Kessel
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(References to Kessel)
Kessel | |
---|---|
← 3135 3151 | |
System Information | |
X:Y Coordinates | -13.13:84.32[e] |
Spectral class | G0V[1][2] |
Recharge station(s) | Zenith, Nadir[2] |
Planet(s) | 9[1] |
Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)
Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard
Contents
Owner History
- 2340 - Federation of Skye [3]
- 2341 - Lyran Commonwealth [3]
- 2596 - Lyran Commonwealth [4]
- 2750 - Lyran Commonwealth [5]
- 2765 - Lyran Commonwealth [6]
- 2835 - Lyran Commonwealth [7]
- 2865 - Lyran Commonwealth [8]
- 2866 - Draconis Combine [8]
- 3025 - Draconis Combine [2]
- 3030 - Draconis Combine[citation needed]
- 3040 - Draconis Combine [9]
- 3052 - Draconis Combine[citation needed]
- 3057 - Draconis Combine[citation needed]
- 3062 - Draconis Combine[citation needed]
- 3067 - Draconis Combine [10]
- 3079 - Draconis Combine [11]
- 3130 - Republic of the Sphere [1][12]
- 3135 - Independent world [13]
- 3145 - Rasalhague Dominion [14]
Planetary Geography
The planet known as Kessel has at least three major continents, including the northwestern continent of Novgorod, the southern continent of Gershtad and the eastern continent of Lobopov.[1]
Planetary History
Early History
One of a number of worlds within the Federation of Skye well before the founding of the Lyran Commonwealth, Kessel was a world rich in minerals and metals and was already a manufacturing center of some significance when the Federation was incorporated into the Commonwealth in the early twenty-fourth century.[1]
Star League Era
At the height of the Star League Kessel was home to a wide range of industries related to mining, refining and manufacturing and while there were no factories producing DropShips or BattleMechs on Kessel it was still a highly productive world and one coveted by the nearby Draconis Combine.[1]
Succession Wars
During the Second Succession War Kessel was one of many planets devastated by the Draconis Combine's search and destroy missions. [7] The Draconis Combine captured Kessel during one of their unsuccessful attempts to capture Skye, and while Kessel's capture had been largely incidental the Combine defense of the world was vigorous enough to retain control of the planet for centuries. Even as the Commonwealth made repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to capture worlds such as Kessel the Combine was busy exploiting the planet, removing or loosening the industrial standards that had been put in place on Kessel by the Federation of Skye or Isle of Skye and opening the planet up to more productive - and much more environmentally damaging - manufacturing and mining processes.[1]
Under Combine governance industries on Kessel turned to questionable practices in pursuit of increased production, practises that included chemical dumping and strip mining; these practices in turn attracted the attention of the Combine criminal class known as the yakuza, who soon spread to Kessel. Whilst industries on the planet were busy poisoning the biosphere the yakuza poisoned society, leading to rampant crime levels and the adoption of a culture where might made right and the only secure areas were those in which the nobility operated - the nobility being able to afford to put in place well-armed and equipped security. The atmosphere became somewhat toxic, with visitors to the planet being cautioned to use respirators when they were outside buildings or vehicles to protect them from contaminants in the air.[1]
As a part of the Combine Kessel became a prefecture capital, and a number of major corporations continued to operate on the planet despite the raids against it by the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces. One major corporation attracted to the planet was Diverse Optics, manufacturing everything from military laser technology to home entertainment systems.[1]
In 3022, Kessel was subject to a raid from the Black Widow Company, under contract with the Lyran Commonwealth. At the time, the planet was defended by elements of Smithson's Chinese Bandits.[15]
War of 3039
Wave One
Kessel was among the first worlds attacked as part of Operation WINTERSCHNEE during the War of 3039. The battle for the planet technically began before the official start of the war when, on 15 April, LCAF marines hidden aboard a Lyran transport succeeded in secretly capturing the system's zenith recharge facility Simla Station. The planet's inexperienced garrison force, the Twelfth Sun Zhang Cadre, was therefore given no warning on 16 April when the Second Donegal Guards, Fourth Skye Rangers and Eleventh Lyran Regulars arrived, under the overall command of the Second Donegal's Leutnant-General Caesar Steiner. Making a high-G approach and clashing only briefly with orbital defenses, the Lyrans achieved plantefall on 19 April and began seizing key strategic targets. Clearly out of their depth the Sun Zhang cadets nevertheless dedicated themselves to the defense of the capital Sverdlovsk. Unfortunately on the night of 20 April they allowed themselves to be lured from their fortifications by a feigned retreat by the Skye Rangers, and in the combat which followed lost nearly an entire battalion to the Rangers and Donegal Guards. The surviving cadets made an apparent retreat to their DropShips hidden in the poisonous terrain of the Novgorod continent, from which it seemed they escaped to a waiting JumpShip at a nearby pirate point. Clashes with local militia continued until 27 April, when General Steiner declared himself military governor until a new civilian bureaucracy could be instituted. The general was careful not to declare outright victory though, a fortuitous decision as low-level guerrilla activity continued into May and June.[16]
