FORMATION – SNIPPET 2
Formation: Ghost Squadron Book 2
By Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle, & J.N. Chaney
Snippet 2
Unedited
The bartender set the glass of whiskey on the table, and Julianna thanked him for it. “Bring me another three, would you?”
“Certainly,” he said in an agreeable tone.
She tossed the alcohol back in one straight motion, letting it slide down her throat with ease, ignoring the burn. It was hard to find the good stuff this far out into the galaxy, here on the rim, but she’d take the worst whiskey in the universe over the alien sludge they called alcohol here. These people wouldn’t know a good drink if it cracked them over the side of their—
A glass went flying across the bar, hitting one of the patrons between his eyes. The alien fell straight to the floor, which caused his friend to panic. From the other direction, she heard the sound of someone getting beaten, followed by a scream.
“Here you are,” said the bartender, delivering the rest of her drinks.
She looked down at the three shots of whiskey, and nodded. “That’ll do.”
The barkeep turned and left her alone. At the same time, a splatter of blood landed on the seat where Eddie had been sitting.
Julianna took the first of the three shots and slammed the tiny glass on the counter. The whiskey burned her lips and went down hard, putting a fire in her belly.
At that same moment, an alien by the name of Fr’ling spiraled into two of the barstools nearby. She felt the vibration in her legs as his red, scale-covered head met the metal support.
She took another shot.
“Whoa,” said a husky voice near the bathroom. He was a military man in every sense of the word, except he wasn’t wearing a uniform. Instead, like Julianna, he wore a set of ordinary-looking civilian clothes. It was an attempt to blend in and draw less attention. Uniforms weren’t common out here on the fringe, after all, and they didn’t need anyone asking questions. Even still, despite the outfit, the man had a hard time hiding who he truly was—a hardened, long-term military veteran with centuries under his belt. Like Julianna, this man had witnessed the birth of the Empire. He’d seen the deaths of countless enemies, even slain a few himself. Hell, depending on who you asked, this individual was the Empire. At the very least, he was the one at the top.
His name was Lance Reynolds, a living legend. A man they told stories about. He was the father of the great Queen herself.
And he had just taken a piss in the bathroom of a back-alley bar in the middle of nowhere. “What did I miss?” asked the General. He zipped up his fly, then walked over to the bar and looked at her.
“Just a bunch of idiots, sir.”
“Is that our boy? Looks like he’s taking quite the beating,” observed Lance.
She shrugged. “He was asking for it.” She glanced down at her last drink.
“We should probably do something,” Lance suggested.
Julianna pursed her lips, then nodded. “Yes, sir.”
She picked up the glass with three fingers and flung the awful whiskey back. “Ah,” she sighed, forcing it down. “Tastes like shit.”
One of the aliens let out a cry from behind them. Julianna swiveled in her seat to see what was going on, half-expecting to find her target dead.
Instead, she saw two aliens holding him by the arms. He had them locked together, all three of them unable to move.
Julianna got to her feet and cleared her throat. She looked directly at the three fighters as they pressed against one another. “That’s enough!”
Her voice boomed through the bar like thunder, and everyone who was still conscious turned to look in her direction.
Edward had his fist raised, and there was blood on his knuckles, but he didn’t move. “Oh boy,” he grinned. “That’s some kind of voice.”
“Quiet, human,” ordered T’turk, who had his arms around Edward’s neck and chest, keeping him in place. “Or you’ll be next.”
Edward snickered. “Get in line for the bad ass kicking.”
“You think I’m playing with you?” asked the alien. “I’ll rip you apart like a—”
Before the word could leave T’turk’s mouth, Eddie slipped through his arms and ducked beneath him. He dug his fist straight into the alien’s ribcage. Julianna heard a bone crack. Eddie’s foot came up, bashing the second alien in the waist, stifling him.
Julianna looked at Lance. “Do you mind?”
The General chortled. “Have fun, you two.”
