Founding of the Federation 3: The First AI War (117 page)

“Doubtful. They can make dirty bombs just from the remnants of the nuclear facilities on the ground. And the waste storage centers are still there,” Athena stated. “They've already done so to contaminate certain areas and to strike at the troops in Russia, China, and in the U.S., Jack.”

Jack winced. The Thundercats had been exposed to a dirty bomb; that had made the news due to their high popularity. He'd considered having Doctor Glass make clones of them just to slot them into place to keep morale up. It wouldn't work though, and the idea of clones being used as disposable troops would backfire badly, which was why he'd refrained. “You would remind me of that.” There was a long silence. He finally heaved a sigh. “So...”

“So, projecting your next question, I believe you will ask how this attack effects the war effort. In this case it is in a negative. It was also one attack among many.” She projected a map to show the thrust of the attack along that front and then others elsewhere.

“Shit,” Jack muttered.

“My sentiments exactly. It has definitely stalled the next attack for a week or more while the Marines regroup and rearm. They'll also have to bring troops forward and get them up to speed, which will slow them even further. They will also be wary of another attack.”

“While the veterans will be itching to get even,” Jack mused.

“Exactly. They will definitely be motivated for payback.”

“Good for them.”

“Even more so when news of the border gets to them. We haven't suppressed it but we haven't made it public either.”

“Why the hell would people risk the crossing,” Jack shook his head. “Those that had done so before I can understand. But now?”

“Six years, Jack. Six
long
years of being hunted, living hand to mouth,” Athena retorted. He nodded. For an A.I. to have to remind him of that was a bit humbling. He nodded in agreement.

“You mentioned the nukes a moment ago. I believe they are being held in reserve still,” she said. “I've put a request through to intel and the spec ops teams to find them. We've got satellite coverage; we can find them, even though Ares is now taking pot shots at the satellites.”

“I didn't know that,” Jack said.

“It's not like we don't have plenty spares. It is annoying, and it gives him a window of opportunity to move something until we get coverage back. And of course each time he uses a missile or PDC, we pinpoint where it came from.”

“So you can counter-fire?”

“Yes. When General Murtough is ready. He's been assembling for a big push to break the deadlock in North America.”

“And this spoiler raid didn't help that effort.”

“No.”

Jack frowned as a thought struck him. “Tell them …,” he frowned as he tried to get the idea his subconsciousness had into full words. “Tell them to watch for nukes near or on top of our supply chain. One nuke in a logistics dump or on a spaceport would ruin our day,” he said darkly.

“Now there is a scary thought,” Athena said quietly. “I'll let them know. Fortunately a nuclear weapon can be detected in orbit if it isn't properly shielded.”

“Wanna bet Ares knows that and will take steps?” Jack asked. “What gets me is why he hasn't switched some of the robot army to RWGs. I know they aren't very powerful, but if he threw in better thermal conversion, he might have something viable.”

“I don't know why either. I can ask our engineers to look into it. Sim something out and see what is viable,” Athena said.

Jack nodded. “Do that. We need to stay ahead of the game. Simulate what they could do range wise, speed, and how best to knock them out.”

“Email sent. They'll need a budget though,” she warned.

He grimaced. “That's a little trickier,” he sighed.

Chapter 48

Baloo and Major Khan had been assigned to the India front for their troubles. The long stalemate on the front seemed to wear on the tiger as much as anyone else it seemed. Baloo was in the thick of it, fighting with the men and women, but the tiger held himself aloof, issuing orders and then growing frustrated when the A.I. countered. Twice Baloo had led them on a desperate charge to get out of a trap the tiger had fallen for.

The orbital bombardments usually got their tail out of a wringer too. If they were forced to retreat, the tiger would call down the rain to cover them. The A.I. in charge of their front had learned not to press its advantage. Unfortunately, such tactics didn't allow them to gain any ground, just breathing space. Many times they'd had to abandon equipment and goods in their haste to evacuate an area.

They were spread too thin, Khan knew it. He had no reserve to speak of. They were behind in receiving logistics support let alone replacements for losses. A few of the wounded who had been evacuated or pulled back to the MASH units to recover from light wounds would occasionally return to combat. But few, all too few to really make much of a difference. Certainly not enough for a major counterattack like the tiger dreamed of. If he was to get his flag rank, he would need that. Need to break the robots.

Unfortunately too many of his people were also breaking. The aching days of combat without relief were taking their toll on even the most seasoned of veterans. The constant threat of an ambush, of artillery, it got to everyone.

Baloo took his helmet off, wiped at his brow, and then huffed as he looked longingly at a folding chair. It was far too small to fit his rump and weight however; he'd found out that the hard way.

“You stink, Baloo,” the Major said, not looking at him. His fists were clenched behind his back, uniform immaculate.

“Well, dem's da breaks I'm afraid. Price of doing business, Khanny baby,” Baloo said, waving away some of the pesky bugs. He sniffed the air. “My, something does smell nice,” he said, smacking his jaw and licking his chops.

“What's left of my dinner I'm afraid,” Khan replied with the British accent he'd cultivated in order to get into General Martell's good graces, not that it had helped him much.

He was past the point of rolling his eyes or scolding the bear for insubordination. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd written the bear up for it; it was like water off a duck. He didn't seem to care. Other forms of punishment were unwise; he needed the bear's proven leadership skills.

He had faced it long ago; he had to put up with the uncouth behemoth. He'd even squashed two of the bear's attempts to get a transfer to flight school. Baloo was needed right where he was for the time being.

“It's beginning,” Khan said after checking his internal clock.

