Jonathan A Countyman

Chapter Twenty-Two The Bosses of the Trial

Arlie pushed the great door open. Beyond which she could feel divine mana, and until a moment ago, which of the holy elements she was feeling had been unclear. But now it suddenly was clear. A being of light stood waiting ahead of them.

The darkness vanished, and a winged figure appeared. She was female, entirely naked, yet clearly divine upon the first sight of her. Her hair was an impossible color of flowing gold that seemed to glow in the light and ran down her back and ended past he...

Chapter One Ninety-Two Peaceful Departure

June 2nd, 007 SDE; EFS Enterprise 1100 hours:

Countryman settled into his chair, the last few days having been pleasant yet tense. He’d found that many of the Drifters were nice people making the best of a bad situation. Hell he found them respectable given what had happened to them, he and many others felt sympathetic for them since they had experienced much the same.

More importantly, he’d gained formal recognition of the Sol Refuge as a faction by the Drift...

Chapter One Ninety-One The Lodge

May 21st, 007 SDE; 1439 hours:

Countryman took a moment to double check his gear. After several hours of remote discussion, arrangements had been made for himself, two of his officers and several guards to head down to the surface as part of a diplomatic conference. Of course this meant he needed to be properly geared for a trip to the surface. For that purpose, Richards had freshly fabricated a customized Centurion-S suit for him to wear, something a good deal more pro...

Interlude The Lodge: Expected Visitors

The young man sighed as he stepped into the command center. A younger girl noticed him immediately, “Hylix! Did you hear!? We are going to have visitors!”

He blinked, “Visitors? Who when? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

The girl deflated instantly, “Sorry, but your...”

He sighed, “It’s fine. I was seeing to my grandmother. So who are we expecting?”

“The mysterious phantoms that have been the subject of the rumor mill lately.”

“Someone found ...

Chapter One Ninety Duel in the Storm

Range figures closed rapidly, as Countryman kept an eye on the Raider vessels. One battleship had been disabled, the other crippled but the rest of the fleet had taken only minor damage. They were still battle-ready, his two bomber squadrons were already pulling back to rearm which would take a few minutes.

Below he could hear the comm chatter as the fighters were landing in the port hanger, his target was off the Starboard bow, so that hanger was protected from enemy fire.

Kaori ...

Chapter One Eighty-Nine Escort

May 18th, 007 SDE:

“Countryman, my sensors have picked up Raider vessels closing on our course, do yours?”

Countryman turned slightly to get a better look at Felki on the monitor, “I do, we haven’t determined the exact force yet, but at least one looks to be about the right size for a battleship, it's hard to tell at this distance, but there might be two.”

She grinned, “Seems like I’ve got the better sensors, we’ve confirmed two battleships, ...

Chapter One Eighty-Eight Stormwolf

May 12th 007 SDE

Countryman watched the forward screen closer, the shuttle rocked as an energy discharge hit the hull. Without even looking at the plating he knew they were fine, a glance confirmed that plating hadn’t even budged. In the Enterprise he hardly noted the discharges, her sheer mass helping her absorb them more easily than any shuttle. Still with the occasional jolt from the storm to spice things up he could still appreciate the strange beauty of the place...

Chapter One Eighty-Seven New Contact

Smoke billowed in from the vents, her eyes stung and watered as she hoped over a fallen beam. In the background fire crackled, one of several that had broken out over the ship, but her gaze wasn’t for the damage her ship had taken. On the screen she watched the last Raider vessel slip away, her muscles relaxing a bit as the tension drained away. Without looking away, she asked, “Damage Report?”

“Main drives are out, primary power has failed. Fires reported on decks three, four, ...

Chapter One Eighty-Six Of Sentinels and Lost Sheep

Sali sat up, and was greeted by White, “Not bad, excellent job getting that shuttle back to the Enterprise.”

“Um, thanks. I actually found it rather enjoyable, a good challenge of my skills, those simulated pilots weren’t bad at all”

“A lot of pilots appreciate that one. I’ve got a few more I’d like you to complete, but not today. We have just enough time for another lesson on field maintenance, and maybe a few questions.”

“Speaking of questions, I do hav...

Interlude Rumors of the New Player

The young woman leaned over the railing as she observed the children playing the park below. It wasn’t often she had the chance to do this, the Storm was never an easy place to live, but coming home to port gave her the opportunity to relax, while her ship was undergoing repairs. Nothing too unusual in these parts of the storm, they’d run into a Raider group on their way back from some trade talks with the Raythil, talks that had gone well. She’d been able to trade some of their excess ...

