FSRB Chpt 238

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 238==
 <<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
----
December-January - 3071-3072Operation Harvest - Wave 5
-----
===Wave 5 of Operation Harvest - Status Report===
As the Word of Blake Protectorate began to crumble throughout Wave 5 of Operation Harvest, the AFFS's High Command began to plan for what many had been dreading: the Liberation of Terra from the Word of Blake. With the bulk of the WoB fleet having withdrawn into the Terran system and with no idea what defensive measures the Blakists had managed to enact even the most optimistic of the various officers in Mount Davion knew that the butcher's bill would be far in advance of anything they had paid so far in the campaign. The WoB Militia would have their backs literally to the wall and would fight accordingly. Still they simply couldn't be left to rebuild on Terra and attempt to reconquer the Protectorate again and again or worse dig in even further. Throughout the military campaigns of Operation Harvest the High Command ordered that all efforts be made to prevent any further WoB troops fleeing to reinforce Terra and also any intelligence on the state of the home world's defenses that could be obtained be prioritized.
-----
Existing Operations
====Graham IV====
To nobody's surprise the world of Graham IV was formally admitted to the Federated Suns in late December, however it wasn't allocated into an existing PDZ in either the Draconis or League Marches. Instead the Graham PDZ was formed within the League March. On top of the salvage and few new 'Mechs that have been sent to help rebuild the planetary militia a new 1st Graham Reinforced Training Battalion (Temporary) is formed to begin helping produce the future Graham LMM. All of this is undertaken under the guidance of the 1st Ceti Hussars RCT with remains to garrison the world.
-----
====Sirus====
Almost as soon as the Graham PDZ is formed, two further worlds are added to it - Sirius VI and Sirius VI-a. The troops under Marshal May continue to train as a provisional Division level formation, while a second provisional force is formed up out of the 2nd & 3rd Avalon Hussars RCTs and the 15th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT- this time under the leadership of Marshal Michael Lipstein of the 15th Deneb Light Cavalry. While engaging in training exercises the two formations also aid in continuing to run down any remaining WoB holdouts. 
-----
====New Home====
Despite the best efforts of both the Davion Heavy Guards RCT and the 11th Avalon Hussars RCT, the handful of infantry troops under Precentor Brandeburg-Curi remain at large for most of December and well into January. However, on the 11th of January after a brief firefight the enemies coordination and tactics take a sudden downswing. Over the next few weeks it becomes known to the AFFS troops that Precentor Brandeburg-Curi was killed during the almost meaningless skirmish on the 11th and with his dead command and control for the remaining WoB holdouts is collapsing as is morale. With the aid of the specialist infantry brigade the two commands swiftly reduce the threat posed by WoB guerrilla's to nothing more than a minor nuisance and easily contained using just the infantry brigade. 
----
====Keid====
The world of Keid's new government formally requests admission into the Federated Suns on the 1st of January 3072 and is accepted on very next day. It is formally allocated into the newly formed Graham PDZ and work continues on rebuilding the world as well as integrating it into the wider Federated Suns.
----
====Procyon====
The WoB 20th Militia continues to hold out well into December, fighting for every corridor and room within the underground Castle Brian it is holding. Finally, on Christmas Eve there is a sudden upsurge in fighting, However it is within the WoB garrison and not with the AFFS troops penning them in. By Christmas morning, it has died down and the AFFS troops are contacted by the victorious faction of the 20th Militia: the moderates who wished to surrender rather than detonating several nuclear warheads within the fortress. The various AFFS units within the facility had already reduced their lines to a bare minimum - in case something similar to Hesperus was about to happen and now they reduce them further while ordering the surrendering WoB troops to lay down their weapons and leave the fortress. As soon as they do combat engineers rush in to secure the seven nuclear weapons that the Militia had stockpiled while also searching for any others in case of treachery. The surrendering Blakists are promised fair trials and if found to have not undertaken any war crimes to be treated as ordinary prisoners of war in return for their refusing to detonate the nuclear warheads when ordered to do so. A handful of them attempt to flee at the mention of fair trials and are promptly either killed or brought down and taken into more restrictive custody as likely candidates for having committed war crimes. 
The Brian Castle which although heavily damaged is largely intact begins to undergo repairs and rebuilding for use as an AFFS base.
----
====Zosma====
The people of Zosma react with fury when they discover that their Honored Representative to the Estates General on Tharkad is amongst those who have been taken into custody. The already pro-Davion government promptly secedes from the Lyran Alliance and requests formal admission to the Federated Suns. Informally this is accepted, although for the time being they are not placed within a PDZ militarily, although they are further integrated on a civilian level into the FedSuns.
----
====Pollux ====
Work continues to set up a government and return civilian authorities to power on Pollux, however a large number of prospective leaders are tainted by association with the WoB. Still a fledgling government begins to taken form by the end of January.
----
====Devil's Rock====
With organised WoB resistance totally crushed in Wave 4, the various AFFS, mercenary and Clan forces on planet secure the planet quickly. For now all the troops remain on the planet, but given the fact that there are now nine AFFS commands, two mercenary regiments and a Clan Galaxy on planet Devil's Rock is listed as a potential source of reinforcements.
----
====Epsilon Eridani====
With the formation of the Graham PDZ the world of Epsilon Eridani is formally allocated to the new PDZ. Some on the world protest as previously their world had been the name-world for the local PDZ, but having watched the Epsilon Eridani SMM defect and declare their world independent the High Command is in no mood to reform the unit - which made up large elements of the WoB troops on the planet.
