Solaris
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Solaris | |
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← 3135 3151 | |
System Information | |
X:Y Coordinates | -122.22:-7.07[e] |
Spectral class | K1V[1] |
Recharge time | 185 hours[1] |
Recharge station(s) | Zenith/Nadir[1] |
Planet(s) | 7+[1] |
Contents
Overview
Solaris is a system on the Lyran border to the Free Worlds League. Its planet, Solaris VII, is famous throughout the whole Inner Sphere for its BattleMech fights, which are operated there as a sport in the Solaris Games.
On the fourth planet is a large mining colony.
The Gaming World
- see also: Solaris Games
Solaris VII is known across the galaxy for its 'Mech fights. Gamblers place exorbitant amounts of money on longshot bets, and fortunes are won and lost daily. Solaris City, in particular, hosts six major arenas and numerous MechWarrior stables. Every year there is a Grand Tournament, which culminates with the naming of the year's champion (notable champions include Gray Noton and Kai Allard-Liao). However, the games were all but suspended following the breakout of inter-House hostilities within Solaris City in 3063, resulting in numerous casualties and precipitating the FedCom Civil War.
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Solaris City
The capital and beating heart of the Game World, Solaris City is the home of the movers and shakers of Solaris VII. The city, which is home to some five million people, is divided into six districts and, with the exception of the International Zone, each of those is considered property of one the five Great Houses. They are the Black Hills (Davion), Cathay (Liao), Silesia (Steiner), Montenegro (Marik), and Kobe (Kurita). Each of the districts hosts a Class Six arena, where the top twenty MechWarriors battle each year to determine the championship. Residents of the sectors are actually still considered citizens of their respective nations, so Solaris City finds itself the home of many individuals who are persona non grata in their home nations, but still wish to remain citizens. Because of this phenomenon, the residents of Solaris City are often unrepresentative of the people from their parent nation.
Solaris City is ringed by a suburb known as Xolara, which itself is surrounded by Burgton. To the northeast in Roland Fields, while Bracken Swamp is to the southwest. Many native Solarans live in these suburbs, while Rasalhagians tend to live in Xolara. Periphery natives often call the outer suburbs home.
Arenas
There are Class One through Class Five arenas scattered throughout Solaris VII, but the five Open Class (or Class Six) arenas, where the most important duels on Solaris are fought, are in Solaris City.
Boreal Reach
The Davion arena uses holographic technology, coupled with advanced environmental controls, to produce virtually any setting a person can conceive of. It takes its name from one of the more popular such settings, a polar glacier. The arctic environment provides challenging footing, while enabling MechWarriors the push their 'Mechs to the limit, thanks to the extreme cold.
The Factory
The Marik battlefield began its life as a shuttle manufacturing plant large enough to accommodate IndustrialMechs. The decrepit facility features multiple levels with elevators and ramps to move between them.
Ishiyama
The Kurita area is actually a series of tunnels dug into a man-made mountain. Stone Mountain provides a hide-and-seek style engagement. There is also electromagnetic interference from the materials that the mountain is made of, making any fight here unpredictable. The "mountain" was built in 3007 in Kobe District.[2]
The Jungle
This parcel of land was originally planned as a Buddhist monastery, but the Liao government decided to designate it as their official "arena." The battle area in this open tract is demarcated by a series of beacons. Extra beacons located inside the battlefield can be activated to shrink the area of the field down to a quarter of its full size.
Steiner Coliseum
The arena in Silesia was designed with a Roman-esque facade. The battlefield of the arena is largely featureless, utilizing walls that can be raised or lowered to provide variety.
Solaris Stables
Organizations that sponsor fighters are known as Stables and Co-Operatives. Stables are run by Stable Masters, who are responsible for these organizations. They have strong controlling interests in the games themselves, and dictate control over them. Co-Operatives are similar, but do not have Stable Masters. They instead are volunteer organizations of teams of fighters working together.
Geography
Solaris VII is the largest planet in the system and a rainy water-rich world consisting only of two continents.
Greyland, which is heavily populated, owns large lakes and wide rivers. It features a vast taiga in the north and open grassland in the south, seperated by large coniferous forests in the middle. The climate in the center of the continent, the location of Solaris City, is wet and cool. The rainy season there lasts almost all year in contrary to the temperate climate of the south coast.
Equatus, the second continent, is dry and mountainous.
