Caroline Murphy

by on July 22, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

I fought with Caroline Murphy a few times back during The War. And then there was this one day out at Sunnydale when we were assembling the fleets to attack the Hyades. Wolfenheim came through looking to stock up on consumables and I went over to share a beer with my favorite starship captain. And that was when this destroyer squadron came off the New Earth Run and started broadcasting for all to hear. I took one look at Caroline’s transmission and told Olivia to never underestimate that woman. Right before I exited stage left and got out of the line of fire. I took the time to message Caroline before she followed them out system. We may have had a heart to heart about Wolfenheim, but she was a product of the Pennsylvania Families. And she was stubborn. I suppose that’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, but we parted on civil terms, and she disappeared into the wild black yonder. I spent the next two decades wondering what came of her out there. Then I found out. Then everyone found out.

High res version available for free on Patreon

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A Primer on the Races of Humanity – Branan

by on July 21, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The first homebuilt Branan spaceships were slow affairs, propelled by rocket boosters and using spin sections to generate gravity as they traveled between the nearby planets. The Albion shuttles had their own gravplating for internal gravity, but the Branan couldn’t duplicate that technology, so they made do with ships not far removed from those we used to explore our own star system. It would be decades before they improved their ships enough to brave the depths of the Betelgeuse system and navigate to the other two gas giants orbiting their home star. They spent decades more colonizing the planets orbiting those giants as they continued on to explorer the outer reaches of their star system with better and better spacecraft. And then they decided it was time to follow their creators into the interstellar deeps.

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Dana Murphy

by on July 20, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

The Pennsylvania Star Fleet is composed primarily of destroyer squadrons, the better to parcel out squadron command positions to people with the right political connections. They have a higher ratio of squadron Commodores and fleet Admirals than any other American navy, though many of them do not live up to the standards that other navies require. Commodore Dana Murphy is an exception to that rule. She would have had a squadron command in any navy, and Star Fleet had recognized her outstanding talent by giving her one of their newest heavy cruisers. The rest of her squadron was much older, built primarily from ships retired from Federal Navy service decades ago, but a cruiser squadron of any kind flying the Pennsylvania flag is a rare testament to the trust and authority the Commonwealth is willing to give an officer. I am certain that she would have been promoted to Admiral within a year had Wolfenheim not left New Earth when it did. That trip had more consequences than even I anticipated.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Caroline Murphy

by on July 19, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

I had the misfortune of dealing with more stuck up, incompetent Pennsylvania Star Fleet officers than I care to remember. But there was this time off the New Washington orbitals when a squadron of Russian raiders came in for a quick nip at one of our relief squadrons. I was doing my best to keep them busy, but I didn’t have enough fighters to stop them. Then this destroyer squadron came flying in out of the sun under full stealth. The Russians outmassed them two to one, but never saw them coming until it was too late, and that was all she wrote. The Russians broke and ran for hyperspace after the first salvo, and then it was time for me to thank my new heroes for saving my life. That was the day I met Commodore Caroline Murphy. I don’t know what Pennsylvania promotions board messed up and actually promoted a capable officer, but I’m awful glad they did. I may be just a bit biased in my opinion, though.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires

by on July 18, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I just got a copy of my first short story in print. Case Gemini is in the wild! It’s part of An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires, an anthology of a couple dozen short stories by numerous authors. All of it science fiction of one flavor or another. I got it in dead tree format because I’m one of the cool kids on the inside. You can get it in ebook form right now, though the management is hoping to get the physical copy in your hands via online sales in the future. Then you’ll be just as cool as me. 😉 In the meantime, gaze upon the awesomsauce that is a printed book with an awesome cover underneath one of the computers I wrote my short story on. Yes, that is a custom Jack of Harts skin from a little company called Skinit that makes beautiful covers for all kinds of different electronic devices.

An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires

Skinit

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