we already underestimated House Liao's rearmament, I can't say I like the idea of them adding Tikograd's arsenals to their industry. At least Sandoval has some principles. — Paladin Exemplar David McKinnon]

They retain many similar principles of local rule and a combination of economic and social systems upon their worlds. On the one hand you have the feudal domains like those overseen by the Narayans of Jaipur, the Gutierrezes of Filtvelt, the VanLees of Kathil, and the Haseks of Wernke and New Syrtis, not to mention the Davions' own holdings, while you also have the democratic presidencies of Point Barrow, Novaya Zemlya, and New Vandenburg among others. Yet this Federated Suns has something ours did not quite develop: an empowered, democratically-elected legislature. Formed from Julian Davion's 29th Century reform of the Crucis Pact and refined by the union with the Brethren of the Stars, the Federated Suns of the Cisglass is governed by a law-writing body called the Assembly of Worlds which decide upon the laws that impact the entire Federation, replacing the long defunct rubber stamp High Council from the pre-Star League era. From their number the Assembly elects a leader, the First Minister, who leads the Privy Council and functions as a head of government that even the First Prince must heed the opinions and decisions of.

This injection of democracy has been undoubtedly invaluable to preserving the Suns against their neighbors, giving individual citizens on every world the feeling their voices are being heard on New Avalon and that their concerns carry weight at the highest level. It is not a perfect feeling, of course. Nor has it silenced those on the worlds reclaimed at Dieron who tout the Concord's democratic model as superior, pointing out the tremendous powers still held in theory by the First Princes and House Davion. On the opposite border, worlds in the St. Ives March have Liaoist and Capellan unificationist movements of varying extents and political power, who dismiss the Suns' government system as a weak sham compared to the strength and purpose of the Oriento-Capellan Empire. The representatives elected by these opposition groups provide for a number of headaches in Assembly meetings, fully employing the Six Freedoms against House Davion's authority and interests.

Yet neither of these groups produce the singular headaches that the Taurian March does. The Taurian nationalism suppressed by the Hyadian regime on New Vandenburg rebounded in full vigor after the Hyades Rim Republic's fall, and for the last century have been a near-persistent pain in the rear for every First Prince and First Minister to govern. Only the cause against the Terran Union quieted agitation for Taurian independence from the Federated Suns. Insurgencies have relented somewhat since the marriage of Nicoletta Calderon to Vincent Davion, a grandson of Prince Ian the Restorer, and the granting of the Arch-Ducal title to their eldest son Brian. But having a "puppet" Calderon on the throne has not stopped the most fanatical, and many others seem to only wait patiently to jump on the slightest sign of "Davion oppression", as was seen in 3119 when rioting broke out on every world following the transfer of Taurian March Militia troops to reinforce the new war front with the Capellan Empire. The rioters shut down AFFS recruiting stations, offices for various ministries, and on Taurus four planetary administrators were held and nearly lynched. For two months it seemed like the Taurian nationalists might actually succeed in their aims, but the Capellans' failure to capitalize allowed the AFFS to rush troops back to restore order. While the moment was lost and the Riots of 3119 have not been repeated since the Peace of Dieron, but it is likely this region will be a sore point in the politics of the Federated Suns for generations to come. (The fact that AFFS troops haven't been hit by suitcase nukes yet makes these Taurians sound far more reasonable than our own, especially with how freely Tharn and Urratia handed out the damn things. Hell, we found some in the ComStar arsenals on Epsilon Eridani. — Paladin Max Ergen)

It is no surprise these internal threats are linked to external ones. On one border, the Kilbourne Suns' Concord has vowed to reclaim Filtvelt, Malagrotta, and other worlds reclaimed by the Federated Suns, and have made clear that a permanent peace would also require House Davion to relinquish power and the Restorationist movement be disavowed. On the other border, the Oriento-Capellan Empire continues to promote Capellan reunification and eyes the conquest of St. Ives March. Along with these threats looms the ancient foe, the reborn Draconis Combine of House Kurita, who threaten the Suns' remaining allies. For all their strength, the Federated Suns of the Cisglass are still in a highly precarious position.

In facing these threats, the AFFS has developed in lines ours has not gone in. The army of the Federated Suns has never been fully rebuilt from its peak strength in 3110, instead reformed as a sharpened spear of elite units with the best equipment backed by other line, regional, and militia that prefer easier-to-maintain Star League-era equipment. Unlike the post-Jihad AFFS' emphasis on the mobility of Light Combat Teams backed up by the hammer of the Crucis Lancers and Davion Guards RCTs, the Cisglass forces have maintained as many full-scale RCTs as possible, and seem to lack any equivalent to the LCT. However, they share the same professionalism and faculty, and the result is a force that has shown capability in a handful of skirmishes since the Peace of Dieron and the annual war games held with Compact powers.

