Battletech - Marian Hegemony

The Marian Hegemony

The origins of the Marian Hegemony lie from the demise of the old Alphard Trading Corporation during the Succession Wars. A Periphery native and lostech prospector named Johann Sebastian O'Reilly was searching for reputed lost caches of Star League technology on the planet Alphard rumoured to have been left behind by the defunct company when he instead found a treasure trove of germanium worth billions upon billions of C-Bills. 

History

Johann O'Reilly immediately hired some small mercenary units to protect his newly found wealth and established a colony to serve both as a trading hub and a distraction, diverting those who would follow from the location of his find. Despite the financial reserves Johann could draw on his new Hegemony was simply too small, unable to attract the defenders it would need to defend itself against larger states but too small to attract the attention of those states. As such, the Hegemony spent almost a century as little more than a bandit kingdom fashioned after a society that had been dead for millennia. 

Gaius O'Reilly, the son of Johann Sebastian O'Reilly, left little impression on the history of the Marian Hegemony; by the 3060s, he was primarily remembered for two things: being the father of Marius O'Reilly, and for dying an ignominious death in 3009 when his horse stumbled into a chuckhole, causing Gaius to break his neck. 

The arrival of the Fourth Succession War and the resulting changes within the Inner Sphere brought the fledgling Marian Hegemony new possibilities. With most of the various pirate bands concentrating on the Inner Sphere, the new Imperator, Marius O'Reilly, saw a good opportunity to expand his young nation. The Hegemony had spent a century preying upon nearby trade routes and worlds as a means of keeping the economy functioning. but the advent of the Fourth Succession War, and other more localized conflicts gave rise to opportunities for much more successful and ambitious raids. 

The Imperator proved to be popular with his citizens, and was widely considered to be a good ruler for the Hegemony; Marius' only major misstep was prompted by a failed assassination attempt against him, an assassination attempt that led to him ordering an ill-advised and unsuccessful invasion of the world of Astrokaszy.

Marius continued to expand the Hegemony through colonization efforts, marking a peaceful era for the Marian Hegemony, but one that also led to Marius' downfall. Marius O'Reilly died on a Marian colony world named Herculaneum in 3048; with his father's death officially declared to be the result of a "climbing accident", Sean O'Reilly became the new Imperator. The mourning period for Marius would be marked by intense speculation in the Hegemony that Sean had in fact been responsible for the death of his father.

When Sean emerged from the official mourning period, he abandoned the title of Imperator; instead, he proclaimed that he would rule as Caesar. Sean then promptly began a radical restructuring of the Marian state and government; no longer modelled after the ancient Roman Republic, Sean's intent was to instead model the Hegemony after the ancient Roman Empire. Sean dealt with those protesting against his increasingly dictatorial regime in one of two ways; either his critics and detractors were silenced through promises of great wealth, or they were silenced by the application of great force.  Sean also introduced conscription, ordering that all able-bodied males be conscripted into military service either at the age of seventeen or on completion of any higher education; while he exempted women from enforced conscription, women were allowed to join the military voluntarily.

Having secured his hold over the population, Sean embarked on an expansion of the Hegemony through conquest. To this effect, in 3054 he invaded the Lothian League,[5] a small nation of just seven planets founded by refugees from the Taurian Concordat in the aftermath of the Reunification War centuries before. In 3057, Sean O'Reilly invaded the world of Astrokaszy; he hoped to capture the planet with assistance from the Blakist faction known as the Sixth of June and then use the planet as a staging ground for later invasions. 

His son Julius, a recent graduate of the Collegium Bellorum Imperium, had been recently promoted to command a century in the First Legion. He quickly gained the attention of several powerful military leaders and Senators as well as attracting the notice of those working against Sean. Sean responded to Julius' rise by posting him out of the First Legion, promoting him to command the second cohort of the Second Legion. Julius' transfer and promotion were an effort to secure his own safety, but proved to be a significant mistake on Sean's part; the Second was based on the Lothian world of Lordinax, and Julius' arrival in June 3060 marked a turning point in his rise. 

When Julius arrived, the Second Legion was suffering repeated attacks from rebel forces and was rapidly becoming demoralized. Sean's first orders were for Julius to be sent on punitive raids against a number of Lothian settlements believed to be harbouring rebels, a campaign that Sean hoped would either see Julius killed or toughened up; instead, it led Julius to begin openly questioning the occupation of the League and his father's decisions.

