AATiPDC Chpt 40

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==Chapter 40 - An American Tanker in Prince Davion's Court==
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===Hoist the Colors!!===
Alphard System - Jump Point
June 6th-July 7th, 3051
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After arriving at the Alphard System’s jump point, the AEF fleet heaves to and stands by while Field Marshal Hodges attempts to get Caesar Sean O’Reilly to see reason, Hodges’ several attempts to get through to O’Reilly are ignored and so, on the morning of June 6th, 3051, Hodges sends one final message:
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To: Caesar Imperator Sean O’Reilly
From: Field Marshal James Hodges, CinC Allied Expeditionary Force
Sir:
You have ignored my repeated attempts at communication regarding the issues between the Marian Hegemony and the Star League. As such, I must regretfully take an active hand in order settle matters in regards to the practice of slavery upon prisoners of war taken by your nation. I am also aware that you are planning to undertake a campaign of conquest, the objective being to fold the Illyrian Palatinate and the Lothian League into Marian territory; this cannot and will not be allowed to happen.
Hodges
Field Marshal, Commanding
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In addition to his personal troops, the Allied Expeditionary Force consists of the following contingents:
House Davion
Davion Heavy Guards RCT, 1st Davion Guards, 2nd Davion Guards
Assigned Targets: New Venice, Addhara, Stafford
House Steiner
1st Lyran Guards, 2nd Lyran Guards
Assigned Targets: Suetonius, Pompey
House Kurita
2nd Sword of Light, 1st Ghost Regiment
Assigned Targets: Baccalieu, Horatius
House Liao 
1st St. Ives Lancers, 2nd St. Ives Lancers
Assigned Target: Marius’ Tears
House Marik
1st Free Worlds Guards, 2nd Marik Militia
Assigned Target: Algenib
Taurian Concordat
Red Chasseurs, 1st Taurian Rangers
Assigned Target: Ballababa
Magistracy of Canopus
1st Canopian Fusiliers, 3rd Canopian Fusiliers
Assigned Target: Islington
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===Overlord arrives to overthrow a Caesar===
SLS Halsey
In System
Alphard System, Marian Hegemony
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Aboard the bridge of his flagship SLS Halsey, Field Marshal Hodges calls to his communications officer and says “Signal the rest of Task Force Grant; Operation Overlord is a Go. The divisions of the fleet will now proceed towards their assigned targets” 
“Operation Overlord is a go; all divisions to proceed to their assigned targets. Aye, sir”
Hodges’ next command is directed towards the ship’s helmsman.
“Helm, lay in a course for Alphard-IV; all ahead standard, if you please. What is our time to arrival?”
“Sir, at standard thrust, we’ll arrive at Alphard-IV in just under nine days.”
“Very well, Mr. Burke; engage the engines and move out.”
The task force now divides itself into its several divisions, each of which has been assigned the task of taking a particular planet or planets in the Marian Hegemony. First of these are the forces under Field Marshal Hodges’ personal command; these are four Division Combat Teams, one Division Combat Team (Heavy) and three Air Cavalry Divisions. These units are transported by a total of five Potemkin-class troop cruisers.
Of the other planets in the Marian Hegemony, those nearest to Alphard-IV (within one jump) are struck first; these are Stafford, Pompey and Suetonius. The planets that are further than one jump away (New Venice, Addhara, Baccalieu, Horatius, Marius’ Tears, Ballababa, Algerib and Islington) are engaged next. To maximize their offensive potential, the divisions of the fleet stagger their departures so that those with the furthest to go leave first and those with the shortest distance to travel leave later; the intent is that they arrive over their targets at roughly the same time.
Upon arrival, Field Marshal Hodges’ cruisers establish space superiority by mounting a blockade of Alphard-IV; once the ships are in position, the landings begin. The first unit to have boots-on-the ground is the Division Combat Team (Heavy), composed of a superheavy mech brigade of four regiments with 108 units each, a tank brigade with 336 units, 6 battalions of battlesuits, an artillery brigade, an air-defense brigade, a wing of aerospace fighters (3 squadrons of 24 ASF each) and the necessary logistical support. Among these units, the very first to land are the superheavy mechs; immediately, the four regiments separate and begin to secure the landing zone.
