Talia woke slowly, her body feeling heavy and sluggish. A glance at her HUD showed she had slept for a full 17 hours. The local time was equivalent to around 5am earth time.
[Notice: Sunrise is estimated to arrive within the next two hours. Battpack charge reached 85% before i...
2023-07-02 12:49:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Talia gazed at the dense foliage that stood between her and the sand desert beyond, and her pod. The entrance she had used was now thoroughly concealed by nature’s rapid reclaiming act. Apparently, the jungle’s dense boundary was self-healing, which explained why it was so uniformly den...
2023-07-02 10:08:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe glow moths had been easy to taunt into range. The various glowing mushrooms, plants, and rocks she scanned quickly added up. Talia lost track of her new credit account as she rushed from one thing to another, always pulled forward by...
2023-07-01 00:22:54 +0000 UTC View PostAlex frowned. “That’s why I had Nameless run through some simulations. It is viable.”
The other three girls around the table stared at her, each with their own vastly different expression.
Thea grinned at her and gave her an earnest thumb up but remained silent. Elis looked like she wanted to be sick. “I know it might be a good option, but it can’t help but remind me of ...
2023-06-30 13:31:12 +0000 UTC View PostA massive fireball streaked toward Alex. Her heart pounded as she raised her staff and gritted her teeth. Sweat dripped down her forehead and her pointed wizard hat blew off her head in a gust of wind as she strained to hold back the fiery onslaught. The effort drained her energy rapidly, but she managed to halt the red ball’s momentum just before it reached her.
The lush...
2023-06-24 07:32:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe bag of food threatened to collapse as Alex turned the corner. She’d snuck out to grab some kebabs and skewers, which the food stall owner had helpfully piled into soft foam containers for her. Unfortunately, the paper bags didn’t seem stable under all the weight. Worse, she thought she had seen one paparazzo staring at her while she waited in the food court.
She’d gone on her o...
2023-06-15 13:15:35 +0000 UTC View PostAlpha Yalof remained in his command seat, observing the colored blips on SR02’s tactical screen. Over the months of his command of the ship, he had found little reason to leave the captain’s chair. His lower body had slowly merged with the seat until it was impossible for him to move if he had wanted to. The organic parts of his body were sometimes a hinderance, requiring expensive...
2023-06-13 23:35:56 +0000 UTC View PostAlex scanned the vast expanse of the orbital shipworks through the observation deck’s ceiling height window. They were in a low orbit, only a couple dozen of kilometers up, and the ground buzzed by below at a rapid clip. A constant stream of orbital lifters carried supplies from the ground and up into orbit, on a mostly automated schedule. Even more ships came from higher orbit a...
2023-06-10 10:40:43 +0000 UTC View PostAlex leaned against the wall, tapping her fingers nervously on her thigh as she glanced around at the other cadets. They were all in a spacious room with sleek metal walls and a high ceiling, waiting for their fates to be announced. A message from Tia beeped on her HUD, and Alex took the time to quietly read the news on her HUD. Elis and Thea were returning to orbit with the ...
2023-06-04 06:47:29 +0000 UTC View Post
That's this Friday. Here's a link to where the AMA is happening at:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/41463/shipcore/chapter/1231181/a3-character-ama
2023-05-31 19:33:14 +0000 UTC View PostAround the very next corner, Elis caught a glimpse of another vehicle taking a turn ahead of them. “There he is!”
“We’re gaining.” Thea answered back. The sighting encouraged a bit more speed. The NAI took the curve sharply, banking as they went around it.
Elis clamped her gauntlets around the grab bar hard enough that the metal ...
2023-05-30 05:51:42 +0000 UTC View Post“Do you have some sort of phobia or something?” Thea asked sharply before pointing to a ladder in the corner of the shaft. Elis grunted and turned to look at the NAI with disbelief.
“You’re kidding, right?” Elis said.
Without waiting any longer, Elis moved to the edge of the shaft. “We fell further before.”
“It’ll be rock instead of trees and dirt....
2023-05-28 19:18:37 +0000 UTC View PostDistant echoes of small arms fire echoed from the fortress, each rapidly punctuated by a replying explosion. By the time Elis and Thea reached a ruined entry point on the compound’s exterior, the conflict had mostly subsided. Thea’s drones had swiftly taught the defenders that opening fire led to a rapid and lethal response.
Billowi...
2023-05-26 04:21:55 +0000 UTC View PostAir streamed past her suit as she fell like a rock, holding Thea against her suit’s armored chest. An altitude indicator appeared where there should definitely not be an altitude indicator, and Elis let out a curse as the ground quickly raced to meet them.
“Let go, I can handle the fall myself.” Thea shouted at her.
Elis looked down at the NAI and realized she...
2023-05-21 22:31:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Shrike slipped out of the asteroid base’s hangar with a single burst from maneuvering thrusters. Once it cleared the hangar, the ship yawed to point towards the first EM drone and fired off a burst of the Linear Drive to propel them away from A31. Alex’s fingers danced over her console as she cleared several of the warnings that flashed.
The status scr...
