Kentares

This article is about the planetary system. For the WarShip, see Kentares (Individual Fox-class WarShip).
Kentares IV
← 3135
3151
Kentares 3151.svg
Kentares IV nearby systems
(Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates149.4 : -13.229[e]
Spectral classF5IV[1]
Recharge time176 hours[1]
Recharge station(s)Zenith[1]

System Description[edit]

Kentares is located near the Cartago and Waycross systems.

System History[edit]

The Kentares system was part of the Draconis March of the Federated Suns. Kentares IV is known throughout the Inner Sphere as the site of the infamous Kentares Massacre.

Political Affiliation[edit]

Kentares IV[edit]

Kentares IV
KentaresFlagBW.jpg
Astrophysical
System positionFourth[1]
Jump Point distance14.94 days[1]
Moons1 (Columbia)[1]
Geophysical
Surface gravity1.0[1]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Breathable)[1]
Equatorial temperature35°C (Temperate)[1]
Surface water88%[1]
Highest native lifeInsects[1]
History and Culture
Population6,743,500 (3067)[1]
Government and Infrastructure
Noble RulerDuke of Kentares IV
HPG ClassB (3067)

Planetary History[edit]

Kentares' pleasant climate drew many colonists during the exodus from Terra. The world gave the locals almost every resource they needed and it became a primarily agrarian world.

Terran Hegemony[edit]

In 2431, the Hegemony Armed Forces launched an invasion of Kentares IV as a part of Director-General James McKenna's campaign to forcibly reintegrate colonies abandoned by the Demarcation Declaration back into the Terran Hegemony. The campaign ran for six months, as Kentares was defended by battle-hardened Federated Suns troops; it was a campaign in which the limitations of combat vehicles powered by internal combustion engines were starkly highlighted to the HAF, prompting the development of fusion-powered combat vehicles.[4]

The Federated Suns would contest the Hegemony control of Kentares, with the Fourth Avalon Hussars launching a campaign in the late 2440s to reclaim the planet. This conflict would involve the first deployment of DropShips intended to be military 'Mech transports, with the Hegemony forces deploying a number of Manatee DropShips. The appearance of the Manatees led to some initial successes for the HAF, but the Hussars learned to exploit the light armor and weapons array of the Manatee, destroying several of the DropShips along with their transported 'Mechs. Despite this, the Manatee deployment on Kentares proved the basic viability of the idea, even if heavier fighter screens would be needed.[47]

First Succession War[edit]

Kentares was one of the worlds occupied by the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery during the massive invasion of the Federated Suns that began in May 2787. Although the naval battle at Cholame fought in March and April 2790 had cost the AFFS a huge price, it bought the Federated Suns something badly needed - time. For fourteen months, the invasion forces from the Combine were unable to make significant gains, and the AFFS used that opportunity to provide whatever aid it could to those forces still fighting in systems such as Dobson, Galtor, Kentares, and New Rhodes III.[12]

By the time the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery reached Kentares in 2791 the Seventh Crucis Lancers and elements of the Second were also present to defend the planet.[48][49]

During the 2796 operations, the Davion aerospace forces were surprised by the new SL-17 Shilone fighter that were able to deliver long-range missile barrages that disrupted the Davion fighters enough to permit the Kurita DropShips to reach orbit and land their 'Mechs without any interference.[50][51]

In March 2796 one lance from the Second Crucis Lancers (three Javelins and one Wasp) ambushed kuritan forces destroying a Phoenix Hawk and damaging to more to then harass and escape the kuritans utill they were under the cover of other Davion heavy forces.[48]

In mid 2796, the surviving elements of the Seventh Crucis Lancers were waging a war of resistance against the DCMS occupation of the planet.[52] The resistance efforts on New Rhodes III waged by an insurgency headed up by the surviving elements of the Tenth Robinson Chevaliers had led to the DCMS choosing Kentares IV as a replacement supply and logistics hub for supporting their front line in the invasion of the Federated Suns.[53] The efforts of the Seventh Crucis Lancers had a deleterious effect on the DCMS supply lines, and while this wasn't a major threat to DCMS operations at the time, it raised the risk of contemplating the planned invasion of New Avalon. This led to Coordinator Minoru Kurita deploying the Sixth Sword of Light to Kentares to hunt down the resistance, with himself in command.[52]

The Sixth's landing in June was contested by insurgents, who were soon driven off by a combination of DCA aerospace fighter support, DCMS units already on Kentares and the superior martial skills of the Sixth. The greater part of the insurgents managed to escape the battle at the landing zone, leading to a month and a half of offensive operations by the Sixth in an effort to pin down and destroy the resistance. By mid-August, the surviving elements of the Seventh and the local resistance had been isolated on Bucholia, and then driven back into the Carmelite Mountain Chain, with only a small number of towns and agrocenters left free for them to draw supplies from.[52]

