Passing through the door of mist felt a little like passing through a wall of water—though that might have been the billowing steam on the other side of the door that filled the caldera from many bubbling pools.
“Fan out,” said Cole. He point...
2025-11-18 16:46:32 +0000 UTC View PostOne good thing about their group is that everyone in it could hustle. Besson and Nutmeg traversed hills as though they were flat ground, with a seemingly limitless supply of energy. Nona had supernatural ways of crossing distance, and both Howie and Roxy had to...
2025-11-15 05:03:51 +0000 UTC View PostBack under the oppressive heat of the artificial sun, they followed the trail Besson and Nutmeg forged, descending down from the shadow of the pinnacle before starting the climb back up toward the portal to the next floor at the top of a caldera.
...
2025-11-13 04:22:56 +0000 UTC View Post“Cole! COLE! Shit, Roxy, I think the apes must have poisoned him. Get over here! COOOLE!”
Howie screamed in Cole’s ear, shaking him out of his meditative state. He could feel the man scrambling for his AIFAK and had to push Howie’s hands away. Nu...
2025-11-08 05:55:34 +0000 UTC View PostCole headed back to where Roxy and the others were dumping out the loot hastily collected from the apes they’d killed—an assortment of weapons, ammo, and armor pieces that looked more medieval than anything. Two plates of bone looked like front inserts fo...
2025-11-06 04:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostCole and the others made their way out of the steam-filled, blood-soaked ravine, returning to the high ground that offered better sight lines. Once out of the valley, the heat started to mount again as the occlusion dropped away.
Once Howie and Nona joine...
2025-10-31 15:47:27 +0000 UTC View Post“We can’t move him,” said Roxy. “It may kill him.”
“Well we can’t stay here,” said Cole. “Not unless we want to be ape food if that hairy-ass mage comes back with reinforcements. So either we leave him to die, or we take him to work on....
2025-10-30 06:55:24 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! The treatment plan for my eye has worked tremendously well over the last week, so I'm able to look at a screen for long enough to get some work done much sooner than I expected (though I still have to break it up into shorter sessions over the course of the day).
Regular chap...
2025-10-28 18:46:35 +0000 UTC View PostHey all, just wanted to leave a quick update with my situation. I was able to get in to see a doctor, and apparently I have an infection and an ulcer on my eye, which feels about as pleasant as it sounds. The long and short of it is, I'll be fine and so will my eyesight. The doc gave me ...
2025-10-22 17:22:06 +0000 UTC View PostNote: Just as a heads up, I've had a slight medical issue pop up that's making it difficult for me to write and edit, so the pace is going to slow here for probably another week. Sorry for the delays.
“Cole, look at this,” said Nona, nudging one of the a...
2025-10-16 16:07:54 +0000 UTC View Post“Contact front!” shouted Besson. The full auto staccato of his otherworld machine gun echoed off the canyon walls as multiple shrieking cries . “Multiple hostiles, non-human, primitive weapons.”
Apparently, whatever had won the fight ...
2025-10-14 01:43:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Quick note: Only two chapters next week so I have some extra time to work on editing for Book 3 of My Big Goblin Space Program. Book 1 launches in a month, so be sure to pre-order! I've attached a link to this post.
“I know what you’re thinking,...
2025-10-10 22:37:30 +0000 UTC View Post“Just like that?” asked Cole. “You just said the other path was really, really good!”
“Fuck what I said. Take the bouncy bullets path.”
Roxy chuckled. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Howie serious, Cole. Might want...
2025-10-08 20:06:50 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for this chapter coming in a day late! Wednesday and Friday chapters will be coming in as normal.
“We don’t know how high level they are, but they’re clearly not afraid of us,” said Cole. “Maybe they’re here as challengers and we’re a...
2025-10-07 19:54:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The permanent cover is finished! And the artist really made something phenomenal, I feel. And that's taking my absurdly high standards into account.
Tallorax was nearly twice the size of Last Fall Hold and packed to the brim with creature...
