Black Earth

Black Earth
Black Earth 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates-180.395 : 393.639[e]

The Black Earth system was home to at least one habitable world and as of June 3152 was located in the Clan Hell's Horses Occupation Zone.[1]

System Description[edit]

The Black Earth system was located near the Biegga and Renren systems.[2][3]

System History[edit]

Black Earth was settled during or shortly after the First Exodus from Terra.[4]

Political Affiliation[edit]


Black Earth[edit]

Black Earth
Government and Infrastructure
Noble RulerCount of Black Earth
CapitalColumbia[36]

Planetary History[edit]

The planetary capital (as of 3069) was Columbia. It filled the valley that fell away from the municipal playing fields and rose halfway up the wooded ridge beyond. Sandy tan and yellow were predominant building colors, with red tile roofs. The buildings were spaced enough to allow wide malls of trees and fountains; the overall impression was described as "semi-Mediterranean".[37]

The world has at least one moon. The Jade Falcon attack force that arrived in early January 3069 used a pirate jump point very close to the planet, giving the defenders only two hours advance warning, which was thought to imply arrival "inside lunar orbit".[38]

Founding[edit]

Black Earth was one of four worlds acquired by the Rim Worlds Republic between 2347 and 2371 as an attempt by Arabella Rowe to expand the capabilities of the Republic armed forces; Black Earth was intended to be a "hedgehog", a giant fortified firebase that Republican forces could use to slow the advance of any invading force.[4]

Rim Worlds Republic Civil War[edit]

With the Rim Worlds Republic in a state of civil war from 2575 even as the Reunification War was raging in the other major Periphery states, the Star League eventually found itself forced into deploying forces to secure the Republic and restore the rule of First Consul Gregory Amaris. The military operation to secure the Rim Worlds was named Operation MAILED FIST and was expected to be a short campaign; combat operations began in mid-2581, and Black Earth was both the fourth Republic world to be targeted by the Star League Defense Force and the first world targeted that lacked a front-line Republican force as garrison.[39]

While Operation MAILED FIST was a Star League operation, the forces committed to secure Black Earth in September 2581 were all drawn from the Lyran Auxiliary Corps headed up by Archon Viola Steiner. With Black Earth lacking regular army forces it was believed that the planet would be only lightly defended, but the landings by the Fourth Royal Guards Regiment, Twenty-Fifth Skye Rangers and the Tamar Tigers met stiff resistance from Republican aerospace fighters with the Rangers taking heavy damage before making groundfall, although the losses taken weren't sufficient to prevent the conquest of Black Earth.[39]

Star League Era[edit]

Black Earth was conquered by the Lyran Commonwealth during the 2773-2775 Republic-Commonwealth War.[10]

Clan Invasion[edit]

In April of 3050, Clan Jade Falcon invaded Black Earth as part of the Second Wave of Operation REVIVAL. The entire Gyrfalcon Galaxy was dispatched to conquer the world, which was defended by those survivors of both the First Grave Walkers and Seventeenth Skye Rangers who had managed to escape from earlier Falcon attacks. At the Black Earth Space Port the Jade Falcon aerospace contingent surprised its Seventeenth Skye counterparts while they were still on the ground, although in a show of fairness the Falcon aerospace commander allowed the enemy pilots to get in their fighters and take off before being destroyed. When the ground attack against the space port began the Seventeenth Skye managed to resist for little over an hour against the Jade Falcons before being overrun. At New Houston the Grave Walkers set fire to the oil at one of the refineries in hopes of using the resulting black smoke to screen their forces, only to learn that such a trick was useless against the superior technology of the Clans. From opening shot to the defenders' final surrender the battle for Black Earth took less than thirty hours.[40]

The Jihad[edit]