----
====New Earth====
Although work continues to integrate New Earth into the Federated Suns it is left in the same position as Zosma. More and more integrated, but not formally allocated into a PDZ and openly absorbed. Either to avoid disrupting relations with the Lyran Alliance or perhaps because New Avalon is waiting to see what shape the border is being finalizing a PDZ.
----
====Castor====
Marshal Archer's 5th Davion Guards, 3rd FedSuns Dragoons and 39th Avalon Hussars RCTs fresh from conquering Pollux arrive in the Castor system on the 28th of October. The defending WoB 16th Militia had only a single scratch force of Protectorate Guard to aid them, mostly consisting of infantry with a handful of tanks and even less BattleMechs. Facing off against nearly three full strength RCTs, led by one of the famed Davion Guard units there were already reports from the 1st Castor Protectorate Guard of desertions.
With an extremely questionable allied force and with a strong enemy force inbound the Precentor in command of the 16th Militia decided that discretion was the better part of valor and ordered her units to withdraw to their DropShips and head to Terra. She believed that the 16th Militia would be better utilized in the defense of the homeworld, over dying on the by now strategically irrelevant and isolated planet of Castor. She took with her roughly two combined arms Level IIIs worth of troops from the Protectorate Guard. With the most pro-WoB troops fleeing with the Militia the remaining members of the Protectorate Guard promptly surrendered as soon as the AFFS formations were entering atmosphere. 
With the remaining units of the 1st Castor Protectorate Guard surrendering there was little for the AFFS task force to do except secure the planet, take the surrendering troops into custody (with assurances of good treatment given their unwillingness to fight for the Blakists) and await further orders.
----
New Operations
====Oliver====
Drawing the 5th Robinson Rangers RCT and 38th Avalon Hussars RCT from Procyon as well as the WoB RCT from Keid and the 5th Davion Guards RCT from Castor the AFFS launch their invasion of the Oliver system. The four RCTs are accompanied by the Clan Nova Cat's Delta and Tau Galaxies as well as the Transcendent Naval Star for escort. To face this invasion is the WoB 12th Militia as well as two Oliver Protectorate Guard formations. While the WoB sponsored local forces are not as numerous as some other worlds they are particularly heavy in BattleMech's in comparison to most Protectorate Guard units, having drawn directly from the Brigadier Corporation's facilities on the planet. 
While the Tau Galaxy lands to the north of the Brigadier facility at Gordon and draws of the bulk of the defenders attention, the 5th Robinson Rangers and 5th Davion Guards conduct a combat drop right on top of the mostly abandoned Warez City in order to seize the BattleMech repair facility buried under it. The 5th Robinson Rangers have a slight edge in skill while the 5th Davion Guards is slightly better equipped, but both units swiftly destroy the few garrison units remaining to hold the facility and their combined battle armor troopers seize control of the repair facility. With this secured the other units land around the city and begin aggressively patrolling to drive back WoB troops towards Gordon and the planetary capital of Fort Jagger. The Nova Cat's Delta Galaxy as soon as it lands heads off to rendezvous with their sister Tau Galaxy and act as a roving force hunting down any isolated WoB troop contingents. 
With a secure and now heavily garrisoned base the AFFS and Clan Nova Cat forces on the planet begin a battle of attrition with the WoB while relentlessly pushing towards Gordon in particular. Time is on the side of the AFFS and Clan forces and they are loath to make any gambles they don't have too. In orbit, the Nova Cat WarShips provide orbital support and in a feat of superb targeting take out power cables from the huge nuclear power plant that generates electricity for both the city of Gordon and the Brigadier BattleMech factory. Repeated attempts to reconnect the power grid to the facility are met with pin point naval laser strikes that severs them almost as quickly as they can be reconnected. A handful of AFFS officers are nervous with such naval firepower being used so close to what is a massive nuclear power plant but the Clan warriors assure them their crews will not damage the facility. 
----
===ComGuards/AFFS Operations===
====Bryant====
The 2nd Dragonlords RCT and 3rd ComGuards Army continue to operate against the WoB holdout troops which have been causing the ComGuard's so much bother since 3rd Army landed back in May. With the additional veteran troops of the 2nd Dragonlords the Allied contingent is able to more and more patrol deeper into the storm wracked wastes and hem the WoB forces in so that they cannot operate with the impunity they did in the first few months. Running battles take place during thunder storms, with the WoB often trying to break contact so as to avoid leading the AFFS or ComGuard's back to their hidden bases. They are aided in this by the weather but the net continues to tighten. At the very least the Allied leadership is sure that they are whittling away at the WoB's numbers. But as Wave 5 comes to a close the WoB garrison continues to fight on. 
----
===ComGuards Operations===
====Alula Australis====
Precentor Martial Focht continues to command the ComGuard forces on planet in their hunt to destroy the remaining WoB forces on planet. Roughly a division and a half of WoB troops (most of them locally raised Protectorate Guard) continue to operate as guerrilla forces at the start of Wave 5, but with sixteen divisions (although many under strength after heavy fighting) under the command of one of the finest military minds in the Inner Sphere, the WoB troops are soon on the back foot. Heavily outnumbered, with the ComGuard naval forces operating in their skies and able to deploy spy satellites over the course of Wave 5 the WoB troops are whittled down from their initial strength to barely a single Level III of troops who are mostly hiding in the most remote and desolate areas of the planet. 
With the situation stable Focht reorganizes his remaining troops again at the end of Wave 5. He disbands the worst damaged four divisions and reforms the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Armies so that each have roughly four full strength divisions available to them. Almost all of these troops are now veteran or elite and all twelve divisions are operating at or over 90% strength. Focht also orders the troops on Bryant to disband their weakest division to leave the 3rd Army operating as a reinforced army of six divisions.
-----
 <<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
0238, Chapter