Editing Tortuga Prime

{{Update Needed|[[Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime]]}}

{{InfoBoxSystem
| image               = Tortuga_Prime_3151.svg
| caption             = Tortuga Prime [[#Nearby_Systems|nearby systems]]
| name                = Tortuga Prime
| coord               = 664.715 : −233.487{{e}}
| stars               = 
| class               = G2IV<ref name=TPp154>''The Periphery'', p. 154: "Tortuga Dominions"</ref><ref name=MM239>''Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers'', p. 239: "Tortuga Prime"</ref><ref name=OB:Pp35>''Objectives: Periphery'', p. 35: "Tortuga Prime"</ref><ref name="HTP:TPp3">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 3: "Tortuga Prime"</ref><ref name="TtS:TPp4">''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'', p. 4</ref>
| recharge            = 183 hours<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| recharge stations   = None<ref name=TPp154/><ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| planets             = 
}}
The '''Tortuga Prime''' system was home to at least one habitable world, '''Tortuga Prime III''', and as of [[3145]] was the capital of the [[Tortuga Dominions]].<ref name="ER:3145p39">''Era Report: 3145'', p. 39: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"</ref><ref name="FM:3145pVI">''Field Manual: 3145'', p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"</ref>

==System Description==
Tortuga Prime is located near the [[Fletcher's Feast]] and [[New Hati]] systems<ref name="ER:3145p39"/><ref name="FM:3145pVI"/> and consists of a class G2IV primary orbited by at least three planets.<ref name=TPp154/><ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/>

==System History==
The Tortuga Prime system was settled by the remains of the [[237th Light Cavalry Regiment]] in the closing stages of the [[Reunification War]].<ref name=TPp154/><ref name="FM:Pp115">''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 115: "Tortuga Dominions"</ref>

==Political Affiliation==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[2588]] - Independent world<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
* [[2596]] - Independent world<ref name="H:RWp159">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 159</ref>
* [[2750]] - [[Tortuga Dominions]]<ref name="ER:2750p37">''Era Report: 2750'', p. 37</ref>
* [[2764]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref>''Field Manual: SLDF'', p. xi: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"</ref>
* [[2765]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="H:LoTv1p11">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 11</ref>
* [[2786]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="FSW(SB)p24-25">''First Succession War'', pp. 24–25</ref>
* [[2822]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="H:LOTv2p122">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', pp. 122–123</ref><ref name="FSW(SB)p112-113">''First Succession War'', pp. 112–113</ref>
* [[3025]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref>''The Periphery'', pp. 156–157</ref>
* [[3040]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="H:LoTv1p11">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 11</ref>
* [[3050]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3052p11">''Era Report: 3052'', p. 11</ref>
* [[3052]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3052p23">''Era Report: 3052'', p. 23</ref>
* [[3057]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3062p11">''Era Report: 3062'', p. 11</ref>
* [[3059]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="TP2Ep112">''The Periphery, 2nd Edition'', p. 112: "Taurian Concordat & Tortuga Dominions"</ref>
* [[3063]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3062p29">''Era Report: 3062'', p. 29</ref>
* [[3067]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="J:FRp43">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 43</ref>
* [[3075]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="JS:TBDp64">''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 64</ref>
* [[3079]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="FR:Pp22">''Field Report: Periphery'', p. 22</ref>
* [[3081]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="J:FRp63">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 63</ref>
* [[3085]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="FM:3085pvii">''Field Manual: 3085'', p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"</ref>
* [[3135]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3145p11">''Era Report: 3145'', p. 11</ref>
* [[3145]] - Tortuga Dominions<ref name="ER:3145p39"/><ref name="FM:3145pVI"/>
{{div col end}}

-------------------------------------
==Tortuga Prime II (Lafayette)==
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| image               = 
| name                = Lafayette
| othernames          = Tortuga Prime II
| position            = Second<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| distance            = 
| moons               = 
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| temperature         = 
| water               = 
| life                = 
| continents          = 
| colonized           = 
| demonym             = 
| language            = 
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| ruler               = 
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| hpg                 = 
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}}
'''Tortuga Prime II''', more commonly known as '''Lafayette''', is the second planet in the Tortuga Prime system. The planet was habitable at one point, developing life over the course of the last billion years, but the planet warmed as the system primary evolved off the main sequence, rendering that native life extinct long before the first human colonists arrived in the system.<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>

