Editing History of the Federated Suns

{{Update Needed|[[First Succession War (sourcebook)]]|[[Shattered Fortress]]}}
[[File:Federated_Suns_Logo.png|thumb|right|Crest of the Federated Suns]]

:''This article details the history of the '''''Federated Suns'''''. For more information, see [[Federated Suns]].''

==Foundation==
The [[Federated Suns]] was the brainchild of the [[Successor States#House Davion|Davion family]], an influential noble family of the world of [[New Avalon]]. The father of the Federated Suns was Lucien Davion, a master politician and statesman. His brothers Louis, a scheming political genius and Charles, a military man, assisted him in forming an alliance of several worlds, assisted by New Avalon's regional agricultural role, in the area for the purpose of trade and common defense known as the Crucis Pact.<ref name=JTPNA5>''Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon'', p. 5: "New Avalon" (atlas)</ref> Soon, the realm was growing exponentially and eventually stretched into most of what is now known as the [[Crucis March]]. The formation of the Crucis Pact was in direct response to [[James McKenna]]'s founding of the [[Terran Hegemony]].

Originally, the Federated Suns was a democracy led by the High Council{{m}}a group of the leaders of all member worlds{{m}}led by a President who was charged with national defense. The Presidency gradually became a hereditary position of the Davion family and lead to founding of [[Successor States#House Davion|House Davion]].

==Age of War==
The Age of War came to the Federated Suns due to a crisis within the little known state of Muskegon. [[Muskegon]] was a world ruled by a tyrant that had built a small empire of five worlds. The Muskegon Supremacy, as this collection was known, had joined the Federated Suns. However, due to the horrific regime of the Muskegon dictatorship, two of its colony worlds seceded and turned to what would later emerge into the [[Capellan Confederation]] for help. The Federated Suns was forced to raise an army to combat the secession, as per its promise to provide for Muskegon's defense, and soon there was warfare all across the Capellan border. Meanwhile, things were not well in the Davion household. Two deranged twins, Edward and Edmund Davion, had assumed power and were running the nation into the ground with their extravagance and foolish decisions. A conspiracy of High Council members planned on assassinating Edward (the only remaining twin) and disbanding the office of President. This would lead to a defeat in the war against the Capellans without a centralized military leadership.

The potential crisis between the High Council and the First Prince was averted when Simon Davion, a cousin of the twins, assassinated Edward in the High Council building. Simon Davion, just days after the murder proposed a compromise whereby the Federated Suns was to be divided into five Marches ([[Crucis March|Crucis]], [[Capellan March|Capellan]], Terran, [[Draconis March|Draconis]], and [[Outer March|Outer]], each supported by a nobility (both hereditary and elected). Surprisingly, after much debate, the High Council chose to accept Simon's proposal, thus making him the First Prince (among the four other Princes the [[Crucis March]] leader was known as the First Prince.) For nearly a hundred years, Simon's compromise kept the peace in the Federated Suns until William Davion died, leaving behind his widow and infant son, Alexander.

=== Davion Civil War ===
{{main|Davion Civil War}}
Meanwhile the Varnay family, the leader of the [[Capellan March]] that had long harbored aspirations towards the office of First Prince and had married young Alexander's aunt Cassandra, jockeyed for the leadership of the Federated Suns. It was eventually agreed that five regents would rule the Federated Suns. For ten years, the members of the Regency struggled among themselves, each in the end forgetting about Prince Alexander, rightful heir to the First Princedom who was increasingly disregarded by the Regents, who now looked towards the leadership of the Federated Suns for themselves. Meanwhile, Alexander had come of age and demanded that he be placed on what was rightfully his throne. For years afterwards, there was a passionate struggle between Prince Alexander and those who wanted to assume the throne for themselves. In the end, all were defeated and finally the Federated Suns was united under the rightful heir of House Davion.

==Star League Era==
When the Cameron family began its attempt to unite humanity into a "Star League," the Federated Suns was not very friendly towards the notion. Prince Alexander felt that his government, in the wake of a long Civil War would do well to focus on domestic prosperity and not on warfare. Ian Cameron secretly offered the Hegemony's powerful military as an ally to the Suns if the Combine was to attack. Alexander Davion signed the New Avalon Accords that October and to everybody surprise, in [[2567]] the Federated Suns joined the [[Star League]] (becoming the fourth member state).<ref name="ED:AWp6">''Era Digest: Age of War'', p. 6: "Preludes to Peace"</ref> The Star League Years were relatively quiet with the Federated Suns working with the Star League to ensure a reign of peace and prosperity that lasted for hundreds of years.

The sole exception in this reign of peace was the [[Reunification War]], a conflict fought between the Star League and the Periphery states, which the Star League forced into joining the League. Although the wars cost many lives, they were largely fought light years away from the average resident of the Federated Suns and had little effect on their day to day lives. The Suns took the opportunity to enlarge itself by aiding the [[Star League Defense Force]] on both the [[Taurian Concordat]] and [[Outworlds Alliance]] fronts. Once the [[Star League]] achieved its inevitable victory history records that there was a period of peace unknown in the history of human affairs as mankind devoted itself to science and the colonization of new worlds.

