Blackjack (system)

This article is about the planetary system. For other uses, see Blackjack.


Blackjack
Blackjack (system) 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates-156.905 : 364.43[e]
Spectral classG3V[1][2][3]
Recharge time184 hours[1][2][3]
Recharge station(s)None[1][2][3]
Planet(s)7[4]

The Blackjack system was home to at least one habitable world, Blackjack III, and as of June 3152 was located in the Alyina Mercantile League[5]

System Description[edit]

Blackjack was located near the Goat Path and Hot Springs systems[6][7] and consists of a class G3V primary orbited by at least three planets.[1][2][3]

System History[edit]

Blackjack was settled during or shortly before the Age of War.[8][9]

Political Affiliation[edit]


Blackjack III[edit]

Blackjack III
Blackjack Flag.jpg
Astrophysical
System positionThird[1][2][3]
Jump Point distance8.53 days[1][2][3]
Moons2 (Club, Spade)[1][2][3]
Geophysical
Surface gravity0.97[1][2][3]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Breathable)[1][2][3]
Equatorial temperature49°C (Arid-Desert),[1][2][3]
45°C (Arid-Desert, 3150)[4]
Surface water31%[1][2][3]
Highest native lifeReptile[1][2][3]
Landmasses3 (Diamond, Orbule, Vada)[3]
History and Culture
Population1,076,000,000 (3067),[1]
1,105,000,000 (3076–3079),[2][3]
907,000,000 (3150)[4]
Government and Infrastructure
CapitalLott's Revenge[1][3]
HPG ClassB[1][2][3]

Blackjack III, more commonly referred to simply as Blackjack, is the third planet in the Black jack system and has two moons named Club and Spade.[1][2][3]

Planetary History[edit]

Early History[edit]

Blackjack was settled by English and French settlers from Terra. These early pioneers had come to Blackjack due to its accessible mineral wealth. Though ores were in limited qualities, heavy industry had built up on the planet. By the Second Succession War, the valuable ores had dried up and its industries were destroyed by Combine and Periphery Raiders.[1]

The planet became infamously known to being the home of the Blackjack School of Conflict, which continued to operate well into the mid-thirty-first century.

Clan Invasion[edit]

In August 3050, Clan Jade Falcon's Delta Galaxy invaded the planet in Wave Four of Operation REVIVAL. In the Trial of Possession for Blackjack, the planet's only defenders was the Blackjack School's Training Battalion led by Kommandant Dean Bristow. While fighting the Second Falcon Jaegers, the training battalion suffered 80 percent casualties. However, the Falcons were so impressed by the cadets' actions they let most of the survivors retreat from the planet, but they did take some cadets that they saw as honorable as Bondsmen. In one example, Cadet Mark Harris defeated a Clan MechWarrior in a Trial of Possession for Harris' family home and later would be seen to have been accepted into the Falcon Touman.[1]

In 3052, Clan Steel Viper was given control of the planet and shortly after razed the Blackjack School.[20]

Lyran Alliance Invasion[edit]

During Clan Jade Falcon's Incursion in the Lyran space, coalition of Lyran Alliance forces had counterattacked the Falcons' Occupation Zone. In December 3064 General Christifori led the Archer's Avengers in a Trial of Possession for Blackjack. The Lyran forces had set up their base in the ruins of the Blackjack School. In the course of the battle with the defending Eighth and Tenth Provisional Garrison Clusters the Trial of Possession had turned into a Trial of Annihilation due to events of various regiments on Twycross. In orbit above Blackjack the Lyran forces had an allied Clan Wolf in Exile's WarShip, the Aegis-class heavy cruiser CWS Black Paw, providing support for them. The Black Paw engaged in battle with a Jade Falcon WarShip, the Aegis-class CJF White Talon during conflict for Blackjack. The Black Paw also provided orbit-to-ground fire support for the Lyran troops. Six days into the conflict, General Adam Steiner arrived with reinforcements and assisted the increasingly weary Archer's Avengers. The Trial ended shortly after saKhan Samantha Clees arrived in-system and declared the Lyrans winner of the Trial.[25]

Second Falcon Incursion[edit]

