Marduk

Marduk
← 3135
3151
Marduk 3151.svg
Marduk nearby systems
(Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates208.335 : 59.926[e]
Spectral classG8II[1][2][3]
Recharge time185 hours[2][3]
Recharge station(s)None[1][2][3]

The Marduk system was the location of at least one habitable world, Marduk IV, and as of 3151 was located within the Irurzun Prefecture in the Benjamin Military District of the Draconis Combine.[4]

System Description[edit]

Marduk is located close to the Tripoli and McComb systems and Spinward from Terra. It contains at least four planets orbiting a G8II class primary.[4][1]

System History[edit]

The Marduk system was colonized at some point prior to 2319.[5]

Political Affiliation[edit]

Marduk IV[edit]

Marduk IV
Astrophysical
System positionFourth[1][2][3]
Jump Point distance6.19[2][3]
Moons1 (Kafuffle)[2][3]
Geophysical
Surface gravity1.00[2][3]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Breathable)[2][3]
Equatorial temperature45°C (Warm-Temperate)[2][3]
Surface water60%[2][3]
Highest native lifeReptile[1][2][3]
Landmasses3 (Tiller, Aileen, Latvia)[3]
History and Culture
Population2,475,000,000 (3067),[2]
2,516,000,000 (3079)[3]
Government and Infrastructure
Noble RulerDuke of Marduk
CapitalNew Pontiac[3]
HPG ClassB[1][2][3]
HPG RepresentativePrecentor Jessie Farns (3025)[1]

Planetary History[edit]

Star League Era[edit]

Marduk has the dubious honor of being the first planet to be attacked in what would become known as the Second Hidden War, when the Eleventh Benjamin Regulars crossed the border between the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns and struck at Marduk on 9 March 2725. The Armed Forces of the Federated Suns struck back at the Combine, launching troops against Marduk and across the border into Combine space, but were quickly pushed back by the better prepared DCMS forces. The Second Hidden War would only end after the Star League Defense Force launched Operation SMOTHER, deploying five divisions of troops to separate the combatants, impose order and restore the border to its prewar state.[54][55][56][57][58][59]

Succession War Era[edit]

First Succession War[edit]

At the beginning of the First Succession War, Marduk was a major industrial world.[60] In May 2787, the Draconis Combine launched a massive invasion of the Federated Suns. The invasion was so swift and targeted communications and JumpShips so effectively that many border systems didn't have a chance to transmit warnings or alerts, leading to widespread confusion on the part of the AFFS. This led to conflicting orders being issued, including orders for the mercenary unit Tyson's Troublemakers, formerly the SLDF Twenty-third Heavy Assault Regiment, to withdraw from Marduk. While the Troublemakers were withdrawing, other AFFS units were receiving orders to hold firm on Cussar and Galtor III. All this resulted in Marduk being captured virtually without a fight.[16][61][62]

In 2818 between April and June, Marduk was liberated in the third and final major AFFS counteroffensive of the First Succession War against the Draconis Combine. Marduk was one of the last three worlds to be liberated by the Federated Suns.[19][63]

Sometime between 2818 and the First Succession War's conclusion in 2821 the Combine conquered Marduk again, perhaps with the Sixth Galedon Regulars who garrisoned the world at War's end.[20][21][22][23][64]

Second Succession War[edit]

After the devastation of the First Succession War, Marduk had lost a third of its manufacturing capability, relegating it to a minor industrial world by 2830.[65] Marduk remained behind the front lines for the entirety of the conflict, and no major battles were noted during this time.

Third Succession Wars[edit]

As can be expected in a conflict as long as the Third Succession War, there are muddled and confusing reports involving the numerous battles fought over Marduk during this period.

Between 2990 and 2995 Marduk was once again considered an "important border world," and future Coordinator Takashi Kurita fought there while still a Chu-i.[66]

In 3001 a labor strike by the textile workers of the Jasmine Jungle Barony closed the textile factories, with some workers even chaining themselves to the Weave Trees. The Duke of Marduk forced the Baron into "early retirement" to resolve the issue.[67]

The Twelfth Battle of Marduk was noted as occurring in 3014, with the Twelfth Star Guards surrendering and signing on with the Wolf's Dragoons just prior to battle over six months nonpayment by their employer.[68] This is likely a reporting error as the Dragoons were under contract with the Capellan Confederation and Anton Marik during that year.

