Jack of Harts

Pacifica

by Charles on September 14, 2019 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

San Francisco is the self-selected capital of Pacifica. They created it, they control the greatest concentration of wealth, and the vast majority of Pacifica’s population lives inside their borders. So the other member States of Pacifica have never contested that leadership role. They build the best virtual worlds and personal assistant AIs, and their real, physical ivory towers are some of the most beautiful and exclusive places to live on Earth and beyond. San Francisco is truly a place of comfort and security for those who can afford to live there. It is also home to one of the largest wealth gaps between the haves and have nots in America. It is truly as impressive as the ivory towers that touch the very sky.

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Pacifica

by Charles on September 13, 2019 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

Detractors often describe Pacifica as a nation by elites, for elites, and utterly out of touch with America at large. The truth is far more nuanced. Yes, the ivory towers of San Francisco are home to the elite of the elite, but the beaches of Micronesia welcome tourists from everywhere on Earth and beyond. The Star Kingdom of Hawaii is one of the most friendly places to visit anywhere on Earth, and studies show it to be one of the least stressful places to live in America. You can travel from Juneau to American Samoa without ever seeing land, and some of the worlds greatest boat races take place in their waters. There is far more to see in Pacifica than the caricatures would suggest.

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The Gemini Affair

by Medron Pryde on September 12, 2019 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?

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The Gemini Affair is available at the following retailers

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9-11

by Medron Pryde on September 11, 2019 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

I remember coming home from work to find out a plane had hit one of the World Trade towers. I remember watching live when the second plane hit the second tower. I remember a third plane hitting the Pentagon. I remember hearing about a fourth plane being highjacked and then going down after the passengers attacked the highjackers. I remember watching people jumping from the upper floors because they didn’t want to burn to death. I remember watching the first tower fall. I remember watching the second tower fall.

I remember the BattleTech fansite I was an admin for preemptively removing me as an admin because they didn’t want the only American admin posting anything about this on their website. I remember them locking down the forums because they didn’t want any of the fansite’s American members to talk about it on their website. I remember being unable to talk to my closest online friends about what was going on, on what is very possibly the worst day of my adult life.

9-11 changed our world. Every one of us alive now, has had our world changed by what happened that day. Some of us lost parents, partners, siblings, or children. Some of us lost friends. Some of us lost jobs. Some of us got new jobs. Some of us signed up to protect our country. We went to Afghanistan and Iraq, and we are still there today. The government got new rules and knew ways of investigating people.

Our world changed that day, and I will never forget.

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The Thunderbird Affair

by Medron Pryde on September 10, 2019 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

The alien Shang attacked us in 2304. They blew Yosemite Station out of Earth orbit and dropped it all over the western half of America. They obliterated Washington DC with a missile bombardment and brought nuclear winter to my home. We stood back up, we fought back, and we hit them in hundreds of systems from one end of known space to the other. And then we sent out the call to rally the fleets for a coordinated strike on their heart of power near Earth.

I am Captain Jack Hart of the Republic of Texas Marine Corps Fighter Attack Wing 112, the Cowboys. It was our job to protect the fleets from Shang spoiling attacks while they organized themselves into a cohesive assault force. It was our job to watch the flanks and keep the system secure. It was our job to be ready to investigate any unidentified contact entering the system.

Most of those days were boring. A faulty transmitter. Or somebody showing up ahead of schedule or long after they were supposed to arrive. And some days it was far more exciting than that. This was one of those days.

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The Thunderbird Affair is available at the following retailers

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