Free Star Republic

Rise and Fall of the Republic
The Free Star Republic was a short-lived political body created when the rebellious Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth Field Marshal Brandal Gareth broke away from the Federated Commonwealth in what he called "Operation EXCALIBUR". He announced the formation of the Free Star Republic in a speech on Hesperus II on 15 December 3057, which immediately led to armed conflict.

A pair of Union-class DropShips flying Free Star Republic colors, the Ravager and the Lightning, captured ships including the JumpShip Caliban and the DropShip Miranda in the Laiaka system between 17 November and 13 December 3057, suggesting that the Free Star Republic had been formed and was active prior to the 15 December announcement already. The Caliban was pressed into service and brought to the Hesperus system.

On Hesperus II, the Gray Death Legion took action to thwart Gareth's plans, and they managed to send a courier vessel to Furillo to alert the government of Gareth's actions. Gareth's coup was ended in short order by loyal troops descending on Hesperus II while the Gray Death Legion had maneuvered to deny him access to the planet's invaluable 'Mech factories. Gareth and his senior officers escaped on several stolen Excalibur-class DropShips following the final battle on 21 December 3057. Although their fate is not known, one of these DropShips may have ended up as a derelict on New Valencia, in the Federated Suns (see below).

Legacy
In the build-up to the formation of the Free Star Republic and their break with Federated Commonwealth, Defiance Industries had designed a heavy "flagship" BattleMech called Defiance. However, the initial prototypes turned out to have many design glitches and did not fare well during the rebellion. The design was eventually revived and redesigned in the 3070s to help fight the Word of Blake. One of the prototypes from 3057, DFN-3C-002, would later resurface in the Covenant's Commandos mercenary unit, with Captain Matthew Covenant claiming he found it in a derelict DropShip on New Valencia. If true, this may have been one of the DropShips on which Gareth and his followers had fled.