Difference between revisions of "Solaris Home Defense League"
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[[Eric Gray]] who was a rising star in the [[Silver Dragons Stables]] began recruiting individual gladiators, and once they got some action and showed their potential, several stables and corporate interests signed into the alliance. | [[Eric Gray]] who was a rising star in the [[Silver Dragons Stables]] began recruiting individual gladiators, and once they got some action and showed their potential, several stables and corporate interests signed into the alliance. | ||
| − | But not everybody was on the same page. There was resistance from the Gambelli and Bertolli mob families and several yakuza groups who were seeing in Gray's victories a threat to their future plans. Even them though would end up teaming with the '''Solaris Home Defense League''' though in a way in their own terms. | + | But not everybody was on the same page. There was resistance from the '''Gambelli''' and '''Bertolli''' mob families and several yakuza groups who were seeing in Gray's victories a threat to their future plans. Even them though would end up teaming with the '''Solaris Home Defense League''' though in a way in their own terms. |
In the meantime though, with the backing of several prominent stables like the [[Silver Dragons Stables]], [[Cenotaph Stables]], [[Lynch Stables]], and the [[Black Lions Cooperative]], the '''SHDL''' began to conduct larger operations designed to push back against the Word and force the occupiers to withdraw. | In the meantime though, with the backing of several prominent stables like the [[Silver Dragons Stables]], [[Cenotaph Stables]], [[Lynch Stables]], and the [[Black Lions Cooperative]], the '''SHDL''' began to conduct larger operations designed to push back against the Word and force the occupiers to withdraw. | ||
Revision as of 08:41, 19 July 2018
The Solaris Home Defense League, sometimes known as "SHDL" was the organized movement of Solarian inhabitants (mostly the arena gladiators) that grouped together to expel the Word of Blake forces that had conquered Solaris VII.[1]
History
The genesis of the Solaris Home Defense League can be traced to the Blakists invasion.
The Blakists arrived on 10 June 3068 and their Twenty-fifth Division overpowered the Solaran defenses (no formal unit was there, and the invasion force only faced various stables, overwhelming them all). Even worse, Bromley Stables led by Thaddeus Bromley and several smaller Marik-sponsored stables sided with the invaders, believing the Word of Blake was taking the world for the Free Worlds League.
The invasion sparked off a round of riots worse than those waged between Lyran and Davion loyalists during the FedCom Civil War. The Word let the combatants fight it out unless they threatened Blakist objectives, in which case they did intervene. Violence calmed, and finally the Word moved in and seized stable compounds, corporate assets, and other key facilities.
This was the point where varying factions moved towards an alliance of convenience to oppose the occupation. This was the genesis of the Solaris Home Defense League.
Eric Gray who was a rising star in the Silver Dragons Stables began recruiting individual gladiators, and once they got some action and showed their potential, several stables and corporate interests signed into the alliance.
But not everybody was on the same page. There was resistance from the Gambelli and Bertolli mob families and several yakuza groups who were seeing in Gray's victories a threat to their future plans. Even them though would end up teaming with the Solaris Home Defense League though in a way in their own terms.
In the meantime though, with the backing of several prominent stables like the Silver Dragons Stables, Cenotaph Stables, Lynch Stables, and the Black Lions Cooperative, the SHDL began to conduct larger operations designed to push back against the Word and force the occupiers to withdraw.
The war next jumped to the media, which still thrived on the planet despite Blakist censorship of interstellar communications, the SHDL pulled the public behind them in revolt. The Solarans turned the war against the occupiers into a form of sport, broadcasting the violent clashes with the same panache as gladiatorial matches. There was also several individuals that reworked the elaborate betting and gaming system to turn a profit. The media became another war scenario. While the "free media" displayed the SDHL forces and allies as trivid heroes, their exploits plastered across entertainment screens, the Word of Blake finally counterattacked with their own propaganda. From January 3069 through March of 3071, Blakist started parading captured gladiators and popular warriors into showcase arenas and executing them through lopsided contests.
Meantime, on the trenches, the Twenty-fifth Division spread out and struck at suspected SHDL cell sites with overwhelming force. Collateral damage was high as the Blakists burned down anything they couldn't remove, salvage, or strip.
But in May 3071, the SHDL hit back with force, when they attacked Blakist strongholds in Solaris City (in that battle they counted as allies the yakuza, who secretly spread the word to citizens several days prior, hence saving the lives of countless Solarans when the assault began). Those days Solaris City became a free-fire zone as units of every stripe targeted anything not broadcasting a prearranged IFF signal. Trying to counter defeat, the Twenty-fifth withdrew from Montenegro and used their DropShips to strafe the district. As a response, the SHDL responded by seizing the under-defended International Zone where hundreds of impounded BattleMechs and equipment were discovered. Those units created secondary attack forces as every nearby MechWarrior and wannabe claimed a war machine, and so the carnage in Solaris City began anew. By June 3071, the Word of Blake forces had withdrawn from Solaris City and destroyed the planetary HPG.
Victory did not sit well one the SHDL alliance. Though they claimed victory, the alliance fractured scant days later and numerous firefights erupted as gladiators, fueled by the media's constant coverage, sought out rivals and settled grudges.
The Blakists took advantage of the fragmentation and in mid-August they returned and reclaimed the International Zone in a blitzkrieg assault. Knowing they couldn't hold the sector for long, Precentor Sariana Pryor staged artillery in the warehouse district. Under the cover of their guns and the continuing chaos, the Blakists slowly advanced through Solaris City.
The SHDL, now fragmented into five smaller alliances counterattacked and forced the Word of Blake back out of Solaris City and into the Reaches by mid-October 3071. Then a Blakist raiding force penetrated Nowhere and destroyed a key SHDL refit and construction base. Both sides were low on supplies at this point, and even the black market was not able to replenish everything. Nevertheless the SHDL kept pushing and by December 3071 the Blakist forces on Solaris withdrew, too battered to continue the fight.
Final success was even worse for the SHDL. Less than a month later, the SHDL dissolved into a collection of warring gangs divided along old factional and stable lines. With the planetary government effectively destroyed after the occupation, no unified security force existed to contain the rapidly escalating violence, which subsided only after the arrival of Lyran forces in late 3074. The Solaris Stable Association formed in February 3075, marking the beginning of the system's rebirth.[1]
Officers
There was no official leader of the SHDL, though Erik Gray was considered their spiritual leader.[1]
Tactics
Fight hard and strong. Demolish any Blakists influence they could find, mechs, media, whatever.
Composition History
Several of the Solaris Stables fully or individually joined their ranks. Their actual strength is unknown, and changed a lot during the occupation.[citation needed]
At the end of the occupation the remaining SHDL numbered roughly two regiments.[1]