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07/25/02 11:53 AM
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XIN SHENG: Discarding the old ways, the failed ways
XIN SHENG: Embodiment of the Capellan drive for greatness
XIN SHENG: In the Confederation's darkest hour, stopping an invasion and conquering the invaders in turn
XIN SHENG: 23 Davion-held Confederation worlds demanding and getting return to Confederation control - without a shot fired
XIN SHENG: Liberation of the long-lost Zion and Ohren districts from the anarchy of the Free Worlds
XIN SHENG: 45 Davion-held Confederation worlds taken with 16 mech regiments and the blood of the CCAF's elite - regiments sold to Davion and blood spilt fighting alongside the AFFC
XIN SHENG: 3 decades of unrivaled economic growth that led Lyran economicists to call the Confederation, "The Capellan Tiger"
XIN SHENG: The New Birth of the Confederation
INTRODUCTION
Xin Sheng is an alternate Battletech/Mechwarrior setting that puts a competent leader at the Capellan Confederation's helm over two decades before Sun Tzu. Despite the horrific damage to the Confederation during the Fourth Succession War, this is a bolder, greater Confederation that will be instrumental in shaping the Inner Sphere for centuries to come.
Without the incompetency of Maximilian Liao at the helm, the damage of the Fourth Succession War was mitigated, as much as the loss of 68 worlds (and gain of 3!) can be called "mitigated." Without Romano Liao sucking the life out of the Confederation's economy and people for a generation, the Capellan economy - and thus its entire strength - has blossomed. By 3055, it is the economic wonder the Free Worlds League might have been and the Arsenal of Liberty (if not Democracy) against the Clan invaders. Through peaceful demonstrations, civil disobedience, and not a little propaganda to FC bleeding heart liberal newspapers, the Confederation steadily forced the Federated Commonwealth to allow referendums on the worlds Hanse Davion had wrested from the Confederation. This setting is about a Capellan Confederation that had two additional decades of growth and recovery the likes Sun Tzu achieved after 3052.
Xin Sheng is a setting for anyone who ever wanted to play the underdog of the Inner Sphere without having to swallow all the mistakes its leadership made over the last 3 decades of Battletech history.
IT ALL STARTED WHEN…
…a distant relation of Chancellor Maximilian Liao controlled her sharp tongue a little better.
Morgan Liao, a third cousin of the Chancellor and promising mechwarrior cadet, was the second eldest child of her family, a branch of the Liaos in the Tikonov Commonality. At the time, this Sino-Russian Liao was too clever for her own good. Her father, a retiring mechwarrior, was bequeathing the family mechs to his two eldest children simultaneously when the fate of the Confederation was decided by a quirk of random neuron firings, a suddenly different choice of words for her protest of her father's decision. In both histories, Morgan pointed out her brother (a year older) was receiving his mech at the same time as his younger sister because he had been held back a year in the military academy. He was a wild partier who used and abused the family name, achieved barely passing grades, and was destined to (no doubt) wreck family Battlemaster on some drunken bet. The difference is that in FASA's history (where Morgan would die soon, unnoticed, and unsung) Morgan demonstrated a masterful grasp of Mandarin and Russian epitaphs and utilized this mastery to relate not only her brother's shortcomings but also comment on her father's intellectual, military, and sexual shortcomings for even considering giving the family idiot the Battlemaster.
In Xin Sheng, Morgan restrained herself to a precise recitation of her brother's failings as seen on his military academy transcript and assorted (hushed up) police reports in comparison to her own outstanding transcript (neglecting her own not inconsiderable file with the local gendarme), interspersed with few compliments about her father's vast and paternal wisdom. This was all the more impressive because the latter half of Morgan's dissertation was performed while holding her brother (enraged to physical violence) in a Tikonov Double-Hammer Headlock. Her father conceded that his eldest was prone to rashness and it might not do to risk the family fortune on him and, in any case, it would be months before he got out of the soon-to-be-fitted neck brace (a common aftereffect of the Tikonov Double-Hammer Headlock.) She would pilot the Battlemaster and her brother would receive the family Warhammer. This was, of course, potentially a temporary arrangement should her brother prove to be the superior warrior.
While her brother went onto a lackluster career until his tragic assassination some years later (as opposed to FASA's history, where he destroyed the family Battlemaster while trying to win a drunken bet that he could climb to the top of a local skyscraper before a unit mate could climb his Thunderbolt to the top), Morgan Liao went on to become one of the Confederation's most elite mechwarriors (as opposed to dying in her first battle when her thin-skinned Warhammer was mauled by Davion raiders).
During her tour with the Ariana Grenadiers (in Xin Sheng), young Morgan Liao became a mech combat ace in her first battle and went on to excel as only munchkins like Justin Xiang did, but without the self-doubt and insecurities. Which, yes, made her more of a munchkin. On the other hand, she did not significantly trouble herself with epic affairs of state or elaborate spy schemes. Killing whoever the Chancellor declared to be an enemy that day was enough for her, and she killed'em good. After 3 years, Morgan had 27 mech kills to her name, and only 3 of those were light mechs. This did not brush on the carnage of conventional vehicles and infantry she had wrought on the battlefield. Morgan earned praise and lavish attention for her success. While her often-wrecked and mangled Battlemaster was being repaired, either the Chancellor was personally pinning medals on her or the CCAF PR division was sending her around the Confederation to war bond rallies.
At some point along the way - perhaps it was seeing more of the Confederation for herself - Morgan apparently decided that the Confederation's current management left something to be desired. That may be giving her too much credit - perhaps she simply suffered an attack of the epic Liao craving for power and set her sights on an easily obtained goal (ruling a single planet) and later realized she could replace Maximilian. Still, by the time of her ascension as Lord of Tall Trees in 3020, she had demonstrated virtually all of the ideas and abilities that would mark her later Chancellorship. These included her streamlining of the Ariana Grenadier's logistics by arranging (at personal expense) to equip all its mechs with same brands of weapons and systems as best possible (particularly the weapons, sensors, and targeting/tracking systems of the Vindicator, the only mech for which the Confederation had plentiful stocks of spare parts). Her performance at bond rallies where she gave rousing off-the-cuff speeches surprised her PR "handlers" who expected a typical wooden soldier. Likewise, she was an excellent battlefield commander, a true leader of warriors. Her PR handlers should not have been surprised - Morgan was, after all, Liao.
In the end, it's easy to understand why historians are prone to thinking that Morgan had formulated a Master Plan early on and executed it to perfection. Whether they are right or wrong is a question for the ages. Or her next media interview, if the journalists ever remember to ask questions between their lavish praise for Morgan's latest brilliant policy decision. Morgan is, after all, Liao and keeps the media on a short leash.
OH, THE HUMANITY
Tragedy, yes, true tragedy struck Morgan Liao in 3019. An assassin cut down her father and elder brother in the family compound on Tall Trees. Evidence pointed toward the Lord of Tall Trees, Lord Dexter Suk, with whom Morgan's father had had political disputes with in the past. Since the Chancellor had just awarded Morgan a Baton of Illustrious Service, Morgan was able to petition for a personal audience with the Chancellor and demand an inquiry into the assassination. Lord Suk was destined for a wrist slap and a few months in a "philosophical adjustment camp" and would've probably returned to his administration when a great many photographs involving a nude Lord Suk and nude young children were found. Even the Capellan judicial system has limits of tolerance for the misbehavior of nobles, and this was beyond those limits. Lord Suk was executed, swearing all the way to the grave that he never touched a child.
For her meritorious service to the State and to redress the wrongs done against her, the Chancellor made Morgan the Lord of Tall Trees and bequeathed her the noble title Shonso. (Well, he bequeathed the title Shanna, but Morgan had her harmless quirks the Chancellor was willing to humor.)
Oddly enough, no victimized children or their families could be found to corroborate the pictures.
BOOTSTRAPPING
In 3020, Morgan Liao took Tall Trees by storm. Previously known primarily for its genetic research (see Liao Sourcebook), Morgan set out to industrialize and improve the standards of living on the planet. She did this by jumpstarting the basic industries: production of machine tools, smelting facilities, metal shops, microchip fabs, etc. With careful advertising of what new parts were becoming available, companies always starved for such basic necessities by the Succession Wars were able to expand and thrive. This would set the tone for her future programs that brought such dramatic improvement in the Confederation's economy.
Morgan became head of the Ministry of Development in 3025 at Maximilian's appointment due to her success with Tall Trees, who's economy had grown steadily throughout her administration - a change from the maintenance of the status quo under Lord Suk.
AND MAX THOUGHT HE WAS BEING CLEVER
Morgan's golden opportunity arrived in 3027…and none too soon. By 3027, her policies at the Ministry of Development flew directly in the face of Max's Liaoist Doctrine and it would not be long before Max stomped on Morgan's rising star. In 3027, she learned of the pact the Chancellor had made with the Duke of the Capellan March, Michael Hasek-Davion. Conveniently, she had accumulated many friends (she made nobles rich with her policies) and few enemies by this point; she usually made amends with people she irritated quickly, and asked little in return.
The Chancellor, on the other hand, had accumulated enemies with his plans and machinations.
In a masterfully orchestrated move in early 3027, she acted by releasing damning evidence to a conclave of Warrior House leadership about Max's plans to sell out 3 Capellan worlds for peace with the long-time foe, the Federated Suns. (Hell, she didn't even have to frame Max, unlike Lord Suk. She just withheld the evidence that Max was selling off the planets to undermine the Federated Suns, and that Max was the leader of the conspiracy, not the Duke.) Morgan stoked the Capellan powers that be into a frothing lynch mob.
Three days later, Max was executed for being a pawn of Duke Michael Hasek-Davion. I mean, the shame of it. Not even a pawn of the First Prince, but rather a regional Duke.
The Prefectorate (with some debate) selected Morgan as the next Chancellor. If she was a winner, then they had backed a winner. If she was just a soldier that had gone too far too fast, she would be easy enough to replace. For her part, Morgan dutifully accepted the title, which, of course, she never really wanted but would accept to continue her duty to the State.
WEDDING BELLS AND ALARM BELLS
The new Chancellor was establishing her grip on the Confederation as the plans of other Houses rolled forward with the inevitability of an avalanche. Morgan sent out peace feelers to Davion, unaware of the bad blood caused by Max's secret cloning plan and her execution of Justin Xiang.
Morgan sensed war on the horizon and understood what the large unit exercises the FS had conducted in 3027 meant. The FS was practicing troop movements and warfare meant not to conquer a planet or two, but to break Houses. Accordingly, her preparations followed two grim paths. One, duplicating critical factories in the Confederation's Tikonov Commonality along the Periphery border. This was done because the FS and LC were almost bound to seek a stellagraphic link, which would mean capturing some of the important Capellan worlds near Terra (in addition to those of the FWL and Combine). Two, CCAF front-line units would pull back from border worlds as the invasion began. This would give time to make a reasoned counterattack. Plus, history had shown that "defending the beaches" was not always the wisest strategy.
Chancellor Morgan went to the wedding on Terra with high hopes, but they were dashed. Hanse's opinion of the Confederation had not improved.
