This is not for Football Manager, this is for Battletech, another game I play(ed) back in the day. But I am posting this here because I found the map in a hard drive and figured I would post what I put on the forum here as well for those people who may not be on the forums. :-) This is all the back ground I dedicated to it.

https://www.mediafire.com/file_premium/g61negyksuhtszh/DavShatteredSphere.pdf/file

You have several polities that are capable of defending themselves, but successfully prosecuting a long term war (similar to what happened in the 1st Succession Wars) and the odd’s of one state subsuming another by force are slim to none. 

Instead rulers are now looking towards new alliances, either thru marriage or political machinations.   

The recent announcement of Heir Prince Erik of the Suns to Helen Trempeleau, the eldest daughter of Duke Trempleau of the Outremer Federation has sent shockwaves thru the Shattered Sphere. 

Lost in the noise was Archon Zara’s proposal to Duchess Monique II of the Tamar Domains, Archon Brian Bradford of the Arcturus Alliance, and First Minster Ivan Timoshenko of the Rim World Coalition to stop their fighting and form a Union of Federal States was well received.  Duke Giovanni Lestrade of Skye never acknowledged receipt of the proposal, rumor has it he is preparing the Isles to go after worlds in the Duchy of Stewart, whose current weakness is highlighted by the infighting between Regent Markus Stewart, ruling in the name of four year old Adrienne Stewart, and Baron Giorgi Stewart-Huntsmann of Lancaster, who lost the Regency when his brother appointed Markus in his will. 

Watching with an interested eye is Duke Kieran Stewart-Percy, whose mother Ariel was Markus Stewart’s younger sister, and who was stripped of all her titles, claims, and fortune by her father when she married Duke Kian Percy twenty five years ago.

It is assumed that if any collection of Shattered Sphere States were to merge and become and Inner Sphere Power House, it would be the Warring Clans of the Former Combine, or the former states that comprised the Capellan Confederation.

The death of Yuguchi Kurita at the hands of Snow Fire led to the Shadow War, with Miyogi Kurita and Roweena Kurita fighting to see who would become the new coordinator.  When Taragi Kurita also announced his intent to become Coordinator, several other claimants also stepped up, leading to several battles and skirmishes, which soon led to outright war.  Political marriages and ally building took place, as the Combine broke up into “The Kosen Suta” or the Tatakau Shizoku Jidai.  All the current leaders claim the title of Coordinator, and can claim blood lineage back to the Kurita Family.  The strongest claimant is Yakeru Kurita of the Clan Kurita, but recent fighting against the Skye Isles and an ill planned and executed offensive to try and take the Tamar Domain worlds ended with the Kurita military in shambles.

Warlord Suoh Hakashi-Kurita became ruler of the Hakashi Domains when his father was killed on New Ivaarsen, and focused his attention on punishing the Suns of Davion, threatening to land troops on New Avalon.  Lately though, he has been distracted, first by by Duke Alexander Sandoval of Robinson, whose fief has remained a thorn in Suoh’s side.  Alexander has declared the now remaining four worlds of Robinson to be “The New Masada”, and has launched several raids from the planet, forcing Suoh to call off his offensive and concentrate on holding his new worlds.

Suoh’s other main distraction has been Masamune Nakagona-Kurita, perhaps the most feared claimant to the Coordinators throne.  A bloodthirsty tyrant who is best known for taking advantage of others misfortune, when Suoh Kurita’s efforts against the Suns stalled, Masamune led the Galedon Nihonto on a lightening offensive from Bremond, taking nine planets in short order.  He also took Cassias, McGehee, and Igualada from his “cousin”.  Masamune’s most recent action on Fairfax has put his cold bloodedness at the forefront again.  The 1st and 3rd Hakashi Gunba, with a detachment from the 1st Sword of Light, were fighting the 19th Avalon Hussars and the 281st Battle Regiment of the Lexington Combat Group.  Masamune landed on planet with the 1st Galedon Nihonto and his Battalion of Akumu.  When the 281st outflanked the 3rd Hakashi and drove them towards Masamunes lines, the Hakashi troops called for help, and instead found themselves under fire from the Galedon troops.  It was only after they agreed to surrender to Masamune’s forces that they were allowed thru, only to fins themselves dispossessed and now held for ransom.  Those troops that tried fighting back either found themselves dead, or crucified on the front lines as a warning.  When Prince Callum withdrew the 19th Avalon and 281st to deal with the advances of the Hakashi and Nakagona elsewhere, Tai-Sa Toyatomi Minoru  challenged Masamune to a mech duel.  Masamune demurred, instead sending several of his Akumu against the Sword of Light commander, who killed or wounded them all, before broadcasting in the open that Masamune must be a coward, sending good men to die in his stead.  Nothing is known of the battle between the two, what is known is that Masamune’s Emporer was all but destroyed by the Tai-Sa’s Stalker, Masamune has new new bionic right arm, and the Tai-Sa’s head has a place of prominence behind his throne on Galedon.  Rumors that Masamune was close to losing until one of his Akuma broke the rules and fired into the Tai-sa’s mech from behind are unfounded.

