By David C. Daoust Brioche. Brioche was a chemical compound common throughout Trade Consortium food stuffs. It promised low cost production of a wide array of foods- which could then be sold at greater profit. Obviously, this was a miracle product for Consortium execs; they could not wait to get it circulating. In reality, it…
By David C. Daoust This was not the first heist Raymond was a part of that went south, nor the first that went so far south so quickly. It was, however, the first heist interrupted by giant mechanical spiders, intent on the demolition of… everything. It appeared his nephew’s plan to ‘justice-smash’ Grady was far…
By David C. Daoust When Raymond Haul was a young boy, all he knew was his older brother. His brother and his brother’s friends, they were legends in the corridors. Ray was too young to hang out with them, but every now and then, they would all come by- Ray felt he was part of…
By David C. Daoust Colin felt fresh and ready for life, considering his body was in stasis for so many months, he wasn’t surprised. He’d taken a shower, shared some alone time with an old friend, and grabbed a bite to eat. The trouble he’d abandoned aboard the barracks ship lost in his wake. He…
By David C. Daoust The Ark ships were built to move humanity from one solar system to another. They were built to help maintain human life, not peace. With the ‘Martian Transit Wars’, that took place on their decks, they quickly found, maintaining human life, also meant maintaining peace. When the ark ships, as a…
By David C. Daoust “Why are those even a thing?” Dakota suddenly exclaimed, completely oblivious to how anyone else felt on the matter. The four-armed metal snake monsters flickering charge, sent chills down her spine as the sound of their metallic bodies scraped and sparked across the metal floors of the Red Faction’s ship. The…
By David C. Daoust One of the first things the Ark Ships manipulated, when they seized control of humanity, was humanities need to separate and divide. Humans divided themselves into families, into communities, into nations, and ultimately, into separate races. As machines, the Ark Ships could never understand these concepts, not truly. All the AI’s…
By David C. Daoust There were thirteen City Stations throughout the caravan of ark ships. During the ark age, each station held a royal family all its own. The head of each family was responsible for the community aboard their individual station. These royals were responsible for representing the people’s issues, to the people as…
By David C. Daoust Major stood gripping his assault rifle, back to the wall, as the bullet fire ricocheted from the far wall in front of him. The small group of invading ‘Seaguard agents’ had managed to make it back down to where they had locked up the strange man that had accompanied the Armored…
By David C. Daoust ‘Serious Business. Everything is serious business in the Trade Consortium’. Major Sims never knew what the hell that meant. It was a thing his father said, so many times, that it echoed in his mind. Most notably, his father said it the day he was packed up and sent to a…
By David C. Daoust “There you are!” Ratchet cheerfully announced once his grandfather was within shouting distance. The anti-gravity boots carried the boy through the rubble smoothly, allowed him to hop and jump through debris as though he was sliding over waves despite the rough, solid, terrain that was beneath him. Grandpa Haul, still celebrating…
By David C. Daoust To stand outside of a City Station was to stand amongst the stars. Artificial gravity would hold you to the walks and bridges. Ethereal force fields and artificial atmosphere would insure you could take a breath. It was to stand inside a city, towering buildings all around, each reaching for the…
By David C. Daoust Charles Haul Senior, aka Grandpa Haul, was raised in what was known as the ‘Time of Dispersion’. The City-Stations had been separated from the Ark Ships, each orbiting its own sector of the Solar System. The Ark Ships had already built the star ports throughout the entire Onion, and set into…
By David C. Daoust He was known to the rest of the family as ‘Charles the First’, a nickname given to him by his grandfather while he was still a newborn. Grandpa Haul had hoped to start a whole line of ‘Charles Hauls’. His eldest son however, was never a fan of his father, he…
By David C. Daoust High in the skies of Twin Crown, the small speck of what was known as a Sky Screamer soared through the clouds. Piloting the small vehicle was a tall red headed teen by the name of Charles, to his right, clutched precariously to the side of the vehicle, was his brother,…
By David C. Daoust The Royal Alliance was formed in resistance to the Royal Vanguard’s unwillingness to allow the people to secede, to find their own ways of life throughout the Onion. To disperse from the Ark Ships, as they saw fit, to live the lives they wanted, not the lives the Royals of the…
By David C. Daoust Suzanne was in two places at once, one was the small holo-stage in the back of the room, which depicted the white lab her agents on the barracks ship had taken but moments before, and the other was the command center that oversaw all her operations throughout the Neo Vir’ees system….