FOURTH SUCCESSION WAR
Morgan's brief administration had already made the major changes that would make all the difference over the next three decades, even if it didn't know it. As the Federated Suns' legions crashed across the Capellan border, the CCAF front-line units were in the midst of a "scramble," moving to different bases fast enough (it was hoped) to keep the AFFS guessing about their locations. This saved countless units from destruction and made them available for the defense of a string of 17 Capellan worlds near Sarna that would have otherwise fallen to Davion depredations. These worlds stretched from Truth along the old FS-CC border to Sarna to Corey and finally to Phact along the old FWL-CC border. Sarna had been hard fought-for, but would prove entirely worthwhile for its aerospace factories.
With Justin Xiang dead and no investment in triple strength myomers, no CCAF units were crippled by the Davion triple strength myomer ploy.
Morgan had thoroughly burned her ties with Duke Michael Hasek-Davion. In the doctored version of Chancellor Maximilian's trial released to the Capellan public, Duke Hasek-Davion's name had figured prominently. It was enough evidence for Hanse Davion to have the good Duke to be arrested and, regrettably, the flood of disinformation into the Confederation to be shut down.
On the other hand, it did mean Morgan had a somewhat clearer picture of the AFFS's troop dispositions in the Capellan March. She listened to the Maskirovka's field agents, not FS disinformation. A lot of CCAF units were saved because of this.
With Candace Liao executed, the St. Ives Compact did not secede in the confusion of the Fourth Succession War.
To Hanse Davion, these executions appeared to be the usual post-coup rule consolidation one would expect of the Capellans. As far as it appeared on New Avalon and Tharkad, the Capellans had not changed at all. Thus, there was war.
During the Interdiction on the Federated Suns, the remnants of the CCAF were able to secure the worlds along the "Sarna Line", retake several fallen St. Ives worlds, and launch a weak counterattack that took Kittery, Scituate, and Gurnet from the pre-war Davion salient into St. Ives.
In an incredible feat, a vague contingency plan based on Russian actions in World War II physically moved critical factories and workers from Styk and Tikonov deeper into the Confederation. Not nearly all of the necessary tooling had been taken (let alone supporting factories that supplied subcomponents), but many of the workers had been, and the most critical factory parts were relocated.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:00 PM
64.83.29.242
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AFTERMATH
Few people in the Confederation blamed Morgan for the Confederation's failure Fourth Succession War. I mean, it was well known that Hanse Davion was the aggressor, a warmongering imperialist. His subordinate Dukes manipulated and interfered with the sovereigns of neighboring Houses. The newly minted Chancellor was as overwhelmed as anyone at Davion's unmitigated aggression.
(Spin-doctors are a wonderful thing when they're on your side.)
The Federated Suns was denied the factories of Styk and Tikonov until the uprooted factory components were replaced…which, honestly, was an easy enough feat with Lyran aid. The mauled Confederation had a good start to replacing the lost factories of Styk and Tikonov.
The mauled Confederation had the intact St. Ives mech factories and their subcomponent factories.
The mauled Confederation had Sarna's aerospace factories.
The mauled Confederation had (partially complete) duplicate component factories whose absence had kept the last of its mech factories offline until 3036 in FASA's history.
The mauled Confederation had the last of its 6 mech factories functional by 3033, rather than 4 by 3036.
The CCAF's strength was higher after the war than FASA's CCAF due to the "scramble." More mech regiments had been preserved.
Rather than being a drained, defeated nation, Morgan whipped the Confederation into a frenzy of recovery and growth. She (or her advisors) figured the best way to do this was to get the past out of the public's mind. The campaign they coined was "Xin Sheng," the New Birth of the Confederation. The Confederation would begin anew, from its current state, and could only get better.
(Which was a much better PR campaign than, "It can't get any worse than this.")
Morgan loosened many of the economic restrictions Maximilian had imposed. With her apparent attention to 20th Century history, Morgan might have been thinking of post-WWII Japan - overwhelm her enemies economically, hopefully without embarrassing economic collapses after a few decades.
Unlike FASA's Max and Romano, Morgan did attend the Terran peace conference hosted by Comstar. She forced through two demands: minimal border trade restrictions with the FC and open communications with FC-held CC worlds.
ANDURIEN-CANOPIAN WAR
The recently independent Duchy of Andurien joined up with its new pal, the Magistracy of Canopus, to invade the broken Confederation in late 3031. The Duchy targeted valuable industrial worlds like Betelgeuse in the hopes of bolstering its own position against the FWL. Things did not go quite as planned.
In Xin Sheng, the Confederation launched a counteroffensive in 3032 using McCarron's Armored Cavalry and the Warrior Houses. This differs little from FASA's history…superficially.
However, the Warrior Houses were in better shape (no catastrophic losses to TSM trickery) and the CCAF was backed by a much more functional industrial base, including the aerospace factories of St. Ives and Sarna. The counterattack drove the Canopians out of the War by August of 3032, the same month the last of the invaders were driven from Capellan space.
The Capellans followed the retreating invaders.
Over the next 3 years, the Warrior Houses were spent mercilessly taking Andurien world after Andurien world. Their sacrifice was not in vain, and they knew it. The Confederation did everything possible to support them including dropping Capellan militia regiments across invaded Andurien worlds to wreck havoc behind the front lines.
In 3035, Chancellor Morgan personally lead the Red Lancers on the assault on Andurien itself (as the rest of the CCAF was basically exhausted). She was involved in the assault that broke the defenses at the capital city of Jojoken, where the surviving remnants of the Death Commandos captured the Duchess Humphreys almost literally with their last breathes. Morgan signed a dignified and proper peace treaty with the Duchess (total surrender or the Confederation would really start pillaging, looting, and destroying the Duchy) that ended organized resistance in the Duchy. This spared the exhausted CCAF the need to invade the 4 remaining worlds in the Duchy.
And just as peace seemed secured, a desperate Duncan Marik launched a FWL invasion to reclaim the Duchy. Thomas Marik was back from the dead and wanted to arrest Duncan. Maybe if Duncan was a war hero, he could avoid arrest. Yes, that's it.
Morgan's solution was an unintentional plagiarism of Theodore Kurita's desperate gamble in FASA's War of 3039. She took the Red Lancers and 5 militia regiments to invade the FWL planet Scarborough, which was right near the Duchy. Meanwhile, the Maskirovka began feeding disinformation through two "turned" SAFE agents in the CCAF, convincing the FWL that a much larger invasion was going through Scarborough - the story was that the CCAF's strength had been under reported by other "turned" agents.
Duncan Marik was arrested by his own troops so they could halt the CCAF invasion with the loss of Scarborough rather than continue to waste their time on the rebellious Duchy of Andurien. They arrived at worlds around Scarborough just as Morgan cut a peace treaty with the recently resurrected Thomas Marik. The treaty recognized the Capellan's gains, including Scarborough. Thomas Marik went back to the League parliament to thunderous applause - he had ended Duncan's mismanagement of the League, let the Capellans deal with the d@mn Duchy of Andurien, and peacefully blocked the Capellan invasion of the FWL itself.
The Maskirovka had also been spreading a lot of anti-Andurien sentiments in the FWL to ensure the FWL didn't feel the need to reclaim the Duchy anytime soon.
The CCAF benefits from the Andurien-Canopian War were numerous. In addition to gaining 13 well populated, heavily industrialized planets including Andurien and Scarborough (4 without firing a shot), it gained a major trade partner with the Magistracy of Canopus from 3033 onward (Which was, to say the least, completely wigged out that the bloodthirsty Capellans would suddenly offer such a mild peace and generous trade concessions. This would later prove to be a case of keeping friends close and enemies closer, even if the Canopians couldn't figure out if they were the Confederation's friends or enemies.)
Finally, Morgan had rid herself of the Warrior Houses and Death Commandos in a productive manner. Gone were the tools of so many Capellan coups and major threats to the stability of the Confederation government. The bastions of the Lorix Doctrine were gone. At last she could build the professional army she wanted.
INTERLUDE
From the end of the Fourth Succession War to 3045, the Confederation blossomed steadily under Chancellor Morgan's reforms. She loosened controls on the economy and implemented government subsidies of the basic industries as she had on Tall Trees. These policies were so successful that the Confederation's economy grew at an average of 12% throughout the 3030s, even in the Andurien-Canopian War, leading Lyran economists to dub the Confederation, "The Capellan Tiger." (Hello? Asian Tigers? Anyone?) Improved civil liberties (matched by making the Maskirovka more underhanded and sneaky to maintain control over the population) supported the economic boom and improved the public's morale. Education reform was started that would not only improve basic literacy throughout the Confederation, but would produce networks of technical schools and universities on every planet. The Confederation would have nothing to compare to NAIS but, by jiminy, there would be no shortage of techs, engineers, and scientists in the Confederation…in a generation or two.
Morgan's innocuous Fourth Succession War peace treaty concessions meant the Confederation enjoyed the boom in trade with the Federated Commonwealth that had been reserved for the St. Ives Compact and Tikonov Grand Union / Sarna March. Not only did this immeasurably aid the Confederation's economic and industrial recovery, but it also improved the Confederation's image with the Federated Commonwealth's public. This was probably responsible for Hanse Davion not even seriously considering invasion of the Confederation in the mid-3030s (as opposed to FASA's history, where the St. Ives Compact had to threaten war to change Davion's mind). The Confederation was a new place, a happy place, a good neighbor.
The Chancellor spent a lot of government funds to make sure the FC public thought that.
Those peace treaty concessions were also key to the Confederation's counterattack against the Federated Commonwealth. The counterattack had begun even during peace treaty negotiations and involved inserting Maskirovka agents across the many worlds Davion had just wrested from the Confederation.
The Confederation was going to lay some serious Gandhi action on Hanse Davion's a$$.
The establishment of peaceful resistance cells (and actually ratting out violent resisters so they didn't justify FC crackdowns on the peaceful cells) began in the 3030 and came out of the shadows after the Capellan victory in the Andurien-Canopian War. Political movements and civil disobedience reached into the ranks of the planetary governments throughout the "Tikonov March" (Xin Sheng's name for what would've been the Sarna March…Sarna, after all, remained in Capellan hands.) The free communication across national lines allowed the Confederation to portray its post-War recovery in a favorable light. People in the Confederation were enjoying a higher standard of living and more civil rights (bwahahahahahaha) than the occupied Confederation planets in the Tikonov March. Even Duchess Melissa Steiner-Davion's tours and programs could not diffuse tensions in the Tikonov March because, frankly, the Confederation's programs and recovery were doing a better job. The Tikonov March military governors and AFFS occupation troops were hampered by the heavy coverage of the peaceful protests and civil disobedience in the Lyran and Davion liberal media. Every opponent to the Davion-Steiner union exploited each use of riot police or mechs to break up protests and, if some anti-Davion article was suppressed in the Tikonov March, the rest of the Federated-Commonwealth would hear about it.
