Court-Martial publishing in 3...2...1!!

Yup, you heard right!
I woke up this morning and checked my email and found Goodlifeguide.com had given me a birthday gift of CM back early! Wow!
I am currently in the process of uploading it to B&N. They are being persnickety. But it has been uploaded to Amazon.

  When newly promoted Rear Admiral Horatio Logan returned to Bek carrying orders to relieve the current chain of command, he knew it wasn't going to go well. But his orders were clear, as was his duty so the moment Ilmarinen translated down from hyperspace he transmitted Admiral Irons orders faithfully.
  Sure enough things went from bad to worse as he was promptly arrested, brigged, and then sent to detention to await a formal Court-Martial.
  However his broadband transmission sent the Republic into a tailspin. As the Court-Martial proceeded, the Republic teetered ever closer to the brink of all out civil war. Horatio is left with a choice, sacrifice his career and his honor by falling on his sword to stop the civil war, or maintain his faith in the service and all it stands for.
  But, one thing he does know, he is a Federation flag officer, stubborn to the core and willing to go the distance even if it costs him his life!
I'll post the links when they become available. :)

Edit:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JY9CS2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496870624&sr=1-1&keywords=hechtl+court+martial

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/court-martial-chris-hechtl/1126537254;jsessionid=7C9F72C6BB59D7BFD9889B4C3EF38AB6.prodny_store02-atgap07?ean=2940157516260

Court-Martial snippet 3

Sitrep: I'm up to 100 pages in TGS, I've got 3 chapters done. There is a lot of blocking in the second and third act, but so far so good. The heat is starting to sink in, (as are the ants dang it!) so it is getting harder to write. After 2pm I pretty much have to shut down. That stinks.

Anyway, on to the snippet!

Chapter 2

President K'k'R'll, the Veraxin President of the Bekian Republic and governor of the Bek A component of the binary star system, read the report of the broadcast and then swiveled an eyestalk to his chief of staff. “Any activity on the naval brass front?” he asked carefully.

“Nothing at all, sir,” L'r'kk, his chief of staff replied.

“Yes, something told me you would have informed me if there had been any changes,” the president said dryly. He turned to vid screens of the major media outlets covering the event. Some had talking heads spinning the event this way or that into a Terran pretzel while others showed a video of people cheering or protesting; he wasn't certain which.

“Yes, sir. There haven’t been any changes in leadership. There has been a lot of activity, none of it I'd consider good,” L'r'kk stated. Twelve hours had passed since the announcement had hit the star system like a lightning bolt.

"So, obviously Childress isn't backing down and going away quietly," the president sighed.

"No. That'd make it too easy."

The Veraxin signaled first-degree disgust as his lobster claws rested on either side of his blotter. "Lovely.”

“The fun thing is, we're caught in the middle of what is turning into a potential civil war. And we're the side without the guns and ships,” Nibs, the Neocat Vice President and Governor of the Bek B component, stated from her seat on the couch as she sipped her morning drink. The cabinet was still on its way in for the emergency meeting, but she'd been right next door when the news of the broadcast had come in. She'd been initially cheered like everyone else, but the sobering news of no changes in the naval administration had ended that. She'd cleared her schedule right off and had decided to drop in on her bug counterpart for breakfast to plan their next move.

“Frack,” the president buzzed. “Who would ever want this damn job? I should have my head examined.”

“We do that daily, sir,” his chief of staff joked.

The president swiveled all of his eyes to him. “Maybe we should do it twice a day. Or better yet, have Childress committed.”

“I wish,” his chief of staff growled softly, indicating first-degree agreement.

Nibs nodded.  “Me too. So, where do we go from here? And what about the navy?”

“Unfortunately, the ball is in the admiral's court or at least in the hands of his supporters. He's got too many powerful patrons on the civilian side too. I'm wondering if they'll stay the course behind him, knowing it will inevitably mean a break with the Federation and a confrontation with us and Irons, or if they'll desert him to save their own exoskeletons,” the president said thoughtfully.

“I think a lot of people including Childress are wondering that right now. Or at least, they are if they are smart.”

“Smart, I'm not sure if that qualifies for Admiral Childress. Cunning, yes. A mouthpiece for others, maybe. We'll see.”

“The cabinet will be here in another hour, sir. Until then …,” the chief of staff said reluctantly.

“Yes, I suppose we can get some other work done. Damage control?”

“We don't even know where to start,” Nibs said with an ear flick. “I'm going to have to go back to Bek B to keep a lid on things there. I know if it is crazy here, it'll be even worse there. Childress is not someone we're fans of.”

“I know. I think we'll have to wait until the cabinet is assembled, but I want your opinion now. Where do you stand?” President K'kR'll asked her directly.

Her ears flicked. “Where else? Behind the victor,” she said simply as she crossed her legs.

“Yeah, I thought as much. Ever the politician,” the president replied.

She wiggled her whiskers at him. “And you?”

“Do you even have to ask?” he asked. She snorted in reply.

@<o>^<o>@

Mrs. Reba Childress, head of Childress shipyard industries, shook her head as she finished reading the latest report. It was the reason for the hastily-arranged conference she knew. “Now my bumbling son has well and truly done it,” she sighed as she put the tablet down with the report of the broadcast. “Do we know what Omar is going to do?”

“He's your son. You don't know?” Jules Fabian, head of Fabian CNC fabricators asked very carefully. He and others like him had thrown in behind Childress to keep the status quo and their own piece of the pie. Now that was even more threatened and he didn't like it. Not that he could voice such misgivings out loud.

“He's not taking my calls,” she replied in a suffering tone of voice. Her people had tried all night to get her son to respond to her. Short of taking out an ad in the media, they were being ignored. That was not sitting well with her.

“Oh, um … then no.”

“I thought not.”

“I assume you'll keep trying?” Jules asked carefully. She shot him a withering look for even daring to ask such a stupid question. He put his hands up in defense. “You can turn down the voltage, Reba; I was just asking.”

“Don't ask stupid questions you already know the answer to. You just make yourself look foolish,” she replied with a bite to her tone of voice. He flushed slightly at the rebuke but nodded.

“So, what do we do?” Ch'k'n'll the Veraxin CEO of Snipclick Enterprises asked. “Do we continue to support him?”

