![[CIRCINUS LOGO]](/comstar/gif/cf2.gif)
The Lyran farmers apparently were never fully aware of the nature of their new allies. The pirates were involved in what remained "covert operations," but the farmers asked no questions as long as their allies provided the tools and consumer goods the farmers needed. The pirates, for their part, welcomed the farmers for two reasons. First, they provided stability and the possibility of internal law and order (without the brutal punishments and intimidation that mark pirate societies elsewhere), that would keep the band of cutthroats from turning on one another. Second, they helped the pirates present the illusion of a respectable, agrarian society to the neighboring worlds who were their victims.
Despite the fact that the Free Worlds military occupied Circinus during a lull in the Second Succession War, it is still the most successful of the Bandit Kingdoms, having long since adopted a presidential system of government. Piracy is a major governmental function, with covert "agencies" responsible both for the raids themselves and for covering them up. Lyran pundits often note that the Circinian president's chief duty is to look the other way so that he will not have to acknowledge the crimes his government is constantly committing.
In recent decades, the inhabitants of Circinus have been cautiously settling neighboring star systems, claiming eight planets between 2990 and 3020. From this new empire, President C. J. "Bob" McIntyre has entered into a series of joint reconciliation talks with leaders of both Inner Sphere governments. Through skillful diplomacy and judicious return of prisoners, and without once admitting to any wrongdoing on the part of his people, McIntyre has managed to avert a wholesale counterattack against his Federation while playing on the mutual suspicions of his Marik and Steiner counterparts.
McIntyre's position has lately improved with the arrival of numerous mercenary recruits who see him as a Napoleon of the Periphery. Moreover, by convincing both House Marik and House Steiner that his support could be invaluable, he has managed to acquire shipments of badly needed BattleMech spare parts and a small contingent of AeroSpace Fighters.
Nevertheless, several of McIntyre's lieutenants, yearning for more wealth and power, have challenged his position. Because of the continued infighting between McIntyre and his subordinates, it is uncertain whether the Federation will commit itself to either House. The chief of the officially nonexistent pirates is Adam Cirion, a descendant of Zachariah Cirion, founder of the Federation.
During the Fourth Succession War the Circinian raids grew increasingly profitable. At this time Circinian raiders could strike their targets with virtual impunity, as Lyran forces fought off the Kurita offensives and Marik armies deteriorated. President McIntyre used much of the profits gained from these raids to increase the size of the Black Warriors, who remained the primary Circinian military force. McIntyre bolstered the Warriors by supplying them with new BattleMechs, personnel, training and members of several mercenary units left penniless after the Fourth Succession War. By 3032 the Black Warriors had added two full rehiments to its numbers and the Circinus Federation stood poised to embark on a period of interstellar conquest.
However, Circinian military leaders require that all unit uniforms include the emblem of the Federation - and that all military personnel wear the emblem somewhere above the waist. This stipulation was added after the Fighting Shamrocks were spotted wearing large Federation emblems on their rear ends. Although all Federation units use the same progression of rank, rank insignia varies widely among units. Shown below are the most common insignia, used by the Black Warriors.
Private
All new recruits to the Black Warriors are issued the rank of private until
they prove themselves worthy of another rank. If they are MechWarriors,
this process is fairly rapid, as any battlefield or simulator run will prove
a soldier's worth as a MechWarrior. Making progress beyond the rank of
private in the areas of technical support, medicine and ship's crew requires
traveling a long and arduous road, and competition is fierce. Only the most
skilled and persistent soldiers reach the rank of corporal.
Corporal
Unlink the low station this rank affords in larger militaries, the Circinian
corporal acts as a team leader or department head in the technical support
division. Each corporal supervises a team of techs in support of a company,
or a department (such as engineering) on board a ship.
Sergeant
Few corporals ever advance to the rank of sergeant, a post soldiers hold
until death or retirement once they attain it. A sergeant coordinates the
activities of all support personnel associated with a particular battalion or
ship.
MechWarrior
As the rank name implies, a MechWarrior pilots a BattleMech. Though
considered an officer with all the associated perks and pay scale, a
MechWarrior commands no authority over enlisted personnel.
