Circe

This article is about the planet. For the Invader-class JumpShip, see Circe (Invader).

Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)

Circe
← 3135 3151
Circe nearby systems (Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates	-122.574 : 1614.831
Spectral class	G2Ia
Recharge time	183 hours
Planet(s)	4

The Circe system is the location of a habitable world, Circe I, and as of 3067 was located in the Deep Periphery region known as the Clan Homeworlds.

System Description

In relation to the capital of the Clan Homeworlds, Strana Mechty, Circe is located at the coordinates -158:-164. The Circe system consists of a G2Ia class primary orbited by four worlds.

System History

Operations SABLE SUN and KLONDIKE

Before the invasion could commence, the Clans surveyed the Circe system as part of Operation: SABLE SUN. SABLE SUN began in May, 2817. Each Pentagon system received a naval reconnaissance team consisting of two JumpShips, between two and four DropShips, and a Bug-Eye-class Surveillance WarShip. The team would arrive far outside the standard system Jump points, and silently conduct scans of the system for weeks, monitoring for transmissions and intrastellar or interstellar traffic. After the initial system surveillance was completed, the DropShips embarked into the system, coasting through to prevent being noticed. Once the DropShips had glided through the system, more surveillance crews and ships arrived in-system to monitor. These crews sat in the Circe system until the Operation: KLONDIKE began in July, 2821.

The Circean system was given high priority, due to the presence of at least five potentially operational WarShip in-system. Command of the naval invasion was given to Khan Stephen McKenna of Clan Snow Raven, a former Star League Admiral. The zenith Jump point was defended by a pair of frigates docked to the recharging station, a Quixote and a Congress. McKenna attempted to capture both ships and any docked JumpShips by Jumping his squadron into the Circe system to within point-blank range of the station. McKenna's squadron consisted of the McKenna-class Battleship James McKenna and the Cameron-class Battlecruiser Admiral Gerda Cameron. The Quixote and several JumpShips quickly broke, undocking and scattering in an attempt to flee the invading WarShips, the Congress immediately opened fire. The Congress sustained crippling damage to its command and engineering decks, but managed to destroy seven DropShips and damage one of the two invading WarShips. Of the remaining JumpShips, the Quixote and three JumpShips left the system, while the rest made an intrasystem jumped to Outpost One, where they were subsequently captured.

Concurrently with operations at the system zenith Jump point, Outpost One was also assaulted in similar fashion. However, McKenna could not personally oversee both operations at once, delegating the interdiction of the second Jump point to a Black Lion-class Battlecruiser Thunderbolt and an Avatar-class Heavy Cruiser Korat. Outpost One was guarded by three aging, questionably functional WarShips, a Potemkin-class Troop Cruiser, a Sovetskii Soyuz-class Heavy Cruiser, and a McKenna-class Battleship. Without the experience of the officers at the zenith point, neither the spacefarers nor the Clan navy engaged immediately. The hesitation allowed the JumpShips and WarShips docked to Outpost One to undock, scattering much as the ships at the zenith did. While the McKenna and Sovetskii Soyuz decided to fight (and died quickly, due to disrepair), the Potemkin fled. On board the Potemkin and a trio of Outpost One's JumpShips, more than half of the Outpost's spacefarer population jumped out of the Circe system.

The final naval element in the Circean system was the naval cache. Concerned at the threat the ships there might pose, McKenna dispatched four WarShips to capture or neutralize the cache. The flotilla included a Cameron-class Battlecruiser, a Sovetskii Soyuz-class Heavy Cruiser, and a pair of destroyers, a Whirlwind-class and an Essex-class. However, the threat posed by the naval cache was nonexistent: the cache was manned by a very small population of spacefarers, who immediately attempted to flee in a pair of Vincent Mk. 39-class Corvettes. Both corvettes were apprehended before reaching safe Jump distance.

Circean refugee spacefarers would later be a focus of Clan consolidation. Some of these refugees were found and captured or killed in combat attempting to flee the Clan fleets, but others were never caught.

Circe I

Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard Circe I - more commonly known simply as Circe - has been held by, and contested by, several Clans at the same time for the majority of its history as a settled world.

Description

Circe's climate and ability to sustain life is influenced most by its orbit. The planet drifts within the habitable zone of its host star, a drift that takes centuries to complete. When Circe is most proximal to its host star, for instance a few years after Operation KLONDIKE, the planet is arid, its central latitudes all but incapable of supporting life. When Circe reaches its furthest drift, almost all of Circe's habitable land at summer solstice is covered by glaciers (eg the "temperate zones during KLONDIKE would be submerged in ice caps at Circe's next furthest aphelion, winter of 3184). The drift of the planet, its “Great Year”, spans 706 years from aphelical orbits to perihelical orbits, and back to aphelion.

