Loki Rest in Peace

 With a heavy heart we had to say goodbye to my cuddle buddy Loki.

He came to me as an early Birthday gift in 2002. He had been abused by the family who had him before us. He was a sweet buddy to me though.

When we first got him he growled and fussed. Baby put him in a headlock and gave him a bath a few times and he finally settled down.

He had his own way of being a brat.

He had a thing for pens and when he wanted attention he didn't take not right now for an answer! Keyboard or no keyboard!

He will be missed by all who knew him, but especially me.

FOW Snippet 3

Chapter 3

 

Antigua

 

Jeff Randall, Vice President of the Federation stared out the window as he examined his life choices. He was an average sized human dressed in slacks and an open collar shirt. His homeworld's beauty embraced him, making him feel... well, not quite at peace but as close as it came to it these days.

So far so good, he reflected. He was second fiddle to Admiral Irons, but that just meant he was one step away from the presidency. He could live with that, after all, he'd had anti-geriatric treatments and would live for centuries.

His wife had also been treated to stablize her aging, but out of their pocket. It had been expensive, and initially they'd both resented that the Federation hadn't paid for it. Intellectually he understood though, it would have opened up a political dynasty issue that they didn't want to fight over. At least the Federation had allowed her to get it, normally the only paths for a civilian to get such treatment was to either A, join the military, or B, get into office, or C, emigrate and become a colonist somewhere. Admiral Irons had worked in an acception for the spouse of someone in the military or government service, but with the caveat that they pay out of their own pocket. He and his wife had managed to afford it, along with paying for the kids to go to college.

They were officially empty nesters, something they were both starting to explore and get used to. Just not having to worry about disrupting the kids plans was great. It definitely made his work-home life balance a little easier to deal with. He did miss the kids, but he checked in when he could. They were horrible about doing that though, which was typical for their generation. They were getting wrapped up in their own adventures and stretching their wings as they explored what this new civilization had to offer.

He envied them a little, he thought as he stared off to the slowly setting sun. He envied them but understood what it had taken to get them this far. It was normal for every generation to improve things for the next. His had made the leap to as close to old Federation standards of living, medicine, and education as possible.

If any of the kids wanted to get anti-geriatric treatments they'd have to find their own path. There were several available to them, including the easiest, military service. He shuddered mentally at the thought of one of his kids going off to war. Bad enough that he didn't see them for a month or more but knowing they would go off to get shot at... it had to be difficult for any parent to handle.

Fortunately, he didn't have to deal with it. The kids had all gotten into college with an eye to civilian careers. He winced at the thought of them changing career tracks though. The costs were getting high. But it was all a part of the process of their finding themselves and their way, he reminded himself firmly.

At least they keep their grades up, he thought as he felt a gentle breeze.

That was another good thing about being second fiddle to John, he could still spend time on the planet of his birth. John was anchored to White Station entirely too much these days.

He was going to be traveling again soon though. They had a six month block to travel Rho. Sandra was finally coming around to looking forward to it as a second, or was it third honeymoon? He snorted wryly at the thought.

The following year he was destined to travel around Pi sector. It was one part to show his face and make connections, and another to show the people that the administration cared about them. Obviously John couldn't do it, so guess who was elected? Not that he minded. Well, he did mind the idea of traveling around dangerous space, but the navy was getting a handle on that. He wouldn't go far either, and they'd have a warship escort the entire time.

Hopefully when the other gates came online they'd have the process down and maybe even find a way to juice Federation Two's speed a bit more.

That would be nice, he thought as his hair ruffled in the evening breeze.

His HUD blinked to get his attention and he turned away from the glory of the sunset to look into the shadows of the balcony nearby to see what his AI was trying to show him. He snorted at the minor headline and dismissed it for the moment.

Politics might be the bane of some, but for him it was the lifeblood of his existance. He'd started out getting into politics in order to improve things for his family and for his community, and eventually the world.

When Admiral Irons had come years ago he'd seen the opportunity to strike. At the time he'd seen Irons as an authority figure standing in the way of his ambitions. He had used that as a way to rally some figures on his planet in order to catapult him to the governorship of the planet.

