“Sir, we have reports of landings on the beach to the south. We should send artillery to defend the southern suburbs.”

“My guns and tracks could be in defensive positions by dark.” the artilley commander studied the map and pointed to key junctions, “Here and….”

“No!” Janssen interrupted, “Carry on with this assault as planned.”

“Commander, any organised landing force has to be better armed and more of a threat than this rabble.”

“You can deal with it later. What is the point of defending against attack from outside if we allow this…. this disease to fester in the body of our city.” It was the nearest Janssen ever got to eloquence, but no-one recorded it. Moments later shells from the strafing Cicciles, a combination of tracer and armour piercing, tore through the softskins and command centre. Bombs from the Wasps fell amongst the artillery. Two of the heavy guns were put out of commission. The heavy tracks suffered only minor damage, but most of their crews had been in the open and most of the vehicles suffered casualties. Secondary explosions from fuel and shells caused even more damage.