Luthien

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This article is about the planet. For other uses, see Luthien (disambiguation).
Luthien
System Information
X:Y Coordinates167.621 : 250.493[e]
Spectral classG0III[1][2][3][4][5]
Recharge time181 hours[1][3][4][5]
Recharge station(s)Zenith, Nadir[1][2][3][4][5]

Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0) Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard

Political Affiliation

invalid names, e.g. too many[21][22]

Planetary Info

Luthien, as well as being the capital of the Draconis Combine, is the state's largest industrial world, with large tracts of land devoted to huge industrial complexes, the housing necessary to support those facilities, and the infrastructure required to maintain it, as evidenced by the sheer amount of ferrocrete and asphalt. Due to the massive amounts of environmental decay resulting from the industrial growth, the planet has earned the nickname 'Black Luthien'.[40]

Imperial Palace on Luthien

Imperial City has been described as the 'crown jewel' of the planet. It is the home of the Kurita family and is surrounded by gardens and forests, unmolested and serene until the Black Dragon coup in late 3067.[40]

The largest of the planet's numerous industrial complexes is located less than ten kilometers from the center of the capital city, on a series of man-made islands. Luthien Armor Works (LAW) has established its OmniMech production plant on Guthry Island and its headquarters complex, as well as LAW City is found on Tokyo Island. This facility fully covers ten square kilometers of the surface, as well as existing underground. It accounts for a significant degree of the planet's gross domestic product and provides income for millions of the planet's citizens.[40]

The continent of Aichi is devoted largely to mining, primarily in the Fukui Wastes. Buda Weapons established its headquarters and facility at this location and the continent also hosts an example of the Environmental Reclamation Program, with over 500 hectares of forest transplanted in 3059.[40]

The early history of the Combine, as well as the first Star League, is honored with numerous museums and memorials built in various locations around the planet. The largest is the Dragon's Tears Plaza, which has an army of samurai replicas depicting each warrior who died in defense of Luthien in 3052, during the Clan Invasion.[40]

Planetary History

Early History

By the early twenty-fourth century, in the absence of central control from the Terran Alliance the world of Luthien had not only survived as an independent world, but had also managed to put itself in a position to exercise control over several neighbouring worlds. When Director Shiro Kurita of the Alliance of Galedon conducted a year-long tour of worlds near the Alliance in 2309-2310, he included Luthien on his tour; he brought with him evidence purporting to show that one or more of the other small states nearby had designs on conquering Luthien, and offered to mediate between Luthien and its opponents. He also offered to protect Luthien by allowing Junction and its client worlds to join the Alliance, thereby allying itself with a stronger power.[6]

The rulers of Luthien accepted this proposal, not realising that Director Kurita had invented the evidence and deliberately played a number of small states based around the worlds of Benjamin, Dieron, Junction, Pesht and Worrell against each other, dramatically expanding the Alliance's size.[6]

Star League Era

Coordinator Sanethia Kurita selected Luthien as an industrial site in 2619. It became the Draconis Combine's largest industrial world within 200 years of that decision.[40]

With the rise of Luthien, as the capital of the Draconis Combine and an industrial powerhouse, the Star League Defense Force positioned a sizable garrison on world.[41]

The Succession Wars

First Succession War

In March 2787 the Lyran Commonwealth launched a couple of daring raids against the Draconis Combine, one of which was aimed at Luthien. Escorted by the Potemkin-class cruiser LCS Nightwind, the elite Tamar Tigers regiment mounted a daring deep-penetration raid against the Combine capital. The raid involved making a series of challenging jumps before emerging at a jump point in the Luthien system, at which point the Tamar Tigers dropped onto the surface of the planet to attack and destroy a trio of factories. As the Tigers hit their targets the Nightwind attacked and destroyed Luthien's orbital shipyards,[42] having already destroyed Luthien's naval picket. The LCAF had anticipated that Luthien would be heavily defended, and as a result all twenty-five of the Nightwind's hard points were in use, giving her a full compliment of assault DropShips and fighter carriers, but the actual defending forces were minimal at best - a single Naga-class light destroyer named the Blue Lotus - and while the Blue Lotus was joined by a half-complete Narukami II-class destroyer that was under construction in the shipyards when the Nightwind arrived in the Luthien system, neither ship could halt the vengeful Lyran forces.[43]

