FSRB Chpt 25

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==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 25==
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October 3063Raid and Reprisal
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===A Prince's Fury===
Even as the 7th FedSun's Dragoons fought a bloody retreat from the spaceport and took up defensive positions within the O'Herron Valley. They're First Prince and his High Command were reacting. The 8th New Syrtis Fusiliers were already on their way towards Talon along with the 22nd Avalon Hussars and the mercenary Vanguard Legion. All three commands were to rendezvous at Hobbs with the FSS Robert Davion and proceed to the Wernke/Talon system under orders to smash the attacking McCarron's Armored Cavalry with extreme prejudice. Any MAC forces which attempted to surrender were to be taken into custody but any who attempted to resist or fight there way free from Talon were to be crushed.
However, this wasn't enough to calm the First Princes's fury or the demands from his officers that Sun-Tzu Liao had to be taught a message. For that something more drastic was required. First Prince Victor was heard to comment that the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation had to be taught a lesson that he would never forget. Within a few days orders were going out from New Avalon, coordinating with New Syrtis. Duke George Hasek had the fact that this was the time for unity stressed to him.
The Davion Assault Guards RCT was ordered from Tikonov along with their 1st Tikonov Cossack's reinforced battalion sized auxiliary force to make their way to the world of Styk and ordered to hit the Tao Mechworks plant there. While the 1st FSAC and 1st Capellan Dragoons lifted from their garrison posts within the Sirdar PDZ and headed for Victoria with orders to hit the numerous industrial facilities on this planet, they were joined in this attack by the entirety of the Lexington Combat Group. The 2nd Ceti Hussars RCT supported by the entire Illician Lancers, a 4 regiment strong brigade. However, provided the main reprisal force as they headed for Menke to teach not only Sun-Tzu, but also McCarron's armored Cavalry their lesson. Alongside the strike on Menke the 1st Crucis Lancers RCT was ordered to hit Mitchel, the 3rd Ceti Hussars RCT was to hit Jacson. All in meanwhile, the slightly under strength 11th Avalon Hussars RCT struck Yuri. The 5th Davion Guards RCT was additionally reinforced with both the Arcadians and Federated Freemen mercenary regiments was to strike at Ares. The Valexa CMM and 1st Kestrel Grenadiers RCT were also detailed to strike the worlds of the former Sarna March in particular Menkar and Jonathan. The Davion counter to the raid on Talon was to hit the Capellan Confederation across it's entire border and to destroy and loot military bases and smash regiments seemingly at random. No fewer than 4 major industrial worlds were to be hit and the forces hitting Menke and Mitchel in particular were ordered to pursue the destruction of any McCarron Armored Cavalry forces with the utmost vigor. Sang-Shao Marcus Baxter and his brigade were also being sent a message.
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===Murder and sabotage on Talon===
Even as these orders went out the 2nd Battalion of the Death Commandos were doing their work. Every single person in the spaceport who had to do directly with the shipping of the products of the factories off world was being hunted down and killed. From the loaders to the clerks in the offices, the Commandos were thorough. Teams infiltrated out from the bridgehead of the spaceport through the FedSuns lines and hunted down those workers who had fled. Of particular interest to the Capellan death squads were those involved in the actual shipping orders and record keeping. Even as men and women were dying all over Talon under the knife and blade and bomb of their counterparts a small number of Commandos were working within the computers of the spaceport, deleting every shipping record they could find.
As they were doing this the spaceport itself was being looted by the technicians and troops brought along on the cargo dropships. Dozens of BattleMechs and thousands of tons of supplies were loaded aboard and as soon as a dropship was loaded it would blast off under fighter escort and make for a waiting jumpship. Given the sabotage being done to the records and the staff of the spaceport and even the factories themselves whenever the Death Commandos got a chance, assembling a list of what had been looted would be a nigh impossible task moving forward. Even for the CCAF. Which was the entire idea. Over a battalion of top end BattleMechs, including a full lance of Templar-O, would be "lost" by both sides due to the actions of the Death Commandos during this time period.
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===Davion Reinforcements on Talon===
The warriors of McCarron's Armored Cavalry on the planet weren't sitting still however. They began to push up the O'Herron Valley in the face of stiff resistance from the defenders. Despite mounting losses they continued this for over a week with the 5th regiment, Kyp's Kommando, leading the way. Still after a week and with no real prospect of success they began to fall back in preparation for retreating off world with the spoils they had already looted from the spaceport. Again the 5th Cavalry would form the bulwark of their rear guard.