The most unknown of the claimants is Duchess Tomoe Sato-Kurita, who recently ascended her fathers throne when he died after a short illness.  What is known is that her Uncle, Hideyoshi Sato, who was married to her mother Tara, who died when Tomoe was seven, also made a claim for the throne, was but defeated in battle by Tomoe, and given leave to commit Seppuku.  The youngest of the claimants at thirty one years old, she has shown herself to be a capable administrator and warrior, her changes to the bureaucracy an New Samarkand and Pesht have streamlined production and tax collection across the prefecture, and her forces gains against the Suns, taking Alpheratz, Banori, Rudolpho, Baliggora and Raldamax have opened several eyes, but the one thing that has brought her to the attention of the rest of that Shattered Sphere is her defeat of Tai-Sho Allen Nakagona and his 3rd Gakedon Nihonto on Sinope with her 1st Pesht Ikko-Ikki.  Not only did she completely destroy the Tai-sho’s forces, she sent the first cousin of Masamune back to Galedon in shame, where he was not only executed for his failure, but his immediate family as also imprisoned or sold into slavery.

The Asgard Republic is a “recent” Polity, having been formed in 2947 when Warlord Sigismund Shor-Kurita renounced all of his claims to the Throne on Luthien and instead proclaimed the Asgard Republic.  For the next ten or so years Prince Sigismund fought to maintain his new polities independence, fighting off several attacks by the Tamar Pact and Clan Kurita.  During the course of this fighting his family, including his heir Aaren, were killed by Kurita ISF agents.  Despondent, Sigismund withdrew from daily life, and if not for the work done by his Warlord Axl Larsen, the Asgard Republic would have collapsed.  Sigismund’s death left no claimant for the leadership of the Republic, but by popular demand, the Tai-shu was “elected” King, but instead demurred to the title of “Prince”, declaring that the Republic’s one and only King was Sigismund, who’s vision for the Rasalhague worlds was the one he intended to fill.  The next 33 years saw the Prince move the worlds away from the Combine influences they had, adopting the more Scandinavian of their heritages.  The one exception to this is the states religion, as the religious Doctrines of the former Combine and Christianity not only coexist, but are gradually becoming one.  Larsen and the rest of the KungsArmee, assisted by many Noble families, have made the Republic, strong, fierce, and independent.  While the KungsArmee does not have a lot of mech regiments, the Republic as a whole has some of, if not the best, conventional forces left in the Shattered Sphere, as evidenced by the fact it was purely conventional forces that drove the 3rd Tamar Talwar off Mozirje in 3016.

Last but not least is the region known as the ‘Kosen Suta”, or the Warring Stars.  These are planets around Luthien that have at one point or another belonged to several of the other clans, until the ealry 2920’s, when Hohiro Dalton of Xinyang declared his candidacy for the throne, and was joined by several coreward world, including Kagoshima and Albiero.  His candidacy was shortlived though, as in less than ten years infighting, backstabbing, deceit and defeat left “The New Combine” defeated, mostly by internal forces.  However, with most of the major ruling families in the region decimated by the fighting, and the other Clans in the area having their own problems to deal with, the former worlds fell into an unclaimed state, and since then several warlords have risen up in the region, declared their candidacy,  and then whither away.  Several units left behind have become ‘Ronin’ protecting their planet, or in some instances Mercenaries for hire for one clan to attack another with some sort of plausible deniability.  Recently though, a new banner has been raised, on Iruzun General Minobu Ashikaga has proclaimed the “Ryu Umarekawaru”, and has adherents from all the other clans flocking to Iruzun to take part.  Recently, on his own behalf Tai-Sai Piotr Chelabinsky took his 17th Hakashi Gunba to Irizun, and was soundly defeated.  More concerning is that at least a battalions worth of his unti stayed behind to join Ashikaga’s campaign.

