Unit Name Experience Homeworld Faction The Fist of Mokal (1 company) Veteran Terra Firma Terracap Confederation (CO: Captain Rocco Valdez) - Loyalty: Reliable
The inhabitants of the Terracap Confederation's planets of Terra Firma and Capolla seemed destined to suffer years of bloodshed until a new mercenary unit - the Fist of Mokal - landed on Terra Firma. Despite the mercenary unit's infamous record on Sheratan, a separatist faction on the planet formed an alliance with the Fist. Bolstered by the strength afforded their side by the mercenaries' 'Mechs, the separatist troops easily defeated their opponents within three weeks. In return for their help, the mercenaries were designated as the planet's standing army. Within days, the new government of Terra Firma sent a contingent of troops and Fist 'Mechs to Capolla to aid a separatist movement that had requested help. A few days later, the leaders of Terra Firma and Capolla proclaimed the creation of the Terracap Confederation and announced their intention to follow a policy of non alignment with any Great House. Despite the new governments' requests for diplomatic recognition, no Inner Sphere power has yet recognized the Confederation as a sovereign state.
The fighting has left both Terra Firma and Capolla devastated. On Terra Firma, only two of the planet's thirty-six spaceports remain operational. On Capolla, only one spaceport of twenty-one is open to traffic. These operational spaceports - located near each planet's largest cities - are guarded by garrisons of the Fist of Mokal. Both planets' manufacturing facilities and cities contain vast tracts of rubble, and precious farmlands have been burned. Only Terra Firma's vast forest - the Okeenog Woodlands - and Capolla's numerous jungles escaped the devastation.
Like the Saiph Triumvirate, the Terracap Confederation is struggling to survive. Aside from FedCom operatives stirring up a certain amount of trouble on Terra Firma, Terracap faces no particularly strong outside threat, but it may succumb to a thorny internal problem.
The Terra Firma government is run by the bullies and thugs of the Fist of Mokal. When the separatists on Terra Firma first allied with the Fist, they believed they could use the mercenaries to gain power and then persuade them to leave. Instead, the mercenaries took control of the planet. The supposed request from Capolla for the mercenaries' aid was simply a pretext to assume control of that planet. Initially, the war-weary inhabitants of Terra Firma and Capolla welcomed the military regime, thankful for its successful efforts to restore order. That sentiment began changing, however, soon after the military government announced a state of emergency and revoked essentially all private rights. Faced with the task of rebuilding the entire infrastructure on both planets, the new government began drafting citizens into work brigades. On Capolla, the government also took control of nearly all of that planet's ore mines. These actions, as well as severe shortages of food and other basic necessities, have led some Liao and FedCom loyalists to set aside their mutual distrust and begin waging a joining guerrilla war against the military government. The government has reacted by rounding up hundreds of suspected guerrilla sympathizers and creating paramilitary death squads to assassinate its critics.
Capolla's leaders have finally had enough; they have pooled their limited resources and are hiring mercenaries to destroy the Fist of Mokal 'Mech company stationed on their world. The Capollan government is also preparing for probably retaliation by Terra Firma if they manage to accomplish their goal. Desperate to remain free, the Capollan government is considering opening negotiations with the Federated Commonwealth in the hopes that the presence of Federated Commonwealth troops will guarantee the planet's safety.
The Terracap Federation hires few mercenaries, and only units desperate for work take Terracap contracts. Any unit with better choices available will avoid having to deal with the Terracap government's instability and the probability of incurring the wrath of the Fist of Mokal for poaching on their turf. Units hired by the Terracap Confederation can expect to see all sorts of problems, from absent supplies to conflicting orders to aggression from the Fist of Mokal. Assignments from the Terracap Confederation vary wildly, and often turn into different missions virtually overnight. This state of affairs is ripe for contract disputes that can easily turn violent.
Within six months, the Capollan government will have enough troops to crush the company of Fist 'Mechs and free up the mines. When the remaining Fist of Mokal forces travel to Capolla to wipe out the government, they will walk into numerous traps laid by the Capollans to stop them. Unable to complete their task, the Mokal will return to Terra Firma. Capolla will enjoy brief freedom, but pirate attacks and raids by Mokal forces will soon topple the Capollan government and reduce the world to anarchy.
The Sheratan Knights, a single regiment of warriors utterly dedicated to the Federated Commonwealth, defended Sheratan from both invading forces and internal rebellions. The planet had suffered a protracted terrorist campaign by various groups set up and funded by the Capellan secret police since the Fourth Succession War, and so the Knights had superior training in dealing with guerrilla-style warfare. When the Capellan Chancellor ordered his agents on Sheratan into action concurrent with the invasion, bombings and mass shootings became commonplace in Sheratan's few large cities. The Sheratan Knights flushed out and destroyed many of the rebel cells, but the vast forests and dense jungles gave the surviving Liao guerrillas plenty of places to hide.
The arrival of the Fist of Mokal, mercenaries in the employ of the Free Worlds League, turned the tables in the Liaoists' favor. Seeing that Sheratan was lightly defended, the mercenaries landed in the capital and proclaimed the world a Capellan possession. The enraged Knights converged on the capital and engaged the Fist in a hit-and-run battle, downing several mercenary 'Mechs. Stunned by the attack, Major William Jeffreys ordered two of his mercenary companies to chase the Sheratan Knights into the forests and hunt them down while the third company held the fort in the capital.
With the aid of the Liao guerrillas, the Fist MechWarriors found and destroyed a battalion of the Knights. The remaining Knights set the forest ablaze, trapping the mercenaries in a burning hell. Major Jeffreys ordered his unit to charge through the flames, but escaped the blaze with only a company left intact. The inferno utterly destroyed the remaining Liao forces. The mercenary company in the capital retaliated by slaying thousands of civilians. When word of the brutal killings got out, the Fist of Mokal's contract was declared null and void and the unit itself was proscribed.
Before departing from Sheratan, the Fist started some fires of its own. Soon, vast tracts of land across the planet were burning out of control. Unable to cope with the crisis, the planetary government collapsed.