Even as the 1st and 3rd regiments were blasting off world the relief force arrived. The FSS Robert Davion broke away and with heavy fighter support and a large force of accompanying assault dropships attempted to cut off the 2 regiments that were already in space. All in the while, the 8th Fusilier, 22nd Hussars, and Vanguard Legion headed for the planet and a combat drop right on top of the now trapped 5th McCarron Armored Cavalry. Colonel Chad Dean's Vanguard Legion would lead the attack with a full regimental drop right on top of the enemy force while the 2 AFFS RCTs would follow them in. In a brave effort to reduce the casualties the Vanguard Legion would take in such an assault the 7th FedSuns Dragoons launched a simultaneous assault down the valley to force the Capellans to split their fire.
Reduced to just 2 battalions of battle worthy mechs and with most of their support forces in a similar state Kyp's Kommandos were smashed between the two hammers of the Vanguard Legion and 7th Dragoons. Even before the 8th Sytris Fusiliers and 22nd Avalon Hussars had landed they had been reduced to a single battalion and been forced into isolated pockets no larger than company sized. However until Sang-Shao Kyp Marloe finally was killed by a head shot from a Vanguard Legion Devastator's gauss rifle the unit continued to fight. After he was confirmed as dead the remnants of the regiment surrendered.
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While the 5th MAC was making it's last stand the 1st and 3rd MAC were fleeing for their lives under heavy fighter attack. At maximum thrust they were keeping out of range of the FSS Robert Davion, but the dropship screen was inching closer and was likely to overtake them as they had to slow to dock with their waiting jumpships. Faced with this prospect a number of dropships and all of the fighters turned back to buy time for the others to flee. Most of these dropships were the escorting assault ships but a handful of damaged troopships also turned back to help cover their fellows. Their sacrifice bought the remaining dropships just enough time to reach their transports and jump out. However, they would be forced to scatter and make their own way back to the Capellan Confederation over the next two months via dead systems and under constant fear of being caught by now stepped up AFFS patrols. Of the two regiments which had managed to escape barely 7 companies of mechwarriors would manage to make their way back to the Confederation. Another 2 companies of the 5th and another company of random survivors from the sacrificial rear guard would be interned.
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===AFFS Reprisal Force Attacks===
The reprisal forces were timed to hit on different days and in a totally random pattern to sew confusion on Sian. They would hear of the attack on Ares for instance on the 20th October, the first raid, but the 2nd strike would be against Yuris on the 21st. Then the force struck Styk on the 23rd, then Mitchel and Jonathan would be hit on the 24th. No single region was struck at the same time. This left the Chancellor's military staff trying to ascertain where the next raid or reprisal attack might come. 
On Styk, the attacking Davion Assault Guards and 1st Tikonov Cossacks found themselves facing the fanatically anti-Davion Kamakura's Hussars. A more seasoned and frankly rational defending force would have likely withdrawn or attempted to fight a mobile campaign against the overwhelming firepower of the Davion Assault Guards, but the rabidly anti-Davion Hussars threw themselves almost full tilt against the Assault Guards in a brutal and tactically limited fashion. Unlike some opponents who had been taken unaware and forced to adapt on the fly to these mad rush tactics the Assault Guards took them in their stride. Holding their ground at their landing site they poured a withering hail of fire into the onrushing Hussars, while the 1st Tikonov Cossack's deployed along the flanks and began to outflank the Capellan's. In the air the 1st Federation Attack and the 1st Federation Interceptor wings swept the Kamakuras 2 flights strong Mig's Mustangs from the air in a one sided dog fight while the 1201st New Avalon Bomber wing swept down to attack the enemy's ground forces. 
The Hussars' green 3rd Battalion was the first unit to break when the regimental command lance was destroyed in the fighting while attached to their battalion and soon the Davion Assault Guards were advancing into the torn gaps in the Kamakura's Hussars lines while the 1st Cossacks swept in and pinned much of the surviving Hussars in place. Within 3 hours of landing the Davion Assault Guards had shattered the defending unit as a coherent military entity and could leave the mopping up and running down of the survivors to their Tikonov Cossack comrades. They then proceeded to move onto the Tao Mechworks where the defending security battalion stood down rather than face annihilation. Once in command of the key BattleMech factory they called in the engineers who had accompanied them and began to systematically strip the plant of finished products, spare parts, equipment and anything that wasn't nailed down. In a number of cases where large pieces of equipment were in fact nailed down BattleMech's equipped with hands proceeded to rip it free.
