The Gateway Run

by on February 11, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Essential Galactic Atlas

The star systems of Hellespont, Marmara, and Bosphorus are named after the waterways that link old Constantinople to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It is a fitting name for the stars that link Alcyone to the rest of the Western Alliance. Hellespont and Bosphorus are bright and powerful sub giant stars, which makes travel to them far easier than other nearby stars. Marmara is a bright giant, making it one of the most powerful single stars near the Pleiades Cluster. The three systems are the best hyperspace run towards The Taurus Gateway, and most starships traveling there follow that path. Ships stop to refuel, load cargo, or buy updated maps of the Pleiades Cluster. Their crew and passengers go to restaurants, buy collectables that prove they were there, or see the beautiful vacation destinations. Those systems are money pits, a source of revenue for the great trading empire that is Constantinople.

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Julie

by on February 10, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Julie came out of her shell after moving in with her aunt. She learned to play the clueless ditsy innocent blonde like a fiddle. All the boys that never noticed her before followed her around like puppy dogs. I didn’t get the chance to echo them. She just dragged me along, you see. She practiced her music every day. She taught me how to study. She sang with the voice of a carefree angel. She did homework. She did track and field, ice hockey, and cross-country skiing. And yes, she joined the cheerleading team. She did band and choir. She tried out for everything her father would have held her back from. She grew up before my eyes, leaving behind the shy and reserved girl she had been, and becoming a self-assured and confident young lady. She kept me by her side through all of it. I loved every minute.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Lucas Cats

by on February 9, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The tiger-derived Laohu of San Lucas lived forever in the underbelly of civilization on the Hankou continent. They were slaves, their parents had been slaves, and every generation going back to the very beginning of time had been slaves. They were the unfavored of the gods of the mountain, and it was their lot in life to toil for the betterment of their masters. Their masters gave them enough food and shelter to survive, but never enough to thrive. Their labors built the empire but they enjoyed few of the benefits. Then humanity arrived on their world, and they looked up to see flames streaking across the sky from a place far beyond the mountain of the gods. They began to worship these new, gleaming sky gods who wielded fire of their own. Their masters punished all who fell into such heresy, and the Laohu prayed for salvation from slavery and death as they prepared to take matters into their own claws.

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The Gateway Run

by on February 8, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Essential Galactic Atlas

Constantinople’s trading firms wanted to colonize Alcyone once we found out The Taurus Gateway was there. But America, and the rest of the Western Alliance, was deeply opposed to that idea. When even the Peloran kindly suggested that they would prefer Alliance neighbors in the system, Constantinople grudgingly agreed to stay out of the system. But they knew how much money could be made through Alcyone, and they were not prepared to relinquish that golden goose. So they chose three stars on a direct route to Alcyone and colonized them instead. They reasoned, not incorrectly, that if they could control the road to Alcyone, they could make nearly as much money as they could with Alcyone itself. So they assembled a new colony expedition and sent it to colonize the systems they named Hellespont, Marmara, and Bosphorus as quickly as possible. It was a good plan.

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Julie

by on February 7, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Julie’s life changed the day she moved into her aunt’s house. She barely let me leave her alone in the weeks that followed for one. That did a few things for my sense of importance, let me tell you. She tried on a whole new wardrobe, and I loved every minute of it. She looked awful good in just about anything, you see. But I also loved it because every day she woke up and tried on another sleeveless shirt or pair of shorts was another day that she proclaimed her independence from her former life. She had a good home. She let me take her to parties in other people’s homes. She flirted with all the pretty boys. She stayed up way too late at night. She did all the things a girl does when she’s becoming a young lady. Some would say she had a little too much fun. Not me. She deserved all the fun in the world, and I wanted to give it to her. She loved every minute of it. So did I.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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