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

[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.

 

[Steve]

Oriento-Capellan Empire

​

Ruling House: House Halas-Liao
Capitals: Sian and Oriente (traditional investiture on Harsefeld)
Ruler: Emperor Robert Halas-Liao
Worlds: 277
BattleMech Regiments: 230
Warships: 138


Of all the states to exist in the Glass, the Oriento-Capellan Empire stands out as one of the most unbelievable. Oriente has traditionally been one of the most anti-Capellan of the Free Worlds League states in our history. I would as soon accept the idea of a Confederated Suns and House Liao-Davion as I have imagined House Halas-Liao being in any way stable. Yet, even with the similarities in our histories up to the Succession Wars, the other side's Oriente remains joined at the hip with the reborn Capellan State, and while not a smooth union, it has survived war, invasion, and dissension for the past century.

The key to the Empire's survival, its very existence, is arguably found in the third family name that is rightfully born by the ruler, if largely unused. House Allison, the original rulers of Oriente, survived on the captured world Harsefeld and in seeking to rule conquered Capellan worlds ultimately chose to assimilate into the Capellan nation. They waged war after war to get to their current position, and to secure it, forged a marriage alliance with their successors on Oriente, House Halas. These changed circumstances do much to explain this unlikely pairing. The rebirth of House Liao by two of her former foes has done much to shape the current Empire, for better and for worse.

The Empire is a dual state, not dissimilar to the Austrian-Hungarian state of Terra's Industrial Revolution era in that the two halves are governed by separate laws but have a common government for defense, foreign exchange, and diplomacy. The Grand Duchy of Oriente is governed by a confederal system, with planets maintaining a degree of local autonomy and self-rule much like they enjoyed in the Free Worlds League, with regional economic interests and trade regulated at the province level. The now-larger section, the Imperial Capellan State, operates under a reformed version of the Capellan ideology we are more familiar with. Before the formation of the Empire, King Alexander Allison of Harsefeld and his half-brother and co-ruler — the future Emperor Jonah Allison-Liao — decided to govern their reclaimed Capellan worlds by the old system, with modifications to undermine rebellions from those worlds that had ended the caste system. The servitor caste was done away with. Those without citizenship are now considered casteless, an unenviable position compared to the others but lacking the status of state property that so many find detestable in the Capellan system on our side. Citizenship in the Imperial Capellan State is more easily attained as well and on many worlds the casteless are a minority, not the plurality or outright majority their servitor counterparts often are in the Capellan Confederation. To ease awkwardness between the two halves, a citizen of the Grand Duchy dwelling in the Imperial State is given an honorary rank of associated citizen; they do not enjoy the full range of citizenship benefits, but they are not considered casteless. They must go through a naturalization process if they decide to emigrate permanently.

As one can imagine, these two systems do not dwell in perfect harmony. Among the people of the Grand Duchy any hint of encroachment by the Capellan State is vigorously, even violently resisted. Maskirovka has little sway in the Duchy for enforcing any sort of loyalty to the Empire, their role is strictly counter-intelligence against enemy action in association with the IOCF's Military Intelligence Command. Instead national loyalty is encouraged by internal propaganda and popular broadcasts, lionizing House Halas and especially the Knightly Orders of Oriente. Founded during the later Renaissance period to live up to ideals of chivalric behavior and honor so as to limit the Succession Wars' devastation, the Knightly Orders are widely respected among the Duchy's population for their courage, tenacity, and skill. They have often fought in the most desperate and most savage battles to preserve the Grand Duchy from her external foes and, while tied to IOCF command structure, maintain an independence that makes them the core of the Grand Duchy's personal troops. Legally they are under Emperor Robert's command, in his capacity as Grand Duke of Oriente, but unofficially many still hew to the desires and orders of their old liege lady, the one hundred and twenty-eight year old Dowager Empress Eris Halas, who despite her abdication in 3103 still wields significant soft power across Oriente and the Empire as a whole.

This has not gone unnoticed on Sian and among the sheng and directorship of the Imperial Capellan State. Many among the Empire's leadership are said to be jealous and fearful of the Dowager's lingering grasp, especially as she has opposed the Liaoist Restorationist movement and its goals of reclaiming the Confederation's old borders, preferring instead to focus on her own bitter foes, House Proctor of Arcadia, and her ambitions to seize the rest of the former Marik Commonwealth from them. For the Capellans this is an unwanted distraction and part of a larger problem with what many quietly feel is an unequal partnership. A common joke among Capellans is that they labor "for the greater good of the Capellan State… oh, yes, and for those lazy Orienters too". The Grand Duchy is seen as not pulling its own weight, with its spoiled citizenry lazy and aloof of the needs of the Empire while Capellans labor vigorously and honestly for the greater good of all.

It is important to note that the lack of a servitor caste, and the (relatively) easier life of the casteless, does not diminish the strength of the Capellan State over their lives. A Capellan citizen earns their place, joins a caste as best fits their talents, and is reminded at all times of their duties to the Greater Good of Humanity as laid out in the Korvin Doctrine and of the need to obey their superiors as the Sarna Mandate decrees. Any worlds captured and folded into the Imperial State are subject to a Maskirovka-observed process to incorporate their populations into the caste system. This process proved particularly dangerous during both the integration of captured Terran worlds in the 3060s and the worlds seized from the Federated Suns in 3118 and 3119. While some of the more ardent Liaoists wished to further impress the Capellan system on these worlds, the Emperors have been more lenient, to the point that the Sirian Commonality is observed to have almost no casteless and an abnormally smooth process for caste assignments, and the Victoria Commonality (based on Bellatrix, though the name makes very clear the aspirations of the Empire in that direction) has run along similar lines. This has born fruit in that both are integrating very smoothly compared to the retaken worlds attached to the Sarna Commonality, where local directorship and sheng have proven more stringent in allowing citizenship. Make no mistake, though, that the Capellan State is not as domineering as the Confederation is. The Maskirovka has full authority to investigate and detain and the Emperor wields power close to that of the Chancellors of the Confederation. Loyalty to the State is enforced on the populations of every world.

If one wonders how these two systems can survive under the same government, one answer is found in the Imperial Oriento-Capellan Forces. The IOCF are the largest and most prominent institution of the Empire in the everyday life of citizens of the Grand Duchy and the Imperial State. They recruit from both halves and while local units do exist, by practice Ducal soldiers are assigned to Capellan units and vice versa, and a number of corps and brigades such as the Harsefeld Lancers and the Allison Heavy Guards intentionally maintain as much equality as possible when it comes to staffing from both halves of the Empire. While it is not immune to the occasional demonstration of bias by either side against the other, the officer corps and NCOs work to clamp down on this so that the units of the IOCF, wherever their origin, can function together on the battlefield. Overall the IOCF's culture is one of teamwork and a feeling of Imperial citizenship, whether a soldier is from the Oriente Fusiliers or the Sian Dragoons. "Two Nations, One Cause" is their most common slogan, and they do generally try to live up to it even if, on occasion, the nationalist sides do make themselves known. The most obvious example of this was the Liaoist strike against the Federated Suns in 3118, betraying an ally they despised to reclaim worlds they believed rightfully Capellan.

The IOCF's prominence comes in part from size. The Empire boasts one of the larger remaining navies from the Fourth Succession War and over two hundred regiments of BattleMechs. It is one of the more heavily garrisoned Successor States, and for good reason. While for much of the 31st Century it was an active member in the St. Ives Compact, the Liaoist betrayal of the Federated Suns ended that forever. Now the Empire remains isolated and surrounded by active and potential enemies, with only the Azami having any real warmth for their state. Their ancient foes in House Davion and the Dowager's hated enemies in House Proctor include factions openly eager for the suspension of the Peace of Dieron to strike at the lonely Empire, and the legions of the Flavian Principate burn with fury to avenge their humiliation at Kearny in 3118. To protect against this multitude of threats, the Empire has been transformed into a garrison state in many respects.

In light of their strategic isolation Emperor Robert is reputed to have opened talks with Yorinaga Kurita for closer ties to the Draconis Combine, the other pariah of the Inner Sphere, while simultaneously seeking an understanding with the Kilbourne Concord, a dicey prospect at best. He has also, since his rise to the throne, agreed to an increase of peacetime naval spending not seen in a century, with a crash naval construction program rivaling the Empire's efforts during the Fourth Succession War. Over the next several years the Empire is building enough ships that it will be able to challenge the Federated Suns directly, wielding a fleet that could overpower the Royal Federation and the Flavian Principate combined. This bold move, proclaimed as necessary to secure the Empire from attack, is the proximate cause of the growing naval arms race that threatens the Peace of Dieron. A bitter irony indeed given Robert's father caused the Fourth Succession War for similar motivations. (And as a failed attempt to placate the rabid Capellan nationalists, the ones who later caused this very isolation through their attack on their own ally. Whatever the reality, Capellans love to dig knives into the backs of their neighbors. — Paladin Max Ergen)

For those accusing Emperor Robert of plotting aggression, it is worth noting that after High King Nathaniel rose to the Liberator's Throne on Arcadia, he openly welcomed Nathaniel's peace overtures and has agreed to mutual force drawdowns across the Arcadian-Imperial border. This may simply be a maneuver to placate one foe so he can improve his position against the Principate and Federated Suns, of course, but it may also indicate a genuine desire to avoid a repeat of his father's actions and to preserve the Peace of Dieron. Of greater relevance to us, while little is said from news sources of the Imperial reaction to the Glass (An ominous silence if you ask me! — Paladin-Exemplar David MacKinnon), Emperor Robert's official response to Nathaniel's coronation address was "The Empire applauds the High King for his commitment to fighting such debased savagery, we wish him good fortune in battle against these Clans", and further IOCF announcements of drawdowns on the Arcadian border systems. Again, it is impossible to tell the motivation here. The Emperor may be genuinely sympathetic to Nathaniel's crusade to stop the aggressive Clans, or he may be cynically promoting Nathaniel's war efforts in order to weaken the Arcadians' position against the Empire in the short term. Ultimately, the only person who knows for sure is Emperor Robert Halas-Liao himself.



Death Commandos

The refounding of the Death Commandos came with the return of former Capellan leading families to the Harsefeld state in 3035, eager to join in rebuilding the Capellan nation as they believed it should be. They have been the bodyguard regiment of the Emperor since 3040, participating in the Terran War from the siege of Oriente to the conquest of Terra and on through the remaining Second Age of War.

Wherever an enemy of House Liao goes, the Death Commandos are ready to slay them if given the order. During the fighting in the 3060s they came within moments of killing Archduke Joshua Marik in the Imperial invasion of Atreus and briefly conquered and held Atreus City itself before relieved. They head-hunted and killed Aaron Winston, the Commanding General of the KSDF, on Robinson even while the planet fell in 3073, and added Defiance President Jacqueline Brewer and Legate Siobhan O'Reilly-Proctor to their kill list during a Lyran-Principate defense of New Earth in 3082. During the Fourth Succession War they would claim half of the Regency Council of the Peoples' State of Andurien before being brought to ground and nearly destroyed by the elite mercenary force of Arano's Marauders. As always they were rebuilt, though their bodyguard duties to the Emperor demanded no more use as a killing force for the remainder of the war.

As always, they are a combined arms regiment of BattleMechs and battle armor infantry with some vehicular and aerospace support. Their training is legendary and their loyalty to the Capellan cause without equal. Bodyguard units for state leaders across the Inner Sphere train exhaustively simply to have a hope of stopping the Commandos should they ever come for their charges. They remain on Sian at this time, protecting Emperor Robert, and no one knows when or if he will send them forth to strike at an enemy.


The Order of the Red Sword

One of the Knightly Orders of Oriente, the Order of the Red Sword can trace their history back to Rico Halas' initial formation of the Knightly Orders. A half dozen Dispossessed families of nobility provided some of the initial recruits for the Red Sword and the Grandmaster has often come from these families, especially the Hawkwoods of Fletcher. They are steadfastly loyal to the Grand Duchy, more so than to the Empire, it has long been said and suspected. Their battle histories are a long and bloody road of the greatest victories and most bitter defeats in service to House Halas.

Yet the Red Sword, like their peers, regret their greatest disappointment keenly. Throughout the decades the Order has always come close, sometimes extremely close, to seizing the former League capital of Atreus from their liege lady's hated enemies of House Proctor. In 3041-42, 3065, 3097-98, 3113-15, and 3118-19, the Red Swords fought valiantly to capture House Marik's glittering prize and finally punish the Arcadian rulers for the perceived vile insult they had offered to Eris Halas in 3037. In 3119 they came extremely close to this victory, with most of the world having fallen and Atreus City itself on the verge of defeat. Yet for all the sacrifices the victory was again denied by enemy reinforcements and the Orders were forced to pick up their wounded and dying to live on for greater service.

The Peace of Dieron has left the Red Sword to fulfill the other obligations of their service while rebuilding from the terrible losses endured on Atreus. The Orders have since started to face other foes as well, with their growing rivalry with the Capellan Warrior Houses and the manner in which Capellan units fight that does not fit the honor code of the Knightly Orders. The Red Swords have become leaders in trying to keep these relations smooth, including sending their former Grand Master, Ser Jonathan Hawkwood, to represent the Orders and Dowager Empress Eris at the Celestial Court on Sian. While he will serve his liege lady as well as he can, his known desire to try for Atreus again and avenge the century-old insult against Eris may or may not make him foes among the Liaoists of the Celestial Court.


Warrior House Aquila

The Warrior Houses were refounded by Harsefeld during the early Second Age of War, combining some of the traditional Capellan units with new Warrior Houses, mostly formed from foreign troops who pledged permanent loyalty to House Allison-Liao. One of the newest such Houses, House Aquila are renegades and refugees from the Principate, the survivors of Imperator Scipio's most devoted and ardent followers. After the other legates murdered Scipio on Tamarind and the First Proctor Guards drove his legion from Loric, Legate Horatius Humphreys of IV Legio decided not to return to Alphard with his peers. Having lost his brother to an Arcadian head-hunter team during the battle for Arcadia and believing (accurately) that the Dominate would be pulled down by Flavius O'Reilly, Humphreys made contact with Maskirovka and asked for asylum in the Empire in exchange for service. Gathering other broken cohorts and maniples fleeing the vengeful Arcadian advance to Tamarind and Bolan, Humphreys brought them with him to New Olympia where they became the founders of Warrior House Aquila.

While many of the Warrior Houses have fought in the Grand Duchy before, Aquila has become the only one permanently assigned to Oriente's half of the Empire, and through the Fourth Succession War they served as defense for New Olympia as well as providing troops to invade the hated Arcadians. They fought a number of battles with the First Proctor Guards and would participate in the 3113-15 invasion of Atreus and the 3118 attack on Bainsville. Though neither of those worlds fell and Humphreys himself would die battling the 5th Royal BattleMech Regiment in the 3118 campaign, House Aquila acquitted itself well and won numerous engagements through ferocity and discipline.

The Peace of Dieron has seen Aquila's assignment to New Olympia remain constant. By special Imperial charter they are permitted to raise families and have dependents, and their settlement of Nova Islington on New Olympia has become a land holding for the entire unit. A trickle of patrician dissenters has bolstered the House's depleted ranks since the war, though they remain at eighty percent strength compared to their preferred size. There are rumors that House Master John Finney may accept offers from non-descendants of Alphardians to join the House so long as they adopt the neo-Roman customs that still guide the unit, if the Emperor approves of the change to their charter.


First Sian Dragoons

The First Sian Dragoons are a legacy unit from the times of House Allison's Harsefeld, despite their name. The first Capellan nationalist unit recruited for the armies of Harsefeld, the First Dragoons were one of the trouble-shooter units of the realm, fighting in invasions from the First Andurien War on through the Terran War.

The First Sian Dragoons were one of the first units to hit dirt on Andurien at the start of what became the Fourth Succession War. For seven long years they fought bitterly to reclaim the planet for the Capellan State, being replenished in the field from the battered remnants of their fellow Sian Dragoon formations and other broken units. They alone remained on the front of the entire invasion, not being rotated on and off world as other units were whenever the naval standoff over Andurien allowed. They captured the planetary capital of Jojoken in 3112, overcoming the First Defenders of Andurien, lost it to a counterattack four months later, reclaimed it in 3113, and lost it once more in 3114. In 3115 they held half of Baroda before the Canopian Highlanders and the Arano Royal Guards pushed them out. On every front on the planet the battalions and companies of the First fought, and it was bitter indeed when Emperor Gregory abandoned the invasion in 3117. This bitterness goes far to explain the unit's willing mutiny in 3118 when they joined Strategos Lu Sen's plot to seize the traditional Capellan worlds held by the Federated Suns. On Grand Base they destroyed the battered Eighth Crucis Lancers RCT, forcing the entire unit's surrender before they could even flee off-world, but were nearly destroyed themselves trying to capture Menke from the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers RCT when the First Taurian Volunteers arrived to reinforce the broken Davion formation. When the Peace of Dieron came, the First was nearly a spent force rebuilding back on Grand Base.

