Michael Clark

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 407

The last part of the Tunnel Rat/Butcher of Gadobhra Crossover. All the events in the crossover are canon.

Milo is heading to the events that start in Chapter 304 of Tunnel Rat.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Lightning struck the city of Gadobhra repeatedly as the sudden and intense storm raged. When it ended, it did so as abruptly as it had started, the clouds dispersing and the sun shone down. The great doors of the Endless Danced were kicked ope...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 319

Tallsqueak emerged from Jeremy's house and walked to where Milo, Icarus, and Rusty stood.

Milo looked at himself. "Good job."
Tallsqueak nodded. "Thanks. I'm tired. I ran down 666 levels and then up 150."

They merged into one Milo who sat down at the chess table, looking very tired. "I have a lot of questions for you two. Are you still two?"

Icarus looked at Rusty and then said. "Two, for now. We don't know. The split was done to help us beat Order 666, but during th...

The Butcher of Gadobhra Vol. 1 Welcome to Sedgewick

When I can't write, I plot. When I can't plot, I edit. Butcher vol. 1 is done and heading to Aethon Books for publication. September? Not sure. The story is mostly the same, but rewriting and editing gave me a chance to pull out some things that didn't work, move things around, and overall make the story better. It was nice to work through the story again and make it better.

From here it goes to an Editor at Aethon who will fix any grammar or spelling errors and polish things up. The...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 318

I was very tired today, and then things turned around. My father-in-law was back in the hospital and things looked grim. Today was a total 180 turn and he's doing great. I celebrated by making a pot of red beans, rice, and sausage. No one else is home so I cooked "Dad Food." Then played with my black lab, AuggieDoggie, had two huge cups of coffee, and came up to write. Here's the first draft, came out pretty good, although that might be the caffeine in my system.
==========================...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 317

Tallsqueak didn't bother following Icarus, he knew the route he would take from listening to a hundred other Icarus talking for hours. If he followed, the tools, food, clues, and coffee vendors would be gone. He took the other route which led to a small drop. It went down for 10 levels and ended in the whirling fan blades of a poorly-placed are handler. The shaft went upward 52 levels using a rusty ladder with loose bolts which would eventually break away from the wall and plunge you into the...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 406

Back to writing. This is a little rough. It's late and I'm quite fried from work, shopping, cooking, and convincing my dog that the sausages are for the family and not him. He almost got to the plate.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to get to my next two chapters of Tunnel Rat, and then back to Butcher on the weekend for a couple of chapters. Need to get the stories in my head down on paper. Or its electronic equivalent.

================================================================

Go...

Something I'm working on for the future...

Did this up a month ago and letting it percolate in my brain for a bit. Milestone abilities stop at Tier 4. Your character has been formed and it's time to refine your abilities. Having a mastery is what separates Hedgewizards from Archmages. I want to carry on the idea to Weapons, Crafting, and other class options. Just an idea for now, thought I'd toss it up.

On the homefront, things are looking up. My father-in-law will be released tomorrow and at home for Father's Day. Still a long...

Update

A little behind on chapters. My twins graduated from High School Friday plus their big dance/show this weekend. During this crazy week leading up to this, I was essentially a single parent, my wife running North to be with her father who went into the ICU with heart trouble. Little time to write.

He's in rehab now, and I have her back for every other day and the girls are at the beach for a week. Things starting to relax and I can finish the two chapters I have in the works and then mo...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 316

Milo started varying the moves in his games when Icarus63 took the chair across from him. Icarus51 had just entered the game, and numbers 52 to 62 were being tutored by those who had already had their turn. At some point, Icarus had decided that while each new iteration didn't have the knowledge of those who'd already run the game, it was ok to listen in on the conversations of the growing group of the Dead. The longer Icarus played, the more caution he was taking, discarding the excited atti...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 405

After a tour of the new fortress with General Themis and the newly promoted Prefect, Baron William, and Baroness Layla were enjoying a lovely day of refined gloating. They'd set aside time to devote to the tour, knowing that the General had the ear of the Emperor as well as the commanders of the Legion. While Themis preferred to stay in the field and out of politics, her opinion was sought by many. After the General and all her troops had come through, Billy made a request of Prefect Marcus. ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 404

The scene was a chaotic one as Ben and his group arrived. Slow-moving people were stumbling back and forth from a pile of tombstones to eight large wagons. Those wagons had been used to transport the Automatons that were standing, laying, or in piles in front of the ACME building. A man in armor was shouting commands to the laborers who needed constant encouragement. Sensing living souls behind him, Sir Melrose turned and saw the four people walking up to him. The specter stared for a moment ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 403

"No, that makes no sense. Explain this theory to me again and show your work. You're mixing science and magical theory, and then tossing in 'Runes' and other words as if that made it all better. We are men of science, mad or otherwise."

