Liberty or Death Snipped 3

Sitrep: Still plugging along with Full Circle. There is a lot of crossover material with LOD and Pi Fight.

Anyway, on to the snippet:

Chapter 3

Agnosta

Lieutenant General Jersey Forth received the request for a planetary invasion with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was nice to be appreciated. Of course it would be nicer if they'd been given some advance notice. And it would have been nice to have some intel to go along with the request.

He frowned and then put through a series of requests for more information even while he checked on the status of the forces he had in motion. The closest available was in Nuevo Madrid, Valenko's division.

In order to handle the invasion of Dead Drop they'd need downtime, resupply, and perhaps another division to go along with them. And after that he had to plan on the invasion of Garth.

That meant he needed to coordinate with the Army. Fortunately, he knew just who to call about that.

===<>===

Newly minted Brigadier General Archibald Pendeckle was in something of a dilemma career wise. He already missed exercising direct command of his division.

As Jersey's deputy he was nominally the second in command of the entire Marine Corps. Politics were starting to crop up as they slotted in personnel from Bek though.

The good news was that he was given the task of handling his old division while overseeing the formation of a new one. Recruits were still flowing in, though not as much as he'd like to see. He knew many felt the same way.

And now the request for forces to invade Dead Drop. Not good. His division could go, but the second division was far from ready. He didn't want to go off halfcocked like last time with Protodon. But, they may not be able to wait long.

He decided to block out some time to explore the problem. He was aware though that Jersey was most likely consulting the army as well as other brass. Somehow he needed to get his hands involved.

===<>===

Brigadier General Pasha 1010111 shook his head as he read the report. The promised transports had finally arrived, so boarding could commence once they got the logistics sorted out. It looked like the handover of Nuevo Madrid was going to go as planned.

Even if it was a bit late. But, better late than never he reminded himself.

From what he understood of the master plan, the plan was for Valenko's division to fall back to Protodon to rest and regroup and then either go all the way back to Agnosta, or move on to Garth. Based on what knowledge he had, the unit hadn't suffered the losses seen in Protodon or Destria. Most likely they'd have a small refit and rest cycle and then move on.

He felt for some of the men and women in that unit who wouldn't get to go home to their families. They could be gone for years on deployment. Those that had kids, they'd miss a lot. They might miss their entire developmental cycle. And there was no way they could call home and visit either. The ansible wasn't up to that bandwidth.

But, it was up for other brief conversations he thought. He needed to seek counsel from older and wiser heads. He requested some time and was grateful to get it during a brief opening in his schedule.

That meant he didn't have to move anything around. It was nice that he and Henrick operated off the same wave length despite the distances involved.

“So, Pasha, you wanted to talk? Talk?” a familiar voice growled through the ansible as it came online. After a moment the grizzled holographic bust of the general came forth. He instinctively stiffened in his seat.

“I wanted to keep you abreast of deployments sir.”

“And why is that?”

Pasha had to remind himself the other man was on Nuevo. He might be old but he was pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the man's mind or memory. That meant he was being set up. He decided to wade in to the conversation with a blunt frontal assault. “You do realize, you are the ranking member of our branch of the military correct sir? They are going to want you in Antigua eventually. So, I need to make sure you know what is going on. And get your stamp of approval or input where needed.”

“I thought you were going to say in Agnosta there for a moment,” General Anheuser replied.

“I would love to have you here. In fact, when you pass through, I fully intend to give you the full tour and pick your brain.”

“Funny that. Well, I've seen some of the images.”

“You have sir?” General 1010111 said, wrinkling his nose in confusion.

“Ships come and go from Nuevo regularly now. We get news downloads too, including video footage you know Pasha.”

“Oh,” Pasha replied, embarrassed by the minor oversight.

“Not a big deal. As to Antigua, I don't know. As I said, I won't go without Gabriella. And she's set on staying here with the kids.” He left unsaid that she was starting to have health and mind issues. “But, she keeps pushing for me to go.”

“Follow your heart or your head sir?”

“Right.”

“How goes the war?”

“You mean the one here? Not bad. We took some casualties of course, we always do. But the Spacebees and the care packages Admiral Irons passed on made a world of difference this go around. And with enough time under our belt before the next swarm we'll do even better.”

“Ah. I see.”

“I suppose it is all about managing our people and equipment effectively, and with the new tech on our hands we can do that.”

“Yes sir, there is certainly that.”

“I'm struggling to handle it to be honest. I'm not a Neodog, but the old saying about teaching an old soldier new tech still applies.”

“Old soldiers never die they just fade away. But we need your wisdom sir.”

“I know that. It's one of the reasons I've stayed on this long. That and I want to see this through, and to be honest I don't think Gabriella would let me live long in retirement. She's repeatedly said if I didn't find something to do she'd wring my neck in a heartbeat. There are only so many places we can go and visit before we're both bored to tears.”

Pasha chuckled.

“We'll see on the future and where it might lead. For the moment I'm trying to balance sending you flexible people while hanging onto some here to help run things as we reorganize. Any requests?”

“I think I like being surprised sir,” Pasha replied after a moment of thought. He didn't want to say that he didn't have any at the moment.

“Cute. An officer who likes getting surprised. Most people would consider that nuts you know that? I for one would want everything in triplicate. And I don't like to be surprised. It might keep you on your toes but it's a good way to get your ass handed to you.”

“True. But I get the reports on who you are sending anyway sir. I find out about them long before they get here.”

“Eh? Oh, the ansible. This thing. Forgot that.”

“Organic memory is fallible, which is why we have supports. No one can keep track of it all, trust me.”

“I'm learning that myself all over again. Do you really have units moving all across the sector?”

“Yes sir. Plus bases to manage. Protodon, New Texas, Nuevo Madrid, Antigua to name a few.”

“Yeah, and you want me to take all that on?”

“As I said sir, there are supports. That's what a good staff is for.”

“You mean you are feeling overwhelmed and want to pawn it off on me. I see where this is going.”

“To be honest sir, I'm still feeling my way forward. I think most of the Federation military; no matter the branch is doing that too. Even the old hands are feeling out the new situations as they arise.”

“Ah. Well, I guess I'm in good company then.”

“Yes sir.”

“I'll let you know one-way or another. Eventually.”

“Thank you sir.”