The Circinus Federation

Circinus - Home of the Black Warriors

After being accused of contract violation against the Free Worlds League in 2770, the Black Warriors mercenary unit abandoned Marik space, narrowly escaping capture by the Free Worlds navy. Vowing eternal vengeance on House Marik for their outlawed status, the Black Warriors settled on the planet Circinus and joined the pirates already operating there. Colonel Zachariah Cirion, leader of the Black Warriors, began to support his people through a series of sneak attacks against outlying Marik agricultural worlds. Both the Star League and the Marik House forces had their hands full with the Amaris Crisis, and so the Circinus pirates flourished in the absence of reprisals. In 2785, a small convoy of settlers fleeing the destruction in the Lyran Commonwealth landed on the planet to make a new start. Warrior and farmer combined their forces to establish a viable economy and culture.
The Lyran farmers apparently were never fully aware of the nature of their new allies. The pirates were involved in what remained "covert operations," but the farmers asked no questions as long as their allies provided the tools and consumer goods the farmers needed. The pirates, for their part, welcomed the farmers for two reasons. First, they provided stability and the possibility of internal law and order (without the brutal punishments and intimidation that mark pirate societies elsewhere), that would keep the band of cutthroats from turning on one another. Second, they helped the pirates present the illusion of a respectable, agrarian society to the neighboring worlds who were their victims.
Despite the fact that the Free Worlds military occupied Circinus during a lull in the Second Succession War, it is still the most successful of the Bandit Kingdoms, having long since adopted a presidential system of government. Piracy is a major governmental function, with covert "agencies" responsible both for the raids themselves and for covering them up. Lyran pundits often note that the Circinian president's chief duty is to look the other way so that he will not have to acknowledge the crimes his government is constantly committing.
Between the years of 2990 and 3020, the combined farmer/pirate alliance settled eight other worlds around the planet of Circinus. The then-president, C.J. McIntyre, signed a series of reconciliation treaties with the governments of both the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League. The President conducted these treaties with some skill, as he managed to play off of the mutual suspicion between the two powers to help avoid their taking over of his Federation.
In 3032, the longtime president, C.J. McIntyre, died of heart failure, leaving his son, H.R. "Little Bob" McIntyre as the new president of Circinus. The new president swore to continue his father’s dream of a Circinan empire, and immediately began plans to invade the Illyrian Palatinate. Within the space of a few weeks, Circinan leaders had completed a battle strategy and the few Circinan factories began to churn out war material and supplies for the invasion forces.
However, just days before the campaign was supposed to commence, the commander of the elite Black Warriors military division, Adam Cirion, died in a tavern brawl on the planet Circinus. Due to the lack of a clear line of succession, President McIntyre assumed personal control of the Black Warriors unit. Although tradition dictated that the unit be led by a Cirion, Adam’s son Michael was considered too young and inexperienced to lead the military during the invasion. Due to a longstanding agreement between the two branches of the "government" not to interfere in the other’s sphere of influence, McIntyre's assumption of control was met with great suspicion and hostility from the Black Warriors, who correctly saw that the new President had little BattleMech experience and was a poor strategist. To placate the opposition, the President announced that the planned invasion of the Palatinate was put on hold for one year so that he could train with the Black Warriors to improve his 'Mech skills.
During the one year hiatus, McIntyre embarked on a plan to consolidate his support amongst the Circinan military and minimize any opposition to his command of the Black Warriors. His efforts proved to be largely unsuccessful, as many of the Black Warriors were disgusted by McIntyre’s assumption of power and his ineptitude at keeping the "covert operations" embarked on by the military as covert. These enemies of McIntyre rallied around the young Michael Cirion as a figurehead. Because of the man’s surname, McIntyre could do nothing but watch as he slowly gained popularity.

Illyrian Offensive

In 3034, the Federation finally embarked on their promised campaign of conquest of the Palatinate. McIntyre promised his citizens that a victory would be quick and easily forthcoming, and that said victory would give his small nation enough prestige to escape any Inner Sphere conquest.
However, he was proven sorely wrong. The Federation's nascent intelligence service was unable to detect the preparations that the Illyrian leadership had undertaken during the long delay in the invasion timetable. Due to that, the invading Circinan forces were surprised when they encountered seasoned mercenary units defending the Palatinate's worlds. The Circinan forces were badly bloodied, and McIntyre ordered a full retreat to cut his losses and save his military. Because he was fearful of the popular dissent that such a failure would breed, he ordered his remaining forces to invade the planet of Dersidatz.
Dersidatz was an agricultural planet that had escaped any invasion due to the planet's insignificance. However, by invading it in the wake of the failed Illyrian offensive, McIntyre succeeded in his goal of improving his popularity and silencing dissenters.

Post-Illyrian Offensive

After the failure of the Illyrian offensive, President McIntyre returned to the Federation and attempted to rebuild his military for a renewed offensive against the Palatinate in 3036. However, this attempt was thwarted by an uprising on the newly-conquered planet of Dersidatz that destroyed the garrison forces on planet and overthrew the Federation government. McIntyre ordered a re-invasion of the planet, but quickly rescinded the order amid reports of a troop buildup on the Marik-Steiner common border. He instead deployed all available troops to the border to await the supposedly oncoming offensive. However, when said offensive did not materialize in a few months, President McIntyre stood down the alert and returned his attention to Dersidatz.
When his forces re-invaded the planet, they found that the rebels had prepared substantial defenses on their world that drastically slowed down the Black Warriors down and reduced the fighting to that of a guerilla war, in which the Black Warriors were forced to pursue small bands of rebels all around the planet. This wore down the Warriors and seeded more dissent within the ranks of the military, who hated McIntyre's refusal to retreat from the planet.
Although most of the Dersidatz rebels were subdued by 3040, the Federation had many other problems to deal with. In 3041, a group of Black Warriors, secretly backed by Michael Cirion, attempted to seize power in a coup d'etat. Although forces loyal to McIntyre prevailed in the end, over two-thirds of the Circinan military was destroyed in the fighting. The Federation also suffered other losses when one Captain Hopper Morrison stumbled onto a Star League era cache of weapons in 3042, and deserted the Federation military completely to form a pirate company known as Morrison's Extractors. These events left the Federation weak and demoralized for the near future.

Military

The Black Warriors currently serve as the entire Circinan military. Never a truly unified force, the Black Warriors constantly test the loyalties of the various factions within their ranks. The largest faction, led by Major Fritz Donner, consists of units loyal to President McIntyre. A second faction of near-equal strength, however, supports company commander Michael Cirion, heir to the Black Warriors' command. Because of the fierce rivalry of these two factions, most of the mercenaries employed in the Circinan military studiously avoid taking sides.
Circinian military leaders have never made any real effort to regulate or standardize uniforms, so each Circinian military unit has its own uniform. This system was established when the Black Warriors began attracting other units to join them, under the belief that unique uniforms help each unit maintain a strong sense of individuality and morale. Detractors of the practice criticize it as yet another source of division between military units in the Federation. However, Circinian military leaders require that all unit uniforms include the emblem of the Federation and that all military personnel wear the emblem somewhere above the waist. Although all Federation units use the same progression of rank, rank insignia varies widely among units.