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The Federated Suns Reborn
- Chapter 67[]
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December 3066
War clouds gathering
Making Preparations to tangle with the Bull[]
The already complex juggling of equipment and personnel that usually accompanied the AFFS's graduating the cadets from the various training units and sending them either to form new regiments or to reinforced existing ones was made astronomically more complicated by the High Command ordering units to move towards the Taurian border in case that the situation escalated. First Prince Victor himself had indicated to the High Command and General Staff that he intended to form up a new task force and lead it to the border region personally as a show of strength, but had had to change this plan faced with the almost unanimous opposition to the idea that he lead any potential attack into the Taurian Concordat if that was required. Presented with an almost mutiny from his top ranking officers he had reluctantly agreed to allow the now returned Prince's Champion Ardan Sortek to take up the position of leadership of any potential military action against the Concordat.
To form the core of the Champion's reinforcements, the 3rd Davion Guards RCT was placed under his command on New Avalon itself and ordered to accompany him to the planned staging area of Ridgebrook.
With regards the newly forming units, the First Prince personally announced that the AFFS would be expanded by the creation of 2 new additions to the Davion Brigade of Guards. The first addition to form would be drawn from the existing Guard regiments, each contributing a small portion of their own veteran warriors to help form the unit while having the donated companies replaced by the pick of the graduating classes and experienced troops from other regiments. The Davion Old Guards would be modeled upon the ancient French Imperial Old Guards of Terra. They would have had to serve a minimum of 15 years within the AFFS, at least the last 5 of which had to be within the Davion Brigade of Guards. With roughly a company drawn from each existing RCT within the Brigade the Old Guard would be formed as a reinforced RCT but would remain somewhat under strength for the time being, although plans were for steady trickle of transfers to bring them up to strength over the coming 3 years. This would allow the existing units to retain their skills and new Guardsmen and women to join the ranks to replace transfers to the Old Guard. Although almost every individual transferred was at least rated as a veteran and many were considered elite, the new unit would be listed as regular skill until at least mid 3067 as the various individuals and lances were formed into companies, battalions and finally the full regiment.
Alongside the Old Guard, the second unit to be added to the Davion Guards was almost their opposite and were similarly patterned on an old French Imperial Guard unit. The Davion Young Guards RCT was to be formed and in many regards attached to the Old Guard as a training command for the Brigade. The Young Guard would be formed as a full strength reinforced RCT and would be drawn from only the finest graduates of the various training units. The 3 NAIS and 2 Albion Training Cadres in particular contributed the vast majority of the Mechwarriors who were to form the Young Guard. The Davion Young Guard RCT was to be where the future leaders of the AFFS would go after their graduating from the training units in order for them to receive a final "polish" and be prepared for leadership positions, either within the Guard itself or the wider AFFS. The other Guard units would draw upon the Young Guard for replacement personnel in the event of losses, but the unit wasn't merely a replacement pool but was to function as a fully operation RCT within the AFFS and was equipped to the highest standard.
For the time being the Young Guard are attached to the Old Guard with both units were dispatched to the newly expanded bases on Salem, Muskegon, Talcott, and Victoria. Each world is to be garrisoned by a battalion of Young Guards with attached supporting forces and a similar sized (eventually) battalion of Old Guards. The 2 RCT's are to cover the 4 vital industrial worlds and also use the opportunity to come together as units - with the Old Guard providing the experience and hardened veteran force to help train the Young Guard while also providing an example of the traditions and skills expected of a Davion Guard unit.
The Avalon Hussars Brigade also see's a large increase and expansion in December-January. The 5th Avalon Hussars RCT is formed up on the world of Cerulean. While it might seem strange to form a reinforced RCT on a world with little strategic importance and with no military factories, far away from any borders the world of Cerulean has become more and more important to the First Prince's plans for the Outback in recent years. The planet is home to Cerulean Waters Inc, which is the single largest supplier of water purification equipment within the Federated Suns. Huge government grants and investments in technology have revitalised the company and it's products are vitally important for the economic turnaround within the Outback. As such the 5th Avalon Hussars is formed on the planet and ordered to defend the key industrial sites.
