Editing Rift Republican Army

The '''Rift Republican Army''', also referred to as the '''Rim Republican Army''', was a society that may have begun as a fraternal organization for retired veterans of the [[Rim Worlds Army]] in the [[Rim Worlds Republic]] and which at various points in its history acted as both loyal opposition to [[House Amaris]] and as defenders of the Rim Worlds Republic.<ref name="H:RWp139">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 139</ref>

==History==
As much an ideal as an organization, the Rift Republican Army (RRA) was structured in a very loose fashion that resembled the cell structure commonly used by insurgent or terrorist groups throughout human history. The RRA lacked any form of formal senior leadership, making it difficult to defeat or destroy as an organization, but was also a popular organization within the Republic accorded a significant degree of legitimacy by the civilian population. In some situations the RRA actively supported the Republic government, most commonly when the Republic was threatened by external nations. In other situations the RRA actively worked against the ruler or government of the Republic; the most obvious of these was the civil war fought during the [[Reunification War#Campaign Against the Rim Worlds Republic|Reunification War]] between forces loyal to the RRA and forces loyal to [[First Consul of the Rim Worlds Republic|First Consul]] [[Gregory Amaris]].<ref name="H:RWp139"/>

The RRA had once been a military unit, but by the mid-twenty-sixth century those days were long past; membership of the RRA was still considered an honor, and the majority of the RRA were respectable ex-servicemen.<ref name="H:RWp130">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 130</ref> The organization had become something similar to a veteran's organization or association, a society through which the like-minded could provide each other with mutual support. The RRA did contain a radical, extreme fringe, however; that fringe gained considerably notoriety after an incident on [[Apollo (system)|Apollo]] in which the extremists whipped the population of Eleazor up into a rioting frenzy over the combination of the taxation imposed by Gregory Amaris and the presence of foreign military forces on Republic soil - those foreign military forces being units from the [[Star League Defense Force]]. A force of extremists numbering several hundred, all wearing RRA uniforms and headed up by [[Colonel]] [[Janisssa DeCoe]] attacked the headquarters of the [[Eighth Amaris Dragoons]] at their barracks in Efrimal Long and a nearby maximum security prison holding dissidents while the rioting was going on; the extremists executed the captured regimental command staff and Dragoon garrison and used the Dragoons' communication equipment to demand the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Republic and an end to the imprisonment of political rivals by Gregory Amaris.<ref name="H:RWp127">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 127</ref>

Amaris reacted by sending in two loyal [[BattleMech]] regiments - the Republican Guard and the [[Fifth Amaris Fusiliers]] - in a typically brutal move to crush the RRA forces, only for the two [[regiment]]s to suffer losses at the hands of RRA troops adept at anti-'Mech actions. Incensed, Amaris had the site bombarded by artillery and air strikes, an action that killed almost a third of the RRA members present, while many more of the RRA were slain by the loyalist troops encircling the site. He then implemented the [[Universal Act of Loyalty]], making mandatory that all citizens had to swear an oath of loyalty to both the House Amaris and the Star League; those who dissented were branded traitors and had their property confiscated and their civil rights suspended, and Amaris willingly starved entire planets into submission to enforce his will.<ref name="H:RWp127"/>

===The Reunification War===
Following the imposition of the Universal Act of Loyalty Amaris responded to the issue of the [[Pollux Proclamation]] by [[First Lord of the Star League|First Lord]] [[Ian Cameron]] by implementing the [[Manchester Directive]]. Whereas Amaris could have implemented the measures needed under the Pollux Proclamation to ensure peace with the [[Star League]] without too much protest from the population of the Republic, he instead went further. The Manchester Directive made membership in the RRA illegal, outlawing the organization; in doing so he alienated a broad swath of the population of the Republic. The radicals who had attacked Efrimal Long were the exception to the norm, and anger at the announcement swiftly turned to dismay when forces loyal to Amaris began actively suppressing RRA groups, seizing property belonging to the RRA or its members and arresting those same members.<ref name="H:RWp128">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 128</ref>

Amaris had already begun alienating the population years before when he began actively favoring foreign companies over domestic companies as a means of advancing the industrial and technological base of the Republic, a situation made worse by his high-handed approach to taxation and his willingness to seize property and land as a part of his planned economic development. His attack on the RRA was a tipping point that struck directly at the heart of the population and provoked outright defiance on many worlds and a steadily growing level of chaos in many areas.<ref name="H:RWp128"/>

The last straw came when Amaris ordered units from the Rim Worlds Army to break a strike in the [[Diplass Technologies]] BattleMech factory on Apollo, having declared those striking to be insurgents and traitors. Many of those in the units sent to subdue the strikers were RRA members and when faced with orders to use military force against unarmed civilian strikes a large part of the unit rebelled, declaring that Amaris had lost the moral authority to rule the Republic and that the government had become corrupt and lots its mandate to govern. The striking workers declared the formation of a new government - the [[Rim Provisional Government]] (RPG) - and when sent to subdue the workers, Colonel [[Catherine Dormax]] of the [[Seventh Amaris Legionnaires]] declared her support for the RPG, as did the [[Eighth Amaris Fusiliers]] - leaving fully half the BattleMech regiments on Apollo committed to the rebel cause. Amaris was forced to flee to his estates, protected by the forces still loyal to him, but with the spaceport and capital city under RPG control the Republic - and the RRA - were engaged in a state of civil war against his government.<ref name="H:RWp130+">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 130–131</ref>

