Terra (BattleTech)

In the fiction BattleTech universe, Terra is the home planet of humanity. Called the "cradle of civilization" by the inhabitants of the 31st and 32nd centuries, Terra has been the capital of several interstellar nations and is the most industrialized planet in the Inner Sphere.

Geography
While Terra is the third planet from the star Sol, "Terra" as a term has come to be understood as encompassing all of the Sol system. The second planet, Venus, and the fourth planet, Mars, are also inhabited. In addition, the Titan shipyards is an orbital factory that can build and repair JumpShips and WarShips.

Industry
Terra is home to Skobel MechWorks in Russia and Kressly WarWorks in Germany.

History
Since the dawn of interplanetary travel, five flags have flown over Terra.

Terran Alliance
Terra was the seat of the Terran Alliance. The Alliance Parliament oversaw humanity's initial colonization efforts among the stars. The Great Exodus was responsible for the depopulating of many of Terra's cities, vastly improving the overpopulation problem the planet was facing. After the Terran Alliance granted all colony worlds beyond 60 light-years their independence, the Alliance Parliament focused inward on Terra. Amid the destabilization of the Alliance Parliament, civil war between the rival Liberals and Expansionists seemed inevitable.

Terran Hegemony
Admiral James McKenna used his fleet to impose order on Terra and dissolve the Alliance Parliament. He declared himself the Director-General of the new Terran Hegemony.

Star League
The Cameron dynasty that succeeded McKenna was responsible for fulfilling McKenna's dream of reuniting all of humanity under Terran rule with the creation of the Star League. The seat of the Star League was Unity Palace on Terra. When Commanding General Alexsandr Kerensky prosecuted the Amaris Civil War in response to Amaris' coup, he destroyed the Unity Palace and damaged many other sites on Terra.

ComStar
With the death of the Cameron dynasty, the only thing the Star League Council could agree upon was the necessity of reforming the shattered HPG network that allowed interstellar communication. They appointed Jerome Blake to this task. Kerensky bequeathed whole divisions worth of troops to Blake. The onset of the Succession Wars forced Blake to stop short of his goal of reforming the Terran Hegemony, but he was able to ensure total ComStar control over the Terran system.

A shroud of secrecy descended over Terra while the quasi-mystical ComStar ruled the system. On Terra, they hid untold divisions worth of troops and protected Star League-era technology while the Successor States blasted themselves back to the Industrial Revolution. ComStar ran their HPG network from the First Circuit Compound on Hilton Head Island.

In the late 3020s, Terra played host to the marriage of Prince Hanse Davion and Archon-designate Melissa Steiner that touched off the Fourth Succession War.

Word of Blake
In 3058, the Word of Blake splinter faction of ComStar seized control of the Terran system from ComStar. In 3065, it became the capital of the new Blake Protectorate. It was also host to at least three invasions. The first came from Wolf's Dragoons in 3068. The second came from ComStar shortly thereafter. Both were unsuccessful. The third invasion, led by Devlin Stone in 3081, was successful and resulted in the defeat of the Word of Blake and the cessation of their Jihad. At least one tactical nuclear device was used during that invasion to destroy the First Circuit Compound.

Republic of the Sphere
After the defeat of the Word of Blake, Devlin Stone created the Republic of the Sphere. Terra is home to the Republic's capital city of Geneva, Switzerland. Republican Terra has also seen its share of warfare.

Anastasia Kerensky, leader of the Steel Wolves, unsuccessfully attacked the planet in the early 3130s, hoping to fulfill the ancient Clan goal of capturing Terra. Shortly thereafter, infighting occurred between troops loyal to the republic's Exarch Jonah Levin and forces organized by Senate loyalists. Aided by Prince's Champion Julian Davion and his Federated Suns contingent, Levin's troops were able to drive the Senate loyalists off of Terra.