Damien was throwing his hands in the air nearly as soon as Milo opened his mouth. Vladimir did his best to keep Damien worked up by agreeing with Milo and tossing out his own theories, most of which he was making up as they walked. Ben was taking notes...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 315

Two doorways stood near where Milo was playing chess with Icarus. Icarus7 appeared from the door labeled 'Out' and slumped dejectedly to where an empty chair was waiting for him along with a group of his earlier selves discussing how they'd died. They waited excitedly for him to tell his story.

" It was all going so well! I ambushed a clown with a bomb from behind and used the bomb on a pack of feral Roomba who were blocking the staircase to level 143. The next level was better, and I ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 402

Family emergency, I have the kids, wife is off to see her dad, hopefully everything is fine. I grill ribs and put them in the oven for another few hours. A meal for six became a meal for three. The girls and I ate so many ribs tonight. :)

Here is another chapter that sort of flowed out of me from a lot of coffee in between cooking and walking the dog. It probably has errors or awkward wording. Sleeping, then hitting it tomorrow.

Milo had the feeling the keep was about to becom...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 314

Working on lack of sleep from a hectic week. Countering that with a second pot of coffee. I don't have a helpful Roomba to play hard rock, but I have AC/DC blaring from my computer on Pandora. This chapter was written in an hour, at the cost of a pounding head and hungry stomach. Editing later, getting food, and starting on another Milo chapter. Much writing to do this weekend.

Icarus was waiting outside of Jeremy's sector of the core, and it bothered him. It bothered him a lot. But r...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 401

A few hours before sunset, as vultures gathered far away in Wolfsburg....

Roderick Kallvek was moving inventory into his sub-basement storage areas when he heard sounds coming from down the hallway, the unmistakable sound of a pick hitting stone. Not knowing what sort of thieves were trying to rob him he drew out a copper wand with a bright red tip. If they were thieves, a Torrent of Flames spell would dissuade them from entering. The wand had twelve charges and h...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 400

A jubilant crowd of dignitaries gathered in Wolfsburg, the Northern Ducal Seat of the Empire. Like a pack of rabid zombie wolves, they smelled blood and brains. Word had slowly spread that time had run out for Baron William of Gadobhra and attracted many people eager to make a profit at his expense. It didn't matter that he had completed 95% of the new fortress, nor did it matter that he'd had to deal with constant attacks from brigands and bureaucrats who tried to delay the project. Not even...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 313 (RAW)

Just finished, and very beat. I will be polishing this one tomorrow, if you want to wait.

Milo debated his options for a minute, then ran tests of the room's air quality, temperature, and radiation levels, and then opened his suit. Two sides of the chest swung open and each leg split, allowing him to step out of the bulky armor and into the room wearing only his inner suit. He stretched carefully, aware of his injuries. He had ration packs with him but instead made a selection from...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 399

I'm going to give this another run-through before it goes up on RR and polish it a little, but the story is here. Tomorrow I'll have a long Tunnel Rat Chapter, and possibly Butcher 400

The final phase of connecting the new teleport stone was underway. The old stone levitated up and was powered down. Ozzy, Georges, Jon, and Cham each took one side and casually moved the multi-ton slab out of the way. Four stone supports had been set up nearby to rest it on. Ben checked each support for ...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 312

Milo ignored the message on the screen and explored the rest of the area Jeremy had chosen to spend the last years of his life. It was plain to see he'd been down here a long time. Only one of the sleeping areas had been used for its intended purpose. Two single beds had been moved into the room creating a king-sized bed. Makeshift bookshelves were everywhere, filled with science fiction and fantasy novels, scientific journals, bound printouts from experiments, and a few precious hardcovers i...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 311

Milo retreated two levels from the entrance to the fusion levels just in case before sitting down to rest and talk to Rusty. He checked his injuries over and made some adjustments to the drugs and nanites being released into his body. This larger suit could take care of him almost as well as his pod. It recommended several days of rest. Milo decided that an hour would be all he would take.