The Seventeenth Battle of Marduk was fought in 3022 and resulted in the Federated Suns regaining the world.[69][70]

In 3024, elements of Wolf's Dragoons attacked Marduk. This led the Black Widow Company to engage elements of the Twenty-first Centauri Lancers and caused some reports to conflate this action with the 3014 one.[71][69]

The Battle of Galtor spawned many secondary attacks and raids to fix potential reinforcements for Galtor, with Marduk being one of them. In 3025, the Moroushi's Independent Assault Battalion raided Marduk during the first wave of operations. Opposing them was a single company of the Third Battlion, Dahar DMM, her two sister companies were recently destroyed in a DropShip accident.[72][73] The unit crushed the defending company, cutting Galtor of any kind of reinforcements. Three months later, the battalion was crushed in a hot drop assault by Meade's Battalion of the Thirty-third Avalon Hussars on top of the Kurita position. The Kurita Union-class DropShip Electrophore was involved in the battle.[74][75] Some reports insist it was the First New Ivaarsen Chasseurs who retook the world for the Suns.[76]

Fourth Succession War[edit]

During the early months of the Fourth Succession War, Coordinator Takashi Kurita was focused on his conflict with the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary brigade, but following pleas for help from Chancellor Maximilian Liao the DCMS planned and launched additional offensives against perceived weak spots on the Federated Suns border. The Galtor Thumb region was one such weak spot, and Marduk was invaded by the Second Amphigean Light Assault Group. The planetary militia on Marduk consisted of aging 'Mechs piloted by old pilots and a few regiments of conventional forces, which were swiftly defeated by the LAG. Despite the militia being easily beaten, an extensive guerrilla resistance campaign began on Marduk that would continue to dog the DCMS forces on the planet, even though the Combine officially considered the planet to have been annexed in early January 3029.[31]

War of 3039[edit]

Marduk was a Wave One target for the War of 3039. The attack was initially succesful, the collapse of the offensive resulted in a withdrawal by the Federated Suns, but not before looting billion of C-Bills from Victory Industries and causing crippling damage to industries. It would be more than a year before the local populace accepted Combine control of the world once again.[77][78]

Postbellum Period[edit]

In 3045 the Bounty Hunter appeared on Marduk to collect a bounty on Tai-i Rej Mori of the Sixth Benjamin Regulars, resulting in the destruction of Mori's entire company.[79]

FedCom Civil War[edit]

Marduk was a priority targeted of Duke James Sandoval unauthorized invasion of the Draconis Combine in the midst of the FedCom Civil War, Sandoval sending the green First Chisholm's Raiders to take the important BattleMech manufacturing world from the equally green Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars.[80]

Landing on the planet on 22 December 3062, the Raiders initial plan on striking the capital of New Pontiac was set aside when they realized that while the Twenty-second Benjamin defended the whole world, the sole defenders in proximity to the Victory Industries BattleMech plant was the company's own security forces, a combined arms regiment with a battalion of OmniMechs. While taking heavy losses, the Raiders secured tenuous control over sections of the Victory plant before the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars finally learned of the attack.[80]

With the Twenty-second striking out from New Pontiac, over 120 km from Victory plant, the First Chisholm's CO General Neece had sent the Twenty-third Breed Recon Regiment to delay them. The dense Tillerbee Jungle allowed the Twenty-third to stage ambush after ambush, preventing the Twenty-second Benjamin from reaching the Victory complex before the Raiders finished securing it on December 26th. While the Raiders spent the next eight days recuperating and re-equipping from weapons and 'Mechs stockpiled at the factory, the Twenty-second had pushed within twenty kilometers of the Victory factories.[80]

Splitting her forces, Neece dispatched two of her 'Mech battalions to perform an orbital drop on New Pontiac as the bait to lure the Twenty-second Benjamin out of the jungle while her infantry and armor prepared to encircle them in a pincer movement to trap and destroy the Twenty-second. Luck was with the Twenty-second, however, when animosity between the Chisholm 'Mech and Combat Vehicle elements boiled over and the First Chisholm Armor Brigade attacked before the Chisholm 'Mechs were in position, allowing the Twenty-second to escape the trap mostly intact and retreat west to a secondary base at Tauto.[80]

Infighting between the First's 'Mech and armor elements would continue to hamper the Raider's efforts to pin-down and defeat the Twenty-second Regulars, resulting in two weeks of frustrating hit-and-run battles. Finally fed-up, General Neece purged the command staff of her armored forces and on 19 January 3063 a finally coordinated attack caught two mixed battalions of the Twenty-second Regulars in the Guland River Valley, followed two days later by the surrender of another Regulars battalion after a particularly long and devastating artillery assault. With only third of the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars left, compounded by the capture of its CO Tai-sa Dirks on January 24th, the bulk of the Chisholm's Rangers pulled back to New Pontiac on the 25th, leaving a single mixed arms regiment to mop them up.[80]

