Northwind

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Northwind
← 3135
3151
Northwind 3151.svg
Northwind nearby systems
(Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates34.118 : -2.891[e]
Spectral classG2I[1]
Recharge time8[2]
Recharge station(s)Zenith, Nadir[2]
Planet(s)5[1]

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

Northwind II

Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard

Northwind is a planet located two jumps from Terra. It is the homeworld of the famed mercenary unit the Northwind Highlanders and Northwind Military Academy.

Political Affiliation

History

Early history

Northwind was purchased by Clan Stuart during the Exodus and named for the Clan's old home in Scotland. The Stuarts were joined by the Highlanders, the last vestiges of Scotland's independent military.[18] To prove their worth, the Highlanders founded Kearny, a mining town.[19]

Having become independent as a result of the Demarcation Declaration, Northwind was subsequently added to the resurgent Terran Hegemony; whilst some worlds joined the Hegemony during its early years as a result of diplomatic and trade incentives, many more were conquered in "campaigns of persuasion" launched by Director-General James McKenna, the first of which began in 2316 and ended with the capture of Towne in 2317. Northwind was one of the worlds added to the Hegemony during or around the time of this first military campaign.[20][3][21]

In 2362 the Clan Elders that ruled Northwind elected to raise a standing army, the Northwind Highlanders.[22] The Highlanders became an elite mercenary unit. Because of this, many aspiring mercenaries traveled to Northwind to learn the trade and employers frequented the planet to hire the Highlanders, creating an informal hiring hall.[22]

Amaris Civil War

Stefan Amaris forces attacked Northwind during the Amaris Coup, but the Republican forces on planet were only partially successful: as Northwind was a staunchly pro-Cameron world, they were met with derision and hostility by the locals. However, in their initial attack, the Republicans were more successful than in New Dallas: they crippled three Highlander regiments the first day, driving the survivors into hiding; a week later, Northwind was effectively under Amaris thumb... but not completely.

The Highlanders quickly formed resistance groups, forming the most united planetary resistance within the Hegemony. Despite the fact Amaris moved more and more forces onto the planet to beat its resistance, he never succeed: the population of the world continued to resist, and with the help of the Secret Fleet, the resistance was always well manned and supplied.[23]

In 2775, the SLDF finally arrived to liberate the planet: as soon the Third Army arrived on system, the Covenanters (the Northwind resistance movement) struck hard against the Amaris forces and government with every man they could muster. The AEAF was embattled and unable to counterattack due to the landing SLDF forces. Amaris forces were unable to retreat to the planet's Castle Brian when were surpassed in number. After the first day, Amaris garrison launched nuclear attacks against LXIX Corps and some of largest cities on planet before losing access to their strategic reserves. Later they used civilians to shield their movements, enraging the population even more.

By the end of June, Amaris forces were broken, but at a high cost: the Covenanters ceased to be a effective force. The only remaining Amaris forces were entrenched inside the planet's Castle Brian, but the LXIX Corps begin a campaign to clear it, finishing that labor by New Year.[24]

Succession Wars

After the fall of the Star League, Northwind was fought over by the Successor States. The Highlander regiments became a mercenary unit in service to the Capellan Confederation, though some regiments were able to continue to garrison Northwind.[25]

Second Succession War

Northwind was conquered by the Federated Suns during the Second Succession War. In 2841, House Davion sent an invasion force that overwhelmed the defending Stuart's Highlanders and Third Kearny Highlanders. The Highlander regiments fought to the last, but it was not enough.[26][27]

Fourth Succession War

Although Coordinator Takashi Kurita had focused his attentions on Wolf's Dragoons in the early stages of the Fourth Succession War, the pleas for assistance from Chancellor Maximilian Liao prompted him to plan two targeted offensives against the Federated Suns. One of these was a strike against Northwind, a world the DCMS believed it could use as a springboard for attacks against other worlds in the region near Terra in an effort to isolate the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth from each other. Assigned to the offensive were the Fifth Sword of Light, Thirty-sixth Dieron Regulars and the Genyosha; defending Northwind at the time were the Fifth Deneb Light Cavalry RCT and two mercenary units, Bradley's Bravos—a part of the Kell Hounds—and Team Banzai.[15]