Chapter One Eighty-Five Project Deathhawk

Countryman watched the last few students leave before joining Samantha in her office, “So what did you want to talk about?”

“I’d had some time on my hands, so I started going through the old boxes of research that were brought aboard in haste before our departure from Earth. Well I found some files related to Project Deathhawk, I presume you are familiar?”

“Naturally, it was the project that gave us the 1204, the Admiralty wanted a successor to the Nighthawk, and the c...

Chapter One Eighty-Four Lessons and Simulations

Alarms blared as the young woman manipulated the controls. A series of damage indicators were flashing red on the engineering display, but she barely focused on that as she brought the ship out of a roll and pulled the trigger. A series of flashes were all she saw as the particle cannons fired, sending deadly pulses into the triangular shape in front of her. The computer registered several direct hits, and showed her the inflicted damage as the firing window closed.

A computer voice inf...

Chapter One Eighty-Three New Places and Pilot’s School

Amelia showed Sali around the living space as Countryman settled on the sofa working on something. It was modest with a desk in the corner, and an entertainment center set up on the wall. The sofa Countryman was on faced the monitor integrated into the wall.  A tasteful rug and a few fake plants were placed around the room to add some life. Sali even noted the painting on the wall, it was pretty cute; a stylized anime catgirl in a forest. She was perched on a branch with a drawn bow. Her...

Chapter One Eighty-Two Release and New Direction

May 5th, 007 SDE:

Sali looked up as the door slid open. She’d always wondered at the alien cell doors. Back home they used forcefields, but here the humans used a grid of charged bars. Hurt like hell to touch them when they were charged. A mistake she’d only made once and that was years ago.

Putting that aside, she took notice of the man coming in, dragging a floating case behind him. She smiled, “Captain! What brings you here?”

“On your release da...

Chapter One Eighty-One Charts and Lessons

May 4th, 007 SDE:

Countryman watched the latest Raider fleet retreat, several of their ships were burning and leaking flaming trails of plasma into the storm. They’d run into the raiders on several occasions over the last three months. It was enough that he was starting to get a good picture of the locals. The Raiders were militaristic and preferred to take what they needed. As such the usual Raider encounter began with a demand for supplies, typically food, spare par...

Interlude Factions of the Storm

The Sol Refuge:

Faction Type: Nomadic Remnant

Governmental structure: Military Council

Culture Type: Authoritarian, Militaristic

Specialties: Areas the People of Sol Excell in

Specialty One: Starship Engineering

Specialty Two: Particle Weaponry

Specialty Three: Torpedoes

Specialty Four: Reaction...

Chapter One Eighty Storm Patrol

Countryman found Richards in her office, just off the main engine room. She’d taken a moment to get some paperwork done while the damage control teams were inspecting the recent damage from the storm. Richards smiled when he came in, “Good Day, sir? Is there something I can help you with?”

He took one of the seats across from her desk and started, “I was thinking of running some patrols through the storm.”

“Well our fighters can handle that, it won’t be too hard to f...

Chapter One Seventy-Nine Meeting the Raiders

February 2nd, 007 SDE:

Countryman turned his attention to the screens, as the proximity alarm went off. Misaki was already reporting the new contacts, and Countryman took a moment to look them over as he listened to her. It was a small fleet, not exactly uniform in design language but there were a few commonalities. The largest vessel was a destroyer from the look of it, roughly seven hundred meters long with thirty decks. The armament included several energy cannon emp...

Chapter One Seventy-Eight A New Normal

February 2nd, 007 SDE:

Countryman watched Rika playing with her blocks, while he sat on his sofa. She was barely paying attention to the children’s anime playing on the monitor. It was a relatively new one that came out recently. It was about some young girl’s adventures in a world of magical creatures. Honestly, it was not completely original, but nothing ever was. Rika seemed to like it though and that was all that really mattered.

Rose came over from the ki...

Chapter One Seventy-Seven Solutions

January 7th, 007 SDE:

Countryman moved slowly as he pulled himself out of the nanobath. Nearby Robins helped him up, with a grim smile, “Morning sir, how are you feeling?”

“Like a starship landed on my head.”

“The headache should pass, the grafts took quite nicely.”

Countryman reached for a towel to get the gel off his body, “I know.”

Robins blinked, “Sometimes I forget how aware you are of your own body.”

Countryman gav...

