Editing Alphard (MH)

{{otheruses|the Marian Hegemony system|the Free Worlds League system|Alphard (FWL)}}

{{InfoBoxSystem
| image               = Alphard_(MH)_3151.svg
| caption             = Alphard [[#Nearby_Systems|nearby systems]]
| name                = Alphard
| coord               = −405.914 : −298.395{{e}}
| stars               = 
| class               = G3IV<ref name=HBP166>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 166: "Alphard Profile"</ref><ref name="M&Mp199">''Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers'', pp. 199–200: "Marian Hegemony Key Worlds"</ref><ref name="TP1E146">''The Periphery'', p. 146: "Marian Hegemony"</ref><ref name=OB:Pp25>''Objectives: Periphery'', p. 25: "Alphard"</ref>
| recharge            = 184 hours<ref name=HBP166>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 166: "Alphard Profile"</ref><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| recharge stations   = None<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| planets             = 
}}
The '''Alphard''' system is the location of the habitable world '''Alphard IV''', and as of [[3145]] was the capital world of the [[Marian Hegemony]].<ref name=ER:3145p38>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 38: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"</ref><ref name="FM:3145pVI">''Field Manual: 3145'', p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"</ref>

__TOC__

==System Description==
Alphard is located near the [[Stafford]] and [[Suetonius]] systems. By the [[thirty-first century]], the Alphard system lacked any recharge stations.<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>

==Political Affiliation==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[2571]] - No record<ref name="HB:HMp24">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 24</ref>
* [[2596]] - No record<ref name="H:RWp158">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 158</ref>
* [[2750]] - No record<ref name="ER:2750p36">''Era Report: 2750'', p. 36</ref>
* [[2764]] - No record<ref name="FM:SLDFpvii">''Field Manual: SLDF'', p. xi: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"</ref>
* [[2765]] - No record<ref name="H:LoTv1p10">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 10</ref><ref name="FR2765:Pp38">''Field Report 2765: Periphery'', p. 38</ref>
* [[2767]] - No record<ref name="H:LoTv1p104">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 104</ref>
* [[2822]] - No record<ref name="H:LOTV2p122">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', pp. 122–123</ref><ref name="HB:HMp34">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 34</ref>
* [[2864]] - No record<ref name="HB:HMp38">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 38</ref>
* [[2930]] - [[Marian Hegemony]]<ref name="HB:MPSp163">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 163: "Marian Hegemony at various dates"</ref>
* [[3025]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name=TPE1pvii>''The Periphery, First Edition'', pp. 156–157</ref><ref name="HB:HMp42">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 42</ref>
* [[3030]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="HB:HMp51">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 51</ref>
* [[3040]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="H:Wo3039p132">''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 132</ref>
* [[3050]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="ER:3052p10">''Era Report: 3052'', p. 10</ref>
* [[3052]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="ER:3052p22">''Era Report: 3052'', p. 22</ref>
* [[3055]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="HB:MPSp163"/>
* [[3057]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="ER:3062p10">''Era Report: 3062'', p. 10</ref>
* [[3058]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="HB:HMp54">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 54</ref>
* [[3059]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="TPE2p112">''The Periphery, 2nd Edition'', p. 112: "Illyrian Palatinate & Marian Hegemony"</ref>
* [[3063]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="HB:MPSp163"/><ref name="ER:3062p28">''Era Report: 3062'', p. 28</ref><ref name="ISp98">''Inner Sphere'', p. 98: "Near Periphery Kingdoms"</ref>
* [[3067]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="HB:MPSp163"/><ref name="J:FRp42">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 42</ref><ref name="HB:HMp56">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 56</ref>
* [[3075]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="JS:TBDp64">''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 64</ref>
* [[3079]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="FR:Pp23">''Field Report: Periphery'', p. 23</ref>
* [[3081]] - Marian Hegemony<ref>''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 63</ref>
* [[3085]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name="FM:3085pvii">''Field Manual: 3085'', p. vii: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"</ref>
* [[3135]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name=ER:3145p10>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 10</ref>
* [[3145]] - Marian Hegemony<ref name=ER:3145p38/><ref name="FM:3145pVI"/>
{{div col end}}