The DCMS landings concentrated on the region around the Cairngorm Mountains on New Lanark, landing close to the city of Cromarty, which was the largest city on New Lanark and home to Northwind's AFFS garrison. The garrison initially managed to fight the DCMS forces to a standstill, highlighting that the battle for control of Northwind would be long and hard-fought. After the initial battles DCMS forces poisoned the reservoir supplying Cromarty, in a strategy believed to have been devised by General Palmer Conti, the commanding officer of the Fifth Sword of Light.[15]

Within a day of the reservoir being poisoned people in Cromarty were being hit by ptomaine poisoning, and while vaccinations and treatment saved some, the city was soon overwhelmed by the number of sick and dying people, with half of the Fifth Deneb Light Cavalry infected. By the time the defenders determined that the reservoir was the source and shut off the water supply, five thousand people were dead; the pressure on the city was intense, with bodies being burned in building furnaces, and the Thirty-sixth Dieron Regulars used the opportunity to launch an attack. While half the Fifth Deneb Light Cavalry had been incapacitated, the other half were still fit for duty, along with both mercenary commands, due to their water being drawn from a well, rather than the city supply; the defenders managed to rebuff the attack, but the senior active officer from the Fifth, Major Collins, was lured into pursuing the Thirty-sixth as they retreated and led his forces into an ambush in which the Fifth Sword of Light overran the Light Cavalry and scattered the surviving warriors.[15]

Dr Banzai led Team Banzai in an attempt to save the Light Cavalry, only to be blocked by the Genyosha, who inflicted heavy damage on the mercenaries and incapacitated Dr Banzai himself as he attempted to fight three assault 'Mechs alone. The surviving elements of Team Banzai withdrew into the Rockspires region of the Cairngorm Mountains with all of the surviving members of Bradley's Bravos and the Light Cavalry they could find, preparing to fight a last stand.[15]

The defending forces didn't know that negotiations had been conducted in secret between First Prince Hanse Davion and the four regiments of the Northwind Highlanders, using General Ardan Sortek and the Clan Stuart Elders as proxies. Prince Davion convinced the Northwind Highlanders to leave the service of the Capellan Confederation in exchange for garrisoning Northwind and certain other concessions. The Northwind Agreement was signed in December 3028 and the Highlanders abandoned their positions along the Capellan-Suns border and returned to their ancestral homeworld. They arrived on 12 January 3029 and immediately began engaging the DCMS forces on the planet, forcing them to retreat and saving the survivors of the AFFS garrison.[28][29][30]

The presence of four regiments of experienced Highlander regiments on Northwind, all keen to prove their value to their new liege effectively blocked the DCMS campaign in the Terran region stillborn.[15]

Operation GUERRERO

Northwind remained peaceful until 3057. In conjunction with Operation GUERRERO and the Capellan offensive against the Federated Commonwealth, Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao dispatched Loren Jaffray to offer to recognize the independence of Northwind. Jaffray, a Death Commando and a descendant of a former Highlander who remained with the CCAF, was on a covert operation to destroy the Highlanders, or at least deprive the Federated Commonwealth of their services. Jaffray's mission was helped by the Highlanders' increasing dissatisfaction with the AFFC. MacLeod's Regiment was the only Highlander unit on world when Jaffray made his offer. The regiment was split, sparking a civil war within it. The Third Royal Guards were called in to help the Commonwealth supporters, but the pro-independence faction was able to hold out until Stirling's Fusiliers returned to help. The combined Highlander force destroyed the Third Royals. Northwind had achieved independence and became a bastion of stability in the Chaos March.[31][32]

Jihad

In 3066, the Northwind Highlanders joined Jaime Wolf's Allied Mercenary Command, putting them in direct opposition to Word of Blake and the expanding Word of Blake Protectorate.[33] In September 3067, four Clan elders died under mysterious circumstances. The Highlanders who were away from Northwind immediately broke their contracts to return home to vote on new leaders.[34][35] In December 3067, Word of Blake naval forces jumped into the Northwind system as part of their Jihad. Blakist naval assets began a blockade while ground assets seized the HPG station.[36][37] The HPG station was taken offline on the 9th of November 3068 at the same time that rumors of an orbital bombardment of the planet's surface began to circulate.[38][39][40] WoB forces destroyed at least two JumpShips belonging to the First Kearny Highlanders, the Edinborough Express and the Highland Courier.[41] At that time the only WoB ship identified was the WBS Hidden Meaning.[36]

