Michael Clark

Butcher of Gadobhra, Chapter 310

This chapter sort of wrote itself and suddenly there's a fight and Ozzy shows up. That meant another Revision. Legacy of Prometheus goes to 309, just ahead of this chapter.

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The Company of the Red Banner returned to Wolfsburg not by the usual method taken by horses and humans along twisting roads but by using the expensive teleportation process. Captain Bernice had spent longer in the north than she had intended and needed to be home. Ever...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 308

There were groans and mock protests as Harmonia announced to House Franklin that they would be doing drills and weapons training for the next seven days. The plan was to rise at dawn and take over the Academy's practice salon. "Any sword needs sharpening, and it's good to remind a few people that even though most of us are on the road or the high seas, part of the house is always here. Whether they take that as a comfort or a threat is up to them."

Ben welcomed the news; he was enjoying...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 218

Playing tag with Rosie and Buttercup was actually fun. The two girls were much quicker than the last time he had seen them. The effects of dancing every day were paying off with increased agility and speed. Tallsqueak was still faster than they were, but they were very determined not to lose. Running from them was always a sprint, not a jog. And getting 'Tagged' could be anything from a pat on the head to a blow that sent him reeling across the floor.

After one such hit, the girls pau...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 217

Project: Watch Lizard had run into some problems. Each of the cameras generated a coded signal that was picked up by a collection node, which then sent the signals to Milo's system with his 64-thread encryption protocol. The code used by the cameras was much simpler than the version used by the collection node. Each node had a firewall for protection, giving his programs time to analyze the incoming signals while they were in a buffer and ensuring they were clean. Because he didn't want the f...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 216

The heart of the security system that Milo was installing was a wireless communication hub made by Raxxon Industries. He had dismissed the idea at first glance. After all, what good was a security system that could have its signal hacked and taken over by someone else? After seeing many mentions of how secure the system was and how many high-profile customers praised it, he took a second look. Similar to how he communicated over the data-net, the signal from each camera was split into several...

Small add-on to Chapter 304 of BoG

In Gadobhra, Baron William greeted his guests. Suzette had shown up at his door and walked in as soon as the door was opened. She curtseyed to the Baroness and then walked over to the wine rack, her professional eye finding the most expensive bottle. As the Baroness and Baron watched, she poured three glasses and served them.

Layla watched her move. She'd moved up again, somehow. More confidence, more grace. Layla would have clawed her eyes out from jealousy if they hadn't become friend...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 307 (new)

A bit of light from the rising sun was coming in the library's windows and through the door to his bedroom as a pounding on his door awakened Ben. Sleepless in Seattle was a great skill, but even it needed at least some sleep to be effective. Ben had gotten one hour of sleep after forcing himself to lock the ridden room and leave playing in the laboratory for later. He had decided not to wear Damien's pajamas and rose from the bed with nothing on. He stumbled to the door and fumbled ...

Revised Chapter Order and Roadmap (non-chapter)

In an attempt to make my ramblings more readable, I'm going to attempt to plan better and not bounce around so much. This means a little reorganization of chapters.

-The end of chapter 304 with a party at Franklin House moves to the start of 306, followed by two more chapters focusing on Ben.

Two chapters already out: Legacy of Prometheus and Shepherds doing what Sheperds do best, move back to chapter 310 and 311.

Here is the old and new chapter orders:

OLD
30...

Butcher of Gadobhra Revised Chapter 307

This chapter starts with a scene you have read before, with some revisions. It was originally in Chapter 304. I'm attempting to make my arcs more complete. Too often, something gets written, and then another idea invades, forcing more changes in perspective. I'm putting up a separate post with a revised roadmap.

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Franklin house was lively tonight. The extended family members could smell a party three towns away and started converg...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 215

"Good evening, Steven. I must say, I'm as close to curious as I can get. I can see you were in a conference with Milo for quite some time. I can only assume he was nervous about approaching me with some problem. Did he upset you? I can tell your heart is beating faster than normal, and several other small biological 'tells' are letting me know that you have some anxiety about something."

Steven sat down in his chair, slowly put the stack of papers on his desk, face down, and leaned bac...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 214

Sitting back and waiting on the other two humans two recharge with caffeine, he considered the situation. They had someone who could help. Someone as smart as Wally?