Since the war, the First continues to enjoy pride of place with the IOCF, though there are many indications that Maskirovka are paying far closer attention to its command staff since their mutinous invasion of what had, at the time, been an ally. The unit has notably been moved well out of the new Victoria Commonality, and even saw combat as part of the defense of Procyon against the Arcadians' Operation MORNING STAR in 3123. Today they are assigned to Sian itself and are part of the defense units assigned around the Imperial City. They have been granted a further honor, as upon her graduation from the Sian University's Hen gao Xiao-Iu courses, Princess-Imperial Xiaoli Halas-Liao was assigned to the First Dragoons as a MechWarrior. Being the chosen unit for the future Celestial Wisdom has brought yet more Mask scrutiny upon the First Sian Dragoons, but also signals that Emperor Robert has forgiven the unit for its mutiny, and its pride of place in the IOCF will only increase.

 

[Steve]

People's State of Andurien​

​

Ruling House: Humphreys
Capital: Andurien
Ruler: Duchess Karla Humphreys
Worlds: 76
BattleMech Regiments: 34
Warships: 40

The People's State of Andurien is an example of how the different histories influenced peoples in the Inner Sphere down different paths. While it was torn from the Capellan Confederation in the First Succession War just as ours was, the following Collapse period left the state alone to develop free of both Capellan and Leaguer sentiments. The surprising result was an avowed socialist constitutional monarchy under House Humphreys that, unique among Successor States, forswore the use of military violence to capture worlds for itself. Any new world added to the People's State would come voluntarily by diplomatic initiative and invitation, or not at all.

Yet Andurien prevailed long after other such passive states, or even aggressive ones, were destroyed or otherwise absorbed by their neighbors. It has retained independence against the repeated invasions of other powers through both passive and active diplomatic efforts, turning their small state into a natural buffer state among the powers surrounding them. The Andurien People's Defense Forces, APDF, maintain a capable force for defensive fighting and safeguarding the People's State's Frontier Region from piracy. Andurien supplements its own small but capable military industries with imports from neighbors, primarily the Federated Suns and the Royal Federation, and provides various materials and unique goods for export. Enterprises are collective by mandate of the law, which has led to some emigration to other neighboring states from those wishing for greater individual control over their ideas. It has also seen immigration from others seeking sanctuary from the disfavor of their worlds' rulers. Casteless and dissident Capellans, disaffected Rim Commonality denizens, and others go through the naturalization process every year to become part of the People's State.

Pacifist as it is, Andurien is not a fully stable place, and there are many forceful arguments and debates on its future. The culture encourages political involvement from all walks of society, with public participation in elections and even plebiscites on a multitude of issues. Andurien, in collaboration with ComStar, has pushed HPG networking towards greater efficiency and lower costs to improve communication flow between worlds. Initially inaugurated in 3138, Project: SpeechWeb holds the goal of allowing regular real-time chat messaging between all worlds of the People's State by 3150, with plentiful investment from a number of government and communal enterprises in support of the mission. This readiness to discuss and debate maintains a constant ferment of clashing ideas and dissent. Indeed, the annexation of Kearny, Antipolo, and a handful of other worlds captured in 3119 remains a volatile topic in everything from school debates to online messaging communities to the People's Assembly, with some arguing it as appropriate compensation, a regrettable necessity for security, or an unconscionable violation of the People's State's governing principles.

That they took such a measure as to annex worlds that did not willingly agree to join is an understandable measure given what they suffered. The People's State of Andurien was nearly consumed during the Fourth Succession War. Only a handful of systems never saw violence by invasion or raid. From 3110 to 3117 Andurien itself was a battleground, the APDF and their Canopian allies fighting a long and terrible struggle to repel the Empire's invasion. The entire capital world was engulfed in the carnage and not a single city or settlement escaped the violence, while its economy collapsed under the intermittent Imperial blockade or raging naval battles. Many other worlds were invaded and even occupied for varying amounts of time. It is a mark of the resiliency of Andurien's people and their unshakeable faith in their government, run in the name of a child ruler through much of the war, that they did not crack under the bloodshed and economic collapse the conflict wrought upon them. The Peace of Dieron was only the start for Andurien, which suffered for fifteen years of economic depression and sovereign bankruptcy. Prosperity has only recently returned and the State remains fiscally shaky, such that the APDF is dependent upon mercenary commands to ensure the defense of their worlds, having become in recent years the most extensive employer of mercenaries in proportion to their size and an attractive employer for struggling commands looking for quiet garrison life and a chance to replenish their ranks. The APDF has no shortage of volunteers, though, as their people never wish to suffer such invasion again. The scars of that horrible decade of invasions remain visible, physically and emotionally, to the extent that commentators have referred to the Andurien generation that came of age at the start of the century as "Andurien's Lost Generation". Given all they suffered, that they still debate the worlds taken as compensation is inspiring, perhaps even intimidating.

While the wounds of the Fourth Succession War have healed and scarred over time, time alone will tell how greatly Andurien was changed, socially and politically, from the impact of the conflict. Though she was just a child when the IOCF descended upon her world, Duchess Karla Humphreys has lived up to the title "The People's Duchess" bestowed upon her at her majority. Her popularity is great enough that it has invited seething commentary from their fellow socialists in Sudeten, and there are concerns that a cult of personality has been built around her. Duchess Karla herself has been circumspect in her public interactions, primarily leaving governance to her Council of Ministers and the Board of Trade Workers while focusing on supporting public works with the family's strained wealth and making public appearances with her family. Even if a cult of personality were to fully form, it is uncertain if she would embrace it or shun it. Some commentators speculate that the harsh violence she saw during the war, including the deaths of over half of the adult figures in her life, have left her as traumatized as her people.

Given their distance and attitude, there is no sign that the Glass has garnered much attention among the people of Andurien, though their scientific community is reportedly abuzz with curiosity of both the phenomena and our side's HPG Blackout. Aid packages to Lyran worlds struck by the fighting are reportedly being discussed and processed by various worlds and communal groups, though nothing significant has yet to come through the Glass. For the moment, Andurien seems content to focus on its own affairs.


Second Defenders of Andurien

The Defenders of Andurien take pride in their command's legacy of fighting at all costs to protect the Andurien people. The Second Defenders have one of the more colorful backgrounds, having absorbed Mosiro guerrillas after that planet's loss in the First Andurien War of 3032. The guerrilla force, though a minority, influenced the rest of the brigade until the entire unit was known as the Ghosts of Mosiro. Their prominence was solidified by the choice to make them Andurien's contribution to the ground elements of Operation: SERPENT in 3060, where they suffered significant casualties in subduing elements of the Thirty-Ninth Royal BattleMech Division in the Amazonas district of South America.

When Andurien's fifty years of peace was shattered by the Oriento-Capellan Empire's invasion, the Second Defenders were the garrison assigned to Kanata. Facing all six of the Oriente Fusiliers brigades, the 2nd refused an offer of surrender and began a fight to the death to hold the world. They were extracted by the arrival of a Rim Commonality naval task force that drove the Empire's fleet away long enough for the Second to heed retreat orders, as they were desperately needed elsewhere. From 3111 to 3113 they were part of the defense of Villaneuva from OCE invasion troops. In 3114-17 they were part of the desperate defense of Andurien. Despite being at only forty percent strength after the Andurien campaign they joined the Canopian Chasseurs e Chauvel and the Gray Death Legion in retaking Kanata in 3118 and, in a fitting climax to their part in the war, joined the capture of Mosiro in 3119.

With seventy percent personnel losses and only twenty-five percent material strength left, the Second met the Peace of Dieron with pride and relief that the long nightmare was over, their duty done. They have since been assigned to garrison Mosiro and slowly rebuild to regular strength over the following twenty years of economic destitution and hardship. Recently they had an opportunity to display their capabilities when an apparent pirate band struck at Mosiro. The attackers seemed more interested in hitting government buildings, the homes of government leaders, and local media than regular pillaging, especially concentrating on targets associated with supporting Free Capella dissidents, but the Second quickly put an end to this by driving them off-world, catching the pirates by clear surprise with their capable tactics and fighting prowess. After the invasion the State Security Service investigated captured machines and remains and found some hints of connections to Warrior House Fujita,, which has strenuously denied involvement in the attack and insisted it was a false flag operation. So far the Andurien government has not pressed Emperor Robert any further on the subject.


Chamberlain's Fusiliers

The Fusiliers were formed in 3039 by Lady Janice Chamberlain, an exiled noblewoman of Kearny. Using every scrap of her family's fortune she could lay hands on, the unit was just large enough to win the attention of the desperate Hyades Rim Republic, who hired Chamberlain's Fusiliers on in an attempt to stop their conquest by the Brethren of the Stars and the Federated Suns. The choice proved a disaster as the Republic, true to their prior form, threw the Fusiliers and other mercenary commands into a counterattack at MacLeod's Land and promptly abandoned the mercenaries when Brethren forces arrived in great force. The Brethren was merciless and Lady Janice herself was nearly killed leading her mercenaries in a fighting retreat. Saving her command came down to accepting a Brethren offer of conditional surrender that compelled the Fusiliers to hand over half of their remaining equipment but would let them keep their DropShips and depart the system.

This would have spelled the end of the unit if not for its next misfortune, as the Fusiliers were given a generous loan by the TUDF's Mercenary Relations Department in exchange for contracting with the TUDF. Faced with the dissolution of her unit and being left penniless, Lady Janice accepted grudgingly, and soon found her Fusiliers and dozens of other mercenary forces effectively dragooned into the TUDF's "Auxiliary Divisions". When Operation: REVIVAL launched the Fusiliers were assigned to support the second wave of the Galedon invasion force. For four months they fought in that bloody siege until they were useless in combat. The TUDF's local commanders decided to ship them back to Union territory for refurbishment, but they were instead relayed to be a garrison force in Andurien. Here the unit's fortune changed, as Lady Janice decided she'd had enough of the Terrans' abuse of her forces. When Andurien ordered the Terrans expelled in 3054, Lady Janice openly supported the People's State and offered her unit's services to assist in their expulsion. In thanks, Duke Charles approved citizenship for Lady Janice and her Fusiliers, and they became a standing force of the APDF, ultimately serving with distinction in protecting Andurien itself from the Empire during the long invasion of 3110-3117.

Since the Peace of Dieron the Fusiliers, or at least the Chamberlains, have come home. Lady Janice passed on before the war started, but her granddaughter Joanna won permission for her unit to be assigned to her family's homeworld. Made a Lady of Andurien for her battlefield courage in preserving the People's State, Joanna has at last regained the family home as personal property and serves as the Brigadier of the Fusiliers. She was offered a chance to run for the Kearny Governing Committee but turned it down; like many of her fellow exiles living in Andurien, Joanna has embraced the Andurien way of life and eschews wielding any political power, even elective, in favor of serving the people of Kearny as their defenders.


Third People's Defense Brigade

The Third was formed as one of the first People's Defense Brigades in 3039 during Duchess Elise's reformation of the old AAF to the APDF. The Third, like its sibling formations, is made of three combined arms regiments that includes a 'Mech battalion per regiment. It effectively forms a 'Mech regiment in this fashion but in tactical operation the formations are strictly combined arms. The Third was drawn from volunteers of Villaneuva and are assigned to the defense of that world and its valuable naval industries.

They rallied the moment the invasion warning went out, and were in their trenches when the Imperial forces jumped into Villaneuva. By all projections the Third should have been shattered by the invading forces, led as they were by the crack First Dynasty Guards, but they proved tenacious even as battalion after battalion was smashed by orbital drop operations and punishing air strikes. By April 3110 their defeat seemed assured even with their hard fighting, but at that moment they turned the tables when the survivors of the Third Brigade's Second Regiment threw themselves into a surprise spoiling offensive. They were annihilated, but not before killing the command staff of the invading troops, delaying the Imperial clearing operation long enough for rescue to arrive in the form of the Gray Death Legion. With the help of Roland Carlyle's elite mercenaries the Third held the critical facilities until the Empire was forced to withdraw in 3111. For the next four years the Third rebuilt on their homeworld, repulsing occasional raids from the Harsefeld Lancers and Capellan Imperial Cavalry, until desperation forced the APDF to send them to Andurien when the planet was on the cusp of falling in 3115. After losing a quarter of their number to the Imperial blockade, the Third proved vital to the defense of Jojoken while other counter-attacks freed Baroda and a number of critical cities and facilities. When the Empire finally retreated in 3117, the Third were among those who could celebrate the victory, even if they'd lost two thirds of their comrades to wounds and death. They returned to Villaneuva as heroes of the People's State.

The time after the Peace of Dieron has been a struggle. The Third Brigade has spent most of its time slowly reactivating destroyed formations as trickles of machines and manpower arrived through the 20s and 30s. For the most part their service has been civil, with Third Brigade 'Mechs and troopers helping with the Pineda River Valley Flood of 3125 and rescue and restoration efforts when a 8.8-scale earthquake devastated the city of Roanapur. In recent years the efforts of General Jacob Chamberlain to bring the APDF back to a minimal readiness level have seen the Third's war-game exercises pick up, with the unit getting special support by sparring with and learning from the mercenary Victors of the Ludus Magnus as the battle-hardened veterans recover from the fighting on Morthac in 3141.


Lancaster's Filibusters

The Filibusters, like a number of mercenary bands formed in the Second Age of War, started as the exiles of a fallen Successor State. When the Lancaster Authority was conquered in 3032 by its neighbors, a force of its surviving aerospace arm was trapped in Solar Union territory. The Union leadership gave them the choice of being taken prisoner and handed over to the conquerors of their homeland or organizing as a mercenary force and accepting work with the Union. They accepted and became a prized mid-tier mercenary force known for professionalism and a deep, bitter grudge against Galedon and the Lexington Concord. They ultimately left the region, particularly after their first employers allied with their oppressors, accepting work with a number of other Successor States, all the while investing in growing their forces from their starting roots as an aerospace force with raiders in 'Mechs to a full-sized aerospace group and optimized 'Mech assault force. Where possible they recruit from the former worlds of House Lancaster, despite legal interference from Concord authorities that sometimes exceeds the Concord's own laws.

The Filibusters fought under contract with the Federated Suns during the Terran War and the Concord-Compact War, where they relished the opportunity to avenge their homeland's fall. During the Third Outback War they specifically turned down a renewal contract with the Rasalhaguans for the chance to return to House Silver-Davion and fight their old enemies once more, though they suffered extensively during the recapture of Broken Wheel in 3094 and were forced to rebuild under a garrison contract in Aurigan territory. When the Fourth Succession War came they were contracted to Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant and would participate in the short-lived victories of the Sirian Commonality campaign before the IOCF counterattacks resulted in significant losses. They joined the defense of Stewart in 3113 and participated in the breaking of both blockades of Atreus in 3115 and 3119.

At the war's end they were reduced to a company of 'Mechs and a wing and a half of exhausted aerospace pilots in a fleet of banged up DropShips, having lost their JumpShip contingent to the IOCF's navy at Atreus. When their contract with House Proctor ended in 3122, they worked briefly with Ghastillia against pirates in the Rim Frontier before accepting a contract to support defense of Andurien's own Frontier Region. For fourteen years the Filibusters have maintained this contract, agreeing to renewals as they slowly rebuilt their forces, and are much respected in the APDF for their anti-piracy effectiveness. Now up to their preferred strength of three aerospace wings backed by a combined arms regiment of 'Mechs and armored jump infantry, the Filibusters have virtually ended piracy in the Andurien Frontier systems. With their contract due to expire or renew in 3143, there is uncertainty on whether the APDF will succeed in securing a renewal or, even better, finally convince the unit to settle down and accept Andurien citizenship. For the time being, pirates give a wide berth to the frontier for fear of running into the golden-winged fighters of the Filibusters.

 

[Steve]

Magistracy of Canopus


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Ruling House: Centrella-Arano
Capital: Canopus
Ruler: Magestrix Kamea Centrella-Arano
Worlds: 131
BattleMech Regiments: 76
WarShips: 26


The Magistracy of Canopus has endured much in its history, on both sides of the Glass. As with our own, the Cisglass Canopians suffered the economic collapse of the end of the Star League, worsened with the following dissolution of the Free Worlds League. The resulting chaos saw the state forced to retrench, withdrawing its battered forces and power from the furthest frontier worlds to protect the core, only to reclaim their former frontiers in the Second Age of War. Yet this was not done easily, and for a time, the gamble at Andurien seemed destined to cause the destruction of the Magistracy and the toppling of House Centrella, with Magestrix Kyalla killed in battle and Canopus itself subjected to its first military occupation since the Star League fell. Surviving this changed the Magistracy in a number of ways that are still rippling to our modern day.

Canopus itself is the world where almost anything is allowed and the pleasures of life are celebrated with virtually no inhibition. From this world the pleasure circuses make their rounds, inside and outside the Magistracy, spreading the message of their libertine way of life to those from more restrictive cultures and societies. The healers of Canopus likewise have their reputations for excellence that has few, if any, equal even in the central Inner Sphere. The only significant change for the Canopians as a people was from the height of the Terran War when Magestrix Emma, citing the loyalty of the common folk against the blandishments of Terran propaganda, formally signed the legislation eliminating the last vestiges of indentured servitude in 3053. The Canopian people would be truly, completely free, and no fiscal debt could ever restrict that again. Emma and her successors have also worked to eliminate the remaining misandrism of Canopian culture with increasing success, though holdouts remain on a number of worlds.