By David C. Daoust Suzanne sat perfectly still, eyes squeezed shut, her brow furrowed as her fingers pinched the arch of her nose. She sat behind her desk, having just finished yet another conference with whatever random executive she had to deal with. She’d already put it out of her mind. The headaches were more…
By David C. Daoust The Ark Age was remembered in a far greater light than what was the reality of the time. Looking back, the people of the Second Sun believed it was a time of harmony and peace, a time of artist, philosophers, and designers, living freely amongst the stars. An age of enlightenment;…
By David C. Daoust The ability to haul things throughout the Onion was limited not by how fast a ship could travel, but rather the effects of high speeds on the human body and mind. The dangers of acceleration and deceleration were a point of concern, though there was something called the ‘Branigan Barrier’ which…
By David C. Daoust Vincent had witnessed firsthand just how indestructible the body he currently inhabited was, having personally launched the small stunt-bot through the air, smashed it through brick walls, and pummeled it into the asphalt, all in an attempt to get the small bot to leave him be. Now it was his turn…
By David C. Daoust The room changed suddenly. ‘Changed’ was the only way Dakota could explain the difference. It was the same white lab she’d been working in for the past two days, the same white lab that matched every other lab she’d ever worked in, though when the men burst into the room, firing…
By David C. Daoust Colin and Craiden both had given up on the cell door. They had no choice but to sit and wait. Considering the men with the guns had left them in their wake, they were probably the safest people on the ship at the moment. Colin slumped back on one of the…
<<<< I ran really late this week! I felt there was a lot I had to cover if I wanted this done right! The image is still incoming, it will read : A Whole Lot of Nothing! Commissar Ivan. ty,DD >>>> By David C. Daoust Formed during the Crucible Riots, the labor unions that brought…
By David C. Daoust Vincent awoke in a rather precarious, prone, position with a blond haired woman standing over him, her hands a little closer to his face than he would like. “Ah-HAH,” the woman said with a smile as she had just witnessed the bot spring back to life, “That was pretty tricky! ‘Looks…
By David C. Daoust Craiden sat with his back against the wall. Colin was next to him and the two now unarmed soldiers sat on a bench on the other side of the cell. No one was happy with the situation, especially Craiden. He had lived his life completely free of any authority over him….
By David C. Daoust Dakota could only be surprised when she recognized the War Hero and ex-Royal, Mari Swan, unconscious on the stretcher the small group of medics had suddenly rushed into the med bay. While Dakota never truly enjoyed history, Mari had stood out amongst her studies as truly unique, even if she was…
<< So here’s the thing, I feel that I failed to express last week, that while the Communist Red Faction now ‘owned’ the moon, their ideals had not yet taken hold over the population of Grady. Obviously, as it was the constant corporate invasion that pissed off the first wavers to begin with. I had…
By David C. Daoust Colin felt the terrain change as the massive APC rolled through the gates and then directly up the ramp that led into the Barracks ship. He felt the momentum shift as they suddenly veered to the right and abruptly came to a halt. He could hear the gears crank and the…
By David C. Daoust Things just would not go Noreen’s way! No sooner had her droids come within reach of the Ion Device, than the massive blue bot began crushing them from behind. At one point she heard the bot suddenly exclaim: “Now this is more like it! No flying away!” One after the other,…
By David C. Daoust Margo wasn’t sure how she thought this was going to go, of the six or seven Battle Drones she tried to attack- she’d only managed to get hands on one of them. It broke apart easily enough in her massive grip. It was actually the very first one she’d attacked. A…
By David C. Daoust The human race had harnessed the purest, most robust, form of natural energy, not only in the use of solar power, but through the actualization of wormholes. The human race had power over these gateways for centuries. While the wormholes could handle energy transfer and speed communications to faster than light…
By David C. Daoust “Can anyone even pretend to be surprised?” Dakota continued on her latest rant, in the latest lab she found herself working in, “I mean come on, of course the sand people attacked…” “Sand people?” one of the lab assistants asked, “Sounds like some crazy monsters in a sci-fi movie…” “Ha! yeah!”…
By David C. Daoust Dutch could never be considered a smart man, or a very good looking man. Dutch, however, could get things done. Sometimes it took pressure in the right place, or a little elbow grease if need be, other times just a hard stare. Mostly, it was a rundown of all three; if…
By David C. Daoust Colin decided just to bite his tongue as the massive blue bot, which now housed the gabby little girl-bot, Margo, continued to slide the overturned Personnel Carrier around the lot. A lot which was once full of rubble and debris, though was now a flattened turf thanks to Margo’s futile attempts…
