Operation SCORPION
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 | This article needs to be updated with material from Era Report: 3052. Once these titles clear the Moratorium period, or if they already have, please consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material. |
Operation Scorpion (May 1st, 3052 - ?? May 3052) was a failed attempt during the Clan Invasion to put the entire Inner Sphere, including Clan occupied territory, under ComStar control. The plan was designed by Primus Myndo Waterly and called for insurrections on all Clan occupied worlds administered by ComStar, to tie down all garrisons, as well as complete HPG Interdiction of the Successor States, to be conducted concurrently with the Battle of Tukayyid. The failure of the plan tarnished ComStar's public reputation and led directly to the death of Primus Waterly and the ComStar Schism.
Operation Brief
Primus Waterly planned Operation Scorpion in secret, meeting with handpicked supporters and ROM operatives at a hotel outside Hilton Head Island. It was conducted without the knowledge of the Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht or the First Circuit, save Sharilar Mori, Precentor of Dieron, whom Waterly had hand-picked as her successor.[1] The operation’s name was chosen from an old folk tale that Focht had recently recalled during a conversation with Waterly.[2]
The first phase of the plan was for all ComStar forces administering planets in the Clan Occupation Zones to rise up and take control of their respective worlds. The second was a complete halt to all HPG traffic across the Inner Sphere, to be maintained until the Great Houses agreed to Waterly's concessions and allow ComStar become the administrative arm of their governments.[1] In effect the Successor States would become protectorates of ComStar, and possibly have their leaders outright replaced: Primus Waterly planned on making Focht the Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth, partly as thanks for his service in defeating the Clans.[3] However, Sharilar Mori was a double-agent for the Draconis Combine and informed Theodore Kurita, who in turned informed Hanse Davion of the plot as repayment for his help during the Battle of Luthien.[1][3]
When Operation Scorpion began on the first of May, it was already doomed to failure. With most of the Com Guards fighting on Tukayyid, there were few ComStar troops available to seize control of the Clan worlds, and they would prove no match for the more numerous garrison troops the Clans had left behind. Furthermore the Clans had their own portable HPGs and did not need to rely on the ComStar network. By the eight of May, those Clan worlds which had been cut off from the leadership by the initial uprising were again in contact with the Khans in orbit above Tukayyid, and by the battle's end every Clan occupied world was once again under their complete control.[4] The ComStar uprising did have the unintended side effect of helping Victor Steiner-Davion's mission to rescue Hohiro Kurita and his forces trapped on Teniente, as the local Com Guard forces allowed his DropShips (which were disguised as ComStar ships) to land unopposed.[5]
When they became aware of the planned Interdiction, several members of the First Circuit ordered their loyal followers to disobey the Interdiction order, resulting in some facilities disobeying the order. On others, Acolytes and Adepts refused to follow them of their own volition, or did not receive it due to mechanical or maintenance reason. Thanks to advanced warning from their spy, both the Combine and Federated Commonwealth were able to preempt the planned interdiction and seize control of many HPGs before the order could be received.[4] On New Avalon itself, the HPG station was seized thanks to an "accident" involving a truck carrying toxic petrochemicals that forced it to be evacuated for the Acolyte's own safety.[6]
The Capellan Confederation and Free Worlds League however did not receive warnings from their First Circuit members in time to head it off as effectively. Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao nevertheless ordered ComStar facilities surrounded and on many key worlds his forces succeeded in capturing the HPGs intact. Captain-General Thomas Marik, who had been himself a member of the First Circuit, believed the Interdiction would not be ordered without good reason and so made no movement against it. As for the general public, the Interdiction was a public relations disaster since it had come with no justifiable reason as with previous communication blackouts; on several worlds angry mobs of civilians even succeeded in storming their HPG facilities.[4]
In the end, ComStar maintained lost control of over 80% of their HPG stations in the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine, a significant blow to their network. The order only lost control of 30% of their stations in the Confederation, but many were effectively under siege. Only in the Free Worlds League and the rump Free Rasalhague Republic was ComStar still in complete control of their facilities.[4]
Precentor Martial Focht confronted Primus Waterly on the sixth of June at the Hall of History on Terra, with only Sharliar in attendance. Here the Primus showed off dioramas celebrating the victory on Tukayyid and of Operation Scorpion, not knowing the latter had been a complete failure thanks to Sharilar's misinformation.[3] In the official ComStar history, Focht and Sharilar convinced the Primus to step down that day, with Waterly suffering a brain hemorrhage and dying four days after.[4] In truth, when confronted by Focht as to the failure of Operation Scorpion and his rejection of her scheme, Waterly stormed off to have him replaced with a more loyal Precentor Martial, to be shot in the back of the head by his hidden needle pistol. Focht then confronted Sharilar with the knowledge of her true nature, but rather than execute her as well offered her a chance to help him reform ComStar.[3]
| “ | What better than a tanker truck hauling insecticide to get rid of a load of pests? Operation Scoption, indeed! | ” |
| — First Prince Hanse Davion, New Avalon, 1 May 3052[6] | ||
References
Bibliography
- ComStar (sourcebook)
- Lost Destiny (Novel)