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All in all the poor fool that is Torret Shortleaf managed to piss off 3 distinct factions that work with different goals in mind:

1st: The 'Alex' faction. Pretty straightforward and extensively covered so far.

2nd: The 'Stillstorm' faction. Stillstorm is also pretty straightforward, she rightfully considers Shortleaf to be incompetent and unfit of her station. Finally having some power and the limited time to do something about it she unleashed the hounds on her.

3rd: The 'Shadow' faction which is the de facto 'status quo' faction. She doesn't hold any personal animosity towards Shortleaf but she has ample reason to make an example out of her. To put it short she needs to make it abundantly clear that Stillstorm is off limits to the 'rank and file' officers despite the still present distrust of the Imperial cabinet towards her. She is now a full flag officer, her rank and status demands respect, deference and obedience that is to be given to her without question; she is now too important to the fleet to allow small fish to nibble at her heels. She may still and always be in disfavor (unless something changes in regards to the Emperor's or Stillstorm's outlook towards each other) but military discipline alone demands full adherence to orders while there is also the fact of an in group bias for those who hold the rank she now holds; all the other Soshrets and even the various Tazites will not look kindly to any disrespect to one of their 'own'. Only the Emperor and the Diadem are to show displeasure towards them and maybe have them sidelined; everyone else better show proper military discipline and follow their orders or they will be on everyone's shit list.

Shadow in the case acted on her own with Duskcrown's implied blessing (which she would receive as a matter of fact for this case). She didn't coordinate things with Tempo or Stillstorm and the official punishment will come from her office alone, to give the implied message the necessary weight.

Shortleaf is lucky in a way, if the situation had escalated she would have ended on the firing line.

It may look like it but this is the status quo looking out for itself and its own. The rank of Soshret is a full flag officer, it's prestige and political status demand respect and obedience. It has been tacitly implied in the 'Insider' via Sunfall (a now dead hero of the war) that those who reach this rank are military divas that 'parallel' our various divas of WW2; divas like Montgomery, Patton and Eisenhower who practically influenced the direction of the war effort by their influence and status. Those of lower rank would do well not to cross them even when said divas are at fault, they were protected even when they made otherwise catastrophic mistakes because they were too important to openly punish.

The Loroi take it a few steps further due to the very nature of their military organization as a caste based ranking system. The Torrai caste, especially the combat branch, takes care of its status; Stillstorm being against the Emperor due to her coming from the 'support' branch is par of the course. The Emperor putting the squeeze on Stillstorm and freezing her ascent despite her accomplishment in order to discourage dissent is also par of the course. The situation however changed; Duskcrown had two Soshrets under her command to lead the entire sector. Them dying at the same time is a major blow to the war effort and the only one who could be counted upon to properly take their place is Stillstorm; all the other surviving Lashrets didn't have anywhere near her experience, the abilities or personal gravitas to take the mantle so Duskcrown and Shadow decided to promote her because it was the only way to maintain their command in the junction both from a chain of command/authority and morale reasons.

Stillstorm is now a full Diva of the war effort, recognized by both the status quo and the rank and file. All the other Soshrets and the admiralty may see her as competition in their usual political games from now on but they will protect her as one of their own because they want to maintain their own status. A Torret willingly deciding not to properly service Stillstorm's flagship? Amidst this crisis that may as well decide the fate of the war itself?

Shortleaf foolishly thought that it would be business as usual because of the past treatment that Stillstorm universally received but as Shadow put it: She is senior enough in rank that knowing better should have come naturally to her. Shadow and by extent, the established status quo, need to make an example out of her in order to discourage anyone else who may not know better. Soshrets are off limits, only their equals and above can play games with them. Everyone else should shut up and obey.