Commander Ferrari, his Chief Technician, and his Chief Information Officer sat around a large conference table onboard the Levitano.

Ferrari started, “First off, is there any new word on the ghouls found up in the mountains?”

“No sir.” The information officer answered. “We are still combing the surrounding area and interrogating the villagers, but so far, we do not know how the ghouls arrived.”

“Let’s keep an eye on that. I am reticent to commit troops to the area since it could very well be a ploy. At this point, I still don’t know what game he is playing.”

“Yes sir.” Came the unquestioning reply.

“Alright then, about the drones. The drones made it through undetected?” Commander Ferrari asked.

“Five did. They are in the cloud.” His chief tech told him.

“And they have taken readings?” Ferrari asked.

“Yes.” Came the reply.

“Are they still undetected?” Ferrari continued.

“As far as we know.” Came the reply.

The missiles that had made it through the canons in the feint on Arenzano had been filled with more than just explosive warheads. Each missile had been fitted with an attached aerial drone. When the missiles entered the cloud hovering over the city, they released their drones before releasing their payload. The drones had been circulating throughout Arenzano, Genoa, and Parma since the attack. They had been collecting data and sending it wirelessly to Commander Ferrari on the Levitano.

“What do the scanners show about the cloud’s composition?” Ferrarri asked.

“There is nearly one hundred percent relative humidity throughout the cloud. The aerosols are typical for stratiform clouds. In essence, it is simply a thick fog.”

“A true fog of war.” Ferrari quipped. “Anything else?”

“Yes Commander. The humidity is not uniform throughout the cloud. In fact, it is thickest around the Genoa Port. We have some theories.”

“Spill them.”

“There is a cavity in the fog near the center of the Piazza de Ferrari. A column of hot air is jettisoned upward through this cavity. The column spreads out as it gets higher up in the troposphere. The air in the occupied zones is, somehow, kept cool and dry despite this heating device, which sets an upper limit on the fog and creates the conditions necessary for it. We are studying the air around the heating column to see if it has a unique composition.”

“About the humidity, doctor.”

“Yes, we have undeveloped theories on how the conditions for the fog are created and maintained, but for your purposes we have another important theory.”

Commander Ferrari twirled his index finger in the air as if to tell the scientist to get to the point.

“The humidity is lower in Parma than Arenzano and lower in Arenzano than in Genoa. There is only one heating column. We believe this indicates that the range of the cloud is limited.”

“Ah. How limited?”

“Maintaining the fog requires very specific humidity and a certain dew point. We do not believe that he could expand the fog beyond fifty miles outside of its current boundaries.”

“Assuming, of course, that he only has one heating column.”

“Among other assumptions, yes.”

Ferrari turned to the CIO, “About the troop movements.”

“Yes, as we discussed, Arenzano is dug in. Between the cannons and the fortifications, we do not see a way into the city without heavy bombing. Even if the ghouls take shelter as they did in the flyover, the automated defense systems will make it difficult to get personnel carriers in. We must breach their first line of fortification in order to achieve anything.”

“We cannot do that without heavy losses. Hell, we may not be able to do it at all. I have studied the Arenzano defenses; they are dug in deeper than termites.”

“Agreed.”

“Parma?”

The CIO elaborated, “Indeed, Parma is a different story. Parma can be attacked from any direction. To the west, the fog obscures enemy movement. From the drones, we know that they have cannons guarding the roads leading in from Genoa. They transport supplies back and forth along the western cloudline. With the drones, we can track these movements. The cannons around the city are more diffuse. There are gaps. They apparently have not had the time or resources to fortify a complete border around the city. The back of the city is the weakest, probably because of the cloud cover. Also, the civilian settlements there on the far west side are minimal. We can track the supply movements and the guard rotations in that area with the drones.”

“So, their supplies are coming in on the SP359 through Fidenza. That explains why they destroyed the bridges and set cannons up along the Taro river.”

“Yes, with the drones, we can monitor their movements and slip an army in between the cannons and the city just to the east of Fidenza. There would be some cannons to deal with and the ghouls around Noceto seem well-armed, but if we can bypass them, then we could seize the city from the inside. Their forces are spread out in a wide arc around the borders. If we can fill the city, then we can take it from the inside out.”

“We could also save lives. If we take the city from the inside, then we minimize civilian casualties.”

“If there are any civilians left. You know what they are saying.”

“That the civilians are being converted to ghouls. Of course I know. If there are civilians left, then we will save them and we will be heroes. Either way, this is both the best tactical plan and a humanitarian plan. It is like having your cake and eating it. Take the city and appear to save lives.”

“We actually might save lives.”

“Of course.”