All That Glitters

Disaster on Maha-Oran, the Asoc moves against her foe.

The Greater Community helps the Maha-Rrin. The Asoc finally moves to push Unaayel and her cronies out.

© bigtddybr September 2022. This story 'All That Glitters - Ch 54' or the series 'All That Glitters' cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com in whole or in part without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and bigtddybr must be credited for this work.

Due to the number of abbreviations, ship listings, and list of characters, in this story, I include a glossary that is now in a stand-alone chapter called

'All That Glitters: Notes'

. Any and all information that you want or need to know about the series is included in Notes. It will be updated frequently simply by re-issuing the chapter to Literotica.

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

A big shout out to SaddleRider and my other editors, who wish to remain anonymous, for all their help.. With their guidance, I'm making fewer and fewer errors. If you find any errors still left in this chapter, they are mine, as I have ignored sage advise to make a silly point.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

SSP The Piscium, In Orbit Green's World, The Harn System, Twenty Light Years from Terra

The Piscium snapped into existence high above the gravity well of Green's World and requested emergency priority on humanitarian grounds. That got the ship immediate notice.

"Planetary Control, this is SSP The Piscium, Capt. Philemon Wright commanding. We are requesting priority status as we are working to collect medical equipment in support of a planetary disaster, over."

"Piscium, This is Control...We are not aware of any planetary disaster that has recently occurred, over."

"Control, the disaster has just occurred on the Maha-Rrin home world of Maha-Oran, major earthquake under six cities with extensive damage to all six. Those six cities have a total population of over eighty million. The death toll is staggering, the number of injured even more so.

"We are here to take possession of medical surplus that we purchased on our last trip. We have 24hrs to pack it all up in this ship in preparation for travel to Maha-Oran. By then, I am certain that you will have been informed by the authorities of this crisis, over."

"Control, roger. What is your destination, over?"

"Piscium, we are embarking products from Pallavi Equipment in Harn City, over."

Control, roger. We are sending you a priority listing. All your shuttles will have priority right of way. Follow your track to your parking orbit, and good luck, over."

"Piscium, roger. We see the track and are proceeding. Thank you for the priority on the shuttles. We request Customs be present at Pallavi Equipment to expedite our transfer of goods, over."

"Control, roger. We have informed Customs, who will meet you on the ground. Out."

"Pilot, bring us in on the track," Capt. Wright ordered.

"Aye, sir," the Pilot replied.

"Nav O, be prepared to bring us to either Pod-Saar or to Maha-Orin," the captain ordered.

"Already plotted, sir. I will make adjustments every two hours," the Nav O replied.

"Well done, Margaret. You are always ahead of the curve," the captain replied, getting a smile from Third Officer (Second Lieutenant in the Navy) Margaret Sevenson, the navigator.

The ship moved into position and immediately sent down its cargo shuttles to retrieve the load. Caye-Ur met Customs as soon as she left the shuttle, surprisingly, it was the same Customs Officer that she had the month before.

"Good day, Caye-Ur. I hear you have a spot of excitement," he said on greeting her.

"That is a major understatement, sir. I hope you have brought some extra hands so that we can get the ship packed within 24hrs?" Caye asked.

"Yes, I have four others with me. We can and will work throughout the night for this one," was the reply.

Just then, Junelliya contacted Caye. "Caye, the numbers from the surface are staggering. We are looking at more than eighteen million injured so far and we only have a quarter of the evac points calling in. The Maha-Rrin are set up for a disaster with a maximum total of nine million injured."

"Damn, we are not going to have near enough material, Junelliya. This is going to take massive resources. Any word from the Senate?" Caye asked.

"Not yet, but they only just started deliberating on this one," Junelliya explained. "They have four hours to respond to the crisis. The Minister of Interspecies Affairs has accepted the conversation between the Pemipinae and the Kumar-Pair as proof of intent to formalize the treaty. That should sway the argument our way."