For the Federated Suns, the Star League era was rather less peaceful than later history would imply, particularly towards the end of the era; as tensions between the [[Great House]]s mounted, clandestine and open raiding and even active warfare began to occur with increasing frequency. The most destructive of these for the Federated Suns prior to the collapse of the Star League was the [[War of Davion Succession]], an invasion of the Federated Suns by the Draconis Combine in an attempt to place a disinherited member of the Davion bloodline on the throne of the Federated Suns. The slow response of the [[Star League Defense Force]] to the invasion—an invasion that saw [[First Prince]] [[Joseph Davion (27th c.)|Joseph Davion]] killed by [[Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery]] personnel—drove a wedge between subsequent First Princes, the Star League and the ruling Cameron family.<ref name="FR2765:FSp3">''Field Report 2765: AFFS'', p. 3: "Strategic Update"</ref><ref name="FR2765:FSp4">''Field Report 2765: AFFS'', p. 4: "Goals of the State"</ref>

First Prince [[Richard Davion]] enacted the [[Preparedness Act]] in [[2735]], a piece of legislation that acted as a vehicle for the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns]] to expand without breaching the letter of the [[Council Edict of 2650]] which had limited the size of the military each Great House could maintain. The cooling of relations between the Camerons and Federated Suns would continue during the reign of Richard's heir, [[John Davion]], who focused on directing the industrial and technical strength of the Federated Suns into continuing to expand the AFFS and ensuring that it became the most technologically advanced military after the [[Star League Defense Force Royal Divisions|Royal Divisions]] of the SLDF. The AFFS grew dramatically during John's reign, almost doubling in size between the passing of the Preparedness Act and [[2765]], but relations between John and the Star League were not antagonistic. While John was dedicated to the Federated Suns and his first priority would always be the safety of his realm, he continued to view the Star League as the vehicle which could bring that safety and prosperity to the Federated Suns.<ref name="FR2765:FSp4"/>

The Federated Suns would be embroiled in another war thirty years after the War of Davion Succession, this time with the Capellan Confederation; although technically a border war, the [[Border War (28th c.)|2760-2762 war]] between the two states was fought across nearly a dozen worlds over a range of some sixty light years and saw the planet [[Redfield]] captured by the Federated Suns and a Capellan invasion of [[Chesterton]] hotly contested by both the [[Syrtis Fusiliers]] and the local population. The war finally reached a negotiated conclusion between Prince John and [[Chancellor]] [[Barbara Liao]] but was a harbinger of future wars.<ref name="FR2765:FSp3A">''Field Report 2765: AFFS'', p. 3: "Fractures Revealed"</ref>

In the end, treachery would cause the Star League to fall, but the Federated Suns persevered. Each Council Lord (the head of each of the five Successor States) returned to his or her respective capital and declared his or herself the new First Lord of the Star League. No side seemed willing to give any ground, so each prepared for the inevitable: war.

As the Terran Hegemony began to crumble all of the Great Houses annexed Hegemony worlds, and the Federated Suns was no exception; the Federated Suns annexed [[Mirach]] and [[Schedar]] in [[2783]], worlds that hard been jointly administered by the Hegemony and subsequently conquered by the [[Amaris Empire Armed Forces]] during the [[Amaris Civil War]], along with annexing the Hegemony worlds of [[Ozawa]] and [[Towne]]. In [[2784]] the Federated Suns annexed [[New Rhodes III]] and two more worlds that had been jointly administered but then seized by the AEAF, [[Elbar]] and [[Mallory's World]]. In [[2785]] the Federated Suns occupied the worlds of [[Galatia III]], [[New Florence]] and [[Ronel]], followed by [[Addicks]] and [[Hean]] in [[2786]]. The Federated Suns was somewhat less aggressive in its occupation of Hegemony worlds{{m}}only the Draconis Combine occupied fewer worlds between 2783 and 2786{{m}}but some of those worlds, such as Towne, became the site of battles even before [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] abandoned the Hegemony and departed on [[Operation EXODUS]] along with the bulk of the SLDF.<ref name="H:LoTV2p118">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume Two'', p. 118: "Digesting the Hegemony"</ref>

==First and Second Succession Wars==
The first two [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]] were some of the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. Each [[Successor States|Successor State]] had no qualms about destroying cities, massacring civilians, destroying [[JumpShips]] and other civilian infrastructure. They also used nuclear weapons to great effect. The overall effect of these two conflicts was to reduce the technological sophistication of the [[Successor States]] to a level approximately equivalent to that of the Industrial Revolution. While they still had automated factories, they lost the ability to produce any more.

During the [[First Succession War]], the Federated Suns made steady gains against the [[Capellan Confederation]], but were surprised when the [[Draconis Combine]] attacked. The Combine invasion began in May [[2787]], with [[Delacruz]] being one of the first worlds to be attacked.<ref name="TRO:3025Rp112">''Technical Readout: 3025 Revised'', p. 112: "Deployment"</ref> The [[Draconis Combine|Combine]]'s assault ultimately pushed all the way through the [[Draconis March]] into the [[Crucis March]] until [[Draconis Combine|Combine]] troops actually landed on [[New Avalon]] and destroyed the palace. Fate would strike, however, when a resistance member killed Coordinator Minoru Kurita, who was overseeing the offensive from Kentares. His son, the mad Jinjiro, became Coordinator and order the [[Kentares IV|Kentares]] civilians bathed in their own blood. The [[Draconis Combine|Combine]] samurai carried out their duty and savagely murdered over 3/4 of the population of Kentares, killing millions. These same samurai were horrified at what they had done, so they enacted ritual ''[[seppuku]]'' to atone and salvage their honor. As word of their actions spread, many other [[Draconis Combine|Combine]] warriors followed suit, greatly weakening their offensive. Many who did not kill themselves were still ashamed, damaging their will to fight. By contrast, this massacre galvanized the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns|FedSuns troops]], who rallied and forced the [[Draconis Combine|Combine]] back, almost to the prewar border. Exhausted, both sides called a truce.

