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Free Worlds League, 'House Marik
The Free Worlds League was formed in 2271 by the Treaty of Marik, which united the Marik Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Oriente, and the Principality of Regulus. This was a loose organization of states, and they began to expand into the surrounding systems. In 2293, Juliano Marik annexed the Stewart Commonality, and was designated Captain-General. Since then, House Marik has held the post of Captain-General until the present day. Beginning in 2398, the Capellan Confederation declared war on the League in an attempt to annex Andurien and it's surrounding systems. This began the 150-year period known as the Age of War. During the Age of War, the Terran Hegemony developed the first battlemechs. In 2556, Ian Cameron, leader of the Terran Hegemony, negotiated the Andurien Peace Treaty, ending the Age of War, and setting the foundations for the creation of the Star League. The Star League lasted for roughly 200 years, of which 150 were a time of unprecedented growth and discovery for all of mankind. After the Civil War against Stefan Amaris, the Usurper, Aleksandr Kerensky left the Inner Sphere with approximately 80 percent of the Star League Armed Forces.
Minoru Kurita and John Davion both seized the opportunity and declared themselves First Lord of the Star League shortly after, and Kenyon Marik followed suit in 2786, and the First Succession War began. The First, Second, and Third Succession Wars saw little change in the Inner Sphere, except for the tremendous loss of life and technology. Soon, the Ares Conventions were established, governing the conduct of warfare, and war became a way of life in the Inner Sphere. Each successive Captain-General since Kenyon Marik has invoked Resolution 288 upon taking office, which allows the Captain-General certain powers in time of war or crisis. The Fourth Succession War began with the wedding of Hanse Davion to Melissa Steiner. The Capellan Confederation lost a large portion of their territory, and the Free Rasalhague Republic was created, along with the St. Ives Compact. The Free Worlds League remained out of most of the conflict, losing several worlds near Terra to a Tikonov offensive towards the end of the war. While the other Inner Sphere Houses were exhausted from the war, the Free Worlds League remained completely intact, ready to exploit the economic boom after the peace was signed. League Traders began to do business with all the major Houses, and the Free Worlds League soon had one of the strongest economies in history. In 3030, the Duchy of Andurien seceded from the League, and allied itself to the Magistracy of Canopus, precipitating the War of Andurien Secession. The war dragged on for years, and Captain-General Janos Marik was killed in a bomb blast in 3035 that also severely injured his son Thomas. Thomas was taken to Terra and rehabilitated by ComStar in secret, until his return in 3036. He assumed the post of Captain-General and League forces quickly forced Andurien into submission. Thomas has since been instituting reforms in the League to break some of the diplomatic gridlock that paralyzed it for so long, keeping it from being an effective and unified force.
The poor performance of the Free Worlds League military during the Fourth Succession War left Captain-General Janos Marik in a precarious political position. His many opponents in the League Parliament began to draft legislation aimed at either removing him or reducing his powers. Derick Cameron-Jones, spokesman for the Principality of Regulus and opposition leader, was confident that his movement could raise enough support to overthrow Marik rule.
The secession of the Duchy of Andurien in September 3030 and its subsequent alliance with the Magistracy of Canopus dashed the opposition's hopes. Janos, aided by his son Duggan and his nephew Duncan, quickly seized the initiative and severely weakened the opposition by comparing their "unpatriotic" behavior to the Andurien defection. Marik pressed his advantage further by forcing passage of the Internal Emergency Act of 3030 stripping the League's member states of most of their sovereignty for the duration of the emergency. The Duchy of Oriente and the Principality of Regulus were exempted from the act, the former for its long-time support of Janos Marik and the latter because Janos feared that the Regulans would go over to the Andurien-Canopian alliance if he tried to interfere with their sovereignty. Theoretically, the Internal Emergency Act was supposed to be invoked in times of danger to the League, but like Resolution 288, the Act empowered the Captain-General to decide what constituted a crisis and when it had passed.
Janos Marik suffered a life-threatening stroke less than a month after passage of the Emergency Act. Duggan Marik, the Captain-General's eldest son, tried to assume control, as did Duggan's first cousin Duncan Marik even though Janos had appointed Thomas Marik as his heir to the Captain- Generalcy. Duke Halas of Oriente contacted Thomas, who was serving in the Lyran Commonwealth as Precentor of ComStar's station on Son Hoa.
When Thomas came before Parliament in January 3031 producing documents written by Janos that named him as Heir-Designate, the struggle between Duggan and Duncan died down. For the next four years, Thomas ruled in his father's name with a measured hand, despite continued rivalry from Duncan and Duggan. He took several steps to mollify the MPs, who no longer represented semi-sovereign crovinces, but mere cultural regions.