"Interesting. You have another AI. One that can do things Wally can't. Which means you are creating new A.I., which is against many laws, and I'm sure violates part of Wally's kernel."

Sidney heard Milo as she started to sit down. She yelled, "No!" and nearly spilled both coffees. Steven took one from her. "Not quit...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 213

In blinking prompt on Sidney's screen alerted her to an incoming request for a video conference. The screen she brought up was blank. A familiar voice immediately said. "Hi, I need to talk to Steven. Maybe you and Steven? Not Wally! Not yet! It's important."

Somewhat in shock, she said, "Milo?"

"Yes?"

Sidney gathered herself together and concentrated. This was Milo. Both Steven and Wally had coached her on listening to his exact wording. "Sorry, you me calling is unexpect...

Belinda and Milo (No chapter, tired musings.)

For background, Belinda wasn't planned. She was a generic healer in a player group that got nailed by a stone crusher. They had a tank, a crazed halfling, someone else I forget, and the healer. The idiots in the party needed to argue with someone sane, and that became Belinda, the Healer. Later, for some reason, she ran to help the miners, and part of her stubborn/caring personality snapped into place.

From there, she grew each time I was writing her. The person Milo shoved into an imp...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 212

Milo yelled to Belinda. "Food first, smells great." The table was set up like the tables at the event, with a white tablecloth, metal pans of food, little plates, and forks. His stomach dropped down to his toes, replaced by a hungry void. When had he eaten last? A snack when he woke up? And before that, the event. He was hungry and even a little feverish. There was an empty pan where the mani-somethings had been. He started with that, filling it with four chili dogs and a pile of tater chunks...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 307

"Butchers? You're seriously telling me that the Baron of Gadobhra has over 200 butchers, and he will be training more?"

All pretense of a casual dinner and polite conversation had ended when Bernice and the Kallvek family returned from watching the evening's fireworks. Emilio was mixing drinks, some of which smoked or sparkled, from a collection of bottles he'd picked up in his travels. With any other guest, he would be careful. Not this one. She could drink all of them under the tabl...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 306

Ozzy considered the new legacy option as he walked to Gadobhra.

From what he could remember of the Prometheus legends, he was a titan, but not one that fought the Gods. He was something of a trickster and planner. The most famous story was about him stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans. Later, 'fire' came to symbolize technology, learning, and other good stuff. Zeus knew that would be a pain in the ass for the gods and punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock. Eagles...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 305

Charon docked his boat and looked at the line of souls waiting to cross over the Styx from the realm of Hades to the other side of the river. Not a lot today. When wars raged, the number of people in that line eclipsed all others. Well, except for a plague during the cold season. Or a disaster such as the earth cracking open and buildings tumbling. Those were bad. Or a swarm got loose. Those had been bad. Now that he thought about it, wars were only bad during the slow times. Today he had a f...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 211

Information gathering was only the first step in solving this problem. Milo had options for the second step but didn't like some of them.

The immediate solution that came to mind was to hide. He was already working on a secure base of operations beneath the habitat, and he had several secondary areas in other sections that affected the performance of section E. He could go back to hiding, not venture out, and flee to another part of the hab if anyone started searching section E. There ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 304

As smoke and flames shot from the tall, dark building, the sounds of battle filled the town. The clang of metal on metal echoed out of the smokehouse. The roars of a great beast shook the houses, coupled with insane screams that hurt the listener's ears and brain. The workers who knew him could tell the difference between the roars from the Butcher and those from the daemon.

Off-duty legionnaires, in town for dinner or a beer, and members of the Red Banner drew weapons and formed a roug...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 210

A little rough. I'm going to go over it after I sleep. Curious about what people think as well.
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Hide! Seen. Trapped. Can't run. Gang=me? Gang seen? Belinda? Belinda=Belinda but Belinda=Victor! Run. Trapped. Seen. Hide? Fix?
Fix.
Fix!

He had pushed himself too far. A year ago, he'd been safe, and no one had known about him. No one had even suspected that he existed. If no one knew you existed, then no one came looking...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 303

I'm off to visit my granddaughter tomorrow. So here's a second chapter from Sedgewick.