Politically the Canopus on the other side has a system much like our Canopus, save that the Crimson Council was expanded by Nicoletta to take on the duties equivalent to the old Taurian Privy Council, making them a Council of Ministers as well as the overseers of Canopian nobility and the rules governing them. Their new institutional purpose has greatly superceded their old in the last few decades, especially when the strains of the Fourth Succession War demanded streamlining the advice governing the actions of the Magistracy.

Like all realms on the Periphery, Canopus has a frontier society of some renown. Emma and her successors - Nicoletta, Keona, and now Kamea - have invested significantly in restoring habitation to systems lost when the Star League fell. The decades of investment and effort, supported by hiring the finest geo-engineers from Tikonov, the Federated Suns, and elsewhere, have seen this effort blossom to fruition with the last worlds to be re-colonized considered properly resettled as of 3132. Magistrix Kamea has more recently approved the settlement of completely untouched systems between the Magistracy proper and the Aurigan Reach, although it will likely be another one or two decades before these potential colonies are established. The Special Colony Regions meanwhile operate under special legal regimes with very little in the way of customs or trade duties, encouraging commerce and settlement for those willing to face the uncertainties of the frontier. The SCRs have even been granted their own defense forces, the Colonial Marshals, who operate as part anti-pirate military garrison, part law enforcement, with individual marshals often maintaining law and order from their BattleMechs among the bustling frontier towns of the distant systems.

The MAF maintains a respectable force of seventy BattleMech regiments. Their remaining strength is found in the mercenary commands hired to help the Colonial Marshals deal with pirate incursions, while the bulk of the MAF remains on and around Canopus to deal with any conflict breaking out in the region. The naval force has a small WarShip fleet of twenty-six vessels, backed by a proportionally larger force of Picket WarShips and Fleet Carriers for border defense and supporting MAF's ground troops on campaign. A quarter of the MAF's 'Mech and naval strength is drawn from the Aurigan Reach, with their regiments and ships providing defense for Coromodir and other systems. This is as much a deterrent to the Empire as it is to the Federated Suns. Diplomatically, relations with House Silver-Davion have improved over the past half century, starting with the marriage of Vincent Davion to Nicoletta Calderon, Magestrix Nicoletta's namesake niece, in 3094. The Fourth Succession War ended this progress for a time, with a Federated Suns offensive into the Reach that was forced back, but the Suns' needs for manpower on their long front with Galedon and the Concord brought an unofficial ceasefire that the Magistracy was just as desperate for. Since the war the Suns have become a friendly state to Canopus. Likewise Andurien, once a foe, has had its friendship guaranteed by the mutual sacrifices to stop the Oriento-Capellans.

Relations with the Empire remain frosty, given Canopus' role in thwarting their conquest of Andurien and older disputes stretching back to the asylum Kyalla granted to the survivors of the anti-Liaoist Capellan Hegemony in 3036. Canopus remains a key center of support for the Free Capella movement as the homeland for the descendants of the defeated Hegemony. It is rumored that the MIM and Maskirovka continue to wage a clandestine shadow war over the latter's efforts to destabilize and undermine the movement and their support in Canopian society.

The diplomatic arrangements with House O'Reilly remain the oldest, yet also the most uncertain. Kyalla's early agreements with Sean O'Reilly undoubtedly ensured the near-disaster of the Second Andurien War, and even though the Principate would fight for their partners and help bring Emma back to Canopus, Emma would never again let her state's foreign policy be determined by alliances alone. For much of the Later Second Age of War she and her daughter maintained their ties but never devoted everything the MAF had to the interests of the Principate. Everything from their choosing of Flavius over Scipio to their post-Dieron partnership agreements has been directed by the principle that nothing will be pursued that does not benefit the Magistracy's interests, and that the survival of their state will not be jeopardized. Indeed, as of late this relationship has grown strained with the tragic death by illness of Flavius and the rise of Julia O'Reilly as Imperatrix; Julia is seen as too ambitious by many advisors in the Crimson Council, and too closely linked to the annexation of the Rim Commonality in 3126. An annexation, it is noted, made possible by the assassination of First Minister Semiha Cifti, both of which the Crimson Council and the Ebon Magistrate are said to harbor very strong views over.

Despite such reservations the Magistracy maintains ties with her neighboring Periphery power, and it was due to such ties that their flagship, the Emma Centrella, and the Canopian Highlanders brigade were dispatched to the far end of the Inner Sphere in early 3142. Together with a force from the Principate, they were due to conduct war games with the Lyran states at the Lyran system of Timkovichi, and so were a mere jump away when Training Force SIEGFRIED misjumped into our Timkovichi and forged the Looking Glass. The Canopians' naval forces burned immediately for the jump point to join the investigation. They jumped just before the Arcadians returned through the Glass, allowing their engineers to help examine and repair the jump engines of the Arcadian 1st Battle Fleet, giving them key data on the creation of the phenomena. With the war games canceled the Canopian expedition started jumping back towards home, where the Magistracy approved a humanitarian aid package that has only recently been dispatched. Other than this, no other response has been given, which is no surprise given the distance. From the point of view of the Arcadians and our own, the MAF's value is greater in keeping the Oriento-Capellan Empire honest, not trying to maintain a five hundred light year supply line through the Glass.


Canopian Lifeguards

The Canopian Lifeguards were formed from survivors of the Canopian First and Second Royal Guards and other formations devastated by the Second Andurien War. Tasked with the protection of the Magestrix or whatever military missions she deems of high importance to the Canopian state, they are often posted to Canopus unless desperately needed at the front, though a detachment is always kept to guard the Magestrix's person. The stellar performance of their oversized battle armor battalions, primarily male due to the institutional biases of the MAF during the 3020s and 3030s, did much to contribute to the erosion of misandrism in the MAF through the Second Age of War. Rigorously trained and often with the best gear the MAF can hope to procure, the Lifeguards are an elite fighting force not to be taken lightly, as their enemies have long learned the hard way throughout the Second Age of War.

The Fourth Succession War saw the Lifeguards at their peak, fighting to hold Andurien under the command of the heiress Keona Centrella-Arano. Repeated battles ground the unit down, but with their future Magestrix in her 'Mech and at their side, the Lifeguards rebounded from every setback and frequently made the Empire pay in blood for every centimeter of Andurien soil. They liberated Jojoken twice in the company of the First Defenders of Andurien, shattered the Second Allison Heavy Guards in the Bhutal Heights, and broke the 3115 offensive of the Warrior Houses before they could outflank the defenses of Jojoken. Combat losses forced them to withdraw from Andurien after that desperate battle, returning to Canopus with their wounded and bleeding commander in tow. Before they could return to the front Magestrix Nicoletta's death forced Keona to assume the throne. She chose to keep the Lifeguards out of the fighting unless forced to join as a strategic reserve. That moment came in 3119 when they joined a joint APDF/MAF/mercenary force in capturing Kearny from the Empire, the most important offensive victory on that front and a contributing factor to the mutual exhaustion that enabled the success of peace at the Congress of Dieron a year later.

Since the Peace of Dieron the Lifeguards have rebuilt to their full strength. They remain posted on Canopus to fulfill their primary mission, the defense of the Magestrix, who has not seen fit to deploy them since the Peace. As with her mother, command of the Lifeguards fell to Kamea Centrella-Arano, until Keona's death in 3139 led to Kamea's ascension to the Crimson and Cormorant Thrones. The Lifeguards were called upon to fulfill the somber duty of attending their commander's funeral ceremony and impressed many with their bearing and skill in the affair. Now under the command of Auli'i Centrella-Arano, the younger sister of the Magestrix, the Lifeguards remain at their stations for the day when they might be needed in battle once more.


Fourth Canopian Grenadiers

The Fourth Grenadiers are hailed as "The Magestrix's Own", a title they proved in a proud if painful fashion in 3036 when they died alongside Magestrix Kyalla in resisting the Harsefeld invasion of Canopus. A few survivors took to the brush and maintained an insurgency for nearly a year before the arrival of Kyalla's daughter Emma and a task force of Canopian and Principate troops arrived to reclaim the planet. With the war ended before either side could finish the other off, the Fourth were reformed around these hardened survivors, and would serve proudly as heavy forces throughout the remaining Second Age of War.

In the Fourth Succession War they were among the first regiments to hit the ground in the Relief of Andurien, though they lost a third of their number on the way through the Imperial blockade ships. They would fight on that world for three years until their losses and the need to reform the MAF's formations saw their withdrawal with the rest of their assigned MAF Army formation. Returned to service in 3117, they saw to the Third Battle of Lopez and would support the capture of Shiro from Oriento-Capellan forces late the following year. The final battles were ferocious and the unit was back to forty-percent strength when the Peace of Dieron ended the war.

As part of the Fourth Army Group formation of the MAF, the Fourth Grenadiers are responsible for the defense of the border area meeting the Principate and Andurien, meaning they would be the first to the line should the Empire ever attempt to reclaim Kearny. Moving worlds every three to four years, they train with the rest of their comrades to maintain cohesion in the event the Peace of Dieron fails.


Canopian Highlanders

The Canopian Highlanders are the trouble-shooter regiment of the MAF, without permanent assignment to local army commands so that they can move to whichever area needs a force of shock troop 'Mechs and armored infantry or raid freely as the strategic circumstances demand. The unit is organized for flexibility and to meet multiple tactical needs simultaneously with whatever forces they have available, with command officers chosen to best employ this approach. They have gained a reputation for taking in officers considered trouble-makers in more orthodox regiments, making the Highlanders unpredictable and, for a number of outside officers, harder to work with. Under Magestrix Emma's reorganization of the 3040s the Highlanders became the model for the Canopian Raider Regiments, which emulate the Highlanders' tactics albeit with a greater focus on speed and striking capability over the shock elements.

The Fourth Succession War saw the Highlanders rushed to Andurien with a scratch naval force that sacrificed itself to insert the regiment onto the embattled capital without losses. That began the first of three two year tours on Andurien for the Highlanders, each campaign seeing a mix of success and defeats against the IOCF troops trying to secure Andurien for the Imperial Capellan State. Their final tour saw their greatest triumph in liberating the city of Baroda alongside the Arano Royal Guards, driving the First Sian Dragoons from the second city of Andurien with significant losses to both. When the Empire withdrew from Andurien in 3117, the Highlanders were down to barely two-fifths of their regulation strength, and the hardened veterans were exhausted. They would sit out most of the following campaigns before commencing one final strike in 3119, landing on Casleraigne to secure the planet for Andurien as part of the final offensives of the war.

With the Fourth Succession War over, the Highlanders returned to their typical duties of moving about the Magistracy, dealing with local troubles or helping to repulse rampaging pirates trying to exploit the broken forces of the former combatants. In 3130 they were assigned to the Aurigan Reach and stopped cold an effort by the Fourth Capellan Chargers to seize the new colony on Midthun, one of the few times the Empire's forces were the instigators of a threat to the Peace of Dieron. When Magestrix Kamea agreed to a series of wargames with her Principate allies to be held with the Lyran Alliance, she picked the Highlanders to be the land force contingent, sending them to far off Timkovichi for the SIEGFRIED war games. Reportedly the unit was very disappointed when they were given the orders to return instead of getting to join the Arcadians in "smashing those bird people flat". They are now en route to Saonara to take up new duty stations in the region.


Arano Royal Guard

The bodyguard unit of House Arano has undergone many changes from its humble roots. At one point reduced to a mere company of MechWarriors fighting alongside the Canopians during the Terran War, the Arano Royal Guard today is a brigade-sized force and the elite unit of the Aurigan Reach's contribution to the Magistracy. Typically assigned to Coromodir they are forward deployed where necessary, much like their Canopian counterparts.

The Fourth Succession War would see the unit initially held down protecting the Reach from the nearby might of the Federated Suns, particularly in the first months of the war. They led the repulse of the Third Taurian Volunteers RCT from Mechdur in August 3110 and counter-raided to Larsha, where they provided surplus armaments to local Taurian nationalist insurgents. In 3111 the Fifth Federated Suns Grenadiers RCT met the Royal Guard in a spirited battle on Guldra that saw the Guard triumphant but badly battered. After two more years of rebuilding and protecting the Reach, an unofficial truce agreement between the Federated Suns and the Magistracy saw the Royal Guard freed to face its greatest test. They were dispatched with a relief force to the embattled world of Andurien, where they lost a tenth of their number just burning in-system against ferocious Imperial naval and aerospace interdiction. Once planetside they became part of the ongoing campaign to expel the Empire from the planet. In 3115 they joined the Canopian Highlanders in expelling the First Sian Dragoons from Baroda. The following year they were successful in holding Callan from the Third Dynasty Guards in the Empire's last gasp effort to break the resistance around Jojoken. When the IOCF finally abandoned the invasion in 3117, the Royal Guard were down to half their manpower in active personnel and forty percent of their material strength. They were rebuilt to two-thirds strength before being employed to seize Repulse from the Empire, utterly destroying the surviving units of the Third Knights of Liao in a two week campaign where the Liaoists asked no quarter and gave less.

With the Peace of Dieron signed the Arano Royal Guard returned home. These past two decades they have rebuilt to full strength and have regained as much of their wartime edge as the peace allows. The old days of skirmishing with AFFS forces are over, and the IOCF has with few exceptions remained quiet as well. After the attack on Midthun Regent Mateo Arano, in defiance of his instructions from Canopus, dispatched the Royal Guard to Renown with a strong naval and aerospace force and utterly destroyed the Fourth Chargers in their base, a retaliation for the attack. On the Regent's orders the Guard forcibly freed the prisoners of all the planet's state-run prisons and Maskirovka holding facilities. Many of the political dissidents chose to return with the Royal Guard to Coromodir while those that didn't started an insurgency against the Oriento-Capellans that still lingers to this day. Regent Arano was harshly rebuked and had his command authority suspended in favor of a general dispatched from Canopus, but the Aurigan Council in turn backed Mateo and ultimately prevailed in compelling the Crimson Council into backing off on the matter. Since that time no further IOCF forces have struck at Aurigan worlds and the Royal Guard have remained in their bases on Coromodir, training for whenever the Reach and the Magistracy may next need them.

 

[Steve]

Flavian Principate


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Ruling House: O'Reilly
Capital: Alphard
Ruler: Imperatrix Julia O'Reilly
Worlds: 240
BattleMech Regiments: 160
WarShips: 98

The Marian Hegemony's reputation has always been a sinister one for those of us in the Republic; a brutal, aggressive empire on the Periphery, openly practicing slavery and raiding their neighbors for forced labor. Yet they have never achieved the heights of the other side's Marians, the most successful Periphery-based Successor State either Inner Sphere has ever known. They were the great terror of the early Second Age of War, an army of brutal and efficient legions advancing from the dark to enslave worlds for the glory of their reborn Roman society. The propaganda of many Successor States made slavering monsters out of them as worlds like Cavanaugh, Timbiqui, Bolan, Tamarind, and Buena fell to their armies, and the Terrans would single them out for the most voracious propaganda in their attempts to split the Successor States during the Terran War. Yet with their expansion came much-needed social and economic reform, including the repudiation of the very slavery that drove their need for expansion in the first place.

The Principate is a semi-republican imperial monarchy, as the Senate has a number of powers that in conjunction with the ministers and judiciary can restrain the ruler, who holds the titles of Imperator and Princeps, representing military and civilian authority. While Imperator has long been the title of the ruler of House O'Reilly, Princeps came into use under Corvus O'Reilly when he reformed the Hegemony into the Principate, with the Imperator title going to whichever of his chosen heirs or trusted advisors needed to wield powers over the military. In more recent years, this practice has ended, with Flavius and his daughter Julia holding both titles and Julia publicly favoring the Imperatrix title over Princeps, a commentary on her harsher world view over that of her father.

The Patrician class remains as a nobility that has seen much retraction of its power this past century, typically escalating every time they attempted to roll the process back and restore their powers and their right to hold slaves. Failed coups in 3040 and 3069 led to nothing but executed patrician leaders and their most successful moment, the rise of Scipio O'Reilly's Dominate in 3095, was lost to Scipio's ambition to conquer the Royal Federation and his failure on Arcadia. The restoration of the Principate in 3100 broke the class's remaining brakes on political reform and they are today a much-weakened noble caste, reliant upon manipulating the factions of the Senate to achieve any goals. Yet the surviving patricians remain wealthy and influential in business and industry and their views must still be weighed at the Imperial Court.

Socially the legacy of the past continues to drive the dynamics of Alphard's "new Rome". For those from Alphard and the core of the old original Marian state, the years of rapid expansion and conquest are still called the Anni Gloriae. The various legions proudly bear the battle honors and standards they won on their advance into the Inner Sphere and the warriors of that era are considered the great heroes of the modern state. While contradictory reports are not outright repressed, it is not welcome to speak of the "other side" of those conquests among the conquerors. The accounts of suffering from both war and the families destroyed by the seizure of captives for the slave trade are dismissed as overwrought if not dangerous to the "dignity of the State", an attitude that is found even among those who claim descent from the victims given how well they have assimilated. Pride in the Principate's victories and great empire is widespread and entrenched and nothing will be allowed to sully it, not even the truth. This pride was best demonstrated when the centennial of the conquest of Bolan saw a spike in anti-Arcadian sentiment from the memory of Die Rettungsaktion, with Arcadian MechWarrior gladiators booed in the colosseums and widespread memorials to the fallen gladiators of the Gladiator Auxilia. During the commemoration a series of Senate speeches repeated old claims of House Umayr's responsibility for their own conquest as part of new thundering denunciations of the Bolanese and their "plots against our Principate", joined two years later by similar remarks about House Shah of Tamarind. The KING of Pilpala, the local dynastic ruler in charge of captured Bolanese worlds and an advocate of resuming conquest, was quick to support this action, and the speeches coincided with suspected raids against the Royal Federation by Principate forces that were disavowed but quietly celebrated by many on Alphard. Given the Imperial Court's continued focus on the Capellan threat, the populace's willingness to support attacks on a natural ally against the Empire is an ongoing frustration.

