- Invitation Status
- Looking for partners
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- Multiple posts per week
- Online Availability
- It varies wildly.
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
- Prestige
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Nonbinary
- Primarily Prefer Female
- Genres
- I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.
My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.
My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.
I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
A monotone voice came from the speakers arranged throughout the massive transport room. Circular transport pads each offered scores of soldiers a place to stand during the debrief.
"Congratulations, Unifiers. You have been selected to assist in converting a world's dwellers for Unification. You are the third and largest wave, and we will send two more after you once the builders have established a proper outpost from which to construct an orbital sub-base. Your individual missions will be assigned group-by-group on landing, however your primary mission is to ensure the Unifier emblem is viewed as a positive marker by the people. Conduct yourselves with honor and kindness, even if you are going to engage in combat with the locals. Do what is locally acceptable and honorable, and conduct yourselves with dignity. Dishonorable behavior and bad examples should be arrested and returned immediately, or submitted to the local populace for any local laws broken. We are here for not only conquest of resources, but of hearts and minds."
A pause.
"Remember also that although we should ensure the populace knows the danger of a Hunter presence, we must do so subtly and avoid at all costs yelling from the streetcorners or harrassment. Sending begins in ten, nine, eight..."
The countdown continued, and a Hunter wearing the Unifier uniform beneath her jacket hopped onto a specific pad with a brief wave at the occupants: mercs, looked like. She grinned. "Sorry I'm late. I'll be with you for only a few min—"
Between one syllable and the next, the group came through to the other side, landing a centimeter above the ground, as was standard.
"—utes." She looked around. "Whew." She offered a wave. "Gotta report in." She offered a wave, ready to go. Her name was Faida, and she was a Hunter turncoat: one of few individuals who converted to serving the Unifiers the moment the option was given her. Rumors said she was eager to serve her teal-clad masters, but something about her grin and easy manner seemed forced.
Their briefing consisted of a reminder of the overall mission stated from the PA system in the main base: to win hearts and minds. It also offered the warriors something that suited their talents far better than diplomacy: subdue a group called "The Holy Order of Templars Chaste who Reach for Absolute Purity" who declared war on the Unifiers. This group, known for being sold unwanted, parentless, or 'inconvenient' children was highly secretive. Most children never again saw the light of day, and those that did were viewed as nearly godlike for their incredibly fine looks, pristinely clean bodies, and powerful muscles.
All members of the order who became visible to the public were nothing less than stunning. All were male, all were hairless, and each one moved with 'assassin-like grace', as described by those who went before.
Also described were how they acted with mercy until ordered to "harden their hearts as steel and purify the invaders above as they had those below". One of the survivors from the battle included in a written report that a templar he'd witnessed use nonlethal blows had stopped at the order, then sank his blade into the skull of each of those he'd downed, each with an apology. This survivor then told of how the apologizing templar was brought out later, arm held by two others, and another stood before him with a leaf of paper. This same survivor recorded the exchange.
As a note from the soldier who recounted the exchange, the accused was stabbed upward through the lower jaw, and his heart stopped so quickly he only bled a few drops after the sword was withdrawn.
More information followed: from their habits to their names and known numbers, including the small detail that the same man who recorded the exchange and provided most of the information in the form of a file would be waiting for them on arrival to the city that hosted this order, whose main (and seemingly only) temple resisted just on the city's edge and overshadowed even the public buildings.
The warriors needed only to overpower the Templars and if they could, force them to cede defeat and become allies to the Unifiers. If they could not, the Templars were to be wiped out, and any children found within the order were to be taken and held away from the dead to avoid undue trauma until a cleaner team arrived to dispose of bodies, clean the building of blood and battle signs, and then arrange for the children to be sent to the Unifiers for rehabilitation.
In an annoying turn of phrase, "local" to a Unifier did not mean within twenty miles; "local" meant "within this universe". A cramped air-carrier ride with an ATV sized for the group left many grumpy and uncomfortable, and by the time they landed, they discovered a month of rations and that the GPS within the ATV gave them 20 hours of estimated driving time.
