Editing Calderon Protectorate

{{InfoBoxState
| image = Erod's Escape Flag.jpg
| Founded = [[3066]]
| Dissolved = 
| capital = [[Erod's Escape]]<ref>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 130</ref>
| systems = 14 (3145)
| population = 
| currency = [[CP Bull]]<ref name=MPS>''Major Periphery States'', p. 194</ref>
| language = 
| demonym = 
| Head of State = Acting President (3067)<ref name="HB:MPSp128A"/> <br>Protector (3080)<ref name="J:FRp61"/>
| cintel = 
| army = [[Calderon Protectorate Military]] (CPM)<ref name="FM:3085p132">''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 132, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>
| navy = 
| mintel = 
}}

The '''Calderon Protectorate''' is a small [[Periphery]] state located spinward of the [[Taurian Concordat]].  The Protectorate began as a collection of small settlements newly-colonized by the Taurian Concordat, an effort which started with the [[Far Lookers]] movement and was backed by Concordat financial interests.

==History==
===Formation===
Though not interested in independence initially, the Protectorate declared itself a separate nation in the wake of recognition of the [[Fronc Reaches]].  The decision was based on several complaints: 

* The Taurian Concordat had invested (and lost) a significant amount of resources in order to colonize the newly-independent Fronc Reaches.
* The Taurian people were upset with [[Grover Shraplen]] because of his entering the [[Trinity Alliance]].
* Many people were outraged with Grover Shraplen's refusal to recognize the illegitimate son of [[Jeffrey Calderon]], [[Erik Martens-Calderon]], or any other distantly-related Calderon as the new Protector.

Many citizens of the Concordat called for Shraplen's immediate resignation on the wake of the New Colony Region's bid for independence, but Shraplen showed no sign of being willing to resign.<ref name="FM:Up186">''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 186, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref> The primary political adversary to Grover Shraplen was [[Marshal (rank)|Marshal]] Baron [[Cham Kithrong]]. Kithrong argued for Shraplen to step down in favor of a Regency Council that would rule until Erik reached his majority, but Shraplen refused to consider the idea. Shraplen's decision to order the destruction of two [[DropShip]]s burning towards Taurus containing the [[Fighting Urukhai]] in the belief that the DropShips were a Federated Suns attack on the planet brought back echoes of the rule of [[Thomas Calderon]] and further alienated some segments of the population and drove Kithrong to act. Lacking the political power to oust Shraplen outright, Kithrong decided to take the Taurian [[VI Corps (Taurian Concordat)|VI Corps]] and secede from the Concordat in September 3066, vowing never to return unless a Calderon sat on the throne. The worlds garrisoned by VI Corps formed the basis of the new Calderon Protectorate.<ref name="HB:MPSp67">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 67, "Restoration: The Calderon Protectorate"</ref> 

Shraplen deployed (a relatively unmotivated) [[V Corps (Taurian Concordat)|V Corps]] to quell the rebellion.<ref>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 128</ref> When the Protectorate formed in late 3066 it initially consisted of just four worlds: [[Belle Isle]], [[Erod's Escape]], [[Marknick]] and [[Mirfak]]. By the end of October, the loyalist [[TDF]] forces had already pushed the [[1st Taurian Pride|First Taurian Pride]] off Belle Isle and Mirfak; this left the Taurian Pride digging in on Erod's Escape and Marknick, and fortunately for Baron Kithrong, his former colleagues in the TDF had no wish to turn the action into a full-fledged civil war and ignored orders from Shraplen to push onto the remaining two worlds.<ref name="HB:MPSp126">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 126, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref> Kithrong's stance was in many ways a more extreme version of their own feelings, and Shraplen had already alienated a substantial part of the TDF.<ref name="HB:MPSp67"/>

The Taurian Pride used this breathing space to dig in on the two remaining Protectorate worlds, while Baron Kithrong conducted a media interview in December 3066 to explain his decision to call on the various worlds to secede.<ref name="HB:MPSp126"/> The interview highlighted the depth of secessionist feeling on the four worlds which had first formed the Protectorate, and the nearby worlds of [[Diik]], [[Gaul]], [[Lastpost]] and [[Oscar]] responded to the interview by taking Kithrong up on his offer to join the Protectorate. Kithrong offered to personally pay passage to [[Tyrrhenia]] or [[Colchis]] for any of the colonists on the various worlds who wished to remain in the Concordat; by 3067, surprisingly few people had accepted the offer, with the bulk of the population apparently content to remain within the Protectorate.<ref name="HB:MPSp128">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 128, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref> 