The Massacre[edit]
Main article: Kentares Massacre

Coordinator Minoru Kurita was on the planet when he was shot by an infantryman of the Seventh Crucis Lancers in August of 2796. When word of what had happened reached the AFFS High Command, First Prince John Davion reacted swiftly; as skilled an opponent as Minoru Kurita had been, his son, Jinjiro Kurita, was known to be a volatile, violent character, and the news of Minoru's death was met with great concern. John ordered the remaining AFFS forces on Kentares to fall back, in the hopes of denying Jinjiro a focus for his inevitable wrath. JumpShips diverted from Sonnia managed to evacuate the last AFFS forces just as Jinjiro arrived - a decision everyone came to regret, as Jinjiro responded to Minoru's death by ordering the Kentares Massacre. Sergeant Pischel was one of those who managed to escape from Kentares ahead of the massacre, only to later commit suicide when he learned of the consequences of his fateful shot.[52]

This terrible war crime, later known as the Kentares Massacre, continued for five months, during which more than 90 percent of the world's population was wiped out. It was a small compensation that, due to Jinjiro Kurita's assignment of so many regiments to the massacre and the following decline of morale in the DCMS, the Kuritan thrust into the Federated Suns collapsed.

Aftermath[edit]
The Kentares Memorial reminds of the 52 million people killed during the Kentares Massacre

The Counterattack by the Federated Suns was led by units employing Vulcan BattleMechs to flush out Combine infantry from the cities of Amishton and Davisbury. The 'Mechs inflicted extensive damage to both cities.[54][55] Finally, Kentares was liberated by the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns in 2801 during the first major AFFS counteroffensive of the First Succession War against the Draconis Combine.[15]

After AFFS forces liberated Kentares IV, and discovered that a company-sized group of survivors from the Seventh had not only managed to survive on the planet, but under the command of Captain Kieran McKinnon, had managed to launch a spate of attacks and harassing actions against the remaining DCMS troops after Jinjiro had withdrawn from Kentares in 2797. The survivors—dubbed McKinnon's Raiders—made the liberation of Kentares considerably easier, and First Prince Paul Davion used their ability to conduct long-term, long-range raiding campaigns effectively during the various AFFS counteroffensives against the DCMS for the remainder of the war.[56]

The world itself never completely recovered despite the Federated Suns' best efforts. Various factors, including the remembrance of the massacre and the looming presence of the Draconis Combine border kept people and investors away.

Second Succession War[edit]

In 2854, the Combine attacked Kentares IV again. The AFFS had turned the planet into a forward logistic base, and the Combine forces intended to capture all possible supplies, but failed to do so. As more units on both sides joined the battle, the Kuritans failed to take the planet, and were eventually forced to abandon it, repulsed by troops of Prime Marshal Peter Davion.[57] But the AFFS ignored that the battle was only a prelude to Coordinator Miyogi Kurita's Marathon Offensive, leading to the fall of planet Robinson.

Third Succession War[edit]

At some point during the Third Succession War most probably circa 3000, the 5000th Mobile Tank Support Unit served as a relief force on Kentares IV.[58]

FedCom Civil War[edit]

Some of the first clashes of the FedCom Civil War took place on Kentares IV whose duke Eric Dresari publicly denounced Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion as a despot and usurper inciting demonstrations among the people of Kentares against her rule. Therefore she ordered the 5th Donegal Guards to take control of the planet. The situation escalated and culminated in the execution of Duke Dresari and his family. The surviving family members led a guerrilla war to regain control of the world.[59]

Kentares was also a target of the DCMS reprisal attacks for the Draconis March invasion of Kurita space. On 23 January 3065, the Third Benjamin Regulars landed on the planet but the local Militia held off the Regulars until the arrival of the Tenth Lyran Guards, who were due to pass through the system, defeated the invaders.

Post-Jihad[edit]

In 3085, after the Jihad, one of Anastasius Focht's last acts, with aid from Victor Steiner-Davion, was to convince the Federated Suns to relocate his namesake academy, the Focht War College, to Kentares IV and maintain it as a multinational institution.[60]

Military Deployment[edit]

3054[edit]

3062[edit]

  • Clovis Draconis March Militia[62]

3067[edit]

3079[edit]

  • Kentares Draconis March Militia[64]

3085[edit]

  • Kentares Draconis March Militia[65]

3145[edit]

Geography[edit]

Kentares IV is a temperate and fertile world with plenty of common ores and other natural resources and almost ninety percent of the surface covered by water. But since the devastation of the First Succession War much of the planet's land area has been covered by ruined cities and factories, which were never rebuilt.