"Last group I took back said the best way to handle a long drive was taking four hour shifts and naps, with pauses in the drive to stretch and do a few training exercises," the pilot offered. Mere minutes later, a crackling came through his intercom, and he was requested for another trip. With a wave, he and his copilot took once more to the air, leaving the company windblown and alone with their ATV.
As the ATV approached its destination, only an hour away, a teal-clad soldier stepped out onto the side of the road ahead, waving frantically with both arms: one of which was bent at a strange angle. He leaned heavily against a thick, forked branch, and was missing a leg. His uniform was filthy, and there was a green cast to his face.
He hobbled in front and waited for them to stop, then approached the driver's side. "You're the... the..." He trailed off as he rested his arm through the window. "Listen, they're..." He groaned, then continued. "They're up to something in the main building." He paused for breath. "Lots of flashing lights at night. Chanting I can hear even from outside." He inhaled through his teeth. "Don't know what it is. None have come outside in two days." He looked down the road as he sagged briefly, then returned his gaze to the warrior in the driver's seat. "They stopped putting out guards on the walls. Just..." He closed his eyes tight, then shook his head. "Don't do anything rash. I couldn't get in to look, because my leg and arms, but..."
Eyelids slid slowly shut, then forced themselves back open. "Nn. Don't get yourselves killed. This is..." He trailed off. "I wrote out everything I saw. I'm sure... Sure most of it's real. Not so much about..." He clenched his fist against the hard plastic of the inside of the door. "Some is probably hallucinations. Infection wasn't this bad when I volunteered." He forced a grin and a breathless laugh before he used the hand not gripping the door to dig into a pocket. "Here. My... my notes. Don't go in without looking them over." His voice grew quieter. "If I'm going to die out here like this, make sure that... that information is worth... worth something." Grin transformed into grimace. "Fuck... Ow... I wouldn't... wouldn't mind a medic about now..."
"Congratulations, Unifiers. You have been selected to assist in converting a world's dwellers for Unification. You are the third and largest wave, and we will send two more after you once the builders have established a proper outpost from which to construct an orbital sub-base. Your individual missions will be assigned group-by-group on landing, however your primary mission is to ensure the Unifier emblem is viewed as a positive marker by the people. Conduct yourselves with honor and kindness, even if you are going to engage in combat with the locals. Do what is locally acceptable and honorable, and conduct yourselves with dignity. Dishonorable behavior and bad examples should be arrested and returned immediately, or submitted to the local populace for any local laws broken. We are here for not only conquest of resources, but of hearts and minds."
A pause.
"Remember also that although we should ensure the populace knows the danger of a Hunter presence, we must do so subtly and avoid at all costs yelling from the streetcorners or harrassment. Sending begins in ten, nine, eight..."
The countdown continued, and a Hunter wearing the Unifier uniform beneath her jacket hopped onto a specific pad with a brief wave at the occupants: mercs, looked like. She grinned. "Sorry I'm late. I'll be with you for only a few min—"
Between one syllable and the next, the group came through to the other side, landing a centimeter above the ground, as was standard.
"—utes." She looked around. "Whew." She offered a wave. "Gotta report in." She offered a wave, ready to go. Her name was Faida, and she was a Hunter turncoat: one of few individuals who converted to serving the Unifiers the moment the option was given her. Rumors said she was eager to serve her teal-clad masters, but something about her grin and easy manner seemed forced.
~*~
Their briefing consisted of a reminder of the overall mission stated from the PA system in the main base: to win hearts and minds. It also offered the warriors something that suited their talents far better than diplomacy: subdue a group called "The Holy Order of Templars Chaste who Reach for Absolute Purity" who declared war on the Unifiers. This group, known for being sold unwanted, parentless, or 'inconvenient' children was highly secretive. Most children never again saw the light of day, and those that did were viewed as nearly godlike for their incredibly fine looks, pristinely clean bodies, and powerful muscles.
All members of the order who became visible to the public were nothing less than stunning. All were male, all were hairless, and each one moved with 'assassin-like grace', as described by those who went before.
