Cranston

Cranston
Cranston 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates-211.47 : -336.729[e]

The Cranston system was home to at least one habitable world and as of 2750, was located in the Principality of Regulus within the Free Worlds League.[1][2]

System Description[edit]

The Cranston system is located near the Ceará and Restitution systems.[1][2]

System History[edit]

The Cranston system was colonized or absorbed by the Magistracy of Canopus at some point prior to the end of the Age of War.[3][1] Cranston vanished from maps during the Third Succession War,[4][5] indicating that the system had been abandoned or depopulated.

Political Affiliation[edit]


Cranston[edit]

Cranston

Planetary History[edit]

War between the Star League and the Magistracy of Canopus was inevitable after the Magistracy joined the other Periphery nations in rejecting the Pollux Proclamation; Cranston was an early target in the initial Star League Defense Force campaign against the Magistracy. Tasked with capturing Cranston was the Fifty-eighth Brigade, one of three brigades that made up the Star League Defense Force Twentieth Division, supported by an auxiliary regiment from the Free Worlds League Military - either the First Marik Militia or the Second Orloff Grenadiers and under the command of General Michael Martinnson.[8][43]

The Fifty-eighth Brigade was formed entirely from BattleMech regiments and all of the Fifty-eighth's AeroSpace support bar a single mixed AeroSpace company had been reassigned to support the Fifty-seventh Brigade attack on the nearby world of Restitution. The Fifty-seventh expected a hard fight despite outnumbering the First Canopian Grenadiers three-to-one; the Grenadiers gave them that hard fight, using maneuverability and speed to conduct hit-and-run attacks on the SLDF forces, fading back into the terrain after each strike. The Grenadiers were better equipped and armed than SLDF intelligence expected, having sourced equipment from arms traders in neighboring states and that combined with the lack of aerospace assets for reconnaissance and scouting, dragged out what had originally been planned to be a week-long campaign.[8]

Task force WarShips orbiting Cranston reported the arrival of a vessel at a nearby pirate point on the 9th of November; appearing near Cranston's moon, the new arrival was inside the task force picket lines and was able to avoid the task force patrol vessels and successfully launch DropShips which landed on Cranston's northern continent. Satellite imagery revealed the identity of these new arrivals - the Third Canopian Light Horse, originally expected to be on Restitution. In what would become a typical tactic for the Magistracy Armed Forces, the Third Canopian Light Horse had been used as part of a shell game, tying the Fifty-seventh Brigade up on Restitution while moving forces around for a heavy counterstrike on Cranston. While the SLDF still had the benefit of numbers, the Canopian forces now had a three-to-one advantage in the air, which they used aggressively.[8]

Martinnson redeployed his forces, tasking six regiments from the Fifty-eighth to continue to grind down the Grenadiers while the other three regiments from the Fifty-eighth and the auxiliary FWLM forces fought to prevent the Light Horse from linking up with the Grenadiers. While the SLDF campaign for Cranston was ultimately successful, the Grenadiers and the Light Horse didn't leave the planet until the 29th of November, by which time they had extensively bloodied the SLDF forces. The battle for control of the air was brutal enough that the surviving members of the Fifty-eighth Brigade's AeroSpace forces were the recipients of the first Star League Medals of Honor to be issued for the Magistracy campaign, and earned the nickname: "The Bloody Few".[8]

Although the Magistracy lost control of Cranston to the SLDF in 2577, the MAF would stage a company-level raid on Cranston at least once during 2581, one of a number of raids designed to sting the garrison forces, pulling resources away from the SLDF active combat operations to keep the garrison well-equipped.[44][45]

The Magistracy of Canopus had 13 worlds annexed by the Free Worlds League, either during the Reunification War[9] or by Star League decree in 2602,[46] and Cranston was one of these worlds. Cranston was one of a number of former Canopian worlds lost during the Succession Wars.[8][4][5]

Military Deployment[edit]

2577[edit]

2786[edit]

2821[edit]

