IS Atlas / System / Detail

Description:

Hesperus II has been characterized as having about as much physical appeal as an 80-year old lady of easy virtue. Approaching the planet, the visitor immediately notices the innumerable mountain ranges and canyons crisscrossing the four major continents like wrinkles or the grids of some warped game board.

And a game board it has been, for Hesperus, with its huge BattleMech factory in the Myoo Mountains on the planet's South Whitman continent, is the crux of the Commonwealth's military strength. It has been attacked 14 times by enemy Houses, but all attempts to destroy the factory have so far failed. The terrain of Hesperus is unforgiving and has proven to be as much an obstacle to foreign attackers as have the planet's defenders.

Even attacks from orbit have failed. In March 2789, the third battle for Hesperus II occurred when Marik warships attempted to bombard the factories from orbit. Approaching the planet from an unusual vector to try and slip past the system defenses, the Marik fleet was unaware that the Commonwealth has assigned two of its own warships to defend the planet.

The FWLS Devastator and Skulker were soon embroiled in combat with the LCS Granite and Endeavor. The Devastator quickly got the better of the older Granite. The commander of the Granite, Fleet Admiral Deway, soon realized that the battle would be lost unless he could act quickly. The Admiral ordered the cruiser to ram the Devastator, with the prow of the Granite successfully breaching the side of the Devastator.

Unknown to both sides, the ramming of the collision had altered the ships orbits, and both were rapidly failing towards Hesperus. Though the Granite was able to un-entangle itself from the crippled Devastator, it had been too badly damaged in the battle to maneuver effectively. The ship, a veteran of the Reunification War was doomed. Admiral Deway gave the order to abandon ship, for pickup with the now victorious Endeavor. With no clear advantage over the Steiner fleet, the remaining Marik fleet withdrew.

The hulks of the Granite and the Devastator both entered Hesperus's atmosphere, and although almost consumed in the fiery re-entry, huge chunks of the two ships eventually crashed very near the 'Mech factories.

Not much can grow on Hesperus II, except in the Melrose Valleys or in the terraced mountains just outside of Maria's Elegy, the largest city on Hesperus II. Due to the planet's lack of arable land, the population has always been small, consisting mainly of employees at the 'Mech factory.

[3025] Melrose Valley is the headquarters of Doering Electronics, a major manufacturer of BattleMech sensors and neurohelmets. One of its factories is based on Hesperus II and the other is on New Kyoto. Graf Umberto Doering is on good terms with Duke Brewer of Defiance Industries and probably hopes to win the hand of Jaqueline Brewer, the Duke's attractive daughter.