FSRB Chpt 140

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 140==
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March 3070Lyran Front
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===Effects of FedSuns-Combine War on AFFS===
With the war with the Combine now, in full swing the focus of the Federated Suns was almost entirely towards the Draconis March and the AFFS units engaged in active combat. More and more units from the League and Capellan Marches were listed for redeployment to the active war zone - while making every effort to maintain security in the newly conquered territories of the former Capellan Confederation.
For instance the 2nd Syrtis Hussars LCT moved from New Syrtis to Talon/Wernke to take the place of the 22nd Avalon Hussars RCT while this veteran and almost full strength unit moved up to take up a garrison posting on Cylene in preparation for more offensive actions. The 1st Dragonlords RCT left Bromhead and moved to Murchison - leaving the defense of Bromhead in the hands of the Bromhead Reinforced Training Battalion and the 1st Bromhead Borderers Cadre - which between them had nearly 7 companies of Battlemechs and were considered a sufficient deterrent to any raiding by the still cowed Taurians. Similarly given the lack of threat from the still shattered TDF the 2nd Dragonlords and 4th Crucis Lancers RCTs were ordered to leave the frontier and converge on David within the Raman PDZ and prepare for actions against the DCMS. They were joined there by the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry and 12th FedSuns Dragoons RCTs, with the 36th Avalon Hussars RCT moving from nearby Lothair to Hyalite to cover this key mining system with the departure of the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry. The 3rd & 4th Syrtis Fusiliers RCTs joined the 1st Crucis Lancers RCT and moved up from the Victoria PDZ to Deshler in the Raman PDZ - with command firmly given to Marshal Rand-Davion in preference to the unreliable commander of the 4th Fusiliers in particular. The operation within the Pirates Haven Cluster was immedietly cancelled and the 2nd & 3rd Avalon Hussars along with the 7th Corvette Flotilla moved up to Benet III.
From the League March, the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers RCT, 8th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, and the mercenary Hansen's Roughriders move up to the Dahar PDZ and gather on Cassias. The 1st Lexington Combat Guards RCT and the 1st FedSuns Dragoons RCT are moved from Sarna and Truth and ordered to Glenmora. The 2nd Lexington Combat Guards RCT also move up to join the 11th FedSuns Dragoons RCT on Barlow's End. The 5th Davion Guards move from Imalda (with their place taken by the 7th FedSuns Dragoons) to Cimeron where they are joined by the 3rd Tikonov Cossacks. With all of these movements the High Command are putting in place follow on waves to keep hitting the Combine with.
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===Naval Actions===
The 1st Division of the 2nd Corvette Flotilla finishes upgrading to the new Fox II standard. While some argue for immediately beginning work on more upgrades instead the repair facilities are ordered to prepare for damaged ships. The shipyards at Filtvelt finish a Fox I for the ComGuards which is immediately handed over, while at Galax a Davion III destroyer is finished for both the ComGuards and LAN. While at June the new Congress-D II slip lays down it's first ship as does the new slip at Panpour. Plans are in place for more Congress-D II and Davion III slips but these are temporarily on hold due to the war.
The corvettes FSS St. Ives, FSS Warlock, FSS Sarna, FSS Corey, and FSS Nanking finish at Galax. They are all immediately assigned to the 8th Corvette Flotilla to finish up it's 2nd Division and form a 3rd Division. The destroyer FSS Diomede completes and joins the 2nd Destroyer Squadron alongside the repaired FSS Dryad, which leaves the Arcadia repair slips also open for damaged ships. The FSS Darter is laid down.