-------------------------------------
==Alphard IV==
{{InfoBoxPlanet
| image               = Alphard flag.png
| name                = Alphard IV
| othernames          = 
| position            = Fourth<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/><ref name="TP1E62">''The Periphery'', p. 62: "Bandit Kingdoms"</ref>
| distance            = 8.53 days<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| moons               = 1 (Romulus)<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| gravity             = 1.0<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| pressure            = Standard (Breathable)<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| temperature         = 33°C (Temperate)<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| water               = 55%<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| life                = Mammal<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| continents          = 3 (Alba, Gaul, Ostia)<ref name="M&Mp195"/><ref name=HBP166/><ref name="HB:MPSp154">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 154: "Spotlight: The Senate"</ref>
| colonized           = 
| demonym             = 
| language            = 
| religion            = 
| population          = 3,110,205,000 (3067),<ref name=HBP166/><br>3,110,192,000 (3076),<ref name="M&Mp199"/><br>3,112,075,000 (3079)<ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| ruler               = [[Caesar of the Marian Hegemony|''Caesar'' of the Marian Hegemony]] (formerly ''Imperator'')
| political           = 
| commander           = 
| capital             = Nova Roma<ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| hpg                 = B<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp199"/><ref name="TP1E146"/><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
| hpgrep              = [[Precentor]] [[Laura Trin]] (3025)<ref name=TP146>''The Periphery'', p. 146: "World Name: Alphard"</ref>
}}
Alphard IV, commonly referred to simply as Alphard, is the fourth planet in the Alphard system and has been the capital of the interstellar nation known as the Marian Hegemony since that nation was founded. Alphard was host to at least two major manufacturers—[[Alphard Trading Corporation]] and [[Marian Arms Incorporated]]—as well as an aerospace training academy and the Senate House.

===Planetary History===
====Recolonization====
Alphard was the capital world of the [[Marian Hegemony]]. In [[2920]], [[Johann Sebastian O'Reilly]] discovered a hidden storehouse of [[germanium]] on Alphard that had once belonged to the [[Alphard Trading Corporation]]. He used the wealth from this lode to found the beginnings of the Marian Hegemony.<ref>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 42</ref> Johann O'Reilly had been searching for Star League technology left behind by the Alphard Trading Company, but having found 50 billion C-bills' worth of germanium, Johann instead recruited several small mercenary bands to defend the planet and invited war refugees to settle. He also named his fledgling colony after the Roman Consul Gaius Marius.<ref name="M&Mp195">''Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers'', p. 195: "The Marian Hegemony"</ref> With the stored germanium quickly converted to cash, Johann was able to open Alphard up for germanium mining and within a few years the population had grown enough to allow Johann to establish control over seven other nearby worlds.<ref name="HB:MPSp42">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 42: "Bandit Kings and Pirate Nations"</ref>

====The Succession Wars====
By [[3025]], Alphard was a world that offered a reasonable standard of living and some nominal creature comforts, in part due to the modest industrialization that had taken place, and it was considered likely that if the Hegemony government could protect the industries on Alphard from predation or retaliation at the hands of the Hegemony's neighbors, Alphard could become a stable economic force in the Periphery for generations.<ref name="TP1E146"/>

====The Word of Blake====
In [[3058]], the [[Word of Blake]] sent a delegation to Alphard to treat with ''[[Caesar of the Marian Hegemony|Caesar]]'' [[Sean O'Reilly]]. The Blakists made an offer that proved impossible for the ''Caesar'' to turn down; in exchange for an exclusive contract to operate the [[HPG]] systems within the Hegemony, the Word would upgrade the Marian Legions to use more advanced technology.<ref name="HB:MPSp71+">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', pp. 71–72: "Ave, Imperator - Rise of the Marian State"</ref> In [[3059]], O'Reilly went on to establish the [[Alphard Air Academy]] on Alphard.<ref name="HB:MPSp158"/>

====''Caesar'''s End====
In mid-[[3063]], [[Julius O'Reilly]], son of ''Caesar'' Sean O'Reilly, returned to Alphard in command of the victorious [[II Legio]] and [[IV Legio]], fresh from their conquest of the [[Illyrian Palatinate]]. Julius had returned to Alphard to depose his father, exposing the ''Caesar'''s various misdeeds from embezzlement to atrocities against the population of the Lothian worlds; the bulk of the population already detested Sean, and needed little reason to turn on him. Those members of [[I Legio]] who stayed loyal to Sean—less than half the legion, all told—were quickly dispatched by the forces loyal to Julius, and when ''Caesar'' himself was dispatched at the point of Julius' sword, Alphard and the rest of the Hegemony had a new ''Caesar''.<ref name="HB:MPSp72">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 72: "Conscience of the King"</ref>

