Chapter Forty-Six
Trouble comes in threes.
“We need to leave,” Malia hissed as she tried to sit up. “You know that.”
“You can’t walk,” Wesley insisted. The trip back had involved more of him carrying Malia than her walking under her own power. Being fed on by a wi...
2024-07-12 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 50
Scramble
“What are you doing here?” Salem glared at the trio as they stepped out of Paren’s lab.
“I was fixing a severed comm line,” Cix-El replied politely.
“I was accompanying Friend Cix-El,” Robot looked at the floor, avoiding her glare.
...
2024-07-11 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Fouty-Five
Ruins
Wesley looked at the ruins and couldn’t help but feel they were somewhat out of place. He had been expecting something like a crumbling and half-rotten castle or perhaps a half-reclaimed village.
He could even have gone as far as a half-submerged pyra...
2024-07-11 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Forty-Four
Swamped.
The familiar stench of damp rot and stagnant water washed over Wesley as he stepped through the barrier. It was strange, considering his experiences in those first few hours in the other marshland, but he felt a real sense of peace and relaxation. 2024-07-10 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 49
Final Plans.
“We have a total of seventy armed personnel,” Duke told them while his shadow Hadrian hovered behind him. “Of that, I estimate thirty at best to be well-armed and trained. Ten from my own people and the other twenty from my sister’s crew. It is just no...
2024-07-09 08:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 48
Status Report
Cix-El waved to Robot as he walked over to join the shy man at the back of the crowded main thoroughfare. Everyone had gathered at the appointed time, and he watched as Salem rose on a small platform to overlook the crowd.
“Much is happening, fr...
2024-07-09 08:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Forty-Three
Gearing.
Wesley looked down at his uniform and over at the two upgrade orbs. It was tempting, but his M1 needed more than just a single weapon mod. It had only been upgraded once, only once, since he arrived here, and it was only his new skill that kept it relevan...
2024-07-09 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Forty-Two
It’s not a bug; it’s a feature!
The moment they were outside the dungeon and back in his Domain, Malia bathed and went to sleep. Wesley, feeling the bone-deep ache of exhaustion himself, didn’t blame her in the slightest, but sleep was no...
2024-07-08 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Forty-One
The Fallen Dungeon.
The first encounter room was not much of an improvement over the passage that had brought them here. It had rusty walls, a ceiling covered in pipes, and even more rust on the grating that covered a large pit beneath the room.
“Oh look, mo...
2024-07-07 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Forty
Lava world.
“If you don’t stop that, I swear I will leave you here,” Malia snapped after about five minutes of him hopping back and forth between the two zones.
“Cold, hot.” Wesley chuckled and winked. “Go on, admit you want to do it too.”
“I...
2024-07-06 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Nine
The Unexpected.
Malia and Wesley entered the Outpost, weapons in hand as they came through the door. The common room itself was completely empty, just as it had been every time they had come in here, but this time, there was a set of wet shoe prints heading behind...
2024-07-05 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 47
Timing is everything.
“It seems things have not gone your way,” Duke stood in the doorway of the comm room and crossed his arms.
“Ain’t it sad?” Brenda sneered as her fingers played over the fastening latch on her holster.
“In the circum...
2024-07-04 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Eight
Dashing through the snow
“You are now officially a probationary member of the Errant Rangers,” Malia said as she tapped her badge against his.
They were back at the Outpost, the strange Claire having only emerged from behind the curtains for the b...
2024-07-04 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Seven
Malia’s trail
Wesley stepped out of the portal, finding a much cleaner and nicer room than the ones he had seen so far. The previous Outpost was dusty and run down, built of dark stones with moss creeping around the edges.
The contrast with the pure white...
2024-07-03 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 46
Sit and Kick.
“Downjumping!” Tri called as the newly christened Destiny popped back out of Transit Space and into regular.
“Weapons hot,” Vey called. “Aim for the engines, full spread!”
