Cermak
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 | Apocryphal This article's subject is only mentioned in apocryphal sources, i.e. official BattleTech products which are not clearly Non-canon but do not meet the current Canon criteria either. For more information, check the Canonicity section. |
| Cermak | |
|---|---|
| System Information | |
| X:Y Coordinates | unknown[e] |
In the MechCommander: Desperate Measures computer game, Cermak featured as an abandoned secret storehouse for Star League weapons of mass destruction situated in the Periphery.
Overview
Cermak was a former Star League world located in the Deep Periphery, in what used to be Clan Smoke Jaguar-controlled space. The planet's location does not appear on any Inner Sphere starcharts made before 3060; all records mentioning Cermak were lost during the Succession Wars by design or accident, possibly to protect the site, and it was rediscovered by deciphering captured Clan databases.
Cermak was a completely desolate world. All garrison troops had long ago abandoned the planet after Cermak was devastated during the centuries of Succession Wars. Few Star League structures were left intact and most of the lostech had been removed.
In 3060, Yankee and Zulu companies of 1st Battalion of the 1st Davion Guards chased renegade Smoke Jaguar Star Colonel Marcus Kotare to Cermak after he escaped from SLDF custody. 1st Battalion managed to destroy or capture large amounts of Star League lostech during their hunt for Kotare and his fellow renegades, including Clan-tech BattleMechs and equipment, and ancient SLDF facilities.
It was eventually discovered that Kotare had found ancient SLDF weapons vaults buried deep undergound and that he sacrificed his own DropShip by removing its engines and converting them into plasma drills to unearth the vaults. Inside the vaults were numerous Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), including chemical and nuclear weapons. SLDF Intelligence believed that the sociopathic Kotare would first use the weapons against the Davion forces on-planet, then use the weapons to conquer (or destroy) other planets, possibly even Terra.
MechWarriors from Zulu Company managed to hunt down and kill Kotare and destroyed his plasma drills before he had the chance to recover and use the WMDs. A ComStar team was then sent to dispose of the WMDs.
It is not known if Cermak was abandoned again or was garrisoned/colonized after its rediscovery.
Notes
The name of Cermak for a nuclear weapons storehouse is an in-joke referring to FASA, the original creators of BattleTech. FASA was known for a witty tongue-in-cheek attitude, and one of their well-known self references occurred in their Shadowrun gaming universe where, over the course of the storyline, a nuclear device was detonated in a warehouse across the street from the real-world FASA headquarters address at 1100 W. Cermak Rd, Chicago, Illinois.