deanhenegar

War Core Wednesday! War Core 4, Chapter 2.

Chapter 2.

Hugh tried to enjoy his journey to Harmony Station, it was perhaps the first time that there wasn’t some disaster wasn’t looming on the horizon to spoil the experience. His sector of space was now quiet, other than the Ssath who he didn’t have to worry about for a while. This trip was going to be one that he could finally relax and take the full allotted time with. Stars flew past him as his core was transferred to the station, Hugh liked to think that he would eventu...

Limitless Seas 3, Chapter 3.

Chapter 3.

“You think I am some merchant that wishes to barter with you? No, I am a Paktul, the greatest warrior and ruler of my people,” the voice said, the sound emanating from the glowing orb in Larson’s hand. He could feel the orb vibrate as the being inside tried and failed to lash out and injure Larson. Not only was sound transmitted by the orb, but also Paktul’s emotion. Larson could feel his anger, and perhaps the slightest tinge of fear.

“I believe you are, or...

Cat Core Audio Preview!

It's out on November 8th, but I thought you might like a preview to hear how it turned out. 

War Core Wednesday! War Core 4, Chapter 1.

Chapter 1.

“Over five million civilians around the world are dead, and that’s supposed to feel like a victory,” Hugh said as the intel liaison, Marcum, gave his final report on the cost of their victory. The losses were worse than initially thought, but Marcum said he was certain the total wouldn’t go any higher. It had been a week since Hugh had helped fight off the Ssath invasion of Earth, and despite the threat of the Ssath being removed for a time, they had all been busy d...

Limitless Seas 3, Chapter 2.

Chapter 2.

As Larson stepped through the portal, the cool, dark, and damp underground temple was instantly replaced by a steaming jungle nestled inside the cone of a dormant volcano. The sun nearly blinded Larson until his eyes had a chance to adjust, leaving him blinking and vulnerable. Thankfully, there weren’t any foes waiting just inside the portal exit to attack him immediately and Larson was able to gather his bearings.

A narrow trail wound down the interior of the volca...

Guildificon

Awesome news, I will be taking part in Guildificon! It's a virtual LitRPG convention featuring many of the genre authors. I will be doing a takeover in the LitRPG group on Facebook on October 23rd from 11:30am to 12:00 pm. Join me for a chat and a chance to hang out. I'll also be on several panels that I'll list below, if you'd like to get my take on various aspects of LitRPG.

Here are the panels I'll be appearing on:

10/25 @ 12pm Panel: Fantasy in the Media.

10/25 @ 8pm Pan...

Limitless Seas 3, Chapter 1.

Chapter 1.

“It’s been a long night everyone, and we still have more work to do, but I think some rest is in order before our people start dropping from exhaustion,” Larson said. Work details were moving about the village, clearing rubble, and searching for any additional threats from either lizardmen or pirates.

“I’ll get the crews in order, and I agree, we need rest before we dig into everything that needs to be done,” Tarley said. He had been a steadfast companion ...

War Core Wednesday, War core 4, Intro.

Intro.

“Great Leader Hssim, our efforts to enlist the aid of the lesser species have borne little fruit. Perhaps it's time to reconsider our focus?” Senator Killbaxss said. Hssim could see the ambition in the young senator’s eye, the gleam of hate and jealousy that he understood all too well. Any true Ssath sought to better themselves, after all, the strong must rule, and for the strong to rule, anyone weaker must be torn down for the stronger to thrive.

“It matters not,...

Limitless Seas 3, Intro.

Intro.

It felt like a cool breeze on a hot summer day as Sally dove through the clouds. Her keen eyes spotted ships in the distance and as she closed in, the wafting taste of blood in the air was picked up by her incredible senses. Being a dragon was more than she had ever hoped for, it gave her a feeling of control and strength that she had rarely experienced in the real world. Sure, this was only a game, but Limitless Lands was becoming more and more real to her each time she logged...

Cover art sketch for War Core 3.

Here's a peek at the cover art. 

War Core Wednesday?

Sorry, I'm still in the outlining phase of War Core book 4. I'll have something out this week to get you started, as well as the first chapter of Limitless Seas 3. 

