FSRB Chpt 75

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==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 75==
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May 3067Peace
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===Negotiations with the Bull===
May is dominated by Conrad Davion's meetings with the newly appointed Lord Regent Chem Kithrong on Taurus. Having went with him from Erod's Escape, although without the escort of the FSS Broken Wheel as it is felt that a AFFS warship in orbit over the capital world of the Concordat might be a very bad sign diplomatically. There are a number of contentious issues between the 2 men from the start, however there are a number of areas of agreement. The Baron is more than prepared to accept that this war was started by the Taurian Concordat and offer a formal apology for that - while stressing it was the actions of the former Lord Protector Shraplen and not the true will of the Taurian people. He is not however prepared to pay any form of reparations for the invasion as he see's this as a point which the domestic hardliners would tear him apart on. Conrad Davion is prepared on behalf of the First Prince to waive reparations but he point blank refuses all suggestion that the looted industry and factory production be returned to the Concordat, a point that causes fury in the Taurian diplomats. Multiple factories have been left as hollow shells with entire worlds economies thrown into chaos. At the same time the entire Taurian Defence Force has been gutted and will need massive rebuilding - which will require those same looted factories. 
However, the Davion delegation led by Conrad is firm. The Taurian Concordat started this war and they cannot now ask for a reset. Worse from the point of view of the Taurian's a significant percentage of their remaining troops are sitting in prisoner of war camps within the Federated Suns. Requests for them to be released are being held up with certain conditions being attached to their release. The most difficult for the Taurian's to swallow is the insistence of the Davion's that the 2 Pleiades units and the Hyalite Light Infantry be disbanded/merged into other commands and their colors stricken from the TDF. Having 3 full battlemech regiments named for planets that have been part of the Federated Suns for centuries is just a recipe for irredentism within the Concordat. Unless the Taurians will agree to this term then the AFFS will not release the prisoners. After a great deal of argument the Taurians finally agree to the merging of the 3 regiments into a reformed 1st Taurian Lancers, although they do this with poor grace. It's mostly felt that the Bull's caved on this point due to their crippling shortage of battlemech forces and a resultant upsurge in pirate raids on their already devastated worlds. 
In return for this concession the Federated Suns delegation does offer to make civilian investments to the Taurian economy and enter into a free trade agreement with the nation. However, this is only if the Taurians rescind their Trinity Alliance with the Capellan Confederation. Given the total lack of support that House Liao has shown the Concordat, as well as rumors that the Chancellor left their fleet to die at Ridgebrook the Taurians agree to this relatively easily. 
By the end of the negotiations the situation is frankly still frosty. Neither side is particularly happy with the peace treaty, with the Bull's view that they are being left a shattered military and a crippled military industrial complex, while many on the Davion side feel that the Bulls are getting off far to lightly. There are some who think that annexing a huge chunk of the border worlds would be a reasonable response to the attack, but even the most hard line members of the AFFS don't relish the prospect of the constant insurrections they would face if they did that. Better to make a peace that gives the Concordat a chance to rebuild - but makes that process a long and hard one to make them realize just what they did. 
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===AFFS Post-War Deployment===
Even as the prisoners of war are being returned to the Taurian Concoradat. Many of these units return without equipment as this has been seized by the various forces which defeated them, the AFFS is redeploying back to a more normal peacetime setting on the Taurian border. Task Force Sortek is formally disbanded and it's component units are sent to new postings. The 3rd Davion Guards return to New Avalon for instance, while the Blue Star Irregulars return to Firgrove. The 2nd Chisholm Raiders returns with their sister regiment the 3rd to Colorado where the 3rd will donate a full company of mechwarriors to help in the 2nd's rebuilding. The 4th Syrtis Fusiliers moves to take up station at Taygeta alongside their twin unit the 3rd Fusiliers, while the 2nd FSAC returns to Axton. The 2nd FedSuns Dragoons take up a new posting on Horsham while the two of the Illician Lancers regiments are move to Manapire and Mitchel to reinforce the Sirdar PDZ against any future Liao incursion. The 3rd Dragonlords RCT is ordered to move to New Damascus to secure the safety of the new plants there. 
At the same time the various units which had been used to raid the Taurian Concordat return to their pre-war garrison postings and roles. The 1st Patrol Squadron in particular returns to seeking out any pirate groups operating near Cooperland while also looking for potential new colonies.
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===Developments in Industry===
Within the Federated Suns, the exCJF Falcon's Nest, escorted by a heavy force of AFFS warships arrives at Galax. The Clan Wolf-In-Exile Battlecruiser Implacable had broken off once the crippled battleship was within the Federated Suns and headed for it's own refit at Panpour. Although this would be slightly delayed until October as the slip was currently filled by the repairing FSS Joseph Davion. Along with the ships a full cluster of WiE troops headed for Valois and a "return" home. They were expected to arrive in June. 