Criticisms of the Years of Glory are rather more accepted in other parts of the Principate but to varying degrees of annoyance for bringing up such a divisive issue when it is a history many wish to put behind them. With a hundred years now separating most of these worlds from their pre-Principate past the sting has been lost and generations that have only known O'Reilly rule have led to a degree of assimilation, with many worlds' cities now boasting public forums for local debate, Latin a common language for instruction alongside Star League English, and recruitment to the legions touted as a way to advance for all citizens regardless of background. The respecting of local customs by officialdom from Alphard has greatly benefited this process, allowing for a joint identity between one's locality and the Principate as a whole to form for many. Only along the borders to older loyalties still hold sway, particularly around Tamarind, Bolan, and along the Ghastillian border in the Rim Worlds, and in the former Bolanese worlds, the KING of Pilpala has often overstepped his legal bounds to punish and abuse dissidents against Principate control, causing more headaches for the Imperial Court.

Yet the greatest exception to this assimilation are the worlds of the newest province of the Principate. The Rim Province, as it is called, is made up of the worlds of the Rim Commonality at the time of its merger into the Principate in 3126. The plebiscite approving the merger won narrowly and dissent against the loss of their independence remains steady. Some among Alphard grumble at the "Commonals' ingratitude" given the horrible shape of their economy at the time of merger which cost many trillions of denarii and has held back the Principate's recovery from the Fourth Succession War. In recent years incidents with the legions assigned to Tematagi and other worlds in the area have escalated and sparked alarms of an insurgency led by the most prominent opponent of the merger, Halime Cifti, who has since emigrated to the People's State of Andurien and used that nation's open debate laws to maintain harsh invective aimed at the Principate for the annexation. Publically many have accused Cifti of becoming an Maskirovoka agent, including the Imperatrix Julia who has made clear Halime Cifti's arrest for sedition would be carried out immediately upon her return to any world held by the Principate, even if it would undoubtedly inflame the situation.

To enforce her will anywhere in the Principate, Julia has the same tool all Imperators have enjoyed: the Legions. Trained in strict, sometimes brutal discipline, the Principate Legions have rebuilt their formations from their desperate situation after the defeat at Kearny and the loss of many formations during the Empire's offensive to Tematagi. They employ a unique organizational structure for combined arms warfare, with each legion built around two or three regiments worth of BattleMechs as the core of individual cohorts. The scope of warfare in the Cisglass means each legion is most often assigned to a planet together, though on some fronts they are assigned by cohort depending upon the importance of the worlds and the threat on those fronts. Supporting the frontline legions are the Feoderati, the Auxilia, and the Limitanei. The former are typically units of great renown from conquered worlds who, despite being conquered, impressed the legions that faced them, but they also consist of local province-based formations or the personal forces of local subordinate rulers like the Prince of Regulus, the KING of Pilpala, or the Director of the Niops Associated Province. Most of the surviving RCAF units were folded into the Foederati upon the merger due to their regional character, though individual officers of great talent were inducted into the legions where possible (that is, where they did not resign rather than accept the reassignment). The Auxilia are of comparable quality but tend to be legionary formations raised as support forces for the BattleMech legions or by specific groups, the most famous of these being the Gladiator Auxilia, With some exceptions like the Gladiators, the Auxilia favor vehicle and infantry units over BattleMechs with usually just a battalion worth of 'Mechs per cohort. The final force, the Limitanei, are formed from local militia volunteers as garrison troops, organized primarily as planetary cohorts built around battalions of older BattleMechs. While these forces, especially Limitanei, do not serve under legionary discipline, they are respected regardless and have been employed offensively since the campaigns of the Anni Gloriae.

As with all the Cisglass Successor States, the Principate enjoys a powerful navy, indeed it is one of the strongest with nearly a hundred WarShips in service backed by a powerful support fleet of DropShips. While initially not a naval power when they began their expansion the needs of the fighting with Oriente's mighty navy compelled Imperator Corvus to serious investment into the naval strength of the Principate, and his successors followed suit. Losses in the Fourth Succession War have yet to be fully replaced due to the economic issues in the former Rim Commonality, but in light of the recent Oriento-Capellan naval buildup the Senate has approved more denarii for naval construction, and efforts are underway to finish restoring the shipyard facilities of Tematagi and Karachi for expanding the Principate's Navy.

The same naval buildup led to the Principate's agreement to participate in the planned Lyran Alliance war games on Timkovichi in 3142. A mixed detachment of WarShips led by the Corvus O'Reilly and III Legio were dispatched on the long journey, putting them in place when the Glass was formed one system over. The engineers of the naval element were invited to assist in the checks to ensure the Arcadian 1st Battle Fleet and the Ghastillian Woden Battle Group were fit for further jumps, giving them a chance to learn more of the phenomena and how it afflicts JumpShips and WarShips. This information has already been relayed to Alphard for study and the SIEGFRIED contingent are returning to Principate space. By all accounts Imperatrix Julia has no interest in joining the effort against the Clans, though publicly has voiced support for Arcadian intervention. Some speculation from Alphard watchers believe this is a mere diplomatic gesture and the Imperatrix is not happy with Nathaniel for the distraction from the threat of the Empire. It is clear nothing is to be expected from the Principate when it comes to supporting Nathaniel's intervention. They have other matters they wish to focus on.


IX Legio

The ninth of House O'Reilly's legions has a unique history to go with its extensive battle honors. They were exiled along with their commander, Lucius O'Reilly, in the early 31st Century and would become the famous mercenary band Boyz Movers, a highly prized and sought group. After coming to power Corvus revoked Lucius' exile and formally restored the unit to the rolls. A few of its remaining members formed the core of a new IX Legio that, starting with the relief of McAffe in 3042, would go on to become one of the top legions of the PAF.

Along with VI Legio, IX Legio remained loyal to the Principate when Scipio took over, joining Flavius O'Reilly in Canopian exile and repulsing Scipio's loyalists in their invasions of the Magistracy. They were particularly thorough in clearing Alphard of the patricians' forces in 3100 to the extent Flavius had to order them to stand down. In the Fourth Succession War they captured Aitutaki and participated in the Fifth Battle of Nullarbor in 3114, losing their entire III Cohors to the Oriente Fusiliers and Free Worlds Guards but prevailing with their comrades in driving the IOCF from the system. In 3116 they participated in the greatest victory of the war, the conquest of Regulus, capturing the Palace of Mirrors in Regulus City and forcing the surrender of the Third Regulan Hussars of the IOCF. Given their losses through the conflict they were left on Regulus as the core of the defense forces, sparing them from the disaster at Kearny. Through 3118 and 3119 they dug in and repulsed repeated attacks by the IOCF's Regulan Hussars and the First Allison Heavy Guard, maintaining the Principate/Rim Commonality grip on the planet and ensuring that at the Peace of Dieron it was kept as the trophy of the Principate.

Despite their losses IX Legio was the most intact frontline legion at war's end. This made them perfect for the role of troubleshooter and IX Legio was given priority for transport assets to allow them to deploy wherever necessary to meet trouble, whether it was to stare down the KING at his palace on Binyang or to reinforce systems near Tamarind against rumored insurgencies backed by House Shah. Among the ranks of IX Legio today are some of the most promising junior officers from the Collegium Bellorum Imperial, the most prominent of them being Cohors I's newest commanding officer, Legate Mark O'Reilly, the great-grandson of Lucius O'Reilly and one of the Principate's preeminent MechWarriors and field commanders. Should the Peace of Dieron fail, it is expected Legate O'Reilly and IX Legio will be prominent in whatever new glories are claimed by the Legions.


Gladiator Auxilia (Gladiators Legion)

The Gladiator Auxilia were formed in 3032 from a surplus of old worn-down 'Mechs that came into the possession of the MHAF. The unit's core came when Richard Cox of the infamous Solaris Roadshow gifted the contracts of his active MechWarriors to the Imperator Sean who elevated the most promising to suitable ranks, made Cox their (honorary) Prefect, and employed them for the conquest of Bolan. They did better than expected and pleased their skeptical MHAF comrades during the first phase of the campaign, but nearly met their end when they were confronted by the elite Arcadian Rangers at the start of Die Rettungsaktion in 3034. They fought back tenaciously before being swept aside As a matter of pride, the furious Imperator ordered their reconstitution with the best gear the Hegemony could afford, and they would be returned to the rolls as a frontline-quality formation.

By the Fourth Succession War the Gladiators were legends to the people of the Principate and had become something akin to the French Foreign Legion of ancient Terra, with Solaris and other centers of gladiatorial combat often seeing recruiters for the Gladiators' Legion gaining their pick of desperate and determined fighters from every Successor State with the promise of Principate citizenship upon a five year term of service in the Legion. They played roles in the Fifth and Sixth Battles of Nullarbor and the capture of Camlann and were part of the second wave that hit Regulus in 3116. Their relative lack of losses in the Regulus victory proved their undoing as they were selected for the first wave of Principate and Rim Commonality forces that hit Kearny in early 3118. This spared them the ambush in space but left them to fight a long, bitter, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign that saw the surrender or death of over nine-tenths of the legion after several weeks of brutal conflict. A small band of MechWarriors and infantry fighters organized by Centurion Lupe Zari fled into the bush and maintained a small-scale guerrilla resistance. Despite dwindling supplies and constant losses Zari's troops continued to fight, salvaging whatever they could when necessary and waging hit-and-run strikes on the IOCF units hunting them. Their war ended when their positions were relieved by the Fifth Andurien Rangers when Canopian-Andurien forces took Kearny. Imperator Flavius ordered them returned to Alphard as heroes and declared games to be held in their honor, at which he decorated Centurion Zari and the survivors with the Order of Corvus for their actions.

In the years following the Peace of Dieron the Gladiator Legion has rebuilt. The legend continues to attract numerous recruits who are looking for adventure, resulting in many being turned away from lack of billets or failure to prove gladiatorial background. The people of Alphard and other Principate worlds continue to glorify the unit as a symbol of the martial greatness of their civilization and ensure its continued support by less-admiring superiors in the PAF, who are compelled by the Senate and popular demand to ensure the Gladiators are outfitted with gear befitting the Principate Legions and not Foederati. In recent years the Gladiators have been employed on security duties in the Tematagia Province and are currently posted on Camlann, a move that has certainly drawn the eye of the Maskirovka.


Pilpala Foederati Legio (The KING of Pilpala's Legion)

Among the stories of the early Second Age of War, this unit's foundation is one of the stranger. The ruler of Pilpala in the 3030s was a vainglorious but effective maniac who affected a persona based off a 20th Century Terran musician and referred to himself as "the KING of Pilpala". He attempted to carve his own small statelet out of the People's State of Andurien in the First Andurien War. When that war ended with an intact Andurien state, the KING was forced to back down, choosing to flee to the Marian Hegemony with his troops and everything he could loot from his conquests. After fighting for the Hegemony in the conquest of the Bolan Principality he was granted holdings from the fallen nation as a vassal ruler of the Marian Imperator. From there the KING would grow his forces to their legionary status of today and remain one of the more controversial and colorful figures of the Second Age of War.

Though welcomed by Imperator Sean, the KING would prove a nuisance to Corvus and his Principate, often rallying other regional leaders against the reforms Corvus sought. In his final years the KING enthusiastically embraced Scipio's Dominate and dispatched his legion to aid the conquest of the Royal Federation, participating in the captures of Bolan and Kitzingen. Tasked with conquering Senftenberg and the 'Mech factories of that world, his forces and supporting Auxilia were in a hard fight with the Fourth Dar-es-Salaam Cavalry and the mercenaries of the Gravediggers in 3099. While the planet was nearly taken Scipio's defeat at Arcadia forced the Principate to pull back, beginning a retreat that saw all of the Pilpala Legion's victories undone and cost him the planet Ellijay, one of his original holdings. The KING passed his lands and title on to a son in 3101 who would be a costly thorn in the side of both Imperator Flavius and the Royal Federation, being a primary instigator in the Hidden Front fighting of the Fourth Succession War and deploying his Foederati against Arcadian forces repeatedly. This included three battles for Ellijay, a defense of Binyang, and raids as far as Zvolen before the 3116 Truce of Tamarind was signed and imposed on the KING by Flavius' local commanders. As part of this effort the Pilpala Legion was redirected to the Imperial front where it would fight to hold Norfolk from the Empire in a successful twenty month defensive campaign. They returned with plentiful Imperial salvage to rebuild their severe losses from.

During these quiet decades the KING has kept his legion fighting strong, often lending his cohors formations to the Circinian Foederati to fight pirates. There are rumors he has done far more, as during the 3133-3137 time period a series of raids struck worlds across the Royal Federation's Principality of Bolan. Though they were fought off they succeeded at times in capturing new equipment and materials from Federation factories, also occasionally head-hunting and killing senior Principality officials. The attacks ceased after the Bolan Heavy Guards caught and smashed a raiding force on Finsterwalde, destroying the better half of a battalion-sized formation. Though they had no markings it was reported they fought in Principate-style as a coherent century and ConcertWatch records showed losses recorded for the Pilpala Legion's II Cohors of similar scope, though they were stated to have been destroyed protecting Althastan from a major pirate attack in late 3136. It is no surprise that Flavius, in one of his final acts before his death from illness in 3137, dispatched II Legio to Binyang to "observe" the border. It remains in the region today and the raids have ceased since its arrival. The Pilpala Legion is now concentrated on Binyang as well and the two formations are rumored to have deteriorating relations over these past few years. Time will tell if an incident occurs or if the KING finally manages the influence on Alphard to force Imperatrix Julia to recall II Legio from his lands.


I Rim Foederati Legio (First Rim Commonality Cuirassiers)

The Rim Commonality Cuirassiers were the main frontline force of their armies and the 1st Cuirassiers the elite spear of that force. Before and during the Second Age of War the First Cuirassiers participated in some of the Commonality's greatest victories and even in defeat made their enemies, typically the IOCF, bleed.

In the Fourth Succession War they were often at the front and, in raw numbers, were completely rebuilt twice over. They fought multiple battles for Camlann, Nullarbor, and Ngake, endured losses in the failed offensive toward Shenwan in 3113, and participated in the triumph on Regulus in 3116. When the Kearny disaster occurred they were dug-in on Camlann, but forced to retreat as the IOCF crashed over the border in great numbers. Called back to defend Tematagi, they struggled for months to hold what they could of the capital but ultimately, with over sixty percent losses, retreated to protect First Minister Semiha Cifti on her own withdrawal to Karachi to keep the government of the Commonality functioning. Rebuilt from what scraps could be gathered of the Second, Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Cuirassiers and the Eleventh Commonality Uhlans, the First Cuirassiers were at full strength for the last gasp effort to reclaim the capital in 3119. Nearly a fifth of the brigade were destroyed piercing the Imperial blockade squadrons. Once planet-side the First and their comrades quickly struck the IOCF forces and eliminated the remnants of the Eighth Capellan Chargers in the field. This early victory prompted the IOCF to withdraw for strategic considerations, allowing the First Cuirassiers the repayment of their shame for directly contributing to their world's liberation and likely allowed for the concessions offered by the Empire at Dieron.

The First Cuirassiers endured the following years of economic depravity as best they could, but it was not easy. Cuts in soldier pay were mandated by the government's bankruptcy. The collapse of the Commonality lira destroyed the value of their remaining pay. Yet they soldiered on until after the assassination of First Minister Cifti and the historic plebiscite to join the Flavian Principate. The First, as with most of the RCAF, voted in the majority against the union, but despite the protests of Halime Cifti and her refusers the First accepted the results. They were folded into the the legions as the I Rim Foederati Legion, absorbing more of their fellow units to fit the multiple-regiment organization of the PAF. As a burden this was accepted, but trouble came in 3132 when the PAF ordered transfers of several top-performing MechWarriors into the rebuilt XI Legio. Only one quarter of the two companies of Commonality MechWarriors accepted the transfers outright; the remainder submitted requests to remain with their unit. The PAF personnel department on Alphard refused and mandated the transfers. All eighteen MechWarriors instead tendered their resignations. An infuriated military bureaucracy stripped them of their pensions as punishment and sparked a fresh wave of resignations and growing public protest inside the former Commonality. Imperator Flavius intervened and ordered the pensions be honored, which halted the crisis and smoothed the issue. I Rim Legio has been transferred to Regulus as of 3141, seen by some as punishment for the unit by pulling them out of the old Commonality, though also explained by the withdrawal of VI Legio from the border as a gesture of reassurance to the Oriento-Capellan Empire. If anything, while the Cuirassiers' loyalty to Alphard can be considered shaky, they will still stand to protect their worlds from the common foe.