Julius began to covertly build a power base within the Legion, promising an end to the Lothian troubles. Within a year of landing on Lordinax, Julius had ended the resistance and was ready to make his next move.

The conquest of the Palatinate lasted only a short while, as the small nation was only defended by two mercenary units, the Arms of Thor and Cavanaugh's Cavalry. The initial invasion was initially stopped by the determined and spirited defence offered by the Arms, and the Legions took heavy damage - but Julius was able to strike a deal with Cavanaugh's Commandos in which they would stand down in exchange for a payment and a place in the Hegemony Armed Forces. He left the Palatinate under the control of local citizens, and under the watchful guard of elements of the Third Legion and a full auxiliary legion, returning to Alphard as the conquering hero who had added new worlds to the Hegemony and ended the Lothian rebellion. 

Julius returned to the capital at the head of the Second and Fourth Legions, where he was hailed as a great hero and conqueror by the citizens of the Hegemony. In a dramatic speech to his people, Julius declared his father unfit to rule the Hegemony, and declared himself the new leader of the nation. The Senate confirmed his appointment by acclamation. 

However, Sean O'Reilly still lived, having holed up in his Palace with the entire of the First Legion. He refuted his son's claim to the throne and instructed the First to put down his son's rebellion. Less than half of the First obeyed Sean's orders, only to fall quickly beneath the advancing Second Legion on the 8th of August 3063; Julius confronted Sean in the throne room and offered him one final chance to abdicate in the face of his many misdeeds over the years, only for Sean to make one last attempt on Julius' life. Julius cut his father down personally.

Julius was inaugurated the following day and began his reign by ordering the implementation of a number of reforms, both social and military. The new Caesar's reforms didn't stop there; intent on making Marian society more "Roman", Julius created a new body, the Plebian Tribunate; while the plebs were still denied the right to vote on any subject other than the selection of planetary Tribunes, the Plebian Tribunate gave the plebs a voice of their own in the government. 

Under Julius' rule the Hegemony grip on the worlds of the former Illyrian Palatinate and Lothian League tightened, but Julius also established some freedoms for the inhabitants of those worlds that they hadn't possessed during their independent rule. 

Despite the reforms initiated by Julius and his focus on building both unity and goodwill within the Hegemony, Julius didn't give up his ambitions to expand the Hegemony by conquest as well. As Caesar, Julius intended to invade and annex the nearby Circinus Federation, with the groundwork for his invasion beginning to be laid in 3063.  The war was a victory for the Marian Hegemony, although it achieved less than Julius had hoped. 

In early 3069 the Marian Hegemony found itself facing potential revolt in the conquered Illyrian and Lothian provinces as both passive and active rebellions began spreading through both regions in a wave. 

During the Word of Blake Jihad, the Marian Hegemony fought the Blakists' proxies, the Circinus Federation, in a bloody conflict that saw the small Periphery holding vanquished and partially occupied by the victorious Marian troops. The Marian Hegemony also at some time gave the Lothian League back its freedom (as shown on maps dating from the 3120s), although the reasons are as yet unclear. 

It was reported in the media on Alphard in September 3077 that couriers from the Circinus Federation border of the Hegemony were bringing news that a Marian offensive against the Federation had died effectively stillborn, with probing attacks on the planets of Thadora's Land and Zorn's Keep being rebuffed by significantly stronger Federation forces. 

In the period immediately after the Jihad, the Marian Hegemony Armed Forces faced a period of rebuilding their strength after the damage inflicted during the attempted annexation of several Free Worlds League planets - the exception being V Legio, which had been struck from the rolls of the MHAF after defecting to become the principle military force of the new Lothian state.  While intelligence agencies hadn't confirmed the fact, Caesar Cassius O'Reilly had ordered that the Hegemony's military production should expand, to prevent a single deliberate attack destroying the bulk of the realm's industrial base, as had nearly happened once already.

Political and Social Structure

The Marian Hegemony is an absolute monarchy, with absolute power vested in the Caesar, who can enforce his will by decree. The Hegemony also has a Senate, composed of patricians from every world of the nation (although the number of Senators sent varies by population). The Senate itself acts as a debate forum that rubber-stamps the Caesar's decrees, although the support of its members is one of the factors that let Julius become Caesar. Initially, the Senate was restricted to only full Hegemony Worlds, but Caesar Julius granted the worlds of the Lothian League and Illyrian Palatinate full status and gave them Senators. 