The [[Second Succession War]] saw more of the same, though memories of the [[Kentares IV|Kentares]] Massacre were fresh in the minds of many. No such events took place, but the FedSuns made progress against the [[Capellan Confederation]]. They were less successful against the [[Draconis Combine]], losing [[Robinson]], the capital of the [[Draconis March]]. As the war ground to a halt, it was clear that no [[Successor States|Successor State]] military was the same. They were gutted organizations that were close to breaking down. In this, the Federated Suns was similar to their counterparts.

==Third Succession War and the Steiner-Davion Alliance==
The Third Succession War saw a different type of warfare. In an unspoken agreement, the [[Successor States]] no longer fought using total warfare. Population centers were respected, [[JumpShips]] were off limits, and military targets were fought over, not destroyed. Rather than destroying those targets, the losing side simply comforted themselves with the knowledge that they could reconquer it. With the loss of technology, [[BattleMechs|BattleMech factories]] and water purification plants became prize targets. Overall, the days of full-scale invasions were gone, replaced by low-level raiding. This ritualization of warfare, however, led to the belief that war was an acceptable way of solving disagreements. As this constant, low-intensity warfare continued, whole generations grew up knowing nothing else.

The Federated Suns continued to make slow but steady gains against their two largest neighbors. The Suns conquered over a dozen worlds from each of their [[Inner Sphere]] neighbors, including the liberation of [[Robinson]]. Prince Melissa Davion is often referred to as the first modern prince because she streamlined the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns|AFFS]] bureaucracy, allowing them to be more effective against their enemies.

In [[3020]], [[Katrina Steiner|Archon Katrina Steiner]] of the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] extended a proposal of peace to the leaders of the other four [[Successor States]]. Only [[Hanse Davion|Prince Hanse Davion]] showed any interest. Their mutual discussion culminated in the signing of the Federated-Commonwealth Alliance Document in [[3022]] on [[Terra]]. The alliance also had a secret provision that called for the marriage of [[Hanse Davion|Hanse]] and [[Katrina_Steiner|Katrina]]'s daughter, [[Melissa Steiner|Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner]].

==Fourth Succession War==
The [[Fourth Succession War]] began immediately after the marriage of [[Hanse Davion]] and [[Melissa Steiner]]. At the wedding reception on [[Terra]], Hanse Davion announced that his wedding gift to his wife was the Capellan Confederation. What resulted was the largest military offensive in recent memory as Davion forces poured across the border and assaulted world after world of the surprised and quickly demoralized [[Capellan Confederation]]. Hanse Davion claimed justification for the attack as revenge against the Capellan Chancellor [[Maximilian Liao]], because Liao had attempted to replace Hanse with a double. This plot was only stopped because of Hanse's best friend and close advisor, [[Ardan Sortek]].

On top of the outright military attack, the Federated Suns also attempted to subvert the Capellan Confederation from within by encouraging the rebellion of disaffected populations within the Confederation. Pavel Ridzik, the leader of the Capellan military and a native of the world of [[Tikonov]], chose that time to betray his Capellan masters. He formed the [[Tikonov Free Republic]], but was assassinated shortly thereafter. Under the direction of [[Ardan Sortek]], the people of [[Tikonov]] voted to join the Federated Suns.

A more successful nation to secede from the Confederation was the [[St. Ives Compact]]. The Compact was formed when Duchess [[Candace Liao]], heir to the Capellan throne, seceded the St. Ives Commonality from the Confederation amid a romance with Justin Xiang Allard, a FedSuns agent who had infiltrated the Maskirovka (the Capellan intelligence agency) at its highest level.

[[Hanse Davion]] also chose that time to deal with a traitor. Duke Michael Hasek-Davion, the minister of the [[Capellan March]], married Marie Davion, Hanse's half-sister. After the death of Hanse's older brother, Prince Ian, Hanse defeated Michael in a simulated battle to succeed his brother. Though Hanse clearly had the stronger claim, Michael harbored a grudge and sought to gain more power. He fed the Capellans information on the deployments of national troops, while intentionally understating the strength of his own. When Davion's Ministry of Information, Intelligence, and Operations (MIIO) found out, Hanse began to give Michael incorrect data, which was in turn fed to the Maskirovka. Thus, when AFFS troops attacked the Confederation, the CCAF was woefully out of position to deal with the invasion. Michael had thought to conquer the Capellans and create a new state out of the Confederation and his own March. When it became clear that Hanse knew of his plot, Michael fled into the Confederation, where he was killed by Justin Xiang Allard at the command of the Capellan leader, Maximilian Liao.

On the [[Draconis Combine]] front, the Fourth Succession War was less successful, although the [[Draconis Combine]] failed to take any strategically significant planets from the Federated Suns. This was largely thanks to the efforts of Wolf's Dragoons, perhaps the most notable [[mercenary]] command of the early mid [[thirty-first century]]. They goaded Coordinator [[Takashi Kurita]] into sending all the military he could spare at them in a personal vendetta, rather than taking advantage of the FedSuns' distraction. For their efforts, they were granted the conquered world of Outreach by their grateful employer.

