FSRB Chpt 110

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 110==
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January 3069General Update
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===Naval Developments===
Even as the High Command continued to celebrate the success's of Operation Rat II and Rat III they didn't however get to rest on their laurels. As well as preparing for the "big push" to retake (as everyone was sure to phrase it) Sarna and take Capella they also continued to work to reinforce the Draconis March. Nowhere was this more evident than in the voids of space. In January 3069 the 4th Corvette Flotilla assigned to the Draconis March was upgraded in quality and number of ships. The Flotilla's 1st Division of 4 Fox corvettes all completed their upgrade to the Fox II variant. They were replaced in the repair slips over Edwards by the 2nd Division's 4 corvettes. However to make up the shortfall of warship hulls while the 2nd Division was upgraded and in light of the growing tension on the Draconis Front Fleet Admiral Buchwald assigned the 4 Fox II corvettes completing at Filtvelt (the FSS Hoff and FSS Benedict) and New Syrtis (the FSS Stein's Folly and FSS Redfield) to the 4th Flotilla as it's 3rd Division. This meant that even with 4 ships being upgraded until June the 4th Flotilla numbered 2 full divisions of Fox II warships. 
The FSS Diamond and FSS Diana, 2 Davion III Class destroyers completed at Galax were also used to create a new 3rd Destroyer Squadron which was to be home ported over Robinson. While many had argued for the reinforcement of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron to a full 4 ships, the High Command had agreed with Fleet Admiral Buchwald that the additional deployment options of a new squadron was more useful. Similarly the FSS Duncan, completed at New Syrtis, instead of being sent to the 2nd or 3rd Destroyer Squadron was assigned to the Morgan Hasek-Davion's 1st Carrier Battle Group as it's first escort. 
All of the now empty construction slips were immediately refilled with more warships to begin construction. Not only did the finishing slips receive new orders, but the new Challenge System shipyard at June also saw it's first 2 slips go online and lay down a Congress-D II class frigate and New Syrtis class carrier. Additionally the shipyards of the Federated Sun's during January managed to complete 2 Fox corvettes - who were sold 1 each to the Lyran Alliance and to the Clan Wolf-in-Exile - and 4 more were sold to the ComGuard's from the shipyards at Novaya Zemlya. The LA, WiE and ComStar all requested that future ships be constructed to the Fox II variant, but they were informed that this would require additional negotiations. Still the sale of these 6 Fox corvettes was a major boost in the funding of the Federated Suns Navy given the combat operations being undertaken. Perhaps even more of a boost was the knowledge that these were just the first ships of many that could be expected to be added to fleet in the coming year - including no less than 3 New Syrtis class carriers! 
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===Tensions Build on Draconis March border===
After the meeting between the Coordinator and the First Prince, tensions immediately skyrocketed along the FedSuns' Combine border. On both sides military commands stood up to full readiness in preparation for an attack or even for the orders to launch one of their own. Matters were made worse when near the end of January the Coordinator's personal physicians confirmed to Prince Hohiro that his father had suffered a major heart attack during or immediately after the meeting with First Prince Victor Davion. While the physicians assures the prince that his father would recover, he was at least for the time being temporarily incapacitated and could not be stressed if he was to recover. 
Given Hohiro Kurita's by now deep hatred of all things pertaining to Victor Davion the fact that the despised Davion had driven his father to this ignoble injury was more than enough for him to seize the opportunity it presented. All DCMS commands were placed on a war footing and every major warship slipped from it's moorings and headed out into the dark to take up their war time postings. Hohiro in conjunction with the Warlord's of Benjamin and Galedon began moving troops to staging areas near the FedSun's frontier. The plan was simple. A two pronged pincer strike from near Misery and Prosperina to converge on Robinson. At the very least it would result in the AFFS having to draw troops from their exposed "Galtor Thumb" or risk them being encircled and cut off. With enough troops and luck it was considered that the Dragon might even close it's claws upon the world of Robinson and cut the heart from the treacherous Sandoval's! Yet such preparation's took time. Hohiro had to move fast, before his father could recover sufficiently to urge caution, yet not so swiftly that he wasn't ready. Worse he had to keep such preparation's hidden from the Warlord of Pesht - his mother - who would no doubt take the matter to his father.