Ever an adherent to the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…so do it first.), Morgan made sure similar problems did not manifest in the Confederation, particularly the Andurien Commonality. She steadily erased the Commonality's political and military identity with a dozen subtle programs ranging from stocking the local government and militias with Capellans to using the Maskirovka to discredit peaceful resistance groups. While expanding Capellan civil liberties (particularly free speech), she privatized the government's media networks, promptly purchased them with her own shell corporations and stocked them with pro-Liao editors, journalists, managers, and Maskirovka monitors. Interestingly, she also nationalized, then privatized (into her hands) many mail and telecommunication networks operated by Comstar, citing security concerns after the deployment of the Comguards.
WAR OF 3039
The Tikonov March planets nearest the Confederation were only under nominal FC control by 3039. The planetary governments all but ignored New Avalon's directives and the AFFS garrisons were frequently bottled up in their barracks by "sit in" protestors filling their mech bays and gates around their bases. The FS/LC publics and therefore governments had bought in all too thoroughly to the "self determination" and "rights of the common man" poisons the Confederation had been seeding for years, preventing government crackdowns that might've been possible in the Combine or (ironically) Confederation. With the AFFS and LCAF distracted by the just-launched War of 3039, the CCAF was ready to move into the Tikonov March as "peacekeepers."
Hanse Davion avoided the backstabbing Capellan invasion by inviting the Chancellor to a diplomatic summit on Kathil at almost the last minute. He would allow referendums on about a dozen Tikonov March planets if the CCAF invasion did not go forward. (Twelve systems were all he figured the CCAF could reasonably seize, if it had a stiff tailwind and the AFFS garrisons were all drunk, and if many of the CCAF soldiers developed superpowers and were equipped with four leaf clovers.) Negotiations were not fast - after 9 years of recovery, Morgan figured the CCAF was good for three-dozen planets if things went well. Toward the end of the negotiations, word of the DCMS counterattack reached Kathil.
Morgan got referendums on two dozen planets by ratting out the truth of the Combine's military strength and volunteering to take the Red Lancers (in orbit over Kathil if negotiations went really wrong) to blunt the DCMS's drive into the Draconis March. The 90% dead Concord of Kapteyn had left her with a few lingering intelligence sharing ties to the Combine and a fair idea of just how thinly spread the Combine really was. She did have to leave any newly returned worlds open to free trade with the FC as they had been in the Tikonov March.
The War of 3039 was not an unqualified success for the FC forces. Theodore Kurita's counterattack and offensive had disrupted the AFFS and LCAF too much for that. However, the LCAF did seize Dieron and Altair, severing the Combine's link to Terra, the FS kept Quentin due to the stubborn defense by the Red Lancers, and the AFFS won back all the worlds it had lost in the Fourth Succession War. The War of 3039 only brought the FS back to where it had been prior to the Fourth Succession War with respect to the Combine.
The Confederation, on the other hand, got back 23 worlds (of 24 that held referendums) straight down to Styk and Shensi without firing a shot on any of those worlds. Only Foot Fall chose to remain in the FC, and then by a narrow margin. Heck, the Confederation also got to kill a bunch of useless ex-allies and tear up a Davion world while "defending" it. About the only downside was the near-permanent souring of relations with the Combine.
THE 3040s
The 3040s were a boom time for the Confederation. Nearly a decade of fantastic economic growth had sharply increased the standards of living for all Capellan castes. Though the lower classes were still a long way from a Star League-era standard of living, the Confederation was in much better shape than it had been at the end of the Fourth Succession War. Raw capitalism was implementing many of the improvements Sun Tzu would have. Slums were replaced by new housing complexes, electricity, sewer, and running water reached almost all homes, etc. Great times. Hard work earned good money. The Capellans could appreciate that. (And, by God, Chancellor Morgan ground that work ethic into the Capellan mentality. It was too good to pass on.)
While the other Houses pursued warships, the Confederation concentrated on conventional shipyards. By 3042, three new shipyards had been built in the Confederation and were producing large, homegrown jumpships (the Capellan version of the Monolith) at astounding rates. Well, astounding for the Succession Wars era. Most of these were sold to civilian shipping firms to further encourage and sustain economic growth. It was a great time to be Capellan. The Succession Wars could almost be forgotten…except for the Fourth, of course, and the lost worlds of the Tikonov March. But agitation to return to the Confederation made them as good as Capellan already. Once the imperialist Hanse Davion acknowledged the inevitable and allowed self-determination referendums on those worlds, they would be back.
From 3042-3046, a 3-year "hiccup" in the Confederation's super-heated economy slowed growth to a mere 2-3% for those years. Overextended, poorly regulated banks collapsed in a wave across the Confederation in 3042 and sparked this depression. This gave the Chancellor the opportunity to reassert some of the old Capellan attributes of tolerance for hardship. A useful reminder to many prosperity-softened Capellans and nuevo middle class citizens.
The depression was also the perfect time to disguise a military build-up as "make work", a means to keep the people busy.
In 3046, the Confederation declared it sought to regain worlds lost to the FWL in the Succession Wars and sent the CCAF storming across the border in the Zion and Ohren districts. The Chancellor's goal was to retake the former Capellan worlds of Asuncion and Bernardo, homes of Kallon mech factories. Bernardo was beyond the Zion district, so it was secured by taking the neighboring systems of Ibstock, Menkallan and Berenson. The closely watched Andurien Defenders (rebuilt with almost a third Capellan-born soldiers) took Claybrooke, Pilpala, and Calseraigne along the FWL's Periphery border. In the end, the Confederation netted 13 worlds from the FWL.
This blitzkrieg and subsequent repulsion of FWL counterattacks were a tour de force of Morgan's CCAF reforms. Peace was eventually forced by exploiting the FWL's internal divisions. McCarron's Armored Cavalry (now the "CCAF Third Army") was let loose on behind-the-lines raids to smash FWL staging areas and upset the various FWL districts. Capellan raids into the Principality of Regulus, Duchy of Oriente, Duchy of Orloff, The Protectorate, and Marik Commonality lead to panic and the refusal of troops to deploy outside their home districts despite Thomas Marik's reforms and centralization. When the Capellan peace offer came, Thomas Marik accepted it with ill grace, but had little choice. All his work of the past decade to unify the FWL and centralize the government was collapsing like a sand castle in the surf.
Needless to say, much of the remaining Tikonov March was clamoring to be returned to the Confederation. There was even unrest in the Capellan March as Capellan planets held since the First Succession War developed pro-Confederation movements. The Confederation was a winner. The Confederation was cool. Xin Sheng! Xin Sheng! Xin Sheng! Xin Sheng! etc etc etc
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:05 PM
64.83.29.242
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THE 3050s
The Inner Sphere was tensing for another round of FWL-CC and FC-DC "border disputes" when a unifying force appeared from the vastness of the Deep Periphery: the Clans. (Duh).
The Confederation watched with some bemusement as the AFFC's elite military units were turned to hamburger by these Clan folks. In early 3050, the common thought was that maybe the Confederation it might be time for a few "border disputes" with the FC (who's armed forces were disappearing rapidly) rather than the beleaguered FWL. By the middle of 3050, it was clear that the Clans were a larger threat than originally anticipated.
At a conference sponsored by the Wolf Dragoons on Outreach, Chancellor Morgan oozed sympathy for the Combine, FedCom, and Free Rasalhague Republic until the various leaders were encouraging people seated nearby to smack her. They all knew the Confederation was willing to help - for a pound or two of flesh. Aid to the Free Rasalhague Republic and Combine was simple - the Confederation would sell at cost whatever military (or other) goods those two nations wanted. Payment plans were generous and involved long-term, low-interest schedules, but there would be Capellan profit. Dickering with the FC was not as easy because of the insatiable Capellan craving for its lost worlds and unwillingness of the FC to give up some worlds just to reclaim others. The plan settled on giving (free of monetary charge) the AFFC 16 mech regiments of new mechs (supplied over 4 years), immediate delivery of 4 regiments mechs currently used by the Capellan Confederation National Guard (CCNG), and (at cost) any extra military goods the Confederation could produce and the FC ordered. Morgan broke the negotiating deadlock over how many Tikonov March worlds would hold referendums (all former CC worlds vs ~20) by offering to send large quantities of CCAF line regiments against the Clans.
Oddly, it was Morgan who secured the FWL's (industrial) contribution to the Clan War effort. The Confederation's famous medical system (see Technology) would treat leukemia-stricken Joshua Marik if the FWL would sell military goods to the invaded nations. Apparently after meeting higher priorities (the good of the Confederation), the Chancellor could be a decent person. Or maybe she just didn't want the FWL getting frisky along the Confederation's border while the CCAF was away from home.
THE CCAF MEETS THE CLANS
With its FC border quiescent, the Confederation felt free to send two full mech armies (see Military) to the invasion corridor. This "Army Group" (AG) was stationed near the Lyran planet Koniz and hence dubbed, "Army Group Koniz." It never landed on Koniz but took the unusual step of stationing itself in deep, interstellar space along the Jade Falcon invasion corridor.
Using intelligence gleaned from Clan captives, the CCAF plan was to exploit the Inner Sphere's gross numerical superiority. The Clans were simply and completely outnumbered in terms of total population. AG Koniz set the standard for exploiting this weakness: raiding Clan-held worlds in division strength (see Military) to smash the Clan military forces on the planet (or any Clan assets the division could find, actually). At the start of the offensive, AG Koniz could hit 6 worlds at a time, each in division strength. Despite a steady stream of supplies and replacements, a year later AG Koniz could only field approximately 4 divisions. On the other hand, it had raided 25 Clan-held planets and destroyed the garrisons on 19 of them. There was no attempt at "liberation" or occupation - that was for the AFFC. Poor coordination between AG Koniz and the AFFC lead to frequent re-occupation by the Clans after CCAF troops left a "cleansed" planet.
Success was due to overwhelming numbers and the inability of the Clans in pin down the AG Koniz units. Their attacks were unpredictable and fast; they fled when too many warships arrived and had enough fighters to threaten a few warships at a time. Success in avoiding Clan traps was mixed - there were several division-scale disasters for AG Koniz and later Army Groups.
AG Koniz retired after being relieved by AG Pasig (stationed closer to the Periphery near - duh - the Lyran world Pasig). AG Pasig began its operations in January of 3053 and continued the war of attrition. AG Pasig more fully enjoyed the fruits of the Comstar victory at Tukayyid, which AG Koniz had been too exhausted to exploit properly. AG Pasig was joined by AG Last Frontier in July, a mech-less division that exploited the Confederation's glut in infantry and vehicle production. AG Last Frontier predictably suffered heavier casualties, but was able to almost double the number of planets the CCAF could raid at once.
AG Pasig was also joined by AFFC and DCMS multi-RCT raiding groups, though the AFFC's and DCMS's need to defend long borders prevented them from contributing to the degree of the CCAF.
AG Pasig was relieved in 3054 by AG Gunzberg, which continued the raiding pattern. AG Last Frontier was later relieved by AG Pomme de Terre, another mech-free army group.
AG Pasig lost a division witnessing the Clan invasion crumpling: the division blundered into a warship-guarded convoy forming up at a Jade Falcon-held world that the division had been sent to raid. The Jade Falcons were retreating from the Inner Sphere due to mounting losses: each (successful) raid cost them a cluster and, often, hundreds of non-warrior caste members.