-------------------------------------
==Tortuga Prime III==
{{InfoBoxPlanet
| image               = Tortuga Prime Orbital View.jpg
| name                = Tortuga Prime III
| othernames          = 
| position            = Third<ref name=TPp154/><ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| distance            = 9.12 days<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| moons               = 5 (Barbarossa, Kidd, Wendigo, Lafleur, Pandora)<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| gravity             = 0.85<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| pressure            = Standard<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| temperature         = 30°C (Temperate)<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| water               = 40%<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| life                = Plant<ref name=TPp154/><ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| continents          = 1 (Torment)<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/>
| colonized           = [[2588]]<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| demonym             = 
| language            = 
| religion            = 
| population          = 1,372,300 (3076),<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><br>1,401,000 (3079),<ref name=OB:Pp35/><br>1,450,000 (3081),<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/><br>1,250,000 (3145)<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| ruler               = [[Rulers of the Tortuga Dominions]]
| political           = 
| commander           = 
| capital             = Raider's Roost<ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| hpg                 = None (3025),<ref name=TPp154/><br>B (3076)<ref name=MM239/><ref name=OB:Pp35/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>
| hpgrep              = [[Precentor]] [[William Derer]] (3076)<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp3"/>
}}
Tortuga Prime III, more commonly referred to simply as Tortuga Prime, is a small world with a pleasant climate and five moons named Barbarossa, Kidd, Lafleur, Pandora and Wendigo. For most of its history Tortuga Prime has been the capital of the [[bandit kingdom]] known as the Tortuga Dominions.<ref name=TPp154/><ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>

===Planetary History===
====Early History====
Tortuga Prime was colonized by the remains of the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns]] 237th Light Cavalry Regiment in the closing stages of the Reunification War, the 237th being a [[regiment]] that took heavy damage in a wasteful military operation against the [[Taurian Concordat]] world of [[Sterope]], leading to the survivors deserting the [[Federated Suns]]. The survivors headed into the [[Periphery]] and discovered a small, pleasant world with abundant mineral resources and vast savannas, well outside the boundaries of the Federated Suns. The survivors colonized the world, and within the space of a generation had embraced a new identity: the Pirates of Tortuga.<ref name=TPp154/>

Despite the pleasant climate, Tortuga Prime was a harsh world; the surface water found on the planet was too alkaline for human consumption and the colonists had to rely on a huge underground reservoir for fresh water—and even that water had to be subjected to significant treatment to make it potable.<ref name="HTP:TPp4">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 4: "Tortuga Prime"</ref> The lack of infectious diseases, mild seasons and pleasant climate couldn't make up for the fact that the irrigation of crops was nearly impossible, and human survival was heavily dependent on water purification systems, making life increasingly difficult as rations and spare parts began to run out.<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>

The elected leader of the human population was [[Major]] [[Frederick Koloniv|Frederik "Krasny" Koloniv]], and he and the other surviving officers of the 237th began to make plans to use their remaining demi-battalion of functioning [[BattleMech]]s to secure grains and other much-needed food supplies. Renaming his military forces the "Red Raiders", Krasny launched a raiding campaign in [[2589]] that ran until [[2597]]. These raids were effective, and brutal; the Tortugan troops gathered up food and livestock, kidnapping skilled farmers and their family, captured whatever machines and equipment they could find, and then destroyed the evidence that they had been there. The raids targeted remote regions on border worlds that were largely not monitored, meaning that even locals on the planets that had been raided didn't notice in many cases for months that their planet had been struck by a raid.<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/><ref name=TPp154/>

When the raiders returned to Tortuga Prime, the most skilled workers and best equipment were brought back to Raider's Roost, the planetary capital; the families of those workers were distributed not on Tortuga Prime, but instead dispersed across worlds in five nearby systems, [[Fletcher's Feast]], [[Morgan's Holdfast]], [[New Gascony]], [[New Haiti]], and [[New Port Royal]], in the belief that this would encourage the skilled workers to comply; Krasny enforced an iron rule, crushing dissent and executing those who disobeyed either him or his senior officers. Krasny's rule continued until [[2604]], when a failed raid on the Federated Suns world of [[Memphis]] cost the Raiders three BattleMechs, and led to Krasny being challenged and killed by one of his officers, [[Lieutenant]] [[Mitch Hibbert]]. Mitch had been a child when the 237th arrived on Tortuga Prime, and his defeat of Krasny led to his election as the new "Duke of the Pirates of Tortuga."<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/> The Pirates continued to be reliant on raids against better-maintained and better-supplied worlds for their survival, as those worlds were sources of components and devices that the local - and uneducated - population couldn't keep in operation.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>

