Apollo (system)

This article is about the system. For other uses, see Apollo.

Apollo
← 3135 3151
Apollo nearby systems (Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates	-129.641 : 432.458
Spectral class	G5
Recharge time	181 hours
Recharge station(s)	Zenith, Nadir (3150)
Planet(s)	1

The Apollo system is the location of a single habitable world, Apollo I, and as of 3151 was located in the Clan Hell's Horses Occupation Zone.

System Description

Apollo is located near the Bensinger and Toland systems and consists of a single small G5 class star orbited by a single habitable world.

System History

The Apollo system was colonized in 2250.

Political Affiliation

• 2250 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2571 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2596 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2750 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2764 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2765 - Rim Worlds Republic
• 2775 - Lyran Commonwealth (from September)
• 2786 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2822 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2864 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 3025 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 3030 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 3040 - Federated Commonwealth
• 3050 - Federated Commonwealth
• 3052 - Clan Jade Falcon
• 3057 - Clan Jade Falcon
• 3063 - Clan Jade Falcon
• 3067 - Clan Jade Falcon
• 3071 - Clan Ice Hellion (from September), Clan Hell's Horses (from November)
• 3075 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3079 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3081 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3085 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3135 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3145 - Clan Hell's Horses
• 3151 - Clan Hell Horse
• 3152 - Clan Hell's Horses

---

Apollo I

Apollo I
Astrophysical
System position	First
Jump Point distance	10.43
Geophysical
Surface gravity	0.99
Atmospheric pressure	Standard (Breathable)
History and Culture
Colonized	2250
Government and Infrastructure
Noble Ruler	Duke of Apollo
Political Leader	First Consul (2250–2599) President (2599–2775)
Capital	Terra Prime

Apollo I, more commonly referred to simply as Apollo, is the first and only planet in the Apollo system, and for several centuries was the capital world of the Rim Worlds Republic. Apollo has been home to a number of significant manufacturing facilities operated by companies such as Diplass Technologies as well as at least one military academy.

Planetary History

Founding

Apollo was settled on 8 September 2250 by the Theban Legion, an anti-Alliance pirate squadron led by Hector Rowe. Rowe and some five hundred followers had captured a number of JumpShips belonging to Skye Freight and Goods on Alexandria and forced them to travel to Lucianca, where Rowe and his followers captured, tortured and murdered a 350-man garrison from the 151st Altairian Fusiliers, a Terran Alliance reserve unit stationed on the world and awaiting transport home. After two weeks of kangaroo courts and brutal executions, Rowe and his followers had to abandon Lucianca when one of the captured merchant vessels escaped. Transported by the remaining Skye merchantmen—who had been given a choice between joining the Legion or dying alongside the Fusiliers—they left Lucianca in 2244 and raided various fringe worlds for food, livestock, spare parts, and women before heading into deep space. The impromptu flotilla traveled through the heart of the Dark Nebula and managed to arrive safely on the other side, discovering a small G5 star with a single habitable world orbiting it. Howe named the planet Apollo and proclaimed the founding of the Rim Worlds Republic.

Reunification War

Events on Apollo in the early 2570s became the flashpoint for the Rim Worlds Republic Civil War. The primary instigators of the conflict were the First Consul Gregory Amaris and an organization known as the Rift Republican Army, formerly an operational military formation but by this point a society similar to a veteran's association through which like-minded individuals could socialize. While the RRA hadn't previously been known to be particularly political or militant in its outlook, in 2573 members of a militant fringe of the RRA whipped the citizens of the city of Eleazor into a frenzy over taxation imposed by Amaris. The result was a riot severe enough that it saw the Eighth Amaris Dragoons deployed to disperse the rioters. While the Eighth was occupied by the rioters, several hundred people in RRA uniforms stormed the Eighth's headquarters at the Efrimal Long barracks, which was co-located alongside a high-security prison within which Amaris had imprisoned dissidents against his regime.