A very successful dirty deed by a joint ISF-Maskirovka operation succeeded none too soon - the Inner Sphere did not want the invading Clans to leave the Inner Sphere, regroup, and attack again. In 3055, a very, very naughty Smoke Jaguar dropship pilot, a pilot not brave enough to 'fess up his naughtiness to Smoke Jaguar authorities, was blackmailed into providing directions to the Clan home worlds.
INTERLUDE
After Operation Scorpion, Chancellor Morgan took the opportunity to nationalize HPGs within the Confederation. This would hobble the Confederation's interstellar communications for years while HPGs damaged and destroyed and in the CCNG's response to Operation Scorpion were repaired or replaced. The Confederation had to build a group of HPG operators from the ground up, with the aid of less-than-cooperative Comstar prisoners. While Focht and Primus Mori accepted this, Confederation and Comstar relations were permanently damaged until Word of Blake actions forced them to cooperate in later years. About 80% of the Confederation's network was functional by 3056 and all major worlds were linked. The Federated Commonwealth had also nationalized its HPG network, though it retained significant non-HPG Comstar services (local mail and telecommunication networks). The Combine could not afford this nationalization, and the FWL would have no part of it.
OPERATIONS WARLORD AND BULLDOG
MII0 and ISF operations in the invasion corridor spread disinformation to the Clans that the 3055-3056 reduction in raiding (to just AFFC and DCMS raids) was due to raw exhaustion by all involved militaries. The Clans bought into this too easily. In fact, Army Group Huntress was forming in the CCAF and moving out with a multi-national task force including AFFC, DCMS, Comguard, and even FWL units of at least CCAF division size. The AFFC and DCMS contributions were surprisingly small on the face of it - 9 mech regiments and 27 conventional regiments between the two militaries, plus a handful of warships - but they had another role. While Operation Warlord (attack of the Clan home worlds) mustered, Operation Bulldog would involve huge numbers of AFFC and DCMS units to clear out the battered Clan units of the invasion corridor.
The lead elements of Operation Warlord arrived in Clan space in March of 3057 and began a process of "reducing" the warship strengths of the target Clans (Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, and Steel Viper) with fighter raids. The bulk of Operation Warlord forces arrived a month later and repeated the raiding style used in the Clan invasion corridor, but tripled their raiding strength to Army size so as to be able to handle entire Clan galaxies. Clan bondsmen were instrumental in determining borders between Clan territories on shared worlds, allowing Operation Warlord forces to destroy the targeted Clans without broadening the war. Operation Warlord was more than attrition warfare: it targeted the Clan military industries and transportation networks, too.
When the remainders of the three targeted Clans were snapped up by other Clans, they just got the civilian castes and basic industries to keep the civilians alive. A great deal of work was needed to make the new acquisitions useful - which meant the Clans spent resources that would not go toward their militaries.
Operation Bulldog launched in August of 3057 when word came back along the Operation Warlord's supply jumpship command circuit that the targeted Clans were buckling. Over 120 mech regiments and nearly 600 conventional regiments were involved in Operation Bulldog, with fully 20% of the troops coming from the FWL. On top of Tukayyid and an inability to replace losses due to constant raiding, the 6 Clans of the occupation zone were steamrolled. Ghost Bear and Wolf were the last to leave in November of 3057, leaving together in a disciplined convoy.
News of the retreats arrived in the Clan home worlds as "reduction" of the targeted Clans was nearing completion and the Warlord task force was nearing exhaustion. Warlord delegates visited the Grand Council to pound out a peace treaty, or at least an understanding - no more war with the Inner Sphere. When Khans raged about the non-Trial peacemaking, particularly the Ice Hellions, the Warlord delegates nearly walked out to launch "reduction" attacks on Hellion planets. In all likelihood, the Warlord task force was good for "reducing" one or two more Clans, and the assembled Khans knew that, but they also understood that the Inner Sphere could be back before the Clans recovered from their massive losses throughout the Clan War. The mobilized forces of Operation Bulldog, for example, could probably begin "reducing" Clans in 8 months. Clan losses were not going to be sustainable in the long run.
The retreat of Clan forces out of the Inner Sphere pushed the Grand Council to unanimously accept peace. There was no Trial of Refusal.
AND BACK HOME…
Back in the Inner Sphere, several issues lead to the Connaught Accords of November 3057.
The Connaught Accords instituted the Star League under a new "constitution" and placed the Operation Warlord under SLDF command. Chancellor Morgan went along with many compromises with surprising ease and good grace, even putting the CCAF Warlord forces under temporary SLDF authority and agreeing to hand over recovered Clan technology. Indeed, she was a major source of compromises that satisfied all participants - apparently because she wanted to be in a position to sabotage it all if her "minor" request was not made, and because Morgan did not like half-assed compromised decisions-by-committee.
The reason behind the Chancellor's support for the Star League was clear: given the much-delayed referendums on Tikonov March worlds, given the battered state of the CCAF, and given the strain starting to show in the Capellan economy from the all-out war effort, a chance to let the Confederation catch its breath without worrying about "border disputes" with the FWL or FC was a very good thing.
The much-delayed Tikonov March referendums were held in January of 3058, returning 45 Capellan worlds in FC hands to the Confederation.
Captain-General Thomas Marik told her to get bent when she suggested referendums on former CC planets in the FWL's grasp.
The Word of Blake took advantage of the Comguard's preoccupation with Operation Bulldog and Warlord to seize Terra in December of 3057.
THE POST-CLAN WAR YEARS AND SUMMARY
Yes, the Star League was back, the Clans were "broken", but it was not a happy time.
Terra became a hotbed of bloody resistance against the Word of Blake as native Terrans rebelled against the mystic half of Comstar. For their own reasons, the Federated Commonwealth, Combine, ComGuards, and Capellan Confederation all supplied the resistance fighters. Particularly damaging was the Confederation's aid in spreading anti-WOB disinformation through the FWL, Terra, FC, and Periphery. The FWL was wracked with anti-WOB rebellions as "inner secrets" of the WOB were released. By 3063, over 50,000 WOB loyalists had died on Terra, as had over a million Terrans in WOB reprisals. WOB reprisals made evening news on many, many planets.
The returning CCAF mech Armies from Operation Warlord were stationed along the FWL border rather than at their home postings. The FWL planets, former CC planets, along the Capellan border were wracked by many of the same sorts of demonstrations and civil disobediences that had rocked the Tikonov March for over 2 decades. The Captain-General stubbornly refuses referendums and cracks down on the demonstrators much as he did anti-WOB demonstrators.
In the Capellan March, able counter-propaganda by Duke Morgan Hasek-Davion reduced pro-CC demonstrations to polite debating societies and noticeable but small political parties. The exception is in the former Chesterson Commonality, which agitates heavily for a return to the Confederation. The people of the nine Chesterson worlds have not appreciated the FS/FC occupation and are particularly sore about the Rape of Demeter.
Victor Steiner-Davion returned to find himself without a throne and a House in turmoil. His sister Katherine had seceded the new "Lyran Alliance" from the FC over the Tikonov March referendum in February, 3058.
The Clan home worlds were wracked with trials of possession for the lands of the fallen Clans. The home worlds are also falling into an economic depression (as much as the Clan system could recognize such a thing) due to military and industrial losses in the Clan War.
Combat action in the Clan home worlds is extremely high as Warden-Crusader political fallout over this "peace treaty" thing is mixed with attempts to grab newly available land.
First Lord of the Star League Theodore Kurita has been suggesting a Star League "peacekeeping" force sent to Terra to end the bloodshed. With a growing civil war, the AFFC is lukewarm toward the idea. With a major reconstruction of the CCAF underway, the Confederation is lukewarm to the idea. The Captain-General of the FWL is flat out against it, but the idea has popular support in the FWL Parliament. The Combine is busy rebuilding worlds sucked dry by the poor management of the Smoke Jaguars and so does not have the funding to send in peacekeepers. The Free Rasalhague Republic is a mess despite extensive Capellan recovery aid (go figure: the Confederation is looking to make profits off the recovery loans and get a major foothold, or even solid grasp, on FRR business and industry) and so cannot afford to contribute troops, either.
There are rumblings that Isis or Joshua Marik may be supported by the FWL Parliament in a bid to replace the "erratic" Thomas Marik.
The "Disputed Territories" of the Tikonov March (those not formerly part of the Confederation) are riled by warring Federated Suns/Lyran Alliance troops, bids for independence, Marik and Kuritan peacekeepers, and Capellan arms dealers selling guns to all sides.
The Capellan economy is growing again, but at a moderate 4% rate. Most of this comes from continued raising of standards of living in the Capellan lower classes and similar improvements on the recently annexed Tikonov March worlds. The rate is expected to jump (probably dramatically) in the latter half of the 3060s as the impact of Capellan educational improvements from the past 3 decades are felt.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:06 PM
64.83.29.242
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LIBERATION OF TERRA--
While the Confederation remains nominally politically neutral with respect to the WOB/Terran conflict, Chancellor Morgan seems to dislike the Word of Blake for unknown reasons. It might be as simple as what's on the evening news: the WOB re-education camps and machine gunning of peaceful Terran protestors. It might be a Hidden Plan: establish a foothold or conquer Terra to claim the First Lordship permanently, though Morgan is known to have renounced the Liao claim as heir to the First Lord's family (but remains on the list to be First Lord of the new Star League).
In any case, the Maskirovka and CCAF are looking for a few good military advisors to help the Terrans (and various Disputed Territories planets). Insertion is typically by stealth Leopard, by smuggling on cargo dropships, or getting on planet as a tourist (for non-mechwarriors). You get to advise Terran liberation movements on how to fight a proper, dirty guerilla war and/or make guerilla raids on Word of Blake military targets. Other duties may include gathering news for consumption by the Inner Sphere: what atrocities has the Word of Blake committed today? You will be outgunned, heavily outnumbered, and isolated on a planet occupied by a big hostile army, though most civilians will be on your side...or sympathize with your plight while they turn you over to WOB forces because they fear for their lives more than they're willing to help you.
The good news is, the WOBblies aren't everywhere at once and where they are, they're usually not present in great numbers. A WOB infantry base for oppressing the local rural civilians is well within the capacity of an elite CCAF...er, foreign volunteer lance to the Terran Liberation Front...to defeat.
FUN IN THE DISPUTED TERRITORIES--
Pretty much the same as the Liberation of Terra. The Maskirovka's and CCAF's efforts concentrate against Lyran and WOBblie influences in the Disputed Territories. Capellan duties in the Disputed Territories will shift dramatically in 3066 (see below).
MINE! THOSE ARE MY WORLDS! GIMME!--
In 3064, pro-Isis and pro-Thomas forces square off for the first time on the battlefield. Unlike the raging FC civil war, Thomas is not likely to last long. The evidence against him, like the case against Duncan before him, is too d@mning. He will probably lose military support after a few years while Isis gains.
In the mean time, though, the FWL is as de-centralized as ever. Persuasive words are already swaying FWL border planets along the CC, but Thomas keeps them well-garrisoned to prevent any referendum nonsense. A border Duchy or independent planet might be inclined to tell the FWL to blow off and (re-)join the CC, if only someone (hint hint) could liberate them from the FWL occupation forces.