====Star League Era====
Under the first Duke Hibbert, Tortugan society became what it would remain until at least as late as the thirty-second century. Workers had little incentive to do more than the bare minimum necessary for survival, as their families were ripped away and dispersed across other worlds across the Tortuga Dominions,<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/> leading to every project becoming an exercise in inefficiency, as large numbers of manual workers had to be forced to engage in work projects that could elsewhere have been performed by a small group of skilled workers—or even a single worker—with the appropriate equipment, while local strongmen competed with and undercut each other. The various smaller settlements and forced relocation camps were still notionally elective democracies, but those elected into authority only lasted for as long as they could continue to provide protection for the people under their rule and provide the required standard of living.<ref name="TtS:TPp5">''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'', p. 5</ref>

The pirates based on Tortuga Prime grew increasingly bold during the [[Star League era]] as other groups of pirates joined them, building the Tortuga Dominions into a small empire and becoming a plague on nearby nations.<ref name="FSWp125">''First Succession War'', p. 125: "Antallos and Tortuga"</ref> Gang members often ended up in conflict with each other, such as in the infamous case of the construction of the HM-49 uranium mine complex in the mid-[[twenty-seventh century]]; when a gang leader known as The Dutchman was refused access to heavy equipment by Duke Hibbert, he resorted to forcing 2,000 men, women and children to dig the mine manually. Seizing the forced laborers in question threatened a nearby local grain harvest owned by another gang member, leading to raids between the two, attacking settlements and claiming resources. The escalating conflict nearly became a full-blown civil war, and stopped only when Duke Hibbert executed both leaders, leaving the mine unfinished; the lack of harvested food resulted in 40,000 deaths from starvation in the following winter.<ref name="TtS:TPp5"/>

With no established education system, local technical systems were prone to failure, as there was generally no-one in place to fix things like water treatment systems - assuming that anyone even noticed the system had a problem before it was too late. If a need was identified, the local strongman in charge would petition a regional officer for replacement parts or a skilled worker to fix the problem; if one wasn't available, the request would get passed further up the chain, ultimately ending up with the Duke and his or her closest lackeys, who made up Tortuga City's Council of the Damned. Incidents such as the deaths of 8,000 people in Fletcher in [[2770]] as a result of a mass poisoning caused when no one realized that the local water treatment plant's filters had failed, allowing toxic levels of heavy minerals into the water supply, were not uncommon. When local strongmen were refused the parts or labor they requested, many chose to attack other settlements like their own to seize what they needed, rather than face being torn apart by their own subjects for failing as leaders. The Duke of Tortuga would often overlook these destructive raids, using them as a means of determining who belonged in a higher position among the Pirates - while moving to ensure that those who presented the greatest threat to the Duke in question were swiftly eliminated.<ref name="TtS:TPp5"/>

Some of the pirates who relocated into the regions around Tortuga Prime during the closing stages of this era included deserters from the [[Star League Defense Force]], including a full battalion from the [[238th Mechanized Infantry Division]], who deserted in [[2771]] after years of being left on reserve status after the Division was disbanded as a result of the damage taken during the [[Periphery Uprising]]. These deserters chose to call themselves [[Charon's Children]].<ref name="FSWp125">''First Succession War'', p. 125: "Antallos and Tortuga"</ref>