''Caesar'' Julius O'Reilly had a noticeable effect on Alphard; over the next few years, he revoked or curbed many of the excesses his father had put in place, including having a number of buildings and other architectural features reworked to remove many of the excessive self-promoting tributes Sean had established. Julius' reintroduction of the previous system of patronage, where a member of the ''pleb'' class could buy his way into the patrician class by purchasing landholds in the Lothian and Illyrian worlds gave successful ''plebs'' a way upwards and off Alphard.<ref name="HB:MPSp143">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 143: "Marian Hegemony"</ref>

====Circinus Federation War====
During the unsuccessful [[3066]] campaign against the [[Circinus Federation]], Federation forces launched a counterattack that included a destructive raid on Alphard itself. A number of prominent families on Alphard lost valuable real estate in the resulting battle, generating a certain amount of ill will towards ''Caesar'' Julius O'Reilly.<ref name="HB:MPSp157">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 157: "Bad Break: The Caesar and the Word of Blake"</ref>

====The Jihad====
On 6 June [[3071]], the [[Word of Blake]] detonated a series of neutron bombs which had been hidden throughout Nova Roma, the capital city of Alphard and the Marian Hegemony, annihilating the population of the city and killed the ''Caesar'' [[Julius O'Reilly]] and most of the Marian Senate.<ref name="JHS3076p16">''Jihad Hot Spots: 3076'', p. 16: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref> This had a dramatic negative effect on Alphard's development, largely undoing forty years of industrial growth, growth which had been boosted by the addition of mineral resources from the worlds of the former [[Lothian League]]. The Blakist attack not only destroyed factories, it also destroyed Alphard's university and trade school system, as well as financial records, contracts, tax records and all of the people who worked in the factories, in further education, and in finance. Alphard lost both its key workers and the infrastructure to train more, and economists estimated that the planetary economy wouldn't recover from the damage until the 3120s.<ref name="M&Mp199"/>

The nature of the weapons used by the Blakists left the fabric of the city of Nova Roma largely intact; a silent mausoleum filled with buildings in the Classical style, with the buildings combining golden sandstone with white Alphard marble facings. The remains are guarded by an elite honor guard from the ''[[Prima Auxilia Alphardensis]]'', and a dedicated corps of civilian workers who were still working during the Jihad to bury the dead and monitor the radiation levels and environmental effects left by the attack. The civilian corps is manned on an entirely voluntary basis and each worker is only allowed to work for a month in the city; despite these strict requirements, in the six years after the attacks no post was ever unfilled. For years, mourners flocked to what became known as the Silent City in numbers reaching hundreds of thousands, wearing yellow plastic suits and black respirators to visit graves and familiar places too radioactive to enter. There was a strict ban on anything being removed from the city by any of these mourners, as to do so is considered grave robbing; visitors are thoroughly searched, and anyone from the lower orders who attempts to remove anything faced stiff penalties.<ref name="M&Mp199"/>

In the aftermath of the attack on Nova Roma the city of Lugdunum on the continent of Gaul became the planetary capital ''pro tem'', despite being a sleepy continental capital ill-suited to being the capital city of an interstellar nation. Lugdunum's primary role had been in the sale, trade and processing of agricultural products, and the transition to planetary and national capital was a difficult one. The change was only temporary, however; the new ''Caesar'', [[Cassius O'Reilly]], declared that a new capital city, also to be named Nova Roma, would be built in the shadow of the silent remains of the original city. The skeleton of the new Senate building was to be built using steel taken from the original Senate building and decontaminated.<ref name="M&Mp199"/>

===Military Deployment===
====3079====
* [[III Legio]]<ref name="FRPp15">''Field Report: Periphery'', p. 15: "Marian Hegemony Regimental Status"</ref><ref name=OB:Pp25/>
:- At this point in time, the III Legio were deployed across [[Pompey]] and Alphard. The III Legio was at 85% of full strength.