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On Victoria, the 1st FSAC, the 1st Capellan Dragoons and the attached Lexington Combat Group would face a tougher fight as the defenders included not only the Prefectorate Guard, but also Lockhardt's Ironsides regiment. Unlike the impulsive Kamakura's Hussars, the two defending units would dig in and prepare to resist the attackers rather than facing them in an open field engagement. In the subterranean environment and storm driven surface the two defending units were able to limit the fighting to their own terms and the 1st Federated Suns armored Cavalry in particular sound found it's skills unfertilised and reverted to raiding from the surface while the assault and heavy mechs of the 1st Capellan Dragoons and 180th Dragoons of the Lexington Combat Group ground their way forward towards the main prize of Shengli Arms against the Prefectorate Guard. In the meantime the 32nd Recon and 241st Battle regiments of the Lexington Combat Group kept Lockhardt's Ironsides pinned down defending the Earthwerks plant and other key sites on the planet. On the 29th of October the troopers of the 87th Federated Suns Battle Armor Battalion attached to the 1st FSAC finally found the breakthrough that their parent formations raids had been looking for. A lightly guarded entrance into the Shengli plant from the surface was rushed and seized by the troopers in the middle of a horrendous storm and by the morning of the 30th the Prefectorate Guard found Federated Sun's BattleMechs seizing the plant behind them as they faced attacks across their perimeter. 
To the credit of the Hussar formation they managed to detach a full battalion from their lines even while under attack and drive deep into the plant to contest the seizure of the plant from the 1st FSAC. They managed to keep the 1st FSAC from totally seizing control of the plant and delayed them long enough that when the recall order came to the Federated Sun's task force at the start of November they had not yet managed to totally seize control of the plant. The Davions did however manage to seize large quantities of completed mechs, spare parts, weapons, and the specifications for the Slinglight BattleMech upon which the Duan Gung was based upon from a secondary R&D facility within the complex. The Capellan defenders remained intact and technically victorious, but the Prefectorate Guard had suffered tremendous casualties in particular and Shengli Arms had been trashed. Lockhardt's Ironsides had lost less troops but even they had been reduced to 60% of their pre-attack strength. 
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On Menke the McCarron's Armored Cavalry Command Battalion and the defending 2nd McCarron's Armored Cavalry's 1st and 3rd Battalions realized that they were the primary targets of this strike almost immedietly. If they chose to fight the attackers from fixed positions they would almost certainly be over run and destroyed. Their only chance was to retreat into the world's rich tropical jungles and use the terrain to their advantage to hold out and hope for relief. The downside of this strategy meant that they were unable to contest the ownership of the various industrial facilities upon the planet. Stripping as much as they could from the plants they rushed into the jungles and dispersed to fight a guerrilla war. 
Upon landing on Menke Marshal Oscar Carlson released the 59th Striker regiment along with the 9th Rangers to hunt down McCarron's Armored Cavalry. The 21st Illician Rangers long famed for their combat drops remained in orbit to move down to strike at the Capellans as and when they were found. In the meantime his own 2nd Ceti Hussars and the heavy weighted 4th Illician Rangers landed at the Menke armor and Armament plant and StarCorp's facility on the planet respectively. 
At the Menke Armor and Armaments plant the 2nd Ceti Hussars held nothing back. Everything of any value whatsoever was torn up and shipped off world while anything that was simply to large or cumbersome to be taken was destroyed. Using the ammunition built in the complex huge charges were built in and around the plant even as it was stripped down to the wiring by the Hussar's infantry and engineers. When nothing more could be obtained in the time frame of the raid the charges were detonated. The main facility of McCarron's Trading Company was reduced to a series of craters, not even the walls were left standing. 
The StarCorp plant's treatment was somewhat better. Although it was still looted of all finished products and anything that might be considered the property of the Capellan Confederation or related to McCarron's Trading Company was taken. The 9th Rangers used a very liberal definition of what might be considered Capellan or McCarron's property during this looting. 
In the meantime, the light and medium cavalry units of the 59th Striker and the 9th Rangers of the Illician Lancers proceeded to head into the jungle to hunt the 2nd McCarron's Armored Cavalry. The Federated Suns mercenaries would have numbers and air superiority on their sided while the 2nd would have local knowledge of their homeworld. In a series of patrols and short ranged firefights however the MAC forces discovered that any attempt to fight would inevitably end with elements of the 21st Rangers descending in combat drops to attack them. Again and again the MAC forces were driven further and further into the jungle and suffering losses to simple attrition. On the 27th of October, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd McCarron's Armored Cavalry found it's main base identified by a company sized patrol from the 9th Rangers and although they quickly wiped it out the action brought them to the attention of the orbiting 21st. Over the course of 6 hours company and battalion sized forces from the 21st Rangers descended by combat drop while other elements of the 59th Strikers and 9th Rangers converged on their position. Less than a lance of the 3rd Battalion was able to escape the attack and the encroaching net around them. Although there were no other large scale actions like this a series of running fights and smaller skirmishes took their toll. 