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Amishton: a city devastated during the AFFS operations to recover the planet[54][55]
  • Carinda City[67]
  • Davisbury: a city devastated during the AFFS operations to recover the planet[54][55]
  • Edgars: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[68]
  • Harwell: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[68]
  • Gould: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[69]
  • New Derry: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[69]
  • New Isaacson: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[68]
  • Winton: a city burned during the Kentares Massacre[68]

Local Flora and Fauna[edit]

Notes[edit]

Kentares IV is the setting of the MechWarrior 4: Vengeance video game.

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 48 systems (48 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Cartago 10.1 Waycross 12.6 Johnsondale 15.0 Tallassee 17.4
Olancha 19.1 Avawatz 22.5 Elbar 23.3 Logandale 23.6
Raman 25.6 Edwards 25.8 Marlette 31.7 Schedar 32.5
David 33.8 Alnadal 34.3 Clovis 34.8 Barstow 34.9
Mara 35.3 Rosamond 35.6 Goderich 36.5 Xhosa 37.0
Chota 38.2 Sonnia 38.6 Caselton 39.1 Exeter 39.4
Mallory's World 42.5 Mirach 42.8 Tawas 44.8 Sanilac 45.8
New Rhodes 47.1 Proserpina 48.3 Wroxeter 48.8 Fellanin 49.2
Beecher 50.5 Klathan 51.7 Doneval 54.0 Listowel 54.3
Ronel 54.8 Tikonov 54.8 Layover 55.2 Tedibyhr 55.9
Cholame 56.0 Rio 56.2 Klamriz 56.7 Sadalbari 57.3
Cylene 57.9 Scheat 58.3 New Florence 58.8 Tybalt 59.9

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 Handbook: House Davion, p. 99: "Kentares IV"
  2. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 18
  3. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Technical Readout: 3075, p. 174: "Merkava Mk. VIII Heavy Tank"
  5. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 48
  6. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31
  7. ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 159
  8. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 37
  9. ↑ Field Manual: SLDF, p. xi: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  10. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11
  11. ↑ Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 29
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 First Succession War, p. 43: "On the Brink"
  13. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 55: "Kentares IV" Date last planet was captured
  14. ↑ First Succession War, p. 95: "Federated Suns Counteroffensives 2801–2818"
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 First Succession War, p. 98: "The Davion Counter-Offensives"
  16. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 54
  17. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 43
  18. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 122
  19. ↑ Second Succession War, pp. 18–19: "Inner Sphere - 2830"
  20. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 60
  21. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 53
  22. ↑ House Davion (The Federated Suns), foldout: "Federated Suns - [3025] Map"
  23. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 70
  24. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), foldout: "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  25. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64
  26. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 71
  27. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 66
  28. ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 133
  29. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 76
  30. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 68
  31. ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 11
  32. ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 23
  33. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 71
  34. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 11
  35. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 78
  36. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 29
  37. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 82
  38. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 74
  39. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 42
  40. ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65
  41. ↑ Field Report: AFFS, p. 21
  42. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63
  43. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  44. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 11
  45. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 39
  46. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  47. ↑ Technical Readout: 3075, p. 190: "Manatee"
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Technical Readout: 3025 Revised, p. 16
  49. ↑ Technical Readout: 3025, p. 34: "Light 'Mechs - JVN-10N Javelin"
  50. ↑ Technical Readout: 3025 p. 142 "Shilone"
  51. ↑ Technical Readout: 3025 Revised, p. 164: "Shilone"
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 52.3 First Succession War, pp. 86–87: "Bloody Kentares"
  53. ↑ First Succession War, pp. 43–45: "Rebellion on New Rhodes"
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 54.2 Technical Readout: 3025, p. 42 "Vulcan"
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 Technical Readout: 3025, p. 42 "Vulcan"
  56. ↑ First Succession War, p. 91: "The First AFFS Counteroffensive: Beating Back the Dragon"
  57. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 58
  58. ↑ Technical Readout 3025, p. 182: "GAL-100 GALLEON LIGHT TANK"
  59. ↑ Most of this paragraph is taken from the video game MechWarrior IV: Vengeance and therefore may not be canon
  60. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. 173: "Republic of the Sphere - State of Readiness - Academies - Focht War College
  61. ↑ Objective Raids, p. 13
  62. ↑ Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 136
  63. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 140
  64. ↑ Field Report: AFFS, p. 18
  65. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. 71: "Deployment Table - 3085"
  66. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 93: "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns - Deployment Table - 3145"
  67. ↑ Swords of Light and Darkness
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 68.2 68.3 How Many Bullets Can the Dracs Have
  69. ↑ 69.0 69.1 You Can’t Imagine This
  70. ↑ The Sword and the Dagger, ch. 3

Bibliography[edit]

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