The 2nd Avalon Hussars on Panpour, would break a portion of their strength and dispatch it to Islamabad where it meets up with a small number of graduating cadets to help form the 3rd Avalon Hussars. The 2nd and 3rd will share a great deal of common culture, largely drawn from the culture of the former United Hindu Collective - but unlike the 2nd which is largely dedicated to protecting the key world of Panpour, the 3rd will be released for more general duties when it has fully formed up.
Similarly the 20th Avalon Hussars broke off combat command to help rebuild the 21st Avalon Hussars RCT. The new unit would be dispatched to nearby Maram as a back up against any future problems with Clan Sun Jaguar. They would be garrisoned there, not only to provide a defense against any Jaguar raids if the relationship broke down, but also to provide a nearby source of reinforcements for the Sun Jaguars if they were attacked. The formation and garrisoning of a new RCT there also provided the local worlds who were still nervous about the new Clan that had been granted enclaves so near them with some reassurance that the AFFS had not abandoned them. The 21st would continue the traditions of their parent formation and prove to be a skilled engineering force and would practice these skills by helping build up infrastructure not just on Maram but also the surrounding worlds.
A final Avalon Hussars RCT is added to the rolls when the long deactivated 27th Avalon Hussars RCT is broken off from the 33rd Avalon Hussars RCT. The new unit is dispatched to the vital industrial world of Ruchbah. Although the CEO of the local Michaelson Heavy Industries had long been of the opinion that his own corporate security forces were more than sufficient to protect his plants the High Command had decided otherwise. The vital source of many of their gunship VTOL's had to be protected and the new unit was dispatched to garrison the planet. It's conventional brigades would soon receive major boosts in VTOL gunships and transports, making the 27th one of the fastest units within the AFFS.
As well as the new units the Avalon Hussars Brigade was also expanded when the 4th, 34th, and 41st would be upgraded to reinforced regiments of BattleMechs. These additions would bring the Avalon Hussars up to 23 separate commands - although many of them would be wildly under strength and consist of barely a single combat command which was slowly being expanded to a full RCT. Of the 23 commands only 7 were currently not upgraded to reinforced status and it was now common knowledge that the entire Avalon Hussars Brigade would eventually consist entirely of reinforced regiments. Marshal Roger Williams Waters is however informed that for the current time being the rate of expansion of the Avalon Hussars will slow. Some new units might be formed in the coming years, but on the whole the rest of the High Command and the First Prince think it would be better to increase the size of the existing commands to their full strength.
Although the plans remain in place for the remaining 3 RCTs (the 2nd, 5th, and 6th) of the Crucis Lancers Brigade are still scheduled for upgrading to reinforced status this is put off for at least a year due to the strain of raising the other new units. Although the 2nd Davion Guards RCT on Axton is expanded to a full reinforced regiment this month as a priority - meaning that ever unit in the Davion Brigade of Guards is a reinforced regiment.
As expected, the Dragonlords Brigade also saw the formation of a new unit, the 5th Dragonlords RCT. As per tradition the new unit was formed on New Avalon and was when it reached it's full strength to consist of a reinforced regiment - however at the current time it was somewhat under strength and would remain on New Avalon for the coming year where it would train and come together as a unit. As per what was now established practice the 4th Dragonlords RCT would relocate to Novaya Zemlya to continue training, while the 3rd would leave the training center of Novaya Zemlya and be released to active duties.
As well as the 3 units raised from graduating cadets and the fourth drawn from the Davion Brigade of Guards the High Command also announce that despite the best efforts of the Taurian Concordat's attack on Bromhead the new 1st Bromhead Reinforced Training Battalion will be forming up on schedule and will be bolstering the defenses of that vital border world. At the same time they announce that the graduating mechwarriors and troops from the Bell, Brockton, and Conroe Reinforced Training Battalions will not be being dispatched to reinforce existing regiments, but will be combined with a number of experienced officers and troops from that world to begin forming cadres for new Borderer regiments. These units will not be active but will build up until such time as they are viable combat commands and activated. They will however be available to reinforced commands on their homeworld in the even of an invasion.