Lieutenant
Lieutenants command a lance of four BattleMechs. On board a ship, a
lieutenant acts as the executive officer.
Captain
Captains are the most important officers in the Black Warriors. This
statement has taken on a deeper truth as the unit has returned to raiding in
recent years. Each captain commands a company of twelve BattleMechs, plus
associated support staff. The company is the main unit deployed by the
Warriors, so each captain is given a large degree of latitude on the
battlefield and is expected to oeprate independent of higher command
authority. In the smal Circinus navy, captains command DropShips as well as
JumpShips.
Major
In the Federation military, a major commands a battalion.
Colonel
The position of colonel, the highest rank in the Black Warriors, is occupied
by H. R. "Little Bob" McIntyre, basically a tactical failure in battle. The
original Black Warriors were commanded by a colonel, and when the Black
Warriors total force reached three regiments, each regiment was commanded
by a colonel. They in turn reported directly to the president. Though the
current Federated consists of a full regiment in strength, Little Bob
apparently prefers the position of president to the rank of colonel.
For military dress functions, the president's uniform rivals a colonel's in gaudy flash, each shoulder festooned with gold cords and ten glittering chrome stars lining each epaulet and collar (representing hte ten worlds of the Federation). As the Federation grows, the President's uniform may become difficult to look at without sunglasses.
After securing his position, the new president announced that he would carry out his father's dream of making the Circinus Federation a true interstellar power. As a first step toward achieving that dream, he planned to conquer the mineral-rich worlds of the Illyrian Palatinate and ordered Circinian military leaders to prepare an invasion plan. Within weeks, Circinian manufacturers were busy producing materiel for the invasion, and the Circinian military had completed a campaign strategy.
In November 3032, only days before the invasion was scheduled to commence, a second tragedy delayed the conquest of the Illyrian Palatinate. Black Warriors commander Adam Cirion died as the result of injuries he suffered during a tavern brawl on Circinus. The Black Warriors, which served as the command staff and core of the Circinian forces, were thrown into disarray. Like the government of the Circinus federation itself, the Black Warriors had no system to provide an accepted order of succession.
Traditionally, the Black Warriors had been led by a member of the Cirion family, but many military leaders considered the late commander's only son, Michael Cirion, too young and inexperienced to lead the Federation's forces. Eager to avoid any infighting that might threaten morale and unit cohesion and weaken the Federation military, McIntyre announced that he would assume command of the Black Warriors until Michael Cirion was able an old enough to lead. Many individuals in the Black Warriors questioned McIntyre's ability to command the military, as the president possessed only marginal skill as a MechWarrior and virtually no battlefield experience. However, McIntyre pre-empted these concerns by announcing that the invasion would be postponed for one year while he trained with the Black Warriors to ensure a quick victory for the Federation.
During the subsequent months, McIntyre attempted to consolidate his support within the Circinian military forces and eliminate any opposition. His efforts proved only partially successful. Even as the revised invasion date neared, many members of the Black Warriors viewed McIntyre with suspicion and hostility for his violation of the traditional, unspoken agreement between Circinian politicians and military leaders to refrain from visibly encroaching on one anothers' areas of influence. In addition, "Little Bob" soon proved himself incapable of continuing the political balancing act of hiding the true nature of the Black Warriors from the public. Though over the years most Circinians had become aware of the nature of their planet's income, they gladly turned a blind eye in favor of the Federations's continued prosperity. McIntyre's ineptitude stood to ruin decades of clever diplomacy in a matter of months. Michael Cirion emerged as an unofficial leader of this silent opposition but the Cirion surname continued to elicit respect and even reverence among the Black Warriors and McIntyre could do little to counter the rising fortunes of the young MechWarrior.
Unfortunately, McIntyre's prediction of a quick victory for the Federation proved wrong. Apparently, the Federation's ineffective intelligence service failed to detect the military preparations taken by the Illyrians during the long delays that plagued the launch of the invasion, and it seems probably that McIntyre's desire for a quick victory caused him to discount any reports that did come through. As a result, the invading Circinian forces were completely surprised when they encountered seasoned mercenary troops defending the Palatinate worlds. As Circinian losses quickly began to mount, McIntyre ordered a full-scale retreat to preserve his forces.