Near the time of its discovery and colonization, through Operation KLONDIKE, Circe was approaching its perihelical phase. At its hottest, Circe's surface has little water outside its oceans, but there are oases and subterranean aquifers. Dust storms are common on the surface. The worst dust storms have wind speeds in excess of 200 km/h and can last for days, a dust storm-hypercane hybrid called "Hellstorms". Frequent dust storms and Hellstorms cause massive erosion and dust contamination. The high winds also unearth heavy metals, so the atmosphere becomes tainted during storms.

Circe is barely habitable, so its highest native life forms were plants. Early settlers were plagued by toxins in the soil, and the extreme heat and wind/dust storms required habitats to be resilient. The Star League-in-Exile attempted to remedy this problem by building their settlements underground. These enormous complexes were situated around aquifers for easy access to water. At perihelical orbit, the habitable latitudes of Circe are North and South of 40° above and below the equator. The arid central deserts are inhabited by a few nomads who follow Hell's Horses, but all these nomads must have environmental protection, and travel from oasis to oasis. Later Clan-made habitats built structures aboveground, but the armor of these structures give them a menacing, cyclopean feel.

By the invasion of the Clans in 2821, the planet was orbited by a debris halo, the remains of the extensive network of satellites and orbital facilities destroyed during the Pentagon Civil War. A few orbital facilities were not shot down or sabotaged, but were nonetheless abandoned by their crews.

Political History

Operation KLONDIKE

The four Clans assigned to liberate Circe during Operation: KLONDIKE were Clan Nova Cat, Clan Mongoose, Clan Snow Raven, and Clan Wolverine.

Circe I

Naval observation by Clan Snow Raven provided the Clans relative clarity in identifying opposing forces and allowed the Clans to ground unnoticed.

Because of the largely impassible equatorial desert, Northern and Southern factions on Circe had little interaction, and were relatively evenly divided; The North had six factions, the Sand Confederacy, the largest power bloc of nomads on the planet; the Empire of Hidalgo, a theocratic empire; The Kerensky Dominion, a Terran coalition that acted as peacekeepers; the Rasmussen Elite, thuggish MechWarriors who exploited the people of northwest Circe; the Tabor Voivoidate, a weak "democratic" state; and the Isle of the Eagles (or L'Isle des Aigles in Davion French), a constitutional kingdom. The South had four factions, the Emerald Kingdom, a Junfa (warlord)-centered culture based on the Capellan Confederation; the disorganized Gant Republic; the Mongrel Mob, a well-armed band dependent upon piracy and raiding; and the Brotherhood of Fianna, a chivalrous order that defended the innocent and occasionally provided service as mercenaries.

Operation KLONDIKE divided the Clan invasion into two simultaneous offensives. The Northern Hemisphere was assigned to Clans Snow Raven and Wolverine, and the Southern Hemisphere was assigned to Clans Mongoose and Nova Cat. Initially both pairs of Clans cooperated adequately. Reaction to the Clan invaders was mixed, a combination of main combat, guerrilla insurgency, even outright aid to the Clan invaders. However, a souring of relations between the Kerensky Dominion and Clan Snow Raven prevented any outcome other than unconditional surrender. The largest impediment to Operation KLONDIKE was always the weather patterns. Dust storms frequently delayed deployment and occasionally aided nomadic adversaries. In addition, Hellstorm "Marian", 10 October 2821 destroyed most of Clan Mongoose's and Clan Nova Cat's on-world ammunition and supplies, and may have prevented their redeployment to the Northern Hemisphere, or even to Dagda.

Northern Campaign

In early July, 2821, Operations in the Northern Hemisphere began with a landings on Point Alpha, an oasis proximal to the equatorial desert. Shortly after landing, Snow Raven and Wolverine forces encountered Sand Confederacy nomads using small arms sporadically. Most liberated nomads were "skeptical" of their new status. Despite wounding one Clan Snow Raven MechWarrior in hit-and-run attack, the Ravens' and Wolverines' technological advantage allowed them to overrun any Confederacy outposts. The Sand Confederacy collapsed after Clan Snow Raven liberated Dehra Dun (Dun's Camp in Free Worlder Hindi, named for the warlord who led the Sand Confederacy), taking extra caution to not cause collateral damage to the settlement or its rare, verdant valley. The Ravens then allowed free access to any Sand Confederacy nomads who pledged to follow Clan law. After liberating Dehra Dun, Clan Snow Raven relocated their base of operations on Circe.