In late January 3069 Black Earth was captured for a second time by Clan Jade Falcon.[26] The Jade Falcons arrived in-system on the 11th of January, and didn't bother declaring a batchall; the Blue Star Irregulars and the Black Earth Planetary Militia responded to the sudden arrival of the Falcons by following a defined Planetary Defense plan, which revolved around defending Columbia and the Augusta DropPort until reinforcements could arrive. The Ahoskie Plains formed a natural and obvious landing zone, with the DropPort, Columbia, and the industrial and mining complexes that funded the local economy forming a triangle around the Plains. By pulling defending forces away from the mining complexes to concentrate on the defense of the capital city and the DropPort, the defenders hoped to gain time while the Falcons investigated the abandoned industrial sites. By the 15th of January - ten days after an annual national holiday celebrating Black Earth's history - the defenders had received word that there would be no reinforcements due to the number of battles being fought on worlds in the region. The Planetary Militia had already effectively been destroyed, and the Blues had been reduced to roughly half strength over the course of four days of warfare.[36]

Both civilian and military leaders had made repeated requests to be allowed to evacuate elements of the civilian population, primarily children, militia veterans and the disabled - the latter rumored to be the targets of eugenics-based purges in Jade Falcon space, while the militia veterans would face punishment for their opposition to the Falcons - but the Jade Falcons refused and rejected all of the please. The heavy damage the Blues had taken meant that they had spare DropShip capacity, and two of the DropShips used to transport the Third Assault Avatars were redesignated for civilian evacuees, with the bulk of the defending forces withdrawing to form a fighting perimeter around the two vessels. When the Overlord-class DropShips Heritage and Loyal Son had managed to lift off, the plan was for the Irregulars to stage a fighting withdrawal to their ships.[36]

Both regiments of the Blue Star Irregulars were shattered on the ground during the Jade Falcon assault; the survivors attempted to retreat from Black Earth along with a flotilla of civilian refugees, only to be attacked again in space by Jade Falcon forces.[41][42] The Falcons executed an in-system jump to attack the refugee DropShips and JumpShips at the nadir jump point.[36] The Falcons attacked with a Congress-class frigate and a Vincent-class corvette[41][42] - subsequently identified as the CJF Lightning Strike[42] - destroying JumpShips and DropShips as the Fredasa-class WarShip operated by the Blue Star Irregulars, the Kerensky's Blues, attempted to place itself between the Falcon WarShips and the refugees. The Kerensky's Blues managed to deal with the CJF Lightning Strike,[42] but was unable to prevent the Congress-class ship from butchering almost all of the fleeing Irregulars' forces before destroying the Blues as well. The battle was reported in the media via an INN journalist aboard the Loyal Son, one of the vessels escaping from Black Earth.[41][42][36]

ilClan Era[edit]

During the chaotic aftermath of the Jade Falcons' defeat on Terra Black Earth's warrior garrison abandoned the world to join the Turkina Ascendancy on Barcelona. When Clan Hell's Horses annexed the world early in 3152 Black Earth's civilian caste leaders were preoccupied with preventing a worldwide environmental disaster; the planet's petrochemical industry had been set ablaze. The Thirteenth Rangers established Horses' control over Black Earth and set about assisting the local authorities.[43]


Military Deployment[edit]

2581-2583[edit]

2765[edit]

3054[edit]

3059[edit]

3067-3068[edit]

3145[edit]

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Augusta Base: a military base located between the Augusta DropPort and the Ahoksie Plains.[36]
  • Black Earth Space Port: major spaceport and site of an important battle during Operation REVIVAL.[40]
  • Columbia: the planetary capital city.[36]
  • New Houston: city and location of numerous oil refineries.[40]
  • New South Side: city[49]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 32 systems (29 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Renren 13.8 Biegga 14.7 Golandrinas 22.0 Roadside 25.3
Beta 27.2 Hot Springs 27.7 Barcelona 30.2 Bone-Norman 31.7
Kikuyu 35.8 Mogyorod 37.5 Blackjack 37.5 Somerset 38.3
Malibu 38.5 Wotan 41.0 Anywhere 44.4 Blue Hole 45.4
Goat Path 47.8 Newtown Square 47.9 Derf 49.6 Kookens Pleasure Pit 50.2
Clermont 50.6 Erewhon 52.5 Lackhove 52.5 Illium 53.0
Chahar 56.0 Ambrose 57.0 Butler 57.2 Here 59.4
Waldorff 59.8 Pasig 62.9 Melissia 63.0 Apollo 63.9

