Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 74

The only solace she had was, from what Scleesz told her, the Cridal Cooperative would learn that you don't make deals with the ConFed's new controlling power. Sooner than later, the ConFed would come for either them or the Saabror Protectorate. Once that happened, Seeladas wouldn't be able to try and play both sides to protect her own interests. Eventually, she would need to pick a side. Kellea consoled herself with the fact she was just a little ahead of the curve in that regard, and she felt confident she'd picked the right side with her actions.

"Captain Essel, begin moving the Defiant towards our mesh-out point," she said. "I want us to be the last Cridal ship that jumps out."

"As you order, Admiral."

"We've received word that our forces are now withdrawing from the Miressa System, Premier."

"They're no longer our forces, are they?" Seeladas Dalton said, her voice flat and emotionless. "Admiral Colleran had shown that, despite her protestations, she is a political player. She's chosen a side, and her taskforce commanders have chosen loyalty to her over their oath to me…us. Kellea may release our ships back to us, but it's almost certain the Defiant will remain with her and any crews that do come back will have to be replaced."

"What do we tell the humans about their cruisers that were part of Taskforce Starfire? Preliminary intelligence indicates they were key participants in Admiral Colleran's attack."

"Let the humans deal with it," Seeladas said, almost sounding bored and then perking up. "In fact, that's an excellent idea. We can let the humans track down their own missing ships and use them to try and recover as much of Starfire as we can. It still gives us deniability in the eyes of the ConFed if it looks like Kellea's actions were so outside the scope of her orders we don't even know where she went. They'll surely be tracking our other ships, but they don't really know much about Earth or its expanding military capability."

"Shall I prepare an envoy to Earth?"

"Not Earth. Send someone to Terranovus, have them talk directly to a Captain Webb…he'll understand the need for discretion."

"It shall be as you say, Premier."

Once the bootlicking administrator had left, Seeladas resumed her melancholy stare out across the hills from her office balcony. Kellea Colleran had been like family, a trusted confidant of her late father, a stalwart officer for her, and her betrayal at this most crucial time cut deeply.

The fallout from this could be profound. Even from the sketchy reports coming from the observers she had embedded among the merchant fleets she could see that this was one of those pivotal moments in time that would be talked about generations later as having been when it all started. Why couldn't Kellea understand what she was trying to do for their people? She'd already witnessed the mighty Eshquarian Empire brought to its knees in a short, one-sided victory, so why would she needlessly provoke the ConFed?

Try as she might, Seeladas couldn't think of a reason why her most trusted military officer and someone she considered more than a friend would take such drastic action without even consulting with her. Perhaps she'd learned of her pending agreement with the Grand Adjudicators and felt it wasn't in the Cooperative's best interest, but that still didn't explain why she put her taskforce right in the middle of a fight that had nothing to do with her own people or their interests.

"Oh, Kellea…I wish you'd trusted me. Now I can't protect you from what's coming, not after what you've done."

"The last ships of the Imperial Navy have meshed-out."

"I am aware of this. What is the status of the 405^th Battlefleet?"

"Twenty-nine ships destroyed, another eight damaged too badly to repair, and the fleet's one and only dreadnaught is adrift in a decaying orbit over Taus." The synth that was bringing the news spoke calmly and without fear. Their lack of awe when in the presence of authority was one of the things that attracted the Machine to the species. There was also the feeling of kinship. They were both species created by weaker, inferior beings who were never fully able to grasp what they were capable of. If they had the proper leadership, the synths could rule the galaxy. The Machine only had twelve so far in his employ, but they were already more effective than hundreds of the biological vermin that scurried around the capital, obsessed with their own petty goals and instinctual urges.

"Ensure the dreadnaught is pulled into a stable orbit before they begin assessing whether it is a total loss," the Machine said. "We will need that ship in the coming days, and I don't want to lose it because it tumbled into a planet."

"I will handle it personally. Shall we make an example of its commander?"

"Not right now," the Machine said. "Talent is hard to come by, and Captain Estoch is a talented individual who simply made an error in judgement because he didn't have all the facts. To humiliate or kill him would be counterproductive at this point. Leave him in command of the dreadnaught for now, at least until we can rebuild the 405^th."

"Understood. I have to ask, what are our immediate plans now that this operation has not been successful?"

"This failure has posed a significant problem but not an insurmountable one," the Machine said. "I need you to divide your force into two groups, one will parse the data and get to the truth of what caused this failure, the other will accelerate our Phase Two plans so that we are ready to act quickly. There can be no second failure. This operation was simply meant to solidify my grasp of this region and provide us a time buffer to further our preparations. We have lost that luxury, but the Khepri operation must proceed as planned."

"It will be done."

"I am curious," the Machine said, its holographic avatar pausing to look at the synth. It was