Luthien is the Imperial Planet, claimed by all, but occupied by none.  There is a understanding, Tacit or otherwise, that only one person may ascend the throne after defeating all other claimants, be it on the field of battle or the field of politics.  Occasionally, when two or more leaders wish to meet in an area they know nothing will happen to them, they go to Luthien. 

The Primary reason for this is the Mushashi Miyamoto School of Sakusen.  The Otomo are the Coordinator’s handpicked bodyguards, and with several claimants to the throne, the commander of the Otomo at the time proclaimed he would not support anyone unless they had the support of everyone and would uphold the ideals of the Combine.  He was supported by many commanders and MechWarrior’s, the least of which was a cadre of teachers from Sun Zhang on New Samarkand who did not want to pledge their fealty to Taragi Kurita.  There, they took an oath to keep Luthien free from ‘foreign’ interference, proclaiming it the ‘Imperial Planet’, and defending it in the Coordinators name.  Given that they did not recognize any of the claimants, Luthien has become an oddity, a havily defended world claimed by everyone, and defended by a large force that does not answer to any of them, and indeed will fight them off if required.  The Miyamoto school attracts students from all over the former Combine Worlds that are interested in defending the planet awaiting the Coordinators return.  Entry into the school is very competitive, and very fierce, although those who fail often stay on the planet to participate in other ways.  They also act as the planets defense force, and given the amount of industry still on planet, Luthien has been attacked by warlords great and small in the past. Soundly defeating all of them.  While each graduating class of MMSS is less than 100 students, not all stay on Luthien, some leave to find service in other Armed Forces, and although some (Nakagona in particular) treat them as spies and either imprison or execute them accordingly, a soldier in any of the Clans wearing the Wakazashi and Katana with the MMSS seal on the hilt is always respected. 
There had always been questions as to the combat capabilies of the MMSS cadre, but those were put to rest in 2993, when the 30th Galedon Nihonto “Went Rouge”, fought across the Kosen Suta, to Luthien, where they raided several orbital warehouses.  They retreated back to Hachiman, where then Coordinator Nikolai  Nakagona-Kurita, Masamune’s father, welcomed them back and after “punishing” the commanders of the unit with early retirement, ignored the protests from the MMSS.  The 30th was based on Hachiman, and about six months after the 30th returned, the planet was attacked by at least three regiments of Mech’s and supporting conventional forces.  All of them bore the interlocking 5 Rings insignia of the MMSS, and in less than a month, they not only hunted down and destroyed the 30th Galedon Nihonto, they also destroyed Tanadi Computer complex in Masamori before leaving the planet.  When news reached Nikolai he vowed revenge, until he woke up one morning with the heads of all the commanders of the 30th, including those he had “retired”, arranged into 5 rings on Naginata at the foot of his bed.  This was the start of Nikolai’s descent into madness, and his eventual death at the hands of his son in 2999. 

“Imagine if you will a reunited Capellan Confederation, combining the willpower and economic might of the Duchy, the pragmatism of St. Ives, and the cunning of the Supremacy.  The Alliance couldn’t stand up to that, nor Stewart.  The Compact would be beaten back to Tauraus, and I dare say the flag of the Confederation could be planted as far as Summer, Algedi, Robinson and New Avalon.  That it why it must never happen.”

   From the Diary of Primus Xavier Cortes, July 10th, 2998

As the Shadow War in Combine space was still going on, House Davion found itself infighting as well.  Prince Michael wanted to be a Peacemaker, and refused to consider any actions against the Combine.  When MIIO reported the state of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces, Micahel again demurred against action, leading his son and Heir Carl Davion to act on his own.  In early 2866, on his own authority he led three mech regiments and about 20 conventional regiments against New Hessen.

For many historians, this was the action that Shattered the Inner Sphere.

