Capellan Confederation

In the fictional BattleTech universe, the Capellan Confederation is the smallest Successor State, ruled by House Liao. Originally governed from Capella, its current capital world is Sian. The chief of state is the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation.

Politics
The Capellan Confederation started out as collection of states united for common defense well-being, but over hundreds of years through the influences of certain schools of philosophy and the House Liao it has evolved to become an autocratic state with a controlled economy. Nearly all of the power in the Capellan Confederation is actually held by the Chancellor who is amongst the most important rulers in the Inner Sphere, as the descendant of one of the five Great Houses. (The current chancellor is Daoshen Liao.) Technically the Chancellor is elected by the Prefectorate, but in practice, it is little more than a rubber stamp with only two Chancellors in history having not been members of the Liao family. Theoretically a law making body, the Prefectorate is made up of the six leaders of the Capellan Member-States, which almost always includes the current Chancellor. After the Prefectorate comes the House of Scions, a gathering of the Capellan nobility. As far as organization is concerned the Capellan Confederation is divided into Commonalities. Commonalities are large districts which originally consisted of the signatory-states that formed the Confederation, although hundreds of years have forced a series or redistricting, so that currently the Commonalities are Sian, Capella, Victoria, St. Ives, & Liao Commonalities.

The confederation foreign policies is based of the same reasoning for the formation of the Confederation, this fear of dominaion in state of isolation, but with recent events the chancller of Liao has made probing attempts at the Free Worlds League and the Federated Suns, the two nations that the Confederation fear the most. Many of these attempts were subservient in of distablizing both nations like the attain Marik Revolt, and a peace treaty with one of the Dukes of the Federated Suns in return for the right to have a treaty with the planets recently taken form the Confederation by the Federation.

Military
The Military of the Capellan Confederation is known as the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces or the CCAF. Up through the Fourth Succession War, it fell vastly behind the militaries of other successor states, as evidenced by the crushing defeat of the Capellan Confederation by House Davion. The Capellan Confederation had only one signature Battlemech at the time, the 45-ton Vindicator. Later, during the 3050's and 3060's, the Capellan Confederation considerably increased Battlemech development, introducing the Raven light scout 'Mech, the Yu Huang assault 'Mech, and the Men Shen Omnimech.

Among the most famous units of the CCAF are the Warrior House Orders, who not only emphasize military training of the highest caliber, but also do a great deal of philosophical indoctrination and evaluation of martial skill. The original Warrior Houses were Imarra, Lu Sann, Dai Da Chi, Kamata, Ijori, and Hiritsu; Lu Sann and Ijori were annihilated during the Word of Blake Jihad, but Ijori was refounded by a group of pro-Capellan activists from the Republic of the Sphere.

Another notable unit is the infamous Death Commandos. Formed in 2988 by Tormax Liao, the original Death Commandos were recruited solely from the elite of the Warrior Houses, although in 3003 membership into the unit was opened to any officer in the CCAF who could meet their stringent entry requirements. The unit suffered heavy losses during the 4th Succession War, where all but seven members of the unit failed to make it back to Capellan space from a Davion ambush on Kathil. The disaster on Kathil postponed plans to expand the Death Commandos to full regimental strength, although by 3060 they had reached a unit strength of two battalions. Its members are all mechwarrior trained and are well-versed in terrorist techniques, psyops, the usage of archaic weaponry, intelligence gathering, poison making, and are also trained in a variety martial arts.

Other noteworthy units of the Cappelan Confederation Armed Forces are the Red Heart Guard, also known as the Red Lancers, who serve as the Chancellor's bodyguards; McCarron's Armored Cavalry, the famed mercenaries turned house regulars; and the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers, a Citizen's Honored Brigade that can trace its origins back to the original Star League Defense Force.

Religion and Philosophy
In lieu of organized religion the state has historically encouraged a series of philosophical movements such as the Korvin Doctrine and the Lorix Order. These doctrines are followed by a wide segment of the Capellan Confederation's population and play much the same role as organized religion.