“Figuring out how to adjust the gravitational pull to lessen the power requirements was the easy part,” Lucas said enthusiastically. “All I had to do was stick some gravity plates on the ring sections and send a large burst of power through them. Overcoming the inertia issue was far harder. I spent over a month trying to make your idea of covering an entire ship work, but I realized that ...
2025-10-15 12:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostI finally have enough content for my next story to start posting it. I wanted to have these up weeks ago, but life got in the way. Anyway, Welcome to Corebound: Book 1, The Last Directive. I plan on posting chapters on Tuesdays and Thursdays as content permits or until I reach the pre-RR chapter cap, which will be the same as BSE. So no need to sub to a separate tier just to get access to this ...
2025-10-14 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostVitor didn’t know what to make of Four. He couldn’t quite bring himself to think of her as a woman, because he knew she was just an AI pretending to be one. He would probably come around eventually. Alex was essentially the same, and he had no trouble seeing him as anything other than just another person.
He chalked his hesitancy up to how they behaved when they were last on Eden’s ...
2025-10-13 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostKrieger groaned. “Seriously, Alex?” he asked as the once silent room broke out into surprised conversation and questions. “If I didn’t see that signature look of subdued satisfaction at seeing the surprise on everyone’s face, I would assume you were a doppelganger.”
“I would never—wait, how can you tell I look satisfied?” He honestly thought he hid his emotions rather we...
2025-10-10 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander felt immense relief when they jumped into Unokane, but he couldn’t just sit back and enjoy being home. He still had some work to do. The first item on his agenda was meeting with Krieger.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me before we depart for the surface,” Alexander said.
“Alex, I work for you. There’s no need to thank me for doing a part of my job.”
...
2025-10-08 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostThey arrived in the system where the fold space ring was waiting a few days later.
Alexander was heartened by the fact that Lucas and the rest of the engineers back on Eden’s End had been able to work through the problem and come up with a solution even before he had. It wasn’t what he had originally pictured when he drew up the original design, but that didn’t matter. All that matt...
2025-10-06 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThere was very little else aboard the older Shican vessel that Alexander was interested in seeing, but the one thing he did request to visit was their computer core.
Their guides shared a look before nodding.
Alexander wondered what that was all about as he followed the strike team down the corridor. They passed a few more rooms before coming to one where the door had been cut out. ...
2025-10-03 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander waited anxiously by the airlock for Krieger’s shuttle to dock. He knew why he was anxious, but it made no sense. He hadn’t been gone that long, and outwardly, he looked the same.
Reabsorbing the extra living alloy felt weird, but Alexander had done it the moment he realized his people had entered the system. It did require him to redesign the command seat, which was annoying...
2025-10-01 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostTravers took the corner, his rifle up and ready to fire in case there was an enemy. His suit sensors were still running, but the scrapes along his armored faceplate told him he couldn’t rely on those or the other tech in his armor completely.
The Shican had surprised his fire team half a dozen times as they moved to clear the massive vessel, which was surprising given none of them were ...
2025-09-29 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostGalloway had his head pressed against the back of the seat, seemingly relaxed, but inwardly worried about his people.
He glanced around without moving his head. The new suit helmets made sure his people couldn’t see his eyes scan over them. Most were busy double-checking their weapons and kit as the shuttle made its way over to the disabled Shican dreadnought.
With the weapons and...
2025-09-26 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander’s second attack failed to score a hit on the Shican battleship; they were wise to his tactic and had tightened their formation beyond what he would consider advisable. He had to admit, they were adamant about defending the injured battleship. It was too bad he planned on using that to his advantage, assuming his armor held out.
The energized armor was showing moderate damage, ...
2025-09-24 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe first thing Alexander tried was jumping to the outskirts of the system and blasting an omnidirectional radio broadcast.
Without knowing exactly where the satellites were, it was a shot in the dark to determine when the satellites might receive the radio signals. Honestly, they were more likely to pick up the jump signature before the radio signal. Either way, it would be hours before ...
2025-09-22 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“Huh… I didn’t think acting like a wounded animal would actually work,” Rush admitted.
Alexander didn’t either, but he figured it couldn’t hurt, especially after his new friends filled him in on how the Shican truly saw the universe. He didn’t say that out loud, however. He said something more profound-sounding. “It’s the nature for a predator to go after prey they think...
2025-09-12 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostLOCATION: DROSSFALL OUTER BELT
SYSTEM: DROSSFALL
DATE: 2404
Alexander’s new ship, Defiance, dropped out of FTL in the unimportant mining system of Drossfall. Naming the vessel wasn’t his idea. Rush actually proposed the name, and Alexander didn’t see any reason to disagree. He was a little salty that all of his naming suggestions had been turned down, considering it was ...
2025-09-10 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a weird feeling stepping aboard the biologically produced ship. Most of that strangeness came from the fact that it was almost identical to the broken vessel Alexander had studied for so long. So similar, yet not quite the same.
The slightly melted-looking bulkheads and distorted walls broke the feeling of déjà vu he was feeling.
Rush cleared his throat as the rest of his A...