"Where do you think he got those guns, Rusty?"

"Oh, those were put there by Jeremy. He was...

The Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 398

Rory and his clan had rarely been asked to provide their services in such a dangerous and chaotic environment. Serving coffee to the Dark Fey during the Murderfest holidays, where any small slip could mean death, was nerve-wracking, but skill and grace had seen them through the ordeal. The threat of violence was predictable and had rules. Most of the Fey lands had rules, fair or unfair. But the mortal lands were different, and you never knew what to expect. Never had that been more apparent t...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 310 Highway to Hell

As he walked along the empty corridors of the lower levels of the facility, Milo felt like the engine of a train or the leader of a marching band. Behind him came Max and his three lieutenants: Lemmy, Dee, and Rob. Rusty had come up with a scheme to upgrade the four Roomba quickly: He made them bigger shells to slide into. Each Roomba had simply rolled into the new chassis and shut the armored panel behind them. They plugged into the machines the way Milo plugged into his suit. Their new shel...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 309

Butch raced for the pie, but Minn's movement speed was better, and her legs were three times as long. Butch caught up to her as she stood there, staring at it.

"You won, so you get to take a bite of the obviously poisoned or trapped pie sitting in the road."

"That's why I'm checking it out first. Belinda, can you identify the pie? Is it poisoned?"

Belinda was sitting on the ground, leaning back against a large rock. "Nice day for taking a nap in the sun, isn't it? You're ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 397

Below in the main courtyard, work continued on the project of creating a new teleportation stone for the keep. Vladimir had imposed order on the project by pulling a tarnished silver wrench from his belt and threatened to hit people in the head if they didn't quit arguing. The threat of cracked skulls proved insufficient. Only Damien closed his mouth. He smiled and took a step away from the chaos just in time, having seen his high-strung colleague lose his temper before. Vladimir gave anyone ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 396

Bad news first travels up to the top before the shit rolls downhill. In this case, the bad news was in the form of a message from the AI overseeing the Genesis game, where Alchemarx had invested over a billion dollars. The message was very long, going into details of the contract, behavior of employees, financial responsibilities and reminders about the rules of the game. A battalion of lawyers was already at work contesting the judgment against them, but it was going to be an uphill battle, ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 395

The events of the night had been interesting, and before he left for another battlefield, Ares allowed himself some time to appreciate the design of the fortress. It was a thing of beauty in his eyes, utilizing overlapping fields of fire and he was curious how it and others like it would change the currents of war in this part of the world. The Emperor was a strong man who preferred to show his strength rather than use it. Gus would be delighted with this mighty bulwark guarding part of his n...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 308 (Raw)

It's late; no time to edit. Will do that at work tomorrow.

======================================================
Sometime between the second slice of pot roast and a third helping of carrots, Milo began to relax and eat slower. Somewhere inside of him, a little foreman read a dial that showed nutrient flow was back to almost normal and sent a message to the arms to quit shoveling things into the mouth. This was amended when dessert showed up, and the arms once again engaged to acqu...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 307

Armed with more information, Milo began his search for Dr. Jeremy Cooper, who, according to Rusty, was somewhere in the lower areas of the habitat. Beyond that vague description, Rusty wasn't very helpful. Whenever Milo asked him direct questions about Jeremy, he became stressed and defensive.

"I don't know! I was little, and confused, and didn't understand physical space. It's like storage that never moves or interacts! I still don't understand a lot about how solid matter works and t...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 394

Twelve players stood guard in a dark clearing lit only by the campfire underneath a large, black cauldron. Two dozen more had been dispatched on a suicide mission against the walls of Rowan Keep. They all wore bits of broken, mismatched, shoddily made armor, the last bits from the wagon of goods brought to supply the Alchemarx mercenaries. Dying and resurrecting over and over lost a lot of gear.  One of them, Murtekis the Red, hadn't bothered at all and was only wearing a pair of ragged ...