“The move is his. I doubt he'll back down considering I haven't gotten any calls. He isn't whining to me, so I'll give him that much credit. Whatever happens we're stuck with him and the path he's put us on,” Mrs. Childress drawled. “Heaven help us all if it really does go to civil war.”

“Well, from our perspective that can only be considered a good thing. War is …,” Ch'k'n'll cut himself off as Reba leveled a cold look his way.

Heads around the table grimaced in acknowledgment. She rose slowly from her seat. “If you'll excuse me, I've got a date with my doctor.”

“Found a path forward?” Jules asked as he rose from his seat in polite company.

Reba gave him a smile. She appreciated his attempt at being a gentleman. “You know it. He's taken some of the medical knowledge that Caroline graciously gifted us, and it has given me a new lease on life. One I'll be willing to show you later,” she said wickedly. He sputtered as she patted him on the cheek and then left the room. He looked around the room for support but found everyone looked the other way.

“Right,” he drawled. “Someone please tell me she's joking,” he muttered under his breath. There was a soft chuckle from one of the retired admirals but no denials. “Frack.”

“No matter what she and her son say, we need to make contingency plans,” Admiral Open Eyes stated. The T'clock admiral had retired from the navy over a decade prior to take on a manager's position with one of the subcontractors of the major suppliers to the navy like Snipclick and Fabian. His antenna bobbed as he turned his heart-shaped head to Vice Admiral Fohad Amir, his counterpart.

“Agreed,” the other retired admiral said. “Obviously, we didn't count on Irons’ resolve and decision to meddle in our affairs so deeply. We need a series of GOTH plans now and a way to distance ourselves from Childress when this blows up in his face. The cleaner the better in my opinion, so we don't get splattered with the mess.”

“When not if,” Jules pointed out.

“Exactly,” the T'clock stated.

“Agreed,” Vice Admiral Latiff Revere murmured in agreement. Jules surveyed the room and noted others nodding. “Obviously, we need to stop this headlong plunge and reassess the situation.”

“I'd love to. Unfortunately, I don't think it is up to us,” Jules murmured.

@<o>^<o>@

Court-Martial Snippet 2

First a sitrep: I received CM back from Rea at 5:30 am this morning. I'm...surprised. Wow! Okay! I need to go through it and do the usual post edit chores, add the bits and stuff, then send it off to Goodlifeguide.com. :)

On to the CM snippet. Still in chapter 1:
Note: this is from my old CM copy, I haven't had the time to go through Rea's yet. Also, 1 paragraph refuses to format to white font again. Sigh.

“So, you are saying you won't rewrite your report?” Commander Dauplin demanded, voice dripping with danger as he looked intently at the Neoorangutan.

“Hell no. I told you before Commander, I was there. I made certain every I was dotted, every T crossed. I documented everything, and I do mean everything. I was the NCIS on the scene, and I stand by my conclusions,” Agent Shaffer stated.

“Then you are out.”

“Excuse me?” the orange ape demanded, green eyes bugging out in surprise.

“You heard me.”

“Out of what?”

“Out. As in, out of the ship, out of this investigation, and most likely out of a job. I'll speak to your director personally.”

“You can't do that Commander. I'm not in your chain of command.”

“I won't have to. The brass wants this to happen. I'm not stupid enough to get in their way. You are. So, we'll bring another team on board to do it right. If that means your report gets thrown in the trash, so be it.”

“Fine, whatever. Do what you want. But leave me out of it,” the ape said, waving a long fingered hand at the commander.

“I intend to.”

@<o>^<o>@

Many of the major news outlets treated the broadcast as a hoax until they got confirmation from the navy and the government. Both the navy and government had a clear no comment, so they were forced to fall back on their own sources. Since the broadcast had been made so openly, they had to treat it as real. The question was, was it actually from Irons or a hoax? The media outlets played up both sides.

But the news of Horatio's arrest slipped out as well, adding to the questions swirling around. At first, the news got to the backrooms via sources within the navy. When reporters tried to get official confirmation their requests were ignored which only fueling their curiosity. The arrest was too much to ignore for long many knew. Eventually one of their organizations would break to scoop the others. Many reporters argued and pleaded with their editors to be the one to break the news. The editors in turn passed the requests up the corporate chain. For the moment, they were ordered to just gather information.

Admiral Childress and his supporters did what they could to stem the tide before they went into damage control mode. Captain Prescott was off duty on leave, so the public affairs department was closed for comment, stymieing the media's attempts to get something there. While the first drops of inquiry began to fall, Admiral Draken and Childress Industries had to trade heavily to keep the break with the Federation and Horatio's arrest out of the news.

Some of the corporations were okay with censoring the news, if the price was right. Many of their sponsors were subsidiaries of industrial concerns, like major vehicle manufacturers. The threat of them pulling their ad funding was enough to make them think twice about not playing ball with the industrialists and the navy.

But they wanted more tech releases plus other forms of access that Admiral Childress's backers were frantic to prevent. Admiral Draken initially promised some concessions but that upset Admiral Childress and a few of their conservative backers. They refused which threw the negotiations into chaos.

Admiral Draken realized he couldn't give the media corporations everything they wanted. He tried to negotiate a compromise but Omar's flat out refusal had destroyed their faith in him.

However, the corporations couldn't control the indie media outlets and others, those who saw an opening to exploit and use to rise through the ranks. They saw the major media outlets remaining quiet about the story so they picked it up and ran with it. They were considered the fringe, but it was picked up by social media. Some were cynical and skeptical of the news, but inquiries began to grow. The social media sites tried to police the news, but the more you tried to keep something a secret the more people took an interest in it.

When a communications officer admitted overhearing the arrest order for Admiral Logan during a bathroom break at a mall while off duty, a fellow patron managed to get the admission on camera. That went viral on social media. Then it was joined by the military family's network who also confirmed something was going on.

Shamed into being shown that they were not doing their jobs, first one, and then other light media outlets let slip about the broadcast. They kept it as 'alleged' in order to protect themselves from any prosecution, but the dam had burst.

Within an hour of the initial break, all of the major outlets had broken faith with the navy and Childress Industries and had gone on the attack. Captain Prescott's public affairs department was swamped within minutes by requests for information, clarification, and commentary.