 

[Steve]

Royal Federation

​

Ruling House: Proctor-Steiner
Capital: Arcadia
Ruler: High King Nathaniel Proctor-Steiner
Worlds: 300
BattleMech Regiments: 173
WarShips: 110


The Royal Federation of Arcadia and Donegal, sometimes called "the Arcadian Federation", is currently the most prominent of the Cisglass Successor States to become involved in our Inner Sphere. Given its control of much of the heart of the old Lyran Commonwealth, the massive factory complexes of Hesperus, the Isle of Skye and New Earth, and some of the most developed regions of the former Free Worlds League, it is not surprising that economically the Federation is one of the leading Successor States. However, it is not any Lyran or Leaguer enjoyment of trade and commerce that drives their interventionist impulse. That comes from the same influence that allows Houses Marik and Steiner to co-exist in the same political framework.

As its name implies, the Federation is not a unitary social body. Much like other large Successor States it has a number of regional and planetary cultural influences, and these are balanced politically by representation in the Parliament on Arcadia. For those familiar with our Inner Sphere, the idea of one insignificant border world being a major capital over that of Tharkad or Atreus may seem to solely come from its rough mid-point position between the two, or some other form of compromise. But the Arcadia of the Cisglass was a world very much transformed by its experiences in the Collapse. The defeat of the powerful warlords controlling the planet and the rise of House Proctor led to an economic and political renaissance that set Arcadia on the path to becoming the capital of a new Successor State; the Arcadian Free March, which through diplomacy, conquest, dynastic merger, and internal reform became the Royal Federation of today. While Donegal, Hesperus, Skye, and Atreus have all contributed their own influence to the Federation's character, the Arcadians and their culture provide the binding that fuses these disparate pieces together. It is no mere blend of bordering cultures either but a unique construct born from the ideals of Sara Proctor and the Liberation Army she led. The Arcadians' society is driven by concepts of human dignity and the role of what they often call Providence: a divine influence (the character of which varies by one's own religious faith) that has shaped them and their expectations towards themselves and others. They fervently believe in natural rights for all Mankind and that the Crown and other government is tasked with defending and upholding those rights, but not in granting them, as it is through the divine alone that rights are bestowed. It is a principle they have fought for in the past, often cited in their opposition to the reborn Capellan State and the Draconis Combine.

That is not to say the Royal Federation are simply zealous crusaders or moralizing aggressors. They have been both, but they have also shown a capacity for shrewd statecraft and pragmatism in their interactions with the other Successor States. Nor are they a unified bloc of purpose, not with the disparate interests and needs of all their constituent pieces. The Parliament has seen its own share of heated debates on many key issues and one of the greatest challenges that House Proctor(-Steiner) faces is balancing the component regions of the Federation and their disparate interests. Parliament and the Crown, which expresses the authority of the executive through the Privy Council and the Ministries that make up His or Her Majesty's Government, often squabble over matters even as the Crown mediates the disputes between the regional and policy-driven parties elected to Parliament. Unlike the old Free Worlds League institution it shares a name with or the Commonwealth's Estates General, the Federation Parliament is a bicameral body with an Assembly of delegations by world apportioned by population and a Senate that gives each world two votes. The resulting legislature is rather large, with six hundred Senators and over thirteen hundred Assemblypersons, who often vote in company with others of their region or policy bloc.

Militarily the Armed Forces of the Royal Federation are closer to what we would expect from a Lyran or Davion military, based upon combined arms formations of Divisions or slightly smaller Regimental Combat Teams. Their most particular characteristic is their use of square divisions instead of the standard triangular formations born from SLDF practice. Every regiment of armor, infantry, or BattleMechs has four, not three, component battalions. An Arcadian BattleMech regiment has an official field strength of over one hundred and seventy BattleMechs, providing their regiments a good deal of extra combat power at the cost of increasing regimental command structures by a third the size of other formations. An additional quirk is the widespread embrace of OmniPod technology such that Arcadian formations are those of the Cisglass that most resemble a Clan frontline touman, including use of a variety of OmniFighters and OmniVehicles. This comes at a cost of expanding their logistical train and required technical support personnel, but given the variety of foes the AFRF has faced on the battlefield through the Second Age of War, it is understandable this doctrine became so dominant.

The recent decades have been particularly fraught with political difficulty as most of the legislators have feuded openly with the Crown over the expansive rearmament proposals of the AFRF. Operation MORNING STAR and the debacle at Sirius and Procyon created a wedge between the military and Crown, who plotted that invasion, and Parliament, who opposed it when it came and have since been tight-fisted with arms expansions. Because of this the Royal Federation has never undone its post-Dieron retraction, merely filling out its surviving units, with only one new RCT added to their ranks since Dieron. The naval rebuilding program has likewise been parsimonious, repairing existing hulls and filling out the authorized squadrons but with no significant new construction. With the exception of the Defense Bloc, many members of Parliament deeply distrust the AFRF Command Staff and argue expanding the military would lead to more adventurism against the Concert of the Sphere. A slight reversal of this policy came in the 3140 elections where the Defense Bloc overpassed the pro-Dieron Concert Bloc in seats, so now neither side holds a plurality in either of Parliament's chambers and the balance is decided by the Labour and Corporate Blocs. A new expanded naval program was pressed through Parliament in the following session and efforts began to expand the ground forces as well. Yet even there the regional interests restrain the Defense Bloc as many of their new seats come from Arcturus, Alexandria, and Porrima Marches. Those voters are more worried about the violent actions of the Draconis Combine, not the threat of the Oriento-Capellans. Efforts in Parliament to press the AFRF Command Staff's anti-Capellan positions have thus faltered.

Besides the difficulties between the AFRF and Parliament the Federation has suffered from a lack of strong direction in leadership. High Queen Jacqueline's hatred of the Peace was unmistakable and her bitterness towards the failures in 3123 and the political situation threw the entire Crown Government apparatus into a deep malaise. She withheld any activism or direction, only following through on the required ceremonial duties of her position and leaving whomever she had as Lord of the Privy Council to set agendas. Her energies were diverted towards seeing to her orphaned grandson Nathaniel's upbringing and pushing herself in 'Mech simulators and with disarmed 'Mech battles. In the resulting drift the regional interests have pulled the weakened administration in various directions. The Lyrantreu, a political movement devoted to transforming the Federation into a restored Lyran Commonwealth (and to the promotion of House Steiner alone as the ruling house), have become a visible political and institutional force, particularly in sections of the AFRF, with attendant institutional pushback against any blatant "Lyran nationalist" displays that have caused public scandals and, from the non-Lyran-identifying worlds, constant outrage. Skye and Tamarind separatism have likewise cropped up, citing the perceived failure of the government on Arcadia to see to their defense. In the Principality of Atreus, the Fortress Party took third place in the Principality's legislative elections of 3140 and advocate a curtailing of domestic liberties and a strong military expansion to counter the threat of Maskirovka subversion and Imperial invasion. At all points, Jacqueline rebuffed requests for her to more directly involve herself and continued to focus on her 'Mech duels and related entertainment. This led to her premature death in May 3142 in an accident that saw her cockpit crushed.

With Jacqueline gone, her twenty-six year old grandson Nathaniel ascended to the throne, and with it the Royal Federation's political system shook once more. Nathaniel appointed his grand-uncle Prince Peter to lead the Privy Council and immediately pressed his own agenda of reinforcing, not challenging, the Concert of the Sphere. Over vigorous protest from members of his Command Staff Nathaniel negotiated directly with Emperor Robert Halas-Liao for mutual drawdowns of their border troops. He has turned down desired appointments to key military positions and promoted his own picks, typically officers accepting of the Peace of Dieron. In his addresses to Parliament he stated his opposition to significant rearmament, citing the growing naval arms race as "a threat not just to our peace and tranquility, nor just to our unprecedented prosperity, but to all of Humanity". Nathaniel openly backs the expansion of the Rural Medical Service and the formation of the proposed Federal Health Service and the Higher Education Initiative, all opposed by the Defense Bloc as distractions from rearmament. While there is nothing unique or new about this activity, as prior monarchs publicly voiced support for civic legislation or social improvement movements, the Royal Federation's political system is undergoing the equivalent of shock therapy as two decades of neglect from the Crown left many institutionally unprepared for Nathaniel's activity. The Federation's economic strength is providing the necessary weight to keep the state's balance, at least, otherwise the situation would likely be socially volatile as well as unsettling.

It was in this environment that the Timkovichi Event brought its own shockwave. The possibility of any Clan coming through the Glass is a strategic complication the Royal Federation, at this time, can ill-afford. Nathaniel was quick to assert that something needed to be done about the Clan threat and approved his troops' raids on Great X and Morges and reinforcements to guard Timkovichi. He was publicly supportive of Lady Trillian Steiner-Davion's mission to Arcadia. Unsurprisingly he has met stern, almost extreme resistance from various quarters, especially among those favoring harsher stances against the Empire or the Combine, with their publications excoriating him for "fighting the wrong enemy". Even his allies in the Concert bloc have been critical for his shift into supporting armaments expansion. His strongest support has ironically come from two normally-opposed blocs, the Corporate and Labor Blocs, out of economic and ideological concerns. In many ways he was fortunate the Falcons attacked Timkovichi again. The Clans' aggressiveness could no longer be ignored by the rest of the government. Between that strike and the footage from Morges Nathaniel finally won the votes to secure his alliance with the Lyrans. In the coming months, Federation forces will be the most numerous of those powers intervening through the Glass. All that remains to be seen is if they will beat the Wolves to Tharkad and, either way, if they can finally stop the Clan advance into the Commonwealth or turn it back.

(I have another concern. Nathaniel is leading his army. If he falls like Thaddeus Marik, what will that mean for the Royal Federation's intervention? We need more intelligence on the figures in the line of succession to judge. — Lady Janella)

(What I want to know is why the AFRF's naval contingent at Timkovichi was so anemic. The Lyrans had an accurate count of the Falcon WarShip fleet and we know they shared their intelligence. The Federation's Command Staff had to know that a cruiser wouldn't be enough. Was it some sort of trap by Nathaniel, to goad the Falcons into trying something so he could use it politically? Or was it his own subordinates undermining him by withholding necessary forces? If the high officers on Arcadia are sabotaging him it might turn his expedition into a disaster. — Paladin Heather GioAvanti)



Proctor Heavy Guards

The Proctor Heavy Guards were formed as part of the establishment of the Household Guards Corps in 3041. The Proctor Heavy Guards would by far become the most successful of the new formations, an elite heavy force that continues to field only the finest pilots, infantry soldiers, and tank crews with the best 'Mechs and fighting machines the Royal Federation's industries can provide. High King Ethan Proctor-Steiner, his younger sibling Nathaniel, and a number of other members of House Proctor have served with the unit over the decades, tying the Heavy Guards extensively to the ruling family. It remains the most sought-after posting in the entire AFRF.

As one might expect they had an extensive list of campaigns during the Fourth Succession War. High King Ethan led them in his invasion of the Grand Duchy of Oriente after the Empire attacked Andurien. After early victories they were met by the entire complement of Oriente's Knightly Orders on Nova Roma in 3111, suffering a reversal due to the enemy concentration. Ethan's wounding in battle would prove mortal and the Heavy Guards were forced into a retreat that caused them extensive losses. They would be rebuilt to participate in the defense of Campbelton, the liberation of Tongatapu, and the 3115 relief of Atreus. In 3116 they joined an attempt to take New Olympia that ended in a staged withdrawal from the arrival of heavy Imperial reinforcements diverted from Regulus. With losses mounting across the AFRF they were rotated to Arcadia for a time to prepare for a final strategic push and were dropped on Sirius in 3119, where they prevailed at the cost of a third of their manpower and two-fifths their machines. The entire unit was shaken as among the slain was the Prince of Atreus, James Proctor-Steiner. After the Peace of Dieron they withdrew as their final victory was undone by the diplomacy at Dieron.

The loss of the Royal Heir and having their victory snatched away made the Heavy Guards all the more willing to fight hard when MORNING STAR was launched in 3123. The IOCF being ready for the attack did not stop the Guards from inflicting severe losses on the Second Sirian Lancers in their efforts to capture Gyn City. The order to withdraw caused several resignations across the Division's command staff in protest. The unit's shaken morale took years to rebuild from and they have not seen combat since. Now under the veteran command of Major General Dame Katherine Tremaine the Heavy Guards have by all accounts recovered from their disappointments of the recent past.. A long tour in the Atreus Theater was due to end with rotation to Arcadia for capital defense duty, but the Glass changed those plans. High King Nathaniel has mobilized his father's old unit to join him on the expedition to the Lyran Commonwealth and they will soon be seeing action against the Wolf Clan's victorious warriors, a battle many of their number are said to be eager for.


Eighth Strikers

The Striker Corps grew out of March-Prince William Proctor's need to counter House Rayhan's capable raiding units during the Arcadian-Rayhannid War of the 2990s. Initially a collection of raiding 'Mech battalions with VTOL support, the most famous of these skilled formations was the 8th Striker Battalion, the legendary Sunhawks. Reactivated as a full regiment in 3035 due to the pressing needs of the Free March, the Eighth lived up to their reputation. From the morale-raising cavalry raid on Coventry in the War of Donegalian Succession to the raid on New Earth in 3055 that damaged multiple Terran war plants, the Eighth Strikers could be counted upon to hurt the enemies of the Federation at any point.

They were active on both fronts of the Fourth Succession War, with repeated raids on Imperial targets in the early years, including a descent on Regulus in 3113, then their transfer to the Rasalhaguan front later that year that saw their successful support of the defense of Buckminster, their raids on Benjamin, Cadiz, and Mersa Matruh in 3116, and their role in thwarting the Galedonian buildup on Tukayyid in 3117. Despite their combat losses they were shifted to the Imperial front once more and joined the reclaiming of Irian in 3118, successfully hitting several command posts of the Second Irian Hussars and the Fifth Sirian Lancers that enabled the success of the invasion. By the end of the war the Sunhawks were exhausted but intact, having maintained one of the most active battle histories of all AFRF units in the entire war.

They have also been the most active combat unit in the AFRF since the Peace of Dieron, participating in Operation MORNING STAR in '23 and Operation SOVEREIGN SON in '34. The latter saw the Sunhawks at their best, bedeviling the Fifth Sword of Light and other DCMS units during the entire campaign on Vega. Since those operations the Eighth has primarily remained in the Donegal and Arcadia Theaters as a strategic reserve, rotating between worlds and conducting war game training with other line units. They were the natural choice for the SIEGFRIED war games and were the first Arcadian unit on the scene when the Timkovichi Event happened. Their victory over Malvina Hazen and her Golden Ordun, and the holovids of the event spreading across the Inner Sphere, has made the Sunhawks the most prominent face of the AFRF in our Inner Sphere. They remain on our side of the Glass and will undoubtedly play some role in the Arcadian intervention campaign, though we cannot be sure what role it will be at this time.


Fourth Skye Rangers

The Skye Rangers have a long and storied history on both sides of the Glass. Forced to leave by a failed revolt against the Teutonism of the Federal Skye Republic, Defiance CEO Greydon Brewer convinced them to return to Lyran territory and serve the Consolidant, which they did on the condition that House Brewer commit to a liberation of Skye from the Teutonists. The fulfillment of this promise in the First Skye War won the Rangers' loyalty permanently. While they were effectively destroyed three times during the earlier part of the Second Age of War, the Fourth was repeatedly re-activated to maintain loyalty on Skye. The bonds of loyalty were strengthened by the assignment of two generations of heiresses for Defiance-Hesperus, with Mathilda Brewer-Steiner and her daughter Jacqueline Proctor-Steiner serving in the Fourth through their military careers.

The Fourth Succession War saw the Fourth Rangers winning early victories, capturing Marfik and Cebelrai before being committed to the invasion of Azami-held Vega. The arrival of Galedonian forces and their direct assault on the Hesperan and Arcadian forces saw the Fourth nearly destroyed yet again and their commander, Princess Jacqueline, permanently crippled and sent home to take her father's vacant throne. As High Queen, Jacqueline insisted upon their reconstitution, and they would be brought back into service for the fighting on the Galedon and Azami fronts, playing a key role in the taking of Kessel and extracting the Seventeenth Skye Rangers from utter destruction on Dromini. In 3119 they landed on Procyon and succeeded in their objectives, just to be required to hand the world back over in the Peace of Dieron. It was a sour ending to a difficult war.