Chapter One Seventy-Six Failure

May 20th, 005 SDE:

Vera pressed the switch, the generator hummed, whined and then sparked. Ruri sighed, “So do you want to tell Jac or should I?”

Vera slumped, “I don’t understand it, that should have worked...”

Ruri tuned her out a bit and let her vent her frustrations. The shield projects had met failure after failure. Nothing they had done had worked. Initially they had thought the radiation was the prime cause of failure, but their most recent ...

Interlude Hunkering Down

Greyman observed the workers maneuvering the final sections of the great bay doors into place. It was merely the first set, but it marked the conclusion of this phase of the project. A welcome relief to many, himself included. The storm was certainly taking its toll on both their health and morale.

So far people had been both productive and hopeful despite the ever-worsening crisis, but it helped that they felt like they were doing something to change their fates. If anything they were ...

Chapter Twenty-One New Armor and New Quests

Hikaru followed Polca through the door with Eren just a step behind. He couldn’t help thinking about what had just happened with them. After everything that had gone wrong it seemed he was finally getting some of that attention he’d expected after digesting so many isekai stories, yet he had to wonder. How did it happen? Sure he knew what Polca had told him, but he didn’t really remember how it happened. He also found himself hoping Polca hadn’t been joking about the sterility potion....

Interlude Naked Boobs

Hikaru rolled over, pressing his face into something soft. It felt nice and the only thing better was that the piercing light was no longer stabbing daggers into his throbbing head. Sighing out with relief, he nestled against the soft something and drifted back off.

A giggle suddenly sounded in his ears, piercing the fog in his brain, his head suddenly felt like needles were shooting out of the core of his brain. He moaned, then blessed relief like ice flashed through his mind and he bl...

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six Battle of the Gods

A calm wind stirred beneath her as she beat her wings just as the City of Salmus came into view. Capital of the Theocracy, it had been a bit since she’d been here, but Milith felt her recent expedition had been fruitful. A stirring below caught her attention, as the passenger she was carrying in a basket clutched in her talons inquired, “Are we there yet?”

She glanced down at Kari who was shivering in the cold winds. They were common at this altitude but for Milith they didn’t b...

Chapter Twenty Progression and New Dynamics

Sunlight streamed in from the window, and Arlie stretched a little. Feeling the warm press of naked flesh against her own. A reminder that they had finally gone all the way last night. She blushed and shifted a little, revealing the tangle of limbs she remained in. She’d been using Rose as a pillow, and Lily’s head remained nestled between her legs. Her skin felt a little sticky with dried fluids, they were going to need a bath.

Arlie jostled the others and they soon stirred. It was...

Chapter Nineteen Puzzles and a Night’s Rest

Arlie turned away from another mural, and gestured at the double door. “It’s just more on the Abyss.”

Lily shuddered, “Just as creepy as the first.”

Rose gestured at Thron, “I don’t know, the boys seem to like all the naked girls.”

Lily fidgeted, “What? We aren’t enough?”

Arlie giggled, “Personally I’d rather they stare at something else.”

The three girls shared looks, none of them were fans of how lewd their clothing had become while ...

Interlude Of Spiders and Caves

The young adventurer adjusted her equipment as she peered into the darkness. They’d come to Bordertown a few weeks ago but ended up cutting their teeth on little quests around town for days on end. Yesterday they had finally had a chance to challenge the dungeon and her party had been doing rather well, at least until the fifth floor. Getting past the boss had been a tiring affair but they’d managed... barely.

Their leader Jin had decided to press on after that. There wasn’t much ...

Chapter Eighteen First Loot

The very room seemed to shake, the door bent and bowed as it was mercilessly pounded. Horon and Thron pressed against the door to help hold it shut, not trusting the sturdy plank they’d found to hold it shut. Arlie fidgeted a little as she watched it. Was that door going to hold? Somehow she didn’t think so, a breath left her as she turned back to the chest, while the twins had been sorting debris for anything that might serve as a weapon she’d been checking the chest for traps. Thankfu...

Chapter Seventeen Naked in a Labyrinth

Arlie sighed as she held the outfit she’d been given up in front of the mirror. The guardian had shown them a changing room, took their clothes and tossed them inside. So here she stood naked, holding a plain grey top so short it would barely cover her chest, and matching pair of panties

Nearby, Lily squirmed in a similar outfit. “I can’t go out there wearing this!”

Rose giggled and pressed herself against Arlie. “I don’t know Arlie seems to like it.”

Arlie blu...