Great Gorge

Great Gorge
Great Gorge 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates492.678 : -266.866[e]
Spectral classA3V[1]
Recharge station(s)None[1]

Political Affiliation[edit]


Great Gorge V[edit]

Great Gorge V
Astrophysical
System position5th[1]
Jump Point distance21 days[1][32]
Geophysical
Highest native lifePlants[1]
History and Culture
Population1,988,000,000 (apocryphal)[33]
Government and Infrastructure
Noble RulerMarquess of Great Gorge
CapitalNew Stockton[32]
HPG ClassB[1]
HPG RepresentativePrecentor Paul Thyres[1]

Planetary Info[edit]

Originally the only feature of note was a large canyon that gave the world its name. A religious group from Terra settled on Great Gorge just before the first Star League was formed. This religious group scattered seeds from airplanes and fish eggs into the seas. The resulting oxygen generated by the plants allowed the fish to survive as they consumed the native algae. Originally a marginally habitable world with minor amounts of arable land, by the fall of the Star League the world was packed with settlers enjoying the plentiful air, water, and food. In addition, several mining companies found that the Great Gorge itself provided easy access to minerals and precious metals. As a result the standard of living rose.[1]

Planetary History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

In the thirty-first century, Great Gorge was still a contrast in extremes; the planet’s surface was dominated by mountain ranges and some of the largest valleys and canyons to be found anywhere within the boundaries of the Inner Sphere. Located close to both the Mica Majority and the Tortuga Dominions, Great Gorge sees many groups of varying reputation travel through, headed either for the gold-rush environment of the Majority or traveling for more nefarious purposes. Great Gorge itself was a world rich in minerals and supported the population at a much higher standard of living than the typical Periphery world, but this in turn made Great Gorge a tempting target for pirates like Fuchida's Fusiliers.[32]

Clan Invasion[edit]

In the wake of the Clan Invasion the Federated Commonwealth redeployed the garrison forces which had been protecting Great Gorge and the surrounding area. In 3055 Marquis Lawrence Ulitock, the planetary ruler, was actively recruiting mercenaries to defend Great Gorge, as the planet had been struck repeatedly by pirates in a series of fierce raids.[32] The raids largely concentrated on attacking the mining areas and companies, although some attacks were launched against the various cities on Great Gorge to obtain slaves for trade; complicating the defense of Great Gorge were issues in obtaining supplies and ammunition for hired mercenary units, with supplies often arriving late or incomplete due to a lack of influence on the part of the Marquis.[34]

Jihad[edit]

During the early years of the Jihad, Great Gorge left the Federated Suns and joined with several other worlds to form the Malagrotta Cooperative.[24]

Dark Age[edit]

Elements of the First Periphery Guard deployed to Great Gorge in 3139 on a humanitarian relief mission despite Great Gorge having left the Federated Suns many years before. Tens of thousands of people had been left homeless after atypical spring rains led to flooding across large areas of New Stockton, and the Periphery Guard deployed almost twenty assorted VTOLs including a number of Bishop Transport VTOLs to deliver clean water to relief centers and to rescue survivors.[35]

With the planetary militia in shambles a pirate group took advantage of the chaos by staging a raid, targeting the gold storehouses located near Great Gorge's planetary spaceport. With only a single lance of BattleMechs and few ground combat vehicles from the Periphery Guard on Great Gorge, some of the VTOL crews improvised; taking shipping containers of munitions that had been intended to be a goodwill gift to the planetary militia from the AFFS, the crews rigged the munitions with detonators and proceeded to drop the containers on top of the pirate force and their Union-class DropShip at the spaceport. The explosions caused by the crates containing tons of munitions surprised the pirates, and when the loads carried by the four Bishops had been dropped, the bulk of the pirate forces had been destroyed along with their DropShip.[35]

Military Deployment[edit]

3050[edit]

Geography[edit]

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

The database of the (apocryphal) 1989 video game MechWarrior, set around the year 3025, gives a population of 1.988 billion for Great Gorge and describes the environment as "desert" (out of only three broad impressions of planetary environments given in the game, these being "desert," "ice," and "tropical"). The description one-liner reads "Nice world rich in minerals on the edge of nowhere."

Apocryphal Content Ends

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • New Stockton: planetary capital[32]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 20 systems (11 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Gronholt 27.2 Adelson 29.3 Sodertalje 31.6 Hoonaar 32.1
Vackisujfalu 32.9 Olindo 43.6 Baranda 44.1 Fetsund 52.8
Jaboatao 56.0 Gillingham 56.0 Mararn 57.8 Fuveau 62.4
Malagrotta 64.8 Redondo 65.4 Rennes 67.9 Csomad 70.1
Gurrnazovo 74.1 Cooperland 75.0 Eustatius 76.6 Hawktor 78.4

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 202: "Great Gorge"
  2. Handbook: House Davion, p. 18
  3. Handbook: House Davion, p. 48
  4. Historical: Reunification War, p. 159
  5. Era Report: 2750, p. 37
  6. Field Manual: SLDF: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  7. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11
  8. Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 29
  9. Handbook: House Davion, p. 54
  10. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 122–123
  11. Handbook: House Davion, p. 60
  12. House Davion (The Federated Suns): "Federated Suns Map - [3025]"
  13. Handbook: House Davion, p. 70
  14. Handbook: House Davion, p. 72
  15. Handbook: House Davion, p. 76
  16. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133
  17. Era Report: 3052, p. 11
  18. Era Report: 3052, p. 23
  19. Era Report: 3062, p. 11
  20. Handbook: House Davion, p. 78
  21. Era Report: 3062, p. 29
  22. Handbook: House Davion, p. 82
  23. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 43
  24. 24.0 24.1 Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, p. 94
  25. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 64
  26. Field Report: AFFS, p. 21
  27. Field Report: Periphery, p. 22
  28. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63
  29. Field Manual: 3085, p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  30. Era Report: 3145, p. 11
  31. Era Report: 3145, p. 39
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Hot Spots Contracts, p. 2: "Crucis March Contract FC 56601-002-2"
  33. MechWarrior (1989 Video Game) (apocryphal)
  34. Hot Spots Contracts, p. 35: "Contract FC 56601-002-2: Behind The Scenes"
  35. 35.0 35.1 Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries, p. 22: "Bishop Transport VTOL"
  36. 20 Year Update, p. 22

Bibliography[edit]