Also described were how they acted with mercy until ordered to "harden their hearts as steel and purify the invaders above as they had those below". One of the survivors from the battle included in a written report that a templar he'd witnessed use nonlethal blows had stopped at the order, then sank his blade into the skull of each of those he'd downed, each with an apology. This survivor then told of how the apologizing templar was brought out later, arm held by two others, and another stood before him with a leaf of paper. This same survivor recorded the exchange.
"Templar of the Left Fist Briar. You are accused of shining the light of mercy upon those who cannot be brought to holiness. What do you plea?"
"Brother, I plea that I saw several pray before we met in battle. They pray as we do, with faces upward, and ask for light and courage."
"Your plea of being misled is heard. Your sentence will be mercifull, for your only fault is weakness."
"I am given no chance to redeem myself in battle?"
"This Holy War is too vital."
"So it shall be."
"Brother, I plea that I saw several pray before we met in battle. They pray as we do, with faces upward, and ask for light and courage."
"Your plea of being misled is heard. Your sentence will be mercifull, for your only fault is weakness."
"I am given no chance to redeem myself in battle?"
"This Holy War is too vital."
"So it shall be."
As a note from the soldier who recounted the exchange, the accused was stabbed upward through the lower jaw, and his heart stopped so quickly he only bled a few drops after the sword was withdrawn.
More information followed: from their habits to their names and known numbers, including the small detail that the same man who recorded the exchange and provided most of the information in the form of a file would be waiting for them on arrival to the city that hosted this order, whose main (and seemingly only) temple resisted just on the city's edge and overshadowed even the public buildings.
The warriors needed only to overpower the Templars and if they could, force them to cede defeat and become allies to the Unifiers. If they could not, the Templars were to be wiped out, and any children found within the order were to be taken and held away from the dead to avoid undue trauma until a cleaner team arrived to dispose of bodies, clean the building of blood and battle signs, and then arrange for the children to be sent to the Unifiers for rehabilitation.
~*~
In an annoying turn of phrase, "local" to a Unifier did not mean within twenty miles; "local" meant "within this universe". A cramped air-carrier ride with an ATV sized for the group left many grumpy and uncomfortable, and by the time they landed, they discovered a month of rations and that the GPS within the ATV gave them 20 hours of estimated driving time.
"Last group I took back said the best way to handle a long drive was taking four hour shifts and naps, with pauses in the drive to stretch and do a few training exercises," the pilot offered. Mere minutes later, a crackling came through his intercom, and he was requested for another trip. With a wave, he and his copilot took once more to the air, leaving the company windblown and alone with their ATV.
~*~
As the ATV approached its destination, only an hour away, a teal-clad soldier stepped out onto the side of the road ahead, waving frantically with both arms: one of which was bent at a strange angle. He leaned heavily against a thick, forked branch, and was missing a leg. His uniform was filthy, and there was a green cast to his face.
He hobbled in front and waited for them to stop, then approached the driver's side. "You're the... the..." He trailed off as he rested his arm through the window. "Listen, they're..." He groaned, then continued. "They're up to something in the main building." He paused for breath. "Lots of flashing lights at night. Chanting I can hear even from outside." He inhaled through his teeth. "Don't know what it is. None have come outside in two days." He looked down the road as he sagged briefly, then returned his gaze to the warrior in the driver's seat. "They stopped putting out guards on the walls. Just..." He closed his eyes tight, then shook his head. "Don't do anything rash. I couldn't get in to look, because my leg and arms, but..."
Eyelids slid slowly shut, then forced themselves back open. "Nn. Don't get yourselves killed. This is..." He trailed off. "I wrote out everything I saw. I'm sure... Sure most of it's real. Not so much about..." He clenched his fist against the hard plastic of the inside of the door. "Some is probably hallucinations. Infection wasn't this bad when I volunteered." He forced a grin and a breathless laugh before he used the hand not gripping the door to dig into a pocket. "Here. My... my notes. Don't go in without looking them over." His voice grew quieter. "If I'm going to die out here like this, make sure that... that information is worth... worth something." Grin transformed into grimace. "Fuck... Ow... I wouldn't... wouldn't mind a medic about now..."