Though Davion had stated that his goal was to cripple Liao's ability to prosecute war by seizing the worlds that were important to the Confederation's military-industrial complex, he stopped short of this goal. During the offensive, [[ComStar]] manufactured an incident that made Davion responsible for the destruction of an HPG on the planet [[Sarna]]. This gave them an excuse to place the Suns under a communications interdiction, officially disabling all interplanetary communication, which naturally made it very difficult to coordinate troop movements. Unbeknownst to [[ComStar]], however, the New Avalon Institute of Science had pioneered an alternate method of interplanetary communications. Known as "[[black box|black boxes]]," House Davion's fax machines allowed Hanse to have some control over his military offensive, but the slower fax machines proved impractical as a long-term solution.

Also, the [[Free Worlds League]] had successfully crushed a revolt and, despite technically being Capellan allies under the Kapteyn Accords, was rattling sabers along its border with the Confederation. Rather than allow the League to snap up Capellan worlds, Hanse declared an end to the war and settled in for the task of integrating the newly conquered worlds into his Suns.

The offensive itself was extremely successful and resulted in the total absorption of roughly half of the Confederation as the new [[Sarna March]], though this area was technically a part of the Lyran state command since Hanse had presented it as his gift to [[Melissa Steiner]]. The conquered worlds included two commonality capitals, [[Tikonov]] and [[Sarna]], as well as [[Liao]], the ancestral landhold of the Capellan ruling family. The secession of [[St. Ives]] further deprived the Capellans of a third commonality capital and created a buffer state between the Confederation and the Suns. More importantly, it created a bridge between the Suns and their new allies, the [[Lyran Commonwealth]], that paved the way for the formal integration of the two nations as the [[Federated Commonwealth]]. It would be decades before the [[Capellan Confederation]] managed to recover.<ref>The Warrior Trilogy</ref>

==War of 3039==
In an effort to repeat the successes of the [[Fourth Succession War]], [[Hanse Davion]] invaded the [[Draconis Combine]] using the same strategy of overwhelming force. Unfortunately for Davion, [[Theodore Kurita]] was thoroughly prepared and launched a counteroffensive as a bluff against Davion's larger force. Both sides traded worlds, and the war ended a year later in a stalemate.

==Federated Commonwealth==
{{main|Federated Commonwealth}}

During the 3024-29 period, there was a secret pact formed between the Federated Suns and the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] in addition to the public alliance between [[Hanse Davion]] and [[Katrina Steiner]]. This document became known as the [[Federated Commonwealth]] Alliance Document. This secret provision called for [[Hanse Davion]] to marry [[Katrina Steiner]]'s 16-year-old daughter, [[Melissa_Steiner|Melissa Arthur Steiner]]. In 3056, the [[Federated Commonwealth]] was officially formed with Melissa's death, although it had been unofficially formed almost 30 years ago with the treaty that signed by Hanse and Katrina.

While [[Victor Steiner-Davion|Archon-Prince Victor Steiner-Davion]] ruled the united Federated Commonwealth for only a year, his sister's decision to secede the Lyran half of the nation in 3057 left Victor in control of a rump [[Federated_Commonwealth|FedCom]]. In technicality, Victor never officially renamed his nation the Federated Suns, though many erroneously referred to it as such. The rump [[Federated Commonwealth]] was officially renamed back to ''Federated Suns'' in [[3067]] by [[Yvonne_Steiner-Davion|Regent Yvonne]] after the conclusion of the FedCom Civil War.

==FedCom Civil War==
After the Invasion of the [[Clans]] from [[3049]] to [[3052]], things did not settle down for the [[Federated Commonwealth]]. [[Katherine_Steiner-Davion|Katherine "Katrina" Steiner-Davion]], younger sister of [[Victor_Steiner-Davion|Prince Victor]], had her mother secretly assassinated, which inaugurated Victor as Archon-Prince of the Federated Commonwealth. In [[3057]], Katherine seceded the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth, and formed the [[Lyran Alliance]]. Victor was focused on the menace of Clans, especially upon the annihilation of [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]. Katherine then stole the [[Successor_States#House_Davion|Davion]] half of the [[Federated_Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] from her sister Yvonne, whom [[Victor_Steiner-Davion|Victor]] had left in charge while he fought the Clans on their capital. Victor now returning from the annihilation of Clan Smoke Jaguar to find himself an "outlaw" of sorts. Rather than beginning a civil war to oust his sister from power, he tried to retire to a life of defending the [[Inner Sphere]] from the Clan menace. Fate however had other ideas in store.

Facing a rising tide of injustice and violation of their civil liberties, citizens of both halves of the sundered [[Federated Commonwealth]] rose up in rebellion against Katherine's increasingly despotic rule. Deciding to lead the rebellion, Victor cast off his titles and began a campaign to remove his sister from power. After the assassination of his lover [[Omiko Kurita]], Victor finally took the battle to [[New Avalon]]. There, on 20 April, [[3067]], his forces defeated [[Katherine_Steiner-Davion|Katherine]]'s military; he proclaimed [[Yvonne Steiner-Davion|Yvonne]] the regent of the newly renamed "Federated Suns".<ref name=FMU-3067/>

==Taurian Invasion==
{{main|Taurian Concordat#The Pleiades Campaign}}
On January 23rd, 3067, the [[Taurian Concordat]] launched an invasion of the [[Capellan March]].<ref name=FMU-3067>''Field Manual: Updates'', pp. 13–14: "3067"</ref> The Fighting Urukhai, a mercenary unit fleeing from civil war, attempted to land on the capital of Taurus. The mercenaries thought to find sanctuary and negotiate a contract with the Concordat. The Taurians, fearing this was an invasion, destroyed the mercenary unit and all of their dependents (including their children). What Urukhai forces survived the Taurian attack executed a suicidal assault on the Taurian capital in revenge, damaging some of the world's civilian infrastructure. In retaliation, Taurian Protector Grover Shraplen authorized an assault against worlds in the [[Capellan March]].