====Succession Wars====
For more than two hundred years, raiders from Tortuga launched raids against both the Federated Suns and Taurian Concordat - often deeply into the territory of each nation. The Pirates of Tortuga gained a reputation for ruthlessness and utter depravity, and as the [[Third Succession War]] drew to a close the pirates became increasingly cruel and desperate as the population of the Dominion began to exhaust the most easily accessible resources on Tortuga Prime and the other worlds. Ruled over by the self-styled [[Dame]] [[Paula Trevaline]], an infamous and ruthless bandit queen, the population of Tortuga Prime was concentrated around an infamous settlement known as Raider's Roost. The largest settlement on the planet, as well as the home berth for approximately sixty thousand pirates and brigands of various kinds. The vast majority of these tens of thousands of pirates were living in poverty, as the majority of the spoils captured during raids against other worlds went to Dame Trevaline and her most loyal followers. Dame Trevaline—more correctly, Dame Murderess Extraordinaire Paula Trevaline—was a Tortugan native herself, one who had begun killing at the age of eleven before fighting her way into the position of senior mate on Tortuga City's Council of the Damned; she then killed the ruler of Tortuga Prime, Lord [[Kalvin Bar-Dyness]], in a duel in [[3015]] to seize control of Tortuga Prime and the rest of the Dominions.<ref name=TPp154/>

Dame Trevaline was the first ruler of Tortuga Prime to be considered broadly successful; she imposed a caste system on the population, a system notable for both its unfairness and its harsh nature. The caste system was supported predominantly by the practice of capturing people from other nations to press into slavery.<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> Trevaline unified the main pirate forces on Tortuga Prime into a single command under herself, and issued a declaration that no member of the pirates could launch a raid without her permission. This tightened focus made the pirate raids against the Federated Suns more successful and devastating than any since the days of Konoliv's brief tenure as ruler—one such raid nearly wiped out the civilian population of [[Mararn]], when Trevaline seized and removed the only functioning water purification plant on the planet, which Trevaline brought back to Tortuga Prime and used to cement the loyalty of the population of the city of Miccosukee.<ref name="TtS:TPp6">''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'', p. 6</ref>

Trevaline went on to adopt a policy of allowing unaligned pirate and mercenary bands to base themselves on Tortuga Prime, provided that they followed her rules: never act against her, to not abuse the citizens of Tortuga Prime, and to hand over a quarter of everything they seized. This policy was successful, but provoked the Federated Suns into a strong response.<ref name="TtS:TPp6"/> The [[Federated Commonwealth]] ultimately moved against Trevaline, deploying [[Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth]] units against the pirates, crushing many before capturing Trevaline in [[3042]].<ref name="FM:Pp115"/><ref name="TtS:TPp6"/> As skilled as Trevaline was, when [[First Prince of the Federated Suns|First Prince]] [[Hanse Davion]] deployed the entire [[Ninth FedCom RCT]] against the pirates, there was little the pirates could do to resist.<ref name="TtS:TPp6"/> Deprived of Trevaline's influence whilst she was incarcerated, her followers within the Dominions fell into infighting, before fracturing into a number of disorganized and independent pirate groups.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/><ref name=MM239/>

====Clan Invasion Era====
In [[3054]], the mercenary unit [[Fuchida's Fusiliers]] arrived on Tortuga Prime, having deserted from their contract in the face of orders to deploy to battle against the invading [[Clans]].<ref name=MM239/><ref name="TP2Ep85">''The Periphery, Second Edition'', p. 85</ref> The Fusiliers spent the next year putting down any pirate groups who challenged them for dominance, returning stability to Tortuga Prime. With the Dominions effectively secure under their control, the Fusiliers then directed attacks with a particular focus: industrial and infrastructure targets. The Fusiliers used what was taken to build up a minor industrial base on Tortuga Prime,<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> and by the mid-3060s this had increased the standard of living within the Dominions significantly. The light industry thrived, helping the various worlds of the Dominion support each other, although the Fusiliers succumbed to some indulging in some of the more vile practices associated with piracy. The Fusiliers did leave the majority of the population alone, however—with the exception of extracting their yearly levies from them.<ref name="FM:Pp115"/> The apparent stability within the Tortuga Dominions was misleading, however; while the presence of the Fusiliers stopped the fighting around Raider's Roost and made the violence less visible elsewhere, covert assassinations and corruption continued unabated.<ref name="TtS:TPp6"/>

The Fusiliers efforts to build up an industrial base on Tortuga Prime had another benefit: the formation of [[Vengeance Incorporated]], capable of producing the ''[[Brigand (BattleMech)|Brigand]]'', the first homegrown [[BattleMech]] to be produced by a pirate band. Vengeance Incorporated was barely more than a scattered mishmash of warehouses equipped with gantries and jib cranes as well as an assortment of machine shops, but it achieved three notable things: it lifted the status of Tortuga Prime, it generated trade with various small Periphery powers—including internally within the Dominions,<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> and with the [[Mica Majority]] in particular<ref name=MM239/>—and it attracted the attention of the [[Word of Blake]].<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>

