Marduk

Marduk
← 3135 3151
Marduk nearby systems (Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates	208.335 : 59.926
Spectral class	G8II
Recharge time	185 hours
Recharge station(s)	None

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.

System Description

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.

System History

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

Political Affiliation

• 2319 - Inhabited world
• 2571 - Federated Suns
• 2596 - Federated Suns
• 2750 - Federated Suns
• 2764 - Federated Suns
• 2765 - Federated Suns
• 2786 - Federated Suns
• 2787 - Draconis Combine
• 2791 - Draconis Combine
• 2818 - Federated Suns
• 2822 - Draconis Combine
• 2864 - Draconis Combine
• 3025 - Federated Suns
• 3029 - Draconis Combine
• 3030 - Draconis Combine
• 3040 - Draconis Combine
• 3050 - Draconis Combine
• 3052 - Draconis Combine
• 3057 - Draconis Combine
• 3058 - Draconis Combine
• 3063 - Draconis Combine
• 3067 - Draconis Combine
• 3075 - Draconis Combine
• 3079 - Draconis Combine
• 3081 - Draconis Combine
• 3085 - Draconis Combine
• 3102 - Federated Suns
• 3135 - Federated Suns
• 3145 - Draconis Combine
• 3151 - Draconis Combine

---

Marduk IV

Marduk IV
Astrophysical
System position	Fourth
Jump Point distance	6.19
Moons	1 (Kafuffle)
Geophysical
Surface gravity	1.00
Atmospheric pressure	Standard (Breathable)
Equatorial temperature	45°C (Warm-Temperate)
Surface water	60%
Highest native life	Reptile
Landmasses	3 (Tiller, Aileen, Latvia)
History and Culture
Population	2,475,000,000 (3067), 2,516,000,000 (3079)
Government and Infrastructure
Noble Ruler	Duke of Marduk
Capital	New Pontiac
HPG Class	B
HPG Representative	Precentor Jessie Farns (3025)

Planetary History

Star League Era

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.

First Succession War

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.

In 2818, 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.

Third Succession Wars

In 3024, elements of Wolf's Dragoons would attack Marduk. This led the Black Widow Company to engage elements of the Twenty-first Centauri Lancers during the Twelfth Battle of Marduk.(see notes)

In 3024, the Moroushi's Independent Assault Battalion (that was part of the Galtor III Campaign executed by the DCMS) raided Marduk during the first wave of operations. The unit crushed the defending units hereby 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.

Fourth Succession War

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.

FedCom Civil War

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Jihad

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. 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.

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.

Dark Age

In 3102, the New Ivaarsen Chasseurs drove the Combine off Marduk and claimed it for the Federated Suns. 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.

Military Deployment

2764

• 105th Mechanized Infantry Division

2765

• First Avalon Hussars
• Thirty-seventh Robinson Chevaliers

2786

• First Avalon Hussars
• Thirty-seventh Robinson Chevaliers

2787

• Tyson's Troublemakers

2821

• Sixth Galedon Regulars

3028

• Marduk Militia

3040

• Sixth Benjamin Regulars

3050

• Sixth Benjamin Regulars

3054

• Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars

3059

• Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars

3145

• Ryuken-go

Geography

Marduk has three continents named Tiller, Aileen, and Latvia.

Planetary Locations

• New Pontiac: planetary capital
• Tillerbee Jungle: the site of the Victory Industries plant.

Companies and Industries

• Kallon Weapon Industries
• Victory Industries (previously known as Norse BattleMech Works)

Local Flora and Fauna

• Snapping Dragon

Notes

• The apocryphal 1989 video game MechWarrior lists Marduk with a population of 3,691,000,000 in 3025.
• In Tales of the Black Widow Company, it says that the Black Widow Company engaged elements of the 21st Centauri Lancers during the Twelfth Battle of Marduk, but the unit was in House Marik employment at that time, so this seems improbable.

Nearby Systems

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

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• Era Report: 2750
• Era Report: 3052
• Era Report: 3062
• Era Report: 3145
• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: 3085
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Manual: Draconis Combine
• Field Manual: SLDF
• Field Report: AFFS
• Field Report: DCMS
• Field Report 2765: AFFS
• Field Report 2765: DCMS
• First Succession War
• Handbook: House Davion
• Handbook: House Kurita
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2
• Historical: Reunification War
• Historical: War of 3039
• House Davion (The Federated Suns)
• House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1
• Objective Raids
• Objectives: Draconis Combine
• Shattered Fortress
• Tales of the Black Widow Company
• Technical Readout: Dark Age
• Wolf's Dragoons