The RRA and RPG were far from unified - extremists were present in both organizations - but the Rim Worlds Army found itself divided, with some units declaring their support for the RRA, some for Amaris, and some attempted to remain neutral. RRA forces put the SLDF barracks on Apollo under siege - a siege that would last for several years - but in defiance of orders from Colonel Dormax, when the RRA broke the siege and captured the surviving members of the garrison, extremists within the RRA executed the SLDF soldiers and mutilated the bodies, placing the RRA on a collision course with the SLDF.<ref name="H:RWp130+"/>

The SLDF formed a task force, drawing on auxiliary forces from the [[Lyran Commonwealth]], [[Draconis Combine]], and [[Free Worlds League]] in addition to SLDF units, and engaged in a long and bloody military campaign to return the Republic to government control; regardless of Amaris' actions, he remained a Hegemony citizen as well as a Republic citizen and head of the legitimate government. The SLDF's campaign in the Republic led to it being attacked by both factions and saw acts of notable brutality on both sides before the war finally ended in [[2596]].<ref name="H:RWp139BH">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 139</ref>

The civil war demonstrated that it was only when members of the RRA came to prominence did it become possible for the government to act against them; high-profile members such as Colonel Dormax could be targeted, but otherwise the organization would continue to endure so long as the Republic endured.<ref name="H:RWp139BH"/>

===Amaris Civil War===
The RRA was sharply divided when [[Stefan Amaris]] launched his Coup and took control of the [[Terran Hegemony]] in [[2766]]; hardliners within the RRA applauded Stefan's actions in the belief that it demonstrated the strength and ability of the Republic, but as it became increasingly clear that Stefan had abandoned the Republic for his new [[Amaris Empire]], support for him rapidly faded within the RRA.<ref name="H:RWp139"/>

During the first years of the [[Amaris Civil War]], the SLDF occupied the Rim Worlds Republic as a staging area to regroup and resupply before beginning [[Operation CHIEFTAIN]], and secured complete control over the Republic by the end of [[2769]]. The SLDF encountered significant support from anti-Amaris protestors, Rim Worlds Army defectors, and members of the RRA, all of whom were appalled by Amaris' actions and eager to show their patriotism for the "real Republic."<ref name=H:MPSp36>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 36</ref>

The RRA had a resurgence in the 2740s and its members and sympathizers had permeated all levels of government and the military, providing solid intel to the SLDF and paving the way for them to take control of the Republic with less bloodshed than expected. For this reason, [[Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force|General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] was interested in establishing formal relations, and in early [[2770]], he and the SLDF recognized the RRA as the legitimate government of the Republic with [[Lucien Dormax]] as [[President of the Rim Worlds Republic|President]].<ref name=H:LoTV1p106>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', pp. 106, 109–110</ref>

A descendant of the legendary Catherine Dormax whose actions sparked the anti-Amaris rebellion two hundred years earlier and whose name had been immortalized as one of the Rim Worlds Army's flagship [[Rim Worlds Army#Imperial Divisions|Imperial Divisions]],<ref name=FR2765:P-9>''Field Report 2765: Periphery'', p. 18</ref> Lucien had his hands full trying to bring all the different factions together under a government of national unity. While some worlds acknowledged the RRA government, others were dismissive, and when the SLDF departed the Republic in early [[2772]], the government became vulnerable to attacks by pro-Amaris supporters who had been largely in the shadows, biding their time during the occupation.<ref name=H:LoTV1p110>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 110</ref><ref name=H:MPSp36-37>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', pp. 36–37</ref>

By the start of [[2773]], Lucien Dormax had made incredible progress in opening dialogue with the dozens of pro-Amaris worlds and had successfully made his point to the more patriotic Republicans that they needed to build some sort of alliance if their realm was to survive. A conference had been scheduled for May 5th on Apollo to discuss terms and there was hope that the Republic would soon be at peace. Unfortunately for them, the Lyran Commonwealth would begin [[Operation ALMARIC]] in April, and with very little military resistance to slow the invading forces, nearly a hundred worlds would be annexed by the Commonwealth and the remnants of the Rim Worlds Republic would shatter. Apollo was conquered in September [[2775]], Dormax was captured by Lyran special forces, and the RRA government fell.<ref name=H:LoTV1p111>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', pp. 110–111</ref>

The destruction of the Republic marked the end of the RRA. So many members were disgusted with the Republic that as their worlds were absorbed by the Lyran Commonwealth, they simply concealed their origins, abandoning the RRA.<ref name="H:RWp139"/>

==Notes==
The name of the organization is split among the many sourcebooks. It's written as '''Rift''' Republican Army in ''[[Historical: Reunification War]]'', ''[[Era Report: 2750]]'', ''[[Field Manual: SLDF]]'', ''[[The Star League]]'', and ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery]]''; and '''Rim''' Republican Army in ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]'', ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra I]]'', ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra II]]'', and ''[[Touring the Stars: Bone-Norman]]''. ''The Star League'' also writes it once as "''Rim Republic'' Army."<ref name=SLp51>''The Star League'', p. 51</ref>

==Reference==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]''
* ''[[Historical: Reunification War]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery]]''
* ''[[The Star League]]''

[[Category:Political Groups]]