Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 11

People who knock on doors using bombs generally aren't friendly... -----     Chapter 11 The Eönwyl: She realized she'd been momentarily stunned, tried to rise, found herself shoving rubble up and away. Murr stirred and began helping her. Whoever did that is going to be coming in— The sharp twanging sounds of automatic rannai fire sounded out from the smoking hole and she could see the staccato flickerings of the packeted energy bolts streaming outward. Well, by the Seven. Hmmmseeth's defenses managed to survive [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 10

The Eonwyl and her friends had a guide... -----     Chapter 10 Eönwyl: "You're sure of our destination, Murr?" she asked. The color-flicker across the creature's skin was one she thought held both confidence and slight annoyance. "If your information was accurate, yes. The name Hmmmseeth is not a terribly common one, and combined with other information available on the public nets, there appears to be only one such that could meet your criteria." They had taken a shuttle-boat to Konntenata, an inhabited reef [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Sasham Varan is still doing time... -----   Chapter 9 Varan: The vya-shadu hovered before me, moving only the tiny amount expected from a weapon held in a steady hand. I could feel a sheen of sweat already forming on my face, echoing the tremendous strain I was feeling on my mind as I slowly rose from my meditations and drew the other sword. I'd done this kind of training before, of course; first onboard the Teraikon, hidden in a clear bubble within the mindshields, and later on board The Eönwyl, many hours of [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 8

On an alien world, you need to be ready to act like an alien... ------   Chapter 8 The Eönwyl: There were no Mydrwyll in sight when the three of them debarked; from a human point of view it was eerily deserted, a shining and perfect spaceport devoid of life, a life-sized model. The strong scent of the ocean – different in detail, yet so very much the same on every world – along with the organic shapes around her momentarily made her feel as though they were shrunken, tiny things surrounded by gigantic shells on an alien [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 7

The Eonwyl and Company arrive at their destination... -----     Chapter 7 The Eönwyl: Lightless tunnels, there are a lot of ships here. There were literally thousands, no, tens of thousands of moving targets on her scanners. A few showed the red glare of identified Imperial craft, but most beacons were not identified by her system. The haze of ships focused most strongly on the fourth planet from the primary. "I presume that is the Mydrwyll homeworld?" Even so, agreed Vick. They have a difficult-to-pronounce [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 6

And lastly, we haven't heard from the OTHER side of this conflict yet, so it's about time we did... ------     Chapter 6 Shagrath: "Prime Monitor, a question!" Shagrath nodded at the newstaker. "I have time for a few, Kitron – but only a few. You understand, of course." "Of course, sir." Linbrey Kitron was one of the oldest and most respected 'takers in the Empire, and had been stationed in the Capital for almost thirty years. In some ways, his influence rivals that of members of the Families. Which, of [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 5

The Eonwyl and company were on their way, but the Eonwyl really needs to know what she's going to be dealing with... -----     Chapter 5 Eönwyl: "Doctor Sooovickalassa," the Eönwyl said, looking at both the diminutive R'Thann and the vastly larger Doctor Guvthor, "It won't be very long before we arrive at the Mydrwyll system. I think we need more information about what to expect. You said they had joined the R'Thann Meritocracy? Doesn't that mean that there will be a large number of R'Thann ships in their [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 4

Meanwhile, Varan was in one of the biggest lockups in the Galaxy... -----     Chapter 4 Varan: I concentrated, mind in High Center, focused on the stylus I used for my journal. Calm and focused. Strength through will, order of thought from the chaos of fear. There is nothing to fear here and now. There is only the moment and the will. The stylus trembled, and then – slowly, slowly – rose, first one end, then the other, as though being picked up by invisible fingers. It was hard – Torline's Name, it was hard! – but [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 3

And we had one other major character to hear from, so let's see what Taelin's up to now... -----     Chapter 3 Taelin: He checked himself in the all-view mirror again. Long gold hair pulled back in the one-tail style – conservative and nonintrusive. Formal business flow-cloak over sharp-cut shirt and pants – muted shades with just a touch of gold edging. Gray polished boots, formal pistol discreetly displayed. No crest of any Family, Lesser or Greater, let alone Five. That should do. Taelin met his own green-blue [ Continue reading... ]

Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 2

Varan was wondering about The Eonwyl and crew, so let's see what they're up to... ------     Chapter 2 The Eönwyl: "Teraikon." Guvthor repeated the name. The immense Thovian had an abstracted, pensive look on his brown-furred face. "That's what I got," the Eönwyl agreed. "There was a lot more he was trying to say – something about Teraikon, something that would have told us exactly what we needed to do or find – but I couldn't get that." An extremely intriguing clue, Dr. Sooovickalassa said, his telepathic [ Continue reading... ]