Additionally, the Tancredi War College Light Combat Team goes active on Tancredi at this time. Although heavily under strength and likely to remain so until the first full graduating class at the end of the next year the unit will provide a source of recruits trained in the Light Combat Team model for the Tancredi Loyalists. The Hasek-Davion Martial Academy Uhlans also form as a full Training Cadre at the same time, while the SLDF cadets move onto their own postings. During December the incoming classes for the NAIS and Albion both see the scheduled increases in size. These cadets will spend the next 3 years learning at the 2 most prestigious academies in the Federated Suns before graduating into the Training Cadres - which will expand them to 5 and 3 regiments respectively. The Filtvelt, Robinson and Warrior's Hall Training Battalions will also be upgraded to full regiments this month.
AFFS on Move to Taurian border[]
Within the Federated Suns this expansion sets the various news outlets alight. Ill informed news reports fill the headlines and holo-vid news and talk shows with the stories that the AFFS has expanded by no fewer than 13 separate combat commands in a single year (although 3 of them are training units)! While more experienced and educated panelists and reports point out that of these only the two Davion Guards units, the 5th Avalon Hussars and the 5th Dragonlords could really be considered combat effective (and only after they are fully formed up and have had some training together) this message is somewhat lost in the crowd. One small but beneficial side effect is a further upsurge in patriotism as many civilians feel pride in their realms growing strength and there is a spike in enlistments across most of the Federated Suns. Although the professional intelligence services of the other states know the truth behind these new formations they also know that they AFFS will slowly bring them up to strength... And when they are all at full strength they will be a formidable foe.
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Karnov UV transport VTOL in flight
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Cruiser, FSS Covenant
With the 3rd Davion Guards RCT, Ardan Sortek heads for the world of Ridgebrook which he has designated the muster point for what is already being referred to as Task Force Sortek. The 2nd FedSuns Dragoons RCT and 3rd Dragonlords RCT, both fresh from war games on Novaya Zemlya are also scheduled to join him there. They will be joined there by the 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry who have left their post on Verlo to give Sortek a fast mobile response unit. The former Vanguard Legion, the 4th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT is also dispatched by Duke Hasek to reinforce Task Force Sortek. The 4th has rebuilt to almost full strength and has had the pick of the equipment produced on Talon and New Syrtis to rebuild from and will provide an excellent assault force. Half of the Illician Lancers regiments will also be joining the Task Force - the 4th and 21st Rangers. Altogether that will give the Prince's Champion four RCTs and 3 battlemech regiments. Given that the entire Taurian Defence Forces consists of just 11 regiments and 6 commands of mercenaries many of them under strength this is felt to be a sufficiently heavy offensive force if an attack is required. Attached to this formation is the 1st Corvette Flotilla - which has been reinforced to 8 Fox corvettes with the addition of the FSS Woodstock, FSS Ridgebrook, FSS Kathil, and FSS Bryceland. Additionally the 3rd Cruiser Squadron's 2nd Division consisting of the FSS Joseph Davion and FSS Covenant have also been attached to the Task Force. Along with a number of independent fighter regiments and dropship squadrons.
Developments in Industry[]
As well as a new training regiment forming on Defiance the battlemech production facilities there also increase, with a Mongoose line being added. This will bring the total number of battlemech lines at the plant to 6 - of which 5 are shared between the AFFS and ComGuards with the sixth solely for the ComGuards.
On Kirklin the Kallon Industries new Penetrator line goes operational, although there is a slight delay to some of the first battlemechs produced. Kallon had deliberately sought to import the higher quality lasers for the battlemech from Tancredi, but a slight delay in shipping has a number of battlemechs left completed except for most of their weaponry. However as soon as the shipments arrive the new battlemechs are fully completed and rushed off to their assigned units.
On nearby Markesan, 2 additional Karnov Utility VTOL production lines finish construction and begin producing the famous VTOL transport. Work however continues on the 2 additional lines for the Alacorn and Von Luckner tanks which are expected to go online in February 3067. Demand for these 2 vehicles has far outstripped supply.