@<o>^<o>@

Admiral Omar Childress read the report of the broadcasts and the media reports. He tucked his hands behind his back, incensed that it had come that far. “That disloyal son of a bitch. I'm going to break him,” he seethed.

“To be fair, Irons is a bit far out of your league,” Vice Admiral Sherman Draken, his chimera number 2 said mildly.

“Not him, Irons I can't touch, obviously. But his mouthpiece... I'm going to make an example of him. I should have broken him a while ago. He should have stayed gone,” the human growled.

There was a firestorm going on behind the scenes. His corporate supporters were trying to keep a lid on it, but it wasn't easy. He was aware that there were demands he step down. He wondered what Sherman thought of all of it, and if the other man was sharpening a knife to stick in his back. Suddenly his shoulders itched. He couldn't help but turn around to face the other man as he took his seat.

He knew now he had his back up against the wall. There was no turning back from where they were. “My people are dealing with the broadcast. We're breaking it up with jammers, and ONI is landing on anyone who posts something online. They are scrubbing the files as soon as they hit the net,” he said.

“But the damage is already done,” Sherman said.

“So, what are you going to do?” Omar demanded.

Sherman cocked his head and then shrugged. “The orders weren't directed to me.” He said slowly, being evasive. “Not by name. I think, due to the vague nature of them, and the cloud they are under since they were broadcast in the open, I... think the highly unusual method of handling them leads them to be suspect. Given that I'll wait on proper orders from the Federation. I'll put in a written request for clarification,” he said dryly.

Omar held his gaze steadily for a long moment then nodded slowly at the show of support. The relief he felt was intense, almost orgasmic. “Good to know,” he said gruffly.

“What about Admiral Logan? How do we deal with him? And how do we deal with the broadcast long term?”

“We kill two birds with one stone,” Admiral Childress said immediately. Admiral Draken cocked his head. The human admiral smiled. “You yourself pointed out that the means by which he transmitted the orders were highly irregular and therefore suspect. So, we have no choice but to disregard them. I'll say so publicly of course, after people calm down a little. And as for the man who issued them, well, he's committed mutiny.” He turned to the diminutive JAG. “As far as I am concerned, throw the book at him. I want him in the brig. Preferably out an airlock."

"Are you serious?" Admiral Draken demanded as he stared at Omar in shock. “Omar, it's one thing to have the man arrested...” He shook his head.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack,” his boss said flatly. “We don't take the orders head on, we say they are false and he's committing mutiny. We have no proof they actually came from Irons!” He flung his hands apart. “Just the authentication code and voice, both of which can be faked. It could all be one elaborate hoax! This Irons could be a trick, a hologram puppet for all we know!"

Admiral Shren frowned as Sherman looked at him. The JAG didn't commit either way. Finally, the chimera turned to Omar. "You really think it will fly?"

"I think stomping on him hard enough will make people think twice about getting out of line," the Admiral snarled. “Pass on a gag order to the court too.”

  "In order for this to work as you want, it would have to be public. That could get very messy," Admiral Draken warned. "Even worse than what we've got on our plate now."

"What do you want me to do? Resign?" the Admiral demanded. Admiral Draken just gave him a basilisk gaze. After a moment, he snorted. "Don't try that with me. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. We're in this and we'll see it through."

"See what through? Eventually Irons will..."

Admiral Childress made a brushing motion as if that concern hardly mattered. "I'll deal with that as it comes. For the moment, we're going to land on that bastard mouthpiece with both feet hard. To think he even got a promotion? Without facing a board? Bullshit." the admiral said in disgust.

"That... could add a bit to your claim that it is not a legitimate order," Admiral Draken said slowly as he considered the situation from all angles.

"Of course it does!" the human admiral said with a wave of his hand. "We'll sell it as we see fit. The navy will fall in line. We'll shake the patron trees until they do."

Admiral Draken grimaced. "Telling them to take it raw could spark additional problems."

"Then we'll land on them too."

"I'm talking about a potential civil war within our own Navy. We've got our people in some key positions, but they can't be everywhere. Some are sharpening their own knives..."

Omar smiled darkly. "All the more reason to proceed by setting an example. A nasty one to make them all think twice before they jump into this."

Court-Martial snippet 1

First up, a sitrep:
-I got some stuff off my to-do list during my 'vacation', though I didn't get to the figurines, or to learning how to airbrush. Perhaps next time. I did make some progress with my animatronic project but not nearly as much as I'd like to see. I have a binding issue with the gears that I can't seem to figure out. I'm not very mechanically inclined so it is frustrating.
-I sent CM (Court-Martial) to Rea Tuesday. I expect it back sometime late next week or early the following week. Of course, I could be wrong, it's not that bad length wise. :)
Goodlifeguide usually also takes a week to 10 days, so expect the book to be published sometime in the middle of June.
-Third, I also started TGS The Gathering Storm Tuesday. I managed to get chapter 3 done. :) I'm bouncing around, I usually do that for the first week or so before I settle down. It is a bit further along than other books I have started over the years.
-Fourth: I hate the DMV! Gah! (rant time) I've had a problem with my ID for years. It says I am 5'7". I am, ahem, 6'4". Other stats are wrong. I finally decided enough was enough and booked an appointment to get it sorted out. I planned it for during my 'vacation'. The lines were insane! Even for the appointments! There were hundreds of people in the building, and the regular line snaked outside and around 1 corner of the building. When we got there I had 20 people in front of me for the appointment desk.
   I got in and out within an hour, so I was happy with that. A word of advice: Making an appointment is the only sane thing to do when dealing with the DMV. Or better yet, do it online.
   I was gratified to get my ID Tuesday... that was abnormally fast; but I was horrified by the picture. (I'm bald in it!) But, I was even more not amused to find they had also bollixed the stuff they were supposed to fix. I spent 3 hours getting bounced around between departments on the phone yesterday before they tried to get me to come in again to fix it. Needless to say I balked at that.
   So yeah, I'll try not to grumble about beaurocrats in TGS, but no promises. :P

On to the snippet!

Chapter 1

“This is Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons, president pro-temp of the Federation,” a familiar gravid voice said. Captain Clayton stared again at the broadcast as the decontamination team finished checking his ship over. Since he'd had nothing better to do he'd decided to replay the video that had started the entire mess.