Duke [[George Hasek II|George Hasek]], now a Federated Suns war hero, sent a task force to deal with this invasion. Instead of countering this Federated Suns task force as ordered, The Taurian Pleiades Lancers attacked their ancestral homeworld in the [[Pleiades Cluster]].  This diversion of the Lancers left the Taurian supply lines open to attack and allowed the Davion troops of the [[Capellan March]] to liberate their worlds easily. By the end of 3067, only two systems in the [[Capellan March]] were still contested by the Taurians.

==Word of Blake Jihad==
In December of [[3067]], the member states of the [[Second Star League]] came together for the [[Fourth Whitting Conference]] on [[Tharkad]]. At this fateful conference, the leaders of the [[Inner Sphere]] decided to disband the Second Star League. Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion was partly responsible for this, because she decided that the Suns could not afford to remain a member state as they needed the money to rebuild the shattered nation after the devastating civil war. Archon [[Peter Steiner-Davion]] made a similar claim, and [[Sun-Tzu Liao|Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao]] decided to pull his support from the Star League for his own reasons. First Lord [[Christian Månsdottir]] called for a vote of no-confidence in the Star League so that he could force the recalcitrant nations to stay, but the needed two-thirds majority was lacking. Thus, the Star League failed the vote of no-confidence and was disbanded. This would trigger chaotic interstellar war known as the [[Jihad]].

The [[Word of Blake]] was set to become a full member state at the end of that Whitting Conference, and were quite upset when the Star League disbanded, believing that their road to power was through the League. A defiant Word of Blake demanded that both of the former [[Federated Commonwealth]] states rejoin the League, curiously omitting the [[Capellan Confederation]] (whose commentary was the most scathing) from their harangue. To enforce their claim, the Word of Blake attempted to cow the Federated Suns by sending [[WarShip|WarShips]], which just happened to be nearby, into orbit around [[New Avalon]]. When Regent Yvonne refused, the [[Word of Blake|Word]] sent ground troops, though their effectiveness was greatly limited by the defenders. In response, the [[Word of Blake]] used their [[WarShip]]s to great effect. They used them to both bombard and blockade the FedSuns capital. This created problems with command and control, forcing the regional leaders to take more responsibility for command. In [[3073]], [[Word of Blake|Blakist]] troops killed Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion.

Elsewhere, the [[Capellan March]]'s duke, George Hasek, launched an invasion of the [[Capellan Confederation]], ostensibly in support of the St. Ives Commonality, under the name [[Operation SOVEREIGN JUSTICE]].<ref name="J:FRp45">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 45: "The Jihad in Review"</ref> In the early 3060s, [[Sun-Tzu Liao|Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao]] had launched an invasion of the [[St. Ives Compact]] in an attempt to reclaim what had once been a [[Capellan Confederation|Capellan]] commonality. When [[Katherine Steiner-Davion|Katherine]] refused to help [[Candace Allard-Liao|Duchess Candace]], she had little choice but to negotiate for the wayward commonality's reintegration into the [[Capellan Confederation]]. Duke George Hasek decided to remedy that lapse after [[Kai Allard-Liao|Duke Kai]] mysteriously appeared on [[New Syrtis]], the capital of the [[Capellan March]]. Caught unprepared, the [[Capellan Confederation#Military|Capellan troops]] suffered many reversals, especially since many St. Ives troops sided with their duke, even while [[Candace Allard-Liao|his mother]] was essentially a prisoner on [[Sian]]. [[Capellan March]] forces were a mere one [[JumpShip|jump]] away from [[Sian]] when a [[WarShip]] appeared in orbit around [[Sian]] and fired on the planet, destroying the capital city, where [[Sun-Tzu Liao|the Chancellor]] and [[Candace Liao|Duchess Candace]] were. [[Candace Liao|Candace]] was killed in the attack, while [[Sun-Tzu Liao]] was initially among the missing, though he turned up soon thereafter. The Federated Suns was initially blamed by Military Regent ''Sang-jiang-jun'' Talon Zahn. That allegation galvanized the [[Capellan Confederation#Military|Capellan military]] and turned the St. Ives troops and people against the Federated Suns. Even Warner Doles and his Blackwind Lancers, who had become ''persona non grata'' in [[Capellan Confederation|Capellan]] space due to his alignment with [[Free Capella]], sided with the [[Capellan Confederation|Confederation]]. All those forces (plus the occasional nuclear weapon) combined to push the [[Capellan March]] troops back to the border, and beyond{{m}}to [[New Syrtis]].

