The Hinterlands

The Hinterlands is a region of space in the coreward Inner Sphere that was formerly part of the Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone.

Following the near-annihilation of the Falcon touman on Terra in early 3151 these worlds were left almost entirely undefended. While the Blackout meant that news of their vulnerability spread slowly, new and existing factions began taking advantage of the power vacuum to claim ex-Falcon worlds for themselves. By mid-3152 Falcon control in the region had shrunk to a four-world remnant centered on Sudeten, three new proto-states had been established, and the two biggest neighboring powers, Clan Hell's Horses and the Lyran Commonwealth, had claimed a number of worlds for themselves. Other systems simply slipped beyond the control of any larger entity or fell under the informal influence of the criminal Malthus Confederation.[1]

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

In January 3151, Vedet Brewer was among the first outside the Jade Falcon OZ to discover that most of the Clan had simply packed up and departed their occupation zone. Stopping at Chapultepec on his way to the world of Melissia, Brewer and his 1st Hesperus Guards learned that the world was violently throwing off Clan rule. Believing that the missing forces had pulled back to Melissia, he girded for fierce fighting on the former theater capital. When his regiment arrived, though, they found the Falcons had left months ago.[2] These discoveries were playing out across the region.

The LIC's Operation BLACK ICE, which had been feeding weapons to anti-Clan resistance bodies, stepped up efforts while also gathering information about Falcon troop locations. One such scouting mission was sent to Arcturus in February 3151, which returned to report the former Commonwealth capital had been left undefended. When Archon Trillian Steiner-Davion opted not to mobilize the LCAF for an all-out attack, one of her subordinates took matters into her own hands. Hauptmann-General Sarah Regis of the 26th Arcturan Guards went rogue, mobilizing her entire RCT and moving to retake Arcturus. [3]

New Flags and Old[edit]

Within a month of his arrival, Brewer had pacified both warring parties on Melissia and announced the world was the capital of a new state: the Vesper Marches. Having skillfully played both sides, Brewer now enjoyed a supportive populace and the materiel output of Grumman Industries' plant on the world as a base from which to expand.[4] Other powers were also swiftly springing up in the region to fill the void. In May of the same year, the 17th Arcturan Guards landed on Guatavita, where they discovered the world was now claimed by a group calling themselves the Malthus Confederation. This group, descended from the famed Lyran crime syndicate of the same name, was based on the world of Dustball, where they had been stealthily undermining the Jade Falcons for the past century. While the Confederation only controlled a single world on paper[5] the syndicate boasted an extensive reach that defied national borders.[6]

After Regis and her unit returned to Arcturus in July 3151, they deliberated over their next course of action: would they return the world to the Commonwealth, or go their own way? After a month of deliberation, Regis made up her mind. On 13 August, 3151, Regis overthrew Arcturus' civilian council and declared herself Governor-General of a new Tamar Pact.[7] A similar homecoming came for Callandre Kell when she landed on Arc-Royal in August, beginning a months-long campaign to wipe out the occupying Falcons. It took the Kell Hounds until October, when they pushed the last holdouts out of the planetary capital of Old Connaught, to declare victory. On 12 October, 3151, Callandre Kell announced the formation of the Arc-Royal Liberty Coalition, an alliance to liberate other nearby worlds.[8]

While the Falcons as a whole had left their Occupation Zone, not every member of the Clan followed. Of those left behind, two in particular rose to prominence. Jiyi Chistu had been a Star Captain serving under Malvina Hazen, until he grew disillusioned with her methods. Reassigned to protect one of the Falcons' precious VaultShips, he cultivated the loyalty of those serving under him and grew to respect the merchants who crewed the ship. By mid-3151, Chistu and his comrades were cut off from central leadership, left only with confusing reports coming from Terra ranging from a Falcon victory to a resurgent Word of Blake. It was then that his ship received a recall order from the Clan's Merchant Factor, Marena.[9]