War Core 3, Epilogue.

We've reached the end of book 3. As for what's next, I'll be jumping into book 3 of the Limitless Seas series full time. War Core Wednesday's will still be happening as I start work on book 4 of the series.

War Core 3 is now with the editors and I hope to have it released by the end of the month or early next month depending on how long editing/formatting take.

Epilogue.

“I’m almost out,” the human said, inserting the magazine into his simple chemical-powered proje...

War Core 3, Chapter 52.

Chapter 52.

Congratulations! You have successfully defended your command post. The humans have secured enough conquest points to emerge victorious in this battle. As a result of this victory, Ssath forces are unable to take offensive action against any human or Krixnas-controlled system for a period of one year.

Your core will return home once the final calculations are complete.

Post-battle calculations are commencing. 2022-10-07 17:53:53 +0000 UTC View Post

War Core 3, Chapter 51.

I made some tweaks to the parameters of the final campaign for Hugh since it felt like the Ssath didn't have enough of a reason to assault the victory points instead of just piling onto the command post. You'll see the changes in the final manuscript when the book goes live, but just to give quick overview, each victory point that Hugh's forces hold now power the shield around his command post. 

With all ten under a core's control control, the shield is incredibly powerful. It can ...

War Core, Chapter 50.

Chapter 50.

“Looks like they’re forming up to hit us all along the line, sir,” Captain Tran said. They didn’t have a solid view of most of the enemy, but what they could see showed massive numbers of Ssath moving toward the cleared area around the command post. Hugh was nervous, they all were, this was it, the final battle for him and his soldiers. Tying into the all-comms channels, Hugh addressed his troops.

“They’re coming for us soon, the most dangerous species to...

War Core 3, Chapter 49.

Chapter 49.

The annihilator assaulting the museum unleashed a barrage from its secondary weapons at a defensive bunker, destroying the last obstacle in its path. Armored and shielded, the museum building represented the final victory point location left on Hugh’s battlefield. A blue glow began to appear around the mouths of the giant mech’s heads. At the last moment a loud, trumpet-like sound burst over the area as the skeletal mammoth mech moved from where it was hidden behind th...

War Core 3, Chapter 48.

Chapter 48.

“They’re pulling back, sir,” Tran said. He was right, the Ssath forces attacking the command post were disengaging, moving to form a perimeter around the area and concentrating their forces to the south, where the Queen Mary was slowly making its way to the command post. With most of their force consisting of infantry mechs, it was hard to get an accurate count of them, given how they used the city structures as cover. Pulling back must have been a tough decision, it...

War Core 3, Chapter 47.

Chapter 47.

The Queen Mary stumbled one final time before regaining control, swiveling the hull of the ship to place the port side weapons directly at the approaching Ssath annihilator. With a rolling boom, the guns along the port side fired in sequence, sending twenty shells toward the threat. With surprising agility for something of its size, the ship then turned to unmask the starboard side guns which also fired a volley into the Ssath annihilator. The first volley had shattered th...

War Core 3, Chapter 46.

Chapter 46.

Hugh took stock of what he had on hand to defend his command post with. A dozen bunkers surrounded the command post itself along with half that number of automated turrets. The turrets all mounted heavy machineguns, Hugh’s summoned turrets with their larger 75mm guns, which he received on Harmony Station, had all been destroyed in the last battle. Just over two hundred infantry mechs were online and ready to fight, with three platoons of light mechs supporting the bunker...

War Core 3, Chapter 45.

Chapter 45.

Hugh was blind to everything around him as the counter ticked down. Every moment, Hugh expected to feel the burning pain of Ssath tearing into his command post, but other than a few pinpricks of discomfort, nothing happened. When the timer reached zero, Hugh reconnected to his command post and focused on the battle going on around him.

“Good to have you back, Hugh, I think we’ll stop them here,” Tran said.

“Thanks, I didn’t think we would make it,” ...

War Core 3, Chapter 44.

Chapter 44.