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===New Colonies & Combat Regions===
At the same time that combat operations are not only continuing but also being planned for the Federated Suns is officially expanded with the creation of 2 further Combat Regions within the Crucis March. The first of these is the Cooperland Combat Region that consists of the worlds of Cooperland, Resurgence, Fox's Den, the 3 worlds of Clan Sun Jaguar - Valois, Fugeres, and Frankson, as well as 3 newly colonized worlds - Lucky Find, Jaguar's Gift and New Andurien. The last world's founding colonists are the first wave drawn from the various refugee camps scattered throughout the Federated Suns. At the same time the former Tortuga Dominions form the basis for the Tortuga Combat Region, which also has 2 new colony worlds allocated to it - Madagascar and Barbary Coast. The 5 new colonised worlds are not even at self sufficient level and most have only a few thousand colonists for now (New Andurien is the largest with nearly 12,000 colonists already on the planet). This is in comparison to the initial 2 colonies of Resurgence and Fox's Den which are much more established and now have populations approaching 100,000.
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===Developments in Industry===
At New Syrtis the Johnson Industries factory see's the brand new Valiant class light Battlemech enter production. It then begins expanding the Glory tank lines to add a fourth line for the much in demand tank.
The GM facility on Defiance which builds the Lorica class battle armor variant for the ComGuards receives funding and a commission to triple production of this variant of the Cavalier suit. With the huge increase in funding this expansion is pushed ahead with speed.
On June, the Lycomb-Davion plant has it's new Guillotine Mech Production facility go operational. The product of this is immediately offered for sale mostly to the ComGuards, although the AFFS snaps up a few of the versatile Battlemech and passes them on to several mercenary formations at a discount.
Jalastar Aerospace at their flagship production facility on Panpour finish a new Javelin-O Mech line. The company now has 4 of the OmniMech production lines in full scale production and is considering whether to add a fifth or another Centurion line.
Robinson Standard Battleworks buys a license in March to produce a number of APCs and Heavy APCs at their Robinson and Woodbine plants. While not exactly flashy this expansion puts them into the vehicle market with a simple and tested design that is always much in demand.
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===Blakists appear in the Federated Suns===
However, even as these moves are being made the Word Of Blake enters the war. It had long been the concern of the High Command that the WOB might sweep in on their flank and hit them while they were heavily engaged with the DCMS... However, the Blakists have taken a different route. At least in part...
A number of worlds within the Addicks, Nanking, Zion, and Tikonov PDZs report unexplained jump activities at pirate points. At Tikonov itself the FSS Kathil catches site of an unknown Zechetinu II corvette in system which flees when challenged. The High Command is forced to assume that the WOB is considering an attack on these worlds in the near future, probably to draw off the weight of the AFFS from the invasion of the Combine...
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===Assassination in Lyran Alliance===
Even as the Lyran Alliance had moved to a war footing and the Archon and his generals had planned to enter the war alongside the AFFS the WOB struck. Their first blow was that on the 12th of March Archon Peter Steiner was assassinated by one of his own aides while conducting a tour of the Nagelring. Observers report that the Archon's aide's face suddenly went entirely slack and without hesitation he drew a nonstandard needler pistol from his holster and fired at the Archon's back. Although the assassin only got off a single burst before the Archon's bodyguards managed to open fire and kill him the single shot from the needler shredded Peter Steiner's kidneys, liver, and intestines while also severing his spine. Despite being rushed to the academies excellent medical facilities within minutes he was pronounced dead almost immediately.
The cowardly assassination of the Archon throws the entire Lyran Alliance into chaos, as he leaves behind only a single child. The young Hanse Steiner who was born in 3069, after a difficult but eventually normal pregnancy. Some call for Hanse be named Archon with his mother as Regent. While others call for General of the Armies Adam Steiner to take the throne. More than a few voices are raised suggesting that the throne be offered to the former Archon-Prince Victor Davion(-Steiner). First Prince Davion makes no comment on these suggestions, except to express his sadness at the loss of his brother and support for his nephews claim to the throne.
