Warning sirens blared through the icy air, and gray smoke was starting to rise up between the buildings of Fall’s End. The streets were chaotic. More chaotic than Fiearius had anticipated. Breathlessly, he jogged down an alley, occasionally darting past armed soldiers running the opposite way. Cyrus was on his heels, breathing hard behind him.

“Gods, I didn’t think it’d be this bad,” he yelled over the alarms, his eyes fixed on a new plume of black that erupted a mile or two off.

Fiearius followed his line of sight. Supposedly the attack had started on the opposite end of the base, but as they exited Carthian-controlled territory and sank back into the civilian areas of Fall’s End, the clearer it became that the incident hadn’t been isolated. Fiearius had heard the Vescentian riots were growing worse, but he hadn’t truly grasped what ‘worse’ looked like until now.

Fiearius spent most of his time in Society-occupied areas, trying to liberate them. He didn’t often get a firsthand look at what he was liberating them to. It made his argument with Gates an hour earlier seem even more justified. Continue reading →

Outside the broad glass window of Gates’ office, snow was falling swiftly on the dark grounds of the military base. Inside, a fire was roaring in the fireplace, warming Fiearius’ legs as he slumped back in the leather chair.

Pulling his eyes away from the window, he watched in bemusement as Gates paced the rug, his face dark and troubled. The man had been on edge since the moment he’d had walked into his office, but as usual, Fiearius seemed to be exacerbating the issue. And as usual, he didn’t much care. Continue reading →

When Alyx had suggested stealing a ship, this wasn’t what she’d had in mind. She’d pictured a clandestine deal in the black of night, in an alley, amongst whispers and hurried footsteps. That’s usually how it went.

But this could not have been more different. Sweating beneath the summer heat of an Ellegian moon, she adjusted the skirt of her high-fashion dress. An elaborate hat that cost more than a small ship shaded her face. Ridiculous as she thought it looked, Cai, who had attended many of these events during his time as an Ellegian ally, had been correct in assuring her it was a necessity to blend in. They’d only been at the 1868 Lars Technologies Preview and Demonstration for ten minutes and already she’d seen an array of headwear that deserved far more fascination than the ships performing tricks out in the arena. Continue reading →



Raisa wanted nothing to do with him — Finn could see that right away. Eyeing him darkly, she led he and Cai through the Conduit and into her office, sat them down and agreed to at least listen to what he had to say, but it was clear right away that she’d only done so out of obligation to an old friend.

“Well I suppose it’s a pleasure to meet you face to face at last, Captain Riley,” she said, leaning on the edge of her desk facing them. “But let me first be perfectly blunt that the way you acted out there–” She gestured towards the door they’d come through, that Finn had disrupted nearly the entire ship to reach. “–was completely unappreciated. I might expect it from someone else, but you, of all people, should know what we’re dealing with here. Who we’re keeping safe. We have a system in place for a purpose.” Continue reading →

Snow crunched underfoot as Fiearius strode down the dark path, lit only by pools of moonlight. Night had fallen in Vescent, which made the temperature drop to freezing, but it was the safest time to travel through the city without being spotted by rebels or looters. Leta and Ren were ahead, leading the way since they knew the area well — after all, Fall’s End was where they’d spent their life together.

The library — Ren’s hiding place for his research journal — was on the eastern side of Fall’s End, well out of the Carthian secured zones. Fiearius couldn’t help but feel tense and uneasy as they trekked through rebel territory in the dark. Personally, he had no issue with the rebels — he would have been irked by Carthis’ takeover of his planet as well. Hell, he’d probably be out in the trenches with them … Continue reading →

For a moment, Fiearius thought he’d gone back in time, the scene was so terribly familiar: he was slouched on a dirty exam bench in the Dionysian’s infirmary, scowling, while Leta wrapped a bandage around his shoulder. Like so many times before, he was at the mercy of this woman’s expertise as she held stinging medicinal gauze against the burns on his skin. It was just like the old days — with a few startling differences in company.

On his other side stood Javier, a tablet in his hands as he rattled messages Fiearius had received while he’d been ashore. Apparently, there were a lot of them.

“Captain Lorren has invited you to his husband’s charity event,” Javier was saying.

“Ignore,” muttered Fiearius. Continue reading →

Leta snapped open her eyes. She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep, but it took only seconds to gauge her surroundings: she was lying on a couch in Ren’s apartment, alone. Her throat was burning, her eyes were streaming — thick black clouds were filling the room.

She vaulted from the couch, just as Fiearius and Ren rushed in from the balcony. She didn’t have to time to register what they could be doing out there, not when the smoke was growing thick. “Fiear — Ren,” she coughed, pressing her forearm against her mouth and nose, “there’s a fire — we have to — ” Continue reading →

It was nearly sunset when the Dionysian touched down on Alcatan, a quiet, sparsely-populated foresty planet far on the edges of Synechdan. There was no main city to speak of here: just a few cottages and cabins, miles apart. Per Ren’s directions, Leta led Fiearius along the dirt road that curved deep into the woods. Thick evergreens lined the path, a river gushed nearby, birds called overhead, and they saw only a few hikers along the way. Leta had never seen a more beautiful or lonely place.

At last, a tremendous A-frame cabin came into view. It looked more like a mansion built into a rocky hillside, its broad glass windows glittering in the early sunlight. Continue reading →

Rain slashed hard against the glass windows, but inside the bar, a fire roared in the fireplace and warmed the whole room. A few patrons mingled around, chatting quietly or staring into their drinks. This was one of the few places near Vescent’s military base that allowed for a respite from wartime life.

It was with a sense of hurried distraction that Leta had shut off the lights, departed her quiet clinic (the last to leave) and then darted across the stone bridge in the rain. She was only outside for seconds, and she held a hood over her head and a scarf wrapped around her neck, but it was of no use: she couldn’t have been more wet if she’d jumped into the sea.

Breathlessly she slipped through the doors, shutting out a rain-soaked gust of wind behind her. She waved toward the bartender, who greeted her by name (Leta spent more time alone in this bar than she cared to admit) and then found Fiearius across the room. Continue reading →

The cold wind tossed her hair across her face, and Leta pushed it away with her wrist, but mostly, shock paralyzed her for several seconds. Simply put, she couldn’t understand what she was looking at, even though the sight was incredibly familiar: The bronze metal mass of the Dionysian, its rusted open ramp, and coming down from it, its captain. Leta absorbed this last detail in particular, everything from the snow already mixing into his thick red hair, to the smirk on his face, to his casual loping stride, and …

“I’m hallucinating,” Leta mumbled, to herself but also to her new company that was approaching. “I’m hallucinating and you’re a mirage.”

Continue reading →