"Right, we are already on the ground at Pallavi Equipment and are starting to get customs approval to board the material. Planetary Control gave us an emergency priority so that should help. As soon as a shuttle is filled, it will depart for the ship. We hope to be completed by this time tomorrow.

"We will need to know where we are taking this equipment though," Caye told Junelliya hopefully.

"Make plans to head to Pod-Saar for now. The Kumaraie has promised to send all available medical staff. You will board as many as possible on your ship and take them with you to Maha-Oran. By then, we will know where they need to warehouse the material. I'll let you get back to work," Junelliya finished.

"You heard?" Caye asked the customs official.

"Eighteen million injured with only a quarter of the reports coming in? That is some emergency," he replied.

"Please let your staff know. We will need all the cooperation we can get," Caye said, getting a nod from the official.

The next few hours went by in a blur, then Mind-Ur called. "OP Asclepias has been approved by the Senate. When they heard the numbers, they were shocked into action. You might have some of the senior medical staff on Green's World contacting you soon as Raymond has informed them that you are loading material. With your ship's total cargo capacity, you can bring more than just your own load with you."

A few minutes after Caye was contacted by Raymond. "Caye, you have been drafted by the Navy. We will make full use of your cargo space. I have informed Dr. Aurelie Pendame, the administrator at Malihan Hospital, who is also a primary administrator for OP Asclepias on Green's World."

Aurelie called not longer after Raymond. "Hi, Caye-Ur. Dr. Kayl gave me your listing. She said you have a capacity that is much greater than your current load?" she asked.

"We have a 42,000 metric ton load capacity, based on our shuttles working over 48 hrs, and 18,000 litres of fluids of various kinds. I'll send you the list. We also have five customs officials here at Pallavi Equipment, where we are loading from," Caye informed Aurelie.

"Right. As soon as you have finished your loading there, bring your shuttles to this location," Pendame sent the coordinates. "Bring the Customs officials too, we will need them."

Nine hours later, the material at Pallavi Equipment was loaded on the ship and the shuttles were headed to the new location, with a stop to pick up the customs officials as they headed to the Malihan Large Cargo Port where tons of new equipment was waiting for them.

"Your ship is the first formally drafted for this operation," Dr. Pendame told her when the shuttles touched down, "which is now being formally called OP Oran. Raymond is coordinating with Navy HQ on Terra to send more ships, especially cargo ships, but I understand that your ship has jump-grid technology, so you can jump directly to where you are needed?"

"We can one jump anywhere in human space and have the capacity to do three successive jumps. Useful when we are talking about the distances between the Union and some of the other races of the Greater Community," Caye told her.

"Wow!! And we used to think that a sixty light year jump was phenomenal," Pendame cooed.

"You did see that we have a passenger capacity?" Caye asked. "We can jury-rig for double capacity if necessary."

"That's alright, Raymond is sending other ships to act as passenger ships for us," Pendame explained. "We have also been receiving inquiries of support from the Greater Community. Raymond is looking into that as well. It will be a major operation to bring other species into this, but it might be useful.

"Your loading should go much smoother here, as these pallets are prepacked for OP Asclepias. Customs just needs to check the seals and then they can be loaded," Pendame told her. That brightened Caye's outlook on the loading.

"Who are you sending to ride shotgun with our ship?" Caye asked.

"Me," another voice answered. Caye turned to see Dr. Marina Holdar, someone that she knew.

"Hello, Dr. Holdar. It is good to see you again, though not under these circumstances," Caye greeted her.

"Agreed. We shall have to make the best of it, though. I hear we are planning to move the more seriously injured to Pod-Saar for treatment?" Holdar asked.

"That is the plan, so long as they want to leave their home world. I am sure some will not want to leave under any circumstances," Caye said, getting a nod of agreement from Dr. Holdar.

With the pre-packaging it only took eight hours to load up the designated equipment. Caye boarded thirty passengers from Malihan Hospital, most of them Pod-Drran medical teams which had been to Malihan Hospital to learn limb regeneration procedures. Once ready, she was ordered to bring her ship directly to Maha-Oran, which was an easy one jump for the ship. They were there within minutes.

