WilliamDArand

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 17-

Getting off the transport, Wayne grunted.

After spending the better part of seven hours holding the bunker as well as the anti-aircraft position, Wayne was exhausted.

After they’d knocked the battlecruiser out of the sky, nothing else had shown up. Leaving him and his people with no...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 16-

It only took two minutes to reach the ridgeline, but that was more than enough time for an entire battle to start and end.

A lifetime, one could say.

Reaching the peak, Wayne looked down into the line Michelle had been working.

He immediately saw the remains of her squad and wha...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 15-

Wayne had been quickly shipped off the station, transferred to a Cruiser military ship, taken elsewhere, and now was sitting in an audience hall.

He was surrounded by Walker pilots from what he could only guess was “all corners of the Confederation”. He saw men, women, old, young, and e...

Cavalier's Gambit -Ch 14-

Wayne’s hopes had been dashed.

The loot Tink had put together at the dump through sorting and picking through for several hours had cost nearly seventy percent of what they’d ultimately be worth if Tink tried to resell them later.

The owner of the dump seemed to focus in on the fa...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 13-

Over the last handful of days, Wayne had gotten some time to size Tink up.

Since hiring her, she’d been working non-stop on the ship, as well as Patchwork.

Every day he’d take Patchwork out to do some work as a loadmaster while spotting as a loader, and each evening she did repair...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 12-

Wayne looked at the email he’d received.

He read it over for perhaps the third time.

It’d only had been perhaps three Faesin days, which were almost twenty-four hours each. Each planet had their own number of hours in a day, and their own gravitational forces, though Faesin was in...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 11-

Wayne started making his way to the door that’d lead him out of the cargo bay. Patchwork thankfully was a godsend in this regard as, regardless of what was happening, the magnetic feet kept Wayne moving smoothly.

Then the cargo bay exploded.

The side of it detonated outward with a f...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 10-

Wayne was rather disturbed.

Bothered.

Worried.

Disquieted.

The contracts were all ones that’d been left up since before he took the government contract. Not one single new contract had been put up.

There was also a sudden flurry on the job board for loading.

...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 9-

Wayne had ended up with “Helm” in his cockpit with him.

The man was most definitely burned, and severely so. His wounds had been treated as best as they could, but it was obvious he was suffering.

And badly.

He’d need to get straight into an ICU with speed or there’d be ...

Cavalier's Gambit -CH 8-

Wayne didn’t delay.

Neither with moving, nor with taking shots.

Even as he exited the courtyard he saw the rest of his squad forming up.

As he did, the moment a white-box appeared with a name he recognized as anti-armor, Wayne just fired. His kinetic rifle had been put away an...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 7-

Wayne laughed, leaned back, and then looked to the older man he was drinking with. They looked to be in their fifties but were still active.

“—yeah? Yeah. I mean, I didn’t mean to. I was just new and stupid and… yeah,” David said, looking surprised.

“Oh, I totally get that...

Cavalier's Gambit -Ch 6-

Wayne made excited chattering noises as if he were a squirrel.

Or perhaps a very pleased chimpanzee.

In either case, his joy was audible and apparent.

He had no idea why but the “garage” as Horrace had called it was filled with Scout iterations of Walkers as well as several ...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 5-

Wayne stood in doorway to his garage and wanted to turn around. He wanted to walk right back out.

No matter where he looked, intrusive bits of information appeared. Endlessly providing him with information.

None of which he expected or even wanted.

He’d briefly consulted with ...

Cavalier's Gambit -Ch 4-

Pulling at the panel, Wayne grunted with all the effort that he could put into it.

With a pang, it came loose finally.

Which unfortunately sent Wayne shooting across his workshop and slamming into a several crates. Though the plate was in one hand, the pry-bar the other.

“Fuck...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 3-

Groaning Wayne leaned to the left, then the right, and then backward.

It did almost nothing for his back at all.

He’d done what he set out to do in the end.

“Fucked up my back,” groaned Wayne, standing upright again.

In the end, he’d picked up a shift for almost ev...

Cavalier's Gambit -ch 2-

Wayne frowned and picked up the weight after realizing that he wouldn’t need to brace himself against the load. His Walker’s skeletal hand closed around the large cement filled pipe and he lifted it easily.

Half of his job required him to understand just how much his Walker could hold, ...

Cavalier's Gambit

“CPU-online,” reported the basic VI from Wayne’s diagnostic tablet.

“Yup,” Wayne muttered, watching the tool he held in one hand. The other was pressed to the knee joint of his Walker.

Though perhaps calling it a Walker was an overstatement.

It’s missing all of t...