{{main|Operation Sovereign Justice}}

This all happened despite Regent Yvonne's repeated insistence to cease offensive operations, so that she could use some of those forces to liberate [[New Avalon]]. Hasek's motivation for ignoring her is unclear, but, around this time, Duke George Hasek was assassinated. His cousin, Nathaniel Hasek, took over command of the [[Capellan March]], but he seemed equally unwilling to help [[New Avalon]]. The identity of Hasek's assassin remain unknown, but speculation points at the [[Word of Blake]], [[Capellan Confederation]], or from an agent dispatched by Regent Yvonne in an effort to rein in the [[Capellan March]]. Whoever killed him, his troops were able to rally after the [[Word of Blake]] launched an invasion of the [[Capellan Confederation]]. [[Capellan Confederation#Military|Capellan troops]] fought as hard to return home so they could defend against the sneak attack from their erstwhile allies as they had to invade the [[Capellan March]].

The [[Draconis March]] also entered the fray. They sent troops into the [[Draconis Combine]], ostensibly to look for POWs from the invasion during the FedCom Civil War. Whether they launched these attacked with or without the knowledge of Duke Tancred Sandoval is unknown. They found the Dragon unable to defend itself with their own three-way battle on [[Luthien]], so they launched a full invasion. [[Draconis March]] troops were able to penetrate as far as the district capital of Galedon, but, faced with troops from both the [[Word of Blake]] and [[Clan Snow Raven]] in the area, had to withdraw to more manageable assaults.

The [[Word of Blake]] sought to expand their [[Blake Protectorate]] at the expense of the Federated Suns, as well. The Blakists took worlds near [[Terra]] like [[Acamar]] and [[Demeter]]. With their [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns|military]] distracted, the FedSuns could do little.

In late February [[3075]], diplomats from the Federated Suns traveled to [[Outworlds Alliance]] space to negotiate with [[Clan Snow Raven]]. As well as a peace settlement, the negotiators hoped to arrange for the release of captured personnel from the [[Third Crucis Lancers]] and for the Snow Ravens to contribute aid to the coalition assembled by [[Devlin Stone]]. While the negotiations did result in assurances from the Snow Ravens that they wouldn't strike at the Federated Suns again unless provoked, the Clan refused to contribute to the allied coalition and claimed all of the captured AFFS personnel as ''[[isorla]]''.<ref name="JHS:Tp14+">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', pp. 14–15: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp53">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 53: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

As the Periphery front of the Federated Suns continued to disintegrate in early 3075, the AFFS redeployed several of the [[Crucis March Militia]]s to areas bordering the Malagrotta Cooperative and Filtvelt Coalition.<ref name="JHS:Tp16">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 16: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp54">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 54: "The Jihad in Review"</ref> Even as the militias were moving, the [[Word of Blake]]'s [[Twenty-second Division (Word of Blake)|Twenty-second Militia]] struck at Brusett on 30 May 3075. The Federated Suns responded by mustering and deploying a small flotilla of ships including the [[WarShip]] [[Kathil (Individual Fox-class WarShip)|FCS ''Kathil'']] to the system to stave off an anticipated attack by the Concordat; the Taurians had already taken advantage of the raid on [[Wrentham]] by the Twenty-second to seize that world. Taurian forces arrived in the Brusett system in late June, and on the 30th of June the Taurian ''[[Quixote]]''-class [[WarShip]] [[TCS Vendetta|TCS ''Vendetta'']] and the FCS ''Kathil'' battled over Brusett. The TCS ''Vendetta'' was forced to retreat, but the FCS ''Kathil'' was lost in the battle, and several major cities on the planet suffered horrendous collateral damage due to the nuclear weapons both sides used in orbit and within the atmosphere of Brusett.<ref name="JHS:Tp16">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 16: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp54">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 54: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

A part of the Federated Suns counteroffensive against the Concordat involved using Hansen's Roughriders to strike at worlds within the Taurian Concordat. The Roughriders used a mix of nuclear and nonnuclear weapons captured on Hyalite to attack [[Amber Grove]] on 15 April 3075, destroying the local militia, the spaceport and the central military headquarters before spending several weeks destroying any target of significant military or industrial value on the planet. The Roughriders then subverted the mercenary unit on [[Perdition]], [[Longwood's Bluecoats]], before striking at the world in late July, destroying the Perdition factory complexes. The Roughriders attacked [[Grossbach]] in early September,<ref name="J:FRp54">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 54: "The Jihad in Review"</ref> and then [[Sterope]] on the 21st of November. In contrast to earlier attacks, the attack on Sterope was the first where the Roughriders didn't raze the local factory complexes, although they did plunder the [[Sterope Defense Industries]] plant before leaving. In turn, a Taurian raid in February 3076 inflicted critical damage on the [[Jalastar Aerospace]] [[BattleMech]] plant on [[Panpour]].<ref name="JHS:Tp20">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 20: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp55">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 55: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

On 7 March [[3076]], the Federated Suns began open combat operations against the breakaway{{m}}and now pirate-controlled{{m}}[[Malagrotta Cooperative]]. The [[Remagen CrMM]] launched an assault on the world of [[Gronholt]], breaking the two companies of pirates defending the world, a mixture of [[Death's Consorts]] and smaller hired bands. The few surviving pirates retreated to [[Great Gorge]], leaving Gronholt back in the hands of the Federated Suns.<ref name="J:FRp55"/><ref name="JHS:Tp21">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 21: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref>