The second phase of the liberation of Northern Circe started in mid-August. In this phase, simultaneous operations were carried out by Clan Snow Raven against the Empire of Hidalgo and Clan Wolverine against the Rasmussen Elite. Due to destroyed records, not much is known about the Wolverine campaign, save that the Elite were a chaotic band of warriors who preferred fighting duels. Therefore, the Wolverines concentrated fire to disable their adversaries. Regardless, operations against the Elite took a toll on Clan Wolverine. The Snow Ravens' campaign against the Empire of Hidalgo was similarly difficult. While the Ravens had a clear advantage, their tactical plan emphasized sparing infrastructure and civilians. The Brigada de Dios, the army of the Empire of Hidalgo, made took full advantage of the Raven predilections, using civilians and infrastructure to shield their assets. While not devastating, attrition on Raven forces mounted, that is until the Kerensky Dominion intervened on 19 August in the City of Salamanca. With the backing of the Dominion, the Empire of Hidalgo fell by late September. The subsequent Tabor Voivoidate collapsed quickly, save for the capital, Brno, where policing actions were necessary to quell strikes and protest marches.

The Snow Raven respite from attrition and heavy casualties was short-lived. On 14 October, Colonel Michael Guillory, a commanding officer among the Kerensky Dominion, sought an audience with Khan Stephen McKenna regarding treatment of Dominion soldiers, their use as cannon fodder, but also about strategy and goals of Operation KLONDIKE. The meeting turned deadly, with McKenna claiming he survived an attempt on his life. While both Clan Wolverine and Snow Raven were preparing to commence operations against the Kerensky Dominion, the death of Guillory precipitated combat in the Snow Raven capital before such plans could be implemented. The Dominion's numerical advantage, surprise, and choice of location almost broke Clan Snow Raven in their capital over the course of six hours. Ultimately, there were few casualties except for Clan Snow Raven Headquarters. Fighting continued until October 17, but the rest of the Kerensky Dominion disarmed before hearing about any fighting.

The final campaign in the Northern Hemisphere was a joint action between Clans Wolverine and Snow Raven, with the Wolverines taking the lead. Their adversary was The Isle of the Eagles. Clan Wolverine used their firepower and maneuverability, while Clan Snow Raven interdicted bridges and defensive points, and laid siege, their AeroSpace assets used for support. Snow Raven casualties among ground forces were staggering, attrition reaching the breaking point. The final large battle was fought around the city of Hamillton, where Wolverines drove Eagle ground forces into Clan Snow Raven's position on nearby Constan's Ridge. The battle killed half of the remaining Raven ground forces.

Though all combatants in the North had been neutralized, insurgency and civil unrest would continue for a while longer.

Southern Campaign

Concurrent with the landings at Point Alpha, Clans Mongoose and Nova Cat landed at Point Beta, an isolated location on the fringes of the central desert in the Southern Hemisphere. Completely unnoticed, the Cats and Mongooses realized they had surprise and initiative on their side. For their first target they chose the Emerald Kingdom. Though it is the strongest and best-equipped opponent, the Mongooses and Cats decided their combination of surprise with the Kingdom's lack of natural defense would allow them to effectively wage Blitzkrieg. If prosecuted quickly enough, they might complete their conquest before the Kingdom could mobilize. In fact, this is exactly what happened. With poor communication, the besieged Emerald Kingdom only became aware of the Clan invasion when Clan Mongoose abandoned its efforts to prevent refugees from reaching the core settlements. By this point, it was already too late. The Emerald Kingdom underestimated the invading force, thinking it was another Circean power, and attempted to redeploy to meet the Clans. But the soldiers the Emerald Kingdom attempted to redeploy were either already captured or killed. Clans Nova Cat and Mongoose took the Emerald Kingdom capital of Gei-Fu after only 4 days, losing only a few Warriors. However, it would take two weeks of martial law, followed by weeks of policing the civil unrest, leading into mid-August. By this time, the Southern Hemisphere was aware of the invaders. Without surprise and three more adversaries, Clans Mongoose and Nova Cat decided to split their forces. The two Clans would have a friendly competition to complete their objective for the right to conquer the remaining adversary, with the winner judged by the ilKhan himself.