History
The Early Time
Solaris VII has always been a highly industrialized world and, as such, was a natural choice for BattleMech factories and testing areas. At the time of the Star League, competing BattleMech manufacturers began to let their new models fight each other in front of highly-placed Star League representatives to encourage the purchase of the 'Mechs; the first fight took place between a Phoenix Hawk and a Sentinel in 2695. It was not long until the Events were broadcast on the planet and bets were placed on the outputs of the fightings in a serious way. Mercenaries used Solaris as a training ground and the Gunslingers and Ronin used the world as a neutral place for their bitter fighting during the First Hidden War. The popularity of the fighting grew steadily and, at the time of the Amaris Coup, Solaris was already famous for its duels, some of them shown around the Inner Sphere.
The Succession Wars
Originally a world of the Free Worlds League, the planet suffered in early throes of Succession Wars. At outbreak of fighting, Solaris turned to the Lyran Commonwealth during the First Succession War. However, Marik fleet in retaliation, bombed the planet in return with nuclear weapons.[3] In the subsequent Succession Wars Solaris also suffered severe devastation, including the near-destruction of Blue Shot Weapons in 2928.
In 3002 the LCAF struck down a major Marik offensive on Solaris. [4]
The duels on Solaris suffered from this only in the beginning because of the lack of idle MechWarriors due to the wars. Until 2800 the world had recovered from the stagnation again, mainly because the concept to build five BattleMech arenas in Solaris City, each of them representing one of the Great Houses, in which the Warriors of the Successor States should fight for the honor of their nation. Leading to the first real Solaris Championship in 2812. Since then, the championship is held every year.
Solaris Riots
Just prior to the outbreak of the FedCom Civil War in 15 August 3062, friction between Davion- & Lyran-Loyalists heated into city wide riot in streets of Solaris City. ComStar garrison forces had been transferred off the planet at command of the LAAF Archon.
The FedSuns-aligned Solaris citizens & MechWarriors formed alliances to fend off with the Archon-Princess Katrina Steiner-Davion loyal Stables. These group formed after the two factions' quasi-champions Michael Searcy & Victor Vandergriff fought in the Steiner Stadium their champion match, which spilled into the streets. The factions made an alliance between stables & cooperatives forming makeshift battalions fighting through the city. LAAF Peacekeepers, 32nd Lyran Guards,[5][6] failed to contain the fighting (with their commanding officer dead) and were consolidated with Steiner Loyalist forces. It wasn't until champions Searny & Vandgriff fought yet again in the darkened ruins of the Steiner Stadium did the initial fighting end in their mutual annihilation of each other.
Fighting between the two factions briefly ended, however the fighting would continue occasionally for several more years.[7] LAAF High Command later dispatched the 17th Arcturan Guards to reinforce the peace and also to keep the fighting from flaring up.[8]
Jihad
The Word of Blake invaded Solaris suddenly on the 16th of June 3068, taking advantage of both the chaos caused by the war between the Free Worlds League and the Skye and Bolan Provinces of the Lyran Alliance, as well as the absence of the Com Guards detachment previously assigned to Solaris but which had been recalled to take part in the disastrous Case White operation. Although the Word of Blake forces initially managed to escape being identified, the sheer number of free agents and stables on Solaris quickly led to an underground resistance movement[9] which came to be known as the "Solaris Home Defense League".
Following the occupation of Solaris the Solaris Home Defense League engaged in months of low-level resistance. This low-level resistance changed dramatically on the 3rd of May 3071, when Home Defense League forces launched a daring assault on Solaris City itself, securing the International Zone. This was just the beginning of a campaign to recapture the entire city, and the Home Defense League managed to push the defending Blakist forces out of Solaris City by the 11th of June, although not before the planetary HPG had been destroyed by the retreating Blakists.[10]
In August 3071, the Word of Blake forces launched a blitzkrieg-style assault on the International Zone, reclaiming control of the zone on the 17th. It took until the 15th of October for the Solaris Home Defense League to push the Word of Blake forces back out of the city and into the Reaches.[11][12][13] The Word of Blake forces would finally concede control of Solaris and leave the world on the 11th of December 3071.[13][14]
Post-Jihad Era
In 3079 only one company on Solaris was capable of continuing to design and build anything other than RetroTech 'Mechs; the Vining Engineering and Salvage Team. Based out of the city of Xolara on Greyland, Vining were busily recruiting experienced and skilled personnel from other firms as the Jihad drew to a close.[1]
While the bulk of the Lyran Alliance's Skye Province joined the Republic of the Sphere shortly after the signing of the Republic Formation Treaty, the Lyran government insisted on retaining Solaris within the Alliance. Despite the nearly total devastation of Solaris' military industrial base, the Lyran government was loathe to interfere with the fact that the industry rebuilding on Solaris in the wake of the Jihad focussed on supplying the arenas; the arenas were enough of a financial boon to render them the pre-eminent Lyran interest, even ahead of the military production.[15]
Planetary Garrison
3025
3025 to 3050 to 3054
3050 to 3062 to 3067
3079
- - At this point in time the 3rd Lyran Guards were deployed across Solaris and Rahne. The 3rd was at 75% of full strength, with 90% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology. The 3rd Lyran Guards preferred to avoid Solaris City and the chaos that surrounded it, instead camping and patroling on the more sparsely-populated Equatus continent.
