Liberty or Death Snippet 4

Sitrep: I'm still driving Wayne nuts but skipping around with writing Full Circle. Getting there though, faster than ever. Mainly because I added a lot of crossover material.

Anyway, on to the snippet:
Still in chapter 3:

Nuevo Madrid

 

Colonel Valenko Kodiak received the news of his impending movement with typical Russian fatalistic charm. He shrugged it off when his staff reported it. “I'll believe it when I see it.”

“Yes sir.”

“It is months away. They were supposed to get them moving months ago. So, we'll make do as we always do.”

“Yes sir. So, we're overseeing the security of the new line of elections coming up. They are the primaries, so projections on turn out are mixed.”

The bear grunted.

One of their jobs now that the planet had been declared more or less secure was to make sure it stayed that way. His marines were spread out with militia groups securing strategic locations while turning control and the day to day management of towns and cities over to the natives.

But big events still had their interest. It was ripe for trouble, so his people were on hand to quell any activities, hopefully before it got out of hand. The natives were grateful for their work in making certain the Horathians and their partisans didn't get too feisty with their brand of domestic terrorism.

Given that they were releasing the news from the ansible about the war he knew that a lot of the reactions had been killed. Why go through the trouble of making yourself a target if the Horathians were losing the war? According to his intel team, the pirates were having a hell of a time retaining their people let alone recruiting replacements or getting supplies.

That didn't stop them from causing problems anyway though, he reminded himself. He had no intention of becoming complacent. Which was why he kept a keen eye on things.

There were several political movements ongoing on the planet. One was enthusiastic about joining the Federation and breezily assured him and others that everyone would fall into line when they saw the benefits. State Department was involved there but overworked.

He took that one with mixed feelings and a healthy dose of salt. The same with their polling numbers. They still had to send people to go door to door to gather information and he doubted they were getting accurate numbers. Especially when sometimes they were doing it in the dead of winter.

The second major group wanted their star system to remain neutral. A faction of it wanted both sides, both the pirates and the Federation kicked out. He sympathized in a way.

A third faction was aligned with the Horathians, but had taken a less strident tone. They were aligned with the neutrals to some degree but still spouted some of the rhetoric from the Horathians. His spooks had talked him into letting them be. It sickened him to see such drivel, but it was important to let them speak their minds.

Besides, they were a small group and they were being closely watched. The moment they stepped out of line he'd step on them. He was certain they knew it. They also probably knew his people were watching for signs of coordination or communications with any surviving pirates out there.

Which made them very respectful of the bear, he thought with a brief mental smirk.

“We're two weeks out from the primaries and no clear sign of who will come out on top. We also have some issues with some of the players involved, not that we can come out for or against anyone in particular at the moment,” Captain SG Demi Aliana, their resident staff intelligence officer stated.

The bear grunted again, this time in irritation. You know what they say about underdogs. Everyone rooted for them from time to time so you couldn't quite count them out. In his line of work, it was smart to pay attention to them. There was no telling what they might try to do. Probably something stupid.

“The local law let us know yesterday evening that someone was sniffing around their armories,” Demi went on.

The bear blinked. “When did this come in?”

“After midnight. They spotted a few people casing the joint during the day. They didn't think it was important until someone tried to pick the lock that evening. They sent over the footage. The computers are processing it now.”

He nodded once. That explained why she looked a little tired. He wanted them to get a jump on such activities. “What sort of thing do they have in their inventory? Anything we need to be worried about?”

“It's a sheriff's armory. Ammunition, some non-lethals we gave them. Some flashbang ordinance, some armor and tools of their trade. Dangerous, but not as dangerous as a militia group or one of our armories.”

“Still, it's pretty ballsy of someone to case the joint. Could it be misdirection? See if we react?” Major Chase Rice, the Neodog XO asked.

“Possible. I'm taking it seriously since we want to establish good ties with the local law. But we're playing backup, I don't want to come in and step on their toes. There is no sign of corruption,” she pointed out.