Marena had risen through the ranks of the Falcon merchant caste for decades, gaining great influence for her skilled management of the Falcons' economy. But the demands placed upon her by Malvina Hazen soured her on the Clan system and focused her on efforts to insulate her caste from the mismanagement of Malvina's leadership. When the news broke of Brewer's seizure of Melissia and the formation of the Vesper Marches, Marena recognized her opportunity. Moving swiftly to secure the planet Alyina, overthrowing the rule of the warrior caste as she sought to build a new nation based on commerce. On 20 July, 3151, Marena declared herself the Syndic of a new government, the Alyina Mercantile League.[10]

While most of the VaultShips heeded the recall order and fell in line behind the new Syndic, VaultShip Gamma, the ship to which Chistu had been assigned, was impeccably loyal to Chistu and, through him, Clan Jade Falcon. Rather than join the AML, a council made not only of warriors, but lower castes, unanimously elected Chistu their new Khan. Among his first actions was to invite Marena to his capital of Sudeten to find a path forward together. Marena informed Chistu that she and her nation were no longer subject to Clan rule, and offered Chistu a place as the leader of her armies. Unable to fathom swearing fealty to a merchant, the talks ended almost as soon as they began.[11]

Great Powers at the Door[edit]

While the smaller states coalesced on their border, Clan Hell's Horses had been protecting their satellite state, the Republic of the Barrens, from the New Oberon Confederation. But by the time the Horse Khans returned from their meeting with Alaric Ward on Terra, much of the Clan threw itself into seizing Falcon territory. While some early attacks had begun as early as February 3151, the campaign was in full gear by November of that year, expanding the Horse OZ and smothering a nascent Falcon successor calling itself the Turkina Ascendancy before it could take root. By March 3152, the Ascendancy had been totally destroyed and the Horses had greatly extended their territory.[12]

While the Lyran Commonwealth retook several vacated worlds, it largely maintained a defensive posture. Archon Trillian, caught between pressure to act against the Tamar Pact and Vesper Marches[13] and her troops' reluctance to fire on people who they still thought of as countrymen[14] turned to diplomacy, dispatching envoys to Arc-Royal[15] and Arcturus[16]. General of the Armies Roderick Steiner was dispatched to the latter world, but before he arrived another neighboring power commenced its entrance into the Hinterlands saga in June 3152, by landing troops on the Pact world of Tomans and engaging the First Tamar Jaegers garrison there.[16]

That nation, the Rasalhague Dominion, had previously considered any potential opportunities in the region to be limited. While theoretically it could have expanded deep into the former Falcon OZ, the Dominion was suffering from internal strife by late 3151 that sharply curtailed its available forces for offensive operations. Mindful of a potential threat from the Draconis Combine as well, the Rasalhagians ultimately made no attempts at territorial expansion into the Hinterlands for several months. Aside from a raid by Chistu's Falcons on Quarell in November, the Dominion and the Hinterlands had little interaction during this time.[17] [18]

But by mid-3152 the Dominion's civil strife had quieted and a reconnaissance expedition towards Pandora was dispatched. Expecting to find Tomans undefended, the Dominion forces instead discovered the existence of the Tamar Pact. After engaging the Tamar Jaegers and questioning local authorities, the expedition commander's report recommended that the Dominion establish ties with the new state, with a view to using it as a buffer state against the Hell's Horses and the Lyran Commonwealth.[19]


Hinterlands Factions[edit]

Neighboring powers engaged in the Hinterlands[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 72, "The Hinterlands June 3152" (Map)
  2. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 16-17
  3. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 18-24
  4. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 18
  5. ↑ Tamar Rising, foldout map
  6. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 22-24
  7. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 24-27
  8. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 34-38
  9. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 50-51
  10. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 42-44
  11. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 51-52
  12. ↑ Tamar Rising, pp. 58-61
  13. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 78
  14. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 79
  15. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 74
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Tamar Rising, p. 70
  17. ↑ Tamar Rising, p. 53-54
  18. ↑ Dominions Divided, p. 60, "A Ripe Opportunity"
  19. ↑ Dominions Divided, p. 88, "Something Strange This Way Comes"
  20. ↑ Dominions Divided, p. 85, "Rasalhague Dominion June 3152" (Map)

Bibliography[edit]

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