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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.20

Chapter 3.20: Titanium

“Congratulations,” Lucy’s voice greeted me as I pulled the headphones from my ear with a slight pop.  “How are you feeling?”

I stared, my thoughts effortlessly processing and categorizing the immen...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.19

Chapter 3.19: 237

It took the better part of four months for Charlotte to get her hands on a copy of cognitohazard 237, a process I thankfully didn’t have to witness as from my understanding it involved a fair amount of browbeating an inno...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.18

Chapter 3.18: Not My Problem

“And?”

“And nobody seems to care!  The local sect representative refuses to investigate, and my fellow disciples just continue their sparring as if he’ll return any day now, but he won’t!&nbs...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.17

Chapter 3.17: Paid Medical Leave

“I still vote six-eighteen.”

“Cal, we’ve been over this.”  Charlotte swiped through the holo display we’d projected over our side of the dining room table to bring up the description fo...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.16

Chapter 3.16: Incident Report

The airlock we wound up at was a small shuttle dock, whatever vessel it served conveniently absent.  The no-at didn’t fit, so Bill had to leave it secured outside as we maneuvered inside.

A medic—...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.15

Chapter 3.15: Occupational Hazard

It took eight months, all told, from our arrival on the Right Eye for the conflict within the Urlitch household to finally end.  None of us had been in the room for obvious reasons, but the word was aft...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.14

Chapter 3.14: Celebration

“Sooooooo?  What did he say?”  I pressed a gin and tonic into Xavier’s hand the moment he set foot on the gangway.  I’d wanted to open with champagne, but Lucy had vetoed that option ...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.13

Chapter 3.13: Petition

“Xavier challenged Li Bo today.  Broke his arm in three places.”

“That’s the last one, isn’t it?” I asked.  “Finally done?”

“Finally done,” Micaiah confirmed with a ragged brea...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.12

Chapter 3.12: On the Inside

2,614 matches found!

Micaiah groaned and flung the arm from which her holopad projected into the cushion beside her.  Three weeks she’d been banging her head into this wall and still the AI r...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.11

Chapter 3.11: The Mortal Life

“Exactly what part of ‘keep your head down’ did you not understand?” Charlotte’s voice rang in my ear as I stepped down Lucy’s gangway on my way to work.

“In my defense, my head was ...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.10

Chapter 3.10: Cultivator Bullshit

“…then Sun Buns turns to me and says—and I shit you not—‘the stench of sewage is back.  I think there might be a second source.”

I slammed my fist into the table as laughter took me.&n...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.9

(A quick note that chapter titles are exclusively to help me keep track of what happens where in my internal files. Please refrain from groaning.)

Chapter 3.9: My Sect’s Life

“Cal…”

I mumbled incoherently and rolled close...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.8

Chapter 3.8: Back to Work

Lucy’s lower deck felt lonely the next morning.  

I didn’t lack for company, as Lucy and I amicably chatted while I nibbled away at a plate of eggs over easy, but lovely as I always found Lucy’...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.7

Chapter 3.7: Party’s Over

I cycled my lungs and heart to calm myself as partygoers around us rushed in for a better look or inconspicuously made for the door.  I realized swiftly that Micaiah and I stood out, seemingly the only two in...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.6

Chapter 3.6: Immaculate Reception

“Are you sure I have to wear this?”  I patted down black jacket Lucy had dug up for me, fingers tracing the high collar that formed a flat line from shoulder to shoulder.&nb...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.5

Chapter 3.5: Staying Put

“I, Xavier Honchel, future champion of the Dragon’s Right Eye, challenge you to a duel!”

Micaiah suppressed a sigh as the sound of a door slamming reached her fro...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.4

Chapter 3.4: Death

I still felt it.

I felt its presence, scratching against the edges of reality, ready to appear in all its ineffable glory should I but slip into the proper state of mind.&nbs...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.3

Chapter 3.3: Errands

The ostentatious doorway spat me out into an ostentatious-er departure lounge.  Hardwood—real wood—floors tapped against my boots with a satisfying knock.  Oil pantings of the fields of Ilirian hun...

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Important: Patreon tiering changes

Hey everyone, this is long overdue, but the multitiered system for patreon chapters doesn't really make a lot of sense for series that aren't being publicly serialized, so at the end of October, I'll be re-doing the tier system.

All advance ...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.2

Chapter 3.2: Warm Welcome

The Dragon’s Right Eye, like any caged sun, was a marvel of engineering.

The station itself wrapped around the entire star, a dyson sphere built to capture qi rather than anything so pedestrian as light or h...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3.1: Into the Suns

Four days from our looming arrival at the Dragon’s Right Eye, I sat atop Lucy’s bridge contemplating impermanence.  My musings weren’t anything special—with all the meditating I do they can’t all...

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To Catch a Falling Leaf is available now!

Hi everyone! I'm incredibly excited to announce that book 2 of The Stargazer's War is finally out! It took a long time getting there, but I'm incredibly ...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.19

Chapter 2.19: Crucible

“Charlotte!” Xavier dove to catch her on her way down, cradling her head to keep it from the hard cobblestone. The dolt. She was weak, not unconscious. Despite herself a warmth blossomed in Charlotte’s chest, alm...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.18

Chapter 2.18: The Dead City

“Cal,” Charlotte’s hushed voice roused me from my slumber. “You’re up.”

I nodded groggily, grateful they’d given me last watch even though Charlotte had been the one nearly falling over last ni...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.17

Chapter 2.17: Underground

I think the enchantments are changing. It’s insane. I know it’s insane. Enchantments don’t change. The complexity of maintaining stability through transitional states is beyond modern AI, let alone whateve...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.16

Chapter 2.16: Negotiations

Inspector Samuel Scorne was about to blow this whole case wide open. He could feel it in his bones, in his soul, in his gut, the latter of which had steadily grown both in predictive capability and in circumference...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.15

Chapter 2.15: Bronze

I sat then and there, crossing my legs and straightening my back inches shy of the tunnel wall. I cradled the egg in cupped hands, my gaze fixed on it as Charlotte and Xavier stared down at me.

“Is this a good id...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.14

Chapter 2.14: Hatching Day

Xavier rushed in to join us in Lucy’s upper deck with his shirt half tucked in and his hair still wet from the shower. “It’s happening?”

“Strap in,” Lucy instructed him. “We’re leaving.”

...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.13

Chapter 2.13: Ticking Down

I knew I couldn’t stay out there forever. I didn’t need forever, much as I shrouded myself in it like a security blanket. Behind its frigid pall, sapped of humanity as it left me, I could look at thing...

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The Stargazer's War - Chapter 2.12

Chapter 2.12: Past Time

“…and ’til the day my heart stops beating, my love for you’ll be unretreating…” Charlotte’s gorgeous if drunkenly over-frilled soprano resonated through the living room as she worked her way through the ...

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