At Andalusia the Bergan Industries plant completed their second Wayland Mobile Base plant and immediately were flooded with orders from the AFFS. Again plans to build a Locust line were put on hold and work began on a third line for the much in demand Mobile Base vehicle. 
The Kallon plant on Belladonna which was supplying both the AFFS and ComGuards announced in May that it would be looking to expand production. A Templar-O line and a Penetrator line were to be added, but weren't expected to come online until July 3068 for the Templar OmniMech line and March 3068 for the Perpetrator. However both these lines will be exclusively for the AFFS. 
On New Avalon, the second Huscarl OmniFighter production line and the new Hammerhead line go operational at Lycomb-Davion's plant. Alongside the production from the initial Huscarl-O line these fighters will be placed for sale with both the AFFS and ComGuards - with the ComGuards buying slightly more Hammerheads and the AFFS buying the bulk of the Huscarls as the ComGuards have a separate source for that fighter. 
Corean also announce that they will be starting a new production line for their light recon mech the Fireball. Demand for this battlemech has never been huge, but it is a steady seller for the company and is popular with a number of light cavalry formations. Given the Federated Suns Governments strong push towards redundancy of all battlemech and other war equipment production the Fireball is slated to be built on Northfield alongside the existing Devastator line and building Centurion line. It's expected that the Fireball will enter production there in January 3068. 
The production of Javelin-O takes a major jump when 2 additional Javelin lines finish retooling on Panpour. However even with all 3 lines going at full speed demand is still much higher than production. New lines are under construction but given the huge popularity of the omnimech it is unlikely that even they will meet demand. As such the FedSun's Government push Jalastar Aerospace to adding a new plant specifically for the Javelin-O. This is finally agreed by the end of the month and the company announce they will begin work on a new Javelin-O factory on the world of Palmyra. No less than 4 lines are envisioned for this new plant. 
Production of Vali artillery vehicles goes up in May when the plant on Ozawa goes online. With 2 plants producing this artillery tank Veridian Dynamics now has a best selling vehicle design for the AFFS. The tank is so well regarded that the ComGuards request that they be allowed to buy some themselves. As does the Lyran Alliance. However given that the AFFS has exclusive rights to the production this means complicated discussions need to take place. 
On Tancredi, the joint project between Kallon and Precision Weaponry announce that they will be adding a Phoenix Hawk line to the plant there. Initially they had been planning a Shadow Hawk line but given the high end lasers a more energy weapon based design was thought to be appropriate. 
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===Events elsewhere in the Inner Sphere===
Within the Lyran Alliance, there is an announcement that the shipyards at Gibbs will be jointly upgraded by the LAAF and Comstar to begin producing the Fox class corvette there. An initial 2 slips are to be constructed, followed by more if the project goes well. These will provide warships for both the LAN and ComGuards fleet. 
Within the Free Worlds League, the Captain-General remains on Oriente, where he stopped on his way back from the special session. This is causing some to wonder what the hold up is, although he publicly explains he is just visiting with his in-laws. 
Within the Taurian Concordat, the various military formations begin re-assembling themselves. However there is a huge backlash against the disbandment of the Pleiades Hussars, Pleiades Lancers, and the Hyalite Light Infantry, but little can be done. The remainders of those 3 units are merged together to form a half strength 1st Taurian Lancers, with a handful of former Lancers from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Taurian Lancers joining them. The Bannockburn Bandits leave Taurian service and sign on with the Magistracy of Canopus following their disastrous abandonment by the Pleiades Hussars. Although technically in breach of contract few can blame them. A handful of troops, particularly from the disbanded units flee to the Capellan Confederation and join the 1st MacLeod's Regiment. In the meantime the Taurian military's II and IV Corp are struck from the active rolls. 
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===Taurian Defense Forces - Post Taurian Campaign===
Taurian Defense Forces as of May 3067.
Taurian Guard Corp
Taurian Guard – Veteran – 80%
Concordat Commandos – Veteran – 50% 
I Corp
Concordat Jaeguers – Veteran – 30%
Red Chasseurs – Veteran – 30%
Gordon’s Armored Cavalry – Veteran – 70%
II Corp – Struck from Active Rolls
III Corp
1st Taurian Lancers – Veteran – 50% - Illiuishin – Reformed
IV Corp – Struck from Active Rolls
V Corp
Vandelay’s Valkyries – Green – 70% - 2 Battalions
Summer’s Storm – Veteran – 100% – 2 wings
VI Corp
1st Taurian Pride – Regular – 90%
2nd Taurian Pride – Green – 80%
Taurian Defense Force in Exile
1st MacLeod’s Regiment – Green – 30%
*Note that these are the paper strengths of the units. Many such as the Concordat Commandos are lacking BattleMechs for their Mechwarriors.
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