Chapter 71: Nemesis 3
A new message appeared of its own accord in James’s vision:
You have 1 Hour to Gather
With 100 Other First Wave Summoners
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Chapter 70: 3-Day
The next three days were a blur.
Airports were terminally weird experiences, and Bjørn alternated between being a charming and withdrawn travel companion. It was all suitcases and stale snac...
2022-09-23 18:39:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 69: As close to family as I’ve got
After what felt like an idyllic week of preparations, it suddenly felt as 3-Day was upon them. With only four days remaining, every moment felt precious. Jessica set to work marshaling military sta...
2022-09-23 18:36:38 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 68: The secrets we carry
The machine was beautiful. Easily a dozen feet long, it was slender and delicate, fashioned from sinews and plates of steel and gold, and veined with divine diamond that gave off a pulsing glow. A ...
2022-09-22 12:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 67: Angel Wing
“It’s not much to look at, yet, but I’m close to attempting the final assembly,” said Jessica, tucking a strand of blond hair behind one ear.
James had met her in the parking garage b...
2022-09-22 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 66: Situation Room
A black sedan picked them up outside their DC hotel the next morning and drove them to the White House. James wore a dress uniform that Jessica had ensured fit him perfectly, and he felt stiff and ...
2022-09-22 12:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 65: The leader of the free world
The day and evening had proven hectic, and it was only as dusk fell that James managed to find time alone with Serenity. She’d gone up to an abandoned Cuban restaurant on the 17th floor with view...
2022-09-22 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 64: Bless
“I still got your attention?” Star Boy looked out over the audience. “Good. Because this last segment is a bit of a puzzler. Let’s take a look.” He clicked his clicker.
Bles...
2022-09-21 12:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 63: Smite
“Now we’re talking,” said Serenity.
“Now the Smite crew are the ones who lay down the pain. Something your humble Star Boy can only do with his sense of humor.” Star Boy paused. “...
2022-09-21 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 62: Shield of Faith
“All right, listen up you monkeys.” Star Boy leaned forward dramatically, eyebrows raised, and waited as if daring the Blue Light crowd to react. When nobody responded he resumed slowl...
2022-09-21 12:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 61: CSM
James radioed for a ride and they descended to the streets in tense silence. Bjørn’s staff bid them goodbye, surprised at the speed of their departure, and nobody spoke on the way down. Only whe...
2022-09-20 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 60: Lies
James extended an arm over the sofa’s back and said nothing. Absorbed Bjørn’s words as the others blew up all around them.
“Are you kidding me?” asked Serenity. “You saying you cou...
2022-09-20 12:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 59: Wealth and power
(Quick note: I'm going to be double posting this week to try and bring the Monitor tier to 20 chapters ahead of what's available on RR. Here we go!)
James and Yadriel returned to the fortifie...
2022-09-19 12:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 58: Is a knife evil?
They made their way through the valley of dead demons.
It was unnerving and strange to walk through so many corpses. James had waived the offer of a Bradley, and there were too many in his ka...
2022-09-19 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 57: Upgrades
Serenity watched him drive up, losing track of what she was saying even as he parked this bike just outside the crowd’s radius.
“…which is awesome ‘cause by that point I was totally s...
2022-09-16 12:50:48 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 56: That's All You Got?
Too much was happening all at once. James’s system was still hopped up on adrenaline and exhilaration, leaving him jump and looking for more Nem2’s to come plummeting out of the sky at them. Pe...
2022-09-15 12:56:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 55: Gloria
James barely read the text. With death about to fall upon them all, he instinctively chose Heaven’s Assault.
The text faded.
Awareness arose within him as to the Benediction’s natur...
2022-09-14 13:25:59 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 54: Fuck you, Jobu
They settled in.
Ebon Hydra joined them and would man the guns facing down East 33rd. Their leader was a stocky butch woman with a crew cut and a perennial cigarette in her mouth called Lou. ...
2022-09-13 13:37:21 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 53: Manhattan
One thing became readily apparent right away: the military, once it got going, once the right people locked in on what needed to be done, was awe-inspiringly ready to move heaven and earth to achie...
2022-09-12 13:15:34 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 52: Trauma
Having burned Aeviternum, James, Richard, and Jessica stayed up all night. Serenity came to check in on them at one point but left in drunken disgust when she saw them crowded around a computer scr...
2022-09-09 13:01:54 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 51: Divine death machines
The night wound down. The music kept blaring, but people slowly faded away from the dance floor, bottles in hand, to either go hook up, crash, or sit on the sidelines and get maudlin.
James h...
2022-09-08 12:12:59 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 50: The ashes of everything now
The mission was a huge fucking success.
Somebody raided a liquor store and brought a hundred bottles of champagne to the ballroom, which proved ridiculously insufficient, so the hotel bar was...
2022-09-08 12:11:59 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 49: Montecristo's
“Hey Major, you want a cigar?”
James blinked and came to life, pushing off the side of the hummer to look up at the gunner behind the mounted M2. The car was positioned in the center of t...
2022-09-08 12:11:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 48: Big axes work, yo
James awoke.
He lay in a queen-sized bed, the sheets clean and smooth, the mattress indescribably perfect. Serenity’s couch hadn’t even come close to this decadence.
Something was r...
2022-09-08 12:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 47: Ma Deuces
James fielded questions for the next twenty or so minutes, though it quickly became obvious that most folks just wanted to hear themselves talk. He was patient, however, answered what he could, adm...
2022-09-08 12:09:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 46: Hard Sell
14 Days till Nemesis 3 Released
84 Days till Pits Open
James stared at the text which floated before his eyes as he walked south to the Marr...
2022-09-08 12:08:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 45: Blue Light
The conference room was large and almost completely empty. A couple of aides were on hand, ready to work the screens, while a couple of officers sat together at one end, stiff and cold and withdraw...
2022-09-08 12:07:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 44: Cowardice
The next four hours were unpleasant, drawn out, and frustrating to the extreme. James got a sense of large wheels turning in backrooms as power brokers cut deals and negotiated the DRC’s future. ...
2022-09-08 12:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43: The major’s offer
They entered the NYCEM, Serenity checked her bullpup, and Jessica led them upstairs. Their entrance had been noticed on previous visits, but this time they actively drew stares, as if the vast majo...
2022-09-08 12:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 42: Bureaucratic bullshit
James pulled himself smoothly up into the tunnel and strode into the darkness. This time he approached it without fear, extending his axe before him on the off chance that things were different thi...
2022-09-08 12:01:05 +0000 UTC View Post