Battle of New Aragon (3062)
Sarna News
| Battle of New Aragon | |||||||||||||
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| Part of Federated Commonwealth Civil War | |||||||||||||
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| Factions | |||||||||||||
| (Attacker) Loyalists |
(Defender) Allies |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||||||
| Hauptmann-General Charles Finnigan | Leftenant General Jimmie Kirston
General Tom Stancel |
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| Forces involved | |||||||||||||
| Third FedCom RCT | First Aragon Borderers
Alpha Regiment, Twelfth Vegan Rangers |
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| Environment | |||||||||||||
| Urban, Open, Hills | |||||||||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||||||
| Normal | |||||||||||||
Contents
Overview
The Battle of New Aragon was one of the first battles of what would become known as the Federated Commonwealth Civil War. While overshadowed by other flashpoints such as the historic carnage on Kathil and the drama of betrayal and revenge that took place on Kentares IV, the battle still served to characterize the brutal and tragic nature of the conflict, as erstwhile allies turned their guns on one another. Though brief, the clash had lasting consequences for all of the units involved, bloodying, weakening, or outright destroying them.
Prelude
Origins
The roots of the FedCom Civil War, and therefore the Battle of New Aragon, lie squarely at the feet of Victor and Katherine Steiner-Davion. Were it not for Victor's ill-advised scheme to replace Joshua Marik with a body double, the Free Worlds League might never have launched Operation GUERRERO. Were it not for Katherine's secession of the Lyran Alliance from the Federated Commonwealth precipitating the loss of the Sarna March, years of bloodshed might have been avoided. And had the Clans not invaded, more forces might have been garrisoned in preparation for surprise assaults from the Capellan border.
The Third FedCom RCT had been away from Sarna, their homeworld of nearly two decades, when the joint Capellan-Free Worlds invasion had launched in 3057. They were returning from New Earth, where they been garrisoned to guard against a Skye rebellion that never came, when they received word that Sarna had fallen. Due to the confusion caused by Katherine's formation of the Lyran Alliance, and her subsequent recall of all Lyran-controlled JumpShips back to their territory, a counter invasion was out of the question. The Third FedCom found itself on New Aragon, without a homeworld, a chance at revenge, or a clear way forward. The unit took the loss of their homeworld hard, and members began to argue about how best to proceed. Ultimately, they reached the conclusion that Victor was to blame for Sarna's loss, as his actions had given the Free Worlds League cause to attack and the unit was already critical of Victor prior to the events of 3057. While this meant that they were more sympathetic to Katherine's cause, they did not heed her request to join the newly-formed LAAF, believing that returning to Lyran territory would mean giving up any chance of retaking Sarna. Instead they remained on New Aragon, their bitterness and resentment festering.[2]
Rising Tensions
In 3059, the First Aragon Borderers were called up to serve with Victor during Operation BULLDOG on the frontlines of the Clan Invasion, far from their homeworld. While they were otherwise occupied, Federated Commonwealth High Command assigned the Twelfth Vegan Rangers, a historically Davion-loyal mercenary unit, and the Third FedCom RCT, which was conveniently already in place, to defend the planet from further incursions. When they returned in 3062, the commander of the Borderers, Leftenant General Jimmie Kirston, resumed his post as head of planetary defensive operations. Kirston thanked the Third FedCom for their service and informed them that they stood relieved.[3]
This was where problems began. While the Borderers had been away, the commander of the Third FedCom, Hauptmann General Charles Finnigan, had been cultivating a reputation for disobeying or subverting orders that he didn't like. Whether it was delaying a redeployment order, refusing a routine ammunition and supplies stock check, or simply giving situational updates, Finnigan blamed "administrative issues" and simply ignored the order. Kirston's return to his responsibilities as military head on New Aragon ruffled Finnigan, and he refused to recognize Kirston as a superior. Time and again, Kirston sent Finnigan requests to redeploy his unit from New Aragon to Moravian, and time and again, Finnigan made flimsy excuses, shuffled blame, and continued doing what he wanted to do. Kirston dutifully informed his superior, Marshal Piper Burullo, the head of the entire Valexa PDZ, but even a visit from her did little to change Finnigan's malingering.[1]
Battle
Opening Shots
When the fighting on Kathil broke out, Marshal Burullo and Leftenant General Kirston reissued their orders for the Third FedCom to vacate New Aragon immediately, seeing the Katherine-sympathetic unit as a potential threat to the security of the planet. In order to circumvent Finnigan's usual excuses about ship capacities and transit issues, Kirston offered to let the Third FedCom make use of the Borderers' own DropShip and JumpShip assets, whatever it would take to get the unit offworld.
Surprisingly, Finnigan confirmed the order and replied that he would begin the mobilization process for movement off planet. Secretly he issued orders to his commanders at their bases in Dalemar and Gary to begin movement against Alexandria, where Kirston and the Borderers were headquartered.