FSRB Chpt 72

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==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 72==
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March 3067Davion strikes back
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===Taurian-FedSun War===
====Naval Battle of Ridgebrook====
March began with the surprise attack upon Ridgebrook by the Taurian forces of Case Granite. Clearly hoping to repeat the long ago success of their Case Amber attack upon the Federated Suns during the Reunification War the Taurian's jumped into Ridgebrook at a pirate point near the planet in preparation for their attack. With four Pinto class corvettes and a mixed bag of assault dropships the escorting force immediately attacked the Federated Sun's ships maneuvering to attack, while the 5 regiments worth of battlemechs and their supporting forces headed straight for Ridgebrook at a maximum burn. What most on the Federated Sun's side couldn't understand was how the Taurian's thought they could win being outnumbered 2.5:1 in warships, and even worse in tonnage.
The battle in orbit was short and brutal, made more so when the Taurian ships in a clear move of desperation opened fire with nuclear weapons in their very first broadside. Thankfully the limitations on their design only allowed them to fire 2 light missiles from broadside with every volley, but still the space between the 2 fleets was soon crisscrossed with the warning icons of incoming nuclear ordinance. Hurriedly imposing themselves between the cruisers and the incoming nukes the Fox class corvettes took the brunt of the attack, meanwhile launching their own attack via missile batteries, dropships and aerospace fighters. Their single prow based barracuda class missile launcher's first launch was a conventional warhead, but follow on warheads were nuclear tipped. The FSS Joseph Davion's own 2 initial missile launches were followed up by much heavier nuclear ordinance than the barracuda launcher's of the corvettes could handle. Even as the first and second volley's were launched the Davion ship's were turning their own broadsides towards the Bull's, allowing them to fire much heavier salvos of weaponry. 
In the first few long range missile exchanges the Fox corvettes attempted to shoot down the incoming nuclear missiles with volleys of machine guns and anti missile systems. They were only partially successful. In the first volley of missiles a single 1 got through and hit the FSS Kittery. Due to the light nature of the nuclear warhead the ship wasn't destroyed, although the armor held however the impact of the hit produced a critical hit that resulted in the ship losing all power except emergency life support. The second volley of nuclear weapons resulted in another strike on the crippled FSS Kittery and a fresh hit on the FSS Joseph Davion. The second hit sent the already damaged corvette into an uncontrollable spin that resulted in the crew having to abandon ship with fires raging throughout the ship. The larger Avalon cruiser however shrugged of the hit and continued to fight. The third salvo from the Pinto's was their last proper salvo as by now Davion weapons were smashing through the thinly armored shells of the refurbished Amaris ships and resulting in heavy losses. This salvo resulted in a single strike on the FSS Edwards which smashed through into it's launch bays and led to a crippling fire gutting the launch bays with heavy loss of life amongst the bay personal. Further fire from the Pinto's single light long range naval laser did little more than damage armor on a number of FedSuns vessels. 
Even as the missile strikes were hammering into the Davion ships however returned fire. Their initial missile strikes were concentrated on the TCS Retribution. Although conventional in nature the capital missiles caused heavy damage, particularly the single Killer Whale strike from the FSS Joseph Davion. The follow on strikes from the Federated Sun's Navy ships matched the Bull's broadsides with nuclear tipped weapons, even as their heavier laser batteries reached out and struck at the Pintos. The Taurian flagship disappeared in a nuclear firestorm when it was hit by a huge Peacemaker tipped Killer Whale missile. The ship was torn apart in the resulting strike and little more than debris was left by the time the glare had faded. The other 3 Pintos, while not having such dramatic deaths, suffered the same fate as accurate laser fire and nuclear tipped missiles smashed into them. The few Taurian dropships who survived to charge into closer range found themselves the targets of massed batteries of naval autocannon on the Fox's which tore them apart in a few volleys. 
Within 15 minutes the Naval Battle of Ridgebrook was effectively over. All 4 Pinto's and their dropships were gone. A handful of gunboats and fighters remained but these were massively outnumbered and outclassed by the FedSuns fighters attached to the various warships and would soon be hunted down. In return they had destroyed the warship FSS Kittery who uncontrollable spin and fires would result in the ship breaking apart before she could be brought under control, heavy damage to the FSS Edwards and light damage to 2 other Fox corvettes and the FSS Joseph Davion. The dropship and fighter wings attached to the Davion ships had been largely undamaged due to their massive superiority over their counterparts. 