The real strength of the AFFS lies in its mighty navy. The Federated Suns is the strongest Navy in the other Inner Sphere by all accounts, with four surviving capital WarShips backed by a powerful force of battlecruisers and other WarShips. The influence of the Brethren is on full display with this strategic approach, reinforced by First Prince Grace herself, an experienced naval officer and the first non-MechWarrior ruler of House Davion since the 25th Century. The FSN suffered the least of all navies of the Inner Sphere during the Fourth Succession War, though not for lack of trying on the part of their foes, and has built to maintain its edge. Training for the Navy takes high priority and the social standing of naval officers ranks rather higher there than it does in our Federated Suns. The fleet is set to expand further in the coming years, particularly in light of the Capellans' recent naval programs, and the FSN is slated to become the first of the Successor States to return to a force strength of two hundred WarShips by 3145. While some have questioned the expansion of the program as further destabilizing the Peace of Dieron, the Imperial program and the lingering political logjam in the Royal Federation leaves the Suns little choice in the matter.

(I feel I must stress a caveat here in that the numbers on the Draconis Combine Admiralty are only estimates. While they are only generally estimated to have a hundred and sixty WarShips, the more pessimistic estimates may have the DCA as larger than the FSN. — Lady Janella)

So far the Suns have shown little reaction to news of the Glass. At least, little public reaction, but recent shifts of troops and ships towards the Capellan border show they have a concern. Though whether it is a defensive maneuver to meet an Imperial attack while the Arcadians are engaged or a more proactive readiness to keep the Empire honest during the same, one cannot say. A greater question on my mind is how much First Prince Grace and her Privy Council are saying behind closed doors and what kind of involvement do they have with their Tikonovite allies' investigation of the Glass's formation? If there is a plan to form their own Glass, will it be to support First Prince Caleb or to promote a different agenda? We will have to observe carefully. So will Daoshen Liao, I believe.


Third Davion Guards

It should be no surprise that the AFFS of the Cisglass maintains the Royal Brigade of Guards. One of the most prominent and capable in their number is the Third Davion Guards, all from their association with First Prince Ian, the greatest member of the Cisglass Davions since Alexander himself. They were Ian the Restorer's unit prior to his ascension to First Prince. The 3Third remained the unit he fought with in his infrequent deployments to the front during the Restoration and, more prominently, during the Terran War, when they fought at his side from Avalon City to Geneva. The prestige of being associated with him has raised the profile of this already famous unit to the same tier as the Davion Heavy and First Davion Guards, and they shed their old nickname, "Don't Tread on Me" for "The Phoenix" for the way the unit came back from impossible situations in the Terran War. By the end of that conflict, they'd actually been reinforced with so many odds and ends that the unit was split into two, the newly formed Sixth Davion Guards taking on the moniker of "Prince Ian's Own" in recognition of their origins.

Both formations were part of the desperate fighting of the Fourth Battle of New Avalon, facing an assortment of some of the best units of the KSDF on fronts across Albion, including Avalon City itself, where in defense of his capital the elderly Ian was mortally wounded by MechWarriors of the Screaming Eagles' 101st Striker Regiment. The Third held fast despite the odds and prevented the collapse of the front until help arrived from the joint AFFS/AFRF relief force burning in, and the Third was finally pulled from the line after a counterattack led by the Proctor Heavy Guards and the Fourth Skye Rangers cleared the Davion capital of the enemy. The survivors were personally thanked and congratulated by First Prince Victoria, though the loss of their leader was a sore point for many. Their indebtedness to the Arcadians was repaid a quarter century later when the Third Davion Guards smashed XII Legio outside of Jonesburgh on Arcadia, contributing to the defeat of the wild ambitions of Imperator Scipio O'Reilly. Battered but unbroken by the Fourth Succession War, at its end they had played a critical role in thwarting the Concord's SWORDBREAKER offensive by holding Eustasius and preventing the strategic isolation of Filtvelt, though their fierce battle with the Fourth Solar Legion left the unit a shell of its formal strength.

Rebuilt to full strength after the Peace of Dieron, with a full complement of heavy and assault BattleMechs that gives them the mass of a heavy line unit, the Third continues to be one of the most elite, best equipped units in the AFFS. Currently deployed to the world of Homestead on the OCE frontier alongside the First Kathil Uhlans and Redfield's Regulars, two more elite units, they serve as a dagger pointed at the worlds captured by the Empire in the Fourth Succession War, ready to liberate them if the call comes.


