Solaris

Solaris is a system on the Lyran border to the Free Worlds League. The system contains twelve planets of which two are inhabited, and with two more planets with a poisonous atmosphere.
 * Solaris IV is an airless planet with an extensive but not very profitable mining colony. The world's only inhabitants are the miners and the few others maintaining services in the planet.
 * Solaris VII a terran size planet that is famous throughout the whole Inner Sphere for its BattleMech fights, which are operated there as a sport in the Solaris Games.

Political Affiliation

 * 2271 - Inhabited world
 * 2341 - Inhabited world
 * 2571 - Free Worlds League
 * 2596 - Free Worlds League
 * 2750 - Free Worlds League
 * 2765 - Free Worlds League
 * 2786 - Free Worlds League
 * 2819 - Free Worlds League
 * 2820 - Lyran Commonwealth (from January)
 * 2822 - Lyran Commonwealth
 * 2824 - The planet of Solaris VII (but not the entire Solaris system as such) is established as a neutral world under Lyran Commonwealth protection through Archon Marcus Steiner's Solaris Act.
 * 2864 - Lyran Commonwealth
 * 3002 - Free Worlds League
 * 3025 - Lyran Commonwealth
 * 3030 - Lyran Commonwealth
 * 3040 - Federated Commonwealth
 * 3052 - Federated Commonwealth
 * 3057 - Lyran Alliance
 * 3062 - Lyran Alliance
 * 3067 - Lyran Alliance
 * 3079 - Lyran Alliance
 * 3135 - Lyran Commonwealth
 * 3145 - Wolf Empire

Solaris IV

 * Solaris IV is an airless planet with an extensive mining colony whose only inhabitants are the miners and the few others maintaining services in the planet.

Solaris VII

 * see also: Solaris Games

Solaris VII, the "Game World", is known across the galaxy for its 'Mech fights. Gamblers place exorbitant amounts of money on longshot bets, and fortunes are won and lost daily. Solaris City, in particular, hosts six major arenas and numerous MechWarrior stables. Every year there is a Grand Tournament, which culminates with the naming of the year’s champion (notable champions include Gray Noton and Kai Allard-Liao). However, the games were all but suspended following the breakout of inter-House hostilities within Solaris City in 3063, resulting in numerous casualties and precipitating the FedCom Civil War.

The Game World has long been a choice location to hire mercenaries. However, unlike Galatea or Outreach, many of those available for hire on Solaris VII are individual warriors rather than full mercenary commands. The quality of those available for hire on Solaris is good as the skills required to succeed in the arenas places those with winning records in high demand, but the employers must realize that they might be getting a prima donna, rather than a down-and-dirty warrior. In the end this means that Solaris MechWarriors possess greater independence and are more likely to breach contracts than their brethren of greater experience.

Geography
Solaris VII is the largest planet in the system and is a rainy, water-rich world consisting only of two continents and some small islands :
 * Grayland, which is heavily populated, owns large lakes and wide rivers. It features a vast taiga in the north and open grassland in the south, separated by large coniferous forests in the middle. The climate in the center of the continent, the location of Solaris City, is wet and cool. The rainy season there lasts almost all year in contrast to the temperate climate of the south coast.
 * Equatus, the second continent and smaller than Grayland, is dry and mountainous. It is not strange to find Blood pits in the larger fishing villages.

Geographical Locations

 * The Tangerine Desert is home to one of the remote testing labs belonging to VEST.

