The young officer’s stomach fluttered, just a little bit. She’d been on the Kopus a bit less than a year, and she thought she had acquitted herself well. So she’d been a bit surprised when she’d been ordered to come up and see the DSO. She’d met the DSO perhaps twice; generally speaking, she reported …
Chapter Nine: Alliance Alliance: Intelligence by D.X. Machina
Myo stared at Dr. Regda, her mind flashing to a hundred different things. It didn’t make sense, none of it did. “But…they attacked us.” “Oh, yes, they did,” Regda said. “I didn’t know why, exactly, until the humans told us that they’d lost at Tau Ceti. Lost! Gods, their force was overwhelming, they should have …
The Promise, Chapter One Background Chatter by D.X. Machina
Tiernan ColVanos, Fourth of that Name, leaned back in his chair. It was to be a busy day, as most days were. In a few hours, he would be going to the Senate, to see its new members sworn in. Three, to be precise, each of them taking their seats by his appointment. It was …
Chapter 8: Essni’s Gang Titan: Stray by Johnny Scribe
It wasn’t that Elena was afraid of Titans. She wasn’t. She’d been living among them for… well, she wasn’t really sure how long it had been. Months, anyway. She’d been dodging Titan feet for a while, anyway. She was used to them. But the fact of the matter was she’d never been directly under a …
Chapter Eight: Forward Alliance: Intelligence by D.X. Machina
There is a common trope in film and fiction: A ragtag platoon walks through the shattered remains of a city, its crumbling, bombed-out buildings but a shadow of the vital place that once stood there. Perhaps the camera focuses on a charred doll, or a tattered advertisement for makeup. Perhaps, if the filmmaker is especially …
Chapter Seven: Impact Alliance: Intelligence by D.X. Machina
For the briefest of instants, Acolyte 22’s upward momentum precisely cancelled out the gravity of Hive Prime, and Hercule was weightless. Hercule remembered his first time he had undergone zero-G training. In 2172, when he’d been hoping to transfer to the JTSA, he’d gone through pre-application training in Houston. It had been summer, and he’d …
Chapter 7: Fancy Meeting You Here Titan: Stray by Johnny Scribe
“What do you suppose she’s going to do to us?” Oteo turned to look at Lishda. The young woman was curled up in the corner of their carrier with her knees pressed to her chest. Oteo scratched the back of his neck. “I… I don’t know.” He mumbled, a bit apprehensively. “There’s nothing we can …
This Torch that I Found (Chapter One) by D.X. Machina
You’d never know it, but buddy, I’m a kind of poet, And I got a lot of things I like to say. –Harold Allen and Johnny Mercer, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” Tuesday is always a quiet night at the bar, no matter where in the universe you happen …
The Proposal by Johnny Scribe
Thomas Archer-Kramer shifted nervously in his chair as he tried to distract himself by gazing at the starscape outside. He was aboard Pryvani Tarsuss’s most recently acquired shuttlecraft. It was the first shuttle intentionally built with both human and titan passengers in mind, rather than merely being retrofitted for that purpose. The ship sported five …
Chapter Six: Recovery Alliance: Intelligence by D.X. Machina
“Comms, incoming. Single tone,” Glyta said. “We’re go.” “Any following data?” Shagda Olthympo asked. “Hold on, quick burst…’Eight Pick.’ Not sure what that means.” “Vidol’s playing it close,” Olthympo said. “Can’t blame her, but would be nice to know their condition.” “Whose condition, ma’am?” “We’re picking up eight people,” Utti Larasin said. “Not the three …