He hadn't anticipated that Admiral Irons would take the attacks personally. Nor had he anticipated that the Admiral would not be hobbled. Instead of setting aside his plans to build a Navy in Antigua Irons had shocked him and his followers by leaving. He'd gone off to find another place to start the Federation and it had taken the starch out of his plans.

He'd been embittered for a time, but the attack by the pirates had awakened him. He'd spent a lot of sleepless nights in fear of what they'd do next. He'd realized his short-sighted stupidity had nearly cost him everything he'd worked for and more. The rescue by the heavy cruiser Firefly had become the thing of modern legend. He had been humbled and had requested that the admiral return.

Fortunately the spirits had been listening and the admiral had returned from his adventures with a core fleet.

Antigua was at the forefront of change in the sector. He had seen it and felt his chest swell with pride. His view had expanded during his time running for the Vice Presidency, and beyond when he'd settled into the new position.

The firestorms the administration had weathered after Horath had been destroyed had been tough on many. To his surprise, Admiral Irons had grown a thicker skin and had not buckled under the constant pressure to resign. He had remained neutral, not coming to the defense of the administration for fear of alianating certain political parties.

He'd done it out of political expendency, in order to cover all bases in case the admiral did eventually step down. He knew the game, he had to keep all of his options open. He had tried to keep up his personal relationship with John and make it clear it wasn't personal. Their relationship had cooled a little though. They were still friends though.

He snorted to himself as his eyes went back to the headline on his HUD. Himalaya's government settling in. That was rich, the population there was under five hundred people. Most of the people there had gotten off the planet as soon as they could. The remaining mountaineers were trying to forge a government on the planet when there were few people there and not much of an economy. It was amusing to see certain parties trying to prop up as many star systems as possible in order to build a bloc of voters for the sector.

The same for two of the other star systems in that culdesac. New Brunswick was better off, but not by much. The Ssilli on Aquarius had no organized government to speak of. Another group being propped up and pushed to organize. He shook his head in mild annoyance. At least the Ssilli had a strong growing economy. Some of their young were joining the Federation military as pilots and navigators. Some of those people were sending their credits back to their homeworld to help clean it up and modernize it.

Already their population had quadrupled since contact had been initiated. The Ssilli colony on Antigua were considering moving there or to the seas of Agnosta.

At least he'd finally killed the movement to get unpopulated star systems to be accepted as voting members! That had been a foolhardy ploy by the kingmakers in congress. They hadn't realized that it could set a precedent and open the door to the same practice in the other sectors.

Their current ploy was to delay the acceptance of star systems to their ranks. That was slowly erroding though under the steady pressure of other star systems who had endured the same treatment.

The new movement that was growing was to colonize. They were looking at finding ways to colonize some of the uninhabited star systems in order to maintain parity with the other sectors. He snorted to himself. They'd have a lot of hurdles to overcome, including all the rules they'd set up to delay the process. A solid economy running for five years was the biggest. A population above a certain number was another. A self-sufficient one was the biggest.

He shook his head as he turned back to the sunset. A soft sound of breathing and then hands snaking their way around his hips made his lips twitch in a smile. He twisted slightly as he felt his wife's lovely head settle on his side. "Hi," he murmured.

"Hi yourself," she said with a soft husky tone of voice. She smelled nice and had a flowing silk outfit on that fluttered in the evening breeze nicely. It was funny, three decades ago he was the mayor of Doonburg and they dressed in Victorian fashion. She would have been scandalized then at her current wardrobe. He enjoyed it, and from the gleam in her eyes when she found something new to tantalize him, he knew she did too.

He turned and kissed the top of her head gently and then went back to looking at the sunset with her, content in the moment.

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FOW Snippet 2

Chapter 2

 

Antigua

 

Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons felt the ambiguity in his thoughts and paused to try to sort it out.

He was 2 meters tall when standing, and had a classic human build maintained by his implants. He occasionally worked out with martial arts in order to maintain his body, or so he liked to pretend.

In all honesty his nanites would keep him perfectly preserved for as long as necessary. He just liked to work out from time to time.

He was a dark brunette with a goatee. Those could change in seconds if he wished but he kept them for consistency with the public. The goatee had come about during the Bounty incident in B101a1.