Both the Protectorate and the Concordat continued to contest ownership of Mirfak in 3067, but by dint of the number of troops on the world, Mirfak was effectively a Concordat holding.<ref name="HB:MPSp126"/> The Protectorate also found itself facing an uptick in pirate raids from the [[Tortuga Dominions]], something likely to get worse if the Concordat launched another attack on the Protectorate.<ref name="HB:MPSp130">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 130, "Protectorate Military"</ref>

Assisting the Protectorate's bid for independence were the many associates and friends of Baron Kithrong and his allies within the Taurian Defense Force; those contacts ran interference for the Protectorate, giving it time to gain official political recognition as a state while also blocking Sharplen's continued attempts to launch a full-scale invasion of the breakaway worlds. In doing so, those associates and friends effectively blocked a move that would have plunged the Concordat into a full-fledged civil war.<ref name="FM:Up186"/> Rumors continued to circulate in the Concordat that the Protectorate was being armed for an invasion of the Concordat, with many of those rumors alleging that the [[Word of Blake]] was supplying equipment to the Protectorate - and with a fair number of those rumors also alleging that House Davion was aiding the Blakists in their smuggling operations.<ref name="HB:MPSp111">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 111, "Outside Factions: The Word of Blake"</ref>

Shraplen did embargo trade with the Protectorate, however; he authorized the Taurian Navy to interdict vessels attempting to travel to the Protectorate, but once again his efforts were circumvented by Kithrong's former associates, who turned a blind eye to the majority of vessels crossing the border. A small number of vessels were interdicted, but only enough to divert Shraplen from investigating further.<ref name="HB:MPSp117">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 117, "National Economy"</ref>

Nevertheless, military action against the Protectorate continued in [[3068]]; the [[Third Taurian Lancers]] had been tasked with the conquest of the Protectorate world of [[Marknick]]. The mercenary [[Black Angus Boys]] had been contracted to support the offensive operations against the Protectorate, but refused to defend the Third Lancers' landing zone when the Lancers found themselves the target of a counterattack by the [[First Taurian Pride]]. The Black Angus Boys' refusal to support the Lancers effectively ended the entire campaign against the Protectorate.<ref name="MSUp31">''Mercenaries Supplemental Update'', p. 31, "Black Angus Boys"</ref> Shraplen himself lacked the political clout to force a concerted effort by the [[Taurian Defense Force|TDF]] to retake the Protectorate - an act that would (almost certainly) start the first Taurian Civil War. 

In the wake of the Protectorate secession, the Taurian Concordat lost another two settlements who seceded, becoming independent worlds, and ended colonization efforts on another two worlds. Marshal Baron Cham Kithrong would serve as the Acting President of the Regency Council, the committee training Erik Martens-Calderon to lead the Protectorate, until Erik was declared Protector.<ref>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 128</ref>

===War With The Taurian Concordat===
On the 14th of March [[3070]] Kithrong and the Calderon Protectorate declared war on the Taurian Concordat, citing Shraplen's obsession with the worlds of the Pleiades Cluster in defiance of the [[Word of Blake]] crusade against all humanity as evidence that Shraplen was unfit to rule the Concordat, and claimed that they were acting "in the name of all Taurian people."<ref name="J:FRp48">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 48, "The Jihad In Review"</ref>

The Calderon Protectorate initially loaned some of its armed forces to the Taurian Concordat during the [[Jihad]] in the face of the [[Federated Suns]] counteroffensive after the Taurian invasion of the Federated Suns. However, with the newly-acquired ''[[Quixote]]''-class [[WarShip]] [[TCS Vendetta|TCS ''Vendetta'']] bombarding cities on worlds within the Federated Suns - including former Taurian worlds - in pursuit of the mercenary unit [[Hansen's Roughriders]], Baron Kithrong recalled all Protectorate forces from the Concordat on the 30th of June [[3076]] citing moral conflicts.<ref name="JHS:Tp22">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 22, "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp56">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 56, "The Jihad In Review"</ref>

