Shelby Logan 10 Snippet 5

 

Chapter 5

 

New Tau Metropolis, Tau sector

 

Shelby felt like the pieces were beginning to fall into place, but they could easily come apart at any moment.

Obadiah had his yard dogs humming with the rebuild project. Admiral Irons’ idea to draw in the support of the worlds around the naval base had proven enormously helpful. The representatives and senators had gone to bat on the hill in support of the base… naturally of course since they saw it as an opportunity for their businesses and trade to thrive.

That had sold the project on the hill despite opposition from Bek.

They had also pushed for the base to the north. That was an ongoing project she knew. She hated that the communication lines were so fragmented there at the moment. Hopefully Cynthia was okay. She wouldn’t feel comfortable until there was an ansible in place and Rick was up there.

She was still on the fence about bringing the Taurens in. On the one hand, they may need all hands on deck. But on the other… they’d been shooting at each other not so long ago, and the Taurens had a loyalty issue still with their aborted civil war.

“Penny for your thoughts ma’am?” Boni, her AI asked whimsically.

“Just… thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And some things make for strange bed fellows,” Shelby replied.

Boni smiled on her HUD.

“How are we with the troops?”

“Another saying for you, a body in motion…?” Boni replied. “So far so good. They are marching to the sound of the guns, which is the important thing at the moment.”

“Are there guns sounding off on T-15?” Shelby asked.

“A recent artillery strike on refugee vehicles. No other shots fired at the moment. They are contained.”

“I doubt that,” Shelby murmured. “Somehow, I doubt that very much.”

<<(O)>>

Purple Nights

 

Secretary of State Moira Sema was cautiously pleased with the long hours of work with her Tauren counterpart and their respective staffs on the new treaty. The new agreement with the Taurens was for mutual defense against the Xeno-Necron alliance to the north.

The Confederation was still getting their house in order but Admiral Irons and the Tauren President’s broadcast about the threat had ended a lot of insurrection overnight. No one wanted to rock the boat. In fact, many personnel who had resigned in protest over the surrender or had refused to fight their own people were asking to be let back in.

She shook her head. That was not her problem of course. The Taurens had to figure it out on their own. Clearly trust would be a long term issue. What was her problem was to make it all work somehow. Give them a framework to shape protocol to keep everyone in line and on their best behavior.

They were about to test the waters with the agreement for Ninth Fleet to transit through Confederation space. Transiting through Confederation space would cut the transit time to the north by months. It also would allow the fleet to show the flag, which would hopefully put any further thoughts of rebellion to rest in the restive territory.

Picking up some Confederation ships to ally with them would be nice. They were still working on that. They did agree to have guides to escort the fleet, however the navy was concerned about the Tauren ships being able to keep up.

From what her people were reporting, the Taurens had similar concerns.

<<(O)>>

Minox IV

 

“So… what gives skipper?” Sergeant Bolt asked with a frown as he came up to the lieutenant. He flick his long ears at his boss.

“We’ve been reassigned,” the lieutenant said. She looked a little nonplussed but then interested.

The Serval blinked. “Okay…?” he drawled.

The LT eyed him. “You heard about the mess in T-15?”

The Neocat nodded. His long ears flicked again and then went back as the implications sunk in. It was going to mean a long transit in stasis as a popsicle and then possible combat.

“They are giving an ollie ollie in free call to all troops in the area. So, we’re going.”

Bolt blinked. “So, the contact and inspection mission?”

“On hold. Clearly the Taurens here are behaving themselves. We’ve recruited some of their alien population to do the job for us.”

Bolt nodded. They had established that much. There had been some strides in integrating the various species too. Not great ones, but some strides.

“We move out in two hours, so get your people squared away and to the LZ. Oh, and we’re not going alone.”

“Ma’am?”

“We’re taking a couple squads of Taurens with us.”

The Serval blinked in surprise at that news and then his eyes narrowed.

“It is going to get crowded in Marine country, at least until we get into stasis. I want everyone on their best behavior. We need to be one big happy family.”

“Aye aye ma’am,” the cat said with a wary nod. This is going to be… interesting, he thought with a slight shake of his head as she dismissed him.

<<(O)>>

President Scar Chin studied the reports and then sat back and rubbed his brow. It was a lot to take in.