  • Ninth Marik Militia[47]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 24 systems (22 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Restitution 10.5 Ceará 17.0 Bass 18.3 Payvand 21.5
Obrenovac 24.1 Bethonolog 31.7 Glevakha 33.3 Afarsin 33.5
Booker 33.6 Ildlandet 33.7 Ruschegg 39.5 Rohinjan 39.5
Tellman's Mistake 41.3 Eleusis 45.3 Sharqah 45.5 Saonara 46.6
Lindenmarle 47.9 Marantha 49.0 Bayindir 51.1 Ayn Tarma 51.7
Gallis 57.8 Howrah 58.1 Royal Foxx 60.6 Skvorec 60.7

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 93: "Magistracy of Canopus after Age of War [2571] and fall of the Star League [2750]"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Era Report: 2750, p. 36: "Inner Sphere - [2750] Map"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Handbook: House Marik, p. 24: "Free Worlds League after Age of War [2571]"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Handbook: House Marik, p. 38: "Free Worlds League after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 96: "Magistracy of Canopus after Third Succession War [3025] and after FedCom Civil War [3067]"
  6. Handbook: House Marik, p. 16: "Free Worlds League Founding - [2271] Map"
  7. Historical: Reunification War, p. 94: "Reunification War: Magistracy of Canopus Front Deployments (2577)"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Historical: Reunification War, pp. 97–98: "Restitution and Cranston (October-November 2577)"
  9. 9.0 9.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 158: "Inner Sphere - [2596] Map"
  10. Field Manual: SLDF, p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  11. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [2765] Map"
  12. Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 25: "Free Worlds League Military Deployment Map 2765"
  13. Field Report 2765: Periphery, p. 35: "Magistracy Armed Forces Deployment Map - [2765]"
  14. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 96: "Magistracy of Canopus - [2767] Map"
  15. First Succession War, pp. 24–25: "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
  16. Handbook: House Marik, p. 34: "Free Worlds League after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  17. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 122–123: "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  18. First Succession War, pp. 112–113: "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  19. Second Succession War, pp. 18–19: "Inner Sphere - 2830"
  20. Second Succession War, pp. 78–79: "Inner Sphere - 2864"
  21. Handbook: House Marik, p. 42: "Free Worlds League after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  22. Handbook: House Marik, p. 51: "Free Worlds League after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  23. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133: "Inner Sphere - [3040] Map"
  24. Era Report: 3052, p. 10: "Inner Sphere - [3050]" Map
  25. Era Report: 3052, p. 22: "Inner Sphere - [3052]" Map
  26. Objective Raids, p. 36: "Map of the Free Worlds League"
  27. Era Report: 3062, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [3057] Map"
  28. Handbook: House Marik, p. 54: "Free Worlds League after Operation Guerrero - [3058] Map"
  29. The Periphery, 2nd Edition, p. 112: "Magistracy of Canopus & Tortuga Dominions"
  30. Era Report: 3062, p. 29: "Inner Sphere - [3063] Map"
  31. Inner Sphere, p. 97: "Near Periphery Kingdoms"
  32. Inner Sphere, p. 61: "Free Worlds League Map"
  33. Handbook: House Marik, p. 56: "Free Worlds League after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  34. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 43: "Inner Sphere - [3067] Map"
  35. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 64: "Inner Sphere - [3075]"
  36. Field Report: FWLM, p. 17: "Free Worlds League Military Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  37. Field Report: Periphery, p. 20: "Magistracy of Canopus Region Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  38. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 62: "Inner Sphere - [3081] Map"
  39. Field Manual: 3085, p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  40. Era Report: 3145, p. 10: "Inner Sphere - [3135] Map"
  41. Era Report: 3145, p. 38: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  42. Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  43. Historical: Reunification War, p. 148: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front(Jump-Off - 2582)"
  44. 44.0 44.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 150: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (Jump-Off-2582)"
  45. Historical: Reunification War, p. 101: "Gallis, Aspropirgos, Fanardir and Borgan's Rift (January 2580-October 2581)"
  46. Historical: Reunification War, p. 161: "Good Neighbors To The Magistracy"
  47. 47.0 47.1 First Succession War, p. 138: "First Succession War Deployment Table - FWLM"

Bibliography[edit]