The Word of Blake ceased to exert any control over Northwind in December 3077, when liberation forces from the allied coalition arrived to find that the Northwind population had evidently been the victims of an elaborate, long-term deception; the population believed that the Word of Blake had placed their world under an impenetrable blockade, a deception sustained through the Word's destruction of all of Northwind's satellite comms net, aerospace assets and the planetary HPG. Instead of a world nuked from orbit like Outreach, the coalition forces instead found no Word presence in the system.[42][43]

Dark Age

When the Jihad ended, Northwind joined Devlin Stone's Republic of the Sphere.[1] However, by the end of December 3079 Northwind was one of more than twenty planets to have suffered an outbreak of the Redburn Virus, and one of eight to suffer from an infection rate of more than 150 out of every 100,000 people, as well as a mortality rate of more than 30 per 100,000 from the virus.[44]

On the 7th[45] of June 3133 Northwind was attacked by the Steel Wolves under the command of their new leader, Anastasia Kerensky. The Northwind Highlanders successfully repulsed the attack, despite Tara Campbell's forces being distributed throughout the Prefecture.[46] Although the first major Steel Wolves action launched under the command of the former Clan Wolf-in-Exile warrior was a failure, Anastasia Kerensky would return to Northwind.[47] Kerensky's second invasion of Northwind, launched on the 17th[45] of February 3134, was no more successful than her attack the year before, but did spark a chain of events that led ultimately to the death of Ezekiel Crow, the infamous Black Paladin,[45][48] as well as prompting Kerensky to launch her subsequent attack on Terra.[48]

The planet's HPG station is one of the few working inside the Republic of the Sphere in 3135.[49] After the establishment of Fortress Republic, Northwind stay inside The Wall, staying safe for most of a decade. However, in 3149, Devlin Stone bring down the Wall, and the Fortress Republic Space was invaded by two clans and two states, including the Capellan Confederation, and by ends of 3150, they targeted Northwind, both to erase the historic stain in his history, and to take her functional HPG.[50] The Battle of Northwind or Operation CLARITY for the Capellans, was launched in November of 3150. The Capellan forces, three CCAF regiments and Warrior House Imarra outnumbered the defenders. Even the appearance of a new Highlander unit, the Grey Watch, a secret defense regiment, or the arrival of Tara Campbell and her Highlander battalion, weren't enough to defeat the invaders, specially when they received the assistance of two Kuritan regiments, the Fourth Dieron Regulars and a new unit, the Hikage, on December.[51] But both nations units didn't cooperate, and the Republic agents managed to make them fight each other. After the Northwind HPG station was blown, all the invaders retreated, ignoring that only the upper parts of the complex were destroyed, and they can be rebuilt.[52]

Military Deployment

2786

2821

  • Third Kearny Highlanders[53]
  • Stuart's Highlanders[53]

2841

  • Third Kearny Highlanders[13]
  • Stuart's Highlanders[13]

2865

3025

3028

3038 - 3040

3050

  • Northwind Highlanders[57]
  • MacLeod's Highlanders[57]
  • Stirling's Fusiliers[57]
  • Second Kearny Highlanders[57]

3054

3058

  • Northwind Highlanders[2]
  • MacLeod's Highlanders (1 Battalion)[2]
  • Stirling's Fusiliers(2 Battalions)[2]
  • First Kearny Highlanders[2]
  • Second Kearny Highlanders[2]

3067

  • Second Kearny Highlanders[59]

3085

  • First Kearny Highlanders[60]
- At this point in time, the First Kearny was at 50% of full strength, with 73% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology.

3145

Geography

Northwind is composed of three continents: New Lanark, Kearny, and Halidon. All three continents have roughly the same level of development.[63]

New Lanark is the largest landmass, the location of the capital city of Tara and Northwind Military Academy. Each of those locales is situated near the Tilman River. Tara, formerly Cromarty City, is home for over two million inhabitants in 3067. The Castle, a Star League-era fort that serves as the command center for the Northwind Highlanders, is also located within Tara. The planetary capital's architecture is inspired by pre-spaceflight Scotland, with cobblestone streets and bountiful taverns. Situated within the city is Peace Park, so dedicated by the First Lord of the Star League in 2657. Tara is serviced by Kohler Spaceport.[63]