The battlefield injuries that seriously wounded Ilsa Liao in 2828 on Orbisonia left her in excruciating pain, and for all intents and purposes left her an invalid.  Inheriting a situation that would have tested even the most capable of rulers, Laurelli Liao found herself doing everything she could to stem the tide on two front’s, and although at the end of the day, while she won the battles, in the end she lost the Capellan Confederation.  After 32 years of rule, her death in battle was the catalyst, within 10 years the Confederation would be sundered.
Her son Daimar lasted all of three years on the Celestial throne, his assassination (purportedly at the hands of Angmar Liao, Otto’s Regent), led to some behind the scenes fighting behind those loyal to Angmar, those loyal to Otto, and those who could see the precarious position the Confederation was in and were aghast at the Liao families failure to do anything about it. While Angmar and Otto fought behind the scenes to take control, Gerhard von Hesse, was fighting a losing battle, and called for help.
Duke Jiguang Teng of Tikonov answered, sending the Chesterton Voltigeurs, whose arrival forced Carl to retreat back to Mira.  Upon his arrival, Carl’s Uncle Peter, Prime Marshal of the AFFS was to arrest him, and instead found himself accompanying Carl back to New Avalon to overthrow Michael.  Operation PENDRAGON had just launched when the Davion Civil War broke out, leading to chaos. 

After the AFFS had been ejected from New Hessen, Dukes Teng, Hesse, and Alois Hargreaves, Duke Chesterton, convened on Slocum to discuss what to do next.  During the conference, an attack by the newly formed House Immarra almost killed all three of them, only a desperate defense by the Chesterton Voltigeurs battalion of Mechs that were on planet saved all of them.  Although she denied any involvement, it is believed Angmar Liao sent the House troops to kill the leaders, in an effort to replace them with people loyal to her, and draw their support away from Otto.
Instead, six months later, the Duchy of Tikonov was proclaimed.

160 years later, the Grand Duchy of Tikonov-Chesterton finds itself surrounded by eight enemies, and a populace determined to hold them off at all costs.  The retaking of Chesterton in 2907 was a highlight of the new entity, the Stand at New Aragon in 2957 indicative of the Republic as a whole:  Willing to die to the last person to hold onto what they believe is theirs, and an economy set up to support that belief.  Economically speaking, the Grand Duchy is a military powerhouse, with Mech and conventional unit production greater the the Lyre Federation in real numbers.  But their yearly losses are higher than any other Shattered Sphere state as well, and there is hardly and civilian industry in the Republic, better than 85% of it is geared towards maintaining the Duchy’s military.  The military itself is one of the best in the Shattered Sphere, Duchy units have routinely beaten forces two and three times their size, the officer corps is good, their NCO corps the best in the Inner Sphere, and the fact that every adult over the age of 18 must serve at least four years active duty and then serve in their local militia until the age of 60 gives them an enormous manpower pool to draw from.  Equipping it though, has been a issue since the Founding.  As a result, the Duchy has had to do more with less more often than almost any other military in the Shattered Sphere, and a a result, they often pull of Operations that on paper should not work, repairs that should not happen, and win fights they have no hope of winning.   

While the Duchy Touman’s of the Tikonov Guards, Hussars, Cossacks, Voltigeurs, Armored Scouts  and are nominally assigned to one operations area, the Duchy’s ideal of “Odna natsiya, Odin Grazhdanin”,  that is “One Citizen, One Nation” is paramount.  A Person may be born on Liao, but they are a Citizen of the Duchy before they are a citizen of Liao.  This ideal, and the nations militaristic culture, has led to several instances where a world has been captured by an enemy, only to find itself embroiled in a full scale partisan war.  The best example of this is Caph.  Invaded by the Skye Isles in 2987, the planet was under defended at the time, and although the two Touman’s of the 7th Tikonov Hussars, and the planetary militia of almost 30 regiments fought well, they could not overcome the three regiments of Skye Rangers that had invaded.  The Toumans boosted off, and the militia disbanded, but six months later a low intensity guerilla war broke out, and for the next seven years Skye forces were rotated in and out to try and stamp out the rebellion.  Duchy mech units made several raids, meanwhile Skye Conventional forces often found themselves under siege, and sweeps into Caphs jungles, where the majority of the resistance were staged, often ended in disaster.  Things got worse when Nicolo Lestrade arrived with several picked regiments of Infantry, he started a terror campaign that was soon met with in kind retribution, and the capital of Aswan soon became a warzone.  The situation came to a head when Nichola was killed by by a Militia infantry group that had infiltrated the Rangers command bunker.  A General attack by the planets militia, included carefully hoarded tanks, artillery, and a companies worth of mechs, drove the 9th Skye off planet in less than a month.