He had been an engineering admiral before his cybernetic upgrades and time in stasis. When he'd woke he'd found that he'd been promoted to Fleet Admiral and then had started a series of adventures that had led him to the presidency. Sometimes he had to wonder about the universe and how the Spirits worked things out.

He'd done an okay job so far though, well, with a few missteps and stumbles but that was to be expected. The Federation was growing, that was the important thing. Despite currently fighting two wars.

 He rocked from side to side in his chair as he recapped his situation. His assessment came down to 1 thing, he was concerned about being pulled in too many directions. The navy had committments in Rho, cleaning up the sector and picketing essential systems, in the north in Pi sector, fighting the pirates there and expanding the Federation's sphere of influence, in the north east in Sigma sector, where the pirate leadership was hiding, and the new war in Tau sector to their south west with the Tauren Confederation.

For six long years he'd been trying to make bricks with precious little straw. His lips twitched in an almost smile at the analogy. Apt, he thought as he turned away.

It wasn't his fault, well, not entirely, he corrected himself. He'd given Catherine Ramichov, the new pirate empress the fodder she'd needed to twist his words and muddy the historical record. He shook his head in annoyance.

He had threatened her father Pyotr with a bluff to strike his star system with a Nova bomb if the fighting got too intense. He'd been pushing to get through the pyschotic meglomaniac's mania, to force his hand or to force those around him to perform a coup and take him out of power in order to open negotiations.

Well, it hadn't entirely been a bluff, he thought darkly. He would have pulled a President Truman and used the bomb if the fighting had gotten too intense in the wretched star system and if casualties had soared. But the forces he'd sent in had been more or less holding their own at the time of Catherine's strike.

He was certain that his threat had played into her hands. She'd performed a coup against her own family and taken control... and orchestrated an orderly evacuation. The utter ruthlessness of slaughtering her own family was both shocking and brilliant. Only when it was clear that her planet was inevitably going to fall and his people were too deep in and committed to pull back had she struck.

His face worked again as he grimaced once more. To be honest he had known that the pirates had most likely captured nova bombs at some point. Naval Intelligence had theorized it and had 'unconfirmed reports' but that was it. But the idea that they'd managed to penetrate and bypass all of the security systems in order to allow her to use it... that hadn't come to mind. That was his mistake. He'd been too confident that they were inert.

The placement had also been an issue. He'd expected a ship to carry the bomb to the star. Instead she'd parked it hidden inside a space station. He doubted even Amadeus had anticipated such a threat. How could he have? They'd all thought Catherine had been bluffing to stall for time or for political capital.

When the nova bomb had gone off it had thrown the star system into chaos. Most of the pirate fleet had been away from any jump point and had died or scattered to deep space. Half of Second fleet had died along with their commanding officer, his friend Admiral Amadeus White. Other fine officers and enlisted had died as well. Marines and Army units had been trapped on the planet. Only a smattering of the units had managed to escape.

Not so for Catherine. She'd staged ships in deep space near the Finagle jump point. Amadeus had apparently figured that out and had put Admiral Dwight Harris on the problem while Fifth Fleet moved into Finagle to cut off retreat there. They hadn't anticipated the number of ships however, or their ability to escape.

His eyes went bleak as he stared at the ceiling for a long moment. That was another intelligence failure, but one he didn't put much blame on any one particular person or group. They'd known that the pirates had been collecting water dwellers to enhance their ship handling and navigation, they hadn't anticipated the scale that the pirates had gone into cloning those poor enslaved people.

Catherine's retreat with the water dwellers had allowed her core fleet to bypass the Fifth Fleet set in Finagle to trap her. She'd fled into the outer reaches of Sigma, and the finger pointing back home had begun.

Ships had scattered through deep space, all fleeing the dying star. The navy had been forced to split into 2 groups, 1 on search and rescue, the other giving chase to Catherine's fleeing fleet.

His political enemies had tried to shame him into resigning over the fiasco. He'd flat out refused. He'd weathered the storm for years. When it was clear he wasn't going anywhere they had done the next best thing to hamstring him though, cutting funding and support to the bone for the military. The forces in Sigma had been left to try to find the pirates without additional support or relief. That had allowed Catherine's trail to go cold. That had added to the arsenal of political ammunition his opponents had tried to use against his administration. The fact that they had a hand in it didn't seem to apply.

