James Kurenai
Sarna News
James Kurenai | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Draconis Combine |
| Career | |
| Rank | Tai-sho[1] |
| Profession | MechWarrior[1] |
James Kurenai was the commanding officer of the Third Dieron Regulars during the War of 3039.[1]
History[edit]
In 3039, Tai-sho Kurenai and the Third Dieron Regulars were tasked with liberating the world of Konstance from the joint Federated Suns/Lyran Commonwealth task force that had conquered it earlier in the year. Arriving in the system on 19 August, memories of the Third Dieron's bloody encounters with Lyran forces in the Fourth Succession War pushed Kurenai to order an orbit-to-surface drop within ten kilometers of the Fourth Lyran Regulars' base in the city of Lazarus Bay. The more numerous Fourth Lyran Regulars sent two battalions to destroy Kurenai's headquarters and the artillery batteries placed around it, proceeding uncontested until making a sudden shift around a series of earthworks designed to protect the Dieron infantry. Operating instinctively, Kurenai lead his command company into the Lyran assault force's flank in the midst of their maneuver, catching the enemy off-guard and causing them to believe they faced a far larger force. While this action caused damage to every BattleMech in Kurenai's company, the shame of being routed by a force a sixth of its size would haunt the Fourth Lyran Regulars for decades to come.[1]
When the Lyrans retreated into the defenses of Lazarus Bay, the surviving elements of the Twenty-second Dieron Regulars—present on Konstance since the initial FedSuns/Lyran invasion—reinforced the Third Dieron Regulars with the strength they needed to breach the city's perimeter. In the following two days of fighting, Kunrei's soldiers and the city itself suffered heavy damage, while the mercenary Mobile Fire lost its commander the Fourth Lyrans were pushed off of Konstance entirely. Neither Kurenai nor Sho-sho Tatyana Sobiroff of the Twenty-second Dieron wished to repeat the losses of Lazarus Bay while ousting the Fourth Crucis Lancers, leading to a six-week-long siege of the planetary capital. The Draconis Combine forces lacked the strength to dislodge the Fourth Lancers, while the Lancers did not have the firepower to force a breakout from the capital.[1]
The impasse ended when the Fourth Lancers received orders from their high command to withdraw from Konstance in late October. Major General Charles Duncan met with Kurenai two days later and, after exchanging compliments and threats of mutual destruction, both officers agreed that further loss of life would be a waste. Kurenai offered to allow Duncan's soldiers to retreat with their honor intact and Konstance once more became a part of the Combine with the Lancers' final departure on 12 November.[1]