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====Ground War - Battle of Ridgebrook====
In the meantime however they had bought time for the various ground forces that were to "liberate" Ridgebrook to land. However these landings were heavily contested by the fighter wings of the defending Davion regiments and all five Taurian units suffered losses before they had even made planetfall - with the heaviest losses being concentrated in the 2nd Taurian Lancers who saw their single Overlord class dropship brought down while attempting to land. Having had it's engines knocked out while still at 10,000 feet there were no survivors from the crashed dropship.
Even as the various Taurian units combat dropped from their transports or disembarked upon landing the Davion forces of Task Force Sortek were hurriedly moving into attack formations, in some cases using their own dropships to combat hop to nearer the landing zones. The first force to arrive was the 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry, who instead of attempting to overrun the LZ's merely provided a constant harrasment that made unloading even more difficult. When they were joined by the 4th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT's battlemech assets the 2 units proceeded to close in and attack the LZ's properly. With the veteran troops of the former Vanguard Legion leading the way the Davion forces hammered the still shocked 2nd Taurian Lancers who were only saved by the prompt response from the Concordat Commandos. However this response left the Commandos' own LZ and dropships vulnerable and the 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry outflanked the relieving unit and attacked their own grounded transportation assets and unloading supplies in a devastatingly swift attack. 
By the time, the two Illician Lancers regiments had arrived to join the attack the Taurians were already on the ropes. The 2nd Taurian Lancers, hammered even before they landed with heavy losses had been nearly smashed during the initial counter attack by the Davions and now found themselves effectively rolled into the Concordat Commandos who were themselves struggling to hold themselves together. The 2 Pleiades units found themselves soon fighting hard against the bulk of the 4th Syrtis Fusiliers as they attempted to break out from the LZ while under heavy fighter attacks almost constantly. Gordon's Armored Cavalry also attempted a breakout to the south but soon found itself with a battalion of Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry in front of it fighting delaying actions as the 21st Rangers from the Illician Lancers moved in on their flank. When they attempted to head back to the landing zones they found the way blocked by the 4th Rangers. Having been cut off they seized a nearby ridge and dug in awaiting the Davion's attempting to overwhelm them. 
However this attack never came as Ardan Sortek now arriving with the 3rd Davion Guards and the 3rd Dragonlords RCTs took personal command. Ordering the 4th Rangers to remain in a blocking position to keep Gordon's Armored Cavalry out of the fight he ordered the other regiments under his command to close in on the main body of Taurian Defence Force Regulars. Calling upon the Ridgebrook CMM to provide rear area support, Sortek waited till nightfall while keeping the trapped Taurians under constant artillery and fighter attack. In the early hours of the morning he called down pin point naval laser strikes from the orbiting FSS Woodstock and FSS Ridgebrook onto the Taurian's lines while ordering his own artillery to plaster the area between both lines with Thunder LRM strikes. When the various Taurians attempted to rush his lines they ran straight into the newly laid minefields. Those who struggled through these found themselves facing dug in Grenadier, Cavalier, and Infiltrator II battle armor as Sortek deployed the various battle armor regiments and battalions of the various regiments into the front lines. 
By the first dawn after landing the Taurian forces were a shattered mess. After a night of naval bombardment and artillery barrages their dropships were all either destroyed or crippled and their lines had been fragmented. The Pleiades Hussars and Pleiades Lancers had been formed into an adhoc formation of around 3 battalions of battlemech's while the Concordat Commandos had fully absorbed the remaining 2nd Taurian Lancers and even with these additions could barely field 2 and a half battalions of troops. Colonel Monty Scott who was still alive and in command requested via radio what terms Sortek was offering at 8am. The Prince's Champion informed the "invading troops" that his terms were simple. Unconditional surrender. Or he would order his artillery, orbiting warships and fighter wings to smash the ground of their landing zones to glass. 
In response, the Pleiades troops attempted to breakout from the LZ, refusing to surrender. Even before they reached the 4th Syrtis Fusiliers lines they were losing mech's to Thunder laid minefields, fighter strikes and artillery fire, but when they finally hit the former Vanguard Legion those losses skyrocketed. The heavy and assault mech's of the 4th Fusiliers backed up by entire battalions of Challenger MBT and Alacorn Mk IV held up under the attack of the damaged and ragged Pleiades troops and threw it back. Not content with merely throwing the attack back Leftenant General Chad Dean leads a counter attack personally from the cockpit of his Templar-O. Crushing the retreating remnants of the Pleiades Hussars and Lancers he hammers into the LZ and ends up cutting it in half only stopping when he runs into the Concordat Commandos and engaging in a long range battle with them. 