Of course, you'd have to be careful. Nothing can unite a squabbling nation like foreign invaders. Chancellor Morgan's PR specialists can only be so convincing about "self determination" and referendums to the public deeper in the FWL, who get their news filtered through WOB-controlled HPGs.
Speaking of which, you might want your CCAF brigade ready to move in January of 3065. A little birdy dropped word that the Duchies of Oriente and Regulus were going to privatize their HPGs then. Seems they contracted the CCMC to supply them with some HPGs and trained techs to replace these religious nuts in their current HPGs. The news that the FWL heart worlds will be getting about the FWL-CC border planets is going to change in tone about then....
THE POT BOILED OVER--
In 3065, the apolitical Draconis and Capellan Marches were dragged inevitably into the FC civil war. They were promoting George Hasek-Davion as an alternative First Prince and to confirm the secession of the FS from the FC, apparently heeding Chancellor Morgan's suggestions to find *some* solution to the split. As Victor's forces recoil from brutal defeats in the Disputed Territories, Katherine is able to turn her attention to the neutral March Dukes. In her eyes, as they are not for her, they are against her.
And Chancellor Morgan is instigating treason in them.
As nominal leader of the FC, Katherine was due to be First Lord of the Star League in 3063 per the pre-determined rotation in 3063. However, Chancellor Morgan questioned Katherine's legitimacy as head of the Federated Commonwealth and managed to get Katherine and the entire FC representation locked out until a Star League committee could determine whether the Lyrans and Suns should have seperate representatives, or if Victor was the leader of a "united" FC, or if Katherine's claim was correct. The FC was bumped out of its pre-determined spot, as was the FWL for similar reasons, leaving the FRR supplied the First Lord for the 3063-3068 period.
While an overwhelmed First Lord Ragnar Magnusson tries to keep the fledgling Star League functioning, Katherine is determined to be seen as the legitimate leader in 3068 when her second chance to be First Lord comes up. To do that, of course, she's going to have to make sure the CC can no longer interfere with her plans.
In 3066, the LAAF will launch from the Disputed Territories into the Tikonov Commonality in an attempt to "reclaim the Tikonov March". Spoiler raids from loyalist AFFS units in the Capellan March will hit the St. Ives Commonality. With the Confederation on its knees, the forces can turn back to finish off Victor and other rebels. In 6 months, the battle will be over, so says the plan, and Katherine will rule a united nation from Tharkad to New Avalon. The LAAF has spent 8 years rebuilding with all that Lyran industrial might since the Clan War, and it is a very impressive war machine (on paper) once again. Victor's units are much reduced by their defeats in the Disputed Territories, so Katherine has listened to her generals that told her the LAAF could safely expose its flank to Victor while it crushes the small CCAF. With nominal legal control of the Capellan March, loyalist AFFS forces can safely invade the Confederation.
However, It's a rather more complicated situation than Katherine would think. Duke Morgan Hasek-Davion has just retreated from Ducal Palace on New Syrtis, not conceded to the rule of Katherine's military governor of the Capellan March. Victor's forces are as battle savvy as the newly rebuilt LAAF forces (aka "Thundering Herd") are not. And the LAAF has made the mistake of striking the Confederation on its home territory, where its troops are always the most fanatical. The CCAF is also eminently suited for long operations away from its home land, and Tharkad is rather closer than the Clan home worlds.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:08 PM
64.83.29.242
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FOREIGN RELATIONS AND STATE OF THE INNER SPHERE
The Capellan Confederation of Xin Sheng has gone far by being friendly and diplomatic to its neighbors. However, this is not because the Confederation or its Chancellor is friendly or nice, it's because diplomacy and good neighbor images served the Confederation's ends far better than the military.
Free Worlds League--
In the case of the FWL, this reminds one of the tired saying, "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." The Confederation continues to trade heavily with the FWL, which has NOT enjoyed the economic boom of FASA's FWL. The Confederation (unknowingly at first) sucked the wind out of those sails with its economic boom of the 3030s-3040s and its actions as the "Arsenal of Liberty" for the Inner Sphere during the Clan War. FWL-CC relations at a government level are fairly poor because the CC knows it can probably regain more worlds from the relatively weak FWL (unlike the dangerous FC/FS), and the FWL knows the CC is thinking this. Due to Clan War propaganda and forced alliances, the FWL public has a considerably better view of the CC, something that will probably last until the CC (re)gains FWL worlds.
Free Rasalhague Republic--
The Capellan Confederation and Free Rasalhague Republic get along very well mostly due to the "selfless" military efforts of the CCAF in the Clan War and now the post-War reconstruction aid. Without the Ghost Bears in the Inner Sphere (the CCAF raiding in the 3052-3055 period convinced the GBs that it was not safe to move its population to the Inner Sphere), the Confederation is the major source of reconstruction for the FRR. Unlike the FWL, these relations are not tainted by fears of imminent Capellan invasions and it seems unlikely that Chancellor Morgan would ever try - the FRR is poorly placed and would represent a doubling of the CC's border length. Most Capellan material aid comes from new Capellan-owned factories set up in the FRR, giving the Republic the illusion that it isn't dependent on foreign trade.
Draconis Combine--
The Confederation is dealing cordially with the Combine for many of the same reasons as it deals with the FRR. The Combine public has a lukewarm view of the Confederation - Kuritans aren't much for dealing with outsiders, and needing foreign aid to throw out invaders, let alone recover is a recipe for loss of face. The Coordinator forced the Confederation to set up new factories in the Combine rather than simply import goods due to the War of 3039 - Theodore does not trust Morgan. Or, rather, trusts her to do what's best for the Confederation to exclusion of others. This may involve shutting down trade with the Combine at some point, hence the value of in situ factories. In fact, the on-site factories proved more profitable than imports - Kuritan wages were low, transportation costs were much lower, and a lot more could be built locally than imported.
Federated Suns--
Relations with the Federated Suns vary regionally. On a government level, Chancellor Morgan gets along fairly well with Victor, but her nationalism is disturbing - she would, no doubt, snatch back every former Capellan world in the Capellan March given a good chance. Many former Capellan worlds in the Capellan March have a favorable opinion of the Confederation even if they do not want to return, while Capellan March worlds that were never in the Confederation are less kindly. They know the Confederation wants its lost worlds, which would put the remaining Capellan March in a bad spot. The Crucis March, isolated from the borders, is also favorable of the Confederation. Confederation goods are well received in the Crucis March, where they are viewed much like Japanese goods in the US in the 1980s: cheap and high quality. The Draconis March is lukewarm toward the Confederation because of its aid in rebuilding the Combine though, on the other hand, Capellan investment, consumer goods, and military supplies are helping the Draconis March, too. In the end, the Federated Suns is THE major trade partner of the Confederation, perhaps one reason the Chancellor has not pushed border disputes too far.
Lyran Alliance--
Relations with the Lyran Alliance are strained. The Alliance was born in protest over the referendum in the Tikonov March that lost worlds Lyrans fought and bled to capture. Chancellor Morgan does not like Katherine Steiner-Davion and has made this known in diplomatic circles…including to Katherine's face. At the minimum (based on exchanges between Morgan and Katherine) this dislike is apparently because Morgan considers Katherine to be a half-a$$ed tyrant who passed on the opportunity to gain the entire Federated Commonwealth. (If Katherine was a competent tyrant, Morgan would no doubt find her more agreeable). The political need of the Katherine to threaten "intervention" in the Disputed Territories and former Tikonov March does not help, nor does continued Capellan public relations work in the Alliance that upsets Katherine's plans to vilify the Confederation. Oddly, Morgan does not seem to want to fan the FS/LA civil war flames or take advantage of it for territorial or monetary gains. She apparently feels the Inner Sphere is becoming too chaotic and could explode into another Age of War. For this reason, she is trying to seek diplomatic solutions and not selling arms to either side (and may be going easy on the FWL for this reason, too). After the FS, the LA remains the Confederation's largest trade partner despite strained relations.
The Periphery--
The Magistracy of Canopus has resigned itself to close ties with the Confederation. Canopian foreign trade has quintupled since the early 3030s, largely due to trade with the Confederation. There is no clear reason for this close relationship other than that it gives the Confederation considerable pull over the Magistracy. And trade profits. And it does secure peace, making a repeat Canopian invasion of the Confederation unlikely. Perhaps the reasons are just that simple, but political observers continue to look for hidden plans. Morgan always has hidden plans.
The Taurian Concordat is also benefiting from Confederation investment. Like the Magistracy, close Capellan ties with the Concordat have resulted in great leaps in the standard of living and technology for the Periphery power. Capellan corporations bring investment to basic industries (much as Morgan did to bootstrap up the Confederation in the 3030s) and open factories. In exchange for improving the lives of the Taurians, they get money. The Taurian-Capellan relationship seems to be just that simple. But this is Morgan's doing. There must be a secret agenda.
Though, with the burgeoning Confederation settlements (23 colonies established since 3040, 25 more scouted out) in the mostly-empty region between the Magistracy and Taurians, perhaps the Chancellor wanted simply to have the diplomatic ties necessary to force recognition of the Confederation's expanding Periphery borders.
The Star League--
The Star League is back, and…well, it's just back. It certainly isn't bad. The SLDF consists of a small reaction force built of (mostly) former Star League units like the Eridani Light Horse, much like FASA's history. One of the two biggest political issues before the Star League is the incorporation (or not) of Comguard units into the SLDF. The other is military aid for Terra against Word of Blake occupation forces, or if the Word of Blake should be recognized as the legitimate government of Terra.
The Star League was born in the middle of Operation Warlord. It was rebuilt mostly in response to the sudden realization of a need for a unified bargaining position with the Clan Grand Council. Secondarily, it was born because of worries about Capellan acquisition of too much Clan technology during Operation Warlord. The Capellans were providing the command circuit supply train and the bulk of Operation Warlord troops, putting the Confederation in a unique position to seize Clan factories and workers.
The Connaught Accords hammered out the bulk of the new Star League, and it is significantly different than the old one. A desire to avoid the failings of the old Star League lead to many of these changes. There is a bicameral house (a result of a great compromise between the small and large Inner Sphere nations) with the House Lords forming a "Chamber of Lords" (the Chancellor's suggestion for a "House of Lords" was "taken under advisement" but never adopted). Representatives based on population of each Star League member-nation formed a "Chamber of Representatives." A Star League First Lord would be selected from the member-nations on a rotating basis for 5-year terms, starting with Theodore Kurita and cycling through a pre-determined roster of Houses.
Disputed Territories--
The remainder of the Tikonov March after the Capellan worlds returned to the Confederation has been in dispute since the Lyran Alliance seceded from the Federated Commonwealth. These worlds consist of 15 FWL planets, 5 Combine planets, 2 LA, and 3 FC planets all around Terra. The Combine has sent peacekeepers to Altair and Dieron (effectively reducing the number of Combine planets in the Disputed Territories to 3), but the others have been demonstrating significant amounts independence - a common trait of Disputed Territory worlds.
The notoriously politically apathetic population of Procyon, for example, seems to have awoken to the idea of independence or a renewed Terran Hegemony, and is contributing its daunting industrial might and raw manpower toward staying independent. Procyon would apparently like to ally with a WOB-free Terra. The desires of the various Houses and Disputed Territory planets are complicating the Star League response to the Word of Blake on Terra. Continued independence and, well, disputing the claims of other Houses on various planets is extremely convenient for various factions.
Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion and Chancellor Morgan Liao share a common opinion on one issue: being rid of the Disputed Territories. Unfortunately, Morgan doesn't care how they go, except that they don't go away according to Katherine's plan. Katherine's desired end to the Disputed Territories involves Lyran annexation of most of the worlds and perhaps rolling back into the ex-Tikonov March Capellan worlds to satisfy conservative Lyran political elements. For this and many other reasons (like the noises from the Nova Cats about moving into the region rather than being beholden to the Combine), the Disputed Territories continue to exist.
The Disputed Territories are, of course, rife with combat. Indeed, they are the primary sites of combat outside of the Federated Commonwealth's scattered civil war battlefields. In fact, the Territories get the dubious honor of hosting some of the largest and most vicious Federated Commonwealth civil war battles. Various Houses are covertly supporting this or that faction in hopes of wooing worlds or to foil another.
Nova Cats--
The Nova Cats have settled the Albiero prefecture of the Draconis Combine at the Coordinator's behest. They are the only significant Clan influence in the Inner Sphere, followed distantly by Diamond Shark merchants. Their presence is little different than in FASA's history except for their location. The Combine hopes to use them as buffers against future Clan invasions. It also hopes to gain considerable Clan technology from them and use the Nova Cats to improve the rather backward Albiero district. Though they do not rate representation in the Star League's Chamber of Lords, the Combine has allowed them to provide a disproportionately large share of the Combine's representatives in the Chamber of Representatives. This may not be enough for the Nova Cats, though - there is open talk of settling the Disputed Territories among Nova Cat leadership.
Ghost Bears--
Have not moved into the Inner Sphere. The damaging CCAF and DCMS raids of the early 3050s made moving into the Inner Sphere entirely too risky for the liking of the GB Khans. They have snapped up considerable amounts of Jade Falcon and Smoke Jaguar territory in the home worlds.
Clan Wolf/Clan Wolf in Exile--
Does not exist. Khan Phelan fell in battle. On the other hand, the Wolves did not go through the Refusal War with the Falcons - both Clans were battered by Inner Sphere forces and driven from the Inner Sphere. Khan Vlad Ward recently engineered the overthrow of the Warden political leadership after Operation Warlord forced peace between the Clans and Inner Sphere.
Comstar--
Comstar is in a precarious position. It only operates HPGs for the Draconis Combine, who could not afford to nationalize its HPGs after Operation Scorpion, and several Periphery nations. Comstar also operates a variety of non-HPG services (mail, telecommunications) in the aforementioned nations and the Federated Commonwealth, but this is more scattered as many planets maintain government- or privately-run mail and telecom systems. This means Comstar's budget is down quite a bit. Furthermore, the Comguards have little to do since Operation Bulldog and Warlord. Retaking Terra would be a priority, but the Star League is considering annexing the Comguards into the SLDF and nationalizing the last of its communication services. The SLDF HAS taken over the Explorer Corps and contracted several House deep space exploration efforts.
This funding shortfall and possible end as an independent entity has lead Comstar to curtail many of its humanitarian services. This has put quite a few Periphery and poorer Inner Sphere worlds in a bad spot. The Capellan Confederation, in another of the Chancellor's PR campaigns, has been aiding many of the Federated Suns' "skid row planets."
Word of Blake--
After initial growth and success in the 3050s culminating with the "liberation" of Terra, the Word of Blake has found itself under siege from all quarters. The people of the FWL seem to hate it and may well overthrow their puppet Thomas Marik. The people of Terra rage against its benevolent rule, forcing the Blake's educators and peacekeeper to kill over one million of the misguided Terrans for the fifty thousand dead true believers the Terran rebels have killed. The Star League refuses to recognize it and all of its intelligence assets have been virtually purged from the Capellan Confederation and, to a lesser extent, the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine. The Star League turns a blind eye toward military aid pouring into Terra (despite the Reagan SDS!) and talks of defiling Terra with its liberation. Unknown agencies (likely ROM or the Maskirovka) foil its work in the Disputed Territories. The Confederation is a known foe (why?!) who stymies the spread of Blake's word in the Periphery. For example, it outright threatened the Marian Hegemony with "a catastrophic [shame] whuppin'" (message was delivered by a member of the CCAF 3rd Army, McCarron's Armored Cavalry) if it accepted Word of Blake aid and/or HPG administration.
The Word of Blake in Xin Sheng is in a far worse state than FASA's Word of Blake. It is a public boogeyman for much of the Inner Sphere, who hear weekly (or monthly, depending on their local HPG station) of the atrocities committed on Terra. Even the Clans have grumbled about this at the Star League embassy on Strana Mechty, drawing a comparison to Amaris's occupation.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
Edited by Cray (07/25/02 12:09 PM)
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Cray
07/25/02 12:10 PM
64.83.29.242
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POPULATION & SOCIETY
The Capellan Confederation is the most densely populated region of human space. After the losses of the early Succession Wars, Capellan Chancellors made a point of encouraging large families with various incentives. This worked very well. By the late 2900s, the Confederation was due for famines predicted by population growth extrapolations, but this was headed off by a "Green Revolution" by Tall Trees' genetic engineers.
Social pressure toward large families has not changed in the 3000s, nor does Chancellor Morgan seem to intent on changing her predecessor's policies. Indeed, she has had 7 children with her wife (Yeah, figure that one out.) Improving standards of living do not seem to be quelling the growth, but rather encouraging them - growth rates dropped between 3000 and 3035, only to climb in the later 3030s and 3040s. The Capellan population doubled between 3000 and 3060 (allowing for variations due to, say, one third of its planets being annexed by Davion imperialists), leaving many of its planets stuffed with 4, 6, and even 9 billion people. Production of jumpships and dropships has definitely shifted toward production of colonial transports, and production of fusion power plants, water purification systems, and new, engineered agricultural goods is receiving a lot of government attention.
Confederation neighbors are aware of Capellan growth and, when the topic was broached in the Star League Chamber of Lords ("Perhaps you could put something in the water," was the Archon-Princess's suggestion), those neighbors did not reacted kindly to Chancellor Morgan shouting "Lebensraum! Ve must have Lebensraum!" (Most of the House Lords got the joke. There was no need for Thomas Marik to throw that gavel at her.)
Society--
Though the Confederation is definitely getting richer and the public mood is downright ebullient, it remains a police state. The worst excesses of the "Philosophical Courts" have been curbed and the Maskirovka is more subtle about monitoring unacceptable behavior, but dissidents still "disappear" and the public still receives a carefully crafted message about the world around them from the "privatized" media (owned almost entirely by the Chancellor).
The partial sham of the less restricted society is particularly problematic in recently acquired territories: the Andurien, Zion, and Tikonov Commonalities. The Tikonov Commonality, liberated from Davion clutches after 3 decades, is used to expressing itself and anything it doesn't like about the government. Morgan is nothing if not patient and seems to be cultivating a culture of political apathy in the next generation of Tikonov citizens. They won their freedom, there's no need to get excited anymore, etc.
Unlike FASA's Xin Sheng, the Xin Sheng of, eh, the Xin Sheng setting has not particularly emphasized Chinese culture. It started as a program with subprograms tailored and targeted for regional cultures within the Confederation that would emphasize (in each region's own way) patriotism to the Confederation. However, the popular media caught onto "Xin Sheng" to the exclusion of "New Birth" phrases in other languages. Xin Sheng has taken on an inevitable Chinese spin in many Capellan regions, though Tikonov remains staunchly Russian and Anduriens remain…Andurien. Chancellor Morgan, a Sino-Russian half-breed, seems to be genuinely against racism (while, ironically, supporting the Capellan caste system), particularly among Capellans of Chinese descent. Then again, her children are 3/4 Tikonov Russian, so she might just be trying to secure the Chancellory against racially motivated coups from more Chinese branches of the Liao family. Whatever the Chancellor's motivations, Xin Sheng's housing and reconstruction projects are not slathered with faux-Mandarin architecture, nor is Chancellor Morgan's image on every wall. She seems to avoid the limelight, which makes the population all that much more desperate to know anything and everything about her.
Summary of losses and gains--
After a net loss of 66 planets to the Federated Suns in 4th Succession War (69 lost, 3 others taken; vice 86+St. Ives Compact in FASA's history), the Confederation has regained 68 of those planets by referendums held on those planets. (Foot Fall remains a hold out by a narrow anti-reunification majority). Outreach is one of the "recovered" planets and is only nominally "recovered" - the Chancellor is likely to recognize its full independence in the near future. In the 3031-3035 Andurien-Canopian War, the Confederation claimed 13 planets (the entire Duchy plus Scarborough; vice none in FASA's history). In the 3046 FWL-CC War, the Confederation took 13 planets again around the Zion district and between the new Andurien Commonality and Periphery. 22 new colonies have been settled between the Magistracy of Canopus and Taurian Concordat since 3040, with 25 other prime colony systems in the region having Capellan scientific and CCAF military outposts. As of 3060, the Confederation has made a net gain of 48 worlds (including 22 colonies) since the Fourth Succession War and will soon be adding 25 more.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:12 PM
64.83.29.242
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MILITARY
The mechs-are-king, mechwarriors-are-gods, dispossession-is-death mentality of the CCAF in 3025 has been replaced by that of the all-volunteer professional army in 3060. Personal ownership of mechs is restricted to nobles in 3060, and the nobles must be part of the local CCNG detachment (with all that entails) to retain their mechs. In 3060, the CCAF assigns mechs (and vehicles, and fighters, and rifles, and…) to its soldiers. The soldiers serve the State and the People, not nobles or officers. Their commander-in-chief is a civilian, the Chancellor. Military officers have considerably reduced political power now that the emergency of the Succession Wars are over. Mechwarriors (and fighter pilots) remain "hot stuff" to civilians, but they are not gods-on-Earth anymore. The Warrior Houses and Death Commandos died valiantly sacrificing themselves against the Anduriens, taking with them bastions of the now-defunct Lorix Doctrine.
Organization and Size--
This professional army has a much bigger reputation with the public (Capellan and foreign) than paper numbers would suggest. The CCAF currently fields "only" 54 front-line mech regiments in 6 armies, hardly more than it did in 3025. Each army consists of 3 divisions, and each division consists of 3 brigades. A brigade is not a Star League-standard unit. It consists of 1 mech regiment, 2 vehicle regiments, and 2 infantry regiments (typically mechanized or airmobile), plus a mass of support units ranging from an artillery battalion to a MASH to an engineering company. During the Clan War, the Confederation formed four Armies without mechs, but these have since been demobilized. Each CCAF battalion has the standard complement of 6 aerospace fighters, giving a brigade a very daunting aerospace punch. The CCAF includes an Aerospace Force, a new branch of independent fighter regiments that will probably be subsumed by the Navy. All CCAF brigades are (supposed) to have enough jumpship and dropship transport to be fully spacemobile, but this is likely to be another feature achieved in "CCAF 3070." During the Clan War, the CCAF had to press civilian jumpships into service.
