Shelby Snippet 5

 Sitrep: I finished the rough out of images for Comic 1 (the second produced) yesterday. I'm going to get into post work (maybe) today. 

I managed to do a lot of minor work on my R2 yesterday, (I've been a busy big ass hairy beaver, yes I know, complete with buck teeth) so progress on that front too.

On to the Snippetttt....

Chapter 4

 

Minox IV

 

Admiral White Skin tucked his hands behind his back as he stared blankly out the big picture window in his quarters. One might call it bleakly, though he wasn't quite resigned to the inevitable just yet. People passed by outside, oblivious to his inner turmoil. Perhaps that was for the best.

They had received word that Admiral Broken Tooth was on the march north and should be taking 63. If he got it done in time for Admiral Rill to arrive then they would be back on track in some ways.

In others though... he grimaced.

Senator Mel had come out with the discrepancies in timing of the war and how it was not playing in the Confederation's favor just before his arrest. It had been an open secret among the establishment, something everyone knew but no one could fix or wanted to draw attention to. They were just pushing to get as far into Federation territory as they could with the hopes that the Federation would be slow on sending reinforcements. After all, the Federation had their own concerns, both domestically and with the pirates.

Domestically they had politicians much like his own who wanted to eviscerate the military in favor of their own pork troughs. And of course the aftermath of the pirate plagues.

The pirates were also very much a threat in Sigma, which was a sector on the other side of Rho, so most of the Federation's naval efforts were tied up there.

Unfortunately, they had underestimated the Federation's willingness to fight. The initial read had been part bluff and part a play for time. Now they knew better. The Federation navy was hitting far and above their throw weight. He had to admit that in large part that was also due to in the institutional arrogance of his own navy.

They had downplayed the threat of carriers and small craft operations in their own minds over the centuries. That was incorrect, and history itself proved it during the first encounter between Taurens and Terrans. They had erred in not learning from those mistakes and it was costing them dearly.

He was doing his best to make it right, but it was an ugly thing to see in present time. The optics didn't pan well with his civilian bosses or the public either. They just saw a rising body count and ships being thrown away seemingly for nothing.

His eyes cut to his own reflection ever so briefly. If they only knew how bad... his eyes cut away. He shook himself in irritation.

They were making headway to set things right. Some of the old ships were still in mothballs, they were dredging them up and refurbishing them. They had also set upon a crash course of building carriers and small craft of their own. The first of those units should be with the various fronts by now, Admiral Broken Tooth had acknowledged he'd received his units just before marching on 63.

It would be nice to see them blunt the effectiveness of the enemy's small craft enough to get the upper hand again. It just wasn't natural to have the advantage in numbers and mass and yet still be torn to shreds...

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Director Blacksight checked the logs but there was nothing new other than an ansible coming online to report. He would get a domestic update in a few days, but his concern was on the front and the Federation.

He had inherited his job when his last boss had the unfortunate luck to be born female and be scapegoated for the Federation's ansible attack. His head should have been on the chopping block as well, but he'd lucked out there.

He checked the fronts again and then sighed as he turned his attention to the domestic side of things. Not that he wanted to do so. Right now it was a white hot mess.

The president's order to arrest Senator Mel had sent shockwaves through the establishment. The public didn't know that the senator had died from a heart failure during an intense round of questioning so they were stonewalling on that. Eventually the news was going to get out.

His staff had fallen all over themselves to clear their own names. A few hadn't taken the rough handling well, and had also been 'cleaned up as a routine precaution.'

Senator Mel's run had made some waves beforehand, they might have been absorbed by the usual day to day things going on except for his arrest. They now had a new flavor as the media and congress tore apart everything he said down to the minute detail and debated it before the cameras. The party was doing its best to hold the line and throw accusations of treason against him, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before cracks appeared there. They had to be uncomfortable with the senator being MIA.

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