- Planetary Militia[1]
- - The Planetary Militia was still rebuilding at this point, and was formed from a mix of surviving members of the pre-Jihad Solaran security forces and elements of the Solaris Home Defense League which formed the bulk of the resistance to the Word of Blake. The Planetary Militia had the unenviable task of patrolling and securing the badly damaged Solaris City and surrounding areas as reconstruction efforts continued.[1]
Manufacturing Centers
- Blue Shot Weapons
- Innovative Design Concepts
- Norse-Storm Technologies Incorporated
- O'Neil BattleMechs
- Omnitech Industries
- Silver Wyrm, Ltd.
- Solaris Arms
- Vining Engineering and Salvage Team[1]
Owner History
- 2596 - Free Worlds League [23]
- 2750 - Free Worlds League [24]
- 2765 - Free Worlds League [25]
- 2822 - Lyran Commonwealth
- 2864 - Lyran Commonwealth
- 3002 - Free Worlds League [26]
- 3025 - Lyran Commonwealth
- 3030 - Lyran Commonwealth
- 3040 - Federated Commonwealth
- 3052 - Federated Commonwealth
- 3057 - Lyran Alliance
- 3062 - Lyran Alliance
- 3067 - Lyran Alliance
- 3079 - Lyran Alliance[27]
- 3130 - Lyran Commonwealth [28]
Nearby Planets
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Objectives: Lyran Alliance, p. 29, "Solaris VII"
- ↑ Warrior: En Garde, p. 287 - The host of Pregame Palaver, Kevin Johnson, gives background information on Ishiyama for the Xiang/Capet fight on May 20th, 3027
- ↑ Handbook: House Steiner, p. 90, "Solaris VII"
- ↑ Historical: Brush Wars, p. 18, "Timeline Of The Antons Revolt"
- ↑ FedCom Civil War (Sourcebook), p. 183, "Deployment tables" - Unit status between 3062 & 3064
- ↑ Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 83, "32nd Lyran Guards" - Information about the unit failure to keep riots from getting out of control.
- ↑ FedCom Civil War (sourcebook), p. 21, "Brief information on fighting in Solaris in 3062".
- ↑ Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 57, "17th Arcturan Guards" - Unit arrival it taking over lead of the garrison on Solaris.
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 45, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 16, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 17, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 49, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 50, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 20, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 85, "Bolan Province"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 117, "Unit Deployment Table"
- ↑ 20 Year Update, p. 27, "Federated Commonwealth Deployment Table"
- ↑ Objective Raids, p. 19, "FedCom Deployment Table"
- ↑ ComStar (sourcebook), p. 85, "Com Guards Deployment Table"
- ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 126, "ComGuard Deployment Table"
- ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 98, "Com Guards Deployment Table"
- ↑ Field Report: LAAF, p. 12, "Lyran Guards Regimental Status"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 158, "Inner Sphere - 2596"
- ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - 2750"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 2765"
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3025 Revised p.146
- ↑ Field Report: LAAF, p. 19, "Lyran Alliance Armed Forces Deployment Map - August 3079"
- ↑ Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
Bibliography
- 20 Year Update
- ComStar (sourcebook)
- Era Report: 2750
- FedCom Civil War
- Field Manual: ComStar
- Field Manual: Lyran Alliance
- Field Manual: Updates
- Field Report: LAAF
- Handbook: House Steiner
- House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)
- Historical: Brush Wars
- Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
- Historical: Reunification War
- Illusions of Victory
- Jihad: Final Reckoning
- Jihad Hot Spots: 3076
- Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
- Mappack: Solaris VII
- Objective Raids
- Objectives: Lyran Alliance
- Solaris VII: The Game World
- Technical Readout: 3025 Revised
- Warrior: En Garde