Current CCAF expansion plans (part of CCAF 3070) are to (almost) reach the CCAF's pre-Succession War strength of 126 mech regiments in a total of 14 armies with an option for 20 armies. This is expected to actually take until the mid-3070s, barring war or international politics (such as a Star League cap on House military size).
The CCAF does not guard every planet. That task is left to the CCNG (below). It is distributed at 18 central locations around the Confederation in division strength, ready to move to a trouble spot on a moment's notice.
Militias Revised--
The Capellan Confederation National Guard (CCNG) is a standardization of the Capellan militia system begun in the 3030s. It provides a central command and control system for Capellan militia units and easier interface with the CCAF. Currently, the standard CCNG planetary defense unit is supposed to include a lance of mechs, a company of tanks (typically Pos), and a battalion of mechanized, motorized, or airmobile infantry per billion people on a Capellan planet. The mechs are CCAF hand-me-downs built to "CCAF 3043" standards.
Mercenaries--
Interestingly, the CCAF does not use mercenaries anymore (which makes its 54 mech regiments a little more impressive). McCarron's Armored Cavalry became a regular CCAF unit after the Fourth Succession War with some special provisions (a McCarron always in charge of the unit, land grants, etc.) The Armored Cavalry forms the Capellan Third Army. The Northwind Highlanders formed the Second Army. Since I'm on the topic, the Red Lancers (not a merc unit) formed "The Big Red One," the Capellan First Army.
Mechs are Cheap, Lives are Not--
Finally, the CCAF (and CCNG) have taken a sharp reversal in their attitude toward soldiers being more expendable than their equipment. The Confederation's industry has reached the point where it can produce replacement vehicles, mechs, and fighters rapidly. However, training competent vehicle crews (and mechwarriors, and pilots) takes years. While the CCAF has over a trillion potential conscripts and has managed to open a large number of military academies, the old saying applies: "You can't make a baby in one month by getting 9 women pregnant." Veteran and elite soldiers in any service remain worth their weight in gold, and the CCAF simply cannot make them in the academy. Search and rescue detachments are common at the division level and CCAF vehicles and crew equipment now emphasize crew protection to a high degree.
Notable Vehicles and Mechs--
The CCAF uses 6 mech designs. The Battlemaster-L (with 1 variant), the Thunderbolt-L, the Crusader-L (with 1 variant), the Wolverine-L, the Vindicator, and the Wasp (with 1 wholesale rebuild). The CCAF has no plans (or even designs) for omni-mechs, feeling combined arms and adequately multi-functional weapons can achieve the same effects. Current mech research is focusing on a Phoenix Hawk and new Wasp. With a top speed of 120kph, the Phoenix Hawk will be the first CCAF mech to use an XL engine. The Wasp and its major variant, the "Super Wasp", (a Locust in all but chassis) may be replaced with a Wasp using a 180 XL engine and a 270m jumping capacity.
Vehicles--
The CCAF uses rather more vehicle designs than mech designs, but many of these are just support vehicles based on the standard CCAF IFV chassis. Primary combatants include the Super Scorpion, a fusion-powered, PPC-equipped version of the Scorpion that has been produced by the tens of thousands over the past 4 decades. The Super Scorpion has been relegated to the CCNG since Capellan industry reached the point where large numbers of heavier vehicles could be built; many thousands more have been scrapped or mothballed in emergency caches around the Confederation. The Po is a direct competitor with the Rommel and Patton in the 65-ton weight-class. Initially decried as a copy of those Lyran designs, thin-skinned, and poorly armed for short-range combat, the 65-ton Po was designed to take advantage of the glut of 260-rated engines in the Confederation (which were used in large numbers by the CCAF's Crusaders and Thunderbolts). The Po's chassis is also the basis for the CCAF's artillery and heavy cargo vehicles. The Spartan is the CCAF's premier IFV, a 36-ton tank similar to the Myrmidon with room for 1 squad of infantry; it has been called the "Super Duper Scorpion" by annoying journalists. Via Scarborough, the CCAF uses the PPC-armed Scarab (a fourth tank in the Saracen/Saladin/Scimitar series) as its prime hover tank. The CCAF has several VTOL models in service, too.
Fighters Big and Small--
The CCAF is happy with 3 fighter designs and barely uses the lightest model. The CCAF's medium and heavy fighters are built around the idea of dropship hunting and warship pursuit. They have large fuel tanks and heavy armor. The 55-ton, 7/11 Transit (A/F-12 Transit) is built around (surprise) a PPC and battery of medium lasers. It VSTOL features that makes it attractive to the CCNG and CCAF ground forces. Most A/F-12s lack stealth armor, being an older design. The A/F-14 Transit used by the CCAF Aerospace Force has an XL engine, stealth armor, and another PPC. The 100-ton F-7 Thunderbird is an armored beast with a 300-rated XL engine and stealth armor. It is the premier anti-shipping fighter of the CCAF. It is built around a triplet of PPCs and a dense array of medium lasers. Older F-6 Thunderbirds (without stealth armor) appear in the CCNG as space superiority fighters. The CCNG continues to make use of the Guardian in large quantities, though the Guardian (for the past 15 years) has been fusion-powered and faster than its ICE predecessor.
Warships--
Warships. Yes, warships. The Confederation came to the warship race late due to emphasizing standard jumpship production. That decision has paid off many times over, including producing the huge crop of jumpship designers and engineers who did not need to be trained from scratch just for the warship program. The Confederation stepped into the race easily and was producing "mechanically reliable" ships in 3058. Which was to say, all the basic systems (life support, engines, jump drives, etc.) worked fine, but the warship-unique systems (i.e. capital scale weapons, lamellor ferrocarbide armor) sucked. These problems were worked out by 3061, though they necessitated replacement of all the weapons and armor on the warships built to that point. The CCAF currently has a single model in serial production: the Kiev-class Heavy Cruiser. The 1,050,000-ton Kievs are little more than orbital gun platforms with large (54) fighter complements and maximum thrust of 1.5Gs. They do not seem intended for space superiority.
The CCAF has designed a 1,050,000-ton carrier dubbed the Typhoon that is considerably faster than the Kiev, with observed sprints of 3Gs; it may be capable of 4Gs. It is intended to be a survivable fighter carrier that can deliver 162 fighters into combat far more flexibly than the lumbering Kievs. One Typhoon is undergoing space trials; it seems to have considerable problems with its too-innovative fighter deck arrangement. Like the Kiev, the Typhoons seem to lack dropship hard points but have lithium-fusion batteries.
As of 3065, the CCAF was building one Kiev a year and has 5 in service. The CCAF seems intent on ordering one Typhoon every two years. Final target numbers are unknown (contracts to build one ship per year are renewed annually), but if the Chancellor's plans for the CCAF are an indication, she would want a fleet comparable to the CCAF's prior to the Succession Wars. The Confederation does not seem to be bothered by the cost of its warship program. But, then again, the CCAF can afford 3 Kiev Heavy Cruisers for the price of one Fox Corvette, and it is a very rich nation compared to other Houses.
Battle Armor--
The Fa Shih battle armor is currently in widespread production for the CCAF. This fast and light battle armor has a ground speed of 2 and, after ejecting its backpack, a jumping range of 3. It uses a man-portable PPC as its primary weapon (2 points of damage, range as a small laser) and lacks magnetic clamps. It is otherwise the same as the FM:CC Fa Shih. Entering production now is the heavier Baba Yaga. This is basically an "Inner Sphere standard" battle armor with superior ballistic shaping for 10 points of armor, plus 1 for the wearer, though it is limited to a jumping of 2 with its backpack shed. It, too, has an MP-PPC. The standard Baba Yaga backpack is a pair of RL-5s that can be fired together or separately; models with 4 LRMs (LRM 2) or single I-Narc pods are in development.
Capellan BA squads always have 1 light TAG in them. Capellan BA squads are always in groups of 5 ("fire teams"), and typically operate in pairs ("squads.") The CCAF has put little effort into fitting its mechs to carry battle armor or vice versa, preferring to make its battle armor airmobile on new transport VTOLs or mechanized on new IFVs.
Seconds, Please--
Since (approximately) 3033, Capellan soldiers have been given excellent (though not necessarily cutting edge) equipment. The only outstanding items are the mechwarrior (and fighter pilot) combat suits and Star League-era neurohelmets. These are 3040-era introductions that reversed the prior trend of CCAF mechwarriors and pilots being outfitted with the worst and lowest tech equipment. Other equipment has less game impact but is noteworthy. For example, CCAF rations (since 3034) are recognized as the best in the Inner Sphere (and considered "decadent" by Clans, who trade eagerly for them on the black market), including (chemically) self-heating and chilling meals and drinks, and are have both an immortal shelf life and rugged packaging. They are sold extensively in the Confederation to poorer families from government outlets, who prefer them to commercial low-cost foodstuffs. Field gear, uniforms, body armor, and other items are also comfortable and extremely functional, using mankind's 1200 years of accumulated modern soldiering knowledge to keep CCAF soldiers comfortable and happy until they're thrown at the devil dog enemy in fanatical human waves.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Cray
07/25/02 12:15 PM
64.83.29.242
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TECHNOLOGY
Most of the Confederation's technology does not have significant game effects despite how far it is advancing. That many Capellans now drive fusion-powered personal cars or have personal data assistants (pocket computers) as clever as many human secretaries just doesn't have much game impact in Mechwarrior or Battletech except to slowly alter the background. The broad-based infiltration of Star League era technology into the Confederation is giving it a considerable edge over its neighbors, enough to cause depressions or wars abroad in coming years and decades. But this is for the GM to worry about when plotting out adventures in Xin Sheng, not the players.
Noteworthy Capellan technology, if not significantly game affecting, includes genetic engineering and HPGs.
Capellan gengineering in Xin Sheng is nowhere near the scale of superhuman enhancement of the Lost Colony setting. Rather, it was started by Chancellor Morgan when she was Lord of Tall Trees, utilizing the genetic engineering facilities there. Her goals were to reduce the rather high costs of the Confederation's cradle-to-grave free medical care all citizens received. With a notable interruption in 3028-3030 as researchers hastily relocated to Sian, Capellan genetic research has been surprisingly productive and done exactly what Morgan hoped. With virtual elimination of congestive heart disease, asthma, bad teeth, leukemia, diabetes, and other common inherited ailments, the Confederation's public medical services have been able to do a great deal more with their existing budgets. Genetic engineering would probably also explain why Morgan, now approaching 70, looks a youthful 30 or so, and has looked that way since she, well, turned 30. Which was when she was the Governor of Tall Trees, give or take a bit. This sort of physical youth is seen frequently in the highest levels of Capellan government but no firm answer has turned up. It is likely many of the beneficiaries do not understand what was done to them, but have indicated that their youth is a reward from the Chancellor.
Morgan has commented publicly on her appearance when cornered by her junior (but older looking) contemporary, Melissa Steiner-Davion. However, "Bathing in the blood of 100 virgin children once a lunar year, when Luna is ascendance and Jove is in conjunction," is considered to be a sarcastic rather than factual answer to the then-Duchess's question.
