History is the only way we have to predict what is to come. It is not only the Successor Houses which have rich and varied histories. With the resurgence of independent states following the Fourth Succession War, it would be good to look at their lesser- known histories and perhaps learn from them how to deal with the events we will be living through. As the ancient Greek historian Thucydides said, "Events which happened in the past will, at some time or another, and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future." The specific state we shall look at here is the newly created Free Rasalhague Republic. Rasalhague's history begins way back in the twenty-first century when the Scandinavian countries helped the Soviets after the second Soviet Civil War. The debt was paid off; by 2238 the Scandinavians were free of any debts to the Terran Alliance. And so many of the Scandinavians emigrated over the next sixty years. They colonized Rasalhague and several nearby worlds, and when they began production facilities on these planets, they used methods which were non- harmful to the environment. Finally in 2399 these worlds banded together and called themselves the Principality of Rasalhague. The next thirty-one years were pretty much uneventful as the Principality continued to slowly take in more worlds. Unfortunately, the other houses of this time were also expanding. In 2330, Coordinator Shiro Kurita of the Draconis Combine declared war on the Principality. His warlord Urizen Kurita utilized his famous technique of random assimilation, planet hopping and conquering in a random sequence. The confused armed forces of the Principality offered only token resistance. During this campaign against the Rasalhaguians, many of the great artists and scientific personnel fled to the Periphery. For four years Urizen's successful tactic was continued, until the New Bergen incident. Late in the year of 2333, the warlord seized the planet of New Bergen, after successfully convincing onlookers that his next target would be Rasalhague. A defense force was sent from Rasalhague. In January of 2334 the defense force arrived. With the aid of local uprisings, it was able to destroy the Draconis Combine garrison, acquiring weapons and equipment necessary to Rasalhague's very survival, including a flight of orbiting JumpShips. With the supplies the Rasalhaguians had captured they were able to keep up the guerilla warfare until 2367, when the new Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, Tenno Kurita, declared that the Principality of Rasalhague had been vanquished. The Principality stayed officially neutral and independent until 2510, part and not part of House Kurita. The Rasalhaguians have always had problems dealing with these Draconian invaders, yet some interesting flukes of history have linked the two states closely. A perfect example of this is the events from 2375 to 2410. On December 12, 2375, a terrorist group raided a Draconis Combine Rasalhague Military District housing complex on Rasalhague. The RMD governor, Vladimir Kurita, and almost every one of his family were killed. The exceptions were his son Jason, who was offplanet attending military academy, and his daughter Oma, whose body had not been found. Two years later Combine intelligence located Oma Kurita on the world of Trondheim. A rescue force was sent to recover her. They did, but at the price of killing her husband, the father of her child - who was also her abductor. This man was Jan Sorenson, father of Daniel Sorenson. Daniel Sorenson was brought up at the Rasalhaguian Governor's Court by his mother Oma. In 2394 his motherclied of chronic liver failure, attributed to the alcoholism which began after her husband was killed. After her death Daniel decided to join the military and see the universe. The new Governor was purely and simply a tyrant who had been physically and psychologically torturing and destroying the morale of the Rasalhague peoples. Daniel Sorenson decided to commit treason against the RMD governor, his uncle Jason Kurita. The rebellion grew and gained popular support. This attracted the attention of the Coordinator, who removed Jason from office. Jason Kurita in anger attempted to kill Daniel Sorenson, and was killed by Daniel in self defense. Daniel continued to be popular with the people; he became the Lord of Rasalhague, an independent Rasalhague, until 2487, when he died in a climbing accident at the age of one hundred and ten. As an interlude in the Sorenson saga, finally the Lyran Commonwealth here makes its first appearance in the stillfree Principality of Rasalhague. In 2463 House Steinerforces seized the worlds of Nox and Skandia, continuing to hold them until February 15, 2475. Up until this point only the Lyrans had been really effective in using the new war machine of the age - the BattleMech. On this date, the first 'Mech vs'Mech battle took