Clan Mongoose engaged the Mongrel Mob, while Clan Nova Cat attacked the Gant Republic. The Gant Republic was a difficult military target with preparation, but did not have the cohesion of other Pentagon Powers. They also relied on natural obstacles that would have deterred most invaders, except Clan Nova Cat. Khan Phillip Drummond of the Nova Cats had lived in this region of Circe before the Second Exodus. His knowledge allowed his Clan to find paths of advance through terrain considered impassible. Starting on 3 August, and again with surprise on their side, Clan Nova Cat conquered so efficiently, Gant Republican defection began in earnest. The Gant Republic fell on 11 September 2821, when a mob turned on the government after witnessing a deserter execution in the capital, Concord. "President-for-Life" Silas Gant's body was cut down from his lynching post by Clan Nova Cat soldiers on 13 September when they entered the city. However, internecine fighting between Gant elements continued to occupy the Cats for the remainder of the year.

Fighting against the Mongrel Mob, Clan Mongoose appeared to be facing a more difficult opponent. However, the only common traits to the Mongrel Mob were their need to raid to survive and their hatred of the Brotherhood of Fianna. Neither trait promoted cohesion or coordination. Clan Mongoose discovered it had little difficulty weathering the Mob's piecemeal attacks and offensives, allowing them a string of quick victories. But the lack of cohesion was not the fatal flaw it appeared to be at the beginning of the campaign: While many countries would have collapsed, the relative autonomy of each cell of the Mongrel Mob meant Clan Mongoose had to crush each cell individually, a task that took until the end of October, 2821.

The ilKhan judged the Nova Cat and Mongoose competition a draw.

While both Clans were preparing for their final offensive against the Brotherhood of Fianna, Hellstorm "Marian" moved through the northern equatorial region of Circe, passing within kilometers of Point Beta on 14 October, and destroying much of the equipment Clans Mongoose and Nova Cat had left on planet. With their preparations on hold, soldiers at stand-down (or actively aiding in suppressing revolts), and orbital resupply paused to aid Clan Snow Raven with the hostilities with the Kerensky Dominion, the southern Clan invaders received envoys from the Brotherhood, who asked for a truce with the Clan invaders. The Brotherhood would submit to Clan rule peaceably but without disarmament. However, the Nova Cats and Mongooses refused the offer, afraid the Brotherhood would turn on them as the Kerensky Dominion turned on the Ravens. Their honor rebuffed, all three parties agreed to limited warfare to bring the conquest of the southern hemisphere to a close. Combat would stop to allow repair and medical crews access to the field, feasts were shared, and the Brotherhood celebrated their defeat with festivities and a carnival. In the aftermath of the conquest of Circe, many Clans chose former Fianna soldiers to fill out their ranks of second-line Warriors.

Wolverine Annihilation

Clan Histories claim that the Wolverine Annihilation was precipitated by a disagreement between Clan Wolverine and Clan Wolverine over the ownership of a Brian Cache on Circe. While believed by the Clans to be true history, this is false: the dispute was between the Wolverines and the Jade Falcons.

Both the Clan Wolverine capital of Great Hope (aka The City of McEvedy) and the Clan Snow Raven capital of Dehra Dun suffered nuclear destruction during the Wolverine Annihilation. Great Hope was destroyed by a warhead planted by Clan Widowmaker, while Dehra Dun was accidentally nuked by Clan Snow Raven themselves during a fierce space battle in orbit. In official Clan history, both of these events would be blamed on Clan Wolverine.

Golden Century

Mongoose-Cloud Cobra Trade

Shortly after the death of Nicholas Kerensky, Clan Mongoose stirred a brief controversy with lasting repercussions. In need of newly manufactured AeroSpace fighters, the Mongoose merchant caste approached Clan Cloud Cobra, asking to exchange land rights on Circe for two production runs of AeroSpace Fighters. The Cobras agreed, and both parties began preparing their part of the exchange: Clan Cloud Cobra began recruiting colonists and crews and calling up garrisons, while their Laborers and Technicians prepared the fighters. A Mongoose merchant ship arrived in orbit over Babylon, where they sat parked awaiting their shipment. After delivering the first production run, an electric outage prevented the Cobras from delivering the second shipment to the Mongoose vessels for an additional day.

When the belated Mongoose merchant vessels arrived back in the Circe system, they informed the Mongoose leadership of the delay. Incensed with the delayed shipment and Clan Cloud Cobra colonists already (or perhaps just looking for free AeroSpace Fighters), Clan Mongoose immediately issued a warning to Clan Cloud Cobra to remove their settlers with three days. While the Cobra leadership removed their citizens, Khan Rafe Kardaan brought the matter to the Clan Grand Council. The Council concluded that though the spirit of the trade had been fulfilled, the merchant-caste dealings must still obey Clan law; while the first shipment was delivered on time, the tardiness of the second delivery voided the contract. Therefore, the land rightfully belonged to Clan Mongoose, and the second shipment of fighters rightfully belonged to Clan Cloud Cobra. Clan Mongoose expeditiously returned the entire second shipment of fighters fully disassembled.