2025-09-08 12:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander slowed as he approached the pit where the ship was waiting, then he came to a complete stop about fifty feet from the side hatch because he wasn’t alone.
“Serina,” he said, looking around. “Are you here to prevent me from leaving?”
The AI in the guise of a little girl shook her head slowly. “I’m not part of the group that wants to kill you. I’m here to ask ...
2025-09-05 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAfter another week of work, the ship was finally finished. Alexander estimated it would be completed a day ago, but it took the microorganisms longer to make the complicated internal structures. Part of that could have been due to Alexander’s modifications. He had been rather sloppy with his changes to get what he wanted, but he knew there would be compromises to push his completion date up.<...
2025-09-03 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostAfter days of running simulations, Alexander finally figured out how to get the microorganisms to do what he wanted. At least partially. His eureka moment only arrived after he turned away from using a methodical approach to changes, because that wasn’t getting him anywhere. Every minor change had a ripple-down effect that he couldn’t predict. Instead, he embraced the chaos and threw random...
2025-09-01 12:00:21 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you so terrified of our creator that you would stoop to deleting data?” One demanded of Two.
Two didn’t react to the accusation as he stood there supervising the dismantling of yet another manufacturing line. “I did no such thing,” he replied calmly. “Nor do I fear our creator as you have so boldly stated.”
“Of course not,” One replied sarcastically. ...
2025-08-29 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander spent the next week learning how to reform his robot body with the living alloy. That turned out to be far easier than understanding the technology that his past self created on this desolate world.
It was clear that he had been a genius before, far exceeding what he was capable of now.
Realizing you were only a shadow of your former self was a bitter pill to swallow, but ...
2025-08-27 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAfter wandering around the expansive facility, filled with dark and unused rooms, Alexander finally found one that seemed to be in use. He stopped in the doorway, his form wobbling from the movement and his wavering focus.
The reason for his hesitancy was the fact that the room was his workshop. Not the one from the virtual space, which had been a perfect replica of his workshop on Eden...
2025-08-25 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“What you are proposing is reckless,” Two said flatly.
Two seemed adamant on the matter, but One was not backing down either.
“How exactly is my suggestion to build Kane a new body, reckless?” One asked the rest of the Collective.
Two was quick to respond. “I can name a few reasons, but let’s start with the first. It violates our agreement about not providing techn...
2025-08-22 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander held up his hand to stop Rush before he could start. He should have asked this the moment he became aware, but Rush sidetracked him before all of his memories stabilized. “How long has it been since you took me?”
Rush winced slightly at the accusation in Alexander’s tone. “A little over five months, Earth time.”
“Five months!” Alexander yelled. That meant the...
2025-08-20 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostLOCATION: EDEN’S END
SYSTEM: UNOKANE
DATE: 2404
“What do you mean they’re stopping the search!” Yulia demanded.
“Yulia, calm down,” Lucas sighed in exhaustion.
He had been working overtime to try and keep all of the projects on track ever since Alex had been abducted. The last thing he needed was an irate teenager to deal with.
He thought he had a...
2025-08-18 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostI decided it would be too mean to make you wait a full day for the epilogue.
Originally, I had this as Chapter 1 for book 6, but decided to add a bit more closure to book 5, and since there will be a several-month timeskip between this chapter and the next, I felt it fit better this way. Enjoy.
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2025-08-15 12:05:02 +0000 UTC View PostThesska kept his eyes on the star map as he observed his subordinate approach, the man’s hands twitching near his strapped blade. Thesska didn’t react, but inside, he almost hoped the whelp would finally grow the nerve to unsheathe the weapon. Alas, the man seemed to calm himself as he stopped on the opposite side of the display, bowing slightly. “Grand Commander, the sensor ships have pi...
2025-08-15 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostNot seeing a reason to refuse, Alexander joined the man. “I met Serina. Is she your daughter?”
Rush laughed lightly. “No, she’s my sister, and before you ask, it’s a long story.”
“She said something about a family gathering? Does this have anything to do with the Shican’s arrival?”
Rush glanced at Alexander. “Yes. We detected their communications the same w...
2025-08-14 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAlexander stared in abject horror from within his workshop as he watched the slaughter unfold in the belt. The attack had been so sudden and unexpected that he didn’t even have time to head to the control room. As soon as he had taken in the positioning of the Shican ships, he knew that none of the miners would be able to reach a safe jump point. Despite that, he still held onto hope that Min...
2025-08-13 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post“Have the new systems been tested?” Thesska demanded.
The cloned technologue bowed. “Yes, Grand Commander. It should function as you asked.”
“It better,” he said, motioning for the subordinate to leave.
Without raising his head, the technologue scurried off.
Thesska didn’t bother to understand the science behind the plating advancement. The only thing he ca...
2025-08-12 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostBook five will be wrapping up this week. Technically, it would have been Monday, but I'll be posting a bonus chapter either Friday or Saturday with book 5's epilogue to celebrate the conclusion of the book, as well as passing 300 chapters, which happened a few chapters back.
Now for the bad news. Book 6 is the final book in the BSE series that I have planned. If the series does well on Am...
2025-08-11 19:53:22 +0000 UTC View Post