The arrival of additional reinforcements finally allowed the First Chisholm's Rangers to focus their entire attention upon surviving battalion of the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars in March 3063. Cornering the DCMS unit on March 21st on the edge of the freezing Ku'ulu Glacier as they attempted to cross and reach the relative safety of the Ko Nami'i Mountains, strikes from Rangers' few remaining fighters and VTOLs could not contain them, forcing General Neece to reluctantly risk a battalion of jump capable 'Mechs. The Chisholm 'Mechs quickly caught up with the fleeing Twenty-second, half of the Regulars destroyed by the FedSun forces, the other half buried by avalanches or falling through the ice into deep water as the ice shelf weakened due to the shocks of the battle.[81][82]

The Jihad[edit]

Manufacturing on this important industrial world was largely unaffected by the Jihad, with the former Norse BattleMech Works plant located in or near New Pontiac continuing to turn out high-quality 'Mechs under the new name of Victory Industries.[3] With the devastation inflicted on Luthien Armor Works Victory Industries was one of the companies responsible for compensating for the loss in production, producing LAW-designed equipment from three different manufacturing lines established in the 3060s.[83]

However, after centuries of heavy industrial activity geological reports indicating massive metal ore depletion in the Tillerbee Jungle region attracted concern from the Combine central government. While geologists reported that the deposit should be sufficient to continue supporting production at the same level for several more decades, local manufacturers were beginning to call for additional resources to support future production efforts, possibly threatening the self-sufficiency that made Marduk such an important industrial world in the first place.[3]

Dark Age[edit]

In 3102, the First New Ivaarsen Chasseurs drove the Combine off Marduk and claimed it for the Federated Suns.[50] When the Ryuken-go retook the world four decades later, they easily triumphed over its conventional defenders but then became mired in an insurgency by Marduk's populace.[84]

Military Deployment[edit]

2764[edit]

2765[edit]

2786[edit]

  • First Avalon Hussars[88]
  • Thirty-seventh Robinson Chevaliers[89]

2787[edit]

2821[edit]

3028[edit]

3040[edit]

3050[edit]

  • Sixth Benjamin Regulars[92]

3054[edit]

3059[edit]

  • Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars[94]

3145[edit]

Geography[edit]

Marduk has three continents named Tiller, Aileen, and Latvia.[3]

Planetary Locations[edit]

Companies and Industries[edit]

Local Flora and Fauna[edit]

Notes[edit]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 40 systems (38 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Tripoli 11.2 McComb 14.2 Deshler 16.0 Galtor 19.4
Paris 20.7 Royal 21.0 Harpster 23.0 Breed 24.0
Lima 28.0 New Mendham 29.2 Donenac 30.0 Wapakoneta 31.4
New Ivaarsen 31.4 Dobson 33.9 Cussar 35.8 Marlowe's Rift 38.4
Reisling's Planet 38.6 Arlington 40.0 Le Blanc 41.6 Irurzun 43.2
Klathan 43.6 Scheat 43.7 Matar 46.4 Crossing 46.7
Ballentine 47.6 Hildaman 48.5 Ludwig 49.3 New Aberdeen 51.9
Doneval 52.1 Lucerne 53.1 Gandy's Luck 53.4 Benet 54.6
Harrow's Sun 54.7 Westfield 55.0 Proserpina 56.3 Xhosa 57.0
Bergman's Planet 59.6 Rochester 59.8 Hoff 60.5 Ljugarn 61.4