The Roughriders returned to Federated Suns space after the Sterope raid, landing on Warren on the 5th of April [[3076]] to resupply.<ref name="J:FRp55"/><ref name="JHS:Tp21">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 21: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref> The Taurians pursued the Roughriders, with a task force led by the TCS ''Vendetta'' arriving in the Warren system on the 13th of June; the Roughriders retreated to [[Keuterville]], but their retreat didn't stop the ''Vendetta'' from bombarding the planetary capital and spaceports on Warren. The Taurians then bombarded Keuterville on the 7th of July, with the Roughriders retreating again, this time to [[Firgrove]]. In the Firgrove system a Federated Suns task force led by the ''[[Fox (WarShip class)|Fox]]''-class ''[[Fox (WarShip class)#Named Vessels|New Syrtis]]'' managed to intercept the ''Vendetta'' before the planet could be attacked, forcing the Taurian vessel to retreat. The ''Vendetta'' returned to the Brusett system in mid-September [[3076]], having been forced to retreat from the [[Firgrove]] system in August. The ''Vendetta'' and her task force put Brusett under siege, but the siege would only last until the 2nd of October; the arrival of the FSS ''New Syrtis'' and resulting naval battle saw the Federated Suns WarShip suffering crippling damage, but not before enough critical damage was inflicted on the ''Vendetta'' by the ''New Syrtis'' and her escorts to force the ''Vendetta'' to retreat.<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>

While the battles against both the Malagrotta Cooperative and the Taurian Concordat continued, the Capellan March also suffered from internal conflict. [[New Syrtis]] was struck by a violent protest on 6 April 3076; the target of the protest was March Lord [[Angela Hasek]], with agitators claiming that the previous March Lord, George Hasek, had been assassinated in 3070 not by the Word of Blake but rather by the Federated Suns. It was later alleged that the agitators behind the protest were backed by the Blakists.<ref name="J:FRp55"/><ref name="JHS:Tp21"/> Agents from [[DMI]] and [[MIIO]] subsequently rounded up more than fifty individuals on the 14th of June who had been identified as "antigovernment" leaders believed to be involved with the movement against the Federated Suns government. The political upheavals on New Syrtis were then followed by a strike against the world by the Taurian Concordat. A Taurian task force raided New Syrtis on the 12th of October 3076, using a combination of bombing runs, random orbital bombardment and nuclear strikes to not only cripple the [[New Syrtis Shipyards]] facilities but also to inflict devastating damage on large swaths of the equatorial regions of the world.<ref name="JHS:Tp22"/><ref name="J:FRp56"/>

As the end of 3076 approached and the Taurian forces on Brusett were faced with imminent defeat, they resorted to using scorched earth tactics to destroy as many of the Federated Suns ground forces on the planet as possible. These scorched earth tactics often involved the use of nuclear devices, causing carnage; this damage was exacerbated by the Federated Suns [[Pocket WarShip]]s which shelled the Taurian positions repeatedly.<ref name="J:FRp56"/><ref name="JHS:Tp23">''Jihad Hot Spots: Terra'', p. 23: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref>

On the Protectorate border, 3076 saw the Word of Blake strike at a number of Federated Suns worlds; some, like [[Ronel]], were subjected to strikes by small units operating at no larger than a [[Level III]] in size (although backed up by WMDs), in response to the allied coalition strikes against Protectorate worlds. The border world of [[New Hessen]] saw much more conflict; shortly after New Hessen agreed to allow the coalition to use it as a staging area in early 3076, the Word of Blake launched an assault against the world. The assault hit in September, with the Blakists making use of fuel-air bombs and nuclear weapons to support their landing, and while the New Hessen ground forces managed to trap the Blakists planetside, the Word of Blake supplemented the ground campaign with a raid that saw more WMDs used against the world. The Blakists on New Hessen fell silent in late 3076,<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> only to become active again on the 21st of November with a daring daylight raid on the [[New Hessen WorkMechs]] factory that saw them make off with a dozen almost complete 'Mechs.<ref name="J:FRp56"/><ref name="JHS:Tp23"/>

As the Jihad ended in [[3079]], the Princess-Regent called a summit on New Avalon, known as the "Camelot Summit." This summit began on 12 October 3079 with the dedication of the rebuilt Castle Davion and New Avalon City, and the attendees{{m}}who included numerous prominent military and political leaders from across the Federated Suns{{m}}debated such subjects as a resolution for the ongoing war with the Taurian Concordat, the rebuilding of the AFFS, the creation of the Periphery March and the direction of the post-Jihad Federated Suns. It was during the Camelot Summit that the Periphery March was officially created, with [[General]] [[Raymond-Roger Marsin]] awarded the title of [[Duke]] and declared to be Lord of the Periphery March.<ref name="J:FRp60">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 60: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

Emissaries from the [[Calderon Protectorate]] arrived on both [[Taurus]] and New Avalon on 15 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 (noble title)|Baron]] [[Cham 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'' wouldn't be officially transferred to the Protectorate until 19 April [[3081]].<ref name="J:FRp61">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 61: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

Between the arrival of the envoys from the Calderon Protectorate and the formal declaration of a peace treaty, the Federated Suns launched [[Operation MATADOR]], a military campaign to recapture the planets the Taurians had conquered since their initial invasion. Commanded by [[Field Marshal]] [[Nathaniel Hasek]], MATADOR began on the 5th of May, but Field Marshal Hasek would be killed in an ambush on the world of [[Ridgebrook]] on the 14th of June.<ref name="J:FRp61"/>