For the record, yes, Morgan has been seen in the daytime. Vampire theories stemming from a certain sarcastic remark must be revised in that light (pun intended).
Several intelligence services have confirmed that Chancellor Morgan has largely cut back CCAF offensive biological weapons development funds and only retains substantial "defense" biowarfare work aimed at protecting the Confederation from biological attacks. Despite many health-related adult human genetic engineering projects, no evidence of "super soldier" projects has turned up.
HPGs. Yes, after Operation Scorpion, Chancellor Morgan decided to keep the Comstar HPGs that the CCNG and CCAF seized. Her dislike of Comstar extends back further; exchanges between her and Focht at several Clan War strategic planning meetings indicate some sort of Maskirovka-ROM war occurred similar to the MII0-ROM tussles of the mid-3030s. What tipped Morgan against Comstar is uncertain but, if her reputation for having an un-Liao sense of decency and fair play are not an act, she was probably disturbed by the Comstar Interdiction of the Federated Suns during the 4th Succession War. Alternately, she might have worried that her plans for recovering lost Capellan worlds might have provoked a similar Comstar Interdiction against the more-vulnerable Confederation. As neither Comstar nor the Word of Blake proved cooperative in aiding the Confederation re-establish its HPGs, the Confederation had to start its HPG program from scratch. It was able to rebuild major links of its HPG network within weeks because many Comstar works in the Confederation showed lingering Capellan loyalty, but establishing HPG production took some more effort. ROM investigations have indicated the Confederation either had Clan or Wolf Dragoon (!) aid in establishing HPG manufacturing facilities.
As of 3060, the Capellan HPG network is fully functional and offers surprisingly low cost data transmission services. The Capellan Confederation Ministry of Communications (CCMC) is taxpayer funded and, after initial construction, the only costs are the wages of HPG operators and energy (from integral fusion power plants, so nil). Costs are thus a fraction of Comstar's bills and transmissions much more frequent - CCMC "A-rated" HPGs transmit daily, while CCMC "B-rated" HPGs transmit once a week. Due to worries about lingering Comstar listening devices, CCMC is replacing all old HPGs, a task expected to be complete c3068. It is known CCMC is able to manufacture "portable" HPGs for warships, but the size of these units is unknown. They are probably larger than Comstar portable HPGs.
CCMC has little trouble interfacing with Comstar (except for the costs of such "international" HPG transmissions - Comstar charges a lot more) and maintains a cordial relationship with Comstar. The Word of Blake was born partly because of the existence of CCMC and thus it is almost impossible for CCMC HPGs to interface with WOB HPGs. The CCMC has no trouble talking with "FedComm", the Federated Commonwealth's HPG network, either, and the two have limited technology sharing agreements.
CCMC is directly run by the Confederation's executive branch, i.e. the Chancellor. A little known fact (to the Capellan public, which likes the illusions of its newfound freedoms) is that the CCMC is laced with Maskirovka agents. The majority of the agents monitor transmissions while the surprisingly large remainder are counterintelligence agents watching for ROM and WOB misbehavior. The Maskirovka's regular counterintelligence arm (which watches its foreign counterparts) benefits from the usual transmission monitoring and has little to do with the ROM/WOB counterintelligence agents.
At a post-Tukayyid strategic planning meeting, Hohiro Kurita once joked with Chancellor Morgan that the Confederation's ownership of its own HPG network meant it no longer benefited from Comstar's neutrality and if the DC ever went to war with the Confederation (which was the gist of the joke - that the DC and CC should go to war, a laughable notion), Capellan HPGs would be high on the target list. Chancellor Morgan joked in return that since the Confederation no longer depended on Comstar, the DC's Comstar-run HPGs would be high on the CCAF's target list. Hohiro did not find this as amusing as Morgan did.
The danger of interdiction-by-orbital-bombardment has lead the new Star League to recognize the inviolate nature of everyone's planetary HPGs. Talk of a centralized, Star League-run Ministry of Communications has gone nowhere, stalling resolution of the "Comstar Question."
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
CCAF military technology is in some ways the most primitive in the Inner Sphere, but this is not due to lack of ability. The Capellan "Arsenal of Liberty" manufactured everything from ER Small Lasers to Ultra AC/20s for foreign contracts and its production of advanced materials like endosteel is truly prodigious (over 99% of endosteel produced in the Confederation is used in civilian applications, and the CCAF uses more endosteel than any other military).
The CCAF has reinvented itself several times under Morgan's administration; many of these "reinventions" were due to inconveniently timed technological advances that required replacing a lot of the CCAF's equipment. The CCNG does not mind - it gets hand-me-down equipment that would've made the 3025 CCAF drool in envy.
Current CCAF "advanced" technologies in widespread use--
Endosteel (all mech designs)
Double Strength Heat Sinks (mechs, fighters, spacecraft)
XL engines (aerospace fighters)
CASE
FM:CC alternate mines and Thunder munitions
I-Narc
TAG
Guided Artillery and Bombs (vehicles, fighters)
Stealth armor (fighters, spacecraft; new to Xin Sheng, see below)
Advanced infantry armor (new to Xin Sheng, see below)
The CCAF has an upgrade plan in effect called "CCAF 3070." This involves introduction of some Clan technology to frontline units. By 3070, the CCAF hopes to replace its PPCs with Clan pulse large lasers and replaces its medium lasers with Clan pulse medium lasers. These will be (in theory) constructed in the Confederation, not battlefield salvage. The ammo cassettes the CCAF is so fond of (see below) will benefit from Clan CASEs. This quite similar to the Combine's steady adoption of any Clan tech it can get its hands on and efforts to get the Nova Cats to produce Clan equipment for the DCMS.
In Xin Sheng, stealth armor was invented for the very important aerospace arm of the CCAF. Large numbers of fighters were the primary reason the CCAF could manage its raids against planets in the Clan occupation zone and the Clan home worlds. Most front line fighters, troop transport dropships, and warships have stealth armor. ONLY DROPSHIPS, SMALL CRAFT, FIGHTERS, JUMPSHIPS, DROPSHIPS, AND WARSHIPS CAN USE STEALTH ARMOR IN XIN SHENG.
As a side effect of battle armor development, Xin Sheng's CCAF developed some advanced, lightweight body armor for infantry. All regular CCAF infantry benefits from the standard armor (though the CCNG infantry lacks this armor): infantry does not take double damage from MGs, artillery, fragmentation missiles, and any other weapon that does extra damage against infantry in open terrain. When used, "Heavy" armor provides the preceding benefits and 2 points of armor per infantry instead of 1 per MaxTech rules. The CCAF does not use much heavy armor infantry except in site defense.
CCAF standardization. The CCAF developed most elements of omni-technology well before the Clan arrival, originally at the behest of Chancellor Morgan to standardize components and streamline CCAF logistics. Several think tanks later, the CCAF had come up with many ideas seen in the US military today: line replaceable units, single-deep component mounting, requiring only a few standard tools for any repair, etc. These concepts were implemented in what were to become the CCAF's standard series of mechs. These mostly debuted in the 3046 FWL-CC War. The end result is that CCAF vehicles, fighters and mechs can be repaired as quickly as omni-mechs and vehicles. The entire CCAF uses a single model of each weapon: one brand of PPC, one brand of medium laser, etc. This standardization extends to many components: virtually all mechs and vehicles share the same model of radio, for example. Armor is mounted in unique modular panels that enable very quick armor repairs of entire hit locations, about 10 minutes for experienced techs. The damaged panels are removed and replaced with fresh ones, then repaired when the techs have more time. FWL defenders were overwhelmed in 3046 by the speed that damaged CCAF mechs could be brought back into service.
The CCAF also uses an innovative cassette loading system for its 7 vehicle-scale ammo-based weapons (LRM 5s, I-Narc, SRM 2s and SRM 6s, MGs, Arrow IV, and Long Tom) with 1-ton cassettes for each weapon. While it takes 15 minutes to refill a cassette, pre-loaded cassettes can usually be loaded into a mech in a minute or less. A veteran mechwarrior can pick a cassette off a trailer and pop it into their lancemate's mech (or a vehicle) in 20 seconds. Each weapon has a uniquely shaped cassette (well, SRM 2s and 6s share 1 cassette model) to avoid confusion and various grooves and surface features to make it impossible to load a cassette upside down, backwards, etc. They are color-coded and include small ID chips that identify ammo type. This fast loading is known to have caused two FWL defeats in the FWL-CC War when FWL raiders caught CCAF mechs they thought out of ammo standing near ammo carriers only to see the CCAF mechs reload before the raiders could close the distance. The Combine and AFFC have partially copied this cassette system, but the profusion of vehicle designs in those militaries has prevented complete adoption of the system. The Taurian Concordat is known to be implementing the cassette system, though to an unknown extent.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Bob_Richter
07/25/02 03:10 PM
4.35.174.250
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any new information here I should look at?
(hell, I'm lazy!)
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Cray
07/25/02 03:50 PM
64.83.29.242
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Not really. The 3060s/current day stuff you suggested I include the last time. It's mostly a repost.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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NathanKell
07/25/02 06:31 PM
24.44.238.62
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I second that!
Looks good to see it bum..err, helpfully re-posted. For all the young'uns and newcomers, of course. 
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
Cray
07/25/02 06:36 PM
12.91.127.205
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As a matter of fact, I've never posted Xin Sheng here.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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NathanKell
07/25/02 08:22 PM
24.44.238.62
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Weird.
Sorry.
Well, now you've corrected that oversight! 
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
tgsofgc
08/09/03 02:39 AM
67.4.201.167
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GD thats a lot of lore. Its amazing how detailed you get, just curious but how long did it take you to cook all this up?
I find that 'pinpoint' accuracy during a bombing run increases proportionally with the amount of munitions used.
-Commander Nathaniel Klepper,
Avanti's Angels, 3058
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Cray
08/09/03 10:41 AM
24.165.242.1
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I don't recall. I started cooking up the idea well over a year ago. I recall having to force myself to finish some of the supporting sections, like technology and population. Just some weekends and evenings thundering away on the keyboard.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Brian_Paxt
03/17/08 06:12 PM
68.191.146.28
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Well not too bad, but the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers are Mercs that work for the Capellans only
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Cray
03/23/08 11:18 AM
72.188.105.234
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Aside from the 5-year thread necromancy...
Quote:
Well not too bad, but the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers are Mercs that work for the Capellans only
What are you talking about? I don't think I ever mentioned the Rangers.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Brian_Paxt
04/13/08 04:36 PM
97.92.80.62
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I was just adding that to your list of units that work for the CCAF
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Cray
04/14/08 09:02 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
I was just adding that to your list of units that work for the CCAF
There are quite a few merc units that work for the CCAF; only the Big Mac was the one unit that was involved in noteworthy plot events and changes in this alternate history. The others were "below the radar," so to speak.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Brian_Paxt
04/27/08 02:06 AM
97.92.80.62
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Ah
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Prince_of_Darkness
04/27/09 10:01 PM
205.202.120.216
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Quote:
Aside from the 5-year thread necromancy...
I have never seen that before. He must've unlocked an achievement or something.
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Karagin
08/13/09 04:30 PM
72.178.75.99
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Normally I bring the old topics back...
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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