Kearny, the second largest continent, is home to the world's second most populous city of the same name.[63]

Halidon is the smallest continent on Northwind. It is home to the aerospace annex of NMA. The planet's secondary spaceport services Halifax City.[63]

Planetary Locations

  • New Lanark (Continent)
    • Liddisdale (Town)
    • Rockspire Mountains
      • Castle Northwind
      • Red Ledge Pass
    • Tara (Capital City)
      • The Fort (Military base)
      • Kohler Spaceport
      • New Barracks
  • Kearny (Continent)
    • Kearny City
    • Oilfield Coast
  • Halidon (Continent)
    • Camp Jaffray (Military Base)
    • Halifax City

Location not specified

Industrial Centers


Map Gallery

Nearby Systems

Closest 84 systems (82 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Lockdale 8.2 New Stevens 12.2 Epsilon Indi 13.6 Fomalhaut 15.6
Saffel 17.0 Small World 18.1 Quentin 19.3 Errai 19.5
Sheratan 19.8 Caph 21.3 Ingress 22.1 Nirasaki 22.2
Bryant 23.4 Epsilon Eridani 24.2 Fletcher 24.2 Helen 26.7
Dieron 28.2 New Home 28.6 Styx 29.6 Deneb Algedi 29.8
Altair 30.3 Ruchbah 30.6 Keid 31.9 Deneb Kaitos 32.1
Terra Firma 32.9 Kawich 33.1 Sol 34.2 Pokhara 34.4
Woodstock 35.3 Acamar 36.1 Towne 36.8 New Britain 36.8
Sirius 37.0 Rigil Kentarus 37.4 Addicks 37.4 Athenry 37.7
Nopah 38.4 Brownsville 38.6 Nashira 38.9 Procyon 40.0
Ankaa 41.1 Asta 41.3 Basalt 41.3 Hean 42.2
Killbourn 42.3 Al Na'ir 42.9 Bex 43.2 Carver 43.4
Telos 44.3 Pike 44.4 Bharat 46.0 Murchison 46.5
Capolla 46.5 Tau Ceti 46.9 Yorii 48.5 Tigress 48.5
Kervil 48.9 Outreach 49.0 Arboris 49.4 Nanking 50.2
Hamal 50.9 Ozawa 51.0 Imbros 51.7 Dyev 52.1
Alpha Eridani 52.3 Azha 52.4 Chaville 52.6 Biham 54.7
Slocum 54.9 Hechnar 56.0 Ancha 56.9 Genoa 57.1
New Florence 57.2 Rocky 57.8 Chisholm 58.1 Graham 58.1
Yangtze 58.3 Xi Ursae Majoris 58.5 Tybalt 58.5 Thorin 58.7
Hsien 58.8 Galatia 59.1 Sadachbia 60.5 Ronel 61.5