The cost of the war to both the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat was extremely high. By mid-3080 the Taurian GDP was down 30% on where it had been 20 years before, a result of the combination of pirate activity, Blakist subversion and production capacity lost as a consequence of the worlds and industry lost during the war. The brutal nature of the war had inflicted damage on the worlds directly involved in the combat was bordering on levels unseen since the [[Second Succession War]]. Despite Operation MATADOR and the limited combat operations conducted in 3080, both nations were rapidly approaching the point where the war would become unsustainable for either; the Federated Suns was close to exhausting its ability to conduct combat operations and logistics operations simultaneously while also protecting its own supply lines, whereas the ravaged Taurian industrial base and the plunging economy placed the Taurian Defense Force in similar straits.<ref name="J:FRp28">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 28: "Piracy, Economics Complicate FedSuns-Taurus War"</ref>

==Operation SCOUR==
{{main|Operation SCOUR}}

Eventually, [[Devlin Stone]] was able to forge an alliance against the [[Word of Blake]], which culminated in the liberation of [[Terra]] in [[3081]]. The [[Periphery March (Federated Suns)|Periphery March]] was also reconstituted to combat the almost constant threat of pirates from the void.

==Years of Peace==
In the immediate aftermath of the Jihad Princess-Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion acted decisively to deal with the problems facing the Federated Suns, sometimes clashing with other senior figures within the Suns, including her husband. Operating an open door policy regarding transfers from the AFFS to the [[Republic Armed Forces]] actually reduced the potential losses by defection from the Federated Suns military to that of the Republic of the Sphere, although at least one brigade — the [[Deneb Light Cavalry]] moved en masse into the service of the Republic.<ref name="J:FRp96">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 96: "Power Transfer"</ref> Dispatching a large portion of the AFFS including a number of elite units from the [[Davion Brigade of Guards]] on Operation MATADOR helped to both affirm Yvonne's position as a strong ruler and bring a swift end to the war between the Taurian Concordat and the Federated Suns. Although the campaign was only three months long, sixteen of the seventeen worlds targeted were liberated — or conquered — by the victorious AFFS forces, including a number of longtime Taurian holdings. The AFFS was in a secure position when peace was finally mediated between the Concordat, and the victory secured where the rulers of the Capellan March had failed helped to cement Yvonne's place on the throne.<ref name="J:FRp96A">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 96: "Recovery and Response"</ref>

While the [[Inner Sphere]] embraced peace thanks to the actions of [[Devlin Stone]] and his reforms, the Federated Suns continued to find itself in conflicts. The [[Capellan Confederation]] continued its attempts to expand, so troops from the [[Capellan March]] seized the factory world and commonality capital of [[Victoria (CC)|Victoria]]. In the meantime, the [[Draconis March]] was able to create a buffer state between it and the [[Draconis Combine]]. The Sandoval family continues to pump money into that area in the 3130s to fund a low-intensity war by proxy with the [[Draconis Combine]].

==Republic Era==
Tancred and Yvonne's son [[Harrison Davion]] married Duchess Amanda Hasek's younger sister, Isabella.<ref>''Sword of Sedition''</ref> Their child [[Caleb Hasek-Sandoval-Davion]] was born with a psychosis that left him unable to pilot a [[BattleMech|'Mech]], so, in preparation for becoming Prince, he chose to become a tanker. When Paladin [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] died, Harrison decided to attend his state funeral in person. He brought along Caleb and his [[Armed_Forces_of_the_Federated_Suns#Prince|Prince's Champion]], [[Julian Davion]]. While en route, the [[Capellan Confederation]] began a limited offensive against worlds in the [[Capellan March]].

[[Republic of the Sphere]] Exarch Jonah Levin took the opportunity to arrange an alliance with the Federated Suns, since they had a common enemy in the [[Capellan Confederation]]. That alliance bore fruit immediately when Julian Davion led the Davion Guards against Senate loyalists, driving the rebels from [[Terra]]. Harrison had privately decided to make Julian his heir, but had not informed his nephew. While on [[Terra]] for [[Victor Steiner-Davion|Victor]]'s funeral, he informed Caleb that he would not be succeeding him. In his shock, Caleb accidentally killed Harrison.

Since he did this before Harrison could make his wishes known, Caleb became First Prince. Knowing that Julian was Harrison's choice, Caleb stripped Julian of his office and named [[Erik Sandoval-Groell]] as his new champion. Julian stayed in [[Republic of the Sphere|Republic]] space to command the FedSuns troops there, indicating that Caleb seems content to honor his father's agreement with [[Republic of the Sphere|the Republic]].

==Dark Age==
After Caleb Davion died in battle against the forces of the Draconis Combine, Julian Davion became the new Prince.
After Julian's return to Federated Suns, the Suns were facing the biggest crisis of all its history: an invasion by the Draconis Combine, who would take Robinson and later the capital New Avalon, and the Capellans, who took New Syrtis. Without these three key capitals, the Federation was on the brink of extinction, but in 3147, Julian launched [[Operation CERBERUS]], which succeeded in retaking New Syrtis and the surrounding worlds, at a huge cost.{{cn}}

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2]]''
* ''[[House Davion (The Federated Suns)]]''
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Jihad Hot Spots: Terra]]''
* ''[[Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon]]''
* ''[[Strategic Operations]]''
* ''[[Sword of Sedition]]''
* ''[[Tactical Operations]]''
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3025 Revised]]''
* ''[[Touring the Stars]]''
* ''[[The Warrior Trilogy]]''


[[Category:History|Federated Suns, History of]]