2025-10-03 18:48:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe transition through the otherworld portals was getting more and more bearable with each new crossing. When he stepped out the other side, into a featureless, gray stone room with a fog-filled doorway, he barely felt queazy at all. His gun was up and level, and he swe...
2025-10-02 02:51:30 +0000 UTC View PostNote:
Ahhh here we go! The start of a brand new mission! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. As a special treat, I have a sneak peek at the work-in-progress of DOR's forever-cover. After one artist failed to deliver, setting me back a couple weeks in terms of getting this proje...
2025-09-30 01:52:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Two, one, three. Transition. One, one, two. Aim and shoot, don’t just swing and fire. Three, two, three.”
Cole watched Nona transition between her carbine and her pistol and back, moving, if not smoothly, then at least purposefully. The th...
2025-09-27 04:57:12 +0000 UTC View PostAn extra minor affix might not make or break a high-level Kicker’s gun, but to a kicker in the low teens like his teammates? Only Field Strip had charges. Tinker just required time and mental effort. After a quick text for Howie’s approval (and...
2025-09-24 23:30:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Alright, looks like we’ve got all the team leads, so let’s get this shit started.”
Cole took his seat in the conference room, scooting his chair in. He recognized the woman giving the briefing as one of the senior Kickers he’d seen around the ...
2025-09-23 04:24:02 +0000 UTC View PostWith three weeks to go until the Babel insertion, Cole absorbed all the information he could on Babel in order to disseminate relevant details to his team. And there were a lot of details. He spent a whole week just studying the various floors ...
2025-09-19 22:29:50 +0000 UTC View Post“These aren’t the only missions you have access to,” said Sophie. “Or even the only ones you’re qualified for. But based on information provided by the data collectors on your Curahee and Vael expeditions, I think these will most play to your stren...
2025-09-18 02:14:16 +0000 UTC View PostCole rolled over as the sun shining through the slit in his blinds managed to perfectly lock onto his eyes, seemingly no matter how he moved. He groaned and sat up, wondering if someone was grinding coffee downstairs before realizing the noise was coming from R...
2025-09-16 01:21:44 +0000 UTC View PostNona started to get the hang of things after the first hundred rounds or so, at which point Cole started her on a handgun, making more corrections to her grip and form, and had her loading her own magazines. As the sun started to drop in the sky, Besson showe...
2025-09-12 22:05:51 +0000 UTC View PostNona squirmed in the passenger seat as they headed off post. She had a duffel bag on her lap that she hugged to her chest.
“Hey dad, can we stop for McDonalds?” asked Howie from the back.
Roxy smacked him. “We just ate.” Then she reached u...
2025-09-11 01:57:38 +0000 UTC View PostBricker drummed his thick fingers on the conference tabletop and sighed. “Well, at least one of you is capable of owning up to mistakes. Moriarty, I expect better, next time. You can’t have junior Kickers picking up your slack. Without the second team...
2025-09-09 00:27:44 +0000 UTC View PostCole spent the afternoon in the armory lab with Norn and Bjorn. He filled two more work orders—one for a midlevel kicker’s shotgun, to which he added a fire elemental effect, and one to a bolt action rifle. As he’d suspected, the minor quality part he’d...
2025-09-05 20:41:15 +0000 UTC View Post“This is it, turn here,” said Sophie, looking down at her phone for directions.
Cole pulled off the road and onto a dirt path. Twenty-five miles southwest of the DOR compound, they were at the rental house Sophie had secured for...
2025-09-04 01:37:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey guys! Just wanted to drop a reminder, even if you're reading ahead on here, please don't forget to stop by the Royal Road page and leave a rating or review! I've put a link to the story in this post. Right now, the story is in the top 250 stories on Royal Road, and I'm betting we can push it ...
2025-09-01 23:02:54 +0000 UTC View PostMoriarty’s hands were blistered from carrying the front half of a field stretcher for the better part of a day. He couldn’t believe how sideways the op had gone. Not just two mages in the steam carriage, but two mages and a knight, twenty musketeer...
2025-08-30 21:24:21 +0000 UTC View Post