HASEK’S INVASION
As 3105 dawned, the Victoria War ended thanks to mediation by retired Fronc Reaches President Carver Trondel’s final diplomatic endeavor. His candid rebuke of both the Suns and the Confederation stood him in good stead with the leaders of both sides. Daoshen resolved that Fronc Reaches territory would be off limits from CCAF invasion thanks to the charismatic Trondel. Sporadic fighting continued between the CCAF and AFFS on several worlds, but the horrific fates of Verlo and Mitchel led both First Prince Harrison Davion and Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao to seek peace, despite either one being particularly involved in the war. Davion was unhappy with Liao’s terms, which mirrored those of the peace between the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat: all worlds that had changed hands would remain the territory of those currently controlling them. Davion won a rare coup by negotiating the repatriation of government officials and AFFS POWs being held by the Capellans. In turn, Sun-Tzu cemented measurable gains from the Suns and ensured the CCAF would not face AFFS forces under the orders of a renegade March lord.
The Federated Suns had gained three Capellan worlds: Yuris, Jacson, and Victoria. Mitchel would have joined that list save for its sad fate. The Suns lost nine worlds: Scituate, Kittery, and Gurnet in the Kittery Thumb; and Ziliang Uravan, Velhas, Immenstadt, and Manapire in the Ziliang Salient. Both regions were now almost completely under Capellan sway. The Suns also lost Verlo due to Canopian negligence, furthering the loss. Somehow, though, the First Prince managed to spin the war as a Federated Suns victory. This flawed calculus counted the conquest of a commonality capital with factories—razed or not—as more valuable than the freedom of the populations on the worlds lost. History would validate this, as the factories were returned to functionality over the next decade and served to recoup losses from the war.
For the next two decades, Duchess Amanda Hasek was kept under tight surveillance. The Rabid Foxes and Stealthy Foxes kept close watch and monitored her communications and visitors. This prevented her from planning and launching another war of aggrandizement.
After the war Daoshen Liao’s star rose and grew bright in the Confederation. His performance at the head of the Red Lancers on Pella II and Shuen Wan spread faith in his divinity through the Confederation. As a father, Sun-Tzu was proud; as a ruler, he was livid that his son risked his life so recklessly. This caused friction between him and Daoshen. Sun-Tzu had no desire to loosen his grip on the Confederation, but Daoshen’s favor within the CCAF threatened that. Their strife would eventually break out in open conflict between their respective supporters. The Capellan Crusades would end this conflict.
Periphery to see, and the magestrix made sure that battleROMs of the victories played far and wide. Nothing was mentioned of the privations experienced by those left undefended at home.
Rebuilding her commands was a slow process. A number of units were almost completely destroyed, and the occupation of the Capellan JumpShip chains returning CCAF troops to their bases left the MAF troops to their own devices to return home from the Confederation. The shattered Canopian troops regarded this lack of appreciation as a personal insult; as a result, the notion that the Capellans saw them not as allies but as cannon fodder spread. Those returning troops got no parades or special acknowledgment of their sacrifice because that sacrifice was offered up to another nation. Most troops were spat upon by their own people as they returned. Because of the disdain for their service, this hardened corps of warriors would retire sooner than most, thus deteriorating the MAF’s overall skill level. The following generation would forget these lessons, and the ties between the two nations would be further strengthened. THE DOCFH
Captain-General Marik had little to complain about regarding her troops’ performance in the Victoria War. They had lost her two worlds instead of gaining three, but they faced some of the toughest and deadliest commands in the CCAF and took few casualties. She held up this fact to those who had retreated: though they had been outnumbered and outmatched, they still did their duty by saving important functionaries and keeping intelligence from falling into enemy hands. Rebuilding would be accomplished in a short time, allowing her and her staff to plan how to reform the Free Worlds League.
THE ADF
Among the commands sent into the Confederation, only the Second Andurien Rangers returned to the Duchy without the stench of defeat about them. This distinction saw their prestige rise over the years, as they became a distinguished regiment. The Rangers brigade would be increased after the First, Third, and Fourth Rangers were rebuilt.
The Second Andurien Cavalry had fought well on Claybrooke and might have kept the world from falling to the Canopians. The unit’s faithful obedience to the duchess in retreating to Cursa when ordered went far towards keeping the brigade from being consolidated into the Rangers. While the First Cavalry was never rebuilt, the brigade would expand over the decades to become a solid component of the ADF.
The Second Andurien Guards gained much fame throughout the Duchy for stopping the invading Canopians cold at Aspropirgos. The First Guards’ morale fared much worse at Capellan hands in the counterattack, even though their total losses were similar, but the duchess needed to retire the command staff to finally remove the defeatist attitude from the regiment.
THE AFFS
The AFFS was humiliated in the Victoria War. This was mainly because of the deception on Hasek’s part that allowed the war to be launched at all. Had she involved New Avalon in her schemes, she might not have had to commit so many of her JumpShip assets to the effort. When Victoria and Menke became obvious mistakes, she should have either assaulted other worlds to divert the CCAF or simply retreated to the three worlds already taken and reinforced them. Instead, she threw good troops after bad, wasting them for no gain on Menke and almost none on Victoria, which forced her to live knowing that she had thrown away the lives of both her troops and her people.
The reorganization of the Capellan March troops included a wholesale dismissal (and in some cases, imprisonment) of the surviving command officers. Harrison Davion and Athena Davion-Roos installed commanders who were personally loyal to them and had them report to New Avalon instead of New Syrtis. This state of affairs continued for over a decade before these restrictions were relaxed.
The rebuilding of the demolished commands was aided by finds on Jacson and Victoria. Strange warehouses of factory-fresh ’Mechs, tanks, fighters, and battlesuits were found on the two non-border worlds. They went far to make up the losses of several commands. The AFFS kept these caches secret, though, and their significance would only be realized decades later when the CCAF launched their invasion of the Republic after the Blackout. THE CCAF
The CCAF came through the war devastated. Troops who had fought the former League states had fared well. The overwhelming force had suffered comparatively few casualties in conquering seven worlds. The troops who had fought the AFFS, though, were much the worse for wear.
Three commands—two being mercenaries of high quality— and a Home Guard unit were completely destroyed. This was compounded by losing a valuable factory world, which stymied the rebuilding efforts. The acquisition of Detroit from the Canopians made up some of that loss. Even so, the CCAF would rebuild its forces fast enough to launch the Capellan Crusades against the Republic less than a decade later. AFFS analysts believed this to be due to additional warehouse stockpiles, like those found on Jacson and Victoria; such were also thought to explain how the McCarron’s Armored Cavalry regiments had returned to duty in the Capellan counter-invasion after being nearly wiped out on Menke.
THE MAF
The MAF fared incredibly well considering their employment in the war. Those commands that engaged the AFFS fared the worst, but the MAF relied on more than just the element of surprise to take a number of Federated Suns worlds. The quality of the Canopian troops was put on display for all the Inner Sphere and