This multi-part story is set in the same universe as “The Things We Do For Family Chapter 1 Richard Quentan made his way down the tunnel his pod had drilled in the rock. It wasn’t a small passage, but it still felt tight because the hardened vac suit so necessary to his survival when working …
Bolts punched through the composite walls like they were paper, making me hunker even lower behind the ferrocrete foundation. Not for the first time since this standoff began, I wished I could burrow into the floor but there was a granite-like rock under the thin layer of regolith that covered this planet. So far, I’d …
Link to previous chapters As the 280 skimmed over the carnage of the day’s fighting, I began to feel what the survivors of the 7th Cavalry must have as they made their way out to Custer Hill all those years ago. A ball of dread had formed in my stomach and grew as each klick …
Link to previous chapters It had been a couple of days since I’d seen the LT. I knew some shit was going on because she was spending a lot of time with Powell and that intel guy, Burchmann. Then, without any warning, she popped up during PT, joining in with the platoon. Afterward, she pulled …
Link to previous chapters “We’re going to what?” I said, looking at Powell as if he had a giant horn growing out of his head. “We’re going to steal one of their ships.” He said it like he was suggesting we all get lunch. Like it was just a normal, everyday thing and not some …
Link to previous chapters The next morning, I eased out of the tent after what might have been the most amazing night of my life. My mind was reeling and I needed some alone time to process everything. I hoped to make it back to my tent without seeing anyone. Maybe it was stupid, but …
Chapter 8 Link to previous chapters Things didn’t end with Powell’s psyop. The brass wasn’t about to let the Skinnies get away and as we cleaned up and caught our breath, they launched a counterattack. Artillery started pounding them again as the armored forces streamed toward the ridgeline. And, while we learned a lot in …
Link to previous chapters Chapter 7 Hang ‘Em High I walked the line, making sure my troops were dug in and ready in case the Arvenoid assault came early. It was a formality, really, as my platoon sergeant, César Hurtado, had already seen to the deployment. But they had hammered it into us in OCS …
Link to Chapter 5 Chapter 6 You’d think the news that there’s a massive alien invasion fleet on the way to subjugate Earth would be a wake-up call to humanity and that we’d finally get out shit together. And it was, it just took longer for us to wake up than you’d hope. The first …
Link to Chapter 4 Chapter 5 The news that the Arvenoid were on their way kicked things into high gear… eventually. At the moment, however, I was sitting in yet another interminable meeting. This one was about setting up a press conference to reveal Xav’s existence to the world. It was going about as well …