place, on Nox. The Lyrans were thrown off their captured planets in short order. Many historians view the next series of events as the most critical in the history both of Rasalhague and of the Draconis Combine. To understand this we must go back in time slightly. In 2421, during the month of March, Nihongi Von Rohrs killed Parker Kurita and became the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine; his family ruled for the next eighty-nine years. In the year of 2494, a romance was budding on Rasalhague, a romance between Martin McAllister, the Draconis diplomatic envoy to Rasalhague, and Illiyana Sorenson, the daughter of Blaine Sorenson, Lord of the Principality of Rasalhague. Itwas love at first sight for both of them. The two were secretly married two months later with the blessings of Blaine, on the condition that Martin must take a genetics test. Of course Martin agreed to this. The results had not yet been revealed. Over the next few years, Martin had visited his wife several times on the pretence of meeting with Lord Sorenson. In February, 2496. Illiyana gave birth to Siriwan McAllister. In 2499 Illiyana was killed in a waterskiing accident. And so Lord Sorenson took the three-year-old Siriwan in and raised her along with his daughter Zarabeth who was close to the same age. In 2501 Coordinator Von Rohrs decided to solve the Rasalhague problem with a military solution. Martin McAllister rejoined the Draconis military and rose through the ranks over the next seven years until he reached the position of Colonel in the Household Guard. There he bided his time. On November 23,2510, Martin McAllister killed Coordinator Von Rohrs. The next day he announced himself as a direct descendant of Shiro Kurita, citing the results of the genetic examination. On this day the Principality of Rasalhague was brought into the Draconis Combine not by a force of arms, but as a promise made between father-in-law and sonin-law many years ago. And Blaine Sorenson became Duke of Rasalhague. The later history of Siriwan McAllister-Kurita is too complex to include here. But it is well worth the study of any serious student of history - or lover of the dramatic. Rasalhague remained peaceful as part of the Combine for along time -over fifty years. Itcould not be expected that the freedom loving, stubbornly independent Rasalhaguians would be content as part of the regimented House Kurita. In 2583, Rasalhague guerilla fighters on the world of New Oslo broke up into small groups in orderto harass the Kuritaforces onplanet. By guile, endurance, and a determination which ignored the cost in blood, the small groups of thirty to fifty terrorists kept the Draconians in complete disarray for two and a half months. Throughout out this time the Dracos took out their frustration on the populace. But then the terrorists became overconfident. In their anger at the reprisals inflicted on the locals, they assaulted the garrison, which was expecting this reaction. The Kuritans wiped them out to the last freedom fighter. February, 2475: First 'Mech to 'Mech Battle The year of 2634 had become the year of pirates. Several worlds were attacked by various pirate groups. Somehow they were able to completely avoid the Kuritan forces, but the underground used more creative search procedures, and more innovative antiMech techniques. A primary example was the giant tiger trap which was six meters deep and ten meters wide, lined on the bottom with explosive. The BattleMech would step down orfall down into the hole; the following explosions would usually render the 'Mech's legs useless, but leave the pilot alive for questioning. Using this technique and others like it, the underground was usually able to stop a raid before anyone was really harmed. July 14,2694, is a date all Rasalhaguians will remember. This date marks the night assault on the world of Svelvik. What makes this particular attack so special? It was done with hydrofoils under the Rebel leader Gustav Torsten. The Kurita garrison headquarters was on an island which the Draconians considered safer than the mainland. They felt the island to be a place no terrorists could attack. So Gustav loaded his troops into the hydrofoils and went out to attack the garrison command. After a six-hour battle the hydrofoils were repulsed by aerospace fighters. The Rebels were hardly damaged; they were able to attack the garrison two more times that month before they were destroyed. In 2702, the Star League's Third Regimental Combat Team was sent to Rasalhague. Throughout their stay, they continued troop training, which caused many of the locals to believe that they were an occupation force which had been sent to ensure no insurrections from this portion of the Inner Sphere. This tension increased until the year 2749 when assassins from the Prince of Rasalhague killed the Commander of the Third RCT. This mobilized the entire Combat