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Tamar Rising, p. 72, "The Hinterlands June 3152" (Map)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 25, "Rim Worlds Republic At the Fall of the Star League [2750]"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - [2750]"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Periphery, 1st Edition, p. 19, "Mishka's Diplomacy"
  5. Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 18, "Rim Worlds Republic after Age of War [2571]"
  6. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 25, "Lyran Commonwealth after Age of War [2571]"
  7. Historical: Reunification War, p. 158, "Inner Sphere Map [2596]"
  8. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, Inner Sphere - [2765]
  9. Field Manual: SLDF, Inner Sphere - [2764]
  10. 10.0 10.1 Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 37, "The Republic-Commonwealth War"
  11. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 36, "Lyran Commonwealth after First Succession War [2822]"
  12. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 40, "Lyran Commonwealth after Second Succession War [2822]"
  13. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 47, "Lyran Commonwealth after Third Succession War [3025]"
  14. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 56, "Lyran Commonwealth after Fourth Succession War [3030]"
  15. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 59, "Lyran Commonwealth after War of 39 [3040]"
  16. Historical: War of 3039, p. 132, "Inner Sphere - [3040]"
  17. Era Report: 3052, p. 10, "Inner Sphere - [3050]"
  18. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 61, "Lyran Commonwealth after Clan Invasion [3052]"
  19. Era Report: 3052, p. 22, "Inner Sphere - [3052]"
  20. 20.0 20.1 Objective Raids, p. 58, "Unit Note"
  21. Era Report: 3062, p. 10, "Inner Sphere Map [3057]"
  22. Era Report: 3062, p. 28, "Inner Sphere Map [3063]"
  23. FedCom Civil War, pp. 117-118: "Black Earth"
  24. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 70, "Lyran Commonwealth after FedCom Civil War [3067]"
  25. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 43, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3067]"
  26. 26.0 26.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 46, "The Jihad In Review"
  27. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 64, "Inner Sphere - 3075"
  28. Field Report: Clans, p. 26, "Deployment Map - [3079]"
  29. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 62, "Inner Sphere Map - [March 3081]"
  30. Field Manual: 3085, p. vii, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3085]"
  31. Era Report: 3145, p. 10, "Inner Sphere Map - [3135]"
  32. Era Report: 3145, p. 38, "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
  33. Field Manual: 3145, p. VI, "Inner Sphere - 3145"
  34. Shattered Fortress, p. 102, "Inner Sphere - 3151" (Map)
  35. Tamar Rising, poster map
  36. 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 36.6 A Different Hope"
  37. A Different Hope, p. 8
  38. A Different Hope, p. 19
  39. 39.0 39.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 132, "Persistence, Treeline, Star's End and Black Earth (May-December 2581)
  40. 40.0 40.1 40.2 Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 38: "Black Earth"
  41. 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 Blake Ascending, p. 210, p. 211, "Falling Stars"
  42. 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 42.5 Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 11, "Blue Star Irregulars"
  43. Tamar Rising, p. 62
  44. Historical: Reunification War, p. 152, "Rim Worlds Republic Front (Jump-off - 2587)
  45. Field Report 2765: Periphery, p. 20, "Amaris Regulars - Divisional Status"
  46. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 153, "Crusader Clans Deployment Table"
  47. Mercenaries Supplemental , p. 68, "Mercenary Deployment Table"
  48. Field Manual: 3145, p. 169, "Clan Force Deployments - Clan Jade Falcon"
  49. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth) p. 159

Bibliography[edit]