Editing The Hinterlands

'''The Hinterlands''' is a region of space in the [[coreward]] [[Inner Sphere]] that was formerly part of the [[Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone]]. 

Following the near-annihilation of the [[Clan Jade Falcon Touman|Falcon ''touman'']] on [[Terra]] in early [[3151]] these worlds were left almost entirely undefended. While the [[Blackout]] meant that news of their vulnerability spread slowly, new and existing factions began taking advantage of the power vacuum to claim ex-Falcon worlds for themselves. By mid-[[3152]] Falcon control in the region had shrunk to a four-world remnant centered on [[Sudeten]], three new proto-states had been established, and the two biggest neighboring powers, [[Clan Hell's Horses]] and the [[Lyran Commonwealth]], had claimed a number of worlds for themselves. Other systems simply slipped beyond the control of any larger entity or fell under the informal influence of the criminal [[Malthus Confederation]].<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 72, "The Hinterlands June 3152" (Map)</ref>

==History==
===Origins===
In January 3151, [[Vedet Brewer]] was among the first outside the Jade Falcon OZ to discover that most of the Clan had simply packed up and departed their occupation zone. Stopping at [[Chapultepec]] on his way to the world of [[Melissia]], Brewer and his [[1st Hesperus Guards]] learned that the world was violently throwing off Clan rule. Believing that the missing forces had pulled back to Melissia, he girded for fierce fighting on the former theater capitol. When his regiment arrived, though, they found the Falcons had left months ago.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 16-17</ref> These discoveries were playing out across the region. 

The [[LIC]]'s [[Operation BLACK ICE]], which had been feeding weapons to anti-Clan resistance bodies, stepped up efforts while also gathering information about Falcon troop locations. One such scouting mission was sent to [[Arcturus]] in February 3151, which returned to report the former Commonwealth capitol had been left undefended. When Archon [[Trillian Steiner-Davion]] opted not to mobilize the LCAF for an all-out attack, one of her subordinates took matters into her own hands. [[Hauptmann-General]] [[Sarah Regis]] of the [[26th Arcturan Guards]] went rogue, mobilizing her entire RCT and moving to retake Arcturus. <ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 18-24</ref>

===New Flags and Old===
Within a month of his arrival, Brewer had pacified both warring parties on Melissia and announced the world was the capitol of a new state: the [[Vesper Marches]]. Having skillfully played both sides, Brewer now enjoyed a supportive populace and the materiel output of [[Grumman Industries]]' plant on the world as a base from which to expand.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 18</ref> Other powers were also swiftly springing up in the region to fill the void. In May of the same year, the [[17th Arcturan Guards]] landed on [[Guatavita]], where they discovered the world was now claimed by a group calling themselves the [[Malthus Confederation]]. This group, descended from the [[Malthus Gambling Unlimited|famed Lyran crime syndicate]] of the same name, was based on the world of [[Dustball]], where they had been stealthily undermining the Jade Falcons for the past century. While the Confederation only controlled a single world on paper<ref name=TRmap>''Tamar Rising'', foldout map</ref> the syndicate boasted an extensive reach that defied national borders.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 22-24</ref>

After Regis and her unit returned to Arcturus in July 3151, they deliberated over their next course of action: would they return the world to the Commonwealth, or go their own way? After a month of deliberation, Regis made up her mind. On 13 August, 3151, Regis overthrew Arcturus' civilian council and declared herself [[Governor-General of the Tamar Pact|Governor-General]] of a new [[Tamar Pact]].<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 24-27</ref> A similar homecoming came for [[Callandre Kell]] when she landed on [[Arc-Royal]] in August, beginning a months-long campaign to wipe out the occupying Falcons. It took the [[Kell Hounds]] until October, when they pushed the last holdouts out of the planetary capitol of Old Connaught, to declare victory. On 12 October, 3151, Callandre Kell announced the formation of the [[Arc-Royal Liberty Coalition]], an alliance to liberate other nearby worlds.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 34-38</ref>

While the Falcons as a whole had left their Occupation Zone, not every member of the Clan followed. Of those left behind, two in particular rose to prominence. [[Jiyi Chistu]] had been a [[Star Captain]] serving under [[Malvina Hazen]], until he grew disillusioned with her methods. Reassigned to protect one of the Falcons' precious [[VaultShip|VaultShips]], he cultivated the loyalty of those serving under him and grew to respect the merchants who crewed the ship. By mid-3151, Chistu and his comrades were cut off from central leadership, left only with confusing reports coming from [[Terra]] ranging from a Falcon victory to a resurgent [[Word of Blake]]. It was then that his ship received a recall order from the Clan's [[Merchant Factor]], [[Marena]].<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 50-51</ref>