Thomas Marik's success in filling his father's shoes sorely troubled Duncan, Duggan, Duke Halas, and ComStar. The Duke and ComStar had supported Thomas because they believed he would be easy to manipulate. Now Thomas was proving to be his own man, and ComStar was especially dismayed to see its influence over Thomas waning.
Then came the news that Janos Marik had recovered enough to resume control of the League.
On June 1, 3035 Janos Marik called a meeting to discuss ways to bring the Duchy of Andurien back into the League. Present were Thomas, Duggan, and Duncan Marik, as well as several representatives from the diplomatic corps. Not long after the meeting began, a bomb hidden in a portable holotable exploded, killing the Captain-General and apparently everyone else in the room. Only Duncan Marik narrowly escaped death after being called from the room on an urgent matter just minutes before the blast.
Duncan Marik assumed the Captain-Generalcy by right of rank and experience. By order of succession, Paul Marik, Duncan's shy older brother in the Ministry of Intelligence, should, technically, have taken the reins of power -- and there were many who hoped he would -- but Paul supported his younger brother.
After the quickest of investigations, the new Captain-General announced that Andurien agents were responsible for the assassination, and he declared war on the Duchy of Andurien. Despite his experience as commander of the Marik Militia, Duncan's hope for a quick and glorious conquest soon became mired in a series of costly battles with no clear winner.
On December 5, 3036, Thomas Marik made an appearance before a stunned Parliament. Though his body was not found after the explosion, everyone assumed that Thomas had died along with his father and brother. Thomas had been seriously wounded, but he survived the blast. With the room in flames and Thomas lying bleeding and unconscious near the door, two rescuers arrived. They were Li Mann, a close friend of Thomas's since childhood, and a member of the palace guard who was really a ROM agent. Realizing that Thomas was critically injured and also still in danger from whoever planted the bomb, the two rushed Thomas to the ComStar station and let the room burn. ComStar Kappa personnel tended to Thomas's extensive burns until they stabilized his condition. Thomas was later transferred to the ComStar medical center on Terra, where he recuperated for a year.
During that time, Thomas Marik received reports on the political situation in the League from ComStar, which hoped to regain its influence over Thomas so that he would be their pawn after returning to power on Atreus.
The League government and the Parliament greeted Thomas's miraculous appearance with joy. Duncan had been a harsh leader, with little tact or diplomacy. With Duncan at the helm, government officials had been fearing an outbreak of civil unrest. Duncan had earned Parliament's hatred, too, when he refused to give even the pretext of consulting them on major issues.
When Duncan Marik received the news of Thomas's return and the massive show of support for him, he was in the field with his troops in the Duchy of Andurien. Now that he was no longer the Captain-General, he knew that he could be arrested at any moment for killing Janos and Duggan. Duncan felt that his one slim hope of survival was to win a major military victory against the Anduriens. He threw himself into an ambitious, but ill-planned, offensive.
Meanwhile, Thomas used the shock of his reappearance to pass the Addendum to the Incorporation, further centralizing political power in the Marik family. The Addendum also eliminated the Home Defense Acts, which had paralyzed the League military for so long.
Duncan Marik died on February 4, 3037, while leading an attack against Andurien 'Mechs on Xanthe III. His death and the poor planning for his final offensive left the League's invasion of Andurien in danger of collapse. Realizing that this would be his chance to show his mettle as a leader, Thomas announced that he was leaving Atreus to lead the League forces.
In a series of well-planned attacks, Thomas Marik conquered the Duchy of Andurien and captured the aging Dame Catherine Humphreys in 3040. The Duchess of Andurien was stricken with a fatal heart attack while awaiting trial on charges of treason. As a gesture of reconciliation, the Captain-General pardoned Andurien political and military leaders for their roles in the civil war.
In the past few years, Thomas has passed more laws stripping both the Duchy of Oriente and the Principality of Regulus of their sovereignty.
Thomas created the League General Accounting Office in 3043. This department had little inherent power, but Thomas assigned loyal family members and friends to key positions. The LGAO quickly assumed control over the League bureaucracy and began to flex its muscle by manipulating the flow of money to ensure that pro-Marik companies with no provincial affiliation got all the important contracts, redrawing the bureaucratic boundaries to dilute the power of provincial governments, and creating the Marik Scholarship Fund for loyal young men and women who want to enter the fast track into government or the military.