Team. They descended upon the major cities and kept everyone on edge, actually hoping that the Draconians would come and help get rid of these Star League bravos. The Rasalhague troops were unable to deal with these Star League Elites. The truly unfortunate part was that when the Kuritan troops tried to get rid of the Third RCT they failed miserably. So another chance for a closer relationship between Rasalhague and the Dracos was lost. The Prince was forced to execute the assassins to placate the Third RCT. The Third RCT was again involved with the history of Rasalhague in 2798. The Eighth and Fiftieth Battalions were engaged in a vengeance mission against Draconis warriors on the planet Sendai. Forces from Rasalhague were sent to aid the planetary forces. When they learned the reason for the vengeance, the massacre of the dependents of the Third RCT, the Rasalhaguians refused aid and left the system. This was a clear case of honorable blood feud, an ancient tradition of their first homelands. Next came the Minnesota Tribe incidents of 2825. The first appearance of this group of unknown mechwarriors who fought like a Regular army unit began on the world of Svelvik, where they took on supplies and easily eliminated the defense garrison while making sure that no civilians were hurt in any of the fighting. The second appearance of the tribe was on the prefecture capital of Trondheim. Those of the Twentieth Rasalhague Regulars who survived the battle seemed to think that the Minnesota Tribe was just challenging them to a fight to test their strengths and weaknesses. At this point the Rasalhague Military District was place on the highest state of alert. The last attack of the Minnesota Tribe was on the world of Richmond; they freed many thousands of prisoners who were then landed into DropShips and never heard from again. Of course these ghost regiments are not the only attackers who have targeted Rasalhague for their depredations. Rasalhague, on the edge of the Periphery, has long been a buffer keeping the rich interior worlds of the Inner Sphere from attack, suffering itself as a consequence. One of the worst examples came in the year 2831; the pirates of Oberon VI attacked the planet of Rasalhague. After a week of pillaging they left with many captives. Families once again saw their loved ones looking forward to a hopeless future as slaves. There was nothing they could do. The pirates continued to spread death and destruction everywhere they went until they left Rasalhague. A major event happened in 2850, known to history as the Snowfire Incident. Snowfire was a Rasalhaguian who had been trained by the Lyran Intelligence Corps and placed in a Rasalhague Ukiyo. Eventually she attracted the attention of the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine. When she received her orders to kill him, she quietly and efficiently completed the task. The reprisal which followed afterwards had no effect on Rasalhague, but the Lyrans paid dearly. In 2862 one of the Light Rasalhague Regular BattleMech Battalions was badly mauled during the Second Succession War because the Kuritans had not supplied it properly. As a reaction to this the Rasalhague Rebels opened a black market trade with various free traders from the Lyran Commonwealth for many goods, including food. This upset the Combine, and they used this and other imagined outrages as pretexts to attack the Lyrans once again The next horrific event which plagued Rasalhague was the little known War of Clubs. This was a war between the various Rasalhague resistance groups on how to deal with (as they had come to be perceived) the Kuritan invaders. The arguments went from verbal to violent in a rather short period of time. This hidden war began in 2913 and ended finally in 2919. The reason it was called the 'War of Clubs' was that most of the fighting between the groups was done with melee weapons. Fortunately, in 2919 one Stefan Paulson was able to pull the groups together so they could cone again start fighting the common enemy instead of each other. The years of 2977-8 showed how fiercely the people of Rasalhague wanted their heritage and their freedom. House Kurita attempted to make Japanese the only language in all of Draconis space, enforcing it on the Rasalhague district. There were a multitude of angry demonstrations against this new change being imposed on Rasalhague. The upshot was that the Coordinator rescinded that rule, and relative peace came back to the region. The last thirty-five years have been the most hectic of all for the Rasalhague province. It began in the year 3000 when Talon Sergeant Ingmar Stevenson of the Otomo assassinated Coordinator Hohiro Kurita; his sword placed Takashi Kurita on the throne. Sergent Stevenson died with the words, "Independence for Rasalhague!" on his lips. It one Coordinator can be killed, another can also die. 3019 was the year when Prince