Shelby 6 Snippet 3

 First off, Happy Mother's Day.

It has been an interesting and busy day. Now things are winding down and I remembered to post this. :)

Chapter 2

 

Tau-Bin63A4

 

Commodore Janice Yu felt mixed feelings about the recent battle and victory. It was great to finally stop the Tauren bastards, but it hurt to see the butcher's bill that spelled the costs involved. A lot of good people wouldn't be seeing home ever again.

SAR was still out, despite it being over ten days since the battle. They were working to find any remains at this time, whether they were friendly or not. The burial detail was busy.

Word of the victory had sparked celebrations on the planet. The media had sent in coverage of victory celebrations elsewhere too. That was nice. She appreciated the pat on the back, but she appreciated Shelby sending her additional reinforcements more.

Word was getting out about another Tauren juggernaut headed their way, this one from the west. The rank and file and civilians might still be riding a euphoria from the latest victory and spoiling for a fight but she was nervous.

This was an unblooded enemy. Yes they had no idea about fighting them... or so her staff insisted. She wasn't so certain about that. Information flowed 2 ways, even if a bit slow for the Taurens.

She smirked ever so slightly unconsciously. Striking their ansible had been a brilliant move on the part of Admiral Irons. It had cut the Tauren's command and control, intelligence, and sabotage activities at the knees.

She closed her eyes briefly. Damn it felt good to finally win one! She opened her eyes slowly. They'd been forced back despite winning several minor victories over the past 3 years. This one really hurt the other side too. She was pretty certain Admiral Broken Tooth wasn't going to be in command for much longer.

She had wanted to follow his route up with a natural conclusion, race ahead of him like she'd sent forces to hit Admiral Brewster in TauR34-80 after his first failed attack on Mayweather Station, in order to finish the job.

Unfortunately, the news of the new juggernaut had put a stop to that. She frowned thoughtfully and then shook her head. She wrote a reminder to her staff that the enemy had some sort of intel on their abilities up to the point of the fleet's launch. It was all out of date of course, but it was there.

Whether or not the new enemy commander took advantage of that information remained to be seen.

According to the latest reports from Shelby, the pickets between her and this incoming force were to fight a delaying action. The raiders that had been on their way to raid Mayweather Station had been backstopped to help.

She was grateful for their courage. Even though they had won in 63 she still hoped to blood and stall the bastards for as long as possible. Hell, it'd be nice if someone managed to bloody their nose enough to make them turn around! But again, she couldn't count on something like that.

“It would be nice though,” she muttered under her breath as she finished her memo and shot it off into the electronic void.

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Governor Magistrate Ebenezer Scrooge snorted as he looked out the window. The pubs were still open, he could hear the singing through the evening air. It was as if they thought they'd won the war, not just a single battle.

He did have to admit he was grateful that the war had not come to his world. At least, not yet at any rate.

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Lieutenant Governor Bob Cratchet scratched at his fur. The male bonobo sniffed as he saw the light under his boss's door. The old man was burning the midnight oil again, typical of him. He might have had some work done but he was still the type to not sleep much. Something about a bad experience around Christmas time.

He had to admit, it had done the old man and their world quite a bit of good. Scrooge had turned over a new leaf after that night and had become a paladin for his people, working tirelessly. He might still get grumpy and crotchety, but he worked hard.

He did have a fondness for children though, and a connection to Tim, especially around Christmas. His right cheek dimpled in a slight smile before he returned his attention to the memos.

“Eh? Cratchet? What are you getting on about here at this hour?” a familiar grumpy voice nearly made him jump out of his fur.

He turned and blinked. “Ah, just finishing up some reports sir.”

The old man was leaning on his cane. He eyed him over his bifocals and then snorted. He reached out and poked the bonobo with the brass tip of his cane. “It'll keep. Whatever it is, it'll keep. Go home Bob. Go see your family.”

“Yes sir,” the bonobo said as he hit save and then signed out of his system. He was amused as the old man watched him gather up his coat and leave. “Good night.”

“Good night old friend,” the old man replied and then hobbled off to his security escort.

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PFC Bolt was grateful but a bit annoyed at the reprieve. He knew a lot of the other Marines had been looking forward to mixing it up with the Taurens. Personally, no, he was glad he wasn't going to get shot at or bombed today.

Besides, the reprieve meant they had more time to prepare, which meant more time to find all sorts of fun ways to mess with the enemy. That and train their militia recruits.

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Tim Cratchet heard about the victory. He saw the celebrations and was grateful. Everyone was treating the evacuation as a false alarm. There were even some querulous people, some of them business owners who wanted to sue for the disruption in their businesses. He shook his head at that nonsense.

The government had a duty to protect the population from an incoming threat, whether that be from a fire, a hurricane, or from invasion. Just because the threat didn't strike doesn't make them at fault for being cautious. Better to be cautious than to not and be caught out.

Still, it was a bit vexing to see the ungrateful ones coming out. Fortunately, for the time being they were few and far between at the moment.

Currently they didn't know about the new fleet headed to them. He had no idea when that news would be released.

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