The expansion in pirate raids from the Dominions—and from Tortuga Prime—took pirates including the Fusiliers as far afield as the [[Outworlds Alliance]], whilst also continuing to attack both the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat. After Paula Trevaline escaped from imprisonment on [[New Syrtis]] and joined with the pirates in the [[Pirates Haven]] star cluster, the Fusiliers stopped raiding the Concordat, effectively conceding operations in the area to Trevaline.<ref name="FM:Pp130">''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 130: "Tortuga Fusiliers: Pride of the Dominions"</ref>

====The Jihad====
One of the activities the Word of Blake was heavily engaged in was identifying remote locations for either gathering support for their cause or establishing hidden bases, and the Tortuga Dominions represented an opportunity.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> The Blakists constructed a class B [[HPG]] on Tortuga Prime, linking the pirate world to the [[Inner Sphere]] for the first time; this provided something resembling legitimacy for the planet, and followed up on the HPG by building a sophisticated monorail system that linked the seven major cities on the planet together, currying favor with the population.<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> The Blakists also moved less overtly, supplying assistance to Vengeance Incorporated that allowed for the production of more advanced items.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> The Blakists' efforts didn't attract widespread support from the local civilian population, however; while they theoretically had access to the HPGs, those they wanted to talk to the most were those kept as hostages on other worlds, none of which had HPGs. Similarly, the monorail system was only used to transport people to where they were being forced to work, while their pirate overlords used the system to move assault forces around the planet quickly.<ref name="TtS:TPp6"/>

The Blakists' efforts, and the steady improvement in Tortuga Prime's standing, could easily have been derailed when Paula Trevaline returned in force to the Dominions. Trevaline struck at the Fusiliers, destroying them, and wiping out any vocal opposition she found on Tortuga Prime or the other Dominion worlds.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> The inherent value of the various improvements that had been made on Tortuga Prime was recognized by Trevaline, however, and she chose to leave Tortuga Prime to run itself whilst she took her pirate band, the [[Death's Consorts]], into the [[Malagrotta Cooperative]] to subvert control of that fledgling breakaway state for herself—provided that Tortuga Prime continued to supply Trevaline with her demanded tribute.<ref name=MM239/><ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> In the absence of Trevaline, the Blakists assigned [[Precentor]] [[William Derer]] to Tortuga Prime, and he became the de facto ruler of the world.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>

For the majority of the population of Tortuga Prime, Derer's rule was a largely hands-off regime, but he did institute a number of changes, great and small. The planetary militia were reorganized, adopting the base-six configuration common to Word of Blake formations. He insisted on the militia engaging in constant live-fire exercises that swiftly removed the weak and incompetent, whilst pouring funding into the manufacturing of [[combat vehicle]]s by Vengeance Incorporated, increasing the size of the militia tenfold and swiftly turning them into a well-trained military force.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> Derer had a particular combination of an affinity for organization and a willingness to accept distasteful means if a desired end was secured. Derer knew that the best way to ingratiate the Word of Blake with the local population was to maintain their way of life, and in addition to his focus on defense, he also improved the standard of living for slaves by putting into place rulings on proper treatment and support of slaves, although his attitude towards slavery shifted over time from overlooking the use of slaves to being largely desensitized to their fate on Tortuga Prime.<ref name="HTP:TPp7A">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 7: "William Derer"</ref> Tortuga Prime's mining industry became a major industry due to the relatively poor availability of resources on other worlds within the Dominions, which relied on importing industrial metals from Tortuga Prime.<ref name=MM239/>

In October [[3076]], pirate bands from Tortuga Prime struck against several worlds within the [[Filtvelt Coalition]] simultaneously, targeting the Coalition's tiny industrial base. The raids were a great success for the pirates, capturing supplies and humiliating the [[Filtvelt Citizen's Militia]], but a number of pirates were captured and revealed their homeworld under interrogation. The Coalition Council responded by ordering their only professional military unit, the [[Thumpers]], to destroy the weapons industry on Tortuga Prime; furthermore, a contingent of the FCM was sent along with the Thumpers in an attempt to redeem their poor performance in defending against the October raids.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>