By 3025 though, after 160 years of low and midgrade conflict, the Duchy may be at a breaking point.  Despite inflicting heavy losses on the invading Regulan forces, the 5th Duchy Voltigeurs were forced off Sorunda by the Regulans in 3023.  In 3024 the 5th Hakashi Gunba routed the 34th Cossacks of Errai, and the 1st Duchy Life Guards barely held off the Davion Heavy Guards on Marlette.  Intelligence says that Oriente troops are preparing to make another attack on Vanra, with Brigadier Vladimir Orloff proclaiming he will die before he retreats from his families ancestral home.  On Tikonov, General Silas Tukachevsky is doing all he can to prepare for the coming invasion, but the only reinforcements he can send at the moment are the Touman’s of the 1st Duchy Cadre, currently completing the training cycle on Outreach.

For the most part, the rulers of the Duchy have been pragmatic in their diplomacy, often playing one side against the others to good effect.  However, like the rest of the Shattered Sphere, the Duchy has been rocked by the announcement of Prince Erik and Duchess Trempleau impending nuptial’s on Terra.  While the marriage may be political in nature, the economics of the new polity are a reset for the region, and the Duchy is already hard pressed to defend what it has.  While Duke Giorgi Hesse-Hargreaves has sent out feelers, in particular to Chancellor Chien Liu of the St. Ives Confederation, he knows a marriage between his daughter Cordelia and Xiumin Liao is a political nonstarter due to the two realms cultural differences. 

Angmar Liao, Duchess of Liao and Regent for Otto Liao, can be accused of many things, and most of them are true.  What she can not be accused of though is inaction, and when the opportunity to kill Otto Liao arose, she struck, sending a handpicked unit of mechs and infantry to attack the young mans training group.  The unit would have suceeded in killing the young man, if not for Colonel Josip McPhee and the Red Lancers.  McPhee had been a Lancer almost 30 years, had risen to command the unit after Larelli had been killed while leading it, and thru sheer grit, charisma, and doggedness had held the unit together. As the Second Succession War carried on.   While not a fan of Daimar and then Angmar’s creation and patronage of the Warrior Houses, he knew that their battlefield acumen would be a welcome addition to the CCAF, but the more he saw of Angmars actions and undertakings, especially as Otto Liao came closer to assuming the Celestial Throne, the more he saw the writing on the wall.  The first crack came when Tikonov declared it’s Independence.  The second came when an anonymous source told Colonel McPhee of Angmar’s intentions.  He did not believe it, until orders came for his unit to stand down.  Instead, he mobilized them, combat dropped into the battle, saved Otto from certain death, and the spirited him away.  The next year was madness, as the Inner Sphere started to fall apart, the 3rd Succession War fracturing the political entities. 

