Bryant


This article is about the planetary system. For other uses, see Bryant (disambiguation).
Bryant
Bryant 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates13.177 : -13.229[e]
Spectral classF5IV[1]
Recharge station(s)Zenith, Nadir[2]
Planet(s)5[1]

The Bryant system was home to at least one habitable world, Bryant IV, and as of 3145 was located in the Republic of the Sphere.[3]

System Description[edit]

The Bryant system is located near the Caph and New Home systems[3] and consists of a class F5IV primary orbited by five planets.[4]

The three planets inward of Bryant are little more than airless rocks each roughly half the size of Terra, with two of them tidally locked. Bryant orbits its sun at 1.45 astronomical units. The single planet outward from Bryant is a small gas giant, which has an eccentric orbit that varies from 6 to 10 AUs distance from its parent star, while Bryant itself and its inner companions follow more or less regular orbital paths.[2]

System History[edit]

The Bryant system was settled during the First Exodus from Terra and remained a part of the Terran Alliance after the Demarcation Declaration in the mid-twenty-third century.[5]

Political Affiliation[edit]


Bryant IV[edit]

Bryant IV
Bryant.jpg
Astrophysical
System positionFourth[1]
Jump Point distance14.94[35]
15 days[1]
MoonsThree (Jarra, Sennu and Summersdale)[1]
Geophysical
Surface gravity0.98[1][2]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Breathable)[1]
Equatorial temperature37°C[1]
Surface water64%[1]
Highest native lifeMammals[1]
History and Culture
Population23,500,000 (2750)[citation needed]
63,000 (3025)[citation needed]
52,000 (3130)[36][1][1]
Circa 52,000 (3138)[35]
Government and Infrastructure
Political LeaderPlanetary Governor
First Citizen
Military CommanderBecca Jareque, Legate (3130)[36][1]
Carl Phillips, Acting Legate (3138)[37]
CapitalBrein[1]
HPG ClassA-Class[2]

Bryant IV, more commonly known simply as Bryant, fourth of five planets in the Bryant system. Bryant has three moons named Jarra, Sennu, and Summersdale.[1]

In the night sky, Sennu and Summersdale tend to be easily visible, even on partly cloudy days, while the distant and obviously smaller Jarra peeking out from behind Sennu during exotic intervals. Sennu and Summersdale are excellent reflectors of their sun's light, but Jarra's darker, charcoal hue has a much more muted effect on the night sky. On clear days, Bryant's lunar bodies ensure that the planet never suffers from total darkness, except perhaps at the extreme poles. Only the heavier cloud cover that typifies the majority of the planet's climate can cut off the lunar glow entirely.[2]

Planetary History[edit]

Early History[edit]

Settled during the twenty-second century,[1] Bryant was one of the worlds that remained a part of the Terran Alliance following the Outer Reaches Rebellion and the Demarcation Declaration of 2242,[5] and became one of the worlds within the Alliance Core region of the Terran Hegemony.[12][35]

During the first two centuries after its initial colonization, Bryant was a hostile world, a combination of regional thermal imbalances, the pull of three larger-than-average moons, and a relative lack of large mountain ranges had combined to produce a landscape plagued by storm systems so violent that colonists confined to the planet's polar regions.[1][35] That all changed in 2478, when the Terran Hegemony placed Storm Inhibitors in orbit of the planet. The massive storms that once swept across the planet's surface disappeared, and with the ability to now safely farm in warmer climates the people of Bryant turned their world into a major agricultural center. Tourism flourished and many exotic species, such as Jewel Bass and Crowley Lizard Cow, became delicacies.[38][35]

Bryant was one of the Prime or First Circuit Class A hyperpulse generator stations of the SLCOMNET and ComStar HPG Network.[35]

Amaris Civil War[edit]

When Stefan Amaris launched his coup on 27 December 2766 on Terra, his forces also swung into action on all of the other worlds within the Terran Hegemony and a number of jointly administered worlds.[39] This included Bryant; when the Rim Worlds Republic forces arrived to conquer Bryant the primary defenders were the SLDF Engineering Corps personnel on the world. The Engineer Corps staff operated a network of orbital mirrors referred to as Storm Inhibitors, which during peacetime focused sunlight from Bryant's sun onto areas of the upper atmosphere to disperse incipient storm formations. With Bryant under attack, this Storm Inhibitor Array became a vital part of the planetary defense, with the SLDF forces targeting the energy from the various Inhibitors against DropShips and WarShips; the sensors on numerous vessels were overloaded and their systems overheated, resulting in numerous DropShips crashing and two WarShips taking damage. The SLDF also targeted the mirrors against Republican forces on the ground, preventing them from moving for several days. Unfortunately, this was not enough; the Republican forces quickly launched attacks against the Inhibitors using aerospace fighters and assault ships, and the various Inhibitors were unable to reposition and refocus quickly enough to defend against all of the attackers. With the mirrors quickly falling prey to the Republican attacks the main means of defense for the planetary garrison vanished and the Republican forces were able to assume control of Bryant by the end of the first week of January 2767.[15][35]

