“In the recon role, weaponry is cut back to a bare minimum in favor of additional sensor systems, which simultaneously allows us to add additional cells, reduce overall power requirements, and substantially upgrade sensor capability. A Marine in standard armor configuration has an endurance of less than four hours under sustained combat conditions; in recon configuration, his endurance is over fifty hours, he can sustain speeds of sixty kilometers per hour even through rough terrain, and he can ‘see’ much better. The trade off is that his offensive power is little greater than that of a Marine in standard battle dress.”

He paused and watched his audience’s faces as if to be certain they were with him, and Honor nodded.

“All right, what I intend to do is use my two squads of recon-configured armor as scouts. Once we know an incident is under way, the scouts will go out looking for potential hostiles and attempt to identify them so that air strikes can interdict them short of the enclaves if at all possible. They’ll have the speed and sensor capability to cover lots of ground, and their armor should protect them from anything the natives have. Major Isvarian assures me that not even a Medusan nomad can hide from full-range battle armor sensors if we know his general area, so even if they’re pushed back into the enclaves, I anticipate developing reasonably complete tactical data from them.

“The third squad of battle armor will be configured for maximum combat capability and stationed centrally within the enclaves. As information on enemy movements comes in, it will be shifted in response. Given the firepower each Marine will represent, I can probably deploy them by sections or even in two-man teams to deal with anything short of a massed charge, and they’ll represent my primary striking force.” He paused and frowned slightly. “I’d really prefer, in some respects, to use them as my reserve, instead, given their mobility and combat power, but I’m afraid they’ll prove too valuable in the offensive role to make that practical.

“In the meantime, however, I intend to break up two of my other three platoons and integrate their personnel with Major Isvarian’s NPA troopers. Our people have better armor and generally more powerful weapons than the NPA, and they’re trained for full-dress combat situations, while the NPA are primarily policemen. I’d like to hand them out on a squad basis, attached to experienced NPA platoon or company-level commanders to supplement their firepower and tactical flexibility. At the same time, I want to cross-attach at least one NPA officer who knows the terrain well to my heavy-armored squad. If possible, I’d like more than one member of the NPA, in case I have to split the squad, since getting maximum utility out of our people will require their knowing exactly where they’re going and exactly what the ground will look like once they get there.

“With our Marine elements in support, the NPA will then provide the primary perimeter control force. Its assigned mission will be to cover the enclaves and pin down any attackers until the heavy-armored squad or even scouts in the vicinity can deal with the attack. They will be instructed not to expose themselves to avoidable casualties, since they’ll be much less well-protected, but they should be able to take care of themselves if they’re forced into sustained action.