Catherine's bold attack on the Sigma gate star system had awakened them to her threat. It had also made for another round of political attacks on him, but the media had finally come around and pointed out that Congress had limited the deployments in Sigma. The rounds of committee hearings that his opponents had orchestrated had embarrassed them when that came to light.

The demands by partisans supporting the military to give them the tools and ships needed had finally begun to make some headway. But the real kicker had been Tau.

The war in Tau had finally gotten congress to let them off the leash. The idea of another Xenophobic species going on a rampage to conquer the sector and threaten the Federation had been a wake up call. His political opponents were in full retreat. Congress had authorized the funds and the mobilization to go to war.

Bek, Pyrax, Antigua and other shipyards were back into full production. Ships were steadily moving out of Bek again to Pyrax. They were staging there to build new fleets. From there they would go to the gate system.

For the moment they couldn't get to Tau or Sigma so he had authorized task forces into Pi to run the pirates out of that sector. It was good training and good PR, though it didn't look good that they were headed in the wrong direction. That would change in time though.

He also wanted to build a fleet to replace Second Fleet. That would allow Dwight Harris to bring his people home for a much deserved rest and refit. Not that some would want to go, many wanted to finish the mission. He understood their bitter desire for vengence. But it was unhealthy to hold onto it for so long without any sort of results. The psych people were pushing for more downtime for Second Fleet. They were getting more strident about it... as were some of the families of the sailors and marines. He couldn't blame them.

He made a soft puttering sound. That was a problem for another time. He'd agreed with Dwight that he could stay in Sigma until the gate was completed and relief forces could arrive in a timely manner to relieve him. Now that project was delayed by years due to the recent attack.

The attack did reawaken Dwight's desire for revenge again. He was limited on what he could do though, he had the defensive committments and relief forces were too far away to get to him. Fifth fleet was picketing the western side of Rho but... he grimaced.

They couldn't be strong everywhere. That was obvious. And this was the other jaw of the trap Catherine's raid had set off. Political forces were pushing for stronger pickets in Sigma and in the western reaches of Rho... and of course that made others want more just to keep up.

Keeping up with the Jone's, he thought in disgust. They didn't need it, but they sure wanted it because others were getting attention. He sighed heavily.

That was another factor in the political arena. Established star systems in Rho, and the power bases some had built had felt threatened by the growing block of voters in other sectors. It was watering down their power base and control of the Federal government. They had found ways to limit that by delaying votes to allow star systems to join the Federation.

They had also put restrictions on the star systems as well. The latest was that the system's economy had to be solvent for a period of 5 years before they could be considered for membership. That was being challenged in the courts.

He understood the cynicism at the heart of the arguement. Rho was the core sector, it was where the Reborn Federation had started. Now they were going to eventually be overshadowed by larger sectors. The neighboring 3 sectors had far smaller populations compared to Rho but there were many more occupied star systems. That would wrestle control away from established power blocks in the senate at the very least.

Representation was still in the hands of Rho, at least for now. Most of that was due to Bek's dense population. There was some undercurrent of resentment there, though that was changing as the sector's power brokers continued to try to unite their power block.

They had yet to get everyone on board. Some star systems stubbornly wanted to stay neutral and outside of the Federation. Some probably thought they could benefit from trade and commerce through their star system without having to pay taxes. He snorted.

Now that the Federation was settling down he knew that was a short sighted point of view. It was easy to bypass a reciliant star system if necessary, effectively blockading them.

Some of those neutral star systems had been in the hands of the pirates though, so they had caretaker governments for the time being. They resented the Federation's 'interference' almost more than the pirates. He shook his head.

That was just more fun for the boys and girls over at the state department, he thought as he picked up a tablet and got back to reading the position paper he was supposed to absorb.

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FOW Snippet 1

 Sitrep:

  So, Loki is doing better, the vet called and said his blood work was shockingly clean (for a cat who is 20!) except for minor elevations in his kidney function. So, whatever he's got he's hopefully coming out of it soon. He is going to be on a form of dialysis for a month. His second treatment is this afternoon.