Ozzy saw a notification from the bank that he'd sold three barrels of Trifecta Bacon. It was a tricky recipe to get right, but with that kind of money rolling in, he'd be doing more of it. He transferred 1500 gold to Baron Billy. The two of them had hammered out a deal. They split the money down the middle on the large sales of enchanted meat. Billy didn't worry about niggli...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 302

It was toward evening when Captain Bernice finally made it back to Kallvek's Emporium. She was allowing her horse to walk slowly while she gathered her thoughts. It would not do to have dinner with Roderick Kallvek, or worse, his father, with slowed wits. The man heard everything that occurred in the Empire and had several employees who gathered the information for him. Not even spies, just normal scribes who asked questions about prices, new laws, monster attacks, or any of the thousands of ...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 209

The awards ceremony was brief and awkward at times. Erik had caught up with John, and instead of steering him to the stage, he took him to his apartment, handed him two Naptime tablets, and told him to sleep. He was nearly incoherent at this point with stress and lack of sleep. Erik wished he could do the same, but someone had to put this thing to bed. On the surface, the event had been a success. It was the fallout that Erik dreaded.

Jacob Mannerheim was all smiles and professional a...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 208

A short chapter. I might add a second half. Have to think about it. If I do, I'll list it separately so people get the notice.

There was only so much food you could eat, Milo thought sadly. He was always starving after a session of heavy work, whether physical or mental. The navigator role of SC6 had given him a workout. Managing the ship's navigation had been easy, but the task of spotting and charting the black holes had been exhausting. The advantage they had given their t...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 207

Milo approved of the after-party, even if too many people were nearby. He'd almost turned and run when a small mob came over to congratulate his team but was held back by Minerva hugging him. "Awesome plan, Almost-Big-Brother-Milo; the boom at the end was cool!" Belinda turned her head as she said that, and Butch smiled and whispered to her, "Minerva is a little upset that I might be going to work in the pods when I turn 18. Mama is worried about Ghost. His dad hasn't been around in years, an...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 301

Fifty large wagons were pulled by teams of eight mules each. The wagons had oversized wheels to make travel easy across rough ground. Wide rims made it easier to drive them across sandy soil and mud. The routes by which the merchant train traveled were through wilderness areas where narrow roads connected small villages. If the train of wagons stopped near a village, they traded in the evening, but otherwise, they ignored the little hamlets, needing to make good time and deliver their goods. ...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 206

"All crew, this is Commander Belinda. Phase 1 of the plan was successful. If you've all figured out how to fire your guns, we can begin on phase 2."

"Gunner Yuri is ready and locked on target. Let's kick some ass."
"Gunner Butcher is good to go."
"Gunner Kenji is riding the razor's edge of destruction! I need to kill something.
"Gunner Min has missiles ready to launch."

There was a pause as everyone waited for the Navigator. Milo was staring at the maximum number of scr...

Post Writathon Update (Not a chapter)

I'm finished with the writathon. While tiring, each one gets easier, and my writing speed increases. It's like hitting the gym for storytelling. Next fall, Milo will be the focus of the writathon and get the extra chapters.

For the next couple of months, the goals are:

-Finish Knight of the Jackalope chapter 4, maybe 5? Maybe it doesn't end.

-For BOG: All four MCs will be at Tier 3 and more powerful, so we need to throw some trouble at them. We have dungeons, a trade rou...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 300

"We seem to have a few minutes while the helpful members of the Inquisition summon our playmate. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves. If you didn't catch my name from all the shouting, I am Benjamin Franklin the 7th, a courier who probably should have stayed in bed this morning." He made a sweeping bow with his hat. The other people in the circle relaxed slightly.

"I'm Doby Finnegan. I'm going to be a Paladin; my sword says so." The old weapon looked plain and well used, but Ben cou...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 205

When one of the creators of SC6 was asked to describe the game in an interview, he answered, "Think of a game of rock-paper-scissors. Now think about playing three games simultaneously and needing to win them all."

Missiles were long-range and did the most damage, but they could be targeted with defensive missiles or lasers.

Lasers couldn't be intercepted, but their short range and lower power meant they were best used to defend against missiles and kill LAC.

LAC were ve...