Cities and Towns
Solaris VII has several cities and towns, though capital of the planet is the best known. Some of the cities and towns of Solaris are: Grayland Equatus
 * Solaris City, the capital of the planet and home to the best known arenas on the world, located on Grayland.
 * The city of Aerlan holds Clio Lane, the Overlord Stables' training facility, located on Grayland.
 * The city of Nowhere, located on Grayland, has a small 'Mech arena and sponsors its own games between local MechWarriors. The town also sponsors Exoskeleton matches (Class 1). Located near the Majestyk Weapons the city is home to a Blue Point Weapons facility. There is also a facility from Blue Shot Weapons. The facilities from Solaris Arms are located South of Nowhere.
 * The city of Xandria, located on Grayland is a paradise place except on winter. The city holds a facility from Norse-Storm Technologies Incorporated.
 * Chiba is seacoast town on Grayland. Fitzhugh Stables has its main training compound nearby which includes a large practice field and a repair facility. The repair facility was crippled in 3051, forcing the stable to use outside help. The damage was done allegedly by Thaddeus Bromley.
 * The small town of Hayward, located on Grayland, where the Hayward Arena is located and where matches of the Solaran League of Independent Stables are played.
 * The town of Joppo, located on Grayland, is the timber industry capital which host its own arena, the Joppo Arena.
 * The town of Mitchell is located southeast of Solaris City, located on Grayland. The town holds DeLon Stables training fields and also The Labyrinth, a Class V Arena. It is also home of a vacation house from Theodore Gross.
 * The logging town of Riverbend, located on Grayland is so small that it didn't even show on maps. It is home to a bloodpit arena.
 * The town of Sophia, located on Grayland, has a small 'Mech arena and sponsors its own games between local MechWarriors.
 * The town of Vacaville, located on Grayland, has a small 'Mech arena on its edge consisting of a 100-meter-square clearing.
 * The city of Mantraa is the capital of Equatus. Located in this city there is the Fulcrum Fields, one of the planet's space ports.
 * Anchorage is one of the largest villages of Equatus. It hosts its own Class Three Arena, Anchorage Arena, subsidized partially by Fitzhugh Stables and several small collection of independent MechWarriors collectives. It is also the birth place of Solaris Games star Jaime Ferrero.
 * The town of Port Townsend, situated on Equatus is competing with Mantraa to be the capital of the continent.

Unknown
 * Valis City is one of the few planet cities with a Spaceport. Riots broke up in the city in 3135 when a rumor apparently stated that Capellan DropShips had been detected entering the system.
 * New Brighton: Base of the Iron Men Stables.

Local Fauna

 * Vodnik

Early Time
Solaris VII has always been a highly industrialized world and, as such, was a natural choice for BattleMech factories and testing areas. At the time of the Star League, competing BattleMech manufacturers began to let their new models fight each other in front of highly-placed Star League representatives to encourage the purchase of the 'Mechs; the first fight took place between a Phoenix Hawk and a Sentinel in 2695. It was not long until the Events were broadcast on the planet and bets were placed on the outcomes of the fighting in a serious way. Mercenaries used Solaris as a training ground and the Gunslingers and Ronin used the world as a neutral place for their bitter fighting during the First Hidden War. The popularity of the fighting grew steadily and, at the time of the Amaris Coup, Solaris was already famous for its duels, some of them shown around the Inner Sphere.

The Succession Wars
Originally a world of the Free Worlds League, the planet suffered in the early throes of the Succession Wars. At the outbreak of fighting, Solaris turned to the Lyran Commonwealth during the First Succession War. However, a Marik fleet in retaliation bombed the planet with nuclear weapons.

In 2820, the FWLS Despiser, an Essex-class WarShip in service to the Free Worlds League, supported a raid by elements of the Red Eagles and Clinton's Cutthroats mercenary units against Solaris VII. After the attackers on the ground had finally been driven off, the Despiser conducted an orbital artillery bombardment on the planet with tactical nuclear weapons, narrowly missing the northern fringes of Solaris City proper but causing considerable damage to suburbs and industrial centers, and killing thousands. The entire Xolara area was set ablaze in a nuclear firestorm. (Even by 3055, locals still commemorate 2 April 2823 as the day the Despiser was lost in a misjump. ) In 2824, Archon Marcus Steiner declared Solaris VII an independent world under Lyran Commonwealth protection through the Solaris Act, after the Despiser attack had firmly consolidated support for the Lyrans among the population.

The duels on Solaris suffered from this only in the beginning because of the lack of idle MechWarriors due to the wars. Until 2800 the world had recovered from the stagnation again, mainly because the concept to build five BattleMech arenas in Solaris City, each of them representing one of the Great Houses, in which the Warriors of the Successor States should fight for the honor of their nation. Leading to the first real Solaris Championship in 2812. Since then, the championship is held every year.

In the subsequent Succession Wars Solaris also suffered severe devastation, including the near-destruction of Blue Shot Weapons in 2998 when the FWL used the 4th Marik Militia to first attack the International Zone and then retreat to Roland Fields.

In 3002 the LCAF struck down a major Marik offensive on Solaris. The attack was stopped easily by the LCAF. Loki sabotaged one of the Marik DropShips crippling a Battalion of 'Mechs while the rest of the defenders easily isolated the rest of the invading force. The only Marik success of the fight was by chance, where two Lances destroyed some small factories in Xolara.

