Kapustin



Kapustin was settled by, Trans-World Mining, one of the few mining corporations to venture into the New Suns territory in 2375. Trans-Worlds surveyed all the worlds in the system and found them rich in rare minerals. However, out of all of the planets in the system only Kapustin was habitable, and that was considered a matter of debate.

Bringing in cheap labor from the Inner Sphere, Kapustin became home to many workers from the Lyran Commonwealth, many being from Slavic or Russian descent. These workers often fell victim to company store practices and within a few years, most of the labor found themselves little more than indentured servants.

Whenever there were uprisings and rebellions elsewhere in the New Suns colonies, Kapustin always stayed out of the fighting. Being one of the systems closest to the Inner Sphere and the Rim Worlds Republic, the Trans-World had a well equipped, well trained, and particular brutal private security force to keep the populace in line.

When the Uprising began in 2510, Kapustin was the last system to join. It wasn't until the violent and bloody crackdown of a worker protest by security forces in 2520 that fighting began on the planet. At first, it was just skirmishes between small groups of "terrorists" and security. Every clash would be followed by a harsh crack down and over reaction by security forces. When Kuritan settlers and merchants were suspected of assisted protestors and targeted, things quickly escalated in violence. "Ronin" would be seen attacking security, ambushing officials with their bodyguards, and leading raids.

When the New Suns colonies had been settled, many merchant families from the Draconis Combine had moved to the new worlds. Many had were former soldiers or from families with martial traditions. These families would often have members go on vendettas against security forces. Some would become ronin and join the rebels. This caused things territory wide to escalate. On Kapustin, it turned the small terrorist cells into armies. By 2524, Kapustin became the most important system for the Uprising.

Begut Koshki, was the only major city on the planet with aerospace facilities, With the ground war on Kapustin going against them, Trans-World proceeded to abandon the countryside, destroying all of it's facilities in the retreat. "Salt the earth behind you" was the command given by CEO Vul Garath. With winter coming, this made the rebel forces pause in order to reorganize supplies to make sure people didn't starve. Even with these efforts, many didn't survive the extreme rationing forced by the scorched earth tactic. Over 300,000 civilians died from the policies of Trans-World.

Trans-Worlds strategy was to wait until spring, then push back out and retake the planet. They would simply hold the Begut Koshki while everything outside starved. In the meantime, the security forces turned the city into a ghetto. Only the area around the spaceport was given priority for supplies. Civilians often found themselves used as slave labor for building or repairing defenses or as human shields.

In Dec of 2526, the rebel forces launched a surprise offensive on the city. Using salvaged light strike fighters, the Kapustin Night Witches had waited until near white out conditions to launch a series of bombing attacks that crippled the drop ships of the security forces. Once completed, the rebel forces started into the city.

For 45 days, the fighting in the capital city was vicious, with winter storms that were common to the time of year adding to the misery. The security forces were better trained and armed, but outnumbered. To offset this, they would often use mines and artillery with little regard for civilians. Any building or equipment that had to be abandoned was booby trapped. The losses for the rebels were staggering.

When the final push was made and the space port had been surrounded, the Chief of Operations for Begut Koshki, called for a cease fire in order to discuss terms for surrender. Those calls were ignored and the rebel forces took the space port. No prisoners were taken and any security forces that tried to surrender were promptly put against a wall and executed.

Trans-World CEO Vul Garath responded to the news of Kapustin's fall by ordering a massive redeployment system wide of security assets to Kapustin. Within days, Trans-World forces in the system retook the spaceport. Ships then took up positions above the planet and began a campaign against the civilian population. Orbital strikes and bombings were used indiscriminately.

2 weeks into the orbital campaign, DCMS 'ronin' entered the Kapustin system on there way to Taos. The Draconis Combine could not get officially involved, but felt conflicted over it's citizens, former or not, being targets. When several prominent merchant families wanted to send aid, the Coordinator allowed soldiers from the DCMS to leave their posts on Musha Shuygo. Being technically ronin, the Combine could disavow any of their actions.

When the DCS Kazeninotte arrived in system, it was able to destroy or cripple the 3 Trans-World jumpships and it's fighters quickly gain control of the space over the planet. Within few short days, the war on Kapustin would be over.

Kapustin is ruled by a monarchy. The Tsarist system was put in place after several different attempts to form a parliament failed. The Tsar rules over the planet giving city states to governors who are responsible for their city's well being. Each city has it's own militia, but the standing army answers only to the Tsar and her Lord General.

The current ruler is Tsarina Anastasia Pershenko, an extremely beloved young woman, who rules from Begut Koshki. Her Lord General is Miércoles Mao. Rumors are that there is a rift between the two as Lord General Mao has raised concerns over corruption and exploitation of workers by the City-State governors, and the Tsarina has turned a blind eye to it.