The RRA force quickly captured the headquarters, executing captured personnel including the regimental command staff, and the RRA commander, Colonel Janisssa DeCoe, used the Eighth's communications equipment to broadcast their own demands for foreign troops on Republic soil to be withdrawn, for the sovereignty of the Republic to be accepted, and for Amaris to cease imprisoning his political opponents. Amaris reacted in a typically brutal fashion, ordering the Fifth Amaris Fusiliers and the Republican Guards into the city to suppress the RRA forces. The Fusiliers and the Guards expected a quick victory, as both were favored units well-equipped with BattleMechs; instead, the two units faced stiff resistance from RRA personnel proficient in anti-'Mech tactics who quickly crippled a number of 'Mechs. The resulting setback drove a furious Amaris to order that the Efrimal Long site be bombarded by both artillery and air strikes, killing a third of the RRA personnel, with many more dying as they came into contact with the loyalist units encircling the site. In the wake of the battle, Amaris imposed the Universal Act of Loyalty on the Republic, forcing citizens to swear loyalty to the Amaris family and through them, the Star League.

Civil War

In 2575, Gregory Amaris issued the Manchester Directive, which outlawed the RRA. This, combined with the various high-handed tax measures and property seizures, was enough to push the Republic towards civil war. Despite the actions of the radicals at Efrimal Long in 2573, the vast majority of the RRA were ex-servicemen, and membership of the RRA was widely considered to be an honor. The declaration that the RRA was an illegal body alienated large segments of the population, and Amaris' use of troops to seize RRA members, suppress RRA groups and seize the property owned by them further inflamed the situation.

On 23 April 2575, the situation became so bad that workers at the Diplass Technologies BattleMech plant on Apollo went on strike, demanding legal reforms to protect the rights and wages of Republican workers ahead of foreigners, directly citing those technical and management staff brought into the plant from outside the Republic. Amaris' reaction was swift: declaring the strike to be the act of traitors and insurgents, he ordered the Fourth Amaris Dragoons to seize the facility immediately, yet the Fourth underestimated the strikers and their small detachment was quickly overwhelmed; worse than that, ordering the military to use force against unarmed workers played directly into the hands of the RRA, who were more than willing to enter into a conflict with Amaris. RRA workers at Diplass declared that Amaris' actions showed he had lost the moral authority to rule, claimed that the government was corrupt, and announced formation of the new Rim Provisional Government. True to past behavior, Amaris responded by ordering the military into action, dispatching Colonel Catherine Dormax and the Seventh Amaris Legionnaires to seize the plant and announcing martial law across Apollo. The Seventh Legionnaires refused to fire on the workers and instead joined the RPG, and the Eighth Amaris Fusiliers that Amaris sent in after them subsequently declared their support for the RRA and RPG as well.

With the unpleasant realization that fully half of the Rim Worlds Army forces on Apollo had sided with the RPG and with the Fourth Dragoons' loyalties unclear, Amaris felt he had no choice but to retreat to his island estate under the protection of his loyal Republican Guards. Conceding control of the capital and the spaceport to the RPG, Amaris dispatched a courier to Terra requesting support from the Star League; he would continue to issue directives and orders, though Amaris' actual direct influence and control extended little further than the waters around his estate. News of the formation of the RPG was a massive shock to the Republic; as the news rippled out from Apollo, the populations and local governments of other planets within the Republic began to split along partisan lines. Some chose to remain loyal to Amaris as First Consul, others sided with the RPG, some planets declared their independence, and some military units fractured internally with soldiers supporting different sides. That the factions would come into conflict was never in question, and by July 2575 a de facto civil war was being waged within the Republic.

Camp Cameron

When the civil war erupted, Camp Cameron, the site of a small Star League Defense Force presence on Apollo since 2573, came under siege. Rebel forces attempted to starve them out, but Major Bruce Langmuir's cadre was well stocked with supplies and their engineers were able to drill wells to pump water from the local aquifers. The stalemate continued for almost three years as each side tried to gain the upper hand. The siege was finally broken in April 2578, when RRA commandos used a heavy storm as cover to infiltrate Camp Cameron and cripple the sensor net that was a part of the SLDF security measures. The SLDF began repairs on the sensor net, but while they were working Major Langmuir was assassinated and the RRA launched another attack. Suddenly bereft of leadership and blind, the SLDF cadre was unable to resist the RRA, who overran the camp. The commander of the RRA forces, Catherine Dormax, declared the nine surviving SLDF MechWarriors—from the original forty when the siege began—as prisoners of war, but were instead executed by RRA extremists who then went on to mutilate the bodies. The massacre proved the deciding factor that prompted First Lord Ian Cameron and the SLDF Commanding General to accept that they finally had to act on the civil war, prompting the beginning of Operation MAILED FIST—the SLDF intervention in the Republic Civil War.