While the botched trade deal did not result in any lasting feuds, this among other incidents help sow the perception of Clan Mongoose as a Clan of weakness and lawyering.

Goliath Scorpion vs Mongoose

At some time during the Golden Century, Circe was the host to an unusual underwater battle between Clan Goliath Scorpion and Clan Mongoose. Star Commander Vikram, as the defender, deliberately chose a recently flooded low lying municipal area for a Trial. Hurriedly pressing a Star of Water Elemental Mining Suits armed with Mauser Rifles into service, he was able to defeat two Stars of Mongoose scuba infantry attempting to lay claim to the riches below the water.

Mongoose Absorption

In the midst of hostilities between Clans Mongoose and Star Adder, the Mongoose Khans decided to start a second series of Trials of Possession against Clan Smoke Jaguar on Atreus. However, the Trials turned badly for the Mongooses, whose Touman was stretched too thinly to protect their territory. Seeking respite again through Grand Council judgment, Khan Walter Martindale gave an impassioned speech, urging his fellow Khans to censure Clan Smoke Jaguar for targeting Clan Mongoose. However, the Khans sided with Khan Franklin Osis, and instead voted to allow Clan Smoke Jaguar to Absorb Clan Mongoose.

With only one day to prepare for Jaguar forces, Clan Mongoose assembled its Naval might above Circe with most of its AeroSpace assets. When the Jaguar Clan was ready, they Jumped into multiple systems simultaneous, their ground forces assaulting territories in the Kerensky Cluster, while the Jaguar fleet attacked Circe. The battle in the system was the largest fleet engagement in Clan history, with 30 WarShips and dozens of DropShips and AeroSpace Fighters. When the Mongoose flagship, the Du Shi Wang-class Battleship Quicksilver Mongoose, crippled the McKenna-class SJS Obsidian, it appeared the Mongooses would survive the Absorption. However, the damage to the Quicksilver Mongoose was exploited by the Lola III-class Destroyer Storm Cat, causing the flagship to lose power and atmospheric containment. Their flagship disabled, half of Clan Mongoose regrouped while the other half continued the fight. However, it was clear the battle was decided. Four Mongoose WarShips surrendered, with the remaining naval assets destroyed. Clan Smoke Jaguar, on the other hand, lost half of its fleet.

With the system in their possession, the Smoke Jaguars began an uninterrupted assault on positions on Circe. Jaguar forces met the first resistance in Concord, but the combination of Second-Line clusters and solahma units were easily brushed aside. This left the majority of the Mongoose assets, including some blue naval vessels and anti-aircraft batteries to protect Fianna and resist the Jaguars. After a week, Khan Osis ordered an orbital bombardment of the batteries near the western coast, this bombardment inadvertently killed Khan Martindale. With defenses sufficiently neutralized, the Jaguars deployed directly into Fianna.

As the Jaguars marched into Fianna toward the Mongoose capital of Tara, resistance was fierce. However, the Mongooses were outmatched and outnumbered. The final organized attempt to expel the Jaguar Absorption came from saKhan Alanah Knox, who personally led the command Keshik, and took down twice their number in Jaguars. With the Absorption over, Clan Smoke Jaguar annexed their new Circean territory and garrisoned it with the same Warriors they had just fought, taken as bondsmen.

Clan Invasion Era

In or around 3067 Clan Snow Raven gave permission for the Third Scorpion Seekers to reside temporarily within their territory on Circe as a gesture of their willingness to assist the Scorpions. The Third Scorpion Seekers were a four-Trinary Cluster at the time, and a part of the Scorpions' Chi Galaxy, a new formation intended to support the Seeker traditions.

The Snow Ravens had seen a number of clashes on Circe in the late 3060s between their Kappa Garrison Galaxy and forces from Clan Wolf. Kappa Galaxy had performed well, but the withdrawal of Alpha Galaxy to secure holdings for the Snow Raven in the Periphery of the Inner Sphere had seen the Snow Ravens steadily losing ground on Circe to the Wolves, although the lost territory was mostly gains the Snow Ravens had made after the fall of Clan Smoke Jaguar and the withdrawal of Clan Nova Cat to the Inner Sphere. The return of the Circe Battle Star to the Circe system in or around 3067 served to bolster the resolve of Kappa Galaxy.

