Strat-2 Chpt-11

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==Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 2Chapter 11 - Always have your contingencies in motion==
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===Maneuvering the minefields===
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"Murphy's Maxims…
…apply here." Amanda mused. They'd found a series of gullies and draws east of the spaceport. Which was set on high ground of basalt and sandstone uplift, almost a bluff fifty meters above the surrounding area.
It made for half-decent concealment for the scouts, and she'd come forward riding Trina's Roc like a horse to have a look.
<You will need to send the tracked vehicles around to the south, which is likely to be…?> Demond whispers in her brain.
"Mined." Amanda muttered, "The south and north. They didn't here, because this is bad terrain for a vehicle borne approach and too rough for most 'mechs." <Also a pain to patrol or monitor with the loose soil in the gully network.> Desmond contributed.
"The easy way is always mined, quiaff?" Trina asked over the tightbeam.
"Yeah. I think so…" she surveyed the cliff face, "I think the infantry can climb this, and your ProtoMechs, but the smart money says they've got obstacles at the peak."
"The conventional assault is not going to take the base." Trina observed, "Not against BattleMechs and fixed defenses. The problem is firepower delivery and the ability for the opposition to concentrate forces."
Amanda frowned, and in her vision, the imagery was lit with possible attack plans.
None of them worked out.
"Contingency Bravo." Amanda ruled. "Get the armored vehicles and most of the heavies from the ProtoMech star back to the Ell-zee, we're going to call in airstrikes while we're waiting, a bombing campaign to loosen them up and cut down their numbers."
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===Going over battle plan changes===
"Contingency…
…Bravo. You predicted it.", Wilhelmina noted. 
Fleet Captain Foster nodded. "I did. An airstrike and bombing campaign. She can't overcome their defenses with what ground forces we have…or at least, she does not THINK she can. Which amounts to the same thing in the end."
"You are sure she did not simply get cold feet, quineg?"
"Neg.", David asserted. "If anyone in this organization needs to learn reasonable levels of caution, that person would be Amanda Roberts. This is a good sign. She is maturing."
"So…why do you sound disappointed?", the Star Captain asked.
David chuckled and shook his head, but did not give an answer to that question, instead, "Send Binary Alpha with air superiority loads, Billie. Suppress the station using Bravo Star with alpha flying escort. For the next few days, your force, my ship's forces, and the Evanescent are going to be raising hell on the target using guided bombs, and rocket attacks. The objective is to deny the enemy rest, sleep, and material to fight with."
"You are not going to position for bombardment?"
"Neg." he denied, "we are not going to be doing that, it is not merely inefficient, but leaves nothing of value on the target to take. The enemy has civil population nearby, and those civilians are likely to be in bondage, as slaves. We are going to be very surgical until a relief force can come to help liberate the system."
Wilhemina Siegel regarded him, "You are thinking of a way to win."
"I am always thinking about ways to win, you knew that back when we were just out of Sibko." he grinned.
"And you are teaching the girl with the cybernetic augmented brain?", Siegel asked
"I am teaching the young woman. The augmentation has limits, she is going to learn to surpass them.", David explained.
Siegel laughed, "You DO love your sweet victories." she said.
"I admit I do. Let Glory-chasers have the pyrrhic ones, I like my wins to count." He turned to Mr. Johnson, "Get on commo with the Evanescent, they already know we are in contingency Bravo."
"Aye, Sir."
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===Briefing of the Ghost Bear observer===
The second battle of Michtal…
…was laid out through the principles of force multiplication, rather than brute force. This isn't that brute force wasn't involved…it was. It had to be.
"...Her initial plan is not the plan they are going to use." Seron explained to the Ghost Bear investigator. "It was, for lack of a better term, the 'best case' scenario. Such scenarios never materialize outside of regulated trials. Against Live enemies, best cases never happen when you might wish them to…thus, contingencies. Their first contingency, will be to deploy force multiplier assets. The key ones most likely to be used, are assets to improve communication and the view of the battlefield, while reducing the enemy's ability to see, to perceive, and to react."
'You are certain of this?"
"I know David Foster and I know Larry Nichols-one is a Clan trained Warship specialist. For the other, is a professional Naval officer whose presence has more to do with traitor-lord political games than actual ability." Seron explained, "Amanda and her…augmentation, make for a potent tactical asset, Foster is a strategist and Nichols is a logistical savant. They will use the enemy's strengths as levers to create weaknesses and break the defenses between the four of them."
"Four?", Ghost Bear investigator questioned
"Star Captain Siegel, who is a superb organizer and an outstanding fighter commander, her placement in Kappa Provisional Garrison Cluster has more to do with an unfortunate tendency NOT to die in combat, thus allowing her to grow 'older than the Touman finds preferable'." The almost ebony Elemental smiled, "This, Star Captain, is not glory. It is seeking victory."
"You are certain?"
"When someone grows old in a young man's game, they are, by definition, formidable players of that game."
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