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===Word Blake Invasion of the Lyran Alliance===
As the government of the Lyran Alliance is frozen the WOB strike. Over Hesperus the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Shadow Divisions appear with the WoBS Invincible (Tharkad-Class Battlecruiser) and the WoBS Blake Ascendant, a Black Lion Battlecruiser along with 2 Essex class destroyers and 6 Zechetinu II corvettes. The LAS Yggdrasil and the LAS Buena & LAS Skye in orbit over the key industrial world feel they must stand and fight. Right from the start the WOB warships unleash nuclear tipped missiles, while fighters carrying the same rush into closer range with the Lyran warships. After the first few volleys of standard missiles the LAS Yggdrasil and her 2 Fox escorts respond in kind but by then the first of the nuclear tipped warheads are hammering home. With both sides firing nuclear missiles the battle is short and brutal - with the WoBS Blake Ascendant, both Essex destroyers and two of the Blakist corvettes destroyed or so badly damaged as to be beyond repair in return for the total destruction of the Lyran Task Force.
With the loss of the naval battle, the Lyran garrison consisting of the 36th Lyran Guards, 1st Hesperus Guards, and 6th Alliance Guards RCTs make ready to resist. The 36th is assigned to the vital factory complexes while the 1st Hesperus takes up position in the valleys approaching DefHes's huge factory and the 6th Alliance takes up station in Maria's Elegy and the Morningstar Spaceport. With no warning at all the orbiting Blakist ships orbitally bombard not only the capital city and spaceport but, also the approaches to the key factory site. The 6th Alliance Guards is totally wiped out in the firestorm from orbit, while the 1st Hesperus Guards takes losses in excess of 60% and is forced to flee back into the mountain that houses the factory complex. At which time the 4 orbiting Shadow Divisions conduct an orbital combat drop directly on top off the factory and it's gates.
The elite 36th and the remnants of the Hesperus Guards that have fallen back into the factory are unable to hold onto the huge entrance doors which appear to have been sabotaged not to close after being opened to let the fleeing 1st inside, but they do manage to stop the attacking Blakists in the outer areas of the factory. Whether they can hold out however depends largely on how quickly they can be relieved.
At the same time that the Word of Blake is hitting Hesperus, no less than five other Shadow Divisions deploy throughout the Lyran Alliance. All with warship support. However, these are more raids than attempts to seize the planets. Coventry, Skye, Arcturus, Donegal, and Son Hoa are all hit. Little actual damage is done except terror raids which leave thousands dead and small numbers of defending troops killed. The spaceports are also looted of any landed dropships which along with any captured in orbit or at the jump points are taken with the fleeing Blakists. On Son Hoa in particular the 10th Shadow Division makes off with over a battalion of completed battlemechs...
Combined with these raids more regular Word of Blake Militia Divisions also attack Rigil Kentares, New Earth, and Thorin. The 15th Arcturan Guard RCT on Thorin and the 5th Lyran Regulars on New Earth find themselves heavily pressed by the invading forces which seem to outnumber them 2:1. At the same time the Sirian Holds secedes from the the Free Worlds League (citing the Leagues inability to "protect" Zion and the Tikonov province from the AFFS) and joins the WOB Protectorate.
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===Free Worlds League Counterattacks Lyran Occupation===
The Captain-General Corrine Marik however takes no notice of this defection as she launches her much anticipated counter attack against the LAAF as it is still reeling from the loss of the Archon and the attack on Hesperus. She only hits 3 worlds, but she picks them with care. Cavanaugh II, Dixie and Bolan. The Cavanaugh Theatre command world of Cavanaugh II is defended only by the green 11th Lyran Regulars and some conventional forces and finds itself under attack by the 1st Atrean Dragoons and 6th Free Worlds Guard, while Dixie's only defense is the Dixie CTM which finds itself under attack by the 5th Free Worlds Legionnaires and 5th Atrean Dragoons. Bolan as a regional capital world is better defended with the 1st Bolan Jaegers and the 4th Alliance Guard RCT finding themselves arrayed against the 4th & 7th Free Worlds Legionnaires as well as the 30th & 37th Marik Militias. The invasions of Cavanaugh II and Dixie each have 2 Zechetinu II Class corvettes assigned to them while Bolan rates 4. The fighting on all 3 worlds is soon heavy and bears all the marks of a grudge fight...
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