Heath pulled up the calendar, as he had been doing more and more frequently since they set off. Another week and a half, and they would be at the outpost. That last box laughed at him as those days stretched off into eternity. He wanted to go for ...
2025-09-24 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMalor’s Rest. Full rights owned by the Temple of Virtue. The order of monks was famous for eschewing luxury in all its forms. New initiates spent years living in the most isolated worlds imaginable, communing with their god and meditating on the...
2025-09-23 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“Heath. Pal. Captain. I am begging. Please.” Copperfield was leaning over the table of the job hall, hands clasped together. The whole effect was fouled by the expression on his face, where he couldn’t quite hide a smirk.
Jenny Mae was...
2025-09-22 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Psst. Heath. Are you up?”
He jolted awake, heartbeat racing. Jenny Mae was leaning over him, whispering from a foot away. As awareness returned he realized he had fallen asleep in his Captain’s chair, a late night conversation with th...
2025-09-19 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostBetsy the mech was in pieces across the cargo bay. Copperfield was in the center, holding some of the scales leftover from their raid on the Ruby Estate. He leaned in to watch, not wanting to interrupt the process. It was one he’d heard about bu...
2025-09-18 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“That was worse than the goblins,” Copperfield said when they were alone after their delve into the Ruby Estate.
Emerald grunted their agreement.
“Great loot though.” He triple-checked the hover dolly onto which Betsy had...
2025-09-17 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAs his heartbeat returned to a rhythm he could call normal, he became aware of something uncomfortable on his arm. Sticky and cold at the same time, he turned to see half his sleeve covered in blood. He swore, loudly. That coat was expensive. Then...
2025-09-16 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe next wave was better and worse. Somehow, they triggered the monsters before reaching the village. None of them had noticed any sort of trap or lookout, but it was impossible to miss a hundred screaming monsters barreling directly at them. ...
2025-09-15 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“We have a problem,” Heath announced.
They were eating dinner, Ekaterina joining them at his request. Though dinner might have been pushing it. Rations reconstituted with water into what could only technically be described as a ste...
2025-09-12 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Amazing!”
“Hells yeah, we kicked that bear’s ass!”
“Didn’t die, so there’s that.”
“I have so many notifications. At least three levels, I’m sure of it.”
“Betsy’s gonna need some time in the box ...
2025-09-11 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“On three,” Heath whispered. “One, two, three!”
Everything happened at once. A [Surge] of mana flooded from Emerald into Copperfield, who didn’t waste the opportunity.
He leapt forward, extra Power and the augmentation ...
2025-09-10 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe inside of the guild could have been any office building, from any vid Heath had ever seen. There were workers, Classed and not, moving in every direction. Some cleaned, some were tapping away at pads to deal with scheduling or other maintenanc...
2025-09-09 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHeath should have unclenched when they reached Solstice and the official entrance to the Hummingbird Cluster, but he hadn’t. Every creak and groan of the ship settling, or thud coming from the engine left him flinching and asking Loon for a stat...
2025-09-08 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHeath spared a moment for trying to find some dirt. If any existed in it was deep in the center of the jungle. A region only cleared for rank three Classers and above. In a century, he could come back and add it to his collection.
Until then...
2025-09-05 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIt took Heath six jumps to break. Six jumps in eight days, all undampened, two through the smallest gates he’d ever seen. The narrower metaphysical tunnel made the sickness and discomfort far worse than the already unbearable standard set in the...
2025-09-04 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWaking up the next morning, Heath’s memories of everything after talking with Emerald were a blur. But he was clean and not starving so he’d call that a win. He had survived and now it was time to reap his rewards. Folding his hands behind his...
2025-09-03 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“What the fuck was that?” Copperfield asked.
Heath groaned. It was a fair question, and he couldn’t avoid answering, not after everything. But explaining was going to be a nightmare. And he didn’t even know all the detail...
2025-09-02 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe Loon’s path led them through a market. Not the classy one from the top of the station that Emerald and Heath had walked through earlier, with its rows of artisanal produce, imported in enchanter-made containers to keep it at the peak of fres...
2025-09-01 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHeath double- and triple-checked their list for docking. They were still a day’s flight out but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. This was a big one. They had passed through Sector Control four weeks and three jumps back. It should have ...
2025-08-29 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostCopperfield and Emerald staggered into view, followed by a crowd of mixed locals and other spacers, shouting and stumbling along like a drunken parade. Most looked like they were enjoying the show, but a few squared up against his crew members.&nb...
2025-08-28 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Jump in 15 minutes. All crew report to the bridge. Passengers, seek secured location.”
The Loon’s announcement was redundant. Heath and the others were already strapped in. Ekaterina presumably was as well, not that he could con...
2025-08-27 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHeath bounded to his feet the second the clock ticked over the hour, marking the end of his personal purgatory. No more interviews with the absolute dregs of the Atala system. No more sitting around at all. Just being in the same system, doing the...
2025-08-26 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThey arrived back at the Loon at the same time as Copperfield, who had a scratched-up hover dolly following along behind him, with three weathered crates weighing it down, and a threadbare spacer-pack slung over one shoulder.
Emerald s...
2025-08-25 17:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was more of the same. Emerald left to go do shady outlaw things – Heath was still not clear on how you just picked up something to smuggle – and Heath returned to the same job hall as before to wait for applicants. With input from...
2025-08-25 17:40:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt was near the end of the day when the next candidate showed up. Heath had already narrowed down some possible contracts and done all his resupply ordering for what they would need. A side benefit of a small crew was getting by without too much o...
2025-08-25 17:35:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Permission granted for docking at the Atala Imperial Spaceport, berth 155C. Estimated time to landing, 15 minutes.”
“Thanks Loon.”
Heath double-checked his harness one more time. Emerald had grumbled but eventually ceded to He...
2025-08-25 17:30:03 +0000 UTC View Post“A thousand years of wisdom says if you need to up your hauling profits you choose specialized cargo, long distance routes, add passengers, or take the dangerous contracts. I don’t see us doing any of those.”
Heath and the Loon h...
2025-08-25 17:25:01 +0000 UTC View PostWarm sun and the scent of a new city, fumes and all, were Heath’s first impressions of Eubank 2. A sizable population was enough for a spaceport, but not one that was teeming with amenities like a true hub. In fact it might be better described a...
2025-08-25 17:20:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe chaos was all worth it for these little guys. Heath popped open the box to appreciate the argo crystals. Not that he thought Emerald would bother taking them after they saved Heath in the first place. But also they were a stranger he’d met t...
2025-08-25 17:15:02 +0000 UTC View PostHeath heaved himself upright with a groan. “Next time I have to go into a creepy secret closet for a job, remind me to just make the smart decision.”
“Noted,” the Loon answered. “But you were successful. Our first fully completed c...
2025-08-25 17:10:00 +0000 UTC View Post