Emissaries from the Protectorate arrived on both [[Taurus]] and [[New Avalon]] on the 15th of March [[3080]], appealing to both states for an end to the conflict between the Concordat and the Suns. The Protectorate successfully brokered a treaty between the two states on the 2nd of July, a week after Baron Kithrong stepped down as Regent-Protector so that Erik Martens-Calderon could assume the Protectorship. The treaty called for the Federated Suns to cede the Pleiades worlds to the Concordat, while the Concordat effectively surrendered the TCS ''Vendetta'' to the Calderon Protectorate, where it would be crewed by a crew of personnel from all three realms. While the treaty ended the war, the ''Vendetta'' would not be officially transferred to the Protectorate until the 19th of April [[3081]].<ref name="J:FRp61">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 61, "The Jihad In Review"</ref>

In the wake of the [[Jihad]] the presence of the ''Vendetta'' in the Calderon Protectorate made the Protectorate a major player in the Periphery; the Protector announced in [[3081]] that the ''Vendetta'' would be renamed the [[Redemption|CPS ''Redemption'']], and that despite still needing extensive repairs the ''Redemption'' would be dedicated to deterring piracy throughout the region and as far afield as the border of the [[Filtvelt Coalition]].<ref name="J:FRp116">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 116, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref> In the intervening years prior to [[3145]], the Taurians and Federated Suns ceased manning the ship and is now run wholly (though sparsely) by the Protectorate.<ref name=FM3145_189/> 

The Calderon Protectorate benefited from the rampant Taurian Concordat aggression of the Jihad era; while the Taurian Defense Force was committing atrocities in the border regions of the Federated Suns, the Calderon Protectorate Military (CPM) held back from invading Taurian worlds. This demonstration of the Protectorate remaining true to the key tenets that had led to the creation of the Protectorate gained the diminutive nation a considerable amount of respect, and the determination shown by the government to protect the inhabitants of the Protectorate from pirate predation engendered great faith in the government amongst the local population.<ref name="FM:3085p132"/>

Erik Martens-Calderon reached out to the [[Federated Suns]], [[Raven Alliance]], and the [[Republic of the Sphere]] for formal recognition of his Periphery state, opening embassies in each of those three in [[3096]], [[3090]], and [[3092]] respectively. In a surprise gesture, and as a backhanded slap at the Taurian Concordat, First Prince [[Harrison Davion]] recognized the Protector's government as the legitimate authority over the latter state in [[3100]]. Since then, the Protectorate received limited military aid in the way of industrial construction from the Suns and the Republic, and access to military sales from [[Clan Sea Fox]] and the Suns.<ref name=FM3145_185>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 185, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>

Martens-Calderon retired in [[3120]], being succeeded by his son [[Sam Calderon]]. Under the new Protector's guidance, the nation focused on expanding programs of exploration and colonization, and expanded—via cooperative diplomacy—into neighboring independent systems. These efforts were seen as successful and peaceable, encouraging better relations with former Taurian Concordat worlds.<ref name=FM3145_185/> A trade agreement with the [[Fiefdom of Randis]] benefited the Protectorate's terraforming projects.<ref name=FM3145_185FR>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 185, "Fiefdom of Randis"</ref>

=== The Dark Age ===
Untouched by attacks from the Word of Blake, the beginning of the [[Dark Age]] saw the Protectorate actively working to improve the fledgling nation's industrial base and then using the developing manufacturing resources to help boost the economy through exports. The improved manufacturing base also gave the CPM local sources of supply, and military recruitment picked up both as a result of the more enthusiasm amongst the energized citizens of the protectorate and the swarms of immigrants from the Concordat who fled to the Protectorate to escape the ruling military junta.<ref name="FM:3085p132"/>

The Protectorate further improved it's economic base by establishing trade ties with the nearby [[Filtvelt Coalition]] and [[Fronc Reaches]], as well as the more distant [[Raven Alliance]] - and these ties also helped to secure the Protectorate's borders.<ref name="FM:3085p132"/> The establishment of the [[New Hope Military University]] also saw the [[Calderon Guard]] mature into a respectable fighting force, although one marked initially by having more pride and ambition than ability.<ref name="FM:3085p134"/>

The period between the Jihad and [[3145]] also saw continued expansion of the Protectorate via the founding of colonies on newly discovered planets.<ref name=FM3145_184>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 184, "General Review"</ref>