This activity significantly picked up on 12 July as the local yakuza clan, the Shiroi Tora, carried out orders from the ISF to start a campaign of bombings and attacks against the Lyran occupiers, killing over a hundred soldiers in just the first twenty-four hours. Simultaneously it was revealed that the Sun Zhang cadets had gone to ground instead of retreating - filling their DropShips with sufficient ballast to make it appear they were onboard when the ships blasted off - and began attacking Lyran positions, particularly at the Diverse Optics facility. Suddenly faced with a full-blown insurgency, General Steiner's plans for the occupation were foiled and he feared more surprises were to come.[17]
The Jihad
The Word of Blake attempted to conquer Kessel in mid-May 3069 using a mixture of Blakist troops and hired mercenaries. In contrast to the other four worlds targeted by the Word of Blake during the two-week campaign, Kessel wasn't conquered, even though the Blakists resorted to using nuclear weapons;[18] in part, Kessel's ability to hold out was due to the arrival of a number of Draconis Combine WarShips who aided the defence of the planet. Although the Blakists were forced to withdraw, the neutron weapons used during their assault killed more than ten thousand civilians on Kessel[1][18] as the Blakists deliberately used the weapons on a number of large cities.[1]
In response to the recent raids and assaults on worlds within the Word of Blake Protectorate, the Blakists launched raiding parties against various worlds around the Protectorate border in early September 3076. Making use of weapons of mass destruction to augment the damage inflicting, the raiding parties - few of which were larger than a single Level III struck at the worlds of Algorab, Alnasi, Amity, Bordon, Connaught, Hunan, Kessel, New Hessen, New Kyoto, Ronel, St. Andre, Styk, Tsitsang and Wei. Of the worlds hit, the Capellan Confederation took the brunt of the fighting.[19][20]
The Dark Age
Following the incorporation of Kessel into the Republic of the Sphere Exarch Devlin Stone made an effort to improve the quality of life for those living on Kessel by implementing a system whereby the landhold grants given to those on Kessel were increased slightly in exchange for guarantees that those awarded such grants would work to improve life on Kessel. Over the course of the following five decades the first signs of an improvement against various environmental indicators were seen, although the air and water remained tainted.[1]
One of the companies attracted to Kessel under Republican rule was AtmoClean Enterprises, who established a prototype air purification plant on Gershtad, which was already home to the planets largest spaceport. The only continent to still be home to regions of untamed wilderness by this point was Lobopov, although Lobopov was also home to a number of defunct strip-mining operations.[1]
Military Deployment
2765
3025
3025
3038
- Twelfth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre[23]
3040
- Twelfth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre[23]
3050
- Twelfth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre[24]
3059
- Third Dieron Regulars (1st & 3rd Battalion)[25]
- Forty Dieron Regulars[25]
3067
- Forty Dieron Regulars[10]
3079
- - At this point in time the 5th Sung Zhang Academy Cadre were deployed across, Kessel and Alrakis. The 5th was at 45% of full strength, with 70% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology.
Manufacturing Centers
Nearby Planets
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130), p. 17, "Kessel"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 189, "Kessel"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Handbook: House Steiner, p. 13, "Federation of Skye world within the Lyran Commonwealth before [2340] and after at their founding in [2341]"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 159, "Inner Sphere Map [2596]"
- ↑ Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - 2750"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 2765"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 64, "Jinjiro's last years"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 74, "Is War the Natural State of Man?"
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 133, "Inner Sphere - 3040"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 117, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
- ↑ Field Report: DCMS, p. 21, "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - August 3079"
- ↑ Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 11, "Inner Sphere Map - [3135]"
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 39, "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
- ↑ Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 14-15
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 30
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 74-75
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 47, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 22, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 56, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Field Report 2765: LCAF, pp. 18-19, "Skye Rangers" - Regimental Status
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 133, "Unit Deployment Table"
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 139, "Deployment Table"
- ↑ 20 Year Update, p. 40, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Field Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 132, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
- ↑ Field Report: DCMS, p. 14, "Sun Zhang Regimental Status"
- ↑ Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 163, "Lushann Industrials Limited"
Bibliography
- 20 Year Update
- Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130)
- Era Report: 2750
- Era Report: 3145
- Field Manual: Draconis Combine
- Field Manual: Updates
- Field Report 2765: LCAF
- Field Report: DCMS
- Handbook: House Steiner
- Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
- Historical: Reunification War
- Historical: War of 3039
- House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)
- Jihad: Final Reckoning
- Jihad Hot Spots: Terra
- Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
- Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers
- Tales of the Black Widow Company