Fearful of the popular disdain the failed invasion might engender, as well as any advantage his failure might provide his opponents in the military, McIntyre immediately ordered his loyal commanders to identify a suitable, vulnerable target for another invasion. Within days those commanders had indentified a target: the Lothian world of Dersidatz.
Once the site of a Federation colony, the small agricultural world had been a protectorate of the Lothian League since 3003, Dersidatz's complete lack of strategic value and its scant resources had enabled the planet's population to live free of outside aggression during the intervening years, and it had virtually no defensive forces when Circinian forces landed. Within days the Dersidatzans had surrendered to the Circinian invaders, who established several small garrisons and settlements on the planet. Despite the quick victory, pockets of Dersidatzan resistance fighters remained on the world, but reports of these fighters were lost in the flood of news accounts of the Federation's victory and the government's proclamations of a dawning Circinian empire. Although Dersidatz held no real strategic or economic value and the victory was not a particularly impressive military feat, it did improve McIntyre's popularity and silence his opponents.
However, McIntyre quickly withdrew that order when he received reports of massive Marik and Steiner troop movements near the Federation borders. Fearing a war that might spill over into the Federation, McIntyre ordered that all Circinian worlds along those borders be garrisoned with troops to counter any incursions. At the same time, he ordered that Circinian military forces cease all raiding activities directed against Marik and Steiner worlds and return to the realm. For several tense months, Circinian military leaders waited for the attacks they considered inevitable. When a year had passed without any foreign aggression, McIntyre canceled the alert and, confident that the threat had passed, returned his attention to the rebellion on Dersidatz.
The Dersidatzan rebels spent the passing months digging in and preparing sturdier defenses. When the Black Warriors returned to the world, they faced a better-armed and better-prepared opponent. The reconquest of Dersidatz quickly degenerated into a guerilla war, in which the Circinian forces were forced to track small rebel bands through the planet's numerous mountain ranges. Inevitably, the campaign grew far more costly than the Circinian planners had anticipated, and though the protracted war provided further fuel to the simmering discontent within the Circinian military, McIntyre refused to abandon the planet.
By the end of 3040, the Circinians had subdued most of the rebels on Dersidatz. Despite continued, scattered guerilla activity, McIntyre declared victory for the Federation and withdrew nearly all the Circinian forces from the planet. Then he began preparations for the delayed second invasion of the Illyrian Palatinate. Those plans were again interrupted in the opening days of 3041 when a group of Black Warriors, secretly backed by Michael Cirion, attempted to seize power in a coup d'etat. The president escaped the initial attack, and soon the rebels and troops loyal to McIntyre were embroiled in a fierce, running battle that lasted a full year and spanned every Circinian world. Eventually, the loyalist forces prevailed, but more than two-thirds of the Circinian military was destroyed in the brutal civil war.
McIntyre immediately instituted a brutal purge to eradicate any surviving opposition within his military forces. Michael Cirion was arrested but later found innocen of the charges of treason. Apparently, Cirion had carefully avoided any discernible involvement in the rebellion. That fact, along with the prestige of his family and influence in the Circinian judicial system, saved him from the executioner's chopping block.
The battered and demoralized Federation received yet another blow in 3042, when a young Black Warriors company commander on a deep raiding mission into Lyran space allegedly discovered a Star League cache on an uncharted Periphery world. Rather than return with this find to the Federation, Captain Hopper Morrison and his unit deserted. The Federation made several failed attempts to hunt down the renegade unit.
Despite all these misfortunes, McIntyre managed to retain the presidency and hold the Circinus Federation together. Slowly the realm began to rebuild itself, resorting to its traditional means of gathering capital -- raiding. The Clans' invasion of the Inner Sphere in 3050 actually aided this rebuilding effort by drawing Inner Sphere attention away from the worlds along the Circinian border.
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld
Black Warriors Regular 1 Circinus
(CO: H. R. "Little Bob" McIntyre)
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Will Day < wd