He continued moving other squares of blue-painted wood. “Meanwhile, we push a team of gunwalkers around to the east side of the pyramid…here, to give us a tacsit on that side. It’ll help compensate for not having remote probes, and they’ll be in a position to intercept enemy reinforcements moving to the objective.
“At the same time, we’ll have two full companies on the ground, ready to roll at the east end of the compound. As soon as the lead Dragon makes its move, they rush the base of the pyramid and start moving up. They’ll throw up a defensive perimeter around the pyramid itself and catch any Frogs coming down the pyramid trying to escape the airmobile assault.”
“I wish to stress that the taking of prisoners is vital at this stage of the mission,” General King said. “We need to capture and identify their leaders if we wish to open negotiations with them.”
“Does anybody know what their leaders look like yet, sir?” Warhurst asked with a smile.
“We’re…working on that,” Ramsey replied. “If we can take some live prisoners this time and if our Sumerian experts can talk with them, we have a chance. Ideally, we’ve hurt them bad enough already that we can negotiate a truce, hang on to what we have here, until the relief expedition arrives.” He looked squarely at Norris. “That assumes, of course, that the Ahannu can be reasoned with.”
“I’ll be blunt, gentlemen, ladies,” King said. “This is the critical stage of Operation Spirit of Humankind…critical to our survival, not just the success of the mission. Most naval personnel have remained on board the Derna, with Admiral Vincent Hartman directing salvage and recovery operations. However, it is unlikely at this juncture that they will be able to repair the ship’s main power plant. With luck, they may regain sensor and communications capability—which means access to the net once again. We cannot afford to wait for that eventuality, however.
“With the destruction of the Algol, our supply situation is precarious at best. I believe Major Anderson has some figures for us?”
“Yes, sir. From what I’ve been able to ascertain so far, water supplies in the city are adequate. We have access to the Saimi-Id River at the west end of the compound, and nanoprocessors are being set up to filter out pollutants…and to watch for any unpleasant surprises the natives may slip into the water upstream.
“Expendable ammunition is tight on the ground right now, especially smart-grenades and DNM-85, but the situation will ease as more supply LMs come down from the Regulus. Total expendable ammunition is not a problem at this time.
“Food, however, is. We have enough packaged food for perhaps six weeks, mostly T-rations and hotpacks. I’m told that with strict rationing, our nanoprocessors may be capable of extending that limit to two, maybe three months, but they have a limited daily output…not enough to handle over a thousand people for six months.”
“There you have it,” King said. “If we are to survive until the relief expedition arrives, we must gain access to native food sources and ascertain which ones are safe for human consumption. That means we either capture and hold the region surrounding the city in order to forage for our own supplies, or we negotiate with the locals for native food shipments.”
“Assuming we can trust them not to poison us,” Master Sergeant Vanya Barnes said, a growl in her voice. “You ask me, the only way to secure this fucking mudball is to wipe ’em out to the last freakin’ Frog.”
“That will do, Master Sergeant,” Ramsey said sharply. “The Corps is not in the business of genocide.” He looked at Norris. “However, we will employ whatever level of force is necessary in order to safeguard the mission and our personnel.”
“That’s obvious,” Norris said with a bitter laugh. “You’ve already used nukes.”
Ramsey ignored the comment. “Captain Warhurst. It appears to me you’ve already made personnel selections for your operation.”
“Yes, sir. First and 3rd Companies for the ground assault. The airmobile element will be volunteer, of course.”
“Who do you have in command of the air assault?”
“Me. Sir.”
Ramsey raised an eyebrow at that. “Not exactly according to doctrine.”
“With respect, sir, there’s damned little about this operation that’s going down according to doctrine. I can’t ride herd on my people through the net, can’t maintain a coherent picture of the battlefield from my LMCP. So I’m going along. Sir.”
Ramsey nodded. “Very well, Captain. I understand. And…good luck to you.”