Death Inc

The Federated Suns is a Successor State ruled by House Davion, located mostly rimward and spinward of Terra, in places beyond 500 light years. Founded in 2317, the Federated Suns was the fourth of the Successor States to be formed after the withdrawal of the Terran Alliance from its colonies. The Federated Suns is considered by many to be the military powerhouse of the five Successor States, due to the quality and quantity of forces available to the realm. Martial prowess is held in such esteem, the First Prince, the ruler of the Federated Suns, is required to have served at least five years in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns in order to be eligible to use the title.citation needed

The Federated Suns is also the largest of the Successor States both geographically and in possessions, numbering more than 500 systems within over 20,000 square parsecs at the end of the 3rd Succession War. However, despite its military acumen, the fall of the Star League left the Federated Suns with a handful of technologically advanced worlds among large expanses of underdeveloped worlds (compared with the other Successor States). To remedy this situation, Hanse Davion founded the New Avalon Institute of Science and prioritized the recovery of lost technologies. Within two decades of founding the NAIS, the Federated Suns (and it's Fed-Com ally, the Lyran Commonwealth) could claim the most technologically advanced military among the Successor States.[3] Whether this technological renaissance of the early 31st century also reshaped civilian technological levels (especially on its periphery borders) is debatable.

Among the Successor States, the Federated Suns most ostensibly resembles a constitutional monarchy with representative democracy, similar to the United Kingdom of pre-First Exodus Terra, with guaranteed personal liberties. However, stratification of society (especially with regard to the influence of the warrior-elite) make the Suns less open than claimed. A deeper look at the actions and history of the Suns casts doubt on this story...

The Federated Suns is politically and militarily organized into a varying number of regional Marches. The three that have been around since the March system was created are the Capellan March (bordering the Capellan Confederation), the Draconis March (bordering the Draconis Combine), and the 'inner' Crucis March, home of the capital world of Federated Suns, New Avalon.
Contents

1 Politics
2 Military
3 Manufacturing Center
3.1 Heavy Aerospace Industry
3.1.1 3067
3.2 Major Defense Industries
3.2.1 3067
4 Religion
5 History
5.1 Foundation
5.2 Age of War
5.3 Star League Era
5.4 First and Second Succession Wars
5.5 Third Succession War and the Steiner-Davion Alliance
5.6 Fourth Succession War
5.7 War of 3039
5.8 Federated Commonwealth
5.9 FedCom Civil War
5.10 Taurian Invasion
5.11 Word of Blake Jihad
5.12 Years of Peace
5.13 Republic-era
6 Era Specific Data
6.1 3130
7 Fact Sheet
8 Maps
9 See Also
10 References
11 Bibliography

[edit] Politics

Main article: First Prince

The Federated Suns (sometimes called "the Federation" by its citizenry) could best be described as a hereditary and constitutional monarchy with limits placed on the monarch's powers. The First Prince is the leader of the Federated Suns and is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS). Officially, until the formation of the Federated Commonwealth, the High Council, a group of both democratic, hereditary, and other officials chosen by the leadership of the member-worlds of the Federated Suns, had presided over the nation.

Since the reign of Prince Alexander Davion the High Council has become largely a glorified "rubber stamp" organization. The Privy Council is a group of the highest advisers to the First Prince and is extremely important in the running of the day-to-day affairs of the state. The Nobility of the Federated Suns, created during the reign of Prince Simon Davion, also hold positions of authority, but the nobility of the Federated Suns has lesser power than some of the other Successor States. The citizens of the realm also have several basic rights protected by law, which include freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and the ability to appeal to the central government in order to have unpopular or destructive noblemen removed from office.