In opposition on Alphard-IV are the forces of the MHAF’s I Legio, comprised of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cohorts, plus the Prima Auxilia Alphardensis and the Ala Alba aerospace wing. Each of the three cohorts is of near-battalion size, with a total of 30 heavy and assault Battlemechs. Prima Auxilia Alphardensis is a combined-arms unit, with a further two cohorts of heavy/assault Battlemechs (60 units), with attached armor (one cohort; 30 vehicles), infantry (one cohort; three maniples of 200 men each), artillery (2 maniples of 10 units each) and aerospace fighters (one maniple of 10 units); Ala Alba comprises one cohort with 30 aerospace fighters.
First to engage against Field Marshal Hodges’ forces are Prima Auxilia Alphardensis’ ASF maniple and Ala Alba’s ASF cohort, for a total of 40 fighters. Facing them are a total of 360 aerospace fighters from Hodges’ four DCTs and one DCT (H); at odds of 9:1 against, the Marian ASF are swept from the skies in just 15 minutes. As the dropships deploy and begin to burn for the planet, Hodges begins to sing from his command chair on the bridge:
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‘The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed
And bound her in her bones
Space be ours and by the Powers
Where we will, we’ll roam
Yo ho, all hands
Hoist the colors high!!
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die…’
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The singing is suddenly interrupted by the call of ‘VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE’ from the ship’s tactical officer as flights of capital missiles (which no one knew the Marian Hegemony had) rise from three fields in the interior of Alphard-IV’s main continent. Field Marshal Hodges now orders his ships into a defensive formation so that they can employ their anti-missile systems to best advantage; this action is fortunate, as sensors reveal that some of the incoming missiles are armed with thermonuclear warheads. When the presence of these weapons is confirmed, Hodges immediately orders SLS Halsey and two of the escorting troop cruisers (SLS Constitution and SLS Victory) to target the missile fields with a barrage of fire from their Heavy NPPCs once the missiles have been shot down.. 
On the ground, the disparity is almost as bad as it was in the air, with the Marians being on the wrong side of 6.5-1 for Battlemechs and 8-1 for artillery. With respect to armor and infantry, the correlation of forces is adverse in the extreme, with Hodges having a 56-1 advantage in AFVs and more than 27-1 for infantry; to make matters worse, all of Hodges’ infantry are equipped with battlesuits (while the Marians aren’t).
After the landing zone is secure, Hodges’ other units begin to deploy from their Dropships. Due to the extreme disparity in numbers between the Hegemony and Field Marshal Hodges' forces, it isn't very long before the Marian forces on Alphard-IV are surrounded, then destroyed in detail. Combat operations on the planet last for just one week, with just 72 hours of actual fighting; the rest of the week is occupied with mopping-up. Elsewhere on the other planets in the Marian Hegemony, the correlation of forces is more nearly equal than it was on Alphard-IV' therefore, combat operations are expected to take rather longer. The only difference (for which Hodges and his command staff are profoundly thankful) is that no other planet in the Hegemony has capital missiles; accordingly, Field Marshal Hodges issues an order to the other ships in the fleet that capital weapons are tight.
On Alphard-IV, the only thing that kept the operation from being a complete and total success is that Caesar O'Reilly managed to avoid capture. When Field Marshal Hodges becomes aware of this, he turns to his executive officer and says "Mr. Barnes, send word out to my troops on the planet. There is now a reward in the amount of one hundred million D-bills on Sean O-Reilly; I want him delivered to me, alive and un-harmed; is that clearly understood?" 
"Alive and unharmed; Yes, Sir."
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===Liberation of Alphard===
Davion Area of Operations and elsewhere
Marian Hegemony
July 7th-August 14th, 3051
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In the Davion area of operations, the assigned targets are the planets of New Venice, Addahar and Stafford; in overall command of House Davion's troops is Field Marshal Yvonne Davion; her ships arrive over the three planets on July 7th, and they immediately assume blockade positions over each planet.
