A Primer on the Races of Humanity – Branan

by on August 22, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The Branan have an intense industrial society that China’s famous industrial districts wish they could match. People looking in from the outside are appalled at their lack of safety precautions and the conditions of their workers. And environmentalists fall into shrieking catatonia at the mere glimpse of a Branan industrial dump. But what few people understand from the outside is that the Branan outlook on life is very different than ours. Life as we know it is a temporary condition to them. They rarely live more than sixty years. But that is merely their first life. Every Branan is expected to work hard and build up a nest egg in that first life to pay for their second life. And the more honor and money they build up, the more resources they will have when they begin their second life. In the networks.

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The Gemini Affair

by on August 21, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Jack grew up in a world at peace. His only interests were partying and girls. Two decades of War changed the galaxy and left Jack with no home to return to. Seven decades after War’s End, Captain Jack Hart was a man at peace once again. His ship represented the freedom to live wherever he wanted. He could fly anywhere from Earth to the furthest frontiers of human expansion on a whim and a prayer. And his cargo holds could carry whatever luxuries people wanted wherever he was going.

All of that was endangered when he ran into a mysterious freighter while on a routine trip to the Pleiades Cluster. What secrets did it hold? What mysteries did it hide? Why was it skulking around the heart of the Pleiades Cluster? Why did it open fire the moment it saw his ship? And what would the answers to those questions do to the foundations of the world Captain Jack Hart had built his life on?

The Gemini Affair is available at:
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Melissa

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

Melissa wasn’t a one woman wrecking crew. There were several of them, but Melissa had the largest body count by far. Counting the bodies she lost or damaged, here. She dared the bad guys to shoot her, and they did. A lot. She lost more heads and limbs than I could count, and they even managed to kill her a few times. She spent a lot of time in the body and fender shop, but she kept everyone else from being hit whenever the Hurst assassins made another try on Old Man Callahan. I remember this one time she jumped into the line of fire when the assassins opened up with a couple schoolgirls in the background. The police responded first that time, talked to the schoolgirls in question, and then dropped a full bag of nannies next to her. They then proceeded to pay no attention at all as she pulled herself back together and limped away. You could say that she made some friends on days like those.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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John Jones

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

One of the reasons I’m fairly certain I know who John Jones was before he joined Wolfenheim is what he did after signing his new name on the dotted line. He analyzed the laws in the Alpha Centauri, looking for loopholes we could use. And I mean all the colonies of Alpha Centauri. American, Russian, Chinese, and Western Alliance. Every colony, by every government, corporation, or private organization. He studied every single one of them, and while in the middle of the largest War in human history, he used those laws to give us access to resources and venues we never would have been able to use otherwise. Most people still don’t realize that a sizable percentage of our budget and colonists come from non-Western Alliance citizens and organizations. Nearly a thousand of our people are Chinese or Russians who just want out of this mess, and they never would have joined if John Jones hadn’t reached out and looked for them. I’m very happy to have John Jones on my team.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Melissa

by on August 18, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Melissa is unique amongst the fighter cybers in that she joined the Wolfenheim Project before her pilot did. She’d been part of Megan’s merry little band of mayhem makers for a month before he showed up, and she maintained her membership in good standing until the day we left. Melissa was one of the heavy weapons specialists, and I think she had a bit of an adrenalin rush complex. Or whatever passes for one of those when it comes to cybernetic intelligences. She was definitely a big gun nut, and it was something else to see her whipping out her big guns as she walked into battle with another of the Hurst assassins sent to deal with Old Man Callahan. Walked. She had this idea that if they saw her hiding behind cover, they’d think she was afraid of them. So she walked into battle, guns blazing, and dared the bad guys to shoot her.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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