FSRB Chpt 146

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 146==
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April 3070Operation Achilles III
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===Dieron Operations - Progress Report===
As April began, the Kurita position within the Dieron Military District was under severe pressure that was only growing worse. On Dieron and Quentin, the military situation was slanted heavily against the DCMS, while the worlds of Saffel and Altair had already fallen. The few remaining units within the District were mostly tied in place due to the threat of Davion invasions leaving little reserves to relieve either Dieron or Quentin.
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===Dieron Military District Invasion===
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====Dieron====
April started on Fortress Dieron with a breakout. No less than four flotillas of dropships each identical and with the few remaining aerospace fighters left to the defending forces as escorts split equally between them blasted off on the 2nd of April. Each flotilla of dropships consisted of a number of transport dropships of the various defending units along with a handful of civilian dropships dragooned into service. The Davion warships and fighter wings in orbit saw them coming and attempted to destroy or drive them back, but despite their best efforts 2 of the flotillas of drops managed to break through with only light losses while a third suffered heavy losses but a small number of dropships broke through. The fourth flotilla which largely consisted of dropships from the 1st Genyosha was wiped out entirely.
Even after the breakout however the Federated Suns Navy and the fighter wings attached to the orbiting forces hadn't given up. The four Avalon class cruisers of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron broke off in pursuit hoping to at least catch some of the slower dropships or cripples, while fighters and assault dropships streamed past them to slow their prey. However, the DCS Siriwan and her 3 surviving Inazuma class corvettes close with the fleeing dropships to offer them protection. This is a naval battle that neither side ideally wants but has found itself pushed into. Closing at high speed the 2 sides fly almost past each other firing furiously. The DCS Siriwan and the FSS Simon Davion both take heavy damage with the other 3 Avalons cruisers all receiving light damage while 1 of the Inazuma is destroyed outright. However the engagement forces the Davion ships to break of their pursuit of the fleeing dropship flotillas which are now scattering wildly and escort the FSS Simon Davion back to orbit. The DCA warships break off as well and escort the DCS Siriwan out of the system along with the jumpships carrying the transport dropships which have managed to breakout. More importantly they escort the Kanrei himself. The damaged warships and surviving transports would swiftly head for Benjamin - with a small detour to Arkab.
thumb|Avalon Class Cruiser, FSS Simon Davion in orbit of Dieron.
In the breakout and the pursuit roughly half of all the dropships which lifted from Dieron have been destroyed, but the single most important dropship a leopard class carrying the Kanrei has survived without any damage. Putting the heir on such a fragile dropship had been a calculated risk with many arguing that he should have been placed in a larger Overlord class or better protected Excalibur class, but both of those classes had suffered almost two thirds losses in the flight. The lighter ships had suffered fewer losses proportionally, having only been targeted as after thoughts mostly or fired upon as targets of opportunities.
This breakout while successful had left the rest of the DCMS forces on Dieron not only stranded but also with almost no real fighter cover. Recognizing this, Warlord Kurita began falling his remaining formations back into Fortress Dieron itself. Between the 1st & 2nd Genyosha and his own 3rd Dieron Regulars the Warlord still possessed nearly 2 regiments worth of elite Battlemechs and their supporting forces. Holed up in the huge sprawling fortress he believed that he could hold out for months if not years.
Harrying the retreating Combine troops on their way the 4th Davion Guards and the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry managed to trap a combined battalion of the withdrawing forces from the both Genyosha regiment long enough for the Davion Assault Guards and the 8th Striker to come up and aid in their destruction but this was the only real victory of the AFFS in April. With that last field engagement the Davion forces settled in for a siege. Or at least most of them did.
The primary besieging unit of the AFFS would of course be the Davion Assault Guards RCT which was already taking up positions to being reducing the enemy fortifications and wear them down in a war of attrition. Alongside them would be the entire Vegan Rangers Brigade which would deploy into blocking formations all around Mount Shanyu. The 5th Robinsons Rangers RCT would redeploy to cover the rest of the planet and take up garrisoning roles, while the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT would act as a mobile reserve while it's battle armor troops and fighter wings helped the Assault Guards wear down Fortress Dieron.
At the same time however, the 2nd & 4th Davion Guards, accompanied by the 8th Striker & Bar Hound regiments of the Fighting Urukhai boarded their dropships and lifted off to hit their next target. It was felt that the AFFS forces on Dieron were excessive to contain 2 damaged regiments worth of the DCMS even in siege conditions and that 3 full RCT's and 4 mercenary regiments (although they really only numbered around 3 regiments worth of Battlemechs) were more than sufficient. As such the 2nd Davion Guards RCT was ordered to retake it's long lost "home" of Fomalhaut with the backing of the 4th Davion Guards and the Fighting Urukhai.
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====Quentin====
The 3rd FSAC after a hurried refit threw itself at the final redoubt of the 45th Dieron Regulars on the 4th of April. Like the FSAC, the 45th had hurriedly refitted their shattered Battlemechs - in many cases replacing them entirely with fresh machines from Independence Weaponry. However they could do little for their wounded or their exhausted mechwarriors - as while the 3rd refitted the other AFFS units had continued harassing raids on the worn down 45th Dieron Regulars. Within a few hours it was obvious that the AFFS troops were going to break through and at that stage the Regulars began to crumble. Realising that his troops were merely minutes from routing Tai-sa Sebastian Ioto ordered his troops to fall back into the factories themselves and attempt to cause as much destruction while triggering the charges he had had his engineers lay earlier. He and roughly a companies worth of the most heavily damaged machines stayed behind to give them time to break contact and do as much damage as possible before the AFFS can overwhelm them...
It would take the AFFS formations nearly 3 days to run down the last of the surviving DCMS troops that had taken refuge in the factory complex. During which the huge factory suffers heavy damage, not just from the fighting but also a large quantity of explosive charges hidden within it by the 45th Dieron. By the end of April the world of Quentin is in the hands of the AFFS and the Federated Sun's banner flies over it again. However the massive factory that made it such a prize is heavily damaged and will take months if not years to repair. The few survivors of the 45th Dieron Regulars are dispatched to POW camps deep within the Crucis March.
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====Fomalhaut====
The 2nd & 4th Davion Guards RCTs as well as the 8th Striker & Bar Hounds regiments of the Fighting Urukhai arrived within the Fomalhaut system and began making a burn for the planet. The defending 47th Dieron Regulars knew that not only were they massively outnumbered but also facing off against opponents with better equipment than them and greater skill. A final nail in the morale of the unit was the fact that these were at least some of the units which had been sighted on Dieron - which had ominous implications for the state of affairs on the District's capital world. As the AFFS and their mercenary allies burned for the planet the only fighting was light dueling between aerospace assets of both sides. The commanding officer of the 47th sent repeated requests to Dieron and beyond asking what he should do - stand and fight or flee 
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====Asta====
In a surprise move the Wolf's Dragoons, Zeta Battalion appeared almost in orbit after a jump into a pirate point near the moon of Eddelle of the world of Asta. Heading straight for the planetary capital of Excalibar they broadcast immediate demands for the surrender of the system to the Federated Suns or they would be forced to launch a full scale assault. With the reputation of Zeta Battalion proceeding them and no regular DCMS troops to protect them the planetary authorities began broadcasting stand down orders to all of the militia forces on planet and announcement of surrender to the incoming troops which were now merely hours out. Zeta's commanding officer sent to Robinson and New Avalon requesting follow on conventional troops to take up garrison postings... 
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