She returned her gaze to the alien captain, the one who had bragged about how he had taken the lives of all those humans and how he’d tortured them, and Julianna leapt forward. She dashed so quickly that she was almost a blur, her fist hitting the thick-chested alien in the neck, breaking his windpipe. Before he could realize what was happening, she fell to her side and brought her foot up, kicking him in the face, sending him to the floor. He fell like a brick wall, shaking the very foundation of the place.
Edward grinned at the sight before him, but rather than gawk and stare, he turned toward the only alien remaining.
“No, wait!” begged the thin, red-skinned Kezzin.
But Edward wasn’t listening. He punched him in the jaw, sending a splatter of orange blood into the air. Eddie jammed both palms into the alien’s chest, sending the pirate two meters back and into the wall, instantly knocking him unconscious as he slid into a puddle of spilled beer.
Julianna stood over T’turk as he struggled to gasp for air. The alien clutched his throat. “H-How?”
Julianna towered over him with Eddie by her side. “You’re surprised?” she asked the pirate. “You didn’t expect humans to wipe the floor with you?”
“That’s why you lost,” muttered Eddie.
Julianna took a step back, and turned to the man she had traveled so far to see. “Edward Teach, is it?”
He took a napkin from the nearby table and wiped the blood from his fingers. “And you are?”
“Julianna Fregin. I’ve come a long way to meet you.”
He twisted his lips, curiously. “That so? Are you from a collections agency? I owe you some money? If this is about the ship I crashed a few months ago, that wasn’t my fault. I was sideswiped. It was a good old-fashioned hit-and-run.”
“It’s not about that, although I might have questions.” Julianna glanced at General Reynolds. “Would you care to step in, sir?”
“Who’s a ‘sir’?” asked Edward.
“That would be me,” answered Lance, approaching from the edge of the bar. “General Lance Reynolds. Pleased to meet you, Captain Teach.”
“Wait, wait, wait…You’re Lance Reynolds?” asked Edward. He shook his head. “No fucking way. That’s not—”
“Possible? I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t normally run off to this sector, but I decided to make a special exception today.”
Eddie studied the General for a moment, analyzing his clothes, and leaning in to examine his face. “You don’t look like the most powerful man in the galaxy. Are you two fucking with me right now? Is this a joke or something?”
“I’m undercover,” said Lance. “You should know, since, based on your clothes, I’m guessing you are too.”
“What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” asked Eddie, looking down at his messy appearance. He wore a set of baggy clothes, which were now ripped in several places, and his thick, untended beard made him appear homeless.
“Is that a serious question?” asked Julianna. “You look like shit.”
“Okay, okay,” said Eddie, raising his hands. “But why would you come all this way just to see a guy like me? Did I piss off the wrong person in the Empire?”
“It’s the Federation now, but no, nothing like that.” Lance chuckled. “Quite the opposite, actually.”
“Right, well, what is it then? What would make a guy like you come all the way out to the middle of bum-fucking-nowhere just to see me? I mean, if I don’t owe you money and I didn’t piss you off, there has to be a good reason.”
“Because, Eddie,” said Lance, smirking. “You had fifty-seven confirmed kills during your service. You saved countless lives, and your men respected the hell out of you. Sure, you fucked up sometimes. Got into a few scrapes here and there. Spoke out of turn. But you kept those kids alive through the worst of it, and any one of them would give their life for yours. That’s what I found out when I went snooping. That’s why I’m here. I’ve been searching far and wide for the right person to do a job, and your name keeps coming up. ‘Edward Teach,’ they kept saying. ‘That’s the guy you want.’ Is that who you are, Captain? Are you the man they said you were?”
Edward stared at the General, this impossible figure from stories and myths. He was so composed, so relaxed, but there was a strength in his eyes. The kind that only people like Eddie knew. “I’m none of those things anymore.”
“Bullshit,” said Lance. “You’re a goddamn soldier.” He pointed to the aliens lying on the floor. “You didn’t just pick a fight with them. You raised your fist and you punished them, Edward. That’s what we do. They said they killed a dozen humans, and you taught them why they shouldn’t. That’s the kind of man I came to find. That’s the kind of man I need. Someone who knows what justice is, and who isn’t afraid to show it.”