“I come before you with grave misgivings over the situation in Bek and the deportment of some of the officers in charge there. Consequently, I have instructed Rear Admiral Logan to play this message upon his arrival in the star system. I now relieve Admiral Omar Childress of command.”

“I do this out of necessity since the admiral has refused to follow my orders and has placed Bek in a state of mutiny.”

“As I said, I do this out of necessity to protect the Federation, its civilian population, and the officers and enlisted serving in the Republic of Bek. Admiral Childress has refused to follow my lawful orders,” the admiral's image said sternly. “I do not make such decisions lightly. I regret this course of action but have been given no other alternative. Admiral Childress is to be relieved of his duty and placed under arrest pending an investigation. Orders to the next in the chain of command will follow through proper channels. This is Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons, President of the Federation, out.”

He turned his head to look at the Marine at the hatch. The ape was not one of Ilmarinen's own, but an intruder. An unwanted one he knew, but was wise enough not to say so. He felt like he was the one under arrest. It bothered him. It bothered him even more to see the techs scanning his people and going over his ship. At least they were no longer in contamination suits he thought. They'd wrung his ship and crew through the ringer over the past 6 hours. It had been tense, but they'd finally concluded Ilmarinen wasn't a threat. That was the little good news he had available at the time.

Just the way they had arrested Rear Admiral Logan, his thoughts paused as a new thought occurred to him. Or should he call him Commodore? The JAG, what was his name, Dauplin? Dauphlin? He'd insisted on calling him Commodore.

He shook his head. He wasn't certain how to play it, and that bothered him. He didn't like being like that, unsure of what to do, what was safe. He wasn't certain of anything except to keep his head down, his mouth shut, and to follow along. It was the only way he could think of to survive the crap that was coming. Obviously, Childress had not been relieved. That boded ill for the future. Ill indeed.

But, for the moment, everything was going to be on Logan's head.

@<o>^<o>@

As Rear Admiral Horatio Logan laid in his rack and considered what little he could do, a line came up on his HUD. A window opened without his access and he blinked in surprise. The surprise deepened into concern as he realized he was being interrogated by his own implant computer due to the confinement. He was curious initially, but then realized it was his security suite. That put things on a much darker tone he realized as his finger twitched the mouse over the line. Finally, he clicked on it. The interrogation came in the form of text questions. He knew his vital signs were being monitored to make certain he was telling the truth.

“Is this confinement due to an illegal action you took?”

“No.”

“You are in confinement in the brig. You have been arrested by a JAG, though you were addressed by rank improperly. Prisoner protocols are in effect. Are the Xenos involved?” the dumb A.I. inquired. “Accessing ship's data network. No sign of Xeno infection.”

“That's good to know. No, there is no Xeno activity. I executed a lawful order from the President of the Federation, Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons. Upon initial completion of the first set of my orders I was immediately arrested. A state of mutiny is now in effect in the Bek navy,” Horatio typed, flicking his fingers over the virtual keyboard. He saw the guard outside his cell glance his way but ignored the look.

“Accessing recent logged orders...” It began to list them one at a time. A blinking curser waited between each line for a second. That was ominous; the dumb A.I. should be able to process such things in microseconds.

“Updated firmware package and promotion... confirmed. Note, special circumstances identified in regard to promotion via Ansible.”

He grunted and started to reply but the A.I. rolled on.

“Acknowledgment of receipt of orders from Admiral Irons confirmed.”

“Boarding Ilmarinen confirmed.”

“Arrival in the star system of Bek confirmed.”

“Ship transmission of IFF and broadcast recorded transmission from Admiral Irons relieving the current command administration... confirmed internally. Accessing ship's network.” Horatio's eyebrows rose at that. He was surprised that the A.I. could do so. He'd tried but he'd been locked out. His brows knit as data flowed in an open window for a moment, between his implants and Ilmarinen's computer network. “Ship's logs confirm transmission. Accessing communications files and arrest... Confirmed.”

“So, you believe me when I say there is a state of mutiny in the star system?” Horatio asked carefully, raising an eyebrow to the bulkhead above as he tucked his right hand under his head.

“No. That is not the function of this unit's programming. No Xeno actions detected. Piracy is unknown. Status of sophont is unknown. Legal status unknown. Vital signs are consistent with the belief that the subject truthful. Further determinations are not a function of this system.”

“Welcome to the boat,” Horatio said dryly. “Glad you could join.”

“Checking arrest record... you were charged but have not been brought before a convening authority. The charges are irregular. Have you been read your rights?”

Horatio wondered if that question was a test. He searched his memory for the arrest and frowned thoughtfully. Finally, he shook his head slightly. “No. I was informed I am under arrest and then handcuffed. I was then escorted to the brig.”

“Accessing vital signs and log. Confirmed.”

“Accessing... What is your current plan of action?”

“I'd like to complete my mission orders as specified but I have been denied that option. Currently I am in confinement awaiting interrogation. Most likely the mutineers will place me on trial or declare summary judgment against me.”

“Accessing... interrogation techniques vary. No physical interrogation has been initiated.”

“No. They'll start with a verbal one most likely. I believe they will stick to the UCMJ and use that against me as much as they can in a Kangaroo court.”

“Response logged. Warning, if the interrogation becomes physical suicide protocols will be triggered.”

“Frack,” Horatio muttered, closing his eyes briefly. “Let's hope it doesn't come to that.”

“Updating... New Rules of Engagement. You are authorized passive resistance only at this time. You are not authorized to begin physical resistance or an attempt to escape. The A.I. known as Mercury has been disabled. You may fight only to defend yourself. At all times your implants will be recording. These recordings can be used in your defense should it be required.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“In answering a question you may be evasive. If you choose to answer a question while under oath you must tell the truth. You may remain silent upon questioning as long as it does not violate the UCMJ. Under oath, you will give full and complete testimony. Is this understood?”

He nodded.

“A verbal or text acknowledgment is required for the record.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to help?”

“No.”

“Something I am not too surprised about. On my own,” he muttered, staring at the cell door and the guard beyond.

“Have fun talking to yourself?” The guard drawled.

“You have no idea,” Horatio replied as he looked away.