By September 3057, Clan Snow Raven kept a genetic repository in Dehra Dun, one accumulated over time. That month, Clan Jade Falcon attacked to take the repository, the 1st Falcon Dragoons bid against the 15th Raven Garrison; the outcome is unknown.

Wars of Reaving

The Snow Raven actions in the Galedon system in the Inner Sphere were reported to the Grand Council by Clan Diamond Shark and became the subject of a Grand Council meeting on the 2nd of March 3070. The shocking casualty figure caused by the Ravens led to calls for a Trial of Absorption against the Snow Ravens by Clan Steel Viper, an action that only failed to pass a vote due to a number of abstentions and a series of votes cast against the motion by Clan Star Adder and their supporters, who had also been looking to Absorb the Snow Ravens.

The failure of the vote to pass led ilKhan Brett Andrews to call for a vote of no confidence in the Grand Council, which also failed; this in turn led to an agreement between the leaders of the Cloud Cobras, Star Adders and Steel Vipers to act together to punish the Snow Ravens for their departure from the Honor Road. The three allied Clans selected a number of Snow Raven enclaves on Bearclaw, Brim, Circe and Hellgate as targets for retaliation and bid among themselves for the right to attack the various enclaves. The Steel Vipers won the right to attack holdings across all three worlds, while the Star Adders won the right to attack holdings on Bearclaw and Circe while the Cloud Cobras won the right to attack enclaves on Brim and Hellgate.

By March 3070 the continued Trials launched against the Snow Ravens by the Cloud Cobras, Star Adders and Steel Vipers had made the Snow Raven position in the Homeworlds increasingly tenuous, and accelerated their exodus back to the Inner Sphere. SaKhan Broderick Sukhanov of the Ravens approached Clan Blood Spirit, with whom the Snow Ravens had been becoming increasingly cordial in the aftermath of Operation REVIVAL; Sukhanov informed the Blood Spirit leadership of the Ravens' decision to migrate to the Inner Sphere and bargained with the Blood Spirits to exchange a number of Snow Raven enclaves and a large number of people from the lower castes for a number of Blood Spirit JumpShips and DropShips. The Blood Spirits agreed, with the exchanges due to take place by the end of 3071.

Pleased with the potential gains from the agreement, the Blood Spirits launched a number of opportunistic attacks against Star Adder holdings, with the support of their allies within Clan Fire Mandrill, Kindraa Sainze. The gains made by the Blood Spirits and Kindraa Sainze were limited and swiftly lost to Clan Cloud Cobra, but the offensive succeeded in stalling the Star Adder campaign against the Snow Ravens, giving the Ravens a chance to regroup, whilst also boosting the position of Kindraa Sainze within the fragmented Fire Mandrills.

The Blood Spirits then supported the Fire Mandrills Fifty-third Assault Cluster against the Ice Hellions on Barcella in August 3070 before consolidating their forces in their new holdings. As a part of the agreement reached with the Ravens the Blood Spirits received several enclaves on Circe, along with hundreds of thousands of lower castemen. These holdings were swiftly contested by the Star Adders, who arrived at Circe and launched a massive planetary assault under a blanket Trial of Possession for all of the former Snow Raven enclaves, both those the Blood Spirits were holding and the two that were still defended by the Second Raven Garrison Cluster and the Seventh Raven Regulars.

Galaxy Commander Fletcher Daniels gave the Snow Ravens a three-day grace period before launching an assault on the two enclaves; trapped on Circe through a lack of DropShips, both Snow Raven Clusters were destroyed after a hard fight. The fight for Circe then became more chaotic in January 3071 when Kindra Mick-Kline-Kreese of Clan Fire Mandrill arrived and proceeded to become embroiled in the fight, ignoring the protests from Khan Karianna Schmitt of the Blood Spirits that his forces didn't need assistance from the Fire Mandrills.

SaKhan Samantha Kline of Kindraa Mick-Kline-Kreese attempted to declare a Trial of Possession for the two Snow Raven enclaves captured by the Star Adders, but Galaxy Commander Daniels refused to honor the request, claiming that the existing trail for all of the Raven enclaves in the system, past and present, was still underway. SaKhan Kline interpreted the semantics of the Trial differently and landed her forces in an attempt to seize the two enclaves, an action that the Star Adders read as a breach of the Trial. Despite profuse objections from the Blood Spirits, Daniels declared that the Trial had been broken; he then declared the forces from both the Blood Spirits and Fire Mandrills to be dezgra and removed any zellbrigen restrictions from his forces. The Star Adders attacked both the Blood Spirits and Fire Mandrills in a sudden offensive that caught both off guard, destroying almost two Galaxies of troops.