I’m not sure what to say,” Eddie admitted.
“Say you’ll come with us and hear me out.”
“Hear you out about what, sir?”
“A mission, son.” Lance took a step forward, placing his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “A mission to save the Etheric Federation.”
The Gods Beneath RELEASE!
The Gods Beneath: Age Of Magic – A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Rise of Magic Book 7)
By CM Raymond. LE Barbant, & Michael Anderle
It’s easy to believe in ancient myths–but the truth is far more deadly.
The quest to save the Oracle forces Team BBB to split up: one group heads to the top of an ancient mountain, the other into the depths of a haunted jungle.
For Hannah, it’s an all out fight that pushes her magic to the limits, while Karl is tasked with something far more challenging–diplomacy.
Both groups will need to depend on the strength of their teammates, while cautiously navigating the cultures and practices of strange, new inhabitants of the furthest reaches of the world. If the Bitch and Bastard Brigade succeeds, they will have the tools they need to save Irth.
Fail, and all is lost.
Or as Aysa puts it: Nothing I can’t handle with one arm tied behind my back.
Join Hannah and the crew as they encounter The Gods Beneath.
Ahead Full – Snippet 03 of …
UNEDITED
QBBS Meredith Reynolds
The children huddled together—human, Yollin, Torcellen. Their frightened eyes darted around the massive space. The bump, ba-bump, ba-bump of their hearts seemed loud in their ears.
Their friends and the other young ones around them could definitely hear how scared they were, right?
Red lights illuminated the giant cave. In this area the asteroid’s rock walls hadn’t been smoothed. They still were rough.
Just as they had been when the ship was created so many decades before.
They had come in here, laughing together after their last fright, becoming closer as they weathered the challenges of this night.
However, this was the final room, and SHE was here.
The kids could feel it, and the fear was starting to get to them. Many grabbed the hands or appendages of the kid next to them. Those who had weathered the experience so far and kept up a strong front in the other rooms couldn’t keep the fear from their eyes now.
“My name,” the darkness hissed, its voice guttural, like stones rubbing against each other.
“Is Baba…Yaga…”
The lights were extinguished and the children screamed.
Seconds later—a time which seemed like an eternity—the massive lights came back on, the cave blazing white as the kids looked around, trying to find the lady with the voice.
“There she is!” a young male Yollin yelled, his mandibles open as he pointed toward the ceiling high above them.
And there she was indeed.
Her red eyes flashed at them, and her white hair hung loose over her shoulders as her black skin gleamed in the light. Every child there saw how long her claws were.
“Happy Hallloooweeeeennnn!” She grinned, and they could see that her teeth had all been sharpened to points.
“AHHH!” Many girls (and more than a few guys) yelled when she disappeared from the walkway above.
The kids were glancing around, worrying she was coming down, when the exit doors opened. They recognized Empress’ Bitches John and Scott. “Don’t run!” John commanded, and the kids stopped.
“You know the drill!” Scott called. “You are all in the Etheric Academy. You will be orderly as you leave the Empress’ Haunted House!”
How did I do? Bethany Anne’s voice echoed in both her friends’ heads.
I’d say a few will probably need a change of underwear, Scott sent back.
Some are wondering if that was really you or just a good hologram. John added as he listened to the kids’ conversations. Their voices were excited as they chatted while waiting to exit the final room in the Haunted House.
No crying, though, Scott added. I think maybe ten is the minimum age of those we should allow to come into this room of the Haunted House.
I didn’t ramp the fear up nearly as much as I did for that first batch, she replied. I think I was trying to go for too much effect the first time.
John watched as the kids raced to meet their parents at the end of the hall. Their excitement at seeing the avatar of the Empress’ displeasure, even if many were saying she was just a hologram, was evident in their expressions and loud chatter.
I think you might have started a tradition, John told her. I hope you won’t regret this.
I’ll get a hologram project going, she replied. I can use that same technology to display Bethany Anne from a distance. It will be good for us to have a backup plan to prove I’m around.
And do it where? Scott asked. He walked over to two arguing human boys. The larger one