The Hegemony itself is divided into three classes of people: the Patricians, the Plebeians, and the various slaves. The Patricians are the self-perpetuating nobility of the Hegemony. Only they can serve in the Senate of the Hegemony, and they also make up the upper command structure of the Legions.
Directly below them are the plebs, who serve as the middle and lower-class of the Hegemony. They have little political power, and rarely advance in the ranks of the bureaucracy or the military. Before Caesar Julius' reforms, they had no voice in their leaders' selection, but Julius allowed them to vote for Planetary Tribunes (Governors) and for a special People's Tribune to be sent to the Senate.
The Hegemony is one of the largest Periphery nations to practice slavery, and openly condones it. Most slaves are prisoners of war, however, as it is forbidden to buy or sell a citizen of the Hegemony.

Foreign Relations

Inner Sphere: The Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation are the only two Successor States that have any formal relations with the Marian Hegemony. In the past, Marian raids on Free Worlds League border planets kept relations between them chilly. The recent Taurian-Canopian alliance, however, has prompted Thomas Marik toward friendlier ties with the Hegemony as a possible counter to aggressive moves by the Magistracy of Canopus. Trade between the two states remains as healthy as it has always been Marik merchants eagerly buy germanium from the Hegemony, and sell any number of League-made goods to Hegemony customers. It is frequently said in the Hegemony that Marik merchants own the bazaars on the world of Suetonius. Following Thomas Marik's lead, the Capellan Confederation has also strengthened its ties to the Marian state.

Periphery: The Hegemony has almost no good relations with the other Periphery nations. Relations with the Magistracy of Canopus remain strained, due to a long history of raiding and looting brought on by Marian pirates. The Hegemony's war against the Lothian League angered the Protector of the Taurian Concordat, who then allied himself with the Magistrix against any potential Marian aggression. 

The only Periphery nation to have any good relations with the Hegemony was the Circinus Federation, primarily due to their former mutual dislike of the Illyrian Palatinate. Although they had tried for a joint alliance to divide the Palatinate, that deal fell through, and relations became strained as a result.

IV Legio Comitatensis

History

IV Legio was formed to act as a rapid-response force for the Marian Legions. The IV Legio contained more vehicles than any other BattleMech Legion. The Legion deployed two vehicles for every 'Mech. The 'Mechs were typically faster medium and heavy models. The need to coordinate these fast vehicles and 'Mechs made the IV Legio one of the most coordinated of the Marian Legions.
Deployed to Trasjkis, the Legion drove the Left Arm of Thor from the world, nearly eliminating half that battalion. Later they deployed to Trondheimal and encountered two battalions of light armour. These units inflicted heavy losses on the Legion before they were destroyed.

During the Hegemony's invasion of the Circinus Federation the defenders were disguised as members of IV Legio.  The IV Legion actually spent most of the time of the Federation invasion pacifying worlds in the Illyrian district and fighting pirates.  The Legion was used to garrison Illyria, Trondheimal, and Reykavis. 

In 3074 IV Legio were on Trasjkis attempting to put down local resistance forces when they were themselves the target of a heavy raid performed by Blakist-baked mercenaries.  The Blakists had hired Grandin's Crusaders for the raid, and the Crusaders attacked on the 20th of March. The Crusaders dropped outside the planetary capital city - which the Marian Hegemony had renamed Nova Mediolanum - and made contact first with the various detachments IV Legio had set up in, an effort, to deter the local resistance. Unprepared for the sudden and unexpected arrival of an attacking force, the IV Legio detachments fell back to their temporary headquarters and called on reinforcements from elements of the Legion that had been detached on occupation duties. Those reinforcements attempted to assist, but were ambushed by battle armour squads from the Crusaders, who exploited the lack of experience the IV Legio MechWarriors had at fighting battle armour infantry, leaving the Marian forces flailing around while the bulk of the Crusaders 'Mechs struck at the Legion's headquarters. The Crusaders tore through a number of occupied buildings in an effort to achieve a level of surprise before attacking and destroying the IV Legio command centre. A small number of security personnel attempted to attack the Crusaders, but were gunned down mercilessly by the mercenaries before the Crusaders went on to annihilate the Marian forces in the area. The Crusaders then attacked the remaining IV Legio detachments with his 'Mechs, armour and infantry. When the Marians fell back to regroup Pierre Grandin disengaged his forces as his objective was complete, and the Crusaders lifted off from Trasjkis aboard the DropShip Tonnant even as several DropShips from the Circinus Federation arrived in orbit.