Unfortunately, during the Amaris Civil War, Republican forces used the Inhibitors for target practice. With the satellites gone, the planet's climate turned hostile once again, forcing the populace to flee to back to the poles. Their abandoned cities became home only to adventurous ComStar researchers searching for any surviving lostech.[40][35]

Succession Wars[edit]

Bryant was occupied by the Capellan Confederation for much of the Succession Wars, and the Capellan government used Bryant as a prison planet for several decades prior to the Fourth Succession War.[1]

Over the centuries, only the hardiest and most devoted residents chose to remain on Bryant, most concentrated in scattered towns on the planet's northern continent of Zephyrim. During the years periodic "Lostech Rushes" created brief spikes of visitors and local business booms, but the population continued to decline as more and more locals left the planet for better opportunities elsewhere in the Inner Sphere.[35]

Fourth Succession War[edit]

Following negotiations between Colonel Pavel Ridzik, chief military advisor to Chancellor Maximilian Liao, and AFFS Lieutenant General Ardan Sortek, conducted in February 3029 Ridzik created a new nation, the Tikonov Free Republic. The Republic was created by incorporating those worlds of the Tikonov Commonality that hadn't already been conquered during the first half of the Fourth Succession War. Ridzik returned to Elgin, the new capital of the Tikonov Free Republic, on 3 March 3029 and swiftly began implementing a new government consisting of family members, friends and other appointees loyal to himself, purging dissident elements on the various Republic worlds and taking the opportunity to settle old scores. Bryant was one of the systems incorporated into the Republic.[22]

The Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad the Word of Blake established a new Space Defense System around Bryant. This proved to be a nasty surprise for the attacking Coalition forces in March 3078. The Bastion- and Capitol-class space stations made short work of the WarShip group commanded by Star Admiral Erik Devalis of Clan Nova Cat.[41] The Nova Cats lost two WarShips as they braved the SDS network, the Vincent Mk 42-class corvette NCS Spirit Vision and the much larger Black Lion-class battlecruiser NCS Severen Leroux.[42] The first layer of defenses within the Bryant system, Bastion and Capitol class space stations, claimed one of the attached assault DropShips almost as soon as the fleet arrived; Star Admiral Devalis ordered the Aegis-class NCS Chronicle to defend the transport DropShips transporting the ground forces, while the Severen Leroux and the Spirit Vision and half the aerospace fighters attached to the attack group attempted to screen the forces burning towards the planet from the SDS system. The swarming drones that formed a part of the SDS network destroyed the Spirit Vision relatively early in the engagement, but the Severen Leroux managed to destroy all of the defensive space stations within the system before succumbing.[41]

Once the Coalition forces landed, the ground fighting inflicted massive damage on the world. A broadcast from the Federated Suns war correspondent Peter Remonde in early April 3078 highlighted just how much damage had been done, both by the attacking forces and by the Blakist defense of Bryant.[43] The Blakist defenders fought hard and then dispersed into a resistance organization. Even two months after declaring Bryant freed the fighting continued. In fact, within an hour of the declaration of freedom, a battalion of 'Mechs and a regiment of infantry troops were killed.[44] Estimates indicated that repairing the damage to the world would likely take decades.[41]

On 16 September 3081,[45] elements of the retreating Forty-ninth Shadow Division were engaged by forces from the Republic of the Sphere, Gannon's Cannons and a Blake's Wrath special forces team, in the City of the Sacredot on Bryant. The Republican forces were acting on intelligence indicating that the notorious Blakist Precentor Berith was with the forces from the Forty-ninth, intelligence which proved to be false, although an informant with useful information was able to escape from the Blakist forces during the combat. Intelligence subsequently indicated that Bryant may have been the site of part of an organized escape route for retreating Blakist forces.[45][46]

Dark Age[edit]

During the Dark Age, only a few towns remain on Bryant, all of which stand on the northern continent of Zephyrim. There, a three-to-four-month "Calm Season" has allowed for enough agriculture to sustain what remains of the local population, including several transient settlements that have come and gone since the closing years of the Succession Wars. Though the last official census puts Bryant at a mere fifty-two thousand permanent inhabitants, many suspect that the vast, unclaimed expanses of the world hold several undocumented cities and towns, who simply remain isolated from the "official" townships arrayed in vast, coastal counties (possibly for tax purposes).[35] Those numbers have been calculated to be around 50 to 100 thousand undeclared locals.[2]