Sharpe Rifles

The Sharpe Rifles are a regiment of storied lineage spanning back to the original formation of the St. Ives Mercantile Association. A core element of the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, they were part of the nation's conventional defense forces during the reign of Long Tom Silver before (quietly, happily) integrating into the AFFS along with the rest of the St. Ives Royal Corps.

Veterans of the harshest fights of the Federated Suns post-merger, the Sharpe Rifles made their fame in the Third Outback War, defending Filtvelt from the 3088 and 3090 invasions and serving in the task force that reclaimed Broken Wheel from the Concord in 3093. In the Fourth Succession War they fought in a dozen major campaigns against the Concord and Galedon. One of the most notable was the liberation of Robinson from Galedonian occupation in 3115, where newly-graduated Leftenant Arthur Silver-Davion, Prince Imperial of the Federated Suns, fought with distinction to reclaim his father's homeworld. In 3117 the Rifles' participation in Operation FORTITUDE led to severe losses against the Fourth Sword of Light on New Ivaarsen. Pulled back to rebuild in the Crucis March, they were rushed to defend the St. Ives March when the Empire betrayed the Federated Suns in their infamous XIN SHENG offensive, and held Harloc against several determined assaults until the Congress of Dieron's ceasefire that brought the fighting to an end. Down to only twenty-percent material strength, the Rifles were retained on the roster and rebuilt following the end of the war.

Today the Sharpe Rifles are a capable heavy weight assault unit, equipped on par with the remainder of the Royal rated units. They have a multi-century track record of quiet, unflashy competence and professionalism. They are notorious for combat flexibility, able to adapt on the fly to changing battlefield situations, and it is perhaps not a surprise they utilize almost entirely OmniMechs and similarly podded support equipment. They are currently stationed on their homeworld, as the Prince Imperial has moved onto helping with the immense administrative workload required of the royal family, refitting after an intensive period of training on Novaya Zemlya intended to keep their edge.


Second Victoria Rangers

Formed after the retirement of Long Tom Silver out of a cadre of surviving Brethren MechWarriors personally loyal to the Silver family, the Victoria Rangers are some of the best combat-drop capable troops in the Inner Sphere. This unit trains extensively in 'beachhead' operations, seizing planetary defense batteries, spaceports, and other targets of vital interest that require capture in the earliest stages of a planetary invasion. They are both extremely heavyweight, but all of their mechs are equipped with jump jets, and both the logistical burden and the turnover in both regiments is exceptional.

The Second joined their brethren in defending their new capital as part of OpForce Excalibur's AFFS contingent in 3071, landing on New Avalon to secure Brunswick's valuable factories from the Second Solar Legion and the Third Concord Dragoons of the KSDF. The two Victoria Ranger regiments commenced beachhead assaults to secure critical regional positions that forced the KSDF to disperse, buying much-needed time for the Twenty-Second Avalon Hussars to regroup and force the invaders away from Archenar's facilities. Through the coming weeks the Rangers contributed with repeated aerial drops on KSDF positions until the units pulled out as part of the general Concord retreat.

After further service in the Fourth Succession War, the Second is considered the more elite of the two Victoria Rangers divisions. Both are now deployed to their homeworld of Victoria, able to burn out for an assault with ten days of notice. Victoria's position on the front line both demands a strong standing garrison and gives the AFFS the opportunity to threaten forward Imperial positions with a strong force known for the ability to smash aside defenders at will.


First Robinson Avengers

The former unit of Consort (and recently retired Prince's Champion) Erik Sandoval, the Robinson Avengers were formed from the survivors of the Canaan Accord's military after that state's fall in the Concord-Compact War. Fanatically loyal to the royal family, and also fanatically opposed to the Kilbourne Concord, the Avengers made several strikes into the former Accord during the Third Outback War to tie down KSDF forces and keep them from shifting towards the main campaign around Filtvelt.

The First Avengers truly proved their mettle in the fires of the Fourth Succession War, fighting the defensive campaigns of the early war and participating in the liberation of Robinson. Their early jubilation at their successful return proved sadly ill-fated and as Concord forces overwhelmed the AFFS forces on Robinson in 3119, they were forced into the cruel choice of obeying orders to retreat and survive or die against the irresistible revenge of the Lexington Combat Group. They demonstrated their loyalty when they agreed to pull out, saving the unit from annihilation.

Now deployed at a slightly different portion of the Concord border, the Avengers are a hard hitting medium cavalry unit that excels at making use of air support and combined arms to confuse and blind an enemy before smashing isolated detachments with overwhelming local superiority. They showed their capabilities well in both the GALAHAD exercises of 3137 and the WALLACE wargames in 3141, where they won half of their engagements against the visiting AFRF's elite Second Royal Lancers.