"We're on our way, Admiral," Ellsworth said quietly as he stepped up beside him. "It will be an honor to serve with you during this operation, sir." Jackson couldn't detect any sarcasm or disingenuousness to the comment so he decided to take it at face value. Ellsworth never struck him as a kiss-ass.

"Your ship and your crew is the best I've ever seen, Captain. We'll be ready when we catch up to Vadim Kohl."

"Damn right we will, Admiral."

* * *

"Come in!"

"PM," Fleet Admiral Pitt said in greeting as he walked into the office.

"Damnit, Pitt! Just sit over there and be quiet until I'm ready for you," PM Joseph Marcum growled. Marcum had only recently made the switch from a military career to politics but, already, he was considered one of the most powerful MPs in the United Terran Federation Parliament. He had been quickly confirmed as the Chairman of Military Oversight, now in charge of Starfleet, the UTF Marine Corps, and the Strategic Reserve Command.

The last of the trio was an office that tracked all available military assets belonging to individual planets, the enclaves, and private entities like wealthy corporations that could be pulled from in case of extreme need.

At one time, Joseph Marcum had held Pitt's job and was the CENTCOM Chief of Staff, widely credited with the successful execution of the Phage War in public circles. Privately, the people who had the proper security clearance and access knew the war had been won by a desperate move by Captain Jackson Wolfe, who had disobeyed Marcum's orders and struck out on his own. The pair had reconciled afterwards and Jackson agreed to let Marcum have the credit for the victory to help further his political career. It was an arrangement that benefitted the both of them since Jackson was neither seeking, nor wanted, any credit.

"Bad time?" Pitt asked once Marcum closed out the video conference he'd been watching but not participating in.

"They're all bad times right now," Marcum said. "Goddamn Alliance has more spies on New Sierra alone than the CIS has in its entire Agent Corps. I'll tell ya, Pitt…it's genuinely depressing how deeply the Fed is compromised. A lot of it is holdover from when the Asianic Union liked to play the same sorts of games when we were all one big, happy Confederacy, but a lot of it is fresh. Even after knowing what the Alliance did by selling us out to the Darshik, many elected and appointed officials are willing to double deal."

"Is the main driving force behind them turning money?" Pitt asked.

"Not always," Marcum said. "Actually, it's usually good ol' blackmail. Most of our government is made up of people who have been in public service for a long time and, back during the pre-Phage times, a certain level of cronyism was expected and overlooked. Now, it's coming back to haunt us all."

"Depressing."

"Indeed. We've been beyond complacent, and the Alliance has been goal-oriented the entire time. They hold all the damn cards right now, and they'll try to wear us down before this war can get going enough for it to swing our way. They knew they're at a technological and experience disadvantage with their military, but they also know the Federation populace is in no mood for a third war right now.