Finmark Free Republic
Sarna News
- HEXTECH Review - Wave 3 Brings More Urban Options To Your Battlefield
- Your BattleTech News Round-Up For March, 2024
- Crashing 'Mechs With Jennifer Brozek, Author Of The Rogue Academy Trilogy
- Getting The Word Out With Rem Alternis, Catalyst Community & Marketing Director
- Bad 'Mechs - Yeoman
- Read more →
| Finmark Free Republic | |
|---|---|
| State Profile | |
| Founding Year | 2779[1] |
| Dissolution year: | 2802[1] |
| Capital world: | Finmark |
| Controlled system(s): | 6 (c. 2786) |
| Official Language(s) | Greek |
| Government | |
| Head of State | First Consul |
| Military | |
Formed after the fall of the Rim Worlds Republic, the Finmark Free Republic was a rising periphery power that became another casualty of the First Succession War.
History[edit]
In 2779 Finmark established an interstellar alliance with two other systems from the former Rim Worlds Republic, founding the Finmark Free Republic. Finmark was well-placed to become the capital of a new interstellar polity; despite the damage caused by the Amaris Civil War, the Star League Defense Force invasion of the Rim Worlds Republic and the subsequent Republic-Commonwealth War, Finmark was still home to an aerospace combat academy and one of the few surviving semi-operational Republic industries. In orbit above Finmark was the Roe Weapon Systems shipyards, which were damaged but still viable.[1]
Between 2779 and 2782 Finmark created a government modeled on the early Rim Worlds system and managed to pull together a defense force comprised largely of fresh recruits and orphaned elements of the SLDF and the former Rim Worlds Army; these forces mustered a strength of almost two BattleMech regiments, a similar number of aerospace fighters, and enough armor and infantry units for each world in the Republic to have approximately two regiments of mixed armor and infantry each.[1]
Finmark's influence continued to grow, with systems as far away as Inner Surge and Port Vail receiving some form of defensive support from Finmark by the late 2780s as the government worked on rebuilding as much of the former Finmark Province as possible; the government also worked to restore the orbital shipyards above Finmark, with the shipyards nearing fully operational status by the late 2780s. Unfortunately for the nascent interstellar state - and particularly the inhabitants of Finmark - the increasing savagery of the First Succession War combined with Finmark's growing strength attracted predatory attention from the Lyran Commonwealth.[1]
With the Lyran Commonwealth reeling from the death of Archon Jennifer Steiner, the loss of huge amounts of industrial infrastructure to destructive raids and invasions and a significant shakeup of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces imposed by Archon Richard Steiner, Richard Steiner chose to respond to LIC reports on the remnants of the former Rim Worlds Republic by redeploying the bulk of his WarShips assigned to the Periphery, shoring up defenses on the borders with the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League. However, in addition to the general withdrawal of Lyran WarShips from the Periphery border, Richard also directed a squadron of corvettes to strike at Finmark, deemed the sole military threat remaining among the former unclaimed Republic worlds.[2]
Whilst General Paul Steiner advocated conquering Finmark, Richard had other plans. Operation HAIFISCHFLOSSENSUPPE - "Shark Fin Soup" - was drawn up; HAIFISCHFLOSSENSUPPE called for the capture or crippling of Finmark's jump stations and the shipyards. Rather than conquer the planet, Richard had his forces equipped with strategic nuclear weapons and issued explicit instructions that any potential strategic threats to the Commonwealth were to be neutralized with extreme prejudice should the local defenders prove too challenging. Claiming more worlds in the Periphery using ground forces was neither practical nor expedient, according to Richard's thinking, whilst the other Successor States posed more of a threat.[2]
Under the command of Kommodore Gustav Sharae, the Lyran task force, consisting of half a dozen Leopard CV-class DropShips, four Fury-class DropShips fully loaded with marines and a squadron of six corvettes, conducted Operation HAIFISCHFLOSSENSUPPE. Of the six corvettes, two were Vincent-39s, the LCS Potsdam and LCS Ulm, while the remaining four were all Makos, including the LCS Hadrian and Sharae's flagship, the LCS Constantius.[3]
The task force jumped into the Finmark system at the zenith jump point via the Dijonne system in 2792, facing only light resistance at the recharge station from a single pirate-rigged Achilles-class DropShip stationed there. Sharae then delivered an ultimatum to the Finmark government, stating that the Commonwealth was going to seize the Roe Weapon Systems shipyards in the interests of "interstellar security," and that any resistance from Finmark would be met with maximum force.[3]
The Finmark government made contact with Sharae while the task force was burning towards the planet, stating that they wished to arrange a diplomatic agreement and desired to avoid trouble with the Lyran Commonwealth; whilst unhappy with losing their single largest source of income, the Finmark government appeared to accept that they didn't have the strength to take on the LCAF. The shipyards had only been restored to working order in 2790, and while some of those under Sharae's command were suspicious that they were being led into a trap, but the task force was confident that there would be no any active WarShips to oppose their own WarShip squadrons, particularly given the intelligence reports indicating that the SLDF had already salvaged the bulk of any useful military resources from Finmark.[3]
After two days of negotiation with the Finmark government, Sharae was confident that he had negotiated the government's surrender; Sharae dictated that the shipyards be left with all bays open to confirm that there were no hidden threats, and when the task force approached the shipyards, that appeared to be the case. Sharae ordered two Furies to approach and secure the shipyards, escorted by a pair of the Leopard CVs, the Potsdam and the Ulm. While the rest of the task force maintained overwatch, intent on spotting any sign of hostile forces emerging from either the far side of the shipyards or from behind Finmark's moon, the marines boarded the shipyard without encountering any resistance - and then a nuclear weapon concealed within the shipyards was detonated.[3]
Located in the main docking bay, the nuke was viciously effective; the shipyards were nearly torn in half, bombarding the nearby Leopard CVs and WarShips with large chunks of debris. The two docked Furies and their two Leopard CV escorts were destroyed instantly, and the damage inflicted on the Potsdam caused it to spin to port, colliding with the shipyard solar array; the Ulm was left tumbling to starboard, and none of the other task force ships could contact the Ulm.[3]
Sharae ordered an immediate withdrawal from the shipyard, whilst the surviving fighter carriers quickly disgorged their aerospace fighters. As the Ulm began maneuvering and the various ships attempted to work out what happened, the task force detected both fighters and strategic nuclear weapons being launched from Finmark, whilst communications from the Potsdam indicated that the ship was out of control and suffering damage from intense internal fires. The task force was hit with at least one if not two more nuclear weapons launched from Finmark, destroying the Potsdam and Ulm completely.[3]
Sharae had his surviving ships break orbit and recover their fighters, a maneuver that took an hour; with the recovery complete, he ordered his ships to launch a nuclear orbital bombardment of Finmark. Although pleas for mercy were received from the surface, those desperate pleas stopped ten hours into the bombardment; by the following day, so much damage had been inflicted on Finmark that the ash and smoke thrown into the atmosphere was dense enough to block visibility of the burning cities from the orbiting WarShips.[3]
With the loss of Finmark, the Finmark Free Republic collapsed over the next decade.[1]
Society[edit]
The government was patterned using the early Rim Worlds Republic as a base.[1]
