![[MARIAN LOGO]](/comstar/gif/mh2.gif)
![[MARIAN FLAG]](/comstar/gif/marianhege.gif)
Under the leadership of Johann's grandson, Marius O'Reilly, the Marian Hegemony views expansion as the key to survival. In the last decade, the Marian navy and ground forces (estimated at roughly three small battalions of assorted BattleMechs) have clashed repeatedly with their neighbors over possession of border worlds. The Hegemony welcomes the presence of ComStar, but only at the price of an annual tribute to the Imperial Treasury.
After the Fourth Succession War, Imperator Marius used the proceeds of the raids to strengthen and expand his nation on several fronts. The Marian government founded schools and military academies, funded the development of new industries, and raised soldiers' pay, among other benefits. Literacy levels rose, along with the general standard of living. Among the young Marian citizens entering the new Collegium Bellorum Imperium for MechWarrior training was the Imperator's own son Sean, who began attending the military academy in 3032 as a member of its first class. Upon Sean's graduation in 3035, he was given a lance command in one of the Hegemony's three BattleMech battalions.
The hopes of some observers that the Imperator's civic improvements indicated a desire to make the Hegemony a more respectable realm were dashed later that same year, when the Imperator narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Captured and beaten by the Imperator's personal guard, the assassin claimed to have been hired by a Free Worlds League agent operating on the independent planet of Astrokazy. Outraged, Marius swore to avenge himself against his attackers. He did not dare move militarily against the powerful Successor State, but spread the word among the Hegemony's privateers that raids against the Free Worlds League planets would buy them favor in his eyes. He also sent the First Marian legion to smash Astrokazy.
Astrokazy's tiny, disorganized 'Mech forces swiftly fell to the Marian assault. The Imperator proclaimed Astrokazy a Hegemony possession, but before his forces could solidify their control, reinforcements began arriving from surrounding Periphery realms at the request of Astrokazy's various city-states. In the face of potentially stiff opposition, Marius O'Reilly gave up his claim to the planet.
Sean spent the next two years organizing the necessary equipment and personnel to colonize three nearby worlds. Unknown to the Imperator, Sean was also siphoning off a portion of the colonization funds for his own personal use. During his five years of military service, Sean had run up quite a string of gambling debts, and was also supporting several mistresses on various Hegemony worlds.
In 3046, the Imperator stumbled across evidence of his son's illegal activities. Furious at Sean's duplicity, Marius summoned him to Alphard and demanded immediate restitution of the stolen funds. When Sean refused, Marius threatened to bar him from succession in favor of six-year-old Julius. Almost immediately Sean backed down, promising to mend his ways and repay the Imperial Treasury as best he could from his limited personal income. As proof of his good faith, he immediately ended relations with the two most expensive of his mistresses, sold the properties he had given them, and signed the money over to the treasury. Grudgingly, Marius relented, and at the end of the year publicly reaffirmed Sean's status as his heir. Underneath their civil facades, however, both men remained suspicious of one another. The Imperator's continuing coolness toward him convinced Sean that his father secretly intended to pass the leadership of the Marian Hegemony to Julius. Determined to keep this from happening, Sean began to build a power base within the First Marian Legion.
Dismissing the Clans as no particular threat to the Hegemony, Caesar Sean spent 3051 and most of 3052 planning the conquest of the Lothian League. The League's seven planets, resource-rich and poorly defended, presented a tempting target for the Hegemony's newly enlarged armies. Knowing that the Marian Legions would not be up to the full fighting strength he wanted until 3053 at the earliest, the Caesar embarked on a two-part strategy. Throughout 3052 and 3053, Marian privateers and small military units raided Lothian planets, gradually wearing down the mercenary units defending them. The attacks increased in frequency and ferocity as the months wore on, followed by a full-scale assault by the Marian Legions on 3054.
The Caesar himself led the assault on Lordinax, the last League planet to fall. He destroyed the Home Guard, killing Liesel Logan. Upon his triumphal landing on Lothario, the League's former capital world, the Caesar ordered Dame Lorelei and her surviving family taken into custody. The Logans had disappeared, however, and presumably remain in hiding.
The Marian Hegemony faces continued active and passive resistance from Lothian citizens who refuse to accept the Marian domination. The Caesar has installed two-thirds of his Second Marian Legion across the seven League planets to deal with the insurgents, but the Legion forces are barely holding their own against their guerilla opponents. Further, government officials installed to enact the Caesar's policies must repeatedly deal with blatant disregard for their imposed authority. ROM reports indicate that Lothian freedom fighters are receiving covert assistance from the Magistracy of Canopus, which hopes to keep the Caesar and his Legions too busy for further conquests. The resisters may also be receiving small amounts of money and supplies from the Illyrian Palatinate, the Caesar's next likely target.
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld
1st Marian Legion Regular 1 Addhara
(CO: Caesar Sean O'Reilly)
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#include
<stddiscl.h>
Will Day < wd