The Loss of Lemuria

Even after the loss of multiple HVTs and many losses, the Pegasus PMC were still kicking. They attacked the AHA planet of Lemuria in the Somnus system with a small fleet, taking a small village on the planet hostage.

The 3rd intervened quickly and jumped into the system, charging the Pegasus ships with the AHF Arrowhead at the front of the attack along with the RE’s Defiance. SFC Marovski was deployed in his personal “Phantom” class fighter to shield our larger ships from enemy bombers and he was quickly engaged in a furious dogfight with an unidentified enemy ace that was taking down friendly bombers. Once a path was cleared POLARIS calculated a vector for our carriers (led by the Castellum) to move along and they reached the surface without issue.

The 1st combined arms brigade of the armoured infantry division deployed from the carriers and Riflemen Pines and Hawthorne along with Sergeant scouted ahead, taking down multiple enemy soldiers and mortar crew and confirming that there were civilians in the AO. As Hawthorne advanced into the village the 3rd surrounded the village with light vehicles of the light vehicle regiment, picking off the Pegasus hostiles on the edges of the village and being careful not to hit civilians, the paladin tank company didn’t engage yet due to the indiscriminate nature of their guns and infantry began to push forward despite fire from enemy mortars.

As the RE and AHA forces in orbit continued to clean out Pegasus presence, our men pushed into the centre of the village where a large amount of civilians where being held along with Rifleman Hawthorne who was captured while assisting civilians in their escape but managed to escape quickly. The Pegasus captain present demanded that the AHA withdraw or the civilians pay the price when POLARIS launched multiple deactivated shells from orbit, causing the Pegasus men to take cover and be easily neutralised. This manoeuvre was risky and unauthorised but did end up being effective.

The battle seemed to be won either the AHA and RE winning in orbit and the village almost completely liberated when a massive amount of IMC forces warped into orbit. They refused to respond to communications and then opened fire. Destroying multiple AHA craft and damaging the defiant while I ordered a retreat. It is now confirmed that these were the mechanised forces of the rogue AI Orion. Ground forces attempted an immediate evacuation but many were caught by an orbital bombardment, including the entirety of the Paladin tank company who could not board their carrier in time. Two more carriers were shot down and the Arrowhead took heavy damage as the 3rd left the system. Pegasus forces also retreated as soon as they saw IMC IFFs, not wanting to get involved with the megacorporation.

Since then Orion has taken the entire Somnus system and 1st, 3rd and 4th battalion forces have formed a blockade to prevent its forces from leaving. It’s unclear what its motives are or what exactly it’s doing in AHA space. What we do know is that this is likely the start of a long campaign to retake Lemuria and free its people, to halt Orion and defend the AHA’s worlds from this robotic menace.