Periphery March (Federated Suns)

Description[edit]

The Periphery March was a military and administrative region with the Federated Suns established in the aftermath of the Jihad by Princess-Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion.[1]

History[edit]

The Outer March[edit]

The Periphery March incorporates much or all of a March from much earlier in the history of the Federated Suns: the Outer March. In March 2418 Simon Davion reformed the structure of the Federated Suns, reshaping the nation into five Principalities, each headed by a Prince and led by a single First Prince; the first such First Prince was Simon Davion himself.[2] These five Principalities were named the Capellan March, Crucis March, Draconis March, Outer March and Terran March, and each was subdivided into a system of duchies, margraves, counties and baronies and a new class of titled individuals was created, each of whom was subject to appointment by the Prince of his or her respective March.[3]

When the Davion Civil War ended in the mid-twenty-sixth century, only two of the five Princes of the Federated Suns were still alive: First Prince Alexander Davion of the Crucis March and Prince Nuno Gutierrez of the Outer March, who from his capital world, Filtvelt, had kept the Outer March out of the Civil War.[4] Alexander Davion restructured the Federated Suns, disbanding the Outer and Terran Marches and instead subdividing the realm into just three Marches: the Capellan March, Crucis March and Draconis March,[5] a system that would remain in place until the establishment of the Periphery March.

Formation and Early History[edit]

When established, the Periphery March incorporated the edgeward regions of the Chirikof and Markesan Operational Areas of the Crucis March as well as the Milligan and Kilbourne Polymorphous Defense Zones (PDZs) of the Draconis March and the Warren PDZ of the Capellan March.[1] This incorporated much of the region of the Federated Suns loosely described as the Outback, an area marked by low levels of education, wealth and development.

The area encompassed by the new Periphery March had been a tumultuous region during the Jihad, partly due to a lack of focus by the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns because of pressures elsewhere, partly due to a corresponding increase in pirate activity in the region and partly due to secessionist sentiments. This combination of events led to the active secession of a number of worlds and the formation of two small states broadly comparable to Periphery nations - the Filtvelt Coalition and the Malagrotta Cooperative.[6][7]

The Malagrotta Cooperative, based on the region that had formerly been the Malagrotta PDZ of the Crucis March, became subject to increasing levels of internal strife following the decision to issue Letters of Marque to various pirate bands to try and bolster the Cooperative's defenses, leading to a change of leader via assassination and the active suborning of the nation by the notorious pirate band known as the Death's Consorts, with indications that the pirates were being supported by the Word of Blake.[8] This led to direct military action against the Cooperative by both the Filtvelt Coalition and the Remagen Crucis March Militia, the latter led by General Raymond-Roger Marsin.[9][10]

Prior to the Jihad, Raymond-Roger Marsin had been considered a serious impetus for the secession of the Outback due to a combination of loyalty and devotion to the region, and the level of public support he earned by defending the Malagrotta region and returning it to Federated Suns control in the late 3070s, which was considerable. Princess-Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion responded to this increase in influence on Marsin's part by channeling it for her own purposes, rather than attempting to curtail it; she chose to establish the new Periphery March and influenced her Privy Council to back the establishment of Marsin as Duke of the new March, converting Marsin from a potential enemy into a considerable ally. Whilst rumors persisted that on a private level, Yvonne made it abundantly clear that any suspicion of disloyalty on the part of Marsin and his successors towards the First Prince would result in the end of the Marsin line, Yvonne also forbade Marsin from taking military action against the Filtvelt Coalition, regarding them as misguided but still citizens of the Federated Suns.[1]

The newly-minted Duke Marsin apparently acknowledged the greater benefits to the Periphery March of cooperation with New Avalon than opposition, and poured himself into the administrative detail of creating the new March and establishing its new capital on June. Between the establishment of the Periphery March during the Camelot Summit and 3085 Marsin succeeded in bringing four Coalition worlds back into the Federated Suns, one - Hephzibah - through trade and economic incentives, and three[1] - Cogdell, Moultrie and Redondo[11][12] - through deploying forces to evict the Coalition forces as occupiers once invited to do so by the legitimate planetary authorities of each world. While this political maneuvering resulted in a degree of admonishment from New Avalon, Marsin continued to be extremely popular with the local population of the Outback.[1]

Dark Age[edit]

Over the next sixty years a number of Filtvelt Coalition worlds defected back to the Federated Suns and were incorporated into the Periphery March.[13][14] The resident March Lord in 3145 was Duke Bernard Marsin.[15]

For most of its existence the Periphery March was a military backwater that provided reserves to other fronts. Disastrous defeats suffered by the AFFS in the 3140s changed that, as invasions from the Draconis Combine, the Raven Alliance and the Capellan Confederation saw all three states poised within striking distance of Periphery March worlds. As a result the Periphery March Guard unexpectedly found itself taking a lead role in protecting not only its own region but the Federated Suns as a whole.[16]

Military Forces[edit]

The main military force for the Periphery March was the Periphery March Guard, formed with the approval of the AFFS High Command. The Periphery March guard enjoyed a high degree of support from the Quartermasters department of the AFFS during its establishment, with priority access to the products manufactured by StarCorps Industries on Crofton and Jalastar Aerospace on Panpour. The heart of the brigade, the First Periphery Guard LCT, was formed from the Remagen Crucis March Militia, Marsin's previous command; faced with the prospect of mass retirements if the Remagen CrMM was ordered to return to the Crucis March, the command was instead transferred to the Periphery March Guard, in exchange for Marsin dedicating Periphery March resources to the formation of a replacement Remagen CrMM to backfill the Crucis March Militia brigade.[17]

Between 3085 and 3145 the Periphery March Guard expanded from three LCTs in strength to six.[18][16]

Operational Areas[edit]

When first established the Periphery March was divided into three Operational Areas: the Anjin Muerto Operational Area, the June Operational Area and the Woodbine Operational Area.[12] This arrangement remained unchanged in 3145.[13]

March Lords[edit]

3085[edit]

3145[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Field Manual: 3085, p. 52-53, "Camelot Summit"
  2. Handbook: House Davion, p. 27, "Timeline: Early Years and the Age of War"
  3. Handbook: House Davion, p. 28, "The First Prince"
  4. Handbook: House Davion, p. 37, "Dividends of Peace"
  5. Handbook: House Davion, p. 37, "Timeline: Revolution and Civil War"
  6. Jihad Hot Spots: 3072 p. 94, "Malagrotta Next?"
  7. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 41, "Garman Doucett"
  8. Jihad Hot Spots: 3076 p.90, "Choosing Sides"
  9. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 55, "The Jihad In Review"
  10. Jihad Hot Spots: 3076 p. 51, "Marsin, CrMM Defend Suns Again!"
  11. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 64-65, "Inner Sphere Map [3075]"
  12. 12.0 12.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. VII, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3085]"
  13. 13.0 13.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 39, "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
  14. Field Manual: 3145, p. VI, "Inner Sphere - 3145"
  15. 15.0 15.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 49, "Federated Suns"
  16. 16.0 16.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 79, "Periphery March Guard"
  17. Field Manual: 3085, p. 61, "Periphery March Guard"
  18. Field Manual: 3085, p. 79, "Periphery March Guard"

Bibliography[edit]