“You want to arm the guard forces with a full military kit?” Damien asked dubiously.
“I would prefer not to, but if the Shican reach the ground, the guards are going to need every advantage they can get just to survive. And not just them. I want to arm every single person who is trained in hand-to-hand combat or weapons of any kind.”
“Everyone?”
Alexander nodded. 2025-12-03 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Jacob spent the next few minutes querying the station AI and reading the documents it provided to see if he could learn more, but the computer was nearly as useless as Melody when it came to specifics. This time, it wasn’t because it was damaged; it just didn’t have the information.
Apparently, whoever decided to decommission the site hadn’t seen any reason to inform the AI as to wh...
2025-12-02 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostAnd I'm back! I hope everyone had a good holiday if you're in the US. If not, I hope your week was as relaxing and productive as mine. Without further ado, enjoy the chapter.
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“What’s up, Alex?” Lucas asked the moment he entered the conference room.
“I’ll discuss it in a moment, just waiting for one more pe...
2025-12-01 13:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostThesska didn’t need to order his people to fire; they knew their jobs. When he glanced at the tactical display, he was surprised to see that the humans had arrived so far away. They were barely within range of lasers, but they were approaching rapidly.
“How many ships?”
“A little over two hundred, Emperor,” the sensor operator responded.
Less than a third of his flee...
2025-11-21 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostJacob’s drone waited in front of the large cargo door as an overhead light flashed in warning. At least he assumed it was a warning.
Then the door groaned open, and a wall of air slammed into his drone. The heavy unit only rocked slightly, but if he had been standing there in person, he probably would have been knocked off his feet.
Eventually, the wind started to die down, and wi...
2025-11-20 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostG-1 floated next to other units exactly like it. They waited in deep space, invisible and silent, but ready to act as soon as they received orders. Eventually, a vessel appeared. They and the other sixty-four units like them had been activated, and it was time to carry out their missions.
The EFEC swordfish relayed their new instructions before vanishing once again. The group quickly veri...
2025-11-19 13:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostI'll be taking next week off for the holiday. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving if you're in the US. If not, it's still a good time of the year to spend with family.
2025-11-19 12:55:04 +0000 UTC View PostJacob worked his jaw as he rubbed at his temples, wishing he could make the lingering pain go away. Choosing to go with only one information packet had been the right choice. The eiraxins were also monsters for including simulated pain in a virtual space.
He could sort of understand why they had included pain responses. Much like with a real body, pain was an indicator to stop doing somet...
2025-11-18 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Hello, Mr. Kane. It’s been over a year since we last spoke. We assumed you passed off all correspondence to Admiral Krieger.”
Alexander used his avatar to smile awkwardly at Admiral Patel’s comment. Part of that awkwardness was because he had retaken his old robotic form before meeting with them. He thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal since he had lived that way for years, b...
2025-11-17 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostSYSTEM: STAGING GROUND
DATE: 2405
It had taken a few months, but they had arrived at the system they named Staging Ground to collect the last of the stragglers from human space, and to top it off, Thesska was in a fantastic mood.
Thesska had just finished purging the commanders who had failed to return to the armada when he ordered them to. Most had been aware of what awaited ...
2025-11-14 13:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe door to the main power facility rumbled open, shaking the entire floor. Jacob was sure something wasn’t working right inside the structure, but he wasn’t concerned about the mechanism behind the door, so long as it opened.
It did require power, similar to when he had to open the fabrication center door, but instead of recklessly jamming exposed wires from his drone into the door c...
2025-11-13 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostSYSTEM: UNKNOWN
DATE: 2404
Twelve vessels appeared outside of the unnamed system, their passive scanners quickly cataloging the system traffic before they moved on to avoid detection. Their stealth composite hid them from most sensors, but they knew the enemy sensor ships could penetrate that passive defense, given time.
Their job wasn’t to target every single Shican world; ...
2025-11-12 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Trapped in a robotic shell, one man must reclaim a future he can't remember.
In a distant future, Alexander scrapes by in a rundown repair shop while secretly searching for answers to his fragmented past. He has skills he can’t explain and only foggy glimpses of who he used...
2025-11-11 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostNow that the fabrication center was up and running and all of Jacob’s cobbled-together repairs were replaced with proper components, he checked the work lists that Melody had created.
He was confused at first when the fabrication center was absent on both lists, until he realized it must be showing as green. It took a few cycles to figure out how to access that report, but he managed to...
2025-11-11 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostLOCATION: EDEN’S END
SYSTEM: UNOKANE
DATE: 2404
Alexander and Lucas watched from the control room as the twelve EFEC Swordfish undocked from the old temporary ring station, which had been upgraded many times over and turned into a military anchorage.
“How long did you say it would take for these to reach the Shican’s border?” Lucas asked as the ships maneuvered i...
2025-11-10 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe pair of automated stealth ships trailed the enemy resupply vessels as they communicated back and forth through their tight beam laser link to determine the best course of action.