The Blackout cost the planet its HPG, which became nonfunctional. Since then, the two recharging stations in the Bryant system and manned by small civilian crews backed by locally trained marines, not only serve mainly as recharging points and customs stations for traffic to and from the planet but also act as the designated "mail drop" for courier ships passing through, which then is redirected to the nonworking HPG which acts as primary news and mail dissemination facility.[2]

By 3136, the Bryant Planetary Militia 'Mechs, military DropShips, and aerospace fighters were shipped to Terra, and even if this alleviated the planet's economy, RAF assurances on support from nearby worlds or the world no longer being important were not much appreciated and indeed contested.[47]

Planetary Rulers[edit]

3130[edit]

  • Planetary Governor Trent Hawsel-Grange[1]
  • Planetary Legate Becca Jareque[1]

Military Deployment[edit]

Geography[edit]

Bryant has four continents. The larger continents are named Tomainisia and Voltanasia and are located on Bryant's equator, while the smaller continents of Zephyrim and Altario are located at the north and south poles respectively.[1]

Zephyrim is one of the few landmasses to boast any significant mountain ranges and other storm-weakening topography, so it was blessed from the starting colonization with typically low temperature variances almost year-round, and also suffering the least of Bryant's turbulent weather patterns. Though rainstorms, hail, and the occasional tornado or hurricane are not unheard of, much of the continent's southern inlands remain quite hospitable to human life. During the local summer season (called "Calm Season" by Bryant's inhabitants), is the ideal period for growing crops. As this period is short, nearly one-third to one-half of all residences on Bryant stand on sprawling plots of land that boast enough arable soil and grasslands for self-sustaining farms and cattle ranching.[35]

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Apopka: location of Lantren Developmental Laboratories[55]
  • Brein: the planetary capital after the Star League era, located on Zephyrim.[1] Once a bustling metropolis of a quarter million during the Star League days, Brein has undergone a sharp decline over the centuries, and now claims only nine thousand permanent residents. This reduction is most evident when one looks at Brein from the air, where three concentric walls form the city's windbreak. Fewer buildings stand in the outer rings, with most serving today as way stations and municipal facilities. The outermost circle, in fact, has been entirely given over to agricultural use, creating a vast, city-owned farmland and pasture, with only cracked roadways and a few older structures left as a testament to the planet's booming Star League years.[35] The planet's HPG, not working since the Blackout, is located here and used as primary news and mail dissemination facility.[2]
  • Bryant Vocational Academy: Located in Brein, it is a remarkably advanced school that has taught entire generations of the planet's residents in everything from philosophy and law to manufacturing and agriculture.[35]
  • Cassina: The Hegemony-era capital city, abandoned to the elements when the planetary environment reverted to its stormy, unstable state. Shorty after 2767 the capital was vacated, and now stands only as a flooded ruin in the marshlands of the northern Altario continent.[35]
  • City of the Sacredot: A city which saw a huge fight during the Jihad between forces of the Republic of the Sphere and retreating WoB forces.[45][46] By the time of the Jihad the City of the Sacredot was an abandoned city, located south of the surviving major polar population centers.[46]
  • Cornwallis: The village is a modern example of a walled city on Bryant. It is based on an old pre–Star League enclosed dome, and developed a distinctive circular arrangement that persisted after the upper layers of the biodome were removed during the planet's good years. When the bad weather patterns returned, the remnant walls were rebuilt to serve as tall wind-breakers instead, while smaller buildings and storm resistant structures were built around the flat lands surrounding it.[56]
  • Grovers Mill: a town from North Jersey County[57]
  • New Crowley: a coastal village from North Jersey County[57]

Industrial Centers[edit]