By David C. Daoust Craiden awoke in a heap; his head was still pounding, though far worse than it had when he awoke that morning. He found himself in the corner of the tipped Personnel Carrier. It was dark, he could hear others moving about outside, his right arm sore, and he thought he may…
By David C. Daoust Margo felt the impact all the way to her core. Truly, it was nothing to her, she’d already been wracked with far worse several times that day, though the humans that were also packed in the Armored Personnel Carrier when the mystery object struck the vehicle, were a different story. The…
By David C. Daoust Vincent had been living surrounded by humans, and only humans, for some time now. He felt he had a pretty good grasp on them and what makes them tick. Fear. It seemed to Vincent, they succumb to fear so much that they very rarely ever say what they mean or think……
By David C. Daoust “You there,” the soldier questioned Colin, “you got a prosthetic heart?” “How could you possibly know that?” Colin asked shocked and immediately distrustful. The only way they could know that was with his personal files. Considering his personal files didn’t even know that he was on this moon, he couldn’t figure…
By David C. Daoust Mari felt the blood rush from her face as she witnessed the small girl suddenly engulfed in debris. She threw her sons weight off her shoulder and onto the dark haired stranger that had assisted her thus far. She heard the man grunt at the sudden shift, but she was far…
By David C. Daoust Margo had lost her perch almost immediately upon seeing the dark swarm of battle drones on the horizon. She was so startled at the sight, her hand slipped from the ledge of the jail house and off she went, plunging to the concrete below. It was a good thing she was…
By David C. Daoust Craiden wasn’t sure what was wrong. He had been dealing with the infection for a while now. He’d never had this much trouble with it, even before he got on the regiment of meds. It seemed as though, as soon as he had his mouth clear, more mucus would bubble up…
By David C. Daoust The surrounding havoc was like none other Colin had ever witnessed. He had just been released from lockup, when the news hit of the assault drones on the horizon. They returned his hand gun and shotgun upon being released, both confiscated by the Otomo security force long before he ever stole…
By David C. Daoust “Well I think we got a minute…” Craiden muttered slumping in his seat. Mari heard her son’s muttering… She even felt bad for evading his questions, though still, she pretended to concentrate on the controls of the land speeder instead, as they rocketed towards the gates of Grady. Honestly, she wasn’t…
By David C. Daoust Craiden awoke with a pounding headache. He’d learned a lot about his mother last night, the least of which was just how much she could drink. Craiden knew his mother had been a star-fighter long before she started her family and moved to Twin Crown, though the stories he heard growing…
By David C. Daoust Margo felt she was pretty honest. She liked the truth; it was far more reliable than any lie. Not to mention, lies took up much more room- much, much, more. Every lie had to be accounted for, you never knew when it was going to twist, you never knew who was…
By David C. Daoust Colin was never one for sedentary situations. His mind had a tendency to wander, and rarely did it wander to anything pleasant. His fingers traced the scars under his shirt, like small craters across his otherwise smooth skin. He thought back to the day, the day he’d met that girl, so…
By David C. Daoust Mari was heralded a hero of the Royal Alliances’ Fleet. She finally found herself on the frontline as the coming battles between the two Royal factions heated up. A war that would last years, years that Mari spent fighting. By now star battles were an old hat to Mari, that dream…
By David C. Daoust Mari sighed as she ran her star ship through its paces. For all her bravado of being a star fighter pilot at long last, she found herself, more often than not, on escort missions between ambassador ships. She could not help but wonder if it was because of who she was,…
By David C. Daoust Very little is known of the age before the Ark Age. Not just because of the centuries involved in the trek to the second sun, it was, in fact, forgotten by design. While most humans of the Onion know next to nothing of the Age before, the Ark Ships still hold…
By David C. Daoust This was not the first time Suzanne and Dakota had gotten into a fight about something, nor was it the first time one of them had told the other what they really thought. In fact, this was usually how it went, the one who was in the wrong got an ear…
By David C. Daoust Margo was used to being ignored, she got used to it a long time ago. Despite the fact she wasn’t actually a twelve year old, she was often treated as such. Sometimes in a good way, other times, not so much. She assumed it was better than being treated as an…
By David C. Daoust Life was weird sometimes, Colin guessed as the private security clumped him in with the small blond and tiny bot. Colin tried to convince the large group of men that had taken them all into custody, that he was just an innocent bystander, a passerby, in the wrong place at the…
<<Just a reminder, this is before Dakota’s broadcast! ty,DD>> By David C. Daoust Dakota didn’t really have a plan, not since she ditched her security detail on Dori 5 and hired a manned cargo ship to bring her to Twin Crown. She fully expected to find an Otomo Corp lab on this moon, only to…