Administratively, the Federated Suns is divided into three Marches, two of which share borders with long-time adversaries of the nation: the Capellan March, the Crucis March (which contains the capital world of New Avalon), and the Draconis March. The Capellan and Draconis Marches are ruled by positions alternatively known as March Lords or March Ministers (these posts are traditionally held by members of the Hasek and Sandoval families, respectively).
Military

Main article: Armed Forces of the Federated Suns

In terms of military strength, the Federated Suns is one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sphere. The First Princes of House Davion have always been committed to the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns, a highly trained, disciplined, and professional force that benefits greatly from technological advances from the New Avalon Institute of Science. Every heir-apparent is required to serve in the military in order to be eligible for the title of First Prince.
Manufacturing Center

A detailed list of some FedSuns manufacturer and industrial centers.
Heavy Aerospace Industry
3067

Challenge Systems
Federated-Boeing Interstellar
Kathil Shipworks
New Syrtis Shipyards
Universal Air

Major Defense Industries
3067

Achernar BattleMechs
Cal-Boeing of Dorwinion
Corean Enterprises
Dynamico Limited
Federated-Boeing Interstellar
General Motors
Jalastar Aerospace
Johnston Industries
Kallon Industries
Lycomb-Davion IntroTech
Quickscell Company
Salvatore Incorporated
Valiant Systems
Wangker Aerospace

The Federated Suns is committed to allowing freedom of religion to its citizenry. During the First Succession wars, when the Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation were bearing down against House Davion's forces, there was a wave of hatred against Asian residents of the realm and many Buddhist institutions were destroyed. Today, however, Buddhism is practiced freely throughout Davion space. Judaism maintains a small but active presence in the Federated Suns and is centered in and around the world of Robinson.

The closest thing to a persecuted faith in the Federated Suns is the Azami branch of Islam, which is distrusted by the government, due to the large and important Azami population in the Draconis Combine. The larger Sunni branch of Islam is completely accepted by the Federated Suns population. Hinduism is important in a region in the southern portion of Davion space called the United Hindu Collective. It was formerly a sovereign state but later joined the Federated Suns. Protestant Christianity is the largest of all of the religious faiths of the Federated Suns. The Catholic branch of Christianity is also important although it is divided between those who owe loyalty to Rome and a split-off known as the New Avalon Catholic Church which is based around an interpretation of a communique from the Pope to the Cardinal of New Avalon.
History
Foundation

The Federated Suns was the brainchild of the 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 in the area for the purpose of trade and common defense known as the Crucis Pact. 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-- a group of the leaders of all member-worlds-- 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 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, Capellan, Terran, Draconis, and 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 (amongst 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.

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 amongst themselves, each in the end forgetting about Prince Alexander, whom, although the rightful heir to the First Princedom, 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 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. Therefore it surprised no one when, in 2567 the Federated Suns joined the Star League (becoming the fourth member state). 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 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.

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 Great Houses) 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.
First and Second Succession Wars

The first two Succession Wars were some of the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. Each 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's assault pushed all the way through the Draconis March into the Crucis March until 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 civilians bathed in their own blood. The 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 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 FedSuns troops, who rallied and forced the Combine back, almost to the pre-war border. Exhausted, both sides called a truce.

The Second Succession War saw more of the same, though memories of the 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 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, 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 AFFS bureaucracy, allowing them to be more effective against their enemies.

In 3020, Archon Katrina Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth extended a proposal of peace to the leaders of the other four Successor States. Only 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 and Katrina's daughter, 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 Maximillian 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 harboured 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 31st 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 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 in 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.
War of 3039

In an effort to repeat the successes of the Fourth Succession War, Hanse Davion invaded the Draconis Combine using the same strategies of overwhelming force. Unfortunately for Davion, Theodore Kurita is prepared and launches a counter-offensive as a bluff. Both sides trade worlds and the war ends a year later, apparently a stalemate.
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 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 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 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 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 "Katrina" Steiner-Davion, younger sister of 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 Davion half of the Commonwealth from her sister Yvonne, whom 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 Omi Kurita, Victor finally took the battle to New Avalon. There, on 20 April, 3067, his forces defeated Katherine's military; he proclaimed Yvonne the regent of the newly renamed "Federated Suns".

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