Operation MAILED FIST

In 2579, the SLDF assembled Task Force MAILED FIST to help secure Amaris' control over the Rim Worlds Republic. A multinational force headed by the Star League Defense Force, Task Force MAILED FIST was responsible for executing Operation MAILED FIST. The first wave of attacks focused on securing significant worlds near Apollo until a destructive raid on Alarion by the Fourth Amaris Fusiliers in retaliation prompted the SLDF to alter its initial strategy for the campaign, at which point the focus shifted to reducing Rim Worlds Army concentrations throughout the Republic and the capture of key worlds.

In late 2584 the SLDF changed tactics again; a number of major RWA units had been destroyed or captured, and the focus for the campaign shifted to capturing worlds of strategic importance, but the campaign was slowed by the greatly increased resistance offered by the RWA and local civilian populations, prompted by atrocities performed by the Draconis Auxiliary Corps when they captured Nightwish in mid-2584.

Progress for Task Force MAILED FIST continued to slow following the withdrawal of the Draconis Auxiliary Corps in 2592 by the District Warlords of the Draconis Combine in response the debauched and incoherent rule of Leonard Kurita and the Day of Rage on Barcelona that saw an enraged Archon Viola Steiner-Dinesen attack forces under her own command in response to rumors around the abduction of her son and heir, Kevin Dinesen. Missing all of the Draconis Auxiliary Corps and all of the Lyran Auxiliary Corps save for the Fourth Royal Guards, it took Task Force MAILED FIST until mid-2595 to pacify the bulk of the Rim Worlds Republic, neutralize the bulk of the Rim Worlds Army and secure the approach routes to Apollo. It would be 2596 before units from Task Force MAILED FIST actually began landing on Apollo.

General Nathan Isaacson planned the operation to secure Apollo; Isaacson took command of the naval elements of the operation, while operational command of the ground operation was passed to Archon Steiner-Dinesen, who led the landings and the assault on Terra Prime, whilst Duke Narinder Selaj, commander of the Second Marik Auxiliary Corps, was made her second in command and given responsibility for the military strike to secure the island estates within which Gregory Amaris had sheltered for the better part of twenty years.

The Archon's force made slow progress in their assault, landing on 21 March 2596, having to deal with conducting an assault in the midst of the monsoon season against the combined forces of the Seventh Amaris Legionnaires and Eighth Amaris Dragoons bolstered by well-prepared defenses that included bunker complexes and gun emplacements. The weather heavily favored the outnumbered defenders, while the various battles turned the ground outside the city into a quagmire, bogging down the SLDF units and sapping morale. The weather also prevented the SLDF from making use of aerospace forces much of the time, and it was only with the addition of those forces commanded by Duke Selaj that real progress began to be made.

Duke Selaj had managed to easily defeat the forces besieging the Amaris' estates, only to find Amaris himself to be unpleasant, hostile, and thoroughly ungrateful for his rescue; Amaris regarded Selaj as a provincial minor lordling from the Free Worlds League, despite the far greater wealth and population of the Principality of Regulus, and bitterly resented the time taken to rescue him and the poor conditions he considered himself to have lived in – conditions far more opulent than most of his citizens or the soldiers of the Task Force had endured. Despite the difficulties in dealing with Amaris, Duke Selaj was able to send his troops and liberated Amaris loyalists to join the forces outside Terra Prime.

On March 24th, the Archon initiated a plan to draw the RRA defenders out; making sure that she was highly visible, she led the Fourth Royal Guards on a sweep around the city, in the hope that she would prove a significant enough target to tempt the defenders into an attack. The plan was that when the RRA attacked, the Free Worlds, Amaris Loyalist and SLDF units nearby would arrive to reinforce the Fourth, trapping the defenders in a three-jawed trap. The Seventh Legionnaires and Eighth Fusiliers responded as hoped, moving out to attack the Archon's forces, but a communications glitch meant that the other units didn't receive the signal to spring into action, leaving the Fourth in locked combat with both rebel units.