By the time the recall order came on the 30th, the two remaining battalions of Capellan BattleMechs had been reduced to just over half their remaining strength. While the world had been looted of almost anything that the Davion forces could take with them, including much of the private wealth of Sang-Shao Baxter when his private estate was targeted by the 29th Mechanized Cavalry of the 9th Illician Rangers. Even the McCarron's Military Museum was looted and then demolished. 
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The 4th McCarron's Armored Cavalry's garrison posting of Ares was also hit. In fact it was the first world to be struck by the reprisal forces. Led by the 5th Davion Guards RCT the two mercenary regiments of the Arcadians and the 1st Federated Freemen landed on Ares and swiftly took to the field to hunt down the 4th MAC. Lord Richard Carson managed to use his well rounded and versatile regiment and supporting forces to keep ahead of the enemy formations. Privately he hoped that the Davion forces would be diverted into raiding the industrial wealth of the planet and allow his unit to break contact but the AFFS RCT and it's accompanying mercenaries BattleMech forces seemed determined to hunt down his unit rather than loot any specific factory complex. Again and again he managed to slip out of ambushes, but each time he would be forced to leave small sacrificial rear guards behind while under constant air attack. 
Pursued by 3 times his numbers there was little that the harried Lord Carson could do when the Arcadians' 2nd Battalion and their attached 8843rd Armored Regiment broke off and headed for Bergan Industries plant. He had in fact hoped for a larger force to detach and perhaps allow him more options. Still the actions of the Arcadians force was somewhat strange in that it did not proceed to formally loot the plant as other Davion units were doing all along the frontier, but instead merely took any finished BattleMechs and spare parts that were available and presented an invitation to the CEO Nestor Bergan from the First Prince to listen to a proposal that might be coming from Precentor Martial Focht. An invitation that Lt Colonel Willard Estevez hand delivered and strongly recommended that he keep secret and take the First Prince up on. Lest the Arcadians return to Ares soon in a less forgiving mood. 
Of all the worlds struck the world of Ares suffered the least casualties both militarily and industrially. While the Bergan plant was looted for almost a full battalion of Locusts and Stinger light BattleMechs and 2 Overlord class dropships were seized to transport them, the actual factories themselves didn't take any significant damage. The 4th McCarron's Armored Cavalry suffered almost 30% losses which would normally have been considered severe, but when compared to the losses of the other formations within the brigade were light. 
The Arcadians and Federated Freemen on the other hand left the planet stronger than they arrived as the First Prince donated a company of Locusts to each command as a thank you for their services. They were also granted the opportunity to recruit pilots from the various academies of the Federated Suns. The 5th Davion Guards would be rewarded later. 
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On Mitchel, the final element of the Big Mac, the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Cavalry found itself facing the full might of the 1st Crucis Lancers RCT. Even with the support of the local miltia's the isolated battalion found itself simply overwhelmed. Fortifying their base they attempted to at least buy time for reinforcements to arrive from Menke or other units nearby but the Lancers weren't prepared to wait. In a mass assault they stormed the base and over ran the 2nd Battalion in a 3 day battle and wiped them out. The modern heavy mech's of the Crucis Lancers took a great deal of damage and the unit would temporarily be reduced to 60% strength but as repaired machines were returned to service and salvaged machines rebuilt the 1st Crucis Lancers would return to almost 90% strength. As this was done flying columns of infantry and armored units would move out and proceed to seize strategic positions and destroy or disarm local militia. Unlike on Menke there was no formal looting. It was almost as though the 1st Crucis Lancers RCT was setting up to stay instead of merely raiding. 
This profile was repeated by the 3rd Ceti Hussars RCT and the 11th Avalon Hussars RCT on Jacson and Yuris respectively. On Jacson, the 3rd Ceti Hussars found themselves facing off against a handful of planetary defence forces which they were quickly able to either destroy or otherwise neutralize. At which point additional infantry forces began to land and take up garrison roles by the end of October.