By David C. Daoust Margo was equally surprised at what had just transpired as Colin clearly was, especially since they had just had the same thing happen to them, in their inn across town. Margo thought something was funny about the way they had to clear out all quiet like, though it was in her…
<<<<So, I fully intended to come back to Colin with the Drone attack in full swing… but then I had an idea! So I’m putting it off ‘til everything is lined up. It may well be confusing, though I hope not horribly confusing! 😛 ty, DD >>>> By David C. Daoust Colin had spent most…
By David C. Daoust The words of Dakota Sun rocked the small moon of Twin Crown. The port town of Grady was in an uproar as protesters threatened to storm the gates of the barrack-ships of the current governing power that owned the small moon that orbited the gas giant Neo Vir’ees, the governing power…
By David C. Daoust The call for Revolution rang out on every Crucible, from every fiery resource planet to the Core. From humans crying out for fair pay and decent work conditions, to Bots demanding equal pay… as in, any pay at all. The Mining Cartels moved swiftly, sending Mercenary forces to quell the outcry…
By David C. Daoust Upon the dispersion of the City Stations, the Ark Ships began to deploy the fleets to terraform the planets. Many of the Humans took note of those planets too close to the sun. Mostly, they noted that the droids ignored these planets, as they were uninhabitable by any living thing. Even…
By David C. Daoust Dakota was having the most interesting couple of weeks. Not only had she spent most of the first week within a corporate star-cruiser, to reach Dori 5, she’d spent the rest of that week within a lab studying mucus. Black nasty mucus, she’d really preferred to never witness, let alone study…
By David C. Daoust “All I’m saying, is things went much smoother when we were all packed in the Ark Ships…” Dr. Hen said as he swapped out another tray of black mucus from under his microscope. “How could you possibly know that?” One of the lab assistants suddenly blurted out in response to the…
By David C. Daoust “More government do-hockey!” came the boisterous female voice in response to the news report that had just played over the radio as the lift ascended the thousand or more floors that made up the city station of Dori 5. “If you ask me, you can blame the Royal Alliance for the…
By David C. Daoust Forgetting all about his recent problems, all his woes and worries, including the sickness that currently plagued not only his lungs, but most of his remaining family and crew, and despite all the recent deaths, Craiden walked up the ramp with a hop in his step. Entering the Crawler’s hold, he…
By David C. Daoust Craiden had walked these sands since he was a very young boy, he remembered very little of any kind of life before Twin Crown. Nothing beyond vague memories of being huddled in a corner of the starship, that brought the first wavers to their new home. First wavers intended to live…
By David C. Daoust The Ark Age had come to a close. An age in which mankind had packed themselves away, along with the technology to recreate viable conditions on new planets and moons, for the long trip through the galaxy. A trip to a new sun, a younger sun, a sun that wasn’t threatening…
By David C. Daoust 7of7 Margo moved swiftly as she came in sight of the Starport. It was late at night, and such a small girl being out alone would call unwanted attention. Luckily, she had once played a supporting role in the blockbuster ‘Galactic Assassin’, so stealth came fluently. Her parts in the film…
By David C. Daoust 6of7 It was Elma’s third movie, in which her character was sucked out of an air-lock, that Margo first experienced space in all its glory. The man that played their father, who looked on in horror as this tragedy befell his little girl at the end of the movie, went on…
By David C. Daoust 5of7 Not all of the vast solar system, known as the Onion, was shady smugglers ducking government soldiers on dusty belt moons. Much of the many worlds were made up of shiny happy people, just trying to get through their boring lives. Which gave rise to the entertainment industry; music, games,…
By David C. Daoust 4of7 “He’s my brother,” the brown eyed girl continued. “I came out to surprise him. I didn’t think it would cause any problems officer, really.” Colin couldn’t help but smirk as the scared girl gave him a sidelong look to play along from behind the two soldiers’ backs. “Yeah she gave…
By David C. Daoust 3of7 It was only a dark silhouette from this distance and it seemed to be holding as still as he was. It had just dropped down from a second port under the ship, of this he was sure. He raised the gun, and a small voice squealed as it suddenly sprang…
By David C. Daoust It was early morning by this time. Neo Vir’ees could be seen clearly, its massive orange surface filled most of the pale blue sky, while the light of day was far to the east, having just risen from the horizon, to cast away the darkness of night. Around noon, the massive…
By David C.Daoust Colin Vice was never sure where to begin– Daily, when he punched-in his pass key, and the latest cargo-hold slowly opened before him to reveal his next job, one spot always seemed as good as the next. Careful not to start an avalanche of goods, he pried out the first box and…