In addition to the loss of the orbital shipyards and two WarShips, the Lyran attack destroyed a Luthien Armor Works satellite BattleMech factory near the city of Obuchi, an ammunition factory on the outskirts of Skytower City and a food processing plant in Galileo, an agro-industrial city.[43]

As a consequence of the raid and the resulting psychological damage inflicted the Combine would ensure throughout the remaining Succession Wars that at least four regiments of BattleMechs would be assigned constantly to the defense of Luthien;[42] the two defending units at the time of the attack had been the Sun Zhang Military Academy Cadre located in the Imperial City and the Third Pesht Regulars assigned to defending the main LAW factories, leaving both units half a world away from the Tigers' drop zone on the Aichi continent.[43]

In 2850 Luthien was also the site of the assassination of Yoguchi Kurita by his concubine Snow Fire. After returning from the defense of Tishomingo he came back to the planet, only to be put down in his sleep.[44]

Clan Invasion

Luthien was invaded by the Clans as a part of their invasion in 3052.[40]

As a part of the Environmental Reclamation Project, over 500 hectares of forest were transplanted to the continent of Aichi in 3059.[40]

Jihad

The HPG on Luthien stopped transmitting on the 19th of December 3067,[45] and late December the Black Dragons initiated their coup of the ruling Kurita family with an assault upon the Imperial City. By the end of the last week, the Voice of the Dragon compound had fallen and on New Year's Day 3068, so had the Imperial Palace.[46] The Word of Blake began an attack on Luthien with both black water naval and ground forces on the 1st of January 3068,[45] and later in January, the Word of Blake's 9th Division landed on-planet.[47] The Word of Blake forces promptly sparked a three-way conflict between the Blakists, Black Dragon forces and Combine loyalists.[45] The Black Dragons provided reinforcements via the 6th Benjamin Regulars in June.[48] In response to the ongoing battles on Luthien one of the first decisions made by Warlord Kiyomori Minamoto directed that New Samarkand would serve as the capital of the Draconis Combine - both administrative and military - for as long as the crisis continued on Luthien.[49]

In February 3069, additional Black Dragon support arrived with the under-strength 40th Dieron Regulars.[50] By May, the Word of Blake countered with the arrival of the 42nd Shadow Division.[51]

On the 21st of July 3072, the vengeful Xi Galaxy of Clan Nova Cat arrived on-planet.[52][53][54] On 21 August, in the Nagasaki community zone of the Crane district, a combined-arms battle occurred between Clan Nova Cat and Word of Blake forces, with the Clan withdrawing from the planet shortly thereafter.[55][52] The 3072 campaign for Luthien would see the two of the Blakist destroyers recovered from the Ruins of Gabriel and elsewhere destroyed in the system, the Baron-class WoBS Light of Hope and the Carson-class WoBS Sword of Promise.[56]

The Word of Blake's 32nd Division landed on the planet in February 3073, in order to assist the 9th and 42nd Shadow divisions in defending the Imperial City, following the departure of the Sathen's Snipers mercenary unit due to battle fatigue.[57]

In December 3074, the Alpha, Omega and Rho Galaxies of Clan Ghost Bear swept onto Luthien, intent on wiping out all Blakist forces.[58][59][60][61] Having landed on both Luthien and Pesht on the 15th of December, the Ghost Bear forces never once offered zellbrigen to any of the Word units on either world, and effectively eradicated the Word forces on both worlds by the 20th of December. Very few survivors from the Word of Blake managed to flee or become captives, and the Ghost Bear forces destroyed any DCMS forces that attempted to interfere in the Ghost Bear campaign against the Word.[62][63] The Ghost Bear assault also claimed another WarShip from the Blakists core fleet, the Vincent Mk. 39-class corvette WoBS Blade of Righteousness,[56] and in 3075 the Blakists lost another ship, the Aegis-class heavy cruiser Vision Quest, one of only three Clan-tech WarShips to have been captured by the Word of Blake during the Jihad.[64]