“We need to alert the fleet,” the first vessel said.
“Obviously,” the second vessel replied. “We need to determine an attack plan first.”
“That wasn’t part of our mission,” the f...
2025-11-07 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostSYSTEM: ULFRHEIM
DATE: 2404
The fleet dropped out of warp, and Vitor gave an order to adjust their course ninety degrees from the world as he waited impatiently for the sensors to update. Soon enough, the long-range data started coming in, and it was a wall of red.
“Any sign of the Union fleet?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“No, Admiral,” the sensor oper...
2025-11-05 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostSYSTEM: EDEN’S END
DATE: 2404
“Is there anything you can do?” Krieger asked over the comm.
The Asgardian and BSE fleets had pulled back after the destruction of Skarn. While no lives were lost in that attack, that didn’t mean they were winning. Krieger’s plan to keep the enemy’s breakaway fleets occupied to hopefully stall the advance of the Shican armada had worke...
2025-11-03 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThesska clenched his teeth together so hard, he could hear them creak audibly, but he didn’t stop as his subordinate continued his report.
“Three more clan fleets have reported they were under attack by human forces. Their comm connections went dark shortly after their last communication. Other commanders are demanding to join the hunt, and are starting to show signs of succumbing to ...
2025-10-31 12:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostNo Corebound chapters next week.
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Despite the damage to the rest of the ship, the fabrication center was in relatively good shape. It wasn’t undamaged, but there weren’t any rents open to space or entire sections of wall or ceiling collapsed.
Jacob spent time going over every device, which took quite so...
2025-10-30 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostEven though Alexander had his answer for how to work around the gravitational bleeding issue, it still took a full day of simulation testing to find a configuration that both worked and wasn’t so complex that it would be a nightmare to maintain.
His idea to wrap the gravity plate was a good one, but the inhibitor had to be tuned and placed at a slight angle so it focused the field to a ...
2025-10-29 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostJacob stared at the large open rent in the corridor that spanned twice the length of his drone and gave him a nice view of the stars outside the ship. He had finally located an unblocked path, and this was it.
He mentally cursed and tried contacting Melody again, but there was still no response. He couldn’t be sure, but he would bet it had been days since they last spoke. He was startin...
2025-10-28 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander’s comm pinged. When he read the message, he smiled. Then he yelled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Good news, Krieger’s mission was successful!”
The room erupted into cheers. Alexander was glad he was here with the engineers to celebrate the victory. The victory wouldn’t have been possible without their diligent work while he was gone.
Alexander ce...
2025-10-27 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostVitor cursed and rubbed at his arm. He had been walking along when the plating in front of him failed. It caused him to tip forward, landing hard when the next plate’s gravity pulled him back down.
He knew he should be using the mag boots, but they slowed him down too much. He took minor solace in the fact that he was not alone. Half the fleet was reporting partial gravity disruptions a...
2025-10-24 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostNow that Jacob had a working power core and new treads, he needed new arms and another set of treads. He wanted to get the other unit mobile so he wasn’t relying on a single damaged drone.
On that topic, he bumped against the other maintenance drone and managed to push it out of the gap in the floor that it had been trapped in. He jumped to the other unit and tried to move it back on it...
2025-10-23 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe fleet departed the next day, and Alexander wished them good hunting. With the existing gate network, they would arrive at the front in just under two weeks.
Based on the Grand Commander’s estimated whereabouts, the fleet would have just under a week to enact their plan before the Shican leader arrived to take control of the armada. The most recent reports showed that the enemy fleet...
2025-10-22 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostJacob had to pause. He was pretty sure the AI had just taken a dig at the U.S. for not adopting the metric system. Honestly, it was probably justified. The whole imperial units of measure were dumb. He had grown up learning them in school, and he couldn’t even recall half of them. Like, how long was a mile in feet?
He shook his head. Those were thoughts for another time. “Melody, plea...
2025-10-21 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander felt the vibrations in the floor as the shuttles took off outside. He had never noticed those in his previous body, and wondered just what else he had missed as he walked into the defunct GS facility.
Most of the massive warehouse had been emptied out at some point, but he did see a few racks along the outer wall still filled with crates of gravity plates.
The room was fil...
2025-10-20 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander and Four were nearly done making the changes when Yulia and Serina walked in.
His daughter hopped up on the far side of the workbench to use it as a seat while Serina came over to work with Four.
“Can you finish the rest?” Alexander asked.
Four nodded.
He thanked her and walked over to speak to Yulia. Before he did, he cleared his throat and gave her a poin...
2025-10-17 12:00:31 +0000 UTC View PostWithout seeing any other option, Jacob agreed. “Fine, I’ll be your captain.” He had no idea what that entailed, but it certainly seemed better than dying. “Is there like an oath or anything?”
“No, Jacob. All I required was your agreement. The merging process shall begin shortly.”
“Huh? Merging process? I don’t like the sound of that. Can’t I, you know, sit in a c...
2025-10-16 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post