As hidden as these attempts were, the AFFS wasn't blind to the growing forces on their frontier and made their own preparations in light of the intelligence filtering in from the Combine. Despite still being extremely under strength the 1st Conroe Borderers and the 1st Galtor Borderers were ordered to stand too and were added to the active rolls to give their worlds additional defensive formations. To aid them their local Training Battalion's were ordered to consider themselves for the time period a 2nd battalion to each formation.
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===First Prince's diplomacy===
First Prince Victor himself spent January rushing from his meeting with the Coordinator to meet with the new Duchess of St Ives. Even as he did so additional reports reached him at every stop of the faltering situation in the Compact. Duke Hasek even made the point of sending him a message suggesting that one "quick fix" would be for the Compact to be absorbed into the Capellan March as the St. Ives PDZ and that he would personally assure the First Prince that the worlds would then be carefully integrated in a way to ensure they were productive members of the FedSuns. While thanking his cousin for the suggestion, the First Prince did rebuff the intent. 
Victor was also busy sending messages to Comstar and the Lyran Alliance during January repeating previous notifications that the attack on Terra would have to be delayed. He had a major humanitarian crisis and a war on one  border and the beginnings of another on his other frontier. Now was not the time for him to divert a huge chunk of his forces to retake the Terra system. Archon Steiner took his brother's news with quite (and behind the scenes happy) acceptance, but Interim Primus Dow was furious and demanded that Victor "kept his word". The argument that followed between the two men would sour relations between them permanently. At the end of it however, Gavin Dow was in no doubt of his status of junior partner in any anti-WOB coalition or alliance involving the Federated Suns. The Federated Suns would continue to support Comstar and the ComGuards, however this would take second seat to their own needs and demands. Victor assured Dow that he would keep his word, but that he would do so in a practical and measured way and not above the safety and security of his people!
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===Developments in Industry===
During January the Johnston Industries plant on New Syrtis finished construction of it's new Caesar line. With the completion of this battlemech line the company decided to add an additional third Dagger-O line to keep pace with increasing demands during wartime. 
On Bristol, the first Fury Command Tank line in hundreds of years roared to life and began producing the venerable but still lethal command vehicle. Before they were even painted the first of these new tanks were loaded onto transports and rushed to the armored formations of such units as the Davion Assault Guards and other commands readying for the coming battles! 
The Michaelson plant on Marlette entered production for the ComGuards during January. Producing the gunship VTOL's for which the company was justly famous for they began shipping out to the various ComGuard's Divisions throughout the Federated Suns. None were shipped to ComGuard formations within the Draconis Combine. 
Norse Battlemech Work's new plant on Mayetta also began producing from the first of it's 3 building lines. The other 2 lines are not far behind the Sling light 'Mech in entering production and the first lance of the new battlemech is donated to the Mayetta DMM. Further production is earmarked for the Tancredi Loyalist LCTs. 
On Valois, Clan Sun Jaguar announces that it's Clint IIC line has now been completed although work continues on the more high tech Mist Lynx omnimech production facility. The AFFS does, through Duchess Isis Marik as an intermediary, contact the Clan to ask if they would be prepared to sell "upgrade kits" to allow the AFFS to upgrade some of their own Clints, Wyverns, Guillotines, and Highlanders to an IIC specification in addition to the numbers they buy directly. The Khan promises to take this under advisement - and to discuss the matter with her Technician, Merchant, and Scientist advisers as to the feasibility of the suggestion.
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===Chancellor's Divine Plan===
On Sian at the end of the month, the Chancellor summons Ion Rush and Talon Zahn to the Celestial Throne room where he lays out his plans to repel the Davion invasion. In a 3 hour monologue he explains to the experienced generals that the Davions have made a fatal mistake and have underestimated the loyalty and dedication of the Capellan people's to their beloved Chancellor. As soon as the Davions set foot on Sarna and Capella, the local populations will rise up in support of the "True First Lord Of the Star League". He goes on to explain in detail how the masses of true believers will drown the invading forces in blood, forcing them to use up their ammunition to prevent the human style wave attacks from overwhelming them immediately, at which time the regular forces defending the world will have no problem at all in sweeping the field of any remaining Davions. Using the captured Davion equipment and taking advantage of the plummeting morale of the AFFS which had just seen it's best troops destroyed to the last man and woman the CCAF would then launch a counter attack which would retake the "sacred commonality worlds of Victoria, Liao, Tikonov... and Chesterton". The Chancellor did not deign to take advise or questions from his generals but merely sent them forth to implement his divine plan...
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