Hugh watched as another infantry mech was constructed at his command post, the soldier now operating the mech moved it to a bunker near the command post. The string of bunkers defending him should have been occupied by a pair of infantry squads, but instead, they only had one or two mechs in each. It had been a gamble to send out the defenders to stop the Ssath at the drop sites, and it turned out to be a bad bet as the orbital bombardments ripped his forces to shreds. He ...

War Core 3, Chapter 43.

Chapter 43.

“Fall back to the command post and defend from there,” Captain Cartwright ordered over comms.

“Move!” Cartwright shouted, the urgency in his voice getting through to Private Yan and spurring him into action as he tried to both operate his mech and come to grips with the pummeling that had just wiped out most of his force.

Taking stock of his mech’s condition, Yan could see it wasn’t too bad. The incoming bombardment had vaporized the other three mai...

War Core 3, Chapter 42.

Chapter 42.

“They’re splitting their forces,” Tran said. Everyone turned their attention to space where the Ssath fleet separated into two equal groups, one heading toward Earth directly while the other took on the station orbiting the. The moon base had the fleet from the Jupiter stations supporting it, as well as a few dozen minelayers that were now pressed into service as gunboats. Added to that were the formidable defenses of the station itself, which had the most time of an...

War Core 3, Chapter 41.

Chapter 41.

Hours passed as the Ssath fleet continued on a course toward Earth. Hugh spent the time working on improving his defenses and building up his forces. The Ssath had taken a beating in its fight with the Jupiter stations, and despite the losses mostly being to their fighters and lighter escort ships, the number of possible landing points projected over Hugh’s battlefield had shrunken considerably. Where before the ground was almost completely covered, now large open patche...

War Core 3, Chapter 39 + 40.

Chapter 39 is a just a short interlude, so I added chapter 40 to the post today. 

Chapter 39.

“Great Leader Shadax, the last of the traitors are being tracked down, their coup is defeated. It is another great victory for you,” one of Shadax’s personal guards said. Waving him away, Shadax sat on the throne, salivating at the bloodshed around him. He motioned for a servant to bring him the leg of one of the rebels, he was always hungry after a fight, even when the fight...

War Core 3, Chapter 38.

Thank you everyone for your condolences. I'm back at writing and now that the  Cat Core series is complete, it's War Core Wednesday everyday! 

Chapter 38.

Hugh watched his command post upgrade percentage tick up another point. It was a slow process, but the enemy fleet would take some time to reach Jupiter. Despite powerful engines pushing them forward, the distance was vast, and the fleet was limited by the slowest vessels in the group, the large battleship...

Update.

Sorry for no War Core Wednesday today. My wife's mother passed away and I need to take a few days off for my family. I'll try to resume posting on Friday. Everyone stay safe and have a good week.  

Cat Core 3, Chapter 40 + 41.

Chapter 40

Aaron Lavelle fought to keep his mind from screaming in pain. Any disruption brought the wrath of the Berikoz, and the cruel monster seemed to delight in torturing him. The pain receded to the point where he could bear it again, and if he was being honest with himself, that was a bad thing. As the pain faded, so did a little bit more of Aaron, the lich feeding greedily upon his essence as he pushed him further and further from the control of his core. It woul...

Cat Core 3, Chapter 38 + 39.

Cat Core 3 releases on Tuesday so I'm going to post the last few chapters over the weekend for you. 

Chapter 38

“Get out of there, Hendry,” Reggie said as the door crashed down and the dead flooded inside. Hendry ignored the mage and charged into the fray alongside Bhargath, Mo, and Midnight. The simple rogue knew how to fight, which Florence already knew from his scuffle with George, but he seemed to be in the zone now, his pair of long dagger...

War Core Wednesday! War Core 3, Chapter 37.

Chapter 37.

While Hugh had been working on his defenses, the first waves of missiles in the space battle hit. The human navy was no more and only eight of the defensive stations remained in the fight. Hundreds of Ssath warships drifted dead in space, but they had the numbers to absorb the losses and the human force did not. Another wave of missiles from the Ssath fleet arrived and two more stations were covered in hits, their heavily armored structures breaking apart under the punishm...