With over half his remaining forces gone and his LZ now a fraction of it's former size Colonel Scott has no choice but to accept Ardan Sortek's "terms" with as much grace as he can muster. Task Force Sortek swiftly hands over the surrendering Taurians to the Ridgebrook CMM and moves it's entire force to encircle the single remaining Taurian force - Gordon's Armored Cavalry. Faced with 3 full RCT and 3 battlemech regiments Colonel Gordon offers his own unconditional surrender, but it is refused. Instead he is given generous terms of surrender, assuring him that in return for a token ransom his regiment will remain intact. The only term which the Davion's insist upon is that he switch his contract with the Taurian Concordat to the "true heirs of House Calderon" the Calderon Protectorate. 
Refitting his units the Prince's Champion brings the 1st Federated Sun's Armored Cavalry up to full strength and detaches them along with the 2nd FedSuns Dragoons which had been moved to the Pleiades Cluster to counter attack and retake Brockway. They will be joined in this counter attack by the Blue Star Irregulars after they relieve Lindsay. 
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====Federated Suns other Actions in the Concordat====
On Lindsay, the 2nd Dragonlords are faced with the veteran 1st Taurian Lancers. The Lancers are smart enough to avoid engaging in a direct fight with the larger Dragonlords formation, particularly given the hard lessons learned about their battle armoured troopers. However this strategy fails when the 2nd Dragonlord's deploys a full battalion of Cavaliers and Grenadiers via air drops from Karnovs into the Taurian's ranks at night. The descending paratrooper battle armor unit land into their camp and proceed to cause heavy casualties before finally being driven off. When word reaches the 1st Taurians that a warship and 2 regiments of mercenaries have arrived in system to reinforce the Dragonlords it's too much for them. They break off for their dropships and retreat swiftly towards the Taurian Concordat, arriving back on Illuishin with a little over half the strength they left with. 
Their retreat leaves the Blue Star Irregular's free to move on Brockway to link up with the 1st FSAC and 2nd FedSuns Dragoons. Along with them go the Kerensky's Blues and 2 Fox corvettes - the FSS Woodstock and FSS Galax. The Concordat Jaegers and Red Chasseurs who have been preparing for an impending counter attack find their preperations to be largely ineffectual when faced with a force that outnumbers them 2:1 in battlemechs and even worse in conventional forces and air support. Their hastily prepared fortifications are bombarded from orbit and strafed by fighter wings. Worse, with 3 warships in orbit and the FedSuns in total control of the air, they cannot withdraw. Dug in hard they face repeated attacks from the 21st Rim Worlds and 2nd FedSuns Dragoons while the 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry and the 1894th Light Horse launch constant raids and probes to find weaknesses for the heavier units to exploit. By the end of March they are still holding out, but neither regiment can field more than a battalion in strength. 
The 4th Crucis Lancers continue to hunt what is left of the Bannockburn Bandits. Hounded by the much larger force that knows the terrain and is aided by the locals the Bandit's finally surrender on the 17th. 
Even as the invasion forces are being destroyed or routed the AFFS counter attack into the Taurian Concordat itself continues. The 36th Avalon Hussars finally completed the dismantling and looting of the Pinard Protectorate Limited plant and began work on the Alphard Trading Corporation facility. Unlike the Pinard Protectorate plant this looting was merely the seizing of such spare parts and finished equipment as was available. The Federated Suns Government had contacted Alphard Trading Corporation and the FWL based former headquarters of this company and in return for a large sum of money had agreed not to demolish the plant. Instead ATC FLW retook control of the former breakaway subsidiary. The 36th then moves on and hits the world of Logan's Land. They systematically reduce the planets defensive forces and militias until finally they surrender in early April. 
Hansen's Roughriders finishing their own looting on MacLeod's Land leave the planet and strike Pinard itself. The existing militia and new formations of the Volunteer Guard prove little match for the mercenaries and their supporting AFFS conventional forces and the planet's government surrenders on condition that the civilian population isn't harmed. Which leaves the Roughriders free to begin the looting of the Phoenix Hawk and Marauder BattleMech production lines at the plant there as well as the various vehicle lines. It is now obvious that the Federated Suns is removing the ability of the Taurian Concordat to wage war. 
The 12th Avalon Hussars and their accompany warships make short work of the defenders of Charleston and Orkney and finish March hitting Cadiz. Behind them they leave disarmed militias, industrial plants that have been looted of anything of value and new planetary governors who are pro-Kithrong rather than Shraplen. As soon as they finish up on Cadiz they are preparing to hit Sterope. 