Theodore Kurita was to marry the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Rasalhague court, to renew the ties between the province and the rest of the realm. Of course Coordinator Takashi came to witness the wedding, allowing the assassins to strike at the time when he was most at risk as his DropShip entered the atmosphere. An assassin placed a bomb on board which destroyed the engineering section. He sabotaged the bridge controls and the lifeboat controls so there could be no escape. He did not take into account Ivan Sorenson's Grasshopper. Ivan, also a passenger, used his 'Mech to escape the deathtrap. By using his jumpjets, he conveyed the Coordinator to the ground safely. His Grasshopper was destroyed by the impact. Because of his heroism, Ivan was made Lord of Rasalhague. Theodore Kurita's bride to be was executed along with her family. Although the young woman was almost certainly innocent, her father was one of the instigators of the plot against the Coordinator. In 3020 a humorous event softened the grim account of Rasalhague's history. On Skandia, a mercenary unit called the Kell Hounds went raiding. They were able to capture a Leopard class DropShip, the Kerasau. It had not been taken in battle, so their employer had first claim on the ship. By quickly digging a canal from the Isbjorn Fiord to the crash location, the unit made a shallow sea. They were then able to claim the DropShip under maritime salvage laws! The years just preceding the Fourth Succession War were vital to the formation of what we know now as the Free Rasalhague Republic. It began in the year 302627 when the Alshain People's Movement was led by the mysterious Silver Fox, who kept the attention of the Draconis Combine while the people who were to form the famous - or infamous - Tyr Regiments quietly left the province and began training in the Lyran Commonwealth. The next major event was when the Rasalhague resistance leaders' met with the Lyrans on Tamarto make plansforthe coming war. The target worlds were: Harvest, Basiliano, Wheel, Kirchbach, Engadin, Gunzburg, Stanzach, and The Edge. Finally documents were signed recognizing the Tyr as the Rasalhaguian Government in Exile. After the war, in 3031, Duke Kelswa ordered his own people to take over the worlds taken by the Lyrans which had been promised to the Tyr. The Tyr retaliated as Rasalhaguians had done for centuries against the Draconis Combine, by attacking several government building. Duke Selwin reacted just as the Kuritans had done; he killed many of the rebels and jailed the leaders. They were soon released, but the Tyr were now disenchanted with the Lyran Commonwealth. And so we come to March 13, 3034, when the Free Rasalhague Republic was declared. ComStar and the Draconis Combine quickly acknowledged their independence, and the Coordinator gave up several worlds as a show of faith to the new Republic. This in turn forced the Lyrans to honor their agreement to the Tyr govern ment-i n-exi I e or (as Katrina Steiner was happy to point out) they would all look like fools. As the eventful year of 3035 ends, the Ronin Wars have been brought to a close, and the Kungsarmee has had its baptism by fire, with the help of both Lyran and Draconis forces. Since there has been such a long rocky history for the Rasalhaguians, it is to be hoped that the future will be better for the people of this new Republic. Johann Sorenson is a remote descendant of Daniel Sorenson, and fourth cousin to the late warlord Ivan Sorenson. He isa professorof historyatthe University of Trondheim. As with so many citizens of Rasalhague, Professor Sorenson's loyalty to the new state is unswerving. And also as with so many others, he has kin who felt compelled by duty and by tradition to maintain their allegiance to House Kurita. He therefore has a brother who is a captain in the 3rd Benjamin Regulars, a married sister living on Alshain ... and two brothers who serve with the Kungsarme, one on Altenmarkt and the other with the forces of Major Knute Kurita on Last Frontier. Professor Sorenson goes into so much personal detail to remind his readers that the cost of the republic has been high, and that prejudice against the honorable choices of other hearts should not be tolerated. (Major Kurita, our readers will remember, is the son of Mies Kurita. This branch of the Kurita family has lived in and often been officials in the Rasalhague district for the past several generations. He did not go through the formality of joining the antiRonin forces, simply showed up in his Thunderbolt and began to fight. The situation was later regularized when Knute Kurita was offered his present rank, and the command of a company of heavy 'Mechs. The company had been trained by Chu-i Tasha Greer, who now returns to the 8th Alshain Regulars, based in Buckminster.) Back to BattleTechnology 10 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com