@<o>^<o>@

Court-Martial cover

Sitrep: Well, as the betas know, I finished CM Saturday evening past. I'm waiting on feedback from the first line of betas before I pass it on to the next. Some are champing at the bit for it.

   In the meantime, I went ahead and did the cover art. The set is from Renderosity.com. I created the characters in Daz3D. (some you can't see due to the camera angle) I even kludged together a T'clock out of Genesis geografts and stuff from Daz I've bought over the years.

Yes, there are 3 judges. It's a Federation thing. There are 9 members of the jury, 1 you can't see since the Commander is rising to his feet.

 

Yes that is the Federation flag. It has a light spectrum with a black box with an image of the Milky Way in 1 corner. It is reminiscent of the American flag and well, others, not to name names. My intent was to have the light spectrum be a common thing for all species. (though a few species might not see in visible light at all) I considered adding a hydrogen and carbon molecule, but I thought it would be too busy.

 

   I am debating on doing a series of character portraits for the Wiki. Considering almost everyone is wearing the same uniform complete with the same fruit salad, I don't think that would work. (and I'm too lazy to change them currently)

  I have to admit, it feels weird not writing. I poked around with corrections to CM and then some minor things with TGS this morning, but I didn't do much beyond add a couple scene ideas and a snatch or 2 of dialog for TGS. I'm supposed to be catching up on some projects, stuff I've put off since I wanted to focus on CM. (the figures I printed for instance, plus my animatronic project, and my StarCraft Diorama, etc) So far I've just worked on the Tibbers and Annie one. I'm clear coating them now while printing a new better version I found on Myprintfactory. (Grr)
  I think I've got a case of the 'can't help its'. I need to shake it, starting tomorrow the temperature is going to soar into the high 90's and make it uncomfortable here. It might be a case of too much to do with the various projects, and a 'I don't know where to start, dang that's a lot of work' thing going on. Lol
  I have to admit, trying to learn how to use the airbrush has me a bit spooked. I've wanted to do it for decades, but now that I've got one... of course, I don't even know if it will work since my nephew ever so helpfully had to 'look at it' with a couple of 'oops!' in the process. Sigh.

And no, I'm not diving into TGS fully yet. >:P

Waking the Sleeping Giant has been published!

Yipe!
Things are moving quicker lately. I went through the upload process less than 2 hours ago and walla! It's up!

 

   Still recovering from the battle of Sol, Terra has gone on the offense in a desperate attempt to push the enemy back and bottle them up in the Rho sector. Terrans have to come together like never before to rebuild.

Meanwhile, in Rho, the conquered colonies struggle for survival. Pyrax however has done the impossible, they have taken out the conquer's ships and have given themselves some breathing room. Jack Lagroose is aware that their respite might be brief, at any time an enemy ship could come into the star system with blood in their eye.

But one thing Jack is certain of is that one way or another, Terrans won't go down without a fight. And the Taurens are about to find out if they've Woken the Sleeping Giant!

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5R9Z7L/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491864629&sr=1-1&keywords=waking+the+sleeping+giant+hechtl

I was told it is already on the Nook, but I can't find it. I'll post a link when I get one.

Edit:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waking-the-sleeping-giant-chris-hechtl/1126188527?ean=2940157248680
 Thanks Duncan!

WtSG snippet 2

Still in chapter 1

Republic's bridge crew watched as the two destroyers moved out smartly to hunt the small Tauren ships down. The task force had jumped in too close and too quickly for either ship to jump into hyperspace. Within twenty minutes, the destroyers had entered their engagement zones. The fleeing ships hadn't responded to hails to surrender so they had been destroyed in succession.

“Nice,” the XO murmured in appreciation.

The captain glanced at her and then back to the main view screen. “Well, that's that,” the captain murmured with a nod of approval. It meant that not only was the enemy denied any details about Sol but also about the battle that had been fought there. It was a load lifted off of his shoulders. “Log that and my commendation for quick work,” he ordered.

“Aye aye, sir,” Ensign Sam replied.

The captain sat back in his chair and reflected a bit on the turn of events. Two hundred and eighty-seven ships had been destroyed in what the historians were already calling the battle of Sol. Twenty-two ships had survived, but many had been damaged. Only four of that number had been proper warships.

Over forty-one thousand sailors had been killed in the carnage, many of them in the militia ships during Admiral Lewis's last run or in the ships that had stood in the defensive line near Mars. Several of the ships in the defensive line had put themselves into harm's way in a last desperate effort to save a population center.

Out of all of the derelict ships, only 153 people had survived in the air bleeding darkened wrecks long enough to be rescued. The media had been filled with reports of heart-tearing messages from sailors to their loved ones as their air ran out. Some had even sacrificed themselves in order to allow others to live.

Forty-one thousand dead didn't compare to the millions that had died in some of the stations, habitats, and on Mars and Earth. Just one of the strikes had caused a tsunami that had wiped out a good thousand-kilometer stretch of coastline on Earth. Millions were dead or homeless.

He scanned the bridge with an edge of satisfaction in his gaze. There were still a lot of rough edges, but they were getting there. He had a good solid team. The ship had a few teething issues, but the bugs were known. They were knocking the bugs down or minimizing them as time went by.

It was a headache for some of the engineers since they were literally writing the book on the ship and its maintenance. He knew that Commander Tisdale was up to the task. The chief engineer loved to get his hands dirty. He winced internally at the thought of the guy's keyboard though.

His eyes briefly lingered on the holo console where Republic's A.I. stood at parade rest. Ensign Sam, known as Uncle Sam to some of the crew, was one of the first A.I. to join the fleet and was still a question mark to some of the crew. After Ensign Nelson and Central's defense of Mars and Earth went public, the public's perception of A.I. had shifted once more. Like it or not, A.I. were there to stay, virtual citizens of their civilization.

And like many citizens, some had stepped up to offer their services to the growing Confederation Navy. A few on the crew still harbored reservations about the patriotism, but no one was going to question it out loud at the moment. They needed every hand, even the virtual ones. The Ensign's contribution and occupation of the ship's electronic network allowed them to shave ten percent of the crew and run down a lot of the bugs, many of them in the software. That had endeared him to the engineers. His taking on a lot of the paperwork had lifted a lot of the headache off the ship's yeoman and officers, which had gone a long way to make them happy as well.