SLDF units did eventually arrive and drove off the rebel forces, but by that point the Fourth Royal Guards had been mauled; the Archon's 'Mech was one of those destroyed in the fighting, and while the Archon survived the battle, she had suffered mortal injuries and was swiftly repatriated to Tharkad, where she died on the 28th of April.

General Isaacson wasn't entirely surprised to learn of the Archon's injuries; he perceived the Archon's behavior since the Day of Rage on Barcelona to have been reckless to the point of nihilism, and her actions had given him cause for concern. With the Archon no longer able to command the ground forces, General Isaacson took direct command of the ground forces for the remainder of the operation. Gregory Amaris remained true to his nature, demanding that Isaacson end the conflict by bombing the RPG forces into submission; Isaacson refused, and conducted a more cautious campaign, intended to reduce the loss of life on both parts as much as possible. Isaacson's strategy was proven effective, and the siege of Terra Prime finally ended on the 3rd of September when the RPG surrendered, ending the civil war.

Amaris Crisis

Apollo served as the headquarters world of the SLDF XLVII Corps prior to the "Birthday Proclamations" of 2755. While the SLDF forces complied with the order to leave the world, they took every effort to delay their departure.

Effectively abandoned by Stefan Amaris when he mounted his coup on Terra in 2766, Apollo was isolated by General Kerensky's forces when he invaded the Republic and opposition to Regent Mohammed Selim from Apollo's population grew. Wracked by dissension, the RWA garrison became divided into pro- and anti-government factions with the latter requesting Star League aid. An advance force from the SLDF established a beachhead on Apollo in the face of limited resistance, numerous Rim Worlders defected or surrendered to the Star League, and Kerensky's main assault easily secured the capital.

Apollo remained occupied by the SLDF until early 2772, leaving a bitterly divided nation sliding into civil war. A conference scheduled for 5 May 2773 on Apollo was organized by Lucien Dormax, the new head of state, and his efforts might have reconciled the main factions, but the Lyran Commonwealth ensured otherwise. The LCAF mounted an opportunistic invasion of the broken Republic in April, with the disordered government on Apollo taken completely by surprise and struggling to mount an effective defense. Eventually, in September 2775, Apollo itself fell after three months of fierce fighting.

Clan Invasion

During the Clan Invasion of Inner Sphere, Apollo was targeted by Clan Jade Falcon with keen interest during the Second Wave. This was due to its former status as capital of the old Rim World Republic, and thus its conquest would mark the beginning of rebuilding the Star League to the Falcons. The invasion began in May of 3050, when Turkina Keshik arrived with Gamma Galaxy in escort. The planet was defended by the Second Regiment of the Grave Walkers and the Apollo Militia.

Initial landings on the planet were hampered by the bad weather of the monsoon season. The Grave Walkers and Militia Troops put up a heavy resistance to the Falcon's invasion, but ultimately had to fall back to the planet's ancient fortifications. Built by Stefan Amaris himself, they were modeled after the Star League's Castle Brian fortresses. Several Stars of Elemental Battle Armor managed to overrun one of the forts by using ancient plans found in their Star League-era files of Apollo to discover secret entrances. However the second fort could not be overcome the same way and the Second Grave Walkers' resistance to the Falcon's efforts was incredibly frustrating. In response, Khans Timur Malthus and Elias Crichell ordered the 305th Assault Cluster to reconfigure their OmniMechs to fire Arrow IV Homing Missiles into the remaining fortification. Using the homing-rounds had the added benefit of keeping the Falcon's bombardment from destroying villages that were next to the Walker's position. The bombardment finally opened up a number of spots in the fort's defenses to allow Falcon 'Mechs and Elementals entry. Shortly after the Grave Walkers surrendered, ending the battle for Apollo.

Rhonda's Irregulars

In August of 3051, Rhonda's Irregulars made a deep raid into the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone to the planet Apollo. Their goal was to recover a forgotten Star League data cache in the Tinkler Forst that could reveal the location of a legendary naval base, Camelot Command, located in the Dark Nebula. The Irregulars recovered the data, defeated a Star from the Dark Wing, or Jade Solahma (Clan Jade Falcon) Cluster and then jumped into the Dark Nebula. However, the Irregulars had accidentally left behind a crate of data chips with enough info for the Falcons to reconstruct the location of the naval base. Star Colonel Damon, commander of the Dark Wing Cluster, boarded their DropShips and jumped into the Nebula to pursue the Irregulars.