The CCAF was in disarray, Agmar Liao declared herself Chancellor.  While she had nominal control of the Sarna Commonality, the rest of the Confederation was in flux, and Otto took the opportunity to declare himself Chancellor on St. Ives.  While many expected him to take control of the local forces in St. Ives and turn them towards Sian, the young Chancellor did the opposite.  Colonel McPhee found himself promoted to General, responsible for reorganizing the units that had declared themselves in support of Otto.  Otoo, realizing he would need help in retaking the Celestial throne, embarked on a hiring campaign.  With the Second Succession War ending, there were more than a few Mercenary units out there looking for a new home, new sources of income, and new found glory.  Otto promised all that and more.  Too many of them forgot to read the very fine print.  Over the next couple of years, while forces loyal to Angmar and Otto sparred, and fought Tikonov forces from time to time as well, Otto and Colonel McPhee prepared, and launched Operation ECLIPSE, against the Federated Suns, who were in disarray due to the Civil War. In less than 5 years, Otto forces had regained several planets, including Wernke/Talon, and had also defeated Tikonov forces trying to take Bell, and beaten back several uncoordinated attacks by Angmar’s forces.
His lasting legacy however, may be the Kathil Declaration, declaring that Capellan Forces would no longer target Jumpships and use weapons of mass destruction, a proclamation that was sent to all of the  rulers of the Inner Sphere.  While Tikonov and the Free Words announced their intentions to follow the Declaration, it wasn’t until Comstar announced it would impose a HPG shutdown on any nation deliberately attacking a jumpship that the other rulers agreed.
As the Inner Sphere Shattered, Otto made no overt move to try and take back Sian.  With his help and reforms, the St. Ives Confederation became a fairly stable political entity.  While there was occasional fighting between the descendants of Angmar and Otto (Overton in particular has changed hands numerous times), the closest the Confederation has come to falling apart was the Mercenaries revolt of 2957. 
Several units had signed on with Otto during the start of the 3rd Succession War, but in their haste had often overlooked some details.  Each unit was hired under specific terms, and if they broke those terms, the penalties could be very high.  In effect, many units became effectively House Troops, as contract breaches over what would be minor infractions forced units into penury or disbandment.  Things came to a head in 2957, when Ruff’s Riders, a Battalion sized unit, was sent to Milos to help the 5th st. Ives Lancers.  An offensive was planned,m the time agreed upon, but unknown to Colonel Ruff, Milos calendar had a quirk in that every 90 days, the clocks were rolled back an hour to account for the planets orbit around the star.  The plan was set to launch at 4AM, and at 4AM local time, the St. Ives troops launched their attack.  Colonel Ruff had been unaware of the time change, but when he realized what had happened he mobilized his troops and began to fight as well, in fact the delay allowed his unit to flank the defending Sarna Regulars and pin them in place while the 5th St. Ives hammered a battalion of them into scrap.  At the conclusion of the battle though, the local Confederation commander decalred the unit in breach of contract, and moved to arrest Colonel Ruff and his command staff.  Instead he found himself a prisoner of Colonel Ruff, who had had enough of the poor treatment by his employers.
Appearing a few weeks later at Kittery, the Ruff Rider’s landed, and acted like they were moving to a canton, when they were attacked by elements of the 3rd St. Ives Light Horse. Proclaiming his units innocence, and broadcasting what had happened, the Light Horse soon found themselves surrounded by element of nopt only the Ruff Rider’s, but two other mercenary units on planet, Diz’s Demons and Brocks Bastardz.  What followed over the next six months was Colonel Ruff leading his newfound allies on a trip from Kittery, to Spica, to Beid, back to Spica, to Weekapaug, and then landing on St. Ives.  The action of the Confederation units, especially the justification being used by the commander of the 5th to try and punish Ruff and his command, led to several other mercenary units in the Confederation either packing up and trying to leave, or digging in and daring Confederation troops to try and dig them out.
Instead of attacking anything on St. Ives, Ruff and the Council of Commanders invoked a Parlay, with Precentor St. Ives as their arbiter.  Forced to accept, Chancellor Taren Liao and select members of his command staff met.  After both sides made their cases, Precentor St. Ives declared that while technically the Ruff Rider’s were in breach, the St. Ives Confederation’s reaction went well over the line, and constituted a major breach in and of itself.  Chancellor Liao and his generals began to protest, until Precentor St. Ives stepped in and said that if the Confederation was unwilling to amend its contract practices, the MRB would declare all contracts St. Ives had with units null and void, and that HPG fee’s on the Confederation would be raised to cover the expenses, salaries, and other associated costs with the units since their arrival in the Confederation.  The unspoken threat was the if they did not agree, the Confederation would be Interdicted.  Taren agreed, somewhat reluctantly, and was somewhat surprised when every unit present offered to sign a new contract with the Confederation.  A few months later, every unit, including Ruff’s, were back at their posts.  While there were some behind the scenes attempts at retribution, most were stopped.  In 3007, when their contract was due for renewal, Ruff’s Rider’s were instead offered the opportunity to become a House Unit, which they did, becoming the 1st St. Ives Hussars.

Angmar Liao knew she needed to bolster her powerbase before she could go after Otto, but with the Sphere Shattering, there were quite a few moving pieces, and by the time she consolidated her power, it was too late militarily, economically, and mentally.  Angmar Liao slowly went insane, until her son Wei took control on an interim basis, then assuming control in 2894.  This control was further cemented during the Army Revolt of 2899, when several military commanders were accused of conspiring with Otto in an effort to overthrow Wei’s rulership.  Given that Otto was primarily involved with holding his own planets facing Sian and going after un- and underdefended Davion worlds, this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but then again few things in the Sphere do.  Rumors persist that there was a behind the scenes battle for Primacy between the Surpremacy military and Warrior Houses were well on their way to being “First Among Equals” in the SAF.  Not a lot has changed since the Sphere Shattered in the Supremacy, rulers since Wei have instead played a long game, using subterfuge and diplomacy to weaken and confuse their opponents.  In recent history though, the CCAF showed it’s military prowess when in 3007, after the Compact raided Grand Base, the CCAF responded by taking Holloway, Xieng Khouang, Menke and Victoria in short order.  Equally eye opening was that on Victoria, it was CCAF regular units, and not Warrior House Units, that routed the Compact Jaegers off planet.  There has been no news out of Sian regarding the recent Wedding announcement