But the crew was still feeling out his role and how to treat him. Sam seemed easy going with everyone, something Saul appreciated. But he had passed an order to treat the A.I. as an officer.

The A.I. and cyberists were still taking apart the captured alien databases, but one thing had come out right off. The aliens had terrible computer security. There was also tantalizing clues that they lacked A.I. at all. That news had been one of the reasons the starships in the pipeline had been refitted to give them an A.I. computer core. Captain Bao was still getting used to the concept that the ship was Sam's body. He wasn't certain if the entire experiment was going to work out long term or not.

(@)()(@)

Ensign Sam made his virtual rounds like clockwork. He first checked the ship's internal network for any problems. There weren't any reported; all of the readings were normal. That took 1.3 seconds to complete. He then switched to check the task force network and status, then updated the log. Once that was accomplished, he checked the crew's health.

Once he had finished the rounds, he had 4.5 seconds to think, a long time for an A.I. without priority processing going on. Inevitably, his thoughts turned to the crew. It looked like he and the crew were settling in. There were still some rough edges. He'd noted a few sour talks about him among a few of the crew, but they were coming along. He had come to realize within his first full cycle of being online that organics took time to process interpersonal relationships.

And to be fair, so did he. He was still learning about his crew and how to deal with the interactions. His databases seemed chaotic on a moment-to-moment basis, something he also needed to learn to deal with.

He checked the camera feed in the bridge and then switched to the feed from the officer's wardroom. He had found that the formal dinners had some rich interactions to study. He made certain the recordings were running so he could scan them at speed and process them with any processors that were currently idle and then went back to making his virtual rounds once more.

WtSG snippet 1

Well! Goodlifeguide just shocked me and sent me back WtSG early! WOW!
So, I'll be publishing sooner than expected. As in most likely tomorrow!

Here is a snippet anyway:

Chapter 1

 

November, 2236

 

The crews of the two Tauren dispatch ships did their best to keep their small ships functional as their ships’ Alpha bulls tried to figure out what to do. They'd had plenty of time to discuss the situation, but they had not come up with a solution of their dilemma.

The two ships were trapped in a sector of space unfamiliar to them. Their flagship's navigational database had carried the full star charts of the galaxy. Unfortunately, the flagship and the rest of their task force had been blown into clouds of dust and debris in the alien home herd star system several weeks away.

Their ships had been in the rear of the fleet and had managed to escape. They had burned a lot of fuel to get to the alien world and more fuel in their escape. They had enough fuel for a couple of short jumps and then they would be utterly helpless. Neither ship had enough fuel for the long hyperbridge journey back to their home even if they knew where to start the journey at.

“Hyperspace emergence!” a technician on duty reported over the ship's intercom.

The ship's Alpha bull woke blearily and then stumbled onto the bridge. “Report?” he demanded.

“A hyperspace emergence.”

“Vector?” the ship's Alpha demanded. He was unkempt having just woken. Many of his crew looked slovenly. He saw the tech's ears flatten and then look at the plot. The ship's Alpha followed that line of gaze reluctantly to see the emergence point and a projected backtrack of their vector.

“Never mind,” he muttered. “I can see it for myself.”

“What do we do?” the tech asked quietly.

“We run. Fast,” the ship's Alpha bull said as he took his seat with a sinking heart. He was fairly certain they wouldn't be able to run far or fast enough.

(@)()(@)

The Terran Confederation cruiser Republic and her small task force of nine ships cleared their hyper wake within a minute of their arrival at the Altair hyperbridge jump point. To the crew's surprise, within minutes of the ship's arrival, the plot blinked with two red icons 2.4 million kilometers away. “There are two ships at the jump point. Both of them match the profile of the ships that escaped Sol,” a CIC rating reported over the intercom as their sensors cleared the dissipating energy discharge and started to get more distant sensor returns. “They are running,” she said flatly. Vectors were projected on the plot. “There is no sign of a hyperdrive charging in either ship at this time,” the tech reported.

“Order Tau Chan and Dragonheart to go after them. ROE applies. If the aliens won't surrender they are to take them out,” Captain Saul Bao growled coldly.

“With pleasure, sir,” a communications rating replied.

(@)()(@)

The destroyer Tau Chan's orderly bridge was grimly patient as they hunted down their prey. There was a sense of anticipation, of determination, maybe just a little bit of vengeance in the crew's thinking, Captain Presley reflected as she watched the range fall.

She was okay with that. She had the same feelings herself.

She wondered why the little ship hadn't tried to jump to hyperspace. Had they considered the option? Or had they tried to throw all of their power at their sublight engines in order to get out of range? It hadn't worked obviously.

“We are in firing range, ma'am,” the TO, Lieutenant Raul Hong, reported.

“No response to hails,” the ship's A.I. reported. “ROE is clear at your discretion, ma'am.”

Captain Chloe Presley nodded thoughtfully to the A.I.'s avatar and then turned to the TO, shifting slightly in her chair to see him at his station. “Do you want to fire now or let them sink a bit better into your basket to make sure you get a clean shot?” the captain asked mildly, arching an eyebrow his way. The TO had the final say in any engagement per protocol.

Lieutenant Hong cocked his head then shrugged. “I'd leave them twisting in the wind personally; I don't give a rat's ass how much they suffer. But I want to see how well we can hit a target at range.”

“On your order, guns,” the captain said with a nod.

The lieutenant nodded once as if to settle himself. “Aye aye, ma'am. All forward gun mounts, target the ship and open fire,” the TO ordered, turning to his section.

“Payback's a bitch and so am I,” Captain Presley murmured as her ship hunted her prey down. Her eyes glittered as the weapon turrets tracked and began to spit fire at the fleeing alien ship. Each of the destroyers had four single-barrel weapon turrets on their dorsal and ventral surfaces. They had six point-defense turrets on their flanks along with four missile tubes buried in the bow.

A cruiser like Republic had double barrel turrets twice as large. There were six on each surface along with twelve point-defense turrets and twelve missile tubes. She'd seen the new battleships being laid down; they had double and triple turrets as well as twice as many point defense turrets and missile tubes. There was some talk about trying to find a way to shoehorn in specialized turrets, but for the moment missile tubes doubled for offensive missiles as well as counter missiles.

