am

there are now more command-grade generals than battalions. It is a strange way to run an army.
I recognize the generals and two of the colonels from news broadcasts and meetings I have monitored. I face the officers and Party officials responsible for the creation of propaganda, the seizure of privately held property, the placation and control of urban subsistence recipients, and the conversion of property into currency used to fund POPPA's social and environmental programs. I do not feel particularly honored by their visit.
General Teon Meinhard gazes up at my turret for several seconds before clearing his throat to speak. "Well, now, we've come to give you a medal, y'see. A nice, shiny one. It'll look good, welded up there with the others. It's a public service award. The highest we have. We're here to commend you for the heroic assault you made, defending the public good."
"That is appreciated, General. It is not easy to destroy seven 10cm mobile Hellbores shooting at you from behind cover."
The general blinks in evident surprise. "Hellbores? I'm not talking about destroying any Hellbores." He shoots a suspicious glance at Sar Gremian. "Is that what did this?" He waves one hand at the destruction surrounding us. "Hellbores? Where in blazes did common criminals get their hands on something like that? I didn't know we even had Hellbores!"
I am appalled by the general's utter lack of information on the battles that have been waged in the past several hours. A general who remains totally ignorant of the basic facts surrounding the heaviest military engagement since the Deng invasion is not worth his weight in mud. Sar Gremian explains the situation to General Meinhard in openly contemptuous terms, an attitude I suspect is well-earned. The other officers smirk and even the civilians appear to be concealing derisive expressions. I begin to think it would have been no great loss if General Meinhard and the officers with him had been quartered on Nineveh Base, rather than living off post in a wealthy civilian section of Madison, which are the official addresses on record for these officers.
When Sar Gremian completes his brief situation report, I seek clarification.