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Note: At this time and in this AU, the MHAF only has the I, II and III Legio – all veteran forces, the IV, V, and VI have not been created so far. Their remaining forces are militia, poorly armed, equipped and trained, when compared to the Inner Sphere, Taurian Concordat or Magistracy of Canopus regular units.
May 12, 3054
New Venice
Marian Hegemony
Contrary to the cautious estimates made when deciding to launch the offensive, the Marian Hegemony forces didn't have Pocket WarShips. They didn't have any real forces with few Aerospace Fighters or 'Mechs,the majority of the defenses being composed of several mechanized units with material outdated by the MAF / TDF standards. Even if it was a good training exercise in deploying units far away someone would have to answer for this totally wrong estimates.
In the New Venice system, the TDF forces landed unopposed, not a single ASF having challenged the approach.
Four days after landing, the 1st Battalion of the Revenants was advancing towards the world capital, facing only sporadic attacks from the few surviving MHAF forces present, a mix of the III Legio and local militia, the majority of the defenders having already been destroyed.
Outdated material or not, the III Legio units, unlike the local militia, were competent enough to have to be taken seriously during the offensive. The day before, the heiress of the Aurigan Reach had been wounded in an attack by Gladius Hover Tanks and was resting in a field hospital. Attacking by surprise from a well-camouflaged position, that somehow had escaped detection from the ASFs flying high (this is what happens when you get too lenient and contemptuous of your opponent), the fast hovers had spread confusion in the scouting elements of the Aurigan unit and only the fact that two lances were present instead of one had allowed the Revenants to get the upper hand in this encounter. Hit several times in the head by rocket salvos, Sara Arana-Bassot's Toro II had fallen with the pilot injured. The ambush had however cost the defenders dearly, since only one Gladius had escaped.
Note: due to the fact that the Marian Hegemony in this AU did not have access to AC/10 (in OTL they were imported from Taurian Concordat), the Gladius are equipped with rockets and/or SRMs.
The landing on Alphard had been lightly contested with a dozen ASFs trying to prevent it. Obviously without much success, since they had to fight one WarShip and close to a hundred ASFs all of them carrying much more advanced technology.
With Sean O'Reilly captured on Lothario together with his eldest son only 14, the regency was in charge of Livia O'Reilly.Until now her job had been to manage Alphard Trading Corporation, however she tried her best to defend what remained of the Hegemony with her ordering the II Legio stationed on the capital world, while the remaining systems were defended by the III Legio and militia forces. But since the Marian Hegemony only trusted in might, she had to deal with among others the Prefect of the II Legion, which had been left in charge of the II Legio and all units on Alphard by Sean O'Reilly.
This Ron Brown was very aggressive and was only used to fight in the nearby Periphery without understanding the changes he was facing with the advanced weapons and numerical superiority enjoyed by the TDF. This is why he decided to contest the landing of the TDF forces, without regard for Livia O'Reilly's advice, that it would be better to disperse, given that the invaders had WarShips support and a clear command of the air following the destruction of the airfields, which at this time had only atmospheric fighters, and of all the MHAF ASFs in space, executed by Naval Lasers, in a clear demonstration of force that didn't reach the Prefect mind.
Although the II Legio had numerical superiority over the Taurian forces that had just landed, the difference in technology and even in mass, both in normal average and because of the use by the TDF of a Company worth of Assault 'Mechs was much larger than the MHAF thought.
Adding artillery, including Arrow IV, Battle Armors and ASFs with air-to-ground weapons, made the battle for Alphard a fast, brutal and incredibly one-sided one.
At the end of the day, the Marian Hegemony capital was in the hands of the TDF, with the rest of the reigning family captured as they tried to escape.
In Pompey, the local commander of the III Legio, seeing that the invaders (the Reach Guards) were mostly composed of Griffins decided to move as quickly as possible to a close combat option, guessing that the PPCs and LRMs of the invaders would have great difficulty in reaching his lighter, but faster 'Mechs at such short distance.
Unfortunately for the defenders, the TDF Griffin's were the TC variant, with Enhanced ER PPCs with no minimum range, and two extra Medium Lasers. Instead of fighting the invaders to their advantage, the III Legio was massacred.
In the other systems, the invasion went better than planned - the defenders being fewer in numbers, with bad equipment equipped and virtually no air support.
Within one week, the Marian Hegemony had been totally occupied.
Following the discovery of some advanced systems among the captured equipment of the I Legio in Lothario, ongoing investigations were trying to find out from whom the MHAF had acquired them.