After weeks of sitting around, the Retribution finally got to fly again.
Knowing we were leaving, the harbor was a beehive of activity. Cobbled together crews were drilling aboard the other captured pirate ships. The people knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when another enemy...
2022-03-05 16:18:21 +0000 UTC View PostSorry about the late chapters, I have no excuse, I simply spaced on it.
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I watched as the workers placed the last armor panel in position and began to weld it into place. It had taken a few weeks to repair the damages from our fight...
2022-03-05 16:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Grulaine hissed in annoyance as his second in command handed him his “orders”. His second flinched back and hurried out of the room. If he hadn’t, Grulaine may have cut him down in a fit of pique. It galled Grulaine to be under the thumb of another. He had gotten rid of his father f...
2022-02-26 13:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostAdmiral Levins surveyed the destruction with disconnected apathy. When his fleet of five had arrived, they found the city under siege from slaves and commoners alike. He had immediately ordered all ships to fire upon the town, not sparing a single thought of innocent casualties.
He did have...
2022-02-26 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostShip repairs were progressing adequately. I say that not to disparage the time and efforts the workers put in just that I had never accounted for proper major repairs when I built the Retribution in the first place.
It was a major mistake on my part and was making everything ten times harde...
2022-02-19 13:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostSarvis limped past a line of bloody and broken men as they kneeled on the deck. He didn’t follow the policy not to show weakness to subordinates. For him, it was more important to show that he would push through the pain.
He growled deeply as he walked, making those closest to him flinch,...
2022-02-19 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostI had to remove my armor before I could shove myself into the tight crawl space behind the bulkhead and wall. Thankfully I fit. Otherwise, I would have to remove an entire wall section to get at the damaged areas. It wasn’t the worse outcome but it would take far longer to remove those than it ...
2022-02-12 13:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostI realized as I was about to rejoin the battle that something had changed. It took me a moment to figure out what it was. The pirates had stopped fighting amongst themselves and the survivors were all looking toward me and my crew.
Even Barcos and Sarvis had broken off their conflict, neith...
2022-02-12 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostKhikall grumbled as the captain left him to fly the ship and man the weapons. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it but he knew it wouldn’t be as effective. Especially with the captain telling him not to use the new weapon unless he absolutely had to. What good was having a weapon if you couldn...
2022-02-05 13:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe first shots came from our pursuer, ranging shots to increase accuracy. It wouldn’t have been an issue except one of the shots managed to land, disrupting our cloak and ruining our approach. The damage was minimal since it was an inert round but still, the shield flickered to life shortly af...
2022-02-05 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostTurns out I probably didn’t need to make a statement by killing the guard. I forgot one thing. It was small but very important. A lot of slaves still had families.
The next morning the town literally exploded in violence as the surviving families of slaves dragged the government officials...
2022-01-29 13:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostEm’ah slipped through the grimy back alleys of the port town in the guise of a malnourished adolescent male. It was hard taking a form so small but she found over her years that slaves tended to only trust those worse off than them.
Her destination was a storage warehouse and sleeping qua...
2022-01-29 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
This one I left a lot to artist interpretation, mostly because he is better at non-human characters. It still turned out pretty good though, so no complaints here.
2022-01-26 21:46:41 +0000 UTC View PostAfter a week of following the faint trail of the ship that left the pirate haven, we finally caught up with it. Or at least where it stopped. It was another pirate city but it appeared a massive battle had taken place.
Buildings were nothing more than burned-out husks and bodies were strewn...
2022-01-22 13:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt was less than two weeks since we had left the island to its own devices. So I was a bit surprised to see two pirate ships docked at the port. Careful of a trap, I dropped Barcos and Em’ah off to scout things before we docked. Thankfully the merchant ship was a Guild ship and even if these we...
2022-01-22 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Another piece of fantastic art from williamrliberto. I didn't expect to see this until sometime next week but he finished it much sooner so I figured why wait.
2022-01-16 17:11:51 +0000 UTC View PostAfter fixing the Retribution and rounding up most of the hidden pirates, my small group set sail again. Everyone was in good spirits after our little battle, even Barcos. Mostly because there was enough booze on the island to make even him happy.
The first island we stopped at had no mercha...
2022-01-15 13:27:22 +0000 UTC View PostWe circled the island as the defenders took potshots at the Retribution.
Few of them hit and the volume of fire wasn’t enough to worry the shields.
“Why do you want this island?” Em’ah asked for the second time.
“Because we need a place to stage our raids from. Prefera...
2022-01-15 13:14:48 +0000 UTC View Post
What do you guys and gals think of this commissioned art I got of Ska?
2022-01-13 14:19:34 +0000 UTC View PostI anxiously sat in my chair in the command room. We had arrived at the location of our ambush a week ahead of schedule in order to allow any possible disturbed mana trail to dissipate and not give away our position.
The island in question was a small pirate trading port. It only remained in...
2022-01-08 13:09:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was rather uneventful. Khikall showed me where to purchase the materials I needed to ‘repair’ the ship. Really it was more of an upgrade because I had plenty of spare mana lasers and cannons to replace the damaged ones on the ship, but I saw no point with continuing to use subpar...
2022-01-08 13:08:55 +0000 UTC View PostI disconnected the three mana cannons from the front-mounted turret and inspected them. There were signs of damage from use. I frowned, pulling out a notebook and scribbling down my findings. I didn’t really need the notebook with my almost perfect memory but it was faster to look at a log than...
2022-01-01 13:13:10 +0000 UTC View PostUlq and Xiph stepped out of the portal of the Bazaar. Xiph’s tentacles twitched in distaste at the thin environment before he reached out to his partner mentally. [Do you have a trail?]
This wasn’t the first time asking this question, nor the first Bazaar on this strange world they had ...
2022-01-01 13:12:17 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Christmas and happy holidays! Enjoy this Extra chapter as my Christmas gift to you all.
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I exited the interior of the ship to see Barcos and Em’ah both waiting. Barcos with a bored expression but I saw a slight smirk on his face, he was enjoying t...
2021-12-25 13:04:59 +0000 UTC View PostWith Em’ah’s directions, Khikall was quickly able to get us to the location where the Courier was last spotted. It wasn’t where they were attacked but that was fine as we knew where they had been heading.
Khikall had been right though, my runes or the hull blocked Em’ah’s skill so...
2021-12-25 13:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWe entered the first port town without anyone batting an eye. Apparently, it wasn’t all that strange to see two humans and a Jerboa walking about together.
At first glance I estimated the city to be about the size of Saint June. And while that held true for the size it wasn’t even compa...
2021-12-25 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostKhikall and I had spent the better part of an hour watching the soldiers try different attempts to get on board. Thankfully – for their sake – none of their attempts caused any damage. Although, they had worked out some strange rubberized suits and were starting to put them on to attempt boar...
2021-12-17 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI decided to release this weeks chapters along side the RR release schedule. This way you don't have to wait until Saturday to enjoy the chapters. On the 25th I will resume my normal Saturday release. So let that be my Christmas gift to you all and Happy Holidays.
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2021-12-13 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Dammit, Barcos, would it have killed you to tell me Khikall was a former pirate?” I complained as I sat down in the command room.
Khikall grunted but Barcos just shrugged. “Wasn’t my place to say, besides, I don’t see how it changes anything.”
I rubbed my temples, “of c...
2021-12-05 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Director Tolish, here are the weekly reports,” his assistant said, handing him a stack of papers.
“Thank you, Vetor, anything of note I should look into first?”
“I have arranged them by significance, Director,” the man preened.
Tolish smiled, happy to have such a co...
2021-12-04 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post