It is no surprise the Fourth Rangers happily participated in a return to Procyon in 3123, and were even more upset by their forced withdrawal, with wide scale resignations in their command staff over the decision. Being High Queen Jacqueline's former unit, and enjoying the AFRF Procurement Department's largesse at her command, ensured they have not seen the same resurgence in Skye nationalism that other Ranger units have. Their ongoing trouble with Azami raiders had an unexpected repercussion in 3141 when the Fourth Rangers were one of the units sent to Northwind for joint exercises with the Compact militaries in the WALLACE war game series. While planners attempted to keep the formations part, a mistake in scheduling saw the Second Azami Confederation Cavalry and Fourth Rangers crossing one another's paths during trips to the field. This should not have been a problem since all the 'Mechs were loaded with dummy ammunition rounds and depowered energy weapons, but the two formations quickly came to blows regardless in what was described as "a scrum" by observing Davion troops. Nearly three hundred BattleMechs began a vicious melee brawl that resulted in several severe injuries and millions of C-bills worth of damages to both sides until the Davion Heavy Guards and their own commanders broke the two sides up. The units were confined to barracks and kept out of future exercises for the duration of the war games. The AFRF made a serious effort to punish the Fourth Ranger over the affair but were undermined by High Queen Jacqueline's initial response quickly becoming known across the service: "Did we win?" The Fourth are currently posted to guard CBM-Lockheed's Glengarry factories from any further Azami raids or Combine attack. Their loyalty appears to remain steady in comparison to the other Ranger units' dislike of Nathaniel and his "distance" from the people of Skye.


First Atrean Dragoons

Destroyed by the fall of the Atrean Kingdom in the 30th Century, the Atrean Dragoons were brought back to service by the Marik Commonwealth as a personal unit of the Duke-General. The unit was one of many utterly destroyed when the Commonwealth collapsed in the Second Skye War. In 3040 they were reconstituted by the AFRF and would soon win distinction fighting to hold Atreus from the near-overwhelming invasion of the Oriento-Capellans in 3041. They quickly became the standard-bearing formation of House Marik and the Principality of Atreus and often get the best recruits and machines to come from the academies and factories of the Principality.

The unit's Fourth Succession War history is, like many, one of conquest, retreat, and defense. The spearhead of the Royal Federation's "Right Hook" into Oriente in 3110, they helped secure Aitutaki and Harmony early in the war, but after new year they were stopped in a bitter fight on Tiber against the Fusiliers of Oriente and the Knights of the Red Sword. The Imperial counterattack reclaimed those lost worlds and starting in 3113 the First Atrean Dragoons were compelled to fight hard to hold their homeworld against a determined Imperial invasion of twenty months' duration. Battered by this experience they were kept in reserve for rebuilding. The AFRF's final effort against the Empire started in 3117 and the First Atrean Dragoons were tasked for the third wave, but the great Imperial victory at Kearny and following invasion of the Rim Commonality and Principality of Atreus saw the First instead fighting to hold Atreus City itself from the combined might of Oriente's Knightly Orders. The months of desperate struggle saw the unit on the verge of utter defeat when relief forces finally pushed through the Imperial blockade and compelled the withdrawal of the enemy. When 3119 ended barely a quarter of the First Atrean Dragoons remained intact, with many of their best and brightest among the slain.

Rebuilding from the Fourth Succession War was a matter of pride for House Marik. Archduke Kenneth applied every lever of power he had on Arcadia to secure the financial and industrial resources to restore the Atrean Dragoons, with the First receiving reinforcement first. Today they are an elite force who are dedicated to protecting Atreus and its Principality. Their loyalty to the Federation as a whole can be more measured although, unlike Skye and Tamarind, Marik Commonwealth or Atrean separatism has not become a major issue. It is more the point that the First will fight best if they are fighting for their homeworld and House Marik. High King Nathaniel's final statements before departing for the Glass made clear his own confidence that they will safeguard the Atrean people from any Imperial attack, a measure calculated to reassure the First and their comrades of Nathaniel's understanding of their position and support for their efforts.

 

[Steve]

Kingdom of Ghastillia



​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Inarcs
Ruler: Königin Gerda Bradford (of Coventry)
Worlds: 243
BattleMech Regiments: 110
WarShips: 78



Despite its unfamiliar name the Kingdom of Ghastillia is a recognizable consequence of the Collapse, from a historic and sociological perspective. Part Rim Worlder, part Lyran refugee, the Königreich Ghastern is a blend of cultures molded by being on the fringes of the Inner Sphere during its darkest time. The most prosperous worlds came together as a necessity with an ever-increasing amount of pirate activity in the region to balance out each other's weakness. Initially the House of Evrjois held the sole claim to the throne. This nearly led to the collapse of the fledgling nation which turned to an elected model as a means to ensuring political stability among the noble houses, with the capital shifted to the valuable industrial world of Inarcs as part of this reform. They are for all intents and purposes a Periphery power and retain a certain ruthless streak of pragmatism from that.

The Kingdom's system is fairly confederal on most matters, especially local ones. Each world is considered its own component politically, with the ruler of that world represented directly on Inarcs' Parlament der Planeten by a chosen delegate (though sometimes an elected one, if the local world's government is democratic in nature). The only divisions in the Kingdom are the GAF's system of Military Districts and Local Defense Commands or LDCs. Though civil law is often world by world, the central state maintains strict authority on all matters of security or "vital economic matters" as well as a modest baseline of laws to adhere to. The major corporate bodies like Blackstone on Inarcs have been effectively turned into state ventures with private investments treated akin to state bonds. The legislature on Inarcs primarily exists as a council to advise the König or Königin and to elect a new ruler whenever the prior ruler dies or retires. The election is not a democratic one by any means, as only planetary rulers are considered and whoever wields the greatest influence in Parliament becomes the new ruler. The ruler's power can be restrained by legislative majorities on many issues but has the power to direct the military and foreign policy as they please. All rulers so far have been nobility if not noble-born, given the opportunity for elevation to the nobility extended to those who serve in the Ghastillian military or civic services. As with most Successor States on either side of the Glass, most commoners will never be elevated nor have much opportunity to be.

Maintaining the safety and security of the populace is the highest duty of the monarch. As commander of the armed forces and director of foreign policy the Königin is responsible for war and peace and the ultimate arbiter of all military affairs. Alliances are made or ended on their authority. Ministries overseen by the Königin administer the realm and ensure that the planets of the Kingdom provide their yearly tax dues, allowing the ruler to focus on the most important issues. In recent years that has been the restoration of Ghastillian arms to their full might as it was in 3110 and completing the remaining phases of the Rim Resettlement Initiative. The restoration of habitation to all former systems of the Rim Worlds within reach has greatly expanded the size of the Kingdom at the cost of significant economic investment that restrained any idea of swiftly rearming following Dieron. Yet this use of the peace dividend is due to have profound economic effects as more and more migration, including from other states, fills the restored worlds and expands the manpower and tax base of the Kingdom. The GAF has begun expanding, re-activating units left off the rolls since the losses of the Fourth Succession War, and their Navy is beginning heavy ship construction after years of focusing on the corvettes, destroyers, and DropShips needed to fight pirates in the Rim Resettlement Zones. After years of staying with more standard Inner Sphere practice, many of the Ghastillian Grenadier Regiments are returning to their old organization of a hexagonal formation, with six Battle Groups focused around a battalion of BattleMechs in each regiment. This makes them as heavier in 'Mechs than any other formation short of a Principate Legion but with an approach to combined arms closer to that of the RAF's formations.

The frontier itself has become virtually its own society. A melange of peoples from across the Inner Sphere have turned worlds like Farcry into melting pots. The frontier colonists are assertive, loud, and willing to make demands of Inarcs and back them up with action. Ghastillian troops have occasionally been forced to compel colonial authorities into obeying the Kingdom's instructions. Piracy remains a recurring issue given how wide open these systems are and probable bases on systems not yet surveyed and resettled. Recent escalations in piracy have compelled the assignment of growing numbers of GAF regiments and naval assets. The proximity to forces in the Principate's Circinius and Pilpala Provinces and the Communal League's border systems have caused no end of incidents and arguments over pursuit of piracy, including mutual accusations of attacks disguised as pirate strikes. On one front it is often in conjunction with activity by Rim World Irredentists on both sides of the border, on the other, Communal League Vanguardists launching "liberation" raids or "retaliation attacks" with attendant reprisals. Hasty negotiations by Arcadia and Rasalhague backed by Concert pressure have relaxed the issues on the League border, somewhat, but Ghastillia's troops in the region are on alert for further problems.

Ghastillia's ability to focus its forces on its far borders and the frontier is greatly aided by its long-standing alliance with the Royal Federation. For a century, since Ghastillia's intervention into the War of Donegalian Succession, Inarcs and Arcadia have maintained the Lyran Alliance despite the occasional disagreement. That their long frontier with one another can be left thinly garrisoned allows both states to focus their troops on more dangerous sectors. Military hardware and technology are widely shared; Ghastillia's Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle is found in Arcadian armories just as Federation Variable Focus ER PPCs are found in Ghastillian units, and a number of 'Mech and vehicle designs are likewise shared. Economically, the Royal Federation has been the greatest foreign investor in Ghastillian colonial efforts with many companies and interests involved in the expansion of the Rim Resettlement worlds.

Yet there are cracks in their alliance. Ghastillian expansionists bitterly resent the Arcadians pressing the Peace of Buckminster upon them in 3113 instead of winning them a better border with the League. Economic competition sometimes brings trouble to the diplomatic situation. The Kingdom is also vigilant for any further rise in influence by the Lyrantreu faction in Arcadia. Said movement is seen as a threat to the Kingdom's future given their avowed desire to restore the old Lyran Commonwealth and, given the number of ex-New Commonwealth worlds under the Kingdom, they already have a native spring of potential support for any Lyran restoration. Continued Arcadian animosity with the Azami and Oriento-Capellans are resented and not of concern to the Kingdom, which would rather see its ally ready to fight COMINTERSTEL or the Principate. That the alliance continues shows how minor these points are, or more precisely, how minor they appear to be against the century of economic and military cooperation. With the Lyran Alliance states' economies so tightly inter-linked, an end to their alliance would be a disaster for both.

It is undoubtedly for this reason that Königin Bradford agreed to host the SIEGFRIED war games on her territory at Atocongo and Timkovichi. The Timkovichi Event has had its own disruptive effect upon the Ghastillians. While the Arcadians have been the most assertive in intervention, the Clan threat against Atocongo has seen Ghastillian support for at least some intervention grow steadily despite Königin Bradford's noted lack of enthusiasm. Ghastillian troops participated in the crushing of the Hell's Horses Beta Galaxy outside Greyholm and the tactical observations are being circulated among those Ghastillian forces slated to join the intervention through the Glass. It is yet uncertain if they will be fighting the Falcons, the Wolves, or the Horses, though it is Huyten's estimate the Horses will be their focus. If anything, it will keep them separate from the Communal League and reduce the risk of blue-on-blue fire incidents.





4th Ghastillian Grenadiers

The Grenadiers are the shock troops of the GAF and the Fourth have long stood out as among the best of them. During the Second Age of War the 4th were pivotal in many engagements and led the charge in expanding the Kingdom's territory and securing its frontier with the volatile Communal League. They would be effectively destroyed in the opening battles of the Terran War, defending Blackstone Industries' main 'Mech plant on Inarcs to the very last, and were reconstituted swiftly to prosecute the war with the Terrans, culminating in isolating and compelling the surrender of the Terran Union's Eleventh Royal BattleMech Division while operating in the Indus River Valley. They would be the Ghastillian unit to advance the furthest from their borders in the Concord-Compact War, assisting in the recapture of Chesterton from Concord troops but at significant cost that caused political ramifications back on Inarcs.

Called to the front in the Fourth Succession War and the Lyran Alliance's GAUNTLET invasion of the Communal League, the Grenadiers were triumphant on Kikuyu and Alyina before joining the invasion of Antares. They would be called upon to hold the line against the First Communal Guards and Fourth Autonomous Shock Brigade when those elite formations nearly broke into the retreating GAF's LZs. They held the line and ensured the escape of their comrades, but most of the unit was either destroyed in orbit or forced to capitulate. Rebuilt partially the Fourth would see action across the Rasalhague front after the Peace of Buckminster, ultimately meeting the Peace of Dieron as at fifty-percent material and manpower strength.

The need to deal with the domestic upheaval from the war and the costs of the renewed colonization program delayed the Fourth's restoration into the 3130s. This did allow for the unit to be the first to be returned to the traditional flexible GAF unitt style compared to the hodgepodge war losses left them in after the Peace of Dieron. An engagement on Kikuyu in 3140 against suspected members of the Second Autonomous Brigade of the CLAF resulted in the repulsion of the raid and a demonstration the Fourth was back in form. This undoubtedly led to the unit's inclusion in the SIEGFRIED war games that resulted in their participation in the Timkovichi Event. The Fourth's assault companies conducted a textbook assault landing right on the Hell's Horses Beta Galaxy, smashing up the Six Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Mechanized Assault Cluster in a sharp firefight. They have been posted to Atocongo since the Event but are undoubtedly on the short list of units the GAF will send to fight the Clans now that they have formally allied with the Lyran Commonwealth.


First Winter Lancers

As the name suggests the First Winter Lancers were founded on the planet of Winter. Initially as a means of scrapping together whatever was available to defend the planet from pirate attacks, the Lancers became the standard for Ghastillia's mobile light forces. They specialize in raiding and counter raiding strikes with the First being the premier example in the entire Ghastillian Armed forces. There is little in the way of official information on the First Lancers' known decorations given the nature of some of their operations, presumably because it would undermine the Ghastillian government's diplomatic efforts or internal issues. The First started to truly gain their fame during the Terran Crusade after rebuilding from initial losses and beginning repeated long raiding campaigns against enemy targets deep into Terran-held territory.

In the Fourth Succession War the First Lancers became a prominent GAF force from the start of GAUNTLET, winning a key victory on Babaeski and maintaining deep raids that tied down multiple CLAF Communal Militias and other forces to prevent their reinforcing the front. After Buckminster they were unleashed on Galedon, launching deep raids through occupied territory to cut up Galedonian garrison forces and seize supplies, most of which they distributed to active Rasalhaguan partisans. In 3114 the First was part of WINTER DRAKE and landed with their erstwhile CLAF enemies to clear the Galedonians from Rasalhague itself. They joined the Arcadian Eighth Strikers for a deep raid on Pesht in 3116 and would provide strategic support for the Tenth Strikers' descent on Tok Do by raiding Mersa Matruh and Benjamin. These engagements gradually took their toll and by the Peace of Dieron the First were at forty-five percent strength despite absorbing the shattered pieces of the Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Winter Lancers.

Since the Peace of Dieron the Winter Lancers have again become a ghost. Their postings are seldomly publicly noted, though never outright hidden, allowing for the unit to disappear for months, even years, with less fuss than if their postings were made public. While ConcertWatch has proven adept at discovering the unit's position anyway, the time frame of 3137 to 3140 remains an enigma, and upon their noted return to Winter itself for a "garrison cycle" ConcertWatch noted the unit had several changes in command that included new officers and the official records noting a number of former personnel having been listed as KIA during the missing time period. The most obvious answer is the First were up to their old tricks of launching deniable strikes. The only question, and one likely to never be known, is just where they fought and what causes they died for.

(Materials discovered by Huyten strongly imply the First Lancers were involved in some sort of campaign in the Deep Periphery, most likely in what we call the Hanseatic League. But we have no way of knowing just who they were fighting, and why. — Lady Janella)


Second Ghastillian Regulars

The Ghastillian Regulars can be considered the building blocks around which other units get added depending on the mission requirements, switching from offensive to defensive assignment as needed. While not the most well known unit of the GAF the Second Regulars have a storied history across the Second Age of War, waging successful defensive battles from the First Skye War straight through to the Vanguard War. They are often seen as the epitome of the Regulars brigades of the GAF in their solid battle history holding the line against COMINTERSTEL, Terrans, and Concord forces throughout the Second Age.

During the Fourth Succession War the Second Regulars were flank guards for the main offensive, striking along the Peripheryward flank of the thrust at Antares and spared involvement in the disaster there. The Second would be the anchor on which the GAF held firm on Kikuyu in 3112. With their losses easily replaced the Second were one of the earliest units sent to the counterattack against Galedon following the Peace of Buckminster., supporting the relief of New Oslo, a victorious campaign marred by several incidents of friendly fire with the CLAF's Fourth Autonomous Brigade. These incidents would be a hard lesson learned and result in the future division of GAF and CLAF units in other supporting operations through the rest of the war. Late in the war the liberation of Schuyler saw the Second Regulars suffer their highest losses of the war in plunging through the lines of the Ninth Izanagi Warriors and the Twelfth Hartshill Regulars to relieve an ISF prison camp upon reports of the impending slaughter of the captives. Though several hundred Rasalhaguan civilians lost their lives in the executions, the Second's charge liberated the camp before the thousands of hostages and captives could be killed. The Second managed to hold the camp from counterattacks until the Fourth Snow Dragons and the Tungsten Division arrived to support them. Their losses left them at forty percent strength in material and at nearly half their manpower, resulting in their withdrawal from the front and a hero's welcome on Inarcs.

Since the Peace of Dieron the Second Regulars have been deployed to Melissia as a mobile counterforce in case of Communal incursions. They were the first Regulars formation restored to their official paper strength after the war and often circulate personnel in and out of other Regular brigades due to their pivotal position. The unit has seen little action these past twenty years, but there has been combat. In 3136 they they deployed a Battle Group to the Snowden system to fight pirates. Most notable was the 3138 raid on Melissia by the Fifth Autonomous Brigade. The latter battle caused significant material losses among one of the battle groups that got exposed while repulsing the Communalist forces, but the Communal raid was compelled to retreat before reaching their target. The Second was thanked by the Duke by having Blackstone assume the costs of their replacements and provide two companies of top-quality BattleMechs and OmniMechs for their line formations. The GAF shows no indication of changing their assignment soon, even with the formation of the Glass.