The Thumpers' attack was a disaster. The Thumpers' Commanding Officer, [[Major]] [[Buck Tripp]], had no clear idea of the dramatically improved defending forces available to Derer on Tortuga Prime, and his planned surprise strike went wrong almost immediately. Tripp deployed his command company into Raider's Roost, while the Filtvelt [[DropShip]]s continued on to a landing zone close to the outskirts of the city to offload the rest of the Thumpers and the FCM forces. Tripp's company quickly engaged the [[Strychnine Slavers]], only to learn that the troops attempting to disembark from the grounded DropShips were under attack from massed units of Tortugan armor. Tripp led his company through Raider's Roost to rendezvous with the DropShips despite constant ambushes, only to receive word as he reached the outskirts of Raider's Roost that the Tortugans had used chemical weapons against the FCM infantry and armor with devastating effects, leaving few survivors - even the FCM's tanks provided no protection, as the poorly maintained vehicles allowed the gas to enter, killing the vast majority of the crews. While the BattleMechs used by the Thumpers were largely protected from the gas, they were effectively cut off from retreat when the DropShip crews closed their bay doors to protect themselves from the gas.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>

Tripp was able to battle through to his beleaguered forces and inflict enough damage to force the Tortuga militia to retreat back into Raider's Roost; determined not to fail, Tripp used footage obtained during the initial flyover of Raider's Roost to identify likely industrial sites and led the Thumpers in an assault intended to destroy those sites, only to find his troops falling victim to the brutal efficiency of the Tortugan militia and their ambushes. A few minor industrial sites took damage, but few of Tripp's forces managed to escape, and the entire force was left no choice but to retreat to Filtvelt space, the mission a lamentable failure<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/>—although forces from the Thumpers Third Company had managed to level Trevaline Palace, residence of William Derer, and Paula Trevaline before him.<ref name="HTP:TPp21">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 21: "Desperate Disobedience"</ref> The Thumpers had lost half their numbers during the abortive attack, and losses amongst the [[First Filtvelt Citizen's Militia]] were even higher.<ref name="HTP:TPp22">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 22: "Wasting Away Again on Tortuga Prime"</ref>

After the failed assault in 3076 things returned largely to the previous status quo for Tortuga Prime, even after Death's Consorts were wiped out and the Federated Suns reabsorbed the Malagrotta Cooperative.<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> Both Derer and the leader of the [[Tortugan Phalanx]], [[Naxamander Anabasis]], were appalled with the use of chemical weapons, leading to Anabasis leading the Phalanx on a rampage through Raider's Roost, before relocating his command to another city on Torment.<ref name="HTP:TPp17">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 17: "The LZ Massacre"</ref>

Derer remained in charge until the allied coalition turned the tide against the Word of Blake; at that point, Derer elected to flee from Tortuga Prime, simply because he was a known Blakist;<ref name="HTP:TPp4"/> Derer had already been under observation by Blakist overseers for some time, as a consequence of his communications in the wake of the horrors being unleashed during the Jihad revealed a contrary philosophy to that of the main Blakist tenets.<ref name="HTP:TPp7A"/> It was these same overseers who had supplied the Tortugan militia with the chemical weapons used so effectively against the Filtvelt forces in 3076.<ref name="HTP:TPp17"/>

With no easy means of expanding their industrial base or production facilities, maintaining the current standard of industry was as much as Tortuga Prime and Vengeance Incorporated could manage in the aftermath of Derer's reign.<ref name=OB:Pp35/>

====The Dark Age====
The aftermath of the raid by the Thumpers left Tortuga Prime in a state of chaos and upheaval that would continue until [[3127]], when [[Ian Scoli|Ian "Shank" Scoli]] became the first person in decades to come close to taking up the position of Duke when he unified various scattered pirate forces under his banner and used his mixed battalion of 'Mechs and armor to enforce the peace for three years. The raid launched by forces from the [[Calderon Protectorate]], [[Fiefdom of Randis]] and [[Filtvelt Coalition]] in [[3130]] destroyed Scoli's forces, ending his prospects and plunging Tortuga Prime back into chaos. Already struggling with the aftermath of the chemical weapons used on the planet during the Jihad and with the subsistence farming and water purification systems increasingly prone to failure, the population of Tortuga Prime began declining steadily as a result of deaths through injury, starvation and preventable diseases. By 3145, Federated Suns analysts were predicting that without a significant change in the situation on Tortuga Prime, the planet could become uninhabitable within a generation.<ref name="TtS:TPp6"/>