She liked Tau Chan; she felt like she had just the right mix of speed and power. The turrets allowed her to fire off bore to some degree, as long as the super structure or the ship's own hull didn't obstruct the firing angle. She would have preferred more decoys and ECM, but one couldn't have everything.

At least she wasn't sitting in a fat slow carrier watching someone else do the shooting. Well, she was, she glanced at the TO, but at least Tau Chan was doing the shooting. All a carrier had was point defense turrets anyway. The crew of a carrier were referred to as chauffeurs by many in the battle-line community.

She glanced at the plot and then nodded subtly. The range was still long but falling steadily since their ship was faster. She couldn't see the weapons fire normally. Lasers and rail gun rounds were invisible or nearly so in the case of the fast-moving rounds, but Ensign Chan the ship's A.I., also known as TC to some of the crew, had thoughtfully highlighted the weapons fire for her viewing pleasure.

“Yeah,” a helmsman muttered as the alien ship bucked and tried to dodge the incoming fire.

“Let's make this quick. I want bragging rights with Dragonheart,” the captain urged. “First mount to score a hit gets a scoop of ice cream tonight,” she said.

“Aye aye, ma'am,” the TO replied with a nod as he leaned over one of his section tech's chair to look over her shoulder. He murmured orders to her.

A moment later the captain was gratified to see a barrage chase the enemy ship until it was boxed by the port turret. One clean shot hit the little ship in her stern, just above the drive thrusters. A second hit made her buck and her shields fluttered and then went out. A third hit near her dorsal surface made the ship falter and then her drives cut out. Tau Chan's starboard turrets walked their fire into the stern of the ship after that. After a moment, the concentrated fire tore the little ship apart.

There was only a little satisfaction in killing a ship that was running from her and couldn't fight back. But there was absolutely no guilt whatsoever Chloe thought as she heard the bridge cheer lustily.

“Good shooting, guns, damn good work,” the captain said as the crew cheered. The cheers settled down after a moment; within thirty seconds they were back to their normal professionalism.

The captain turned to a rating. “Com, send a report to Republic. Let them know the target has been destroyed, and we will scan it before returning to our station.”

“Aye aye, ma'am.”

“And raise Dragonheart. I want to razz Captain Brenslaw,” the captain said maliciously as she rubbed her hands together.

The TO shook his head and chuckled.

(@)()(@)

Waking the Sleeping Giant

Okay, here is the cover first off. I've been sitting on it long enough:

   The ships are from CGtrader.com this time. I modified them only slightly. For the record, that is a Tauren warship taking a torpedo strike from the fighters and bombers you see. It was an interesting scene to make. I was even tempted to animate it again.

  BTW: I got the manuscript back from Rea Monday. I've been so wrapped up in other things I haven't made much progress finishing adding the remaining front/back matter. That is very unusual for me I admit. For that matter I've got a specific Court-Martial scene in mind for the sneak peak... but it is only partially written!

 Speaking of CM, a sitrep: Okay, now that things are relatively back to normal (As normal as it gets here, though my landlord is still coming around daily to paint and make messes) I've been getting into writing Court-Martial. 3 out of order chapters in act I have been completed as of today, however I hit a snag a moment ago. Upon review I realized I goofed up the first 2-3 chapters and now I need to do a bit of a rewrite, so I'm in a funk/fudge about that.

   In other news, I made some print project progress. The T-Rex skeleton (all 27 inches!) I've judged complete and I've put it away for now. I'll try to remember to get a photo sometime, though I admit, my phone is acting up. I've also called Tychus and Raynor done, though I need to mount them to the stand I printed and painted. I still need to finish Lieutenant Morales and paint her and the quinjet, anthro cat, and others as well.
1 printer is idle, but the other has been taken over with projects for dad. lol. He's run out of room in the curio cabinet and has asked me to print truss shelves like I did for my Zoids and print projects. I've been doing that all week.
   FYI: I have not gotten around to the Jethro figures yet either. That is going to require me learning to airbrush, and taking the time to do it. Not to mention space to do it in. We're still working on that.

I'll keep you posted when Waking the Sleeping Giant is off to Goodlifeguide and when I expect to get it back. I'd like to publish by Easter, but it isn't all up to me, and the longer I take to get it to her, the less chance it will happen I admit.
The next blog posts will be snippets from that book. :)

Desperate Defense is publishing... NOW!

Ayeyup, I just got it from Goodlifeguide.com. :)

   After the terrible A.I. war Terrankind had begun to move out to the stars. But, the void between stars can harbor unseen dangers. Jack Lagroose has settled in as Governor of the Eden colony. But, when a survey ship comes in with a warning of being attacked, he has to martial the colonists to find a way to defend themselves should the aliens find them.

  In Sol, Terrans are slowly rebuilding from the war when the survey ship returns to spread the warning. Consternation and disbelief hit the population like a wave. Some people are determined to put up a last ditch defense by forming a volunteer navy while others do everything in their power to undermine them.

But the aliens do not care. They are coming, relentlessly...

I am psyched you folks will finally get to see how the Confederation (and eventually the Federation) navy is formed, plus a few lingering questions will get their just due. :)

I just finished with Amazon and Nook, I need to go back to Amazon to explore the print option and see if it is viable. I'll keep you posted with links when I see them up. :)

EDIT: here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Desperate-Defense-Interstellar-Founding-Federation-ebook/dp/B06XCMN7SJ/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

EDIT 2: Thank you Duncan:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/desperate-defense-chris-hechtl/1125888348?ean=2940157272036


Edit 3: I want to leave this up for another week before I add another blog post and push it down. But, in the meantime, sitrep:
I finished Waking the Sleeping Giant (the sequel to Desperate Defense) last week and sent it off to the Betas. I'm hoping to get it published by the middle of next month.
I just finished the first draft of the cover and sent it off to some of the betas and other people for feedback.
Also, there is this:

I did these guys and another figure over the first week of the month. Yes, I know the camera angle stinks and the scale is off on a few figures. Plus a few are out of position. And yeah, a few don't like to stand on their own well.
  Also, Sergie lost an index finger, (I dropped him and he shattered. I glued him back together but the finger got lost in the carpet) the humans had a terrible print, Chirby did too since he lost the tips of all 4 legs, (actually they broke off in the ziplock bag I stored them in), Gusterson's leg is splinted, and I dropped Gunny and snapped his ear and tail off while talking to Thomas. :P Still, it is kinda neat to see my figures in print form!
My favorite is Letanga, even though the sniper rifle didn't come out too snazzy. Still looks cool though!