As suddenly as they had arrived, the Ghost Bear forces left Luthien at the end of January, leaving the DCMS to frantically redeploy forces to fortify the world; the relief units began arriving two weeks later on the 14th of February, only to find no sign of any Blakist troops in the wake of the Ghost Bear withdrawal.[63][65] The destruction of the 42nd Shadow Division on Luthien at the hands of the three galaxies of Ghost Bear troops represented the first instance of a Shadow Division being destroyed completely.[66]

Post-Jihad Era

As the Combine began to rebuild in the wake of the Jihad, the industrial sector on Luthien was the focus of reconstruction efforts; while the Luthien Armor Works facilities were all effectively a complete write-off following the destruction meted out at the hands of the Blakists, the Black Dragons and even the liberating forces, the remainder of Luthien's industry had suffered lower levels of damage. In an impressive effort, the Combine had managed to restore the bulk of the surviving industry back to full operating capability by mid 3081 with the exception of BBP Industries, and it was anticipated that even BBP Industries would be back to full working order within a few months.[67]

Planetary Locations

File:Luthien.png
Luthien World Map
  • Copper Sea
  • Diamond Sea
  • Emerald Sea
  • Obsidian Sea
  • Seiyo Sea
  • Shizuoka (continent)

Industrial Centers

Military Deployment

2764

2765

2786

2787

2821

3038

3040

  • First Sword of Light[77]
  • Seventh Sword of Light[77]
  • Otomo[77]

3054

3054

3067

  • First Genyosha[79]
  • Otomo (2 Battalions)[79]

3058

3062

3067

3069

3073

  • Sathen's Snipers[82]

3079

- In 3079 the 1st operating at 15% of full strength, with 100% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology.

Nearby Planets

Planets within 2 jumps (60 light-years)
Closest planets first:
Planet Distance (LY) Jumps 2750 3025 3030 3040 3052 3057 3062
Chatham 13.30 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Kilmarnock 13.70 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Leiston 17.29 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Avon 18.07 1 DC DC DC DC CNC CNC DC
Yumesta 25.65 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Cyrenaica 27.64 1 DC DC DC DC CNC CNC DC
Bicester 29.79 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Kagoshima 33.93 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Corsica Nueva 35.48 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Port Arthur 36.84 2 DC DC DC DC CSJ CSJ DC
Yardley 40.97 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Braunton 41.08 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Tarazed 42.00 2 DC DC DC DC CSJ CSJ DC
Omagh 42.20 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Asgard 44.41 2 DC DC DC DC CSJ CSJ DC
Shimonoseki 45.17 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Caripare 46.30 2 DC DC DC DC CNC CNC DC
Philadelphia 48.36 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Juazeiro 51.89 2 DC DC DC DC CNC CNC DC
Dyfed 55.99 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Meinacos 56.27 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Irece 58.58 2 DC DC DC DC CNC CNC DC

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jihad Turning Points: Luthien, pp. 3-4, "Luthien" (map)
  2. 2.0 2.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 181, "Luthien"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 25, "Luthien"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 11, "Luthien"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Handbook: House Kurita, p. 78, "Luthien"
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 23, "Political Manuvers"
  7. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18, "Draconis Combine - [2319] Map"
  8. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31, "Draconis Combine after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  9. Historical: Reunification War, p. 159, "Inner Sphere - [2596] Map"
  10. Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - [2750] Map"
  11. Field Manual: SLDF, "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  12. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - [2765] Map"
  13. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 25, "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
  14. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 122-123, "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
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  16. House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  17. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64, "Draconis Combine after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  18. Handbook: House Davion, p. 70, "Federated Suns after Third Succesion War - [3025] Map"
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  20. Handbook: House Davion, p. 71, "Federated Suns after Fourth Succesion War - [3030] Map"
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  22. Handbook: House Davion, p. 76, "Federated Suns after War of 3039 Map"
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  24. Era Report: 3052, p. 23, "Inner Sphere - [3052] Map"
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  26. Era Report: 3062, p. 11, Inner Sphere - [3057] Map
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  35. Field Manual: 3085, p. 127, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3085]"
  36. Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
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  70. Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 11, "Matabushi Computing Equipment"
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Bibliography