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 198 (PDF p. 200): "Brief Atlas" – Marduk entry
  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 FedCom Civil War, p. 203: "Marduk Planet Profile"
  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 3.19 Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 21: "Marduk"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Shattered Fortress, p. 103: "Inner Sphere Map - [3151]"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18: "Draconis Combine Founding" - [2319] Map
  6. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 48: "Federated Suns after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  7. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31: "Draconis Combine after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  8. ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 159: "Inner Sphere - [2596]" Map
  9. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 37: "Inner Sphere - [2750] Map"
  10. ↑ Field Manual: SLDF, p. xi: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  11. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [2765] Map"
  12. ↑ Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 29: "Federated Suns Armed Forces Deployment Map - [2765]"
  13. ↑ Field Report 2765: DCMS, p. 25: "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [2765]"
  14. ↑ First Succession War, p. 24: "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 54: "The Dragon Strikes"
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 First Succession War, p. 38: "The Dragon's Reckoning: The Combine-Suns Front"
  17. ↑ First Succession War, p. 44: "Draconis Combine-Federated Suns Front 2786-2796"
  18. ↑ First Succession War, p. 95: "Federated Suns Counteroffensives 2801–2818"
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 First Succession War, p. 98: "The Davion Counter-Offensives"
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Handbook: House Kurita, p. 43: "Draconis Combine after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Handbook: House Davion, p. 54: "Federated Suns after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 122: "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 First Succession War, p. 112: "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  24. ↑ Second Succession War, pp. 18–19: "Inner Sphere - 2830"
  25. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 53: "Draconis Combine after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  26. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 60: "Federated Suns after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  27. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), foldout: "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  28. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64: "Draconis Combine after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  29. ↑ House Davion (The Federated Suns), foldout: "Federated Suns - [3025] Map"
  30. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 70: "Federated Suns after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 80: "Other Actions"
  32. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 66: "Draconis Combine after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  33. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 71: "Federated Suns after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  34. ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 133: "Inner Sphere - [3040] Map"
  35. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 76: "Federated Suns after War of 3039 Map"
  36. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 68: "Draconis Combine after War of 3039 - [3040] Map"
  37. ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [3050] Map"
  38. ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 23: "Inner Sphere - [3052] Map"
  39. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 11: Inner Sphere - [3057] Map
  40. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 78: "Federated Suns after Operation Guerrero - [3058] Map"
  41. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 29: Inner Sphere - [3063] Map
  42. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 74: "Draconis Combine after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  43. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 82: "Federated Suns after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  44. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 42: "Inner Sphere - [October 3067] Map"
  45. ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65: "Inner Sphere - [3075] Map"
  46. ↑ Field Report: DCMS, p. 21: "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  47. ↑ Field Report: AFFS, p. 21: "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  48. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63: "Inner Sphere - [3081] Map"
  49. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Technical Readout: Dark Age, p. 106: "Major Sean Howard"
  51. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [3135] Map"
  52. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 39: "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
  53. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  54. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 18: "A Plague on Both Your Houses: The War of Davion Succession (Second Hidden War)"
  55. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 29: "Succession War"
  56. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 42: "First Galedon Regulars"
  57. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 42: "Fourth Sword of Light"
  58. ↑ ER2750p46>Era Report: 2750, p. 46: "First Avalon Hussars"
  59. ↑ The Star League, p. 63: "Second Hidden War"
  60. ↑ First Succession War, p. 165: "Major Factory Worlds Table (2786)"
  61. ↑ First Succession War, p. 38: "Barlow's Folly"
  62. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 54: "The Dragon Strikes"
  63. ↑ First Succession War, p. 116: "Timeline of the First Succession War"
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 First Succession War, p. 137: "First Succession War Deployment Table - DCMS"
  65. ↑ Second Succession War, p. 121: "Major Factory Worlds Table (2830)"
  66. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 165: "Takashi Kurita"
  67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 101 (PDF): "Right of Appeal"
  68. ↑ Mercenary's Handbook, p. 12: "Salaries"
  69. ↑ 69.0 69.1 Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 26–27: "Dawn Patrol"
  70. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 8: "The Fight For Liberation"
  71. ↑ Wolf's Dragoons, p. 32: "The Sun and the Sword"
  72. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 12: "Things Go Wrong"
  73. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 13: "Phase One Units"
  74. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 19: Isolation
  75. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 70: Decision at Marduk
  76. ↑ Wolf's Dragoons, p. 34: "Diversion"
  77. ↑ 77.0 77.1 77.2 77.3 77.4 Historical: War of 3039, pp. 42-44: "Marduk (May-July)"
  78. ↑ 78.0 78.1 78.2 78.3 78.4 78.5 78.6 78.7 78.8 Historical: War of 3039, pp. 91-93: "Marduk (August-October)"
  79. ↑ Combat Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 94: "WSP-1A Wasp"
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 80.3 80.4 FedCom Civil War, pp. 44–46: "War Within the Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  81. ↑ FedCom Civil War, pp. 70–71: "Wave One: Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  82. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 106
  83. ↑ Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 36: "Victory Industries"
  84. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 61: "Ryuken-go"
  85. ↑ Field Manual: SLDF, p. 252: "SLDF - Federated Suns Military Command Map"
  86. ↑ Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 10: "Avalon Hussars - Regimental Status"
  87. ↑ Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 17: "Regimental Status"
  88. ↑ First Succession War, p. 134: "First Succession War Deployment Table - AFFS"
  89. ↑ First Succession War, p. 135: "First Succession War Deployment Table - AFFS"
  90. ↑ NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 80: "Other Actions"
  91. ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 138: "Deployment Table"
  92. ↑ 20 Year Update, p. 42: "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  93. ↑ Objective Raids, p. 27: "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  94. ↑ Field Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 134: "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  95. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 64: "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Table - 3145"
  96. ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 18, p. 8: "Wolverine"
  97. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 122: "Victory Industries (Formerly Norse BattleMech Works)"
  98. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 172: "Snapping Dragon"
  99. ↑ Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 26–27

Bibliography[edit]

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