Twenty-Fifth Ghastillian Heavy Defense Brigade "Mangeurs de Feu"

The GAF's heavy defense brigade formations were formed in response to increasing raids by the Communal League in the early Second Age of War. The Twenty-Fifth has become the most respected of these formations for their history of defiant stands against even the greatest odds. The GAF's noted disapproval of official unit nicknames has been waived given their war record, particularly their famous defense of Timehri's military industries in 3050 when Terran forces employed tactical-scale nuclear weapons on the Twenty-Fifth and only managed to bend their defensive lines. Since that engagement the Twenty-Fifth has been known to all as the Mangeurs de Feu: "The Fire Eaters."

Their Fourth Succession War record reflects similar tenacity. The Twenty-Fifth was deployed to Kooken's Pleasure Pit as a defensive force after it fell to GAF units in GAUNTLET. After the setback at Antares the planet was hit by a counter-invasion of the Thirtieth and Forty-Ninth Communal Workers' Brigades, the Ninth Communal Guards, and the Eleventh Shock Brigade. The Twenty-Fifth managed to escape after repeated bloody stands against the odds, though between battlefield losses and interceptions in space they lost over half their number, including all of their wing of aerospace fighters and supporting DropShip gunships. They were posted to Timehri for rebuilding before being rotated to shore up GAF defenses along the Principate border, where they repeatedly engaged mercenaries and auxilia as part of the Hidden Front conflict. They would be returned to the front in time to join the Fifth Battle of Buckminster and hold off the last-ditch Galedonian invasion of that world in 3119, ending the war as damaged as they'd been after Kooken's Pleasure Pit.

Following the Peace of Dieron the Twenty-Fifth was rebuilt to full strength and was returned to defensive service on Timehri. While they have not seen action since Buckminster their commanding officers frequently train the unit to maintain them at a higher fighting standard than other Defense Brigades, such that ConcertWatch rates them as the only Heavy Defense Brigade at Veteran quality. Once the Glass was formed and the nature of the Clan threat made known the Twenty-Fifth was deployed to Atocongo to support the Fourth Grenadiers' defense of that world. The Arcadians proposed that the Twenty-Fifth be deployed to Transglass Timkovichi alongside the Second Royal Cuirassiers, but this was refused by direct order of Königin Bradford. Many feel this reflects her true disapproval of intervention even with the current alliance being signed, though it may simply be concern for her worlds being struck through the Glass. Undoubtedly had the Twenty-Fifth been deployed on Timkovichi the second engagement with the Falcons might have gone very differently. (Brigadier Huyten's report makes clear that had they participated, Chistu would have had a far more difficult time trying to conquer the planet. Though that might have been to everyone's detriment if it led to the Mongols seizing command and committing the Falcons' WarShips. — Lady Janella)

 

[Steve]

Communal League of Sudeten


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Ruling House: None
Capital: Sudeten
Ruler: First Speaker Karl Luvacs
Worlds: 116
BattleMech Regiments: 86 (estimated)
WarShips: 73

(Much like the Combine and Concord the official ConcertWatch count is considered conservative, though for wildly different reasons. The truth is the Communal League military is a strange creature by the standards of regular House militaries or even Clan toumans. One result of their unconventional structure is that BattleMechs are widely dispersed to their equivalent of local planetary militia, the kind that our analysts and those of ConcertWatch never count since they rarely have BattleMechs in strategically-significant numbers. Yet with the League, Arcadian and Ghastillian military intelligence estimate that ConcertWatch's official figure may be as low as half the actual count of BattleMech regiments available for service given how dispersed the machines are among the Communal Militia forces. — Lady Janella)

(Would be like fighting a Caledonian porcupine, I imagine, if you're fighting significant 'Mech forces on every single planet. — Paladin-Examplar David MacKinnon)


The Cisglass Inner Sphere has a number of states that would be outliers by our standard. But for scale of sheer difference from the norm, only the Clans can match the Communal League for variation from the norm. They began as a local revolt on Sudeten against a tyrannical noble oligarchy on Antares and became the bogeyman and nightmare for every major corporate CEO and noble family in the Inner Sphere. That they have survived so long despite this reflects the sheer passion their system of governance has inspired in many of the peoples in the League, though their alliance with Rasalhague has certainly helped.

While both Inner Spheres have known "socialist" agitation for over a millennium, and a number of worlds in multiple Houses maintain local economies that broadly conform to the theories of Marx, Bukanin, and other anti-capitalist economists across the centuries, the League is an entire interstellar state built upon the more libertarian wing of anti-capitalist economics. The League itself claims ideological descent from the Catalonian wing of the 20th Century Spanish revolutionaries, incorporating the three-pointed red star of the Spanish Popular Front in their national insignia along with the green star flag of their chosen national language, the constructed language Esperanto. Much like Andurien their society is in a state of constant churn, with direct democracy, no nobility, and a distrust for any government concept that doesn't involve democratically-elected officials and officers. Each planet of the League enjoys tremendous local autonomy with collective assemblies governing each world. Regional Councils elected by the planetary populations likewise oversee local interstellar governance, primarily in matters of interplanetary trade and commerce, and the League Communal Assembly in Hamarr on Sudeten serves as a central authority to guide the League as a whole, electing from their number the First Speaker and the Chairpersons of the League's Commissions of Governance, including the powerful War and Economic Commissions that overseen the CLAF on one hand and cooperate with the powerful labor groups and trade unions on the other. They are often influential in their own right, the most prominent example being War Chairman Pawel Zuk, who remains the longest-serving War Chairman due to his service from 3051 until his (some say forced) retirement in 3075. Yet such longevity is by far the exception to the rule; few hold a Commission Chair for longer than a year due to the tug-of-war that is Communal politics. It is not unknown for politicians to retire from public service after a few short years of significant office-holding.

While this is similar to Andurien, what is not is their outlook. The League's central premise is that the rest of the Inner Sphere, with little exception, toils under hideously oppressive socio-economic systems rooted in the inequities of monarchism and capitalism. They consider expansion to be a revolutionary duty to not only strengthen the League by gaining new pools of manpower and resources but to free the peoples of captured worlds from the grip of their oppressors. Andurien and Rasalhague are outliers in the respect they are shown (and among the most extreme even that is not universal) and other states considered inherently illegitimate for their institutions. Only "revolutionary prudence" restrains the League in this respect and sees them exchange ambassadors with other non-socialist states. It is nevertheless their sworn intent to see all traces of aristocracy and capitalism wiped from the Inner Sphere, a cause that their population seems to wholly embrace and which has won them many converts from every corner of the Inner Sphere.

The question of how vigorously to press revolution into the rest of the Inner Sphere has long been a cleavage point in League internal politics, and while not the only matter of note, is one of the most acute. The Vanguards are the most aggressive of the factions, arguing that the League should always be fomenting revolution on its borders and wrenching populations away from their neighbors in lieu of the day of a final grand assault to smash capitalism and feudalism. The Unionists tend to be less aggressive though still supporting pressing ahead where "local conditions" allow, with a greater focus on internal development and preventing the rise of "socialist authoritarianism" that they see the Vanguardists as prone to. The third major political force, the Communalists, are determined to avoid centralization of political power in favor of the continued authority of local communes and councils and the Communal Militias. They are not so much against expansion as they are fearful of the government power effective expansion may entail.

The defense and expansion of the League's revolution is the task of the Communal League Armed Forces. As a military service they are as revolutionary as their society, with only senior field and flag officers having official military officer commissions and academy education and the smaller field units under the command of NCOs. The Communal League Army and Navies are as one would expect, with an emphasis on aggressive firepower-based warfare, logistical support, and the commanders on the scene having great leeway to follow their initiative even if it contradicts those in higher authority. They are joined by the Militia as its own branch, responsible for protecting worlds and varying from the sort of green planetary militia our analysts would barely recognize exists to semi-professionally-drilled divisions of BattleMechs, armor, and power-armored infantry that are closer to the Triarii than the old Standing Guard of the Republic. They are likewise the strongest concentration of Communalist political power in the CLAF. The League Corps of Engineers, the Unconventional Operations Group, and the Carabineers all operate to perform other tasks involving the League's mission, including roles in inducting newly-acquired worlds and securing (and enforcing) the loyalty of their new citizens. Separate but linked to these forces are the Autonomous Brigades, who effectively operate on their own and cooperate with the Army and UOG as befits their own elected commanders and command councils' plans and interests. They are not simply an elite force, the League's equivalent to Stone's Brigade, but a self-governing force. Most, but not all, of these units are the flag-bearers of the Vanguardist cause and usually cooperate with the UOG on promoting revolution outside the league.

In terms of wider society only broad strokes are feasible within the scope of this report. Local planets enjoy wide latitude for most measures of self-rule, including local cultures and ways of life being protected and defended under League communalist principle. Esperanto is the language of interplanetary and interstellar government but League law requires local language be respected when officialdom print new laws, regulations, or acts. Star League English remains a popular trading tongue along the borders of the League and retains some traction in the interior. State-supported public education reinforces language education and ensures the League remains one of the most polyglottic societies in the Cisglass.

The obvious exception to the laws and rules allowing wide latitude in local rule is that all local governments are required to adhere to revolutionary principles and do not act to undermine the League as a whole. As one might imagine this can be a tricky distinction and there is often fierce debate about where a local community's obligations to the collective whole begins and their autonomy ends. The Communalist faction are the champions of the local governments while the Vanguardists the most ready to declare "parochialism" a threat to the League's revolutionary mission. The Unionists likewise strain against the Communalists even if they too act to restrain Vanguardist excess and aggression. This has arguably kept the League from following the path of many revolutionary ideological governments in placing steel boots to the necks of their own populaces, but it makes for ferocious and unstable political infighting.

Much like our Republic, League citizenship, or at least voting citizenship, requires service — either in the CLAF or civil or public service groups like the Communal Civic Corps and Kuracistoj sen limoj (Doctors without borders) — that can vary from a standard five year term to ten years for those who seek and complete MechWarrior training in the CLAF. Immigrants to the League are particularly valued for CLAF duty, especially with the UOG, as they make useful analysts on their worlds and states of birth and can form cadres of ready-made Communal-style local government and militia in the event their worlds are targeted. Beyond such military service, regular citizens work their jobs, vote for the policies of their specific farm or mine or factory or shop, vote for their political representatives, and enjoy holidays and entertainment, most of them communal. Public theaters, musical performances, and sporting events are preferred over private at-home tri-vee and HV broadcast, though the latter are not banned. The ideology of the League is the extolling of individuals working willingly as part of the greater whole while gaining their fair share of the products of their labor. Syndicalist and anarchist theory predominate over more rigid, command economy ideologies, ensuring choice if causing occasional collisions of interest or problems with those looking to capitalize on the system. That is not to say there is not push back for those who argue for greater individual gain or anything that might be seen as "counter-revolutionary" thought or action, and too much of the latter will see the Carabineers or other forces coming into play if the individual is seen as actively disturbing the League's peace or militantly supporting "counter-revolution". But the League does not have match the stereotype of other "socialistic" states like the perception of the Capellans, with the Communalists and most Unionists breaking down every attempt at forming anything approaching a powerful interior secret police force. Social shunning and being overlooked for any positions of responsibility are the usual methods of dealing with those who dissent from the communalist model their locality employs, with encouraged emigration to other communities, or even outside of the League entirely, the usual remedy if reconciliation proves impossible. There is a steady trickle of such "anti-communalists" emigrating to Ghastillia, Rasalhague, and the Royal Federation along with returning migrants disillusioned for one reason or another.

Those who instead seek to violently resist the communalist way will find the Carabineers and Communal Militias more than ready to enforce the law with armed might. Tolerance for dissent in the League is one thing, but trying to undo their revolution is cause for immediate and judicious violence, as a number of insurgents have learned over the last twelve decades.

It should be no surprise that the proximity of the League to the Timkovichi Event swiftly won their attention. At first they were highly suspicious, having protested the SIEGFRIED war games happening so close. The withdrawal of the Arcadians' First Battle Fleet and increasing communication through the Glass soon shifted this attitude, and with the release of news from Morges and elsewhere, the entire League is up in arms over the wanton brutality of the Jade Falcons. The League is not bound by the Falcon-Arcadian truce and several brigades are now en route to the Glass with their alliance with the Lyrans already signed and ratified by the Assembly. Given their track record, it is unlikely many Falcon warriors in Mongol black will be taken prisoner, and with Rasalhague's expedition the future of the Jade Falcon Clan is in serious doubt. But while the League has committed itself to no territorial gains in the Clan OZs, it is unlikely they will assist a capitalist monarchy like the Commonwealth's without serious concessions in one manner or another. The Lyrans may find the price they pay for COMINTERSTEL's support to be quite steep in the end.

(The Lyrans are really desperate to accept help from people like this. Especially in their weakened state. What odds are there the League won't simply look to convert the population in the JFOZ to their system, whatever the Lyran Commonwealth wants? — Paladin Heather GioAvanti)




Second Autonomous Brigade

By some respects the best of the Autonomous Brigades, the Second has a long and distinguished combat history dating back to the early Second Age of War. It is also known for being primarily a Unionist formation instead of Vanguardist in its sympathies. Through the history of the League the Second has often been the Autonomous unit most likely to accept direction from the First Speaker and War Commission. They were instrumental in thwarting the Terrans' efforts to destroy the 'Mech factory complexes on Rastaban in 3051, preserving League military industry that proved vital after the widespread destruction on Sudeten in the initial Terran strike.

During the Fourth Succession War they held the inner flank against the AFRF's strike towards Sudeten in the GAUNTLET offensive, preventing Kandersteg's fall and, on their own initiative, reclaiming Hamilton in a surprise strike that nearly destroyed the Fifth Donegal Cavalry. In 3112 they participated in the RIKOTILO counter-offensive and landed on Graceland and then Grunwald to reclaim them for the League. They captured Surcin before the Peace of Buckminster ended the COMINTERSTEL-Lyran Alliance fighting, returning the planet (despite some protests from the rank and file) before heading off to join the FolksArme in fighting Galedon's invasion. Through the rest of the war the Second was repeatedly instrumental in liberating worlds from Gunzberg to Arkab. They ended the war at thirty-five percent material strength following a failed effort to liberate Minakuchi in the final months of the war.

The allure of the Autonomous Brigades for committed revolutionaries ensured a quick recovery post-war. They have become somewhat controversial to the Vanguardists, who have accused the Second Brigade of undermining "special operations" that the other Autonomous units were slated to commence, in line with the Unionists' current support for the Peace of Dieron. Some time ago they traveled up to Far Reach in the Chainelaine Cluster, a curious posting for such an outfit. Reported losses indicate the Second's recent engagements have been against far stronger adversaries than regular pirates, adding credence to claims that the Ghastillians and League are waging a war in the Deep Periphery. Neither the unit nor the War Committee on Sudeten have been forthcoming in public sources and the intelligence sources we received have shed little light on the truth.

(This report does seem to contradict the article Huyten provided which claimed the Second as an aggressive unit more in keeping with Vanguardist sentiment. It is important to recognize that the Unionists are not immune to desire to destroy those they consider oppressors. Furthermore, and I say this as someone who spent hours reading the raw materials while imbibing copious amounts of coffee, I am not at all surprised that a Ghastillian journalist would confuse them for Vanguardists. League factional politics are a complicated web of theories and practices, and the factions are not significantly different from one another outside of those few points where they do differ. — Lady Janella)


First Autonomous Wing

Starting as a collection of Vanguardist-aligned pilots seeking to operate separately of direct navy or army control, the First Autonomous Wing are more appropriately considered a large aerospace group or brigade formation. They operate their own DropShip carriers and JumpShips and travel the League's spacelanes honing their skills and those of other CLAF aerospace units in constant drills. Like many Autonomous units they are noted revolutionaries with an almost religious devotion to the League, a devotion that saw the unit's most famous act on February 7th 3051 when they jumped into Sudeten's pirate point to confront the Terran blockade of the League capital. The pilots loaded up their fighters with heavy anti-ship munitions, including atomic weapons, and conducted a direct strike on the Terrans that broke the blockade decisively at the cost of eighty percent personnel and eighty-five percent material losses, including all of their JumpShips and all but one carrier. The survivors provided a core for the Wing's resurrection and they would deploy in Operation: SERPENT as part of the war fleet that finished off the Terran Navy.

The First Autonomous Wing joined the First Autonomous Brigade in invading Odessa in 3081 to support a pro-League government facing a political dispute and occupying Arcadian troops, turning the affair into a planetary civil war and starting the Vanguard War. For two years they were the focal point of the COMINTERSTEL blockade preventing Royal Federation reinforcements to their planetside troops and would fight vigorously, if unsuccessfully, to prevent the breaking of that blockade in the Royal Federation's 3083 counterattack. Twelve years later the Wing was instrumental in the ejection of the Royal Federation's troops from Lyndon, their final action of that conflict. They would prove of equal importance in the Fourth Succession War, spearheading the CLAF's great victory at Antares and tying down significant Arcadian naval resources in the months leading up to RIKOTILO in 3112. Despite not recovering from previous losses the pilots of the First threw themselves into the gauntlet of the Galedonian blockade of Rasalhague to blast a hole for the CLAF/GAF relief forces that broke the ongoing siege of Asgard City, suffering such significant losses the unit would not be ready for offensive action again for years. In 3116 they voted to return to the front and aided the liberation of several Rasalhaguan worlds before sacrificing most of their number to extricate the FolksArme-AFRF forces from Galedon's counter-attack at Yamarovka. By the end of 3119 the Wing was down to a third of its regular strength and had lost one of its carrier ships to enemy fire.