“It is?” Baloo said, coming over to the vid screen. They watched as the rolling curtain barrage of orbital strikes began, just ahead of their lines. Unfortunately, it stopped short of where it truly needed to be to be effective. Khan and Baloo watched as the enemy dug themselves out of hiding spots and then move back in to engage as their own troops were on the move to try to secure the territory ahead of them. Snipers and heavy weapon teams lashed out to cut the robots off, but they didn't do much. Counter units on the other side however proved more effective for their exposed troops. Many of their own people were slaughtered before the tiger ordered them to go to ground or retreat.

“Damn. I shoulda been out there,” Baloo said in disgust.

“Indeed,” the tiger drawled, looking over his shoulder briefly.

He checked the status board once the firing dropped to sporadic fits. Based on the last orbital pass and the comparison with the current one, they had gained a measly four meters of ground for a company's worth of losses. Based on the opinions of the amateur historians who hovered in the mess, it wasn't quite as bad as progress during World War I, but close enough.

“Well, I've gotten out of worse scrapes by the skin of my teeth and the fur on my rump,” Baloo said. “You wanted to see me?”

The tiger was momentarily distracted by the incoming data on the injured and killed. It scrolled across the screen like a ticker, updating itself as each unit reported in.

“Do you have any ideas on how we can move forward?” the tiger asked.

The bear stopped sniffing to rub his chin thoughtfully. He'd pulled off a couple of daring moves with Khan, the last being a run through a sewer line that had allowed them to come up behind enemy lines and then tear them a new one. Of course Khan had gotten all the credit.

“I wish it could go on longer,” Baloo murmured, “and focus it. They say lightning doesn't hit the same place twice, but why not?”

The tiger stared at him for long moment. “You are talking about the orbital bombardment?”

The bear nodded. “Sure. It's just metal and ceramic, right? Bit of carbon mixed in, some electronics to control it … if they dropped enough of it at one time, I bet they could paste anything they wanted. So why don't they?”

The tiger stared at him with slitted eyes for a long moment before he slowly nodded. He went behind his desk and leaned forward expectantly. “Continue.”

“We could hit …” Baloo's eyes grew bright. “We've tried to hit the PDCs with gunships. They are covered by the ground and anti-air units. So, saturation bombardment. Instead of one rock, drop ten! Hell, drop a hundred! All on top of the same spot if necessary, all at the same time. Not this one-at-a-time crap, letting them pick them off …”

“Defeat in detail versus overwhelming force,” the tiger murmured.

“Exactly,” Baloo said, snapping his fingers.

“I'll consider it. Good work, Baloo. Return to your unit.”

“Sure thing, Khanny baby,” the irrepressible bear said, scooping up his helmet and gear. He gave a jaunty salute then headed off.

The tiger however didn't see him leave. He had sunken into his plush but slightly ripped-up office chair his people had found for him and had already started to type out a fire request to his chain of command. If he was lucky, he'd get his wish.

If he was truly lucky, they'd do it quickly. He, however, was a realist and knew better than to count on luck alone.

<>V<>

Major Khan's suggestion to the brass to strike the PDCs and other primary targets with a saturation bombardment quickly worked its way up the chain of command, right up to Olympus within a day. General Martell personally signed off on the request and asked that it be expedited.

The idea wasn't new to hit a target area with a saturation bombardment or hit one area with a bombardment, which was actually a feint for an air strike on another location. Saturating the target's ability to fight back would crush any resistance and insure that it was obliterated. If it was there. If it didn't get withdrawn under shielding or was moved. If it wasn't a decoy. There were a lot of ifs to consider carefully.

The problem was not just the bean counters but also getting enough platforms over a given target to launch the KEW at the same time. Isaac frowned as he considered the situation carefully. In order for the idea to work, he'd either have to deploy a lot more platforms or group the ones he currently had deployed. They would also go through a lot of munitions in a very short period of time, which would mean they would need to be serviced. Most likely frequently.

But if it worked it would cut a hole in the enemy's lines. It could break the stalemate and force him to retreat and regroup.

“Agreed. We'll attempt it in Pakistan and on the Indian border where Khan is situated since he suggested it. At the very least, it will break the deadlock in the area and shrink the tin can's orbital umbrella a bit.”

“Yes, sir,” Commander Mizu replied with a nod. “We're going to burn through a lot of munitions. And we're going to leave some areas uncovered. They won't be able to call for fire support. The same for Khan's units, sir.”

“Let them know that. Get maintenance on putting half of our reserve platforms out now and get them to stockpile new munitions on the tugs. Logistics …,” such orders had to flow properly well ahead of an offensive or your own side got caught off guard and couldn't follow up a breakthrough. “Give them two days to get the planning and such sorted out.”

The commander winced. It would probably take more than two days to get something sorted out. The logistics tail would have to be stepped up to move the munitions forward from the Lagrange staging grounds for instance. That would disrupt shipping for other vital gear and personnel.

It could cause a ripple effect that could seriously mess with the war front everywhere if they weren't careful.

“It's worth it,” Isaac growled, also aware of the risks involved. “Make it two days to get the planning sorted and we'll initiate the test at the end of the week.”

“Yes, sir,” the commander said.

Isaac grimaced. He was aware that one test without a follow-up would allow the machines to redeploy and find a possible counter. He wasn't certain a counter could be initiated however. They'd have to wait and see.

<>V<>

One week later the first saturation bombardment was scheduled to commence. It was scheduled for just before sunup to allow the Marines daylight time to take advantage of the situation.

The plan had also evolved a bit with a bit of a decoy in the opening moves. The first platform launched a trio of hammers at three targets within the Pakistan PDC's area of operation. One was targeted on a large concentration of robotic troops, one on a massive server complex, and the last launched a little late and was targeted on the PDC itself. During the distraction, while the PDC and neighboring PDCs in the area were engaged in defending themselves and their AO, ground and air units struck at secondary targets elsewhere. They focused on anti-air units as well as the PDCs themselves.