Khan Schmitt requested hegira from Daniels, but the Star Adders refused to grant it because of Daniels' declaration that the Blood Spirit and Fire Mandrills were dezgra; an intervention by the remains of the Kindra Mick-Kline-Kreese forces managed to allow a few DropShips to escape from Circe without being annihilated by the Star Adders, but at the cost of the Lola III-class destroyer CFM Rancor. Furious with the losses his Clan had taken, Schmitt rebuked saKhan Kline, and attempted to bring the actions of Daniels and the Star Adders to the attention of the Grand Council.

In 3072, the group known as the Society moved to take power within the Clan Homeworlds, and Circe was one of the first worlds targeted by them; unbeknownst to the warrior caste, Circe was a Society bastion, a world containing various sites were production and research were conducted out of sight of the warriors, utilizing nests that had been forgotten. By the end of January Circe had gone dark, with all communications with other worlds stopped.

In late 3074 Circe was the site of one of the last major battles fought by the Steel Vipers against the Society; the battle began with the Steel Viper Watch launching an operation to disable the planetary SDS before Beta and Chi Galaxies deployed on the ground. A large percentage of the planetary population had been enslaved by various groups from the Dark Caste, but the military forces facing the Steel Vipers consisted of little more than a Cluster-sized group of Bandits and two Society Septs, none of which worked together in a cohesive fashion. The Steel Viper victory was effectively assured, but they still spent the better part of two months cleansing the various mines scattered along the Cyclopian Mountains of bandits and rebellious forces from the scientist caste which had dug into the various mines there. During the course of the operation the Steel Vipers discovered the existence of experimental pens and genetic labs hidden under the Medusan Sea, which the Society had been using to culture different strains of genetic viruses and which were still in use at the time of the invasion.

Following the Grand Council held on 29 July 3075 the Steel Vipers were declared the subjects of a Trial of Annihilation, and the other Clans spent two months gathering forces before electing Khan Hannibal Banacek to the position of ilKhan. The Star Adders threw open the Annihilation to all of the Clans, rather than pursuing the Trial alone following the initial call by Khan Hollyann Kardaan of the Cloud Cobras at the previous Grand Council. While the other Clans gathered their forces together at Strana Mechty, Khan Boyle Grimani of the Steel Vipers pulled the bulk of the Steel Viper touman back to two worlds: Circe and New Kent.

A multi-Clan fleet arrived in the Circe system on the 30th of October and, after a bargaining process that saw the Cloud Cobras gain the honor of leading the attack, which they began by driving two naval stars directly at the planetary SDS network. The Cloud Cobras lost four WarShips in the assault - the Aegis-class heavy cruiser CCS Consequence, the Vincent Mark 42-class corvettes CCS Hertzog's Staff, the Fredasa-class corvette CCS Perdition's Flame and the Potemkin-class cruiser CCS True Sight - but succeeded in creating a gap in the network, allowing the landing operation to begin. As the Steel Vipers launched a flanking attack the Goliath Scorpions blocked the Viper forces, and the greater part of two hundred DropShips dropped to the surface of Circe.

The initial landing was bloody for the Blood Spirits, who lost nearly half their forces on the initial approach when a number of ground batteries that hadn't been identified earlier ripped into their approach corridor. The Blood Spirits silenced one battery by dropping Alpha Galaxy directly onto the shallow hill it was located, where they were quickly joined by the Cloud Cobra Delta Galaxy. From this inauspicious beginning the combined Blood Spirit and Cloud Cobra forces moved north and captured the enclaves at Ides, Oberon and Wales before being slowed by a Circian storm. The Steel Vipers used the storm as cover, moving their Beta Galaxy into position to attack the Blood Spirit forces; Beta Galaxy broke the Blood Spirit Tau Galaxy before the arrival of several Cloud Cobra aerospace squadrons from Delta Galaxy blunted the Steel Viper attack.

The main Steel Viper enclave on Circe was Tash, which the forces from Clans Goliath Scorpion and Stone Lion drove towards, stalling short of the enclave itself. Clan Star Adder used the Fifteenth Armored Cavalry and the Seventy-third Adder Cavaliers to attack the eastern reaches of Tash, opening up a hole in the defenses that the Stone Lions exploited, hammering the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-first Iron Guards into the rear of the Steel Viper defenses, destroying the main Viper command bunker in the process. The Steel Vipers attempted to counterattack with the Thirty-eighth Phalanx, but the counterattack was driven back by heavy bombing and the Steel Vipers then found themselves pinned in place by the newly arrived Eighty-first Strike Cluster and the Golden Keshik of Clan Coyote, led by Khan Leo Koga in person.