IV Legio was used to pacify the Landfall system in 3079.  They had an important role keeping the retreat corridor open for other Legions to return to the Hegemony after raiding former Free Worlds League systems. They later returned to their previous garrison assignments by 3085. During the Bloody Tricentennial members of the Legion found several Blakist terrorists trying to poison Trondheimal's water supply. Thanks to the Legion's efforts, the terrorists were quickly killed, and a massacre was avoided. 

In the Dark Age the Fourth Legion was stationed on Pompey, Ballalaba, and Horatius. These are heavily populated worlds and home to Hegemony industries. Being so heavily defended, the Fourth rarely saw action while garrisoning these worlds. They were responsible for driving a Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey raiding force that hit Pompey in 3142.  Since then they have remained on those same worlds. 

Tactics

The IV Legio prefers to utilize hit-and-run manoeuvres in striking logistical and weak points in order to bring down the enemy.  After their experience with putting down insurgents, they also became proficient in counter-insurgency operations.

I Legio Matria Victrix

The first military formation of the Marian Hegemony, considered the Hegemony's premier and most fanatically loyal unit. 

History

Formed in 2922  by the Hegemony's founder Johann Sebastian O'Reilly, who hired several unemployed mercenary units in forming the Hegemony's first military force. Johann offered these original members in to service by titles and lands in exchange for their oath of allegiance to him. These original members became the core of the Hegemony's Patrician caste of military officers for decades to come. 

Insurrection of Caesar Julius O'Reilly

In late July 3063, Julius O'Reilly, son of Caesar Sean O'Reilly, arrived on Alphard. At head of the II & III Legios and other support units, he arrived at capital city of Nova Terra. He was then crowned Caesar by governing Senate. He then addressed the Senate and the Hegemony via broadcast that he charged his father for crimes not fitting to its ruler. 

The I Legion's Prima Cohort (1st Cohort) had been garrisoned at Palace, Caesar Julius had order them to quiet the rebellion. Only half of the I Legion acknowledged the order to attack the "rebels". The II Legion cut down Sean's Loyalist I Legion as they departed their stations in Palace.  The rest of the I Legion's members elected to commit suicide rather than serve the new Caesar. 

Rebuilding & Circinian Conflict

After Caesar Julius succeeded in toppling his father, most of the original members of the I Legios had died or committed suicide. All that remained of original I Legios was the Securtda Cohort under the command of the politically asute Legatus Robert Kron. Kron's family connections allowed for him to remain in command, but his unit was not rated as highly as others. The Legios received veterans transferred in from other units to rebuild the Prima Cohort's ranks. The unit expanded to third Cohort with completely new recruits among them. The unit also expanded to include an aerospace wing and a combined arms cohort to support the main units. 

In early 3066, the I Legion and its brother unit II Legion, were led by Caesar Julius in the second wave of the invasion of the Circinus Federation. Their objective was Circinus itself, where the unit attack the capital city. However, invasion was stifled by stronger than expected defences. The Circinian defenders numbered 8 reinforced BattleMech battalions, far more than the Circinians were known to have. The I Legio was pulled from Circinus by Caesar to return to Alphard to repel the Circinian counter-invasion.  The unit reaped a considerable amount of loot from the campaign in the Circinian capital. 

After the conflict, the I Legio had expanded further to include two more Cohorts.
In 3079 the unit relocated to Trondheimal. There it played a key role in defending against Circinian raiders and kept the peace in the Illyrian District. 

Unit Colours and Insignia

The unit's colours are midnight blue and dark grey with red and white trim. Its insignia is a dark grey face with a red axe blade with midnight blue bands. 

Tactics

The I Legios is trained extensively in defensive tactics. Principal tactical doctrine uses the Legios's lighter units lure the enemy to its heavier units in form of ambush. Its auxiliary / Combined-Arms entrenches to enable itself to dispense blistering attacks to the enemy.