Notes

  • House Liao (The Capellan Confederation) states that the Capellan 4th Tau Ceti Rangers fought against Draconis Combine forces in defense of Northwind during the late 29th century. Since it has subsequently been established (in the sourcebooks Northwind Highlanders and Handbook: House Davion) that Northwind fell to the Federated Suns in 2841 and that House Liao never made any attempt to reclaim the planet, it is safe to assume this has been retconned.[66]
  • During the Dark Age era, circa 3133, Northwind is home to Tyson and Varney, Limited, a manufacturer of Mining and ConstructionMechs. This company also holds a contract with Northwind to retrofit these and other IndustrialMechs into combat models. They may also produce ForestryMechs; though this is not clear in the source. Their main plant is in Fairfield,[67] a suburb of Tara that is northwest of the capital.[68]
  • The small towns of Killie Burn, Harlaugh and Liddisdale reside along the main road through Red Ledge Pass in the Rockspire Mountains located on the continent of New Lanark. All were badly damaged during the battle of Red Ledge Pass.[69]
  • Fort Barrett resides on the Oilfields Coast of the continent of Kearney very close to the equator.[70] This fort serves as a post for Highlander forces. The troops stationed here provide law and order in this remote region of the continent. A mid-sized town has developed around the fort and has begun to thrive thanks to the growing offshore oil drilling.[71] The smaller villages, including one called Benderville, dot the coast south of Fort Barrett.[72]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130), p. 57, "Northwind"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Chaos March, p. 44, "Northwind"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Handbook: House Marik, p. 16, "Free Worlds League Founding [2271]"
  4. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18, "Draconis Combine Founding - 2319"
  5. ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 17, "Capellan Confederation Foundation [2366]]"
  6. ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 25, "Capellan Confederation After Age of War [2571]]"
  7. ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 159, "Inner Sphere - 2596"
  8. ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - 2750"
  9. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 2765"
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 138, "Operation LIBERATION Wave 1 [July 2772 - December 2774]"
  11. ↑ First Succession War (Source Book), p. 25, "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
  12. ↑ First Succession War (Source Book), p. 113, "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Northwind Highlanders (scenario pack) p. 8
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 133, "Unit Deployment Table"
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 78-79, "Northwind"
  16. ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 133, "Inner Sphere - 3040"
  17. ↑ Shattered Fortress, p. 102-103, "Inner Sphere - 3151"
  18. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 6, "Ancient Origins"
  19. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 7, "A New Beginning"
  20. ↑ The Star League, p. 16, "Terra's Errant Flock"
  21. ↑ Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18, "Draconis Combine Founding [2319]"
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 16
  23. ↑ Historical Liberation of Terra 2, p. 38
  24. ↑ Historical Liberation of Terra 2, p. 39
  25. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 8, "Troubled Times"
  26. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 8, "The Darkest Hour"
  27. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 60
  28. ↑ NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 40, "Overview"
  29. ↑ Handbook: House Davion, p. 79, "Timeline: Fourth Succession War through the Clan Invasion"
  30. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 9, "Homecoming" & p. 24, "Situation"
  31. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 10, "Independence At Last"
  32. ↑ Highlander Gambit
  33. ↑ Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, p. 24
  34. ↑ Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, p. 28, "War Strikes Mercenaries!"
  35. ↑ Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, pp. 29-30, "Northwind Highlanders Returning Home"
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, p. 33, "Northwind Blockade"
  37. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, pp. 11-12 & Blake Ascending, pp. 171-172, "Timeline of the Jihad"
  38. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 46, "The Jihad In Review"
  39. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, pp. 32-33, & Blake Ascending, pp. 192-193, "Northwind Silenced"
  40. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, p. 11, "Timeline of the Jihad
  41. ↑ BattleCorps: INN Newscast (Solaris Broadcasting Co. section), news item published [18/12/3067]: "Word of Blake Ships Destroy Highlander JumpShips"
  42. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 56, "The Mysterious Case of Northwind"
  43. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 58, "The Jihad in Review"
  44. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 13, "Plagued By Blake"
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 10, "Dark Age Timeline"
  46. ↑ Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 7, "Important Military Actions of 3133"
  47. ↑ Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 8, "3133: Maneuvers"
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 9, "Important Military Actions of 3134"
  49. ↑ Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 4 "Functional Republic HPGs as of 01 January 3135"
  50. ↑ Shattered Fortress p. 101
  51. ↑ Shattered Fortress p. 96
  52. ↑ Shattered Fortress p. 97
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 53.3 First Succession War, p. 136, "First Succession War Deployment Table - CCAF"
  54. ↑ House Liao (The Capellan Confederation), p. 81
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 11, "Operation RAT"
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 Historical: War of 3039, p. 141, "Deployment Table"
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 20 Year Update, p. 19, "Federated Commonwealth Deployment Table"
  58. ↑ Objective Raids, p. 13, "Deployment Table - 3054"
  59. ↑ Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 70, "Mercenary Deployment Table"
  60. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. 186, "RAF Deployment Table - 3085"
  61. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 144, "Republic Armed Forces - Hastati Sentinels"
  62. ↑ Shattered Fortress, p. 105, "New unit profiles - The Grey Watch (Republic/Merc)"
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 17
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere, p. 28 "Damien Redburn"
  65. ↑ Technical Readout: 3025, p. 42
  66. ↑ House Liao (The Capellan Confederation), p. 98
  67. ↑ A Silence in the Heavens, p. 139
  68. ↑ Truth and Shadows, p. 245
  69. ↑ A Silence in the Heavens, p. 38
  70. ↑ A Silence in the Heavens, p. 110
  71. ↑ A Silence in the Heavens, p. 30
  72. ↑ A Silence in the Heavens, p. 141

Bibliography

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