The planet of New Venice is the most populous of the three and so, Field Marshal Davion assigns the Davion Heavy Guards RCT to the taking of it. Addahar and Stafford are to be serviced by the 1st Davion Guards and 2nd Davion Guards respectively. To her mild surprise, Field Marshal Davion finds that the forces opposing her consist of the MHAF's II Legio and the local auxiliaries; II Legio's 1st Cohort is assigned the task of defending of New Venice, while the 2nd and 3rd Cohorts are on Addahar and Stafford.
In the Steiner area of operations, the 1st Lyran Guards are assigned to take Suetonius and the 2nd Lyran Guards are to take Pompey (both planets are defended by III Legio). For the troops of House Kurita, the 2nd Sword of Light effects its landing on Baccalieu, while the 1st Ghost Regiment does likewise on Horatius; defended by IV Legio. For House Liao, both the 1st and 2nd St. Ives Lancers are assigned to Marius' tears (defended by V Legio). House Marik (opposed by VI Legio) takes the planet of Algenib, with the 1st Free Worlds Guards in the lead and the 2nd Marik Militia operating in support, At very nearly the same time, the planets of Ballababa and Islington are taken by the Taurian Concordat and the Magistracy of Canopus. Balababba is assigned to the Red Chasseurs and the 1st Taurian Rangers, while Islington is assigned to the 1st and 3rd Canopian Fusiliers; both Ballababa and Islington being defended only by auxiliary troops.
The end of combat operations in the Marian Hegemony comes on August 14th, 3051; among the very last actions is the apprehension of Caesar Sean O'Reilly, who was captured by one of the pilots serving in the Superheavy Mech Brigade as he attempted to escape Alphard-IV. O'Reilly and the warrior who captured him are escorted to the Imperial Palace, there to await Field Marshal Hodges' arrival.
Later that day, Hodges arrives and is conducted to the palace's main meeting hall. Lieutenant Peter Franks snaps off a perefect parade-ground salute and says "Lt. Franks reporting as ordered, sir."
"I'm pleased to meet you, lieutenant. I have been informed that you caught that O'Reilly fellow as he tried to escape..."
"That I did, sir; you'll be interested to know that he was disguised in women's clothing, too."
"Indeed. For your actions, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Captain; to command a full company in the Superheavy Brigade. From my hand, you'll receive the stated reward of 100,000,000 D-bills, as well as a landhold on any of the planets in my domain that you so choose. However, your assumption of the title of Baron will have to wait until such time as it can be confirmed by the First Prince."
Lt. Franks braces as straight as a sword blade, and responds "Thank you, sir. I'm honored by your trust and confidence in me; I can hardly wait to give my wife the news."
"That's quite alright, Captain; one of the greatest pleasures of a commanding officer is to reward meritorious conduct among his subordinates. If you happen to have children, their college educations are on me and, if any of them want to enter the service, I'll see to it that they're admitted to NAIS (or whichever academy they so chose) when they're of age."
Hodges now turns to his prisoner and says "Well O'Reilly, what have you got to say for yourself? Not very 'Roman' of you, to try and escape in such a manner. I half-thought that you would have fallen on your sword, like a Roman general of old who had disgraced himself. No matter, now that you're in my hands." A pause, then "Sean O'Reilly, formerly Caesar of the Marian Hegemony; by my authority as commander in chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force, your imperium is hereby dissolved. All slaves held by the Hegemony are hereby free as of this moment, and the government will compensate them appropriately for the time they spent as slaves. Additionally, the position of Caesar is abolished from this day forward, with the Hegemony to become a republic after the manner of Ancient Rome before the rise of the Caesars. The Roman Republic will be governed by a senior and junior consul, who will be elected by the people every four years; these consuls have a strict limit of two terms, and no junior consul who serves more than half of the senior consul's term may be elected more than once. Now, as to your violation of the Ares Accords when you launched nuclear weapons at my ships in orbit over Alphard-IV, you'll be taken to Terra, where you'll face justice before the First Lord. Guards, take the prisoner away."
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