Although the Lyran Alliance held the world in the late 3060s, they did little to actually improve the life of their former countrymen. The inhabitants of Blackjack maintained the Clan caste system they'd been living under for two decades, and the Alliance couldn't spare the money or manpower to rehabilitate them back into the Spheroid way of life.[2] The Falcons invaded again in late January 3069,[27] and this time the Alliance simply left the world in their hands after putting up a token fight.[2]

After retaking the planet the Jade Falcons rebuilt the Blackjack School of Combat as the Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack. On this campus the Clan maintained its traditional warrior training programs, with trueborns raised in sibkos and freeborns able to apply at age 13. Unlike other Falcon training sites, however, the Jade Falcon School of Combat on Blackjack also had a militia training facility. This was a much shorter program and trained its students to guard worlds and resources that didn't warrant frontline or second-line troops from the Falcon touman. The militia program's focus was on driving off raiding forces and operating in search-and-rescue operations.[2]

Dark Age[edit]

In April 3147, a pirate gang attacked the School of Conflict and was met by a defending force comprised mostly of sibko cadets piloting Howlers. To the mixed pride and chagrin of their instructor, an avowed opponent of Malvina Hazen's Mongol Doctrine, the cadets successfully drove off the pirates using aggressive Mongol tactics, though incurring heavy equipment losses in the process.[35]

Military Deployment[edit]

3038[edit]

3050[edit]

  • Blackjack Training Battalion[37]

Geography[edit]

Blackjack has three continents named Diamond, Orbule, and Vada.[3]

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Blackjack School of Conflict: House Steiner Military academy, which was unique due to being the Commonwealth's only privately owned military school. The school was notorious for its courses shadier classes in less professional military skills. The School was razed in 3052 by Clan Steel Viper.[20] The School was subsequently rebuilt as the Jade Falcon School of Combat during the Jihad.
  • Lott's Revenge: the planetary capital city, located on Diamond.[3]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 32 systems (30 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Goat Path 11.2 Hot Springs 14.1 Malibu 17.7 Beta 20.0
Kookens Pleasure Pit 20.4 Waldorff 25.7 Roadside 28.5 Alyina 32.2
Butler 32.6 Pasig 32.9 Blue Hole 33.7 Golandrinas 36.0
Biegga 37.4 Black Earth 37.5 Derf 39.9 Wotan 46.4
Kikuyu 46.8 Denizli 47.1 Apolakkia 47.1 Mkuranga 47.2
Renren 47.3 Chahar 47.9 Parakoila 48.3 Trell 48.5
Twycross 48.6 Manx 53.7 Clermont 54.4 Devin 55.4
Mogyorod 58.5 Babaeski 59.8 Treeline 60.9 Somerset 61.3

References[edit]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 Handbook: House Steiner, pp. 80–81: "Blackjack Planet Profile"
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 134: "Clan Jade Falcon Key Worlds"
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Objectives: The Clans, p. 14: "Blackjack"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tamar Rising, p. 102
  5. 5.0 5.1 Tamar Rising, p. 72
  6. 6.0 6.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 39
  7. 7.0 7.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - 3145"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Handbook: House Steiner, p. 13
  9. 9.0 9.1 Handbook: House Steiner, p. 25
  10. Historical: Reunification War, p. 158
  11. Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 25
  12. Era Report: 2750, p. 36
  13. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 10
  14. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 36
  15. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 40
  16. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 47
  17. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 56
  18. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 59
  19. Historical: War of 3039, p. 132
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 41: Blackjack - Trial of Possession ends in defeat for Blackjack school students & school gets destroyed later
  21. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 61
  22. Era Report: 3052, p. 23
  23. Era Report: 3062, p. 11
  24. Era Report: 3062, p. 29
  25. 25.0 25.1 FedCom Civil War, p. 118: "Blackjack"
  26. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 70
  27. 27.0 27.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 46: "The Jihad in Review"
  28. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65
  29. Field Report: LAAF, p. 19
  30. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63
  31. Field Manual: 3085, p. 127
  32. Era Report: 3145, p. 11
  33. Shattered Fortress, p. 102
  34. Tamar Rising, poster map
  35. Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 8, p. 4
  36. Historical: War of 3039, p. 138: "Deployment Table"
  37. 20 Year Update, p. 24: "Federated Commonwealth Deployment Table"
  38. Objective Raids, p. 58: "Unit Note"
  39. Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 166: "Warden Clans Deployment Table"
  40. Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 68: Mercenary Employment Table

Bibliography[edit]