The Taurian Concordat's Protector [[Kaff Doru]] opened discussions with Sam Calderon for war matériel produced in the Protectorate in [[3144]], to protestations regarding sovereignty across the Concordat. In response, Doru's administration has indicated this as the intended beginning of tension-easing steps.<ref name=FM3145_188>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 188, "Taurian Concordat"</ref>

Eighty-one years after the Calderon Protectorate was formed, on 29 August [[3147]], Protector Sam Calderon and Kaff Doru announced that Doru's twelve-year-old daughter Reva and Calderon's eight-year-old son Bryant would marry once Bryant turned eighteen. This meant that in [[3157]] the Calderon Protectorate and Taurian Concordat were scheduled to reunify as one nation again. Until then, the two nations would expand their trade relations and engage in mutual defense operations, with additional safeguards to prevent events like the Bromhead Massacre of 3067.<ref>''Shattered Fortress'', p. 45</ref>

==Government==
Founded as a nation to be a reminder of all of the things that were considered to be finest about the Taurian Concordat, the government structure of the Protectorate is democratic in nature and modeled on that of the Concordat. Planetary and local governments are free to oversee their own affairs, all are considered equal under the law, civil liberties are cherished and the Protectorate has a strong justice system. The top levels of government are significantly different to that of the Concordat, however; with the foundation of the Protectorate in 3066, Kithrong refused suggestions that he take the title of Protector, and was resistant to taking any title at all beyond his existing military rank. Kithrong was eventually persuaded to take the title of Acting President of the Regency Council; the other members of the Regency Council included [[Captain]] [[Talia Martens]], mother of [[Erik Martens-Calderon]]; [[Colonel]] [[Peter LaCasse]], commanding officer of the 1st Taurian Pride; Colonel [[David Summerheim]], commanding officer of the [[2nd Taurian Pride]], and one additional elected representative from each Protectorate planet. In 3067, this gave the Regency Council a total of 10 members, although there was some debate about a possible eleventh member being appointed to act as a tie-breaker.<ref name="HB:MPSp128A">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 128, "Exile Nation: Government and Politics"</ref>

In June 3080 Erik Martens-Calderon became the first Protector of the Calderon Protectorate, taking over from Baron Kithrong, who stepped down as Acting President of the Regency Council.<ref name="J:FRp61"/>

==Military==
As of [[3145]], the Calderon Protectorate was known to have [[The Battle Corps]] mercenary unit employed on [[Albaracht]].<ref name=FM3145_182>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 182, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>

The [[Calderon Institute of Combat]] (CIC), founded in [[3084]], was eight times its original size by 3145 and developed [[MechWarrior]]s, armored crewmen, and [[infantry]]. The quality of its education was considered to be the equivalent to that of the [[Taurian Concordat]]. The commandant of the institute, Colonel [[Maxwell Calderon-Anderson]], was highly respected by the student body and his personal command, the [[First Taurian Pride]]. The CIC stands out as a military academy, in that it does not rely on the standard academic success model for graduates; when selected students are identified as having nontraditional skills, despite academic or operational weaknesses, they receive personal tutoring until graduation, and then often being assigned to the First Taurians.<ref name=FM3145_189>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 189, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>

===3145===
'''Commander''': [[Protector of the Calderon Protectorate|Protector]] [[Sam Calderon]]<ref name=FM3145_202>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 202, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref><br>
'''Strength''': 6 [[BattleMech]] [[regiment]]s<ref name=FM3145_202/>
* '''Taurian Pride'''
** [[First Taurian Pride]] ([[Erod's Escape]])<ref name=FM3145_197>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 197, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref><ref name=FM3145_202/>
** [[Second Taurian Pride]] ([[Mirfak]])<ref name=FM3145_197/><ref name=FM3145_202/>
** [[Third Taurian Pride]] ([[Carvajal]])<ref name=FM3145_197/><ref name=FM3145_202/>
** [[Fourth Taurian Pride]] ([[Diik]]/[[Gaul]])<ref name=FM3145_198>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 198, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref><ref name=FM3145_202/>
* '''Calderon Guard'''
** [[First Calderon Guard]] ([[Belle Isle]])<ref name=FM3145_198/><ref name=FM3145_203>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 203, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref><br>
** [[Second Calderon Guard]] ([[Franmalin]]/[[Fylovar]]/[[Tyrrhenia]])<ref name=FM3145_198/><ref name=FM3145_203/> 
** [[Third Calderon Guard]] ([[Lastpost]]/[[Oscar]])<ref name=FM3145_198/><ref name=FM3145_203/>