"Planetary Control, this is SSP Piscium, Capt. Philemon Wright commanding. We have a load of medical gear and teams of Chiksta-Dai ready to support you. Where do you want us to offload?"

"Piscium, this is Control," said an obviously Pod-Drran voice. "We are sending you a track for your orbit. You have priority on the shuttles going down. As soon as you are offloaded, we will set you up as an ambulance service to ferry the injured to Pod-Saar, over."

"Piscium, roger, we see the track and are ready to follow it. Do we coordinate with you or with ground control? Over." the captain asked.

"Control, you will coordinate with authority on the ground. We are sending the frequency and instructions now, out."

The ship moved down into the gravity well and found its parking orbit. They immediately contacted ground authority and were advised as to where to send material. Dr. Holdar indicated that several pallets would remain on the ship and be used to turn the ship into a medical facility. The crew got to work.

Fourteen hours later, most of the equipment was on the planet while the crew and a few medical teams were setting up to use the cargo bays as large hospitals, under the careful eye of Dr. Holdar.

As soon as they had one cargo hold ready, they were receiving the injured. Some of the injuries were horrible. Missing or crushed limbs were the norm with torso and head trauma not far behind. The crew kept up double duty, moving patients about while setting up the new wards. Within twelve hours, the ship was filled with wounded while another eighteen medical shuttles had entered the shuttle bays loaded with injured. The Chiksta-Dai on the ship had already begun to prep the patients for limb regeneration, the first priority being to amputate damaged limbs.

The ship jumped to Pod-Saar and disgorged its patients. Holdar went planet side with the injured as she would be working with the teams in place to start the procedures for limb regeneration. She thanked Caye for the efforts of her ship and crew.

The ship jumped back to Maha-Oran and began the loading more injured all over again. This time, that included the Pemipinae who had lost both of her legs and her left arm to crushing injuries. She had also lost her mate, who had been killed in the quake.

It would take weeks to finally get all the injured to Pod-Saar, all of this during the ongoing need of the Asocans to train for the battle against Unaayel and her mercenaries.

Military Control, Delta Deck, Liramor-23 Mining Platform, 109 Piscium Star System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Commodore Raymond Clark was doing double duty as coordinator for OP Oran and as instructor for the new Asocan Navy and strategist for its assault on Unaayel's forces. He had drafted several of the Union Captains working as mentors for the Asocans and many of the Asocan Sostoc who did not have ships of their own yet, to work on OP Oran. He needed them.

Fortunately for him, Rear Admiral Addyson Korenna, the supply specialist for Sector Fifty-Nine, had finally arrived for duty and was immediately pressed into service for OP Oran, allowing Raymond and his team to coordinate the passage of the Navy vessels designated for the OP.

"Good morning, Raymond," Vice Admiral Fiona Marsh said on meeting him at the military side of Liramor Control.

"Good morning, ma'am. Did you get any sleep at all last night?" he asked her, giving her a look of concern.

"Don't you start! I'm already getting enough of that from my Aide and my PA," she grumbled.

"All the same, we cannot have you collapse on us even if this OP is a serious issue," Raymond told her, getting nods from both Capt. Émilia Pétillante and Grace Holloway, her military and civilian aides.

"Very well, I will make an effort to take better care of myself," Fiona assured him. "To change the subject, what do you think of Rear Admiral Korenna?"

"She is smart, gifted, and knows her business to a tee" Raymond replied immediately. "She is also a pain in the ass to deal with, but if you want results on any point of supply, she will get them for you."

"Yes, I have been getting reports that her methods are slightly unorthodox," Fiona laughed. "However, she has only been here for two days and already things on the supply side are beginning to sort themselves out. You can't argue with success like that."

"That's one of the issues that make dealing with her so difficult. She likes to argue her point and needs to win those arguments. We need to break her of this habit or she will wind up burning all her bridges on this station," Raymond advised.

"I'll see what I can do about that," Fiona assured him. "I now understand Admiral Ramison's comment about her at Denders, which he didn't quite explain, unfortunately."