The green 3rd Chisholm Raiders hits Althea's Choice. There the Clean Kill mercenary force immedietly and fully declares for the Calderon Protectorate rather than face a full RCT. With the help of the mercenaries the Raiders install a pro-Kithrong governor in the face of only haphazard opposition from Shraplen loyalists. 
The 34th Avalon Hussars arrived on Dicallus and soon finds itself facing hordes of Gabriel equipped militia. Even the light weighted 34th finds itself struggling to counter these fast light vehicles, so they simply don't. Instead the battlemech, armour and infantry formations of the 34th seize the government buildings and the plant that produces the Gabriel itself. They leave the countering of the Gabriel's to their attached fighter regiment which is soon running constant CAP over the 34th's garrisoning points. The unit's CO who has studied history ensures that his unit secure access to the genetically engineered dogs the planet is famous for to protect his troops from the local wildlife. With such protections in place the 34th begins the looting and destruction of the Gabriel line. The machinery and schematics are loaded into the dropships of the 34th Hussars are are soon being prepared to be shipped to the Federated Suns. As soon as this is complete the 34th will leave the world and head for the link up with their sister regiment the 12th at Sterope. 
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===The Second Star League Special Session on St. Ives===
On the 31st of March, the special session of the Star League begins with Lord Protector going into a shrieking rant about the treachery of the Liao's and the aggression of the Davions. The Lord Protector has received word of the crumbling fronts and the destruction of his counterattacking force on Ridgebrook as well as the total annihilation of his Navy. Worse he has began to hear rumors that the Taurian Guard is preparing to mount a coup to remove him from power - and given that they are the last remaining regular formation under his command that is intact and not committed to other actions this threat is real. He sends word to the 3rd Taurian Lancers to withdraw from the Protectorate border and head for Taurus itself to maintain his rule. 
However. his rant is cut short by First Prince Victor, who is somewhat confused as to why Sun-Tzu has also been mentioned in it. Whom informs him that this doesn't have to continue. That if he is prepared to order his units to return to Taurian space and stand down himself as Lord Protector so that a regency council can be appointed for Erik Martens-Calderon then the First Prince will instantly order his troops to halt their operations. The First Prince pleads with the enraged Lord Protector to see sense. His realm is in chaos, his navy destroyed and his ground forces in tatters, it is time to stop. The First Prince is supported in this by the various other Council Lords. 
The Lord Protector refuses. He demands that the Star League evict the Federated Suns from his worlds, award the Concordat the worlds stolen from them by the First Star League and support his realm's just cause. In the face of such demands the Council Lords vote... And censure the Lord Protector. If he does not cease operations against the Federated Suns by the end of April the Concordat will be ejected from the Second Star League. The vote is almost unanimous, with the Chancellor abstaining. After a mere day Grover Shraplen storms out and heads for home. 
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===Developments in Industry===
The Federated Sun's Navy, despite the losses at Ridgebrook actually grows during March 3067. The FSS Sakhara, FSS New Haiti, FSS Malarn, FSS Salem, and FSS Northfield all slip from their construction docks at Galax. These ships are sent on shakedown cruises before being assigned to a Corvette Flotilla. A number of Davion III destroyer slips are also completed this month - 1 each at Galax, Kathil and New Syrtis. Work begins on 2 Congress-D II slips at Panpour. 
On Firgrove the new Ahab Heavy Aerospace Fighter factory line enters production. It's entire production is snapped up by the AFFS and ComGuards, with the first Ahabs for the AFFS going to replace the losses of the 2nd Chisholm Raiders aerospace regiment. The Firgrove Consortium continue to look for new designs to put into production. 
On Errai the Maltex Corporation plow's the profits of their sales into setting up a second Thug Assault 'Mech line. They receive loans to support this project from the planetary government and also the Federated Sun's Government. The AFFS can always use more of the rugged Thug design. 
At the Robinsons BattleWorks flagship facility on Robinson, the new Battlemaster line begins producing this iconic command assault mech. Already the Duke of Robinson has authorized the new battlemechs to be sent to the various Ranger regiments, although he has made a point of sending a full lance to the 1st New Ivaarsen Chasseurs. 
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===The Chancellor's Staff===
Even as the Council Lords are discussing Shraplen's clear mental breakdown and his refusal to see sense, the Chancellor receives word that 2 of his staff have disappeared. While initially it is thought they might have been kidnapped or killed by either St Ives agents or their allies from the Federated Suns it's soon apparent that the 2 men deliberately sought to leave the secure compound and disappear into the teeming cities of St Ives... 
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