Local Fauna[edit]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 92 systems (89 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
New Home 6.0 Epsilon Eridani 9.5 Keid 10.5 New Stevens 11.6
Caph 12.7 Epsilon Indi 16.2 Sirius 16.6 Brownsville 17.9
Procyon 18.3 Sol 18.7 Carver 20.1 Fomalhaut 20.2
Terra Firma 22.4 Rigil Kentarus 22.5 Northwind 23.4 Outreach 26.9
Altair 27.3 Saffel 28.0 Dieron 28.2 Capolla 28.7
Sheratan 28.9 Tau Ceti 30.3 Lockdale 31.4 Killbourn 32.0
Hechnar 32.7 Fletcher 35.2 Acamar 36.6 Graham 36.8
Ingress 36.8 Bex 38.0 Xi Ursae Majoris 38.4 Nirasaki 38.9
Woodstock 38.9 Small World 39.0 Chisholm 39.5 Nanking 39.7
Asta 39.8 Yorii 40.4 Styx 40.8 Hall 41.2
Quentin 41.6 Hsien 41.8 Thorin 42.4 Errai 42.7
Kawich 43.7 Athenry 44.4 Pollux 44.8 Ruchbah 45.2
Oliver 45.4 Chara 46.7 Zavijava 46.8 Mandal 48.1
Deneb Algedi 48.2 Rocky 48.3 Nopah 48.5 Arboris 48.6
Tabit 48.7 Devil's Rock 49.4 Muphrid 49.6 Imbros 49.7
Helen 50.0 Zurich 50.4 Lipton 51.0 Deneb Kaitos 51.4
New Britain 51.5 Talitha 51.9 Denebola 52.3 Aldebaran 52.5
Pike 52.9 Wasat 53.0 Genoa 53.2 Zollikofen 53.3
Castor 53.7 Bharat 53.9 Van Diemen 54.1 Dyev 54.5
Tall Trees 54.9 Basalt 55.3 Saiph 55.5 Azha 55.8
Pokhara 57.6 Nashira 58.1 Menkalinan 58.9 Cynthiana 59.2
Slocum 59.6 Addicks 59.6 Hamal 59.9 New Canton 59.9
Towne 60.0 Chaville 60.3 Hean 61.5 Ankaa 61.6

References[edit]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 Dark Age Republic Worlds (3130), p. 234: "Bryant"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 War of the Tripods, p. 19: "Gamemaster's Sourcebook"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - 3145"
  4. The Star League, p. 170
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Handbook: House Marik, p. 16
  6. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18
  7. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 13
  8. Handbook: House Liao, p. 17
  9. Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 18
  10. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 25
  11. Handbook: House Liao, p. 25
  12. 12.0 12.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 159
  13. Era Report: 2750, p. 37
  14. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11
  15. 15.0 15.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, pp. 84–85: "Atrocities and Excesses"
  16. 16.0 16.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 138
  17. Handbook: House Liao, p. 31
  18. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 122–123
  19. First Succession War, pp. 112–113
  20. Handbook: House Liao, p. 39
  21. Handbook: House Liao, p. 40
  22. 22.0 22.1 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, pp. 16–17: "Tikonov Free Republic"
  23. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, p. 16
  24. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, p. 94: "End of the War"
  25. Handbook: House Liao, p. 49
  26. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133
  27. Era Report: 3052, p. 11
  28. Era Report: 3052, p. 23
  29. Era Report: 3062, p. 11
  30. Handbook: House Liao, p. 60
  31. Era Report: 3062, p. 29
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 69: "Mercenary Employment Table"
  33. Handbook: House Liao, p. 68
  34. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 43
  35. 35.00 35.01 35.02 35.03 35.04 35.05 35.06 35.07 35.08 35.09 35.10 35.11 35.12 35.13 35.14 War of the Tripods, p. 4: "World Guide"
  36. 36.0 36.1 Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere, p. 22: "Prefecture IX"
  37. War of the Tripods, p. 8: "Carl Phillips"
  38. The Star League, p. 170
  39. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 80: "Cometh Hell's Legions"
  40. The Star League, p. 170
  41. 41.0 41.1 41.2 Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 72: "Dire Straits"
  42. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 58: "The Jihad in Review"
  43. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 72: "Reclamation Ideals"
  44. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 73
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Jihad: Final Reckoning, pp. 77–78: "Chaos Undaunted: Storm Shadow"
  46. 46.0 46.1 46.2 Total Chaos, p. 244-245, "Storm Shadow"
  47. War of the Tripods, p. 5: "Last BPM 'Mechs Bound for Terra"
  48. 20 Year Update, p. 70: "Com Guards Deployment Table"
  49. ComStar, p. 85: "Com Guards Deployment Table"
  50. Chaos March, p. 29
  51. Field Manual: ComStar, p. 126: "Com Guards Deployment Table"
  52. Field Manual: Updates, p. 99: "Word of Blake Militia Deployment Table"
  53. 53.0 53.1 Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103: "Protectorate Militia Deployment"
  54. War of the Tripods, p. 6: "Certificate of Service Transfer"
  55. What's in a Name?
  56. War of the Tripods, p. 14: "Rise Against the Machines!"
  57. 57.0 57.1 War of the Tripods, p. 6: "North Jersey County Welcomes 'Exquisite' Calm Season"
  58. War of the Tripods, p. 9: "Adventure Tracks"
  59. Technical Readout: 3039, p. 84: "Von Luckner Profile"
  60. Technical Readout: 3039, p. 150: "Grasshopper Profile"

Bibliography[edit]