The new Rifleman Heavy 'Mech line on Tancredi goes operational in December, although unlike the Penetrator there is little demand for the updated Rifleman design from the Tancredi Loyalists. However other units such as the 2 nearby Ceti Hussars RCTs and the Bryceland DMM & Conroe Borderer Cadre all are eager to receive the new Riflemen.
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Rifleman Heavy Anti-Aircraft 'Mech
Fleet Admiral Buchwald also orders the construction of 2 large refit yards over the world of Edwards in the Crucis March. These 2 yards will not be fit to build warships, but will be easily capable of repairing ships up to a million tons when they are completed, or 2 smaller ships at the same time.
Events else where in the Periphery & the Inner Sphere[]
On Sian, the Chancellor announces that the Confederation is raising 3 additional battlemech regiments. The 4th Confederation Defense Force, 8th Sian Dragoons and 2nd Capellan Chargers. Although it doesn't take most of the professional intelligence agencies long to realize that these formations are little more than battalion sized. As are many of the other units he has raised. Between the four Confederation Defense Forces for instance there is barely 2 regiments worth of battlemechs with only the 1st Confederation Defence Force considered a viable combat command. McCarron's Armored Cavalry is however considered once again a growing threat, as they various commands slowly rebuild. This rebuilding is at least partially being financed by StarCorp who obviously are carrying a grudge. Between their command battalion and 5 line commands the Big Mac now number roughly 3 regiments of troops. Many of them battle hardened.On Sian the Chancellor announces that the Confederation is raising 3 additional battlemech regiments. The 4th Confederation Defence Force, 8th Sian Dragoons and 2nd Capellan Chargers. Although it doesn't take most of the professional intelligence agencies long to realise that these formations are little more than battalion sized. As are many of the other units he has raised. Between the 4 Confederation Defence Forces for instance there is barely 2 regiments worth of battlemechs with only the 1st Confederation Defence Force considered a viable combat command. McCarron's Armoured Cavalry is however considered once again a growing threat, as they various commands slowly rebuild. This rebuilding is at least partially being financed by StarCorp who obviously are carrying a grudge. Between their command battalion and 5 line commands the Big Mac now number roughly 3 regiments of troops. Many of them battle hardened.
In comparison the DCMS add no additional units. However they do work to bring existing units back up to strength - concentrating particularly on their more elite regiments who have seen heavy fighting, although a number of various Regular units are expanded from what was effectively cadres to viable units. There are also plans in the works to expand the Sun Zhang Cadres as well from 4 to 6.
Within the Free Worlds League, a motion of no confidence in the Captain-General is placed before Parliament, with it scheduled to be debated within the new year. The Captain-General now has both Knights of the Inner Sphere stationed on Atreus and has augmented them with the 2nd and 8th Free Worlds Legionnaires. He also begins making plans to relocate to Oriente for a "holiday" in the new year. Although these plans are kept secret.
The Magestrix orders the 2nd Raventhir Cuirassiers from their posting on Detroit to reinforce her allies the Taurian Concordat, ordering the unit to take up position on Laconis to help free up Taurian units at the request of her daughter's fiancee Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao. His own 3rd Sian Dragoons and Warrior House Lu Sann arrive on Rollis to give additional "support". Unknown to both the Chancellor and Lord Protector the 2nd Cuirassiers are under orders to immedietly withdraw to Detroit if attacked by an AFFS regimental sized formation.
Taking these movements to be signs of him having the full support of his allies the Lord Protector Shraplen orders that all 4 Pinto corvettes be activated. The TCS Revenge, TCS Retribution, TCS Remember Robsart, and TCS Resistance all slip free of their moorings with the Hyades Cluster and move towards positions along the border. All 4 are at best marginally operational, with WOB "advisers" serving aboard all of them primarily in the weapons, engineering and navigation departments. The Lord Protector also announces the reformation of the Taurian Volunteer Guard in preparation for the "impending Davion invasion". Dozens of militia regiments along the border are stood up to full readiness and civilian life comes to an almost stand still within a jump of the FedSuns border. He also orders the 3rd Taurian Lancers and the mercenary unit Gordon's Armoured Cavalry to launch a full scale reconquest of the "Davion puppets" within the Calderon Protectorate as of the 1st of January 3067.