His peripheral vision caught movement. He turned and noted a distant ship was moving under power. He puzzled over it and why it was triggering something in his mind before he realized it was most likely the Feds.

The Fed cruiser was moving their Marines out to T-15 as quickly as possible. They were even taking a squad of Taurens with them.

He wished them luck. They were definitely going to need it.

<<(O)>>

Sergeant Bolt nodded to his troops.  They'd left one fire team behind to man the embassy, such as it was. Hopefully, the brass would send in additional people soon.

The serval's eyes moved to the Taurens. He flicked his long ears. They seemed uncomfortable, but it wasn't because of the enclosed space. None had been on a Federation ship, and they had been shooting at each other not so long ago.

There were two squads of them. Some were young, only two were older. Only one was a noncom. He had yet to get together with the bull. He hoped that they'd get along; he didn't need a pissing match.

He glanced at the Marines across from the Taurens. Come to think of it, some of his people weren't too comfortable with them on board either.

"Okay, listen up. We've got a ride to the combat zone. We're going to spend it in stasis. We're going to go into stasis in two days."

The troops looked concerned.

"I'm taking that time to get aquainted. We need to get up to speed on each other and tech. I know it isn't enough. I've asked the captain to wake us one week out from our destination so we squeeze in any additional training. Any questions?"

A few people looked ready to say something but he rolled right over them. Most likely they were protests.

"Good. Remember, one big happy family at the moment. I don't know what our assignments are when we get there but I want us working smoothly when we do. That way we can hit the ground running. Right?"

That last word came out as a command growl. Instinctively, the troops all stiffened and nodded.

"Good," he said with a slight ear flick of amusement. "Kit check-in ten then inspection, then we get to the nitty gritty on the range to zero in and get aquainted. Then we'll break into fire teams to hit the dojo and simulation time. One third on, one third racked out, one third doing our usual duties and rotate. I'm going to see the XO on that. You've got until I'm done to get squared away. Help each other," he said.

He knew there was going to be resentment and even an instinctive desire to let the Taurens hang, also competition. Well, he would deal with each as it came up. He could handle competition. A little healthy competition was good.

"Get on it, people," he growled as he about-faced and left the compartment.

<<(O)>>

"Sergeant Bolt?" the Tauren who came up behind Bolt said.

"Yes … ah ...?" he frowned. He'd instinctively tried to ping the Tauren with his implants but hadn't gotten a response.

"Sergeant Gros. My people are having trouble accessing some facilities."

"I'm noticing that and the why now. I'm sorry we haven't gotten together for a pow wow before," the serval said.

The Tauren nodded. "We were thrown together. I was a corporal up until a few hours ago."

"Well, that solves the question of who ranks who."

"Oh, you do, Sergeant."

"Nice that we've got the pecking order established, the smaller being stated. He felt a bit ludicrious next to the bigger alien. "Do you have a counterpart in the other squad?"

"Sergeant Toa. He's also new. You'll find that we are … green."

"How green?" the serval asked as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"As in most of us are straight out of boot?" the Tauren replied.

"Oh, lovely," the serval replied. "Well, at least you haven't picked up any bad habits," he said.

The Tauren nodded. "Toa and I were top of our class. I just finished advanced training and they, well, dumped us in this mission."

"I see. Well, the good news is that we've got time to sort things out."

"Yeah, like access to things? Even the head is locked. It is called a head, right?"

"Yes," the serval said. His mental evaluation of the Tauren went up a point. "Okay, we need to get you ID tags or get your tags integrated with ours." He saw the Tauren's ears droop and then perk up. "Do you have tags?"

"No. We have basic ID tags but not internal like you do."

"Ah. Well, good news is, they are easy. Just go to medical, they program the ID, it is a big pill or two, swallow, and in the morning you wake up with a basic ID and HUD."

"No pain?"

"Nope. It gives us a link to you so the AI knows who you are and will let you into areas of the ship you are authorized to be in. And it IDs you on the battlefield to us and to each other."

The Tauren nodded. "Good to know."

"If you have advanced implants, it gets better. But let's go see what the brass has in mind for you."

"Ah … yeah."

"I know, don't poke the bear or in this case the brass. In this case, it is a decision above our pay grade so we gotta," the serval said with an ear flick. "Let me take the lead."

"Ah, yes, Sergeant." The Tauren nodded.

Bolt nodded and motioned for the Tauren to follow him.

<<(O)>>