"I'll leave that with you, Fiona. After all, you are the Vice Admiral around here," Raymond said with a smile.

The military staff came in and they went through the days brief, getting an update on the new supply chain from Rear Admiral Korenna. As the brief was ending, Fiona asked Korenna to remain behind. She took her into her military office and sat down across the desk from her.

"Addyson, I like what you are doing with the supply chain for Sector Fifty-Nine, however, you are not doing yourself, nor me, any favours by your rather over assertive attitude," Fiona told her. "What can we do to help you come down to a level that will make things run smoother around here without having to go through World War VI every time someone wants something from the supply chain?"

"I don't know what you mean, Adm. Marsh," Korenna replied, a little apprehensively.

"Cut the crap, Addyson. You can't not help yourself getting into arguments with whomever you are dealing with for no other reason than you appear to want a confrontation. I cannot have any more of this. We need to find a fix, or I am going to have to return you to Terra as a failure. Is that clear?" Fiona snapped.

"I was sent here under the direction of Adm. Ramison himself, Adm. Marsh!" Addyson replied just as heatedly.

"Wrong, Addyson. I requested a good Head of Procurement from George and he gave me you. He told me that if I could handle you, you would be excellent in this post. I did not know what he was talking about at that time, but I have since learned.

"Your reputation has preceded you, Addyson. While you are dammed good at your job, you are also the most annoying procurement officer there is.

"You were posted to me because George believed that your talent would be a good fit here, if I could work with you! If I cannot work with you, then why the fuck are you here?

"I don't know why you are acting like this, Addyson, but I want a major change of attitude from you within the week or I will return you to George. Is that clear?" Fiona demanded.

"I don't want to be here, Admiral. This is the backwater of the Navy. Why would anyone want to be here?" Addyson snapped.

"This may be the backwater of the Navy, Addyson, but it is the entranceway to the Greater Community," Fiona snapped back. "Over the next few years, this 'backwater' will be training and outfitting the navies of eleven different races. That is an enormous task and an even greater responsibility. On top of that, we are engaged with assisting the Asocans in their civil war, at the direction of the President himself and are currently up to our necks in OP Oran. And you believe that this 'backwater' has no significance? Are you a fool on top of being a pain in the ass?"

Korenna blinked several times in response to that piece of information. Nobody had told her that.

"Oh, a little surprised are we?" Fiona snorted. "Why do you think that George sent you to me, Addyson? He knew that you would be the one to make sense of and fix the broken supply chains to this station. On top of that, you will have to deal with the supply chains of eleven different races that are purchasing our shipbuilding technology from the Union. That is a task that has been handed to you because George believes in you. He did not send you to a backwater, Addyson, he sent you to the head waters of the river."

Korenna had the grace to blush when she realized what a mistake she had made. She had been very angry at having been shoved into this supposed Sector Command, a Sector with only a Vice Admiral in command. There were only two other Navy Sectors with Vice Admirals in command, and both of them were rather insignificant Sectors. She had assumed that this one, too, was just as insignificant.

"This station is about to double in size. It will cease being a mining platform and be used solely as the Interspecies Embassy for all of the races of the Greater Community and as the Command Headquarters for Sector Fifty-Nine, which includes all of the space that is currently occupied by the Greater Community. As well, we will soon have Pallanders 6 jumping into the system. That is a shipbuilding station that will be used to teach the engineers of the other races how to build our ship types. As such, this system will be one of the most important locations in space and not just Union space.

"Proof of that is the fact that we are currently coordinating OP Oran, a major OP Asclepias event, with

ALL

of the other races. There are more than eighteen million injured and an untold number of dead on Maha-Oran, which is what OP Oran is dealing with. I have no time for the kind of bullshit attitude that you are currently showing those around you.

"You can be a major asset to me, Addyson, or you can pack your bags and hope that George will send you someplace more to your liking. Just a hint though, George is more than likely to ask for your resignation if you fail him on this one, Addyson," Fiona ended.