“Aye, Captain!” Quad acknowledged.
The frigate ...
2024-07-02 08:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 45
Frig-it.
“Is this going to take much longer, Maxton?” Carter sighed as he tapped his foot against the enameled metal floor. The communications room was more of a notion than an actual thing, he had discovered.
Barely more than an empty room with an elementa...
2024-07-02 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Six
Just Passing Through… Again.
Wesley approached the Outpost a few hours after sunrise, having released his hold on the My Domain spell just a couple of hours before. He and his sims had spent the last two hours before they left cleaning, scru...
2024-07-02 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Five
Tiering Up
Wesley leaned back in the chair and groaned, knowing there was no chance he had managed to avoid getting an excess of essence, which meant he was going to be forced to Temper yet again.
Tier 4 (873%)
...
Chapter Thirty-Four
Settling Up.
Wesley seriously considered smashing his face into the wall a few times just to have a reason to rest. The healing tents had been doing a roaring trade for the last week, and there was no end in sight.
Even when the worst of the injured we...
2024-06-30 08:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Three
A Long Day.
Getting a meal seemed like a great idea right about then. It had been way too many hours since the glorious meat pies, and they had all been going non-stop. Making their way through the crowded streets without their guards was a lot more difficult, an...
2024-06-29 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-Two
Not our job.
Wesley sat in the tent his squad was assigned to and stared into the faces of his Simulacrums. The rest of the squad was sitting on the other side of the tent, except for Split, who was sitting on the opposite bunk, staring closely at the Sara copy. 2024-06-28 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 44
Adjustments.
“Just so we are clear,” Crush said with a lazy smile. “You are allowed to visit to deliver good news. It doesn’t only have to be bad tidings.”
“I didn’t make the universe; I’m just trying to live in it,” Nellie replied, her voice laced ...
2024-06-27 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty-One
Showdown on the corner.
An old military adage states that no plan survives contact with the enemy. This is not only very true but also a great indicator of what can go wrong when you don’t even have time to make a plan.
Such was the exit of the beleaguered ...
2024-06-27 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHey all!
I am happy to announce that the editing and formatting of The Rifleman went much better than expected and I decided to release it ahead of schedule.
So, if you have Kindle Unlimited where you live, you can head over there and read the rest of the story right now. I will still, of course, be releasing the ...
2024-06-26 09:41:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Thirty
Fastest
Wesley settled himself on the roof as best he could, still grumbling about being made to climb rather than, to quote Split, ‘cheating.’ He would be sure to return the favor at some point, assuming they survived long enough.
Peterson and the othe...
2024-06-26 08:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43
Salvage Work.
“Elder Tw’ee,” Nellie walked slowly in case things had changed since they last met. People tended to get jumpy when beams of light from above tried to erase them from existence. Nellie knew that better than most. “I came to see if you needed any help?...
2024-06-25 08:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 42
Shifting Focus
Carter smiled warmly as he stepped off the shuttle while Maxton and two of her heavies gave everyone the evil eye behind him. The Imperial Line Security Service employed only the worst. Maxton had been on death row for the kind of wanton murder that shocked ...
2024-06-25 08:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-Nine
Faster
“Fall back!” The call woke them in the middle of the night, feet pounding past the tent flap as lights came on all around the camp. “Fall back into the city! Everyone! Fall back into the city!”
“Up! Up! Up!” Peterson was pulling on his arm...
2024-06-25 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28
Slowly
Split was already awake when Wesley woke. He watched her, standing at the entrance to the tent with the wind blowing that strange hair behind her. Her face was blank, and she didn’t have a thing to say. When she saw him watching her, she glanced over and nodded on...
2024-06-24 08:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27
Routed
It would be great to say that his actions saved the flank from failing and that once the enemy retreated, everything stabilized, and Wesley was a massive hero. Of course, that wasn’t even close to what happened.
The vast majority of the defenders in th...
2024-06-23 08:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