===Military Deployment===
====2589====
* Red Raiders (demi-battalion)<ref name="TtS:TPp4"/>

====3076====
* [[Strychnine Slavers]]<ref name="HTP:TPp7"/>
* [[Tortugan Phalanx]]<ref name="HTP:TPp7">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 7: "Combatants"</ref>
* [[Tortuga Militia]] (Two [[Level IV]]s)<ref name="HTP:TPp7"/>
:- One level IV was assigned to Raider's Roost; the second Level IV operated as individual [[Level III]]s, with one assigned to each of the other six major cities on Torment.<ref name="HTP:TPp7"/>

===Geography===
Tortuga Prime has a single major continent named Torment, which stretches from pole to pole across the surface of the planet. The surface of the planet is dominated by the Cook Sea, a single large ocean that covers forty percent of the surface of Tortuga Prime; dotted around the Cook Sea are various chains and clusters of small islands.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name=MM239/> More than a thousand small islands of varying sizes exist in total, and all of them are uninhabited because of the high alkaline content of the surface water on Tortuga Prime.<ref name=MM239/> Running up the center of Torment is a single long mountain range named Caparazón de Tortuga,<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/> and the mountains are rich in both copper and coal.<ref name=MM239/> The northernmost region of Torment contains an area referred to as Raider's Redoubt, whilst an area in the southwestern region of Torment is referred to as Llanuras de la Muerte.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/> Those regions of Tortuga Prime that aren't dominated by mountains, desert, or ice caps are predominantly wasteland or scrubland. Tortuga Prime has only been warm enough to support plant life for a fairly short period of time, and much of the plant life found on the world is derived from imported species capable of surviving the high alkaline content of the local groundwater or which can endure the long periods of dry weather.<ref name="TtS:TPp11">''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'', p. 11: "Tortuga Terrain"</ref>

===Planetary Locations===
* Acampamos: site of interest located between Dům Hrůzy and Montagne des Damnés, and connected to both cities via a monorail system from the Jihad onwards.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12">''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'', p. 12: "Tortuga Prime"</ref>
* Bonheur: most northerly of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Caparazón de Tortuga: long mountain range rich in both copper and coal<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/>
* Camp Coprolite: a site of interest located in the northwestern regions of Torment, close to the Bauxite Creek.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Coopervelt: site of interest located between Dům Hrůzy and Endoline, and connected to both cities via a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Dům Hrůzy: one of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; located on the eastern approaches of the Caparazón de Tortuga mountain range and linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Dutchmans HM-49: site of interest on the western aspect of Torment, close to the Cook Sea and the Traitor's Blood River.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/> Site of a failed uranium mine.<ref name="TtS:TPp5"/>
* Endoline: most southerly of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onwards.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Fletcher: site of interest in northern Torment, close to the northern end of the Caparazón de Tortuga mountain range.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Fort Cook: a site of interest located on the eastern coast of Torment, southeast of Raider's Roost and southwest of Kidd's Strike.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Kidd's Strike: a site of interest, located due east of Raider's Roost.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Llanuras de la Muerte: area in the southwestern region of Torment<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/>
* Miccosukee: one of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; located on the western approaches of the Caparazón de Tortuga mountain range linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Mine JL-47: major mining site; linked to the seven cities on Torment by monorail from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Millar's Mistake: site of interest located on an island east of Fort Cook; the only identified site of interest on any of the minor islands on Tortuga Prime.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Mine KE-129: major mining site; linked to the seven cities on Torment by monorail from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Montagne des Damnés: one of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; located on the eastern approaches of the Caparazón de Tortuga mountain range linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>
* Raider's Redoubt: area in the northernmost region of Torment<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/>
* Raider's Roost: the planetary capital city; linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward, and site of the planetary spaceport.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/> Notable districts or regions within Raider's Roost include Mason's Borough<ref name="HTP:TPp13">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 13: "Raiders in the Roost"</ref> and The Warrens.<ref name="HTP:TPp15">''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga Prime'', p. 15: "Phalanx For The Memories"</ref>
* Varshoot: one of seven cities on Tortuga Prime; located on the western approaches of the Caparazón de Tortuga mountain range linked to the other six cities by a monorail system from the Jihad onward.<ref name="HTP:TPp3"/><ref name="TtS:TPp12"/>