Desperate Defense Snippet 3

   Okay, Sitrep: I'm in Act III of Waking the Sleeping Giant. I've slowed my pace from 2 chapters a day to 1 to contend with the various stuff going on. I've sent the 2nd act to Wayne. If any of the Betas want the first act or both of act 1-2 let me know in an email. (that includes you too Duncan!)

   I'm starting to run down on some of the print projects now that I've got 2 printers. (Not even close actually, but some of the easier stuff is moving faster than expected) I have a lot of projects that need to be cleaned up and painted. For the moment they are in ziplock bags, so they'll keep. :)
   I've got an animatronic part printing in 1 printer, it just finished, and a Quinjet printing in the other. Should be fun, if the gray filament holds up. (it doesn't like to melt right sometimes)
   I want to get into my animatronics and robotics projects more, but some parts I have to model from scratch, and I need to clean and test fit the parts I have printed already. I keep printing spare parts to keep up, but I don't know if they'll work or if I'll need to modify them! GRR.
   I also discovered using metal hardware triples the weight of the project easily. (just 6 nuts and 6 bolts did that!)  I'm not sure if I like that or not so I have an alternative idea in mind. I wanted to go with the hardware since I could just buy it. (Which I did) Now though, I might have to print a lot of it to save weight.
   Also: I'm debating on trying to convert one of my models. I've just discovered the dubious joys of making a model from scratch and printing it. Getting the polygon normals to align is a pain in the rump for instance. The Align Normals function in Cinema doesn't work like it should, and I haven't figured out Meshlab or Sketchup. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to try that with say, Jethro, a marine in armor, or one of the ships. I made many of those models without printing in mind, so there are holes and such. It would take hours or an entire day or more to clean 1 of the complex models up, let alone all of them.
  Also, I've found that importing stuff from Daz3D is hit or miss. They also have holes since the models weren't intended for printing originally. They also have polygon normal alignment issues.

  Lol, I just wrote 6 pages in 45 minutes, wrapping up chapter 29 and part of chapters 30-31. Here I am, trying to take a break to let me hands get their circulation back and I'm still typing! Gah! (wringing hands out)

Okay, on to the snippet, still in chapter 1, picking up where we left off:

The colony ship was well prepared to move personnel in job lots in a hurry it seemed. As soon as they woke, they were checked out in a line by the ship's medics and then hustled to the shuttle bays. There they were loaded on board for the drop to the planet.

There were four great big shuttles to land the passengers, 500 people per shuttle. Their cargo and baggage came down on two great cargo shuttles at a slightly less rushed pace. Before the first passenger shuttle debarked from the ship the two cargo shuttles had already been loaded and dropped.

Jack shook his head. Most likely the shuttles had been loaded before they'd even dropped out of hyperspace. If they could have gotten away with it, they would have done the same for the passengers. Suddenly the space station they were building in orbit seemed too small.

Oh well, they'd have to figure it out. Or let the ships deal with the drop. There was no way he was going to try to buy one of those colossal shuttles. The maintenance alone, parts … he shook his head.

One thing the station was good for was the transfer of fuel and water to the ship, which meant the shuttles didn't have to be reconfigured on the ground to carry containers up to the ship. The ship would take on both as well as life support materials and offload any toxic materials for recycling once the passengers were cleared.

Jack watched to be sure that the process was running smoothly. Every hour and a half a shuttle landed with personnel. By the time the sleepy stumbling passengers had been debarked, the next shuttle was coming down. The ground crew refueled the shuttle during the debarking, did a quick service check before the shuttle taxied to the runway just ahead of the next shuttle lining up for a final approach.

“Smooth as silk, I'll have to give them credit for that,” he murmured.

The only time the shuttles stopped was for a mandatory downtime shift to run a full maintenance cycle after every four drops. He heartily approved of that. He'd heard a couple of colonies had lost passengers in shuttle accidents. He didn't want to see the same here on his world. The people coming in deserved a proper greeting and chance at a fresh start, not a final ending.

Jack used his implants to check the video feeds in the terminal. Some of the passengers didn't have their legs under them quite yet; they had to be assisted. Everyone had to run the gauntlet he'd set up however, so there was a bit of exasperation and testiness mixed with bottled-up anticipation. A lot of people spent time looking longingly out the glass, viewing windows to beautiful horizon beyond.

Jack saw a familiar face with a ponytail and perversely tapped the nearest microphone and video feed to see her. Menolly was in line with the other medics to take charge and check each of the passengers over. “We're just following procedure. Just be patient,” she kept saying as they went through the checkup for each person.

Jack snorted.

One hundred drops to offload all of the passengers. Actually, a hundred and ten since some of the seats had been taken by crew coming down on shore leave after the first day he noted. All of the incoming colonists were former Lagroose employees or major shareholders. Some of them had traded their retirement benefits for a shot at coming to the colony. He already knew that a few thought everything would be set up for them; there was a growing line at the question booth.

He shook his head. Some of the people didn't understand they would still need to employ themselves to feed, house, and clothe themselves. Those who were put out protested of course; he could see a couple people gesticulating wildly. Fortunately, Alan and a couple of his deputies were on hand to keep things in line.

He sighed heavily. He knew he'd catch flack for the next month or so. The worst ones were the wheedling ones who didn't bother to bluster. The whiners he could do without too. Eventually they'd fall in line he knew; it would just take time.

“Sir, your ten o'clock is here. But you've got two additional people who insist on seeing you today,” Jasmine said over the intercom.

“Okay,” Jack said as he cut the feed and looked up as his door opened. “Marcello, right?” he asked as he rose from his seat and extended his hand.

“Yes, Governor, sir,” the Neoorangutan said with a nod as he ambled in. “I'd like to talk to you about the forests. I'm a bit concerned about the logging you've allowed to start up in some areas …”

~~*^*~~