Federated Peacekeeping Forces

Overview

The Federated Peacekeeping Forces were the first organized state military of the Federated Suns.

History

Origin

The beginnings of the Federated Peacekeeping Forces or FPF lay in the twenty-third century conflicts between the newly-formed Federated Suns and the minor states of the Capellan Zone. The Federated Suns inherited one conflict with the Tikonov Grand Union when the Marlette Association joined the Federated Suns, and a second conflict with the Chesterton Trade Federation when the Muskegon Empire joined. In these conflicts as with other conflicts over other worlds the Federated Suns formed a new expeditionary force for each campaign, with the field commander of the force elected by the Council and the strategic aims of the force chosen by the President. The Federated Suns fared poorly in both conflicts, and soon became a target for predation by other states on the border, including the Capellan Hegemony and the St. Ives Mercantile Association. Worlds such as Alcyone, Daniels and Redfield were conquered outright; other, independent worlds simply aligned themselves with one of the Capellan Zone states rather than the weak Federated Suns.

Formation

The first President of the Federated Suns was Lucien Davion, who stepped down in 2332; his brother Charles Davion was elected as his successor to the posts of Prime Minister of New Avalon and President of the Federated Suns. Charles was an ambitious, arrogant and quick-tempered man possessed of great energy; determined to build the Federated Suns into a true interstellar power and to secure the place of the Davion family within the Suns, Charles initiated a number of reforms. One of those was formation of the Federated Peacekeeping Forces.

The defeats in the Rim March were enough to convince the various worlds of the Federated Suns to each give Charles Davion a handful of elite mercenary units. Having amended the Crucis Pact to allow for the formation and support of a standing military, Charles marshalled these units into a new standing army, with its own ranks, organization and support structure. Christened the Federated Peacekeeping Forces, the new army was able to use its support structure to obtain and manage supplies and transport independently of the various member states, giving it a considerable degree of independence. Charles initiated a regimen of extensive troop training and indoctrination to build morale within the new armed forces and to encourage the troops to identify themselves with the FPF rather than the various member worlds that had initially raised the regiments. Charles also ensured that as with the newly-forming state bureacracy, many of the senior members of the FPF were from New Avalon, many of whom owed a debt of gratitude to Charles or the Davion family.

Early Campaigns

Versus the Tikonov Grand Union

Whilst the FPF focussed on securing the Federated Suns, Charles death in 2340 ushered in a new President - Reynard Davion, nephew of Charles, son of Lucien, Deputy Prime Minister of New Avalon and a former Colonel in the FPF. Reynard was a Davion through and through, and just the ruler the Federated Suns needed at the time; charisma, drive, and ruthlessness. When Reynard came to power the Draconis Combine border had not yet reached the Federated Suns, and the Terran Hegemony was embroiled in problems with the Lyran Commonwealth whilst dealing with the loss of its Director-General just months before. With the Taurian Concordat both distant and unknown, the only clear threats to the Federated Suns were the nations of the Capellan Zone, and it was on these that Reynard focussed his attention.

Having assembled a reserve force in the Achernar system, Reynard assigned two Task Forces to draw the attention of the forces on Mirach before leading the reserve force personally on a strike against the world of Almach in 2344. The FPF quickly seized Almach, Cutting off the Tikonov Grand Union supply route into the worlds of Mira, Mesartim. In one stroke, Reynard had recaptured the worlds contested between the Marlette Association and the Tikonov Grand Union for decades.

Although no-one was more surprised at the success of the FPF campaign against the Tikonov Grand Union than the FPF itself, Reynard was able to use their victory to secure treaties with the Capellan Hegemony and Tikonov Grand Union, securing two borders.

Versus the Sarna Supremacy

Although the next few years were largely peaceful, the FPF was far from inactive; the FPF captured Bell from the Sarna Supremary in 2357, the Supremacy having absorbed the Chesterton Trade Federation some years before. Reynard moved additional FPF forces to the border and demanded that the Supermacy also concede the worlds of Chesterton and Highspire to the Federated Suns. The Supremacy had little choice but to comply, and the resulting political repercussions within the Capellan Zone toppled the Prime Minister of the Capellan Hegemony from power.

Versus the Capellan Hegemony

The new Prime Minister of the Capellan Hegemony, Selek Tucas, spent years building a coalition with the Tikonov Grand Union against the Federated Suns, and in 2363 he arranged for the Grand Union to renounce both treaties signed after the war of 2340. Tucas openly supported the Grand Union's declaration and went a step further, demanding the return of the Chesterton worlds ceded by the Sarna Supremacy and the world of Lee as well.

When the Capellan Hegemony ambassador to New Avalon - who was also Selek Tucas' brother - vanished mysteriously en route back to Capellan space, Selek called on the various member states of the Federated Suns to depose Reynard and join the Capellan states; not one state took Selek up on his offer, and Reynard's subsequent proclomation of a state of war between the two nations received a unanimous vote of confidence. This began several years of border conflicts, with every Capellan attack on Lee rebuffed by the FPF. Selek Tucas had gambled by mobilising the best of his forces and those of his allies to strike at Lee, only to have those forces crushed. This generated considerable internal turmoil within the Capellan Zone, toppling Selek from power along with his government while the FPF made steady advances against the Capellan forces.

Both the Tikonov Grand Union and the St. Ives Mercantile Association were drawn into the war, and both were equally unsuccessful, with each nation losing worlds to the FPF. While Reynard didn't take to the field, he directed the strategy behind the FPF campaign from New Avalon, and over the course of several years of conflict the FPF managed to push far enough into the Capellan Zone to recapture Redfield and the majority other worlds lost during the first border wars.

By 2367 the FPF had Tikonov itself under siege, and landed a "peacekeeping force" on Capella, declaring that the forces would remain in place until a suitable government could be elected and order restored. Such was the FPF's success that it actually led to the various Capellan states unifying into a new nation, the Capellan Confederation, under Franco Liao - and one of Franco's first orders was for the transport fleet that brought the FPF to Capella to be destroyed, before then ordering that the capital city be bombarded from orbit, destroying both the city and the occupying FPF forces.

Franco's actions shocked Reynard - and the rest of the Inner Sphere - to the point that Reynard failed to follow up on the invasion of Capella. While Reynard refused to acknowledge the Confederation as a state or negotiate a truce, prompting the war to largely grind to a halt that year, although battles would continue along the border for several years.

Bibliography

• Handbook: House Davion
• House Davion (The Federated Suns)