===Companies and Industries===
* [[Vengeance Incorporated]]<ref>''Objectives: Periphery'', p. 35: "Vengeance Incorporated"</ref>

===Image gallery===
<gallery>
Tortuga Prime Planetary Map.png|Planetary map of Tortuga Prime
Tortuga Prime Flag.png|Planetary flag of Tortuga Prime
</gallery>

==Notes==
''[[Historical Turning Points: Tortuga]]'' gives the date Fuchida's Fusiliers arrival on Tortuga Prime as 3042, contradicting both ''[[The Periphery, 2nd Edition|The Periphery, Second Edition]]'' and ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''. As ''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga'' is the more recent publication, this would normally be taken as canon, but given that the established reason from multiple canon sources for the Fusiliers breaking contract and fleeing into the Periphery is the Clan Invasion, and the Clan Invasion didn't commence until 3050, the detail in earlier sourcebooks has been used in this article. '''Note:''' ''Historical Turning Points: Tortuga'' has been superseded as the most recent publication source for the arrival of Fuchida's Fusiliers with the publication of ''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime''. ''Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime'' specifies that the Fusiliers arrived in 3054, consistent with the earlier sources.

==Map Gallery==
<div class="system-map-gallery"></div>

==Nearby Systems==
<!-- NOTE: This table is automatically generated by BattleTechWiki:Project_Planets/Mapping, and any edits to this section may be overwritten at any time by a bot -->
{|class="wikitable nearby-systems" style="background: #gray; text-align:center; border: 1px solid black;"
! colspan="8" | Closest 20 systems (5 within 60 light-years)<br>Distance in light years, closest systems first:
|-
| class="lessthan30" | [[New Hati]]
| class="lessthan30" | 18.3
| class="lessthan30" | [[Fletcher's Feast]]
| class="lessthan30" | 19.4
| class="lessthan30" | [[New Port_Royal|New Port Royal]]
| class="lessthan30" | 23.2
| class="lessthan30" | [[New Gascony]]
| class="lessthan30" | 27.8
|-
| class="over30" | [[Morgan's Holdfast]]
| class="over30" | 41.4
| class="over60" | [[Ulvskollen]]
| class="over60" | 86.4
| class="over60" | [[T Cephei]]
| class="over60" | 88.9
| class="over60" | [[Merowinger]]
| class="over60" | 96.7
|-
| class="over60" | [[Pegasi]]
| class="over60" | 100.0
| class="over60" | [[Valois]]
| class="over60" | 100.9
| class="over60" | [[Cooperland]]
| class="over60" | 102.3
| class="over60" | [[Fugeres]]
| class="over60" | 111.2
|-
| class="over60" | [[Bamburgh]]
| class="over60" | 112.7
| class="over60" | [[Bartrock]]
| class="over60" | 113.0
| class="over60" | [[Frankson]]
| class="over60" | 116.7
| class="over60" | [[Randis|Hope]]
| class="over60" | 117.7
|-
| class="over60" | [[Kenilworth]]
| class="over60" | 125.7
| class="over60" | [[Mackolla]]
| class="over60" | 126.3
| class="over60" | [[Carcri]]
| class="over60" | 128.6
| class="over60" | [[Arundel]]
| class="over60" | 131.9
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[Era Report: 2750]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: SLDF]]''
* ''[[Field Report: Periphery]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2]]''
* ''[[Historical: Reunification War]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[Historical Turning Points: Tortuga]]''
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers]]''
* ''[[Objectives: Periphery]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery]]''
* ''[[The Periphery, 2nd Edition (sourcebook)|The Periphery, Second Edition]]''
* ''[[Touring the Stars: Tortuga Prime]]''
{{div col end}}

[[Category:Systems|Tortuga Prime]]
[[Category: Independent Systems]]
[[Category: Tortuga Dominions Systems]]
[[Category: Word of Blake Systems]]