Andiron

Andiron (Helbrent)
← 3135 3151
Andiron (Helbrent) nearby systems (Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates	−424.484 : −47.393

The Andiron system—also known at various points in time as the Helbrent system—is the location of at least one habitable world, also known as Andiron, and (as of 3145) was an independent system in the Periphery near the border between the Free Worlds League, Lyran Commonwealth and Marian Hegemony. The system is approximately 427 light-years anti-spinward of Terra.

System Description

The Andiron system is located near the Diedre's Den and Son Hoa systems. As of circa 3067, Andiron was described as a "breadbasket" world.

System History

Originally appearing on maps as the Helbrent system, the system was colonized at some point prior to the end of the Age of War and formed a part of the Timbuktu Province of the Rim Worlds Republic. At the height of the Star League era the Helbrent system was a part of the new Erdvynn Province of the Republic, but was conquered by the Lyran Commonwealth during the 2773-2775 Republic-Commonwealth War.

The Helbrent system vanished from maps during the Second Succession War, indicating that the system had been depopulated, abandoned, or rendered too insignificant for Inner Sphere nations to continue reporting its location. The system subsequently reappeared on maps during the Third Succession War, but had been renamed the Andiron system, and appeared as a part of the Bandit Kingdom known as the Circinus Federation.

Political Affiliation

• 2341 - No record
• 2571 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2596 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2750 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2764 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2765 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2767 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2775 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2822 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2864 - No record
• 3025 - Circinus Federation
• 3030 - Circinus Federation
• 3040 - Circinus Federation
• 3050 - Circinus Federation
• 3052 - Circinus Federation
• 3057 - Circinus Federation
• 3058 - Circinus Federation
• 3059 - Circinus Federation
• 3063 - Circinus Federation
• 3067 - Circinus Federation
• 3075 - Circinus Federation
• 3079 - Circinus Federation
• 3081 - Independent World
• 3085 - Independent World
• 3135 - Independent World
• 3145 - Independent World

Andiron

Andiron

Planetary History

The Reunification War

By 2582 the Rim Worlds Republic had been in a state of civil war for six years. Located on Helbrent were the Sixth Amaris Legionnaires, a formation that had remained loyal to First Consul Gregory Amaris. The Star League Defense Force had initiated Operation MAILED FIST, the Star League intervention to restore Amaris to power, in mid-2581, but the SLDF plans had been forced to change after a deep raid by the Fourth Amaris Fusiliers had managed to strike the Lyran Commonwealth interior world of Alarion.

The result was the reorganization of the SLDF forces and their auxiliaries into three battlegroups, each responsible for the pacification of one of the three provinces that made up the Rim Worlds Republic. Helbrent and the Sixth Legionnaires were the first targets of the battlegroup assigned to pacifying the Timbuktu Province, and the SLDF deployed IV Corps - which actually consisted of little more than the Eleventh Royal Division at the time - to the battle for Helbrent.

Combat operations began in July 2582, and proceeded far more quickly than the Eleventh had planned for, thanks to the Sixth Legionnaires choosing to deploy their heavy armor to contest the Eleventh's landing, a poor decision that led to the Eleventh quickly defeating the bulk of the Sixth. By the end of the third day after landing the Eleventh had notionally secured Helbrent, but the Royal Division found itself faced with another problem; the Eleventh's infantry forces were six weeks away from deploying, making keeping control of Helbrent difficult until there were enough boots on the ground to exercise effectively control of the captured territory.

Civil War Era

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

According to the (apocryphal) German-only novel Blutige Jagd, Andiron as of 3067 was thought to have a population of some 200,000 people, with only one major city, Port Saul, that also holds the presidential palace and the only spaceport. There are hundreds of smaller farming settlements across the planet, including Corrington (near Port Saul) which was firebombed during local fighting in 3067.

