FSRB Chpt 209

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 209==
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August 3071Swimming Sharks
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===Shoring up the Lyran Alliance===
With news reaching the wider Lyran Alliance and then the rest of the Inner Sphere that Adam Steiner has survived his operations and woken up at least some of the tension about the potential fate of the Lyran Alliance dissipates. Some but not all. First Prince Victor Davion continues to have to spend a large portion of his time sending messages to allies within the Alliance to try and keep a lid on things to allow some stability to settle in. Word from the Clan border of huge battles being fought between various factions does little to help with this.
===Meeting with Khan of the Diamond Sharks and Nova Cats===
He also makes time to meet with Khan West and his "guest" in private. The guest proves to be none other than Khan Barbara Sennet of Clan Diamond Shark. For several years the Shark's have been swimming through the voids of the Federated Suns. They've been always careful to stay on the fringes and out of sight, but selling small amounts of military hardware and larger amounts of intelligence and even limited quantities of civilian goods in return for largely raw materials. Most of this trade has came through the intermediaries of the Sun Jaguars. Now the Diamond Sharks want more. Sennet requests enclaves on Federated Suns world, free trade, and passage for her ships through the expanded Federated Suns. In return she's offering much larger quantities of trade goods - both civilian and military. The First Prince while keen to gain access to this trade immediately refuses permission for sovereign enclaves within the Federated Suns. Leaving aside the strategic implications this might bring he has sworn to his people that the Clans he has invited to join the Federated Suns will not settle or rule on existing worlds - while he might not technically be breaking that with a merely allied trading Clan it would very much break the spirit of his decree. 
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===AFFS Troop Movement & Deployment===
On Kentares the Prince's Champion meets with the senior staff of the Kentares DMM and then with the wider unit in a series of talks and meetings. In it he discusses the First Prince's idea of upgrading the Kentares DMM to the "Grenadiers" standard. Additional, support units and troops would be dispatched to allow this to happen - being careful to select soldiers drawn from Kentares itself. Despite the smaller population base of Kentares in comparison to many of the worlds of the Federated Suns it provides a large number of recruits for the AFFS - for obvious historical reasons. At the same stage a new Kentares DMM will be raised from the local militias and volunteers in order to safeguard the world. If the Kentares DMM agrees to this they will, along with the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers RCT and 1st Caph Grenadiers RCT, be used as the core of a new brigade of "heavy" RCT's drawn only from the most fanatically loyal of worlds and populations to House Davion. They were to be line breakers and units which could be sent in when failure simply was not an option, in a similar manner to the Guard's Brigade. Galen Cox spoke eloquently on the First Prince's plans and how Duke Sandoval was in full support of them to the various assemblies of the unit and to Duke Dresari - who throws his full weight of influence behind the scheme. By the end of the month the mood within the Kentares DMM was clearly in support of taking up the upgrade to Grenadiers. 
At the same time with the arrival of the 1st St. Ives Cheveau-Legers on St. Ives, Duchess Allard-Liao meets with them at the spaceport and as soon as they settle in puts to them formally the offer to be the core of a new LCT style formation. Given their casualties in the recent fighting they are roughly at a LCT sized formation anyway. While there are a few who do not wish to be "broken" from the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, many within the unit find the idea of being the founding unit of an entirely new formation interesting. No agreement is reached, but the Duchess explains that if they agree in December she will use what limited personnel are available to her to form a 2nd St. Ives Cheveau-Legers LCT alongside them. 
In the Pirates Haven Cluster, the two Messengers of Shiva LCT continue their sweep. By now equipment breakdown and supplies are becoming an issue and the units supply officers are forced to step up their efforts to keep both units functional in the low end grinding raid and counter raid that this operation has become with the various small pirate bands that call the Cluster home. They are helped in this by the predominance of Javelin-O and Centurion standard Battlemechs in the units which make supply easier. Small elements also push out from the Cluster into the surrounding worlds to make sure the pirates don't just relocate. 
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===Developments in Industry===
At Demeter the Lycomb-Davion plant see's it's first OmniFighter production line go operational producing Huscarl-Os for the Federated Suns Navy. A second line is shortly after started. 
The Fed-Boeing shipyards over June finally hit their stride with a full dozen Merchant class JumpShips under construction. Germanium is being brought in from Cooperland and other newly colonized worlds in increasing quantities which allows Fed-Boeing to consider expanding production. 
At the capital of New Avalon two Legionnaire Medium 'Mech lines go operational at the Corean plant. Instead of expanding with new lines Corean orders that two of the six Centurion lines begin the upgrading process for producing the new Omnimech design. The company also quietly restarted work in designing a Fireball-O upgrade. 
On Sarna, the Veridan Dynamics plant completes it's fourth Tiger Main Battle Tank line. A fifth is almost finished and the company is trying to decide whether to continue expanding the facilities to expand the second line Tiger tank or the front line Vali artillery tank. 
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===Clan Troop Movements===
Within the Free Rasalhague Republic, Galaxy Commander attends Parliament and is immediately taken into custody. His aide and Elemental bodyguards are killed out of hand, but the official Elected Prince is seized with the intent of "deprogramming him". At the same stage, the KungArme launch themselves across the border in order to liberate a number of border worlds - not only from Clan Ghost Bear but also the weakened Clan Wolf. Lothan, Ramsau, and Altenmarkt are all attacked. For now these attacks are merely "reconnaissance in force" to see how strongly these worlds are held by the Clans. 
The crusader Clan Wolf's defensive line collapses when Clan Jade Falcon swoop down from their base at Colmar. Montmarault, Biota, La Grave, and Benfled are all hit by a full Jade Falcon Galaxy of troops. While at the same time word comes that Clan Hell's Horses have begun probing the Clan Wolf periphery border. To make the Wolves situation worse, the much abused Omega Galaxy of Warden Wolves prompty abandoned their posts and boarded their dropships and departed for parts unknown - leaving the border wide open for the Horses. 
The Ice Hellions add the world of Chapultepec to their growing "Occupation Zone" in August, wiping out the planets small garrison. However, Clan Wolves-in-Exile are now heading their way. 
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===Kurita Civil War===
====Battle for Dumaring Continues====
On Dumaring, the Minoru Loyalists are facing defeat send out a call for aid and dig in as best they can to hold off the enemy assaults. There is a brief lull in activity as the Hohiro Loyalists refit and repair their BattleMechs and tanks for a final "big push" to wipe out the two enemy regiments.
====Waiting for Aide====
The now self styled Coordinator Hohiro Kurita is informed at the end of August that a high ranking member of the WOB will be arriving soon to discuss his cause. He is now in desperate need of support but knows that the WOB probably doesn't have much to send. Still whatever they can do to help him cause is badly needed.
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===Reunification Talks for Free Worlds League===
Within the Free Worlds League the various factions again sit down to discuss a reunification. Oriente is again invited back to the table and accepts. The only major faction which refuses a seat is the Regulan's who continue to launch stinging raids against almost all their neighbours while demanding that the Cameron-Jones be made Captain-Generals. Quietely Captain-General Corrine Marik begins discussing the merger of the Stewart Commonwealth and Duchy of Graham-Marik into the Marik Commonwealth as a counter to the growing power of Oriente and Tamarind-Abbey. 
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