On Yuris, the 11th Avalon Hussars found themselves facing off against the Kingston's Rangers. Both units found themselves under strength, however the 11th Avalon Hussars were not only closer to their full strength but were in fact a reinforced regiment to begin with and while the bulk of their equipment was light and medium designs their 4th battalion was an assault formation. This placed the Rangers on the back foot from the start as did the fact that half of their strength and almost the entirety of their supporting forces were green troops. The deciding engagement in the campaign came on the 30th October when the 11th Avalon Hussars Infantry Brigade surprised the Kingston's Rangers supporting forces with a night march over what had been considered almost impossible terrain and proceeded to attack their camp in the early hours of the morning. With much of their supporting forces either destroyed, captured or routed and with their 2nd battalion suffering heavy losses Sang-Shao Green made the difficult decision to withdraw. He was surprised when Marshal Leabo of the 11th made the offer to allow him to withdraw unmolested as a mark of respect for the warriors of Kingston's Rangers who had died fighting under Task Force Serpent. He even returned the captured personal from the Ranger's supporting forces. 
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In the former Sarna March the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers supported by the Valexa CMM proceeded to run amok, splitting into no fewer than 6 different task forces (4 based around the Grenadiers and 2 around the Valexa CMM) and hit multiple worlds in quick succession. Rarely engaging in stand up fights they would hit any targets of opportunity and then fall back. The only two major engagements were on the world of Hunan where two of the Kestrel Grenadiers task forces would converge and maul House Fujita's single battalion of BattleMechs and reduce the already battered house to barely a company and a half of BattleMechs and Jonathan where a task force consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the Valexa CMM and supporting forces would be run to ground and smashed into a retreat by the veteran Harloc Raiders. 
In response to this Marshal Stromp would be gathering her scattered forces and the remaining elements of the Valexa CMM together to hit Jonathan and inflict some payback when the recall orders arrived. Heading back to FedSuns space both the Kestrel Grenadiers and Valexa CMM would carry a grudge against the Raiders. 
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By the end of October, the Chancellor was furiously counting the cost of his raid against Talon. The entirety of the McCarron's Armored Cavalry brigade had been smashed. Even the single remaining regiment that was combat effective, the 4th, had suffered in excess of a full battalion of losses. The 5th had effectively been wiped out with the survivors interned, the 1st and 3rd were currently attempting to make their way back to the Confederation, but it was presumed had suffered heavy losses. While the 2nd and the brigades command battalion had been between them reduced to a mere reinforced battalion. The Kamakura's Hussars had been effectively wiped out while the Prefectorate Guard and Kingston's Rangers had been reduced to a single battalion each. Lockhardt's Ironsides and the Harloc Raiders had both got of lightly in the battles but even these units had suffered casualties. 
It wasn't only the losses in troops and BattleMechs. Two key industrial worlds had been systematically looted and then one of them had seen it's factories almost all destroyed, another had suffered heavy damage in the fighting and a fourth while largely intact had seen the loss of nearly a full battalion of BattleMechs and 2 expensive Overlord class dropships. Not only that but by all accounts the hated Davion's were not withdrawing from Mitchel, Jacson, and Yuris. 
While he had obtained the prize he had send the 3 regiments of Armored Cavalry to obtain along with his own Death Commandos the prize had been an order of magnitude higher than he had anticipated in his worst estimates. He had thought that Victor might raid a few border systems or even maybe a major industrial world. Yet he had raided 4 major industrial centers, raided a half dozen worlds in the Liao Commonality and seized 3 in the Victoria and Sian Commonalities! 
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In a fury, he sent word to the other Successor Lords that he demanded that a special conference be called to address the issue of the "mad fox" of House Davion who had attacked and seized worlds from both his neighbors in the last year. He was confident that the Coordinator would support him and thought that given Isis Marik's humiliation of her father by fleeing to New Avalon the Captain-General might support him in his attempts to put a muzzle on the First Prince and gain back his lost worlds. Even his cousin Kai Allard-Liao the First Lord was according, to his spies, furious at his friends warmongering attacks. If he could mobilise the men that Victor Davion had offended with his actions perhaps events might still resolve to his benefit. 
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While the First Princes' actions might have offended a number of Successor Lords and some of his neighbors within his own realm the response was overwhelmingly positive. Across all three Marches approval for the First Prince and indeed Dukes of Robinson and New Syrtis skyrocketed. Enlistment numbers were up across the board in October as young men and women all through the FedSuns rushed to sign up and join the AFFS in defending the Federated Suns from it's enemies aggression. With the military industrial boom underway in the FedSuns confidence in the Prince and in the nation were approaching the levels that had been last seen before the Clan Invasion! 
Even on Tikonov, the pro-Davion sentiment rose as reports came back from Styk about the role their own Cossack unit had had in the counter attack. Helping this the first Archer BattleMech walked of the production line on the planet and was immedietly dispatched to the Achernar CMM. 
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Even in the Lyran Alliance the mood was broadly supportive of the former Archon-Prince and by association the new Archon obtained some reflected benefit. A few however, were heard to comment that perhaps they had the wrong brother on the throne!
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