System: Palladaine

[3030] With little in the way of resources or industry, there was not much to draw attention to Palladaine. Its position on the coreward flank of the Andurien incursion gave it considerable strategic importance, and thus Dame Humphreys dispatched the Third Defenders of Andurien to secure it in October 3030 and, she hoped, serve as a bulwark against any attempt by the Capellans to counterattack into the Duchy or to reinforce the targeted worlds. Although one of the less experienced Andurien units, the Third quickly occupied the world, brushing aside a few half-hearted attempts by the local militia to impede their progress. Ten days after the landing, all key political and military sites were in Andurien hands.

The news of Palladaine’s fall spread quickly through neighboring worlds and reached the New Hessen Armored Scouts on neighboring Westerhand in early 3031. Though Palladaine was of minimal strategic value (it lacked significant industries or resources), Colonel Asaeu felt it was Scouts’ responsibility to challenge the occupation and, without official CCAF orders, the New Hessens immediately departed their garrison post for Palladaine.

Although not expecting a counter-blow quite so quickly, the Andurien troops were far from complacent and were in a good position to meet the CCAF incursion. Their heavy ’Mechs gave them a distinct firepower and resilience advantage over the light CCAF scouts, but it soon became clear that this didn’t intimidate the Liao troops in the slightest. Instead, Asaeu’s force relied on speed and mobility, striking where the Anduriens least expected and were weakest before vanishing back into the wilderness. The New Hessens caused considerable consternation to the Third Defenders, Lieutenant General Menlo Drews berating his own troops for their sluggish response to the pinprick attacks.

Despite their success, it soon became apparent to the Armored Scouts that they alone would be insufficient to dislodge the Defenders and, with Andurien hunter-killer operations involving combined ’Mech and aerospace forces increasingly successful, the decision was made to return to Westerhand and to preserve the formation against a future Andurien attack. Arriving home, they found themselves under investigation by the Maskirovka for “treasonous activities” and chose to flee into the Federated Suns where they sought employment.

[3032] With Andurien resolve crumbling, Thomas Marik ordered the Scarborough-based Sixth Marik Militia to raid Andurien positions both inside the Duchy and in the occupied territories. Targeting the occupied world of Palladaine in September 3032, a lightning raid against the rebel positions destroyed several caches of ammunition and equipment and also netted the League troops details of the Andurien ciphers Realizing this, the Duchy quickly changed its codes, but the information gathered by the Militia allowed SAFE to read much of the Andurien communications they’d intercepted during the first few years of the war.

[3034] Though there had been no significant military presence on Palladaine for several years, Andurien retained political control of the world until November 3034 when Blandford’s Grenadiers re-asserted Capellan sovereignty without firing a single shot.

[3035] Having narrowly avoided the CCAF attack on Scarborough (as they were raiding targets inside the Duchy of Andurien), the Sixth Marik Militia were nonetheless infuriated by the damage inflicted on their staging area. Having occupied the world since 3032, they’d developed a certain fondness for the population and shifted their attention to Palladaine. Held until recently by the Andurien forces and the target of two previous Militia raids, Palladaine hosted a military cantonment that was well known to the FWLM troops, a force that staged a surgical strike that destroyed significant CCAF material.

There are no functional factories located on this planet.