New Horizons
Sarna News
| New Horizons | |
|---|---|
| System Information | |
| X:Y Coordinates | [e] |
Contents
System Description[edit]
The New Horizons system is the location of at least one inhabited world and is located in the Periphery beyond the border of the Qandahar Prefecture of the Pesht Military District of the Draconis Combine.[1]
System Affiliation[edit]
System History[edit]
The New Horizons system was colonized several centuries before the thirty-first century, at some point during or prior to the Star League era.[1]
Planetary History[edit]
Early History[edit]
When first colonized, the planet later known as New Horizons was given the name Crotch. The original colonists were a mix of outcasts, misfits and bandits who had reasons to leave the Inner Sphere, either because life under the Great Houses was too restrictive, or because they were in trouble with the law. The original frontier culture that established itself on the world eased somewhat, and the planet was both relatively isolated and wealthy in terms of water and metals; this allowed the economy to shift from one maintained by piracy to one more or less trade-based.[1]
The change in Crotch's economy resulted in other neighbors who were still dominated by bandit kings periodically raiding New Horizons. New Horizon escaped being overwhelmed by its neighbors because whenever one of the local bandit kingdoms became too aggressive, Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery forces from Qandahar would sally out from the Prefecture to hammer the pirates in an effort to gain glory and prestige. The Combine was generally unimpressed by the formation of bandit powers such as the Oberon Confederation, and such bandit-hunting expeditions served to keep the numbers of such kingdoms down. In exchange for this basic level of protection, the government of New Horizons, known as the Planetary Syndicate, sent regular shipments of tribute to the military commander of the Qandahar Prefecture, a sensible arrangement for both parties.[1]
Clan Invasion[edit]
Operation REVIVAL caused ructions for the inhabitants of New Horizons. The larger, more organized bandit kingdoms such as the Oberon Confederation and Greater Valkyrate that lay in the path of the returning Clans were quickly wiped out by the invading forces; the smaller bandit kingdoms were effectively forcibly evicted by the sheer force of the invasion, and a fragment from one such entity landed on New Horizons in or around 3056. Despite opposition from New Horizon's military forces, the New Horizons Defense Force (NHDF), the pirate refugees managed to establish strongholds that the local defenders wore themselves out trying to squash; the pirates were able to trap and destroy a number of the NHDF's 'Mechs in the process.[1]
In mid-3056 the government of New Horizons was able to get assistance from a much larger military force - the Seventeenth Recon Regiment, a mercenary unit also known as Camacho's Caballeros, who were in need of time and resources to recover from a mauling at the hands of the Clans, including battles on Jeronimo against Clan Smoke Jaguar that had seen the daughter of the Caballeros' commanding officer, Colonel Carlos Camacho, killed in action.[1]
In June 3056, elements of the Caballeros infiltrated into the region known as the Great Murchsion Swamp, located on New Horizon's largest continent. One band of pirates had gone to ground in the swamp, taking advantage of the iron deposits located under the lake bed and the murky water to hamper efforts to locate them, after raiding Fiasco and Medwick, the two largest cities on New Horizons, for supplies. Since then, the pirates had been launching raids against the local inhabitants - a group known as Swampers - to steal food, rape, torture, and generally do everything they could to confirm their identity as pirate scum. With the aid of the local Swampers, the Caballeros were able to locate the pirate base.[1]
Acting on intelligence provided by Cassie Suthorn, who would become the most famous of the Caballero's scouts, the Caballeros were able to attack the pirate base directly, under the cover of artillery fire. The pirate band had a number of BattleMechs, including a Locust, a Marauder, a Quickdraw and a Wasp, but the enemy 'Mechs were overwhelmed by the Caballeros, aided by pyrotechnics planted in the nearby terrain by Cassie during her two weeks scouting the area, as well as her efforts in moving the beacons the pirates used to mark safe routes through the swamp, causing at least one 'Mech to be bogged in and trapped intact.[1]
Military Deployment[edit]
3056[edit]
- New Horizons Defense Force[1]
Planetary Locations[edit]
- Fiasco: one of the two largest cities on New Horizons.[1]
- Medwick: one of the two largest cities on New Horizons.[1]
Nearby Systems[edit]
Unknown.
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Close Quarters (novel)