Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lucille
Lucy felt the wind against her face and was struck all over again by how incredible it was to have her own body. Her old one had, at the time, felt like hers, but this one actually was.
It had actually grown around her program like a natural extensio...
2024-10-03 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Eight
Coming in hot.
“I knew that dead spot on the scan was going to be a problem,” Berenice sighed.
The Marshalls were gathered around the scan terminal in the asteroid base control room. They had hoped to find clues about how to approach the next base, but ...
2024-10-02 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Seven
Breaking Rocks
Crush gave Sec an annoyed look as he rushed onto the Liberties’ bridge and took his position.
“Oh, spare me,” Sec glared back. “Do you know how much work I had to do in the last…few… hours? Sorry, Boss.” He wilted under the star...
2024-10-01 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Six
Coming Home
Message received through the egg
Nellie,
I’m coming home in two days your time.
I won’t lie; your last message scared me a lot. I never thought about...
2024-09-30 08:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Five
Explanations and Complications
It is an awful thing to be completely in terrified awe of someone, only to realize you haven’t seen even a tenth of what they are capable of. That was the feeling Edwards got as he watched the creation of not just a new ship but a ...
2024-09-26 08:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Four
Miner Problems
Hardwicke looked at the reports in front of him for a long moment before returning his eyes to the recordings from the surviving ships. On the screens around him, a titanic ship battled with the ships of the Line.
Flashes lit the screen ...
2024-09-25 08:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Three
Taking Liberties
“Sec, you better be bloody sure about this!” Prim snapped as they waited for the override to work.
“Of course, I’m sure!” Sec protested. “Still, if it doesn’t work, no harm done, eh?”
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll p...
2024-09-24 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Two
Carl’s Day.
Edwards saw the scouts ahead of him. The three were gathered around a pile of discarded armor lying half-submerged in the mud and grime of the swamp.
Two silvers and a gold.
Edwards swallowed his anxiety and started to move tow...
2024-09-23 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-One
Fallout
“If this is one of those everything changes from now on speeches, can we just skip it?” Baz asked tiredly.
“What?” Nellie asked, completely thrown by the comment. She had called them all to a meeting on the Bly’s Rest because now that the Li...
2024-09-19 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty
Harbinger
Sometimes, small things make all the difference in the long run. A message sent but not received, or a call of warning that lets the right person duck or the wrong person become distracted at a crucial moment.
Little things are overlooked in histo...
2024-09-18 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Nine
Countdown
“None of them came back?” Munro asked again, staring at the long list of missing personnel. In all, it was nearly forty names, including many he recognized.
Bannerman, especially, would be missed.
“While there is still a chance that one...
2024-09-17 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Eight
Name Day
“All crew, all crew, report to muster stations immediately.”
The call went out throughout the Bly’s Rest as the clock ticked down to the launch of their new ship.
“We really don’t have to have a name for it just yet,” Salem ...
2024-09-16 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Seven
Ripple Effects
“Edwards, come over here, please,” Paren called, and he felt his tension ratchet up to new levels.
Ever since he had reported back to the Lab, Carl had been waiting for something terrible to happen. Being a lab rat for the conversio...
2024-09-12 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Six
Message Logs II
Encrypted Transmission
Source: Captain Hellena - Birdsong.
Destination: Admiral Cyrus - Ravenwing.
Dad, I did something that might just help us get Mum and the...
2024-09-11 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Five
Progress Report
“You know, I think that is getting easier,” Nellie said with a wry smile between bites. “I hardly feel like I’m going to pass out at all this time.”
“Not exactly a ringing endorsement,” Salem replied. “But I’m glad it is bet...
2024-09-10 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Four
Dark of Night
Edwards adjusted his grip on the rifle and fiddled with the controls on his night vision again. The damn thing just wouldn’t show a clear image tonight.
Giving up, he continued his patrol.
Of all the times to get guard duty, he ha...
2024-09-09 08:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Three
Cold Light of Day
Compared to her own efforts, the invaders had taken an absolute age to set up their base. After five days of pissing about, they had finally managed to complete the wall around their compound.
Not that Paren was complaining about that. The...
2024-09-05 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Two
Being Realistic
“Cheape, as of now, your only focus is the Imperium Fleet ships,” Nellie told the young officer. “All other ships will make do with whatever they have on board for now.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Cheape said, looking relieved.
...
2024-09-04 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-One
Camp
“Quickly!” Paren hissed. “We don’t have much time!”
Robot nodded and started the process of collapsing the pre-fab building while she kept a wary eye on the mountains to the north.
Leaving him to it, Paren stalked outside to see how the r...
2024-09-03 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty
Breach and Clear: Part Three
The Queen’s Wrath was an incredible ship, but it was not exactly built to last. Before she had finished the second engagement, it was already starting to fail. The power pathways on the Orb ships were just not designed to carry the kind o...
2024-09-02 08:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Nineteen
Breach and Clear, Part 2
Nellie could not quite believe she was doing this, but as she slid into place on the throne, she had no doubt in her mind that it was necessary.
Less than a minute earlier, the alarms built into the defenses of every jump point in the s...
2024-08-29 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Eighteen
Breach and Clear, Part 1
Cheape looked over the stack of data pads in the corner of her new office with weary eyes.
When they said they were short on Logistics people, they were not kidding. Each data pad recorded items moved, loaded, or unloaded. Some we...
2024-08-28 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Seventeen
Messages
Message Traffic Log: Imperial Line Blockade
Message Received from Ten Suns Ship - Birdsong
Sender: Captain Hellena
To: Grand Shareholder Hardwicke
<...
2024-08-27 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Sixteen
Bounty
“Report!” Nellie commanded as she fought the urge to pace back and forth in the control room. It was still taking a bit of effort to force herself to stay still when she was wound up.
“Captain Sec here!” A smug voice called over the comm line from...
2024-08-26 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Fifteen
Escalation
“At least they are living up to the reports of innovative tactics,” Hardwicke noted as he tapped the report of the sighting of Nanite Imperium ships at an obscure system. “An unknown jump point connection, apparently.”
“Somewhat irritating,...
2024-08-22 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Fourteen
Experimental
Nellie sat in the corner of the small shop she had commandeered on the main promenade and tried to devise a comprehensive defense plan. Every now and again, she would get up and go and check on one of her experiments before heading back to her seat with ...
2024-08-21 08:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirteen
The Smiling Man
Crush pulled at the stupid silver armor, but nothing he did would make it comfortable. Andy seemed to be having similar problems, judging from his constant fidgeting.
The Quad and Sec cents with them didn’t seem uncomfortable, but they had the...
2024-08-20 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twelve
Complications
Crush tapped his fingers irritably on the arm of the awkwardly designed chair and tried to ignore Andy's smug look.
Their host, Viria, had invited them to a formal dinner, and Andy had warned Crush that it would be interminable. He even went so far ...
2024-08-19 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Eleven
Teething Troubles
Nellie lay in her bed and groaned in frustration.
It had been two days since she left the throne, and it was still difficult to keep herself grounded and actually in her body. Perhaps the idea to split her mind into that many different pie...
2024-08-15 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Ten
Developments
Crush stood on the bridge, watching the tracking dots moving back through the station and toward the Talon’s dock. He ground his teeth when another detour was taken, ending in another large compartment.
How difficult was it to follow the instructions ...
2024-08-14 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