The Neodog flicked his ears and nodded once. He turned to the bear. “I say we let her play it out sir,” he said.

Valenko nodded. “Agreed. I think we can let people know the army is on their way too. But make sure they don't know the timetable.”

“A problem of victory disease sir?” Captain JG Leena Chen, the head of logistics asked.

“No, more of a reminder that we've got backup coming and it's not wise to start something they know they can't finish. How are we with the outreach program?”

“Better with the medical and schools than in other ways. We've had some invitations to play games or visit people recently. Some of it is politically motivated of course. And recruiting is up...”

===<>===

Pyrax

 

Commodore I'r'll stood at attention as Admiral Subert pinned her new pips on during the promotion ceremony. The ceremony was brief; Admiral Subert wasn't that much of an orator and they all had work to do.

Still, it was nice to be acknowledged, and the promotion to Senior Grade made her feel all of the long nights and days were worth it. It also meant that the navy saw her potential and were grooming her for bigger and better things eventually.

Which was no surprise, though she was surprised when the news came in that her promotion to Commodore came with a ticket on the courier to the war front. That news came in the following morning when she reported for duty.

She immediately alerted her staff and then called Admiral Subert as she scanned the orders again.

“Commodore? I see you received orders,” Admiral Subert said as his A.I. informed him of the likely reason for the call. His fleshy appendages the humans called lips seemed to frown slightly. He was clearly not amused by the lack of foreknowledge on his part.

“I see the orders came from Antigua. I thought for a moment there I did something wrong,” the newly minted Veraxin flag officer stated. She should feel elated over the reprieve from him and from being under the thumb of some of the Bekian flag officers who had just came in. But she wasn't, not quite.

“No, you didn't. You did something right, which is a part of the problem I suppose,” Admiral Subert replied dryly. He shook his head. “Seriously Commodore, you did good work. Which is why you are being rewarded. At least, I assume it is a reward. I don't know what your mission will be. I don't even know if the brass know.”

He'd pushed hard to get her the promotion with the review boards. He'd even passed over Admiral Irons favorite Captain Sindri in order to make sure I'r'll got her just deserts. He hadn't known it would cost him her services though.

“I saw that my orders were open ended. I assumed I'd spend time in the yard in Antigua. Now I'm wondering if it is Senka or some other posting.” The Veraxin signaled first degree uncertainty. “Well, I suppose I'll find out when I get to wherever I'm going. Without any time off I might add.”

“I'm more concerned about what they want me to do. Am I supposed to run a tender? A mobile yard or something? Protodon has a small yard. It'd be a bit of a letdown to go from this to that.”

“True. I understand Senka is also agitating for its own yard. Perhaps Admiral Irons has that in mind.”

“You don't know sir?”

“All I know at this point is to get you in motion. Training your replacement is going to be a pain in the ass.”

“Yes sir. I understand there are several yard dogs coming in from Bek.”

The admiral cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yes well, we'll see.”

“Yes sir.”

===<>===

Admiral Subert hit the disconnect and then sat back. The more things seemed to settle down, the more someone had to throw a monkey wrench into things. It was as if someone didn't want him to become complacent and comfortable. He had to admit, it was a failing of his, to coast.

Losing the Veraxin was irksome, but there were replacement officers now. Not one he felt he could trust as well as her, but he'd have to learn to adapt. But that wasn't the only source of his ire. No, he was increasingly not happy with the parlous state of affairs with Third Fleet. He did have to admit he had more carriers than Home Fleet. But his force was a paper tiger, a shadow of its former self.

And TF 3.2 and all the deployments were to blame. They had to get a handle on things, and soon. He couldn't keep being pulled in different directions.

There was one spot of good news in that he was getting dibs on the Bekian ships that were coming out of the rapids. Each of them had to come to Pyrax for rest and refit, and then work through training and working up exercises. He did admit that some of the crews were good. They had steerage and sublight tactics down.

He also wondered how long he'd be allowed to keep them.