Merkiaari Wars: 03 - Operation Oracle Read Online Free PDF

thought or did was so alien? It was something very much on his mind since arriving in the Shan system. He had to find a way to slot them into his calculations.
    He had drafted some ideas, but hadn’t yet tried to test them. A simulation on such a scale would take time and resources only found on Snakeholme under the mountain. The regiment’s archive was more than a data depository. Its hugely powerful computers were constantly running his Alliance simulation. It had long since outgrown his aging viper brain and processor. He feared the day when it outgrew its current home because the hardware was cutting edge and further upgrades were impossible. There was nothing better anywhere in the Alliance, except perhaps for the handful of surviving A.Is quarantined and protected. No one but their caretakers and the Council ever had access to those immensely powerful minds.
    Burgton frowned as the familiar frustration swamped his brain. An A.I would solve his problem; they were orders of magnitude more powerful than any current computer despite being built centuries ago. Modern computers were designed with built in limitations to prevent a recurrence of the Hacker Rebellion. Neural interfaces were banned for the same reason. Burgton always suspected that was one of the reasons the Council betrayed him back then. Vipers had neural interfaces, and the old A.Is predated the ban.
    “General?” Admiral Kuzov said and Burgton made his frown disappear. “You disagree?”
    Burgton quickly scanned his log. Kuzov was asking if he disagreed with Colonel Jung’s proposal regarding Cragg’s troop ship. The presentation was over.
    “No, Admiral. I was considering my men’s part in Colonel Jung’s ops plan. Unless you decide to go against all custom and standing orders to bombard the troop ship from orbit—something I doubt but would applaud you for, sir—you will need my men to recon ahead of the advance.”
    Admiral Kuzov nodded. “That is the usual procedure against Merki I believe.”
    Burgton smiled. Kuzov was a spacer through and through. Give him a ship and a battle in space—even against Merkiaari—and he was in his element. Here though, he was out of his comfort zone and drawing upon historical ground battles against the Merki for his inspiration. His personal experience of fighting Merkiaari extended only to the battles he had observed on Harmony these past months. Admiral Meyers had commanded the only action in space here in Shan space.
    Colonel Jung stirred. “If I may, Admiral?”
    Kuzov nodded.
    “I think General Burgton’s men should be held in reserve this time around. His force is much diminished, and to be blunt, I feel they’ve bled enough.”
    Burgton allowed a small smile onto his lips. What Jung said was true. He had brought six hundred and forty units with him, and less than two hundred remained operational. Two hundred vipers could take out most Merki targets, but he wasn’t averse to resting his men. It was good that the other forces gained experience against the Merkiaari. This incursion wouldn’t be the last and he couldn’t be everywhere. Jung wasn’t thinking of his men though, Burgton was sure. She was worried that her chance at a resounding victory and the promotion attached to it was slipping from her grasp. If vipers went in, even as an advance force, people wouldn’t remember that Jung had commanded or that the 2 nd Faragut Strike Force had provided the firepower to win the battle. As soon as vipers were mentioned, all attention would be on them. Burgton understood Jung’s position and sympathised to a degree, but he didn’t like what it said about her that she was willing to put her men at greater risk. Then again, this was war and risk was endemic.
    “General, your opinion?” Kuzov said.
    Burgton glanced at the Shan representatives. The two males watched everything and let nothing slip. He thought they were here not to discuss the coming fight but rather to study the Humans in a