Jihad

In July 3071, Clan Ice Hellion invaded Clan Jade Falcon's Occupation Zone. Apollo was invaded by elements of the Hellion's Beta Galaxy in September. Hellion's WarShip CIH Cold Hunter is damaged in course of the battle in orbit with Jade Falcon WarShips CJF Blue Talon and CJF Falcon's Nest. In November, the Ice Hellion forces were forced to withdraw from Apollo, as elements of Clan Hell's Horses forces took the planet for their Clan.

Military Deployment

2573

• Amaris Republican Guard
• Fifth Amaris Fusiliers
• Eighth Amaris Dragoons

2581

• Amaris Republican Guard (Amaris loyalists)
• Fourth Amaris Dragoons (Amaris loyalists)
• Eighth Amaris Fusiliers (Republican rebels)
• Seventh Amaris Legionnaires (Republican rebels)

2754

• Elements of the XLVII Corps (Star League) - exact units unknown at this time

2765

• Imperial Division Stefan Amaris

2786

• Third Lyran Regulars

2821

• Third Lyran Regulars

3028

• Grave Walkers

• Second Grave Walkers

3038

• Grave Walkers

• Second Grave Walkers

3040

• Grave Walkers

• Second Grave Walkers

3050

• Grave Walkers

• Second Grave Walkers

• Apollo Militia

3051

• The Dark Wing Cluster

3079

• Forty-second BattleMech Cluster

3085

• 412th Mechanized Striker

3145

• Ninety-first BattleMech Cluster

Planetary Locations

• Andrew Jackson Academy
• Apollo Military Academy: the premiere Rim Worlds Republic military academy
• Camp Cameron: located in the Rhodes province, this was the site of the SLDF contingent on Apollo prior to and during the Reunification War
• Double Fortress of Stefan Amaris: This pair of Republican-built Fortresses was patterned after the construction methods used to build the Castles Brian of the Star League. Stefan Amaris ordered their construction prior to his Amaris Coup. They survived through the centuries from the Succession Wars and well on past the later Clan Invasion.
• Eleazor: a city on Apollo subject to rioting and protests in the lead-up to the Rim Worlds Republic civil war in the twenty-sixth century
• Terra Prime: the planetary capital city
• Tinkler Forest: forest area and site of an important battle during the Clan Invasion.
  • An unnamed abandoned Star League era astrological survey station within the Tinkler Forest.

Companies and Industries

• Diplass Technologies: destroyed in 2599
• Roe Weapon Systems: discontinued in 2767
• United Mechanics, LLC

Nearby Systems

Closest 36 systems (33 within 60 light-years) Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Bensinger	12.1	Toland	13.9	New Ålborg	23.0	Here	24.0
Steelton	25.9	Wotan	27.1	Zertarum	28.3	Somerset	30.6
Treeline	32.6	Persistence	35.1	Anywhere	37.7	Derf	37.8
Lackhove	38.4	Blackstone	41.5	Butte Hold	41.6	Iron Land	43.3
Golandrinas	43.8	Oberon	44.7	Star's End	46.4	Trell	48.1
Icar	49.8	Sigurd	53.8	Last Chance	53.9	Renren	54.1
Maxie's Planet	54.3	Beta	54.3	Bone-Norman	56.2	Malibu	56.8
Butler	57.3	Erewhon	57.8	Placida	59.5	Crellacor	59.9
Götterdämmerung	60.0	Black Earth	63.9	Chateau	65.4	Cryfder	65.8

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• Era Report: 2750
• Era Report: 3052
• Era Report: 3062
• Era Report: 3145
• Field Manual: 3085
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Manual: SLDF
• Field Report: Clans
• Field Report 2765: Periphery
• First Succession War
• 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
• Jade Falcon Sourcebook
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3076
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1
• The Periphery
• Rhonda's Irregulars
• Shattered Fortress
• Technical Readout: 3039