2023-05-19 08:48:24 +0000 UTC View PostHeeler measured the number of resource extraction vessels leaving the fleet works towards Nu Crateris’ gas giant. Each departing vessel was tasked with a specific resource and was specialized in extra-planetary extraction. The moons, ring, and asteroids there would provide ample amounts of material to ferry back to the fleet works, far more than could be lifted into orbit via De...
2023-05-17 22:23:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe enemy fleet contracted as A31 surged forward, almost as if it could sense something was amiss. Amy’s eyes remained riveted on the tactical display, keenly observing the unfolding action. From what she knew, they should have had little if any data on Starlight Revolution’s units, and she hoped they would keep it that way.
The relatively short range and low speeds between th...
2023-05-16 19:50:11 +0000 UTC View PostAlex pressed forward, pushing into Tia’s back more tightly. She suppressed a giggle as she noticed the other girl blushing furiously. The situation reminded her of when Tia had embarrassed her in front of Rachel months earlier. The amusing reversal almost distracted her from the envoys’ meeting.
As Talisa left, Alex’s mind whirled with ideas. It se...
2023-05-15 05:26:03 +0000 UTC View Post[Info\Warn: A political attack via congressional oversight committee has been initiated.]
Tia sat up in bed abruptly, her eyes widening and her heart pounding with alarm. The voice in her head was young and energetic but had caressed her mind like silk. It had come from inside her head. Somehow, it felt familiar… and warm unlike Namele...
2023-05-14 00:55:46 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for those of you who are looking for A4. I've signed a book deal with Aethon for the first three arcs to be made into books, so I'm spending about half my time on A1, editing and writing the new content! This section is 7500~ new words, as well as a rewritten/edited prologue that's inserted into the story and Alex witnesses it directly.
***
(Previous Extra Content Post) 2023-05-13 05:39:58 +0000 UTC View Post
A dense fog shrouded the ground, casting an ethereal glow on the flickering neon signs while muffling the sound of air traffic overhead. Elis approached a side door and pressed her hand against its biometric sensor.
The tall towers around her pierced the sky, leaving the city streets below in perpetual shade. Morning had broken, but it would be hours before sunli...
2023-05-10 21:40:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe sound of Nameless’s voice in Alex’s ears was a sweet relief.
[Informative: Independent Nanite ShipCore present in Asteroid Facility. Designation A-3123Y. Receiving allied telemetry and sensor data. A detailed system map is now a...
2023-05-09 23:50:17 +0000 UTC View PostAlex sank into the plush lounge sofa, her tense shoulders proof of her unease. The thick carpet and elaborate decorations surrounding her did little to alleviate her mood and while the smart fabric couch was comfortable, it did not provide any sense of relief.
“Relax,” Rachel urged gently, observing Alex’s tension.
Casting a sidelong glan...
2023-05-08 23:47:10 +0000 UTC View PostAmy sat at her console on the bridge with Abbey, her eyes glued to the main screen as they observed the fleets moving toward the 92 Pegasi Jump Point. A31 was burning hard, while the Corpo fleet coalesced around its flagship and prepared for transit. Trailing far behind, the Solarian squadron maintained a half day’s worth of travel at a more sedate pace.
“They...
2023-05-08 21:11:42 +0000 UTC View Post
So most of the ShipCore art gets posted on the discord, but I realize that some people don't want to use discord and it would be a shame for them to miss out, so here is a dedicated art chapter with some of the more recent AI works. Just about all the art is AI generated by me.
I am sharing a quite a few in this post, some might be a bit more wonky than others, but I feel like they are all interesting; mostly we are showcasing Alex, Elis, Tia, and Rachel here. Rachel might have sa...
2023-05-06 12:32:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe never-ending persistence of soft beeping monitors and status screens flowed out of A3123Y’s command center as a sliding door automatically authorized her and slid open. Her HUD automatically highlighted several screens and made a small summary of operations before placing it unobtrusively in her peripheral vision.
As she scanned the various consoles, she couldn’t help b...
2023-05-05 19:55:56 +0000 UTC View PostStation MOR-1 had just a slightly higher-pitched hum than MIL-1A, but it was enough to annoy Alex as they continued down the hall. MOR-1 was the largest orbital in Meltisar, the primary civilian hub, and had hundreds of super freighters and tankers attached to its seemingly endless forest of mooring arms. The vistas had slowly disappeared as they moved deeper...
2023-05-05 19:54:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe door to the apartment slid open with a soft whirr, revealing the inviting warmth of the smartly illuminated living space. The room was bathed in gentle, diffuse light emitted by seamlessly integrated panels along the walls and ceiling. Alex rushed inside from her hurried journey home. Elis, her expression calm yet quizzical, raised an eyebrow as she regarded her disheveled sister...
2023-05-01 17:49:29 +0000 UTC View PostUSD: 1 day after awakening.
Location: Meltisar, Mil-1A, Naval Academy, Simulator Classroom 36C
The cadets returned to the classroom, their excitement palpable as they chattered about the simulated battle. It was the class’s first time using the simulator, and the experience had left them buzzing with energy.
Lieutenant Bridges called for their attention. “Alright, settle down. Rachel, why don’t you start by telling us what you think you did right during ...
2023-04-30 06:02:30 +0000 UTC View Post