  So, that is a relief. He's been sick for the past week and depressing me. He's my buddy. Whenever I have anything in my hand (pen, pencil, screwdriver, etc) he would try to cheek rub it driving me crazy. lol

  In other news, Rea got a late start on FOW so it will be a slightly longer wait for it. BSC3 is ready for her too, (no you can't see it until late November or early December) and BSC4 is in the hands of the last 2 Betas.

I am trying to get a lot of deferred stuff cleared from my To-Do list before I look at Tauren Invasion again next week. :) Fun.

Anyway, on to the snippet!

Chapter 1

 

SG65-8, Sigma Sector

 

Captain Cathy Kopper smirked as the ship she was tailing seemed ready to jump into hyperspace. They were slowing down and her ship was now closing ground. "Gotcha now," she said. She turned to the navigator station. "Do you have a lock on where they are going?"

"No ma'am."

She blinked and then her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"There are no jumps in this direction. The closest along this line is 66. There is nothing there, it is another destroyed system. In fact it is a dead end."

"So... are we near the end of the line and close to El Dorado?" the captain asked hopefully.

The navigator shook his head in a negative.

The captain's face fell. "Why the hell not?"

"We're well outside the search zone ma'am. Whoever is over there is taking a jump we don't know about. It is a wild goose chase."

The captain scowled. Putting herself in the shoes of the enemy captain, that made sense, she wouldn't lead someone back to her classified base if she could help it. If she wasn't killed by one side her own people definitely would do the job when they found out.

She shook herself to discard the thought. "Get a recon drone out there to get another perspective," she said as she turned to the tactical department. The more platforms they had out there the more viewing angles and the higher the probability of identifying the star the enemy was headed for. Or at least their jump line.

"Drive charging," the sensor tech at the CIC station reported. "Calculating charge... Four minutes to Bogy One jump," she warned.

"We're seventeen light minutes away. It's already happened," the XO warned quietly to the captain.

The captain scowled but then gave a choppy nod.

"Do you want the drone to be launched anyway? Ma'am?" the TO asked.

"Yes!" she practically barked. "Get it out there, get as many eyes on where they are going as possible!"

"Aye aye ma'am," the lieutenant replied as he ordered the drone to be launched.

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Ariel-X felt relief as the ship entered hyperspace smoothly. She felt the thrill of success, it was like their narrow escape in the previous star system.

She was tired, she'd been on duty for sixteen hour shifts, all to try to squeeze as much speed as possible out of the ship. It hadn't done much though, the enemy had been ahead of them and waiting when they'd jumped out. But they'd managed to dodge their trap and they were now free.

She still didn't like flying blind but the jumps were getting easier, especially if she took into account a possible stop. Which she had, star system SR66XL. She had jumped from there once before so she had enough waypoints to make a short jump.

Once they arrived near that dead system they could take their time to orient on the next jump to 72.

"We're away sir. Enemy has not picked us up," the XO reported to the captain.

"Very good," the captain drawled. "Excellent even." His eyes fell on the reason for their successful escape, the mermaid in the tube nearby. She was little more than a child, actually pre-pubecent. He knew that some in her crew lusted for that sort but he had strict orders to protect and coddle her.

Now he fully understood why. He hoped the crew did as well.

It had been seven and a half months from their successful raid on Tortuga and the gate complex. He'd picked up word during their last resupply stop at a cache several months ago. He had orders to return to El Dorado with his full cargo holds and latest intelligence but he'd been forced off the track by the nosy Federation cruiser. The cruiser had picked up his ship's trail several jumps ago and they'd had a devil of a time shaking her. Hopefully this jump would do the trick.

They had followed protocol and headed south into the lower reaches of the sector to avoid leading the enemy to the pirate base. But now his ploy should allow them to escape fully and get back on track.

"Good work one and all," he said with a nod to the cybernetic mermaid. She flicked her tail and her long dainty fingers danced as she continued to guide the ship. Her lips did curve briefly up into a smile though.

"See that she gets rewarded," he said in an aside to the XO. "And let's try to squeeze as much speed out as we can. There is no telling what we'll run into in 72. I want to get back on track before we're declared lost and our codes changed," he said.

"Aye aye sir."

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