==Economic Base==
The Calderon Protectorate of 3067 was struggling to deal with a moratorium on trade with the Concordat imposed by Protector Shraplen and enforced by the mercenary unit [[Gordon's Armored Cavalry]]. Much of the Protectorate's trade was driven by smugglers and free traders, who were a regular sight within the Protectorate and hailed from a wide range of origins including those operating on behalf of private concerns within the Concordat, all of the major [[Inner Sphere]] powers and almost every Periphery State. The goods imported into the Protectorate by these smugglers and free traders included almost everything imaginable, but the most common cargoes were foodstuffs, medical supplies and machine parts - particularly spare parts for the Protectorate's military equipment. Canopian smugglers had begun to bring medical supplies into the Protectorate, replacing the pipeline through the Concordat that had been cut off by the Concordat government. The first official trade partner for the Protectorate was the [[Fiefdom of Randis]] which was willing to trade food for industrial diamonds and heavy metals from Oscar.<ref name="HB:MPSp129">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 129, "Under Siege: Economics In A Breakaway Nation"</ref>

Internally, the various worlds of the Protectorate were initially barely capable of producing enough food to sustain the population, and while the small military factories on Diik were still producing military hardware the output from the factories wasn't enough to resupply both Taurian Pride regiments. The equatorial jungles around Lastpost were being investigated by the Concordat for possible pharmaceutical development, and the Protectorate continued these investigations.<ref name="HB:MPSp129"/>

In the wake of the Jihad the factories on Diik continued to produce [[RetroTech]] [[BattleMech]]s and [[aerospace fighter]]s at a respectable rate; the majority of this production went to the Protectorate's military forces, but the Protectorate also sold excess production to both the Fronc Reaches and the Filtvelt Coalition. In addition to the equipment sold to the two nearby Periphery realms, the [[Fiefdom of Randis]] also bought small quantities of the ''[[Star Dagger]]'' for their own local defense forces.<ref name="J:FRp117">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 117, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref> 

The Protectorate economy grew after the Jihad with the establishment of trading ties between the Protectorate and both the Fronc Reaches and the Filtvelt Coalition; the Protectorate also introduced trade ties with the Raven Alliance.<ref name="FM:3085p132"/> The growth in the Protectorate's economy, particularly as a result of an expansion in manufacturing, encouraged the Protectorate government to look for parties willing to either upgrade the [[Protectorate Defense Conglomerate]] factory or to build a new factory within the Protectorate capable of producing standard or advanced technology items.<ref name="FM:3085p134">''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 134, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>

On [[Erod's Escape]] in [[3145]], ''[[Commando]]s'', ''[[Locust]]s'', and ''[[Legionnaire]]s'' were being produced in limited numbers by [[Protectorate Military Industries]] (PMI), with other [[BattleMechs]] also being produced in even smaller runs, all-told providing about 25% of the state's requirements. The company opened a smaller facility in the [[Belle Isle]] system in [[3142]], manufacturing [[endosteel]], [[ferro-fibrous armor]] plating, and (in [[3144]]), [[Extralight fusion engine|extra-light fusion power plants]]. On [[Diik]], the [[Protectorate Arms Conglomerate]] also provided a small stream of 'Mechs.<ref name="FM:3145_188CP">''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 188, "Calderon Protectorate"</ref>

== Culture ==
Culturally, the people of the Calderon Protectorate remained Taurian in character and outlook after the secession from the Concordat; the populace regarded themselves as true Taurian patriots, but there was a markedly lower level of paranoia or prejudice against the Federated Suns in the population, perhaps unsurprisingly given that this was a significant part of the differences that first led to the Protectorate splitting away.<ref name="HB:MPSp195">''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 195, "Nationality and the Newborn Realms"</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Calderon Protectorate Map-3079.png|The Calderon Protectorate in 3079
Calderon Protectorate Map-3130.png|The Calderon Protectorate in 3130
Calderon Protectorate Map-3145.png|The Calderon Protectorate in 3145
</gallery>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]''
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Jihad Hot Spots: Terra]]''
* ''[[Mercenaries Supplemental Update]]''
* ''[[Shattered Fortress]]''


[[Category:Nation States]]
[[Category:Calderon Protectorate Related Categories]]