In 3020, the 33rd Marik Militia the regiment, augmented by the Seguin's Strikers mercenary unit, attacked the planet but relentless aerospace fighter attacks and a mounting counterattack by regular Lyran forces and Hansen's Roughriders repulsed the attack.

Fourth Succession War and after
In October 3028 the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces repositioned a number of frontline units as the Free Worlds League Military launched Operation Dagger. One such unit was the Thirty-second Lyran Guards who were relocated to Zaniah, leaving Solaris guarded by the Tenth Skye Rangers. The LCAF strategic intent wasn't to prevent a League invasion, but rather to make invading forces pay more dearly for any gains and slow the progress of any breakthrough.

In 3043 the Atrean Hussars mounted a raid on Solaris that ended in disaster for the FWLM unit.

Clan Invasion era
Following the Clan Invasion, Kai Allard-Liao moved to Solaris VII and won the mantle of Solaris Champion from 3055 to 3056. Despite speculation that he would surpass Gray Noton's legendary seven year reign, Allard-Liao instead retired and returned to active military duty.

It was at the conclusion of the Invasion that Solaris became the largest community for Rasalhague expatriates. While they never gained their own quarter in Solaris City, many became famous as deadly competitors who fight for other stables regardless of their affiliation. Their matches generate large sums which are channelled to helping needy Rasalhagians as well as supporting partisan struggles behind the lines.

Solaris Riots
Just prior to the outbreak of the FedCom Civil War in 15 August 3062, friction between Davion- & Lyran-Loyalists heated into city wide riot in streets of Solaris City. ComStar garrison forces had been transferred off the planet at command of the LAAF Archon.

The FedSuns-aligned Solaris citizens and MechWarriors formed alliances to fend off with the Archon-Princess Katrina Steiner-Davion loyal Stables. These group formed after the two factions' quasi-champions Michael Searcy & Victor Vandergriff fought their championship match in the Steiner Stadium, which spilled over into the streets. The factions made an alliance between stables and cooperatives forming makeshift battalions fighting through the city. LAAF Peacekeepers, 32nd Lyran Guards, failed to contain the fighting (with their commanding officer dead) and were consolidated with Steiner Loyalist forces. It was not until champions Searny and Vandgriff fought yet again in the darkened ruins of the Steiner Stadium did the initial fighting end in their mutual annihilation of each other.

Fighting between the two factions briefly ended, however the fighting would continue occasionally for several more years. LAAF High Command later dispatched the 17th Arcturan Guards to reinforce the peace and also to keep the fighting from flaring up. The situation in Solaris was a mirror of the internal situation in all Fedcom space. The combats may be considered the first battle in the incoming civil war.

Jihad
The Word of Blake invaded Solaris suddenly on the 16th of June 3068 with the Twenty-fifth Division, taking advantage of both the chaos caused by the war between the Free Worlds League and the Skye and Bolan Provinces of the Lyran Alliance, as well as the absence of the Com Guards detachment previously assigned to Solaris but which had been recalled to take part in the disastrous Case White operation. The Blakists referred to the invasion as Operation SHOWTIME, and while the Word of Blake forces initially managed to escape being identified, the sheer number of free agents and stables on Solaris quickly led to an underground resistance movement which came to be known as the "Solaris Home Defense League".

During the first days of the invasion in 3068 Yoris University Amalgamated (a group belonging to IE) made a significant find buried beneath the dark sands of the Tangerine Desert. The 16th of June a mixed force from the WoB tried to crush the site and destroy all the artifacts but the small mercenary force under IE's payroll (Gannon's Cannons) was able to stop them time enough for the Yoris University Amalgamated's team escape.

Following the occupation of Solaris the Solaris Home Defense League engaged in months of low-level resistance. Initially, the resistance suffered from a lack of resources - particularly ammunition, weaponry and the transport capabilities to move either ammunition or weapons. In June 3070 the resistance used a number of Savior Repair Vehicles as transport vehicles to move several platoons of infantry and Dispossessed MechWarriors into position to launch raids on a number of Blakist supply caches located throughout the International Zone. Having captured important quantities of ammunition, parts and BattleMechs, the resistance then used the Saviors to move the supplies out of Blakist territory. Although two Saviors were hit badly enough by Blakist infantry to trigger internal ammunition explosions, the CASE systems aboard the vessels protected both the embarked resistance fighters and much of the supplies. The local yakuza families came to an agreement with the SHDL to provide equipment and ammunition.