LAAF officer Hans Grüner all but purchased Andiron as a personal fief from the Circinus Federation in 3062, and ruled it from afar through his brutish local right-hand man, Major Pavel Wolkov. Through Wolkov, Grüner surreptitiously took total control of the entire world over the next years by gradually replacing militia officers with people loyal to himself, and by getting the local Circinus Federation garrison (the mercenary unit Gray's Ghosts) transferred off-world. His total control of Port Saul and the spaceport, and the absence of an HPG on Andiron, allowed Grüner to sideline his Federation liaison officer.

As the FedCom Civil War drew to a close, Grüner fled Tharkad to Andiron on 2 April 3067 with his followers and several DropShips full of military hardware and treasures. He subsequently cached two entire battalions of BattleMechs and sought to recruit loyal academy-trained professional soldiers to man them, hoping to use this secret army in a decapitation strike against Circinus to take control of the entire Federation. However, in July 3067 a combined Kell Hounds/Clan Wolf-in-Exile force appeared at Andiron and, after initial setbacks, captured Grüner, returning him to Lyran space to stand trial. The Gray's Ghosts mercenaries resumed garrison duty on the planet in early September of 3067.

Apocryphal Content Ends

The Jihad

While the last major strongholds of the Word of Blake were being scoured by the Principality of Regulus the Lyran Commonwealth took the opportunity to launch a raid against the Blakists on Andiron, hoping to secure as many samples of advanced technology as possible. The Fourteenth Lyran Guards were assigned to the mission and began by dropping two companies of troops into a hilly region north of the main planetary spaceport. The Blakist forces attacked the Fourteenth, but could find only conventional units and infantry in the area; nevertheless, battles between the Fourteenth and the local garrison continued for two weeks before the BattleMech and fast vehicle elements of the Fourteenth struck directly at the Blakist main repair depot, which was also serving as their main staging area. The Fourteenth managed to enough equipment to equip almost two companies as well as tons of assorted supplies and parts before leaving Andiron.

The Forty-ninth Shadow Division bombarded Andiron from orbit on the 30th of November 3080. The attack - for which no reason has yet been uncovered, despite the Circinus Federation evidently being a Blakist ally during the Jihad - destroyed Andiron's capital city, spaceport and planetary water purifiers.

Military Deployment

2581

• Sixth Amaris Legionnaires (Amaris loyalists)

2765

• Sixth Republican Guards (shared with Green Stone, Choex and Althastan)

3067

• Gray's Ghosts (1 Company)

Local Flora and Fauna

• Khog

Notes

It was officially confirmed that Helbrent and Andiron were one and the same by the Catalyst Game Labs writing staff. (dead link)

Nearby Systems

Closest 24 systems (23 within 60 light-years) Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Son Hoa	11.4	Iolas	16.6	Himmels	19.8	Althastan	22.7
Madiun	26.3	Choex	30.0	Teyvareb	35.1	Shahr Kord	36.8
Green Stone	37.5	Erdvynn	39.0	Stantsiya	40.0	Khon Kaen	40.1
Circinus	40.8	Hardisey's Haven	45.4	Thadora's Land	47.3	Poulsbo	51.7
Starshine	51.8	Calvados	53.4	Sarikavak	55.7	Nightwish	56.3
Rajkot	56.4	Ilzra	56.4	Yidtall	59.2	Al Jafr	60.6

Bibliography

• Blutige Jagd (apocryphal)
• Era Report: 2750
• Era Report: 3052
• Era Report: 3062
• Era Report: 3145
• Field Manual: 3085
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Manual: SLDF
• Field Report: FWLM
• Field Report: LAAF
• Field Report 2765: LCAF
• Field Report 2765: Periphery
• Handbook: House Marik
• Handbook: House Steiner
• Handbook: Major Periphery States
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2
• Historical: Reunification War
• Historical: War of 3039
• Inner Sphere
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• Mercenaries Supplemental II
• The Periphery, First Edition
• The Periphery, 2nd Edition