====3085====
* [[I Legio]]<ref>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 150: "Deployment Table - 3085"</ref>

====3145====
* ''[[Cohors Morituri]]'' (shared with [[Addhara]] and [[New Venice]])<ref name=FM3145p202>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 202: "Marian Hegemony Armed Forces"</ref>

===Geography===
Alphard is a dry, arid and desolate world, dominated by box canyons, mountain ranges and rocky arroyos. While Alphard is possessed of considerable untapped mineral wealth, there is relatively little arable land; what land there is that is suitable for farming is located principally on the two northern continents of Alba and Gaul.<ref name=HBP166/><ref name="M&Mp195"/> The southernmost continent on Alphard is the island continent of Ostia.<ref name="HB:MPSp154">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 154: "Spotlight: The Senate"</ref> One notable inland sea is the Stella Maris, a giant freshwater sea located several kilometers from the planetary capital of Nova Roma and home to the [[Alphard Mudskipper]].<ref name="HB:MPSp178">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 178: "Alphard Mudskipper (Amphibius Alphardis)"</ref>

===Planetary Locations===
* [[Alphard Air Academy]] (from 3059)<ref name="HB:MPSp158">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 158: "Aerospace and Conventional Forces"</ref>
* Lugdunum: Continental capital of the continent of Gaul<ref name="M&Mp199"/>
* Nova Roma: Planetary capital city<ref name="HB:MPSp178"/>

===Companies and Industries===
* [[Alphard Trading Corporation]]<ref name="HB:MPSp161">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 161: "Alphard Trading Corporation"</ref><ref>''Objectives: Periphery'', p. 25: "Alphard Trading Corporation"</ref>
* [[Marian Arms Incorporated]]<ref name="HB:MPSp162">''Handbook: Major Periphery Status'', p. 162: "Marian Arms, Inc."</ref><ref>''Objectives: Periphery'', p. 26: "Marian Arms, Incorporated"</ref>

==Map Gallery==
<div class="system-map-gallery"></div>

==Nearby Systems==
<!-- NOTE: This table is automatically generated by BattleTechWiki:Project_Planets/Mapping, and any edits to this section may be overwritten at any time by a bot -->
{|class="wikitable nearby-systems" style="background: #gray; text-align:center; border: 1px solid black;"
! colspan="8" | Closest 20 systems (8 within 60 light-years)<br>Distance in light years, closest systems first:
|-
| class="lessthan30" | [[Stafford]]
| class="lessthan30" | 18.6
| class="lessthan30" | [[Suetonius]]
| class="lessthan30" | 19.0
| class="over30" | [[Pompey]]
| class="over30" | 32.9
| class="over30" | [[Baccalieu]]
| class="over30" | 36.3
|-
| class="over30" | [[Addhara]]
| class="over30" | 37.8
| class="over30" | [[Niops]]
| class="over30" | 47.8
| class="over30" | [[Ballalaba]]
| class="over30" | 54.5
| class="over30" | [[Horatius]]
| class="over30" | 56.2
|-
| class="over60" | [[Stettin]]
| class="over60" | 64.3
| class="over60" | [[New Venice]]
| class="over60" | 64.5
| class="over60" | [[Revel]]
| class="over60" | 66.5
| class="over60" | [[Romita]]
| class="over60" | 69.7
|-
| class="over60" | [[Izmir]]
| class="over60" | 72.0
| class="over60" | [[Islington]]
| class="over60" | 74.0
| class="over60" | [[Lahti]]
| class="over60" | 76.5
| class="over60" | [[Cerignola]]
| class="over60" | 79.2
|-
| class="over60" | [[Hednesford]]
| class="over60" | 80.4
| class="over60" | [[Corbeanca]]
| class="over60" | 83.8
| class="over60" | [[Marius's Tears]]
| class="over60" | 86.0
| class="over60" | [[Paulinus]]
| class="over60" | 86.8
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[Era Report: 2750]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: SLDF]]''
* ''[[Field Report: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Field Report 2765: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Marik]]''
* ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2]]''
* ''[[Historical: Reunification War]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[Inner Sphere (sourcebook)|Inner Sphere]]''
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Jihad Hot Spots: 3076]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers]]''
* ''[[Objectives: Periphery]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery]]''
* ''[[The Periphery, 2nd Edition (sourcebook)|The Periphery, Second Edition]]''
{{div col end}}

[[Category:Systems|Alphard (Marian Hegemony System)]]
[[Category: Marian Hegemony Systems]]