The Stone Lions pressed the assault, repeatedly hitting the defenders with both Iron Guards clusters until the Steel Viper forces broke; retreating quickly into the ruins of Dehra Dun, the Steel Viper forces skulked in the ruins of the former Snow Raven city until they were hunted down by the pursuing Coyote and Stone Lion forces. The final decisive blow came when the Goliath Scorpions and Blood Spirits wheeled east and attacked the rear of Tashs, catching and killing Steel Viper saKhan George Mercer along with his Command Star; the loss of Mercer led the remaining Steel Vipers in Tash to attempt a call for surrender, but the combined Clan forces ignored the request and continued the Annihilation of the Steel Vipers. By mid-December the campaign on Circe ended, with the Clans moving on to attack New Kent.

Owner History

• 2571 - Unknown Planet
• 2750 - Unknown Planet
• 2786 - Star League-in-Exile
• 2801 - Disputed
• 2821 - Clan Mongoose, Clan Nova Cat, Clan Snow Raven, Clan Wolverine
• 2823 - Clan Mongoose, Clan Nova Cat, Clan Snow Raven
• 2867 - Clan Mongoose, Clan Nova Cat, Clan Snow Raven
• 2868 - Clan Nova Cat, Clan Snow Raven, Clan Smoke Jaguar
• 3052 - Clan Coyote - 5%, Clan Nova Cat - 20%, Clan Smoke Jaguar - 20%, Clan Snow Raven - 30%, Clan Wolf - 25%
• 3060 - Clan Nova Cat, Clan Snow Raven, Clan Smoke Jaguar
• 3062 - Clan Snow Raven, Clan Wolf
• 3067 - Clan Snow Raven (80%) - Clan Wolf (20%)
• 3070 - Clan Blood Spirit, Clan Snow Raven
• 3072 - The Society
• 3074 - Clan Steel Viper
• 3075 - Abandoned
• 3085 - Abandoned

Military Deployment

3061

• Clan Snow Raven

• Ninth Raven Striker
• Sixth Raven Regulars
• Seventh Raven Regulars
• Second Raven Garrison Cluster
• Fifteenth Raven Garrison Cluster
• Sixteenth Raven Garrison Cluster

3067

• Clan Wolf

• Theta Galaxy

• Second Wolf Cavalry

• Clan Goliath Scorpion

• Chi Galaxy

• Third Scorpion Seekers

• Clan Snow Raven

• Kappa Galaxy

• Circe Battle Star
• Sixth Raven Regulars
• Seventh Raven Regulars
• Second Raven Garrison Cluster
• Fifteenth Raven Garrison Cluster
• Sixteenth Raven Garrison Cluster

3070

• Clan Blood Spirit

• Omega Galaxy
• Sigma Galaxy
• Zeta Galaxy

• Clan Snow Raven

• Kappa Garrison Galaxy

• Seventh Raven Regulars
• Second Raven Garrison Cluster

Planetary Locations

• Outpost One, a huge orbital space station located on the edge of the system, 32.5° off the plane of the system.
• Rita River: A river that marks the border between Ta'Kal, Ulthar and Tiki provinces
• Ta'Kal Province:
• Tiki Province:
• Ulhar Province:

Industrial Centers

• Circe Manufacturing Center Alpha
• Cudahy Assembly Plant Delta

Notable Species

• Homeworld of the Hell's Horse

Image Gallery

• Circe World Map.jpg

  Circe World Map

Nearby Systems

Closest 20 systems (5 within 60 light-years) Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Arcadia	9.2	Eden	10.9	Babylon	14.0	Dagda	14.6
Fasa	24.2	Radulov	66.2	EC821-387D	143.8	Shadow	181.1
Brim	182.3	Zara	189.4	Albion	191.5	Lum	192.2
Gatekeeper	192.5	York	199.0	Foster	204.5	Ironhold	213.1
Delios	217.6	Strana Mechty	217.7	Huntress	223.5	Colleen	224.3

Bibliography

• Betrayal of Ideals (novel)
• The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky
• Era Digest: Golden Century
• Field Manual: Updates
• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Technical Readout: Golden Century
• Trial of Possession (in: Total Warfare)
• The Wars of Reaving