Marena had risen through the ranks of the Falcon merchant caste for decades, gaining great influence for her skilled management of the Falcons' economy. But the demands placed upon her by Malvina Hazen soured her on the Clan system and focused her on efforts to insulate her caste from the mismanagement of Malvina's leadership. When the news broke of Brewer's seizure of Melissia and the formation of the Vesper Marches, Marena recognized her opportunity. Moving swiftly to secure the planet [[Alyina]], overthrowing the rule of the warrior caste as she sought to build a new nation based on commerce. On 20 July, 3151, Marena declared herself the Syndic of a new government, the [[Alyina Mercantile League]].<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 42-44</ref>

While most of the VaultShips heeded the recall order and fell in line behind the new Syndic, VaultShip Gamma, the ship to which Chistu had been assigned, was impeccably loyal to Chistu and, through him, Clan Jade Falcon. Rather than join the AML, a council made not only of warriors, but lower castes, unanimously elected Chistu their new Khan. Among his first actions was to invite Marena to his capitol of [[Sudeten]] to find a path forward together. Marena informed Chistu that she and her nation were no longer subject to Clan rule, and offered Chistu a place as the leader of her armies. Unable to fathom swearing fealty to a merchant, the talks ended almost as soon as they began.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 51-52</ref>

===Great Powers at the Door===
While the smaller states coalesced on their border, [[Clan Hell's Horses]] had been protecting their satellite state, the [[Republic of the Barrens]], from the [[New Oberon Confederation]]. But by the time the Horse Khans returned from their meeting with [[Alaric Ward]] on Terra, much of the Clan threw itself into seizing Falcon territory. While some early attacks had begun as early as February 3151, the campaign was in full gear by November of that year, expanding the Horse OZ and smothering a nascent Falcon successor calling itself the [[Turkina Ascendancy]] before it could take root. By March 3152, the Ascendancy had been totally destroyed and the Horses had greatly extended their territory.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', pp. 58-61</ref>

While the Lyran Commonwealth retook several vacated worlds, it largely maintained a defensive posture. Archon Trillian, caught between pressure to act against the Tamar Pact and Vesper Marches<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 78</ref> and her troops' reluctance to fire on people who they still thought of as countrymen<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 79</ref> turned to diplomacy, dispatching envoys to Arc-Royal<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 74</ref> and Arcturus<ref name=TR70>''Tamar Rising'', p. 70</ref>. [[General of the Armies]] [[Roderick Steiner]] was dispatched to the latter world, but before he arrived another neighboring power commenced its entrance into the Hinterlands saga in June 3152, by landing troops on the Pact world of [[Tomans]] and engaging the [[1st Tamar Jaegers|First Tamar Jaegers]] garrison there.<ref name=TR70/>

That nation, the Rasalhague Dominion, had previously considered any potential opportunities in the region to be limited. While theoretically it could have expanded deep into the former Falcon OZ, the Dominion was suffering from internal strife by late 3151 that sharply curtailed its available forces for offensive operations. Mindful of a potential threat from the [[Draconis Combine]] as well, the Rasalhagians ultimately made no attempts at territorial expansion into the Hinterlands for several months. Aside from a raid by Chistu's Falcons on [[Quarell]] in November, the Dominion and the Hinterlands had little interaction during this time.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 53-54</ref> <ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 60, "A Ripe Opportunity"</ref> 

But by mid-3152 the Dominion's civil strife had quieted and a reconnaissance expedition towards Pandora was dispatched. Expecting to find Tomans undefended, the Dominion forces instead discovered the existence of the Tamar Pact. After engaging the Tamar Jaegers and questioning local authorities, the expedition commander's report recommended that the Dominion establish ties with the new state, with a view to using it as a buffer state against the Hell's Horses and the Lyran Commonwealth.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 88, "Something Strange This Way Comes"</ref>  


==Hinterlands Factions==
* [[Alyina Mercantile League]]
* [[Arc-Royal Liberty Coalition]] (technically part of the Lyran Commonwealth)
* [[Isle of Skye]]<ref name=DDp85>''Dominions Divided'', p. 85, "Rasalhague Dominion June 3152" (Map)</ref>
* [[Clan Jade Falcon Remnants]] (Khan [[Jiyi Chistu|Jiyi Chistu's]] faction)
* [[Malthus Confederation]] (informal, criminal syndicate)
* [[Tamar Pact]]
* [[Turkina Ascendancy]] (destroyed in March 3152 by Clan Hell's Horses)
* [[Vesper Marches]]
===Neighboring powers engaged in the Hinterlands===
* [[Clan Hell's Horses]]
* [[Lyran Commonwealth]]
* [[Rasalhague Dominion]]

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Dominions Divided]]''
* ''[[Tamar Rising]]''

[[Category:Universe Regions]]