April 13, 2025No sooner had the chamber pressurized than the door to the port cracked open, just slightly enough to allow the hiss of rushing air to echo through the space. Yuri glanced at the door and watched as it opened slowly. He felt a gentle pull as the low pressure tunnel equalized with the inside of the port.
The figure of a man pushed the door wider, and casually glided inside, weightlessly, like a grim reaper. His eyes were narrow and fierce, like a hunter’s, his hair was long and black, tied loosely behind his head. His black stubble was patchy, matching the tattered poncho of rags and stained fabrics he wore over his broad shoulders.
...
April 5, 2025 Over the course of the last seven months in the academy, Yuri’s planet-side mech training had covered several skills to effectively navigate around a battlefield. He knew how to use grids and maps to chart friends and target locations, and he found the z axis easy enough to pick up on the fly.
What he hadn’t practiced was navigating in a gravity-free environment. He didn’t have a feel for the subtle, high precision adjustments needed to maintain his position in the asteroid field, so he kept drifting into rocks and overcorrecting into more rocks.
...
March 23, 2025 Chapter 2
#
Yuri caught up quickly, not wanting to be left behind. The two of them walked across the long steel platform toward the far left side of the massive industrial space. Yuri could see the engineers ahead carrying Hawthorne’s stretcher down the scaffold staircase. They were so high up, the boy felt a bit of vertigo and kept his hand on the railing.
The first mech they walked past was a bulky Ajax frame painted dark blue, with massive miniguns held in both hands. Boone dragged his hand along the mech’s body casually, as they walked by. It must have been his.
...
March 1, 2025 Chapter 1
#
A few hours later, on a dark and sandy beach, a few kilometers from the outskirts of New Miami, the young man reclined on his red and yellow beach chair. Waves rolled in slowly and quietly all around. On this lonely beach, he was isolated and free.
He’d been swimming in the ocean only minutes before. His clothes were drying on the mech that knelt on the sand beside him. His training mech, the old Ajax with chipping paint and rusting bolts, was larger than most buildings. To climb out, Yuri had used a rope-lift that dangled out of the open chest cockpit.
...
February 22, 2025 Chapter 0
#
“Order up! #103?”
The cook’s gray apron and red polo shirt were soaked through with sweat, and his thin mustache and long black hair curled from the humidity behind him. Steam and smoke emerged from the small noodle shop’s front window like ghosts escaping the underworld. The short, stocky asian man leaned out, underneath the bright orange neon sign, Lu’s Noodles, and looked around.
“Tonketsu Ramen, extra egg, extra meat! #103!” Lu said angrily, slamming the vinyl menu below the counter to make a harsh plastic clattering sound.
...