In the years since the Peace of Dieron the First Autonomous Wing has rebuilt to its regular strength. Its makeup continues to be that of the most devoted, fanatical revolutionaries of the CLAF. Their devotion to revolution burns unabated and they have made multiple incursions into both Lyran states' systems, typically escorting arms to communalist guerrillas on worlds from Kelenfold to Mogyorod. During July 3133 to August 3134 ConcertWatch was unable to track the formation, but due to reports that slipped out of the Combine rated a high probability they were involved in a series of deep strikes to arm rebellions on Gravenhage, Bjarred, and Sawyer. They disappeared from view once more in 3139 and only resurfaced in mid-3141. ConcertWatch has yet to determine where they might have been. For the moment the unit remains on Newton Square. Reportedly a vote on whether to join the conflict with the Jade Falcons was narrowly defeated but a second consideration may yet see them decide to deploy through the Glass.

(Their most recent disappearance was almost certainly participation in whatever Deep Periphery conflict the League and Ghastillians are waging. — Lady Janella)


Communal Assault Division

The Communal Assault Brigade is a specialist unit meant to provide the CLAF with siege-breaking assault-grade firepower. Combining assault-weight BattleMechs and tanks with assault and heavy battle armor infantry, copious artillery, and highly-trained jump infantry, the Assault Brigade has been overstrength as a brigade for much of its existence. From smashing the Oberon Confederation's fortified defenders on Gotterdammerung to the capture of the Terran Union's Fort Pinochet in the Chilean Andes in August 3060, they have repeatedly proven their ability to smash even the thickest enemy fortifications. The specialized needs of siegebreaking, including engineering work and artillery direction, makes the Communal Assault Brigade a rare force in that they employ junior officers instead of higher ranks of NCO. To serve in Communal Assault Brigade's officer ranks, personnel are required to have finished combat engineering courses at one of the League's handful of officer academies or to have similar education from the FolksArme or other Successor State militaries.

The Assault Brigade was busy through both the Vanguard War and the Fourth Succession War. They aided in the capture of Surcin in 3089 and the reclaiming of Cumbres in 3092, recaptured Kikuyu from the Ghastillians during the RUGA STORMO campaign of 3104, and smashed an entire Grenadier brigade of the GAF on Antares. In 3112 they provided pivotal to the defense of Sudeten by reclaiming Fort Bukanin from the AFRF's Fourth Royal Guards, causing the flank of the Arcadian attack on Hamarr to crumble and pressing them back from the League's capital city. Landing on Rasalhague in 3114 the Brigade recaptured Fort Sleipson from the Ryuu-no-tekken-hachi, opening a land route to besieged Asgard City. They would be called in to aid the liberation of numerous Rasalhaguan systems during the remainder of the Fourth Succession War before the thrust at Irece in 3119, where the Brigade suffered extensive losses against the Ryuu-no-tekken-ichi and the Sixth Sword of Light during a failed bid to claim the Galedonian fortifications on the great mountain Tengoku. The arrival of Galedonian naval reinforcements compelled the abandonment of the Irece operation. In a display of their unwavering devotion, the Brigade volunteered to be the rearguard for the evacuation, repulsing multiple strikes by Galedonian troops until their allies were clear while suffering significant losses to airstrikes and Galedonian artillery. Only half of the unit's survivors made it to their DropShips and escaped to orbit, with several ships being shot down by Galedonian aerospace wings. For their bravery the survivors were decorated by Rasalhague and the lost personnel were granted the Valkyrie's Mark by the People's Assembly on Rasalhague.

After the Peace of Dieron the Communal Assault Brigade was stationed on Antares for rebuilding, a slow process due to the specialization of the formation that only finished in 3128. The Brigade has had a peaceful time since the end of the Fourth Succession War. While the unit itself is stationed and headquartered on Antares, individual companies and battalions have deployed across the worlds of COMINTERSTEL to support civil works projects and rebuilding from the war. A contingent of engineers and company of support vehicles even traveled to the Royal Federation to help rebuild the cities of the Dumfries Valley on Cameron after the catastrophic earthquake of March 31st, 3138, having won support from the brigade command and the Antarean assembly for the humanitarian gesture. The unit is currently said to be in the midst of mobilization for service through the Glass, though the CLAF has not formally announced what forces it intends to deploy to drive back the Jade Falcons.


Seventh Jaeger Brigade

The Seventh Jaeger is considered a standout among this corps of fast raiding formations not so much for their skill but for their noted ferocity. By proportion the Jaegers have the most OmniMechs of any formations of the CLAF due to the myriad needs of their primary tactical purpose, raiding and headhunting. While most Jaeger formations rely heavily, if not entirely, on energy weapons, the Seventh is known for occasionally bringing cannon and heavy SRM batteries into their fights, using limited ammunition to inflict swift heavy blows before following up with energy armament, a technique they used effectively on the Pampas of Argentina while scything through the Terrans' 432nd BattleMech Brigade as part of Operation: SERPENT.

In the Vanguard War the Seventh was deployed in the most ambitious League operation, the 3087 Operation REGICIDE strike at Donegal itself to kill High King Ethan Proctor-Steiner. Working alongside several Autonomous formations and the Third and Fifth Shock Brigades, the Seventh and their comrades in the Fourth landed near Marsdenville to disrupt local communications and make an early bid to kill the King. This proved fruitless as Ethan had already deployed with his main units, but the Seventh was able to temporarily seize part of Marsdenville and leveled part of the Donegal Stock Exchange and Lockheed-CBM's headquarters before withdrawing to the main fight around Fort Marsden. After successful strikes on two regimental HQs of the AFRF forces the the two Jaegers nearly broke into Fort Marsden before running afoul of the Tharkad Rangers and First Royal Cuirassiers. With the Fourth coming under an encirclement, the Seventh drove home a direct strike on the Tharkad Rangers and forced them to fall back, opening a hole for the Fourth to retreat back to friendly lines. Despite losses the two units would make a number of repeated efforts to pierce the lines to kill High King Ethan, but AFRF reserves were too numerous to penetrate deep enough into the lines. The CLAF force ultimately withdrew without their sought-after political stroke, but satisfied in having broken up Ethan's impending offensive against the League.

Through the Fourth Succession War the Seventh drove home its customary deep strikes on every foe CLAF faced, culminating with the campaign on Idlewind in 3119. When the war ended they were recalled to Sudeten for rebuilding. The allure of the unit ensures a steady stream of recruits eager to "ride with the Seventh" and they remain a favored posting among the Jaegers. Their reputation explains their deployment to Bountiful Harvest in 3142 when the CLAF was informed of the SIEGFRIED war games, putting them in place to rapidly react to an incursion. By all evidence they remain prepared for deployment, likely as a measure against a Jade Falcon strike through the Glass. This would make them the Jaeger unit most likely to be attached to whichever CLAF force transits the Glass to bring the war to the Falcons, though their participation remains unconfirmed.

 

[Steve]

ComStar



​

Ruling House: None
Capital: Terra
Ruler: President Evelyn Katanga
Worlds: 1


For three and a half centuries ComStar was the last vestige of the Star League to affect the everyday lives of either Inner Sphere. Yet the similarities end there as the ComStar of the Cisglass Inner Sphere was, at the end of the day, a Terran company with mandatory ties to the Terran Union's government. That they survived the Terran War was by the choice of the victors, not their own doing. An administrative authority was needed for Terra that would not require a larger occupation for the war-damaged Successor States and ComStar was the only organization left standing that could fit the role. With their HPG network seized and a sullen population facing military occupation and an uncertain future, Jerome Blake's successors had a task no less daunting than he had faced, and their future was very much in doubt.

The turnaround of the last eighty years was wrought by patience and careful economic dealing, and today ComStar again enjoys a degree of soft power influence in the Inner Sphere. The ability to provide research and diplomatic support services have made the organization allies and supporters in the various Successor States. While not initially successful, ComStar's arbitration efforts gradually built up enough trust that they became an acceptable diplomatic broker on matters such as POW exchanges and commercial arbitrations. Their role in hosting the Congress of Dieron became a crowning achievement that reflected their newfound prestige and opened the way for ComStar to regain support among the peoples of the Inner Sphere. Their technological developments, including the construction of more power-efficient and lighter HPGs, gave them an opening in many states to regain a share in interstellar communications. In nearly half of the Successor States ComStar-run HPGs are providing services at competitive, if not superior, rates, though they remain subject to state controls and regulations to prevent them from weaponizing their share of the market as was done before the Terran War.

Not that all is forgiven. A number of Successor States still refuse to permit ComStar any significant role in their HPG networks, most prominently the Draconis Combine and Kilbourne Concord. Even in states where they are welcome there are those who continue to mistrust the corporation, seeing any gain it makes as a sign of corporate or government corruption. Ninety years on the memories of the Terran War die hard, and the concept ComStar may one day respark Terran nationalism is a fear held across the Inner Sphere and Periphery. The corporation promotes widely outside of the Terran population for this reason, but with one quarter of their personnel and over forty percent of their upper management still Terran-born, the association continues to stick.

ComStar's role on Terra has also undergone reformation and complicated changes since the Geneva Treaty. Bitter Terrans, especially surviving TUDF personnel, saw Gabriel Deakins as a traitor and ComStar as collaborators in the despoilment of Terra, and early on ComStar was as despised among the people of the Terran system as they were in the rest of the Inner Sphere. With thousands of survivors put out of work as entire factory complexes were stripped down and taken away as reparations, economic loss added to their fury, and the 3062 Boston-Washington Riots and the resulting occupation force intervention betrayed their lack of power to protect the Terran populace from Successor State occupiers. It took decades of rebuilding for these perceptions to shift and ComStar's role as trustee over Terra to be accepted. The establishment of a formal parliamentary republic for the system's governance went far in easing ComStar's job, as it handed most civil and criminal law matters over to the new state. They retained power solely in the field of upholding the Geneva Treaty terms. This has left them a target for furious Terran nationalists, but the majority of citizens now see ComStar as a symbol of pride, the last institution to bear lineage from the great Star League of the past, and their representatives to the Inner Sphere as a whole.

Of course, soft power has limits. The Geneva Treaty strictly forbids ComStar from raising troops, even from hiring mercenaries. Defense of ComStar property is solely at the discretion of Successor State troops. Even corporate security is limited in the self-defense arms and measures they can employ and in several states ComStar is required to accept local contractors. ComStar's once vast fleet of DropShips and JumpShips is long gone. ComStar personnel have but a few DropShuttles they can deploy from JumpShip to JumpShip on voyages across the Inner Sphere, assuming they don't take regular passenger service. Terra remains a disarmed state save for the regiments of troops the Successor States maintain in-system, numbering thirteen brigades or regiment-sized detachments that include over six regiments worth of BattleMechs. Without any remaining armament factories the Terrans are reliant upon imports for even police-scale armaments and most jurisdictions rely on old pre-Terran War weaponry, some stretching back to the First Age of War. A fresh effort was made to relax this situation with a 3138 request by the Terran Parliament to relax the ban on armaments to allow weapons "suitable for planetary police forces", but the request was denied by a veto from the Kilbourne Concord. For the time being, Terra's main defense from attack is that no one Successor State will ever be permitted by the others to lay claim to the world.

In recent years ComStar has turned what soft power it does enjoy to the maintenance of the Peace of Dieron. A subdivision of the ComStar Corporation, ConcertWatch, has taken the lead on this effort. Founded in 3128, ConcertWatch publishes weekly lists of the known troop dispositions and strengths of every Successor State as a means to keep the public aware of new military moves. Andurien is one of a handful of states that have openly supported this operation, but many others are opposed. This has made working for ConcertWatch in any capacity dangerous in a number of Successor States. One prominent example came in 3130 when Coordinator Kori Kurita had a dozen ComStar officials arrested as spies for their affiliation with the organization. Eleven were turned to Terra unharmed but the twelfth, Administrative Officer Paul Eidings, was executed for his role as a direct publisher in ConcertWatch. The Kilbourne Concord has arrested and sometimes expelled ConcertWatch personnel for reporting positionings they deemed "injurious to state security". In 3133 they tried a ConcertWatch analyst, Gerard Lu, who was a citizen of the Concord from Macomb. Deemed a traitor and operative for a foreign power, Lu was convicted of espionage against the Concord and incarcerated for twenty years. Appeals for his release are ongoing but have so far been rejected. These individuals, and others who have been imprisoned, harassed, or killed, have become martyrs for peace among other states in the Inner Sphere. Supporters of the Peace have embraced ConcertWatch's role in protecting that peace. For those more concerned with the defense of their states or even the end of a Peace they loathe, ConcertWatch are distrusted and seen as a threat to state security.

In 3140 ComStar made a milestone decision with the elevation of Chief Operating Officer Evelyn Katanga to the position of Corporate President. While she was not CEO, Katanga's contribution to ComStar's improving position was noted by the whole Board of Directors and the Stockholder's Association. She is the first non-CEO to win the appointment in thirty years. But the true milestone is that she is the first non-Terran born President ComStar has had, born to war refugees from the Communal League. While this has been lauded by some publications as a sign of ComStar becoming a truly interstellar body, many critics and wits note that Katanga was still a very small child when she arrived on Terra and is, despite her birth, a woman of Terran upbringing. So far she has done little truly revolutionary as head of the company, maintaining the policies of her predecessors while promoting new research on hyperspace and the HPG technology as a means to improve "the human condition".

Since the creation of the Glass ComStar has been quietly supportive of the Royal Federation's efforts, though not at the cost of their own neutrality. Lady Trillian Steiner-Davion was able to secure a generous loan from ComStar to purchase much-needed war material for the beleaguered Lyran Commonwealth. Given their limitations there is little more they can feasibly do to support the cause. Scientists and researchers have been dispatched to Atocongo and Timkovichi to observe the Looking Glass and learn more about how the phenomenon was formed.

(Maybe if we're lucky they'll crack what's behind the Blackout too, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Even with the information we pulled from Buhl's "Blessed Order" — what we could salvage after that spiteful jackass's viral failsafes were finished — I'm afraid SUNLIGHT just isn't getting anywhere, Jonah. Every avenue we explore just raises more questions as to how the hell the Blackout works. Tucker Harwell's been helping mine and Dr. Song's teams as much as he can, but with the damage Buhl's thugs did to Harwell's mind … If there's anything in Stone's private files that might help, we need it, now. — Paladin Kaffyd op Owens)

(Exarch, we should consider making contact and seeing if they've got anyone like Harwell that we can put into a room with him to figure things out. Given they didn't experience the technological loss our Inner Sphere did, and everything we've got on their knowledge of the physics behind HPG technology, it might be the best chance for a solution sooner rather than later. — Paladin-Exemplar David MacKinnon)


Sidebar 9: The Terran Oversight Force


Since 3061 the Successor States have maintained an occupation force on Terra. By the terms of the Treaty of Geneva no one signatory was to commit less than a combined arms regiment to include at least forty BattleMechs, and no more than a brigade with a maximum strength of two hundred BattleMechs. These units are spread across the system as the Terran Oversight Force. The TOF is overseen by a Command Council modeled on the Robinson Accord Command Council system, with each occupation force's senior officer a member and the Council Chair rotating every year. The TOF has been maintained to varying extents over the decades, reaching its nadir during the most brutal fighting of the Fourth Succession War when broken and exhausted units were rotated in save for the Galedonian and Concord contributions, which were seen to by a succession of mercenary formations hired for the purpose. The use of mercenaries was previously seen as unacceptable but was not explicitly forbidden, and it remains so. The Combine continues to hire mercenaries for the duty but the Concord has resumed regular assignment of their House units to the job.

Here are the listed contributions to the Terran Oversight Force.
(* marks a unit that has not deployed in full force or does not include a full BattleMech regiment)

Terran Oversight Force
CO: Colonel Hermione Brock, Brock's Bulldogs (3142-43 Term)

Free Communal Republic of Rasalhague
Sixty-Fourth Landgruppe*

Azami Confederation
Seventh Confederation Cavalry Brigade Combat Command Tah*

Draconis Combine
Brock's Bulldogs*

Grand Union of Tikonov
Third Chesterton Regulars

Kilbourne Suns' Concord
Fourth Concord Dragoons*

Federated Suns
First Axton Rangers

Oriento-Capellan Empire
Third Sirian Lancers*

Peoples' State of Andurien
Ninth Andurien Rangers*

Magistracy of Canopus
Second Chasseurs e Cheval*

Flavian Principate
II Rim Foederati Legio, III Cohors*

Royal Federation
Second Donegal Guards*

Kingdom of Ghastillia
Seventh Ghastillian Regulars*

Communal League of Sudeten
Tenth Autonomous Brigade