Year of the Snake: Day 20 – The Sea of Red
By Captain Hedges Log Date: January 20, 2026 Location: Hedges’ Landing (Terraquatic Swamp Hideout) Status: PASSIVE SCANS ONLY / TACTICAL ALERT
Outside the viewport, it’s peaceful. Just the endless rain of the swamp and the croaking of things that live in the mud. We are powered down, hidden beneath the canopy, invisible to thermal sweeps.
But inside the Penitent Thief, the mood is anything but peaceful.
We risked a three-second burst pulse on the long-range sensors just to see what was happening out in the black. It was enough to populate the tactical plot.
The Ophidian War Zone
Look at that screen.
The blue icon in the center is the nearest Terran Outpost—our only friendly port in this sector. Everything else... every one of those red snake-head icons... is an Ophidian capital ship or hunter-killer squadron.
They aren't just looking for us anymore. They have locked down the entire grid. That jagged blast marker near the outpost means the siege has already started. They are hammering the shields, and we are sitting here in the mud, watching it happen on a delayed feed.
We are safe for now. But the net is closing, and our allies are running out of time.
The crew is looking at me for orders. Do we stay hidden and hope the snakes slither past? Or do we power up the main reactor, blow our cover, and try to punch a hole through that blockade?
Decisions, decisions.
– Captain Hedges
Product Identity & Legal The "Year of the Snake" Project, "The Ophidian Constellation," and the "Hedge Wizard of the Shreveport Cabin" persona are Product Identity of Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. © 2026 Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. All rights reserved.
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