The level of resistance activity changed dramatically on the 3rd of May 3071, when Home Defense League forces launched a daring assault on Solaris City itself, securing the International Zone. It was the first time that mercenary forces (Gannon's Cannons) were contracted by some stables to support the SHDL forces. This was just the beginning of a campaign to recapture the entire city, and the Home Defense League managed to push the defending Blakist forces out of Solaris City by the 11th of June, although not before the planetary HPG had been destroyed by the retreating Blakists.

In August 3071, the Word of Blake forces launched a blitzkrieg-style assault on the International Zone, reclaiming control of the zone on the 17th. It took until the 15th of October for the Solaris Home Defense League to push the Word of Blake forces back out of the city and into the Reaches. The Word of Blake forces would finally concede control of Solaris and leave the world on the 11th of December 3071.

Once situation started to get a bit clear, the Solaris Police Department's reputation was damaged with the revelation of SPD "snatch" squads had acted in conjunction with Blakist ROM Internal Obedience units to detain several hundred influential Solarans during the early days of the occupation.

Post-Jihad Era
After the Jihad, the problems around Solaris City increased with the return or refugees. At that time, the government struck a devil's bargain in 3072 with the surviving Mafia and with surviving elements and the Triads and Tongs, which became the effective overlords of the refugee camps.

In 3079 only one company on Solaris was capable of continuing to design and build anything other than RetroTech 'Mechs; the Vining Engineering and Salvage Team. Based out of the city of Xolara on Grayland, Vining were busily recruiting experienced and skilled personnel from other firms as the Jihad drew to a close.

Where once Solaris City was split into six districts, each with virtually its own government and police force (all of whom ignored the de jure planetary government), the Jihad changed everything, and after that the whole city was put under the planetary government's sole administration.

While the bulk of the Lyran Alliance's Skye Province joined the Republic of the Sphere shortly after the signing of the Republic Formation Treaty, the Lyran government insisted on retaining Solaris within the Alliance. Despite the nearly total devastation of Solaris' military industrial base, the Lyran government was loathe to interfere with the fact that the industry rebuilding on Solaris in the wake of the Jihad focused on supplying the arenas; the arenas were enough of a financial boon to render them the preeminent Lyran interest, even ahead of the military production.

In early December 3135, as The Republic finished tearing itself apart, rioting erupted at a Class IV Ishiyama preliminary bout.

Planetary Holidays
When the Despiser vanished in a presumably fatal misjump on 2 April 2823, the anniversary was subsequently declared a holiday by the planetary council.

2786

 * Sixth Free Worlds Guards

3025

 * Tenth Skye Rangers
 * Thirty-second Lyran Guards

3028

 * Tenth Skye Rangers
 * Thirty-second Lyran Guards RCT (until October)

3038

 * Thirty-second Lyran Guards

3050

 * Thirty-second Lyran Guards RCT
 * Fifty-sixth Division of the ComGuard

3054

 * Thirty-second Lyran Guards RCT

3055

 * 56th Division

3062

 * Fifty-sixth Division - temporarily left the planet during the Solaris Riots

3067

 * Fifty-sixth Division

3079

 * Third Lyran Guards RCT
 * - At this point in time the Third Lyran Guards were deployed across Solaris and Rahne. The 3rd was at 75% of full strength, with 90% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology. The 3rd Lyran Guards preferred to avoid Solaris City and the chaos that surrounded it, instead camping and patrolling on the more sparsely-populated Equatus continent.


 * Planetary Militia
 * - The Planetary Militia was still rebuilding at this point, and was formed from a mix of surviving members of the pre-Jihad Solaran security forces and elements of the Solaris Home Defense League which formed the bulk of the resistance to the Word of Blake. The Planetary Militia had the unenviable task of patrolling and securing the badly damaged Solaris City and surrounding areas as reconstruction efforts continued.

3085

 * Fourteenth Lyran Guards LCT

3145

 * Ninth Wolf Cavalry

Industrial Centers

 * Barrymore Munitions
 * Blue Shot Weapons
 * Doctor Géné Lyndon
 * Innovative Design Concepts
 * Kramer's Parts and Machinery
 * Matani's 'Mechs
 * Norse-Storm Technologies Incorporated
 * O'Neil BattleMechs
 * Omnitech Industries
 * Rakker's Machine Shop
 * Ryder's Modifications
 * Shatner's Scrap and Collectives
 * Silver Wyrm, Ltd.
 * Snorkel's
 * Solaris Arms
 * Vining Engineering and Salvage Team
 * Warner Mechwarrior Academy