Auldhouse

Government
The government of Auldhouse is in its third generation of "provisional" leadership. Governor Sasha Paloran's grandfather took the reins when the hereditary ruler, a lower ranking Lyran Commonwealth Duke, died without an heir before the turn of the century. Sasha took over the position only a few years ago when his father, Adal, died from complications of pneumonia.

Sasha started taking over more and more control years before that, though, as his father's health began to fail. For the last few years, the provisional government has gotten more and more controlling; cracking down on its critics and tightening up on civil liberties. The Clan Invasion only made things worse as the current regime used being in the invasion path as an excuse to exercise even more control over the population.

Unrest on Auldhouse is at an all-time high. Protests are frequent even in cities where the provisional government's hold is strong. There are several small resistance groups that have sprung up across the planet, but one of the most successful is in Berrenna, a major city to the north of the capital, Lavar. The resistance has pushed the provisional government's forces completely out of Berrenna, but have (wisely, perhaps) not set up any official headquarters or government offices within the city proper.

Between Berrenna and Lavar is the city of Levington. Once a booming small city with about 80,000 inhabitants, the city has now effectively been abandoned due to heavy fighting between armor and foot troops of both the provisional government and the resistance.

Governor Paloran and his closest advisors are doing everything in their power to keep word of the opposition to their rule quiet. Adal Paloran had been positioning himself to become the next noble in control of Auldhouse and now Sasha and his team are trying to make a strong push for the current governor to be given the title of Baron.

Part of the reason the Strykers' Charlie Battalion was brought in was to overwhelm and crush the resistance. The governor and his team also plan to try and use some of the battalion's operations to cover some of the political moves they are making. For example, a shuttle carrying  the duke who oversees the Virginia Shire region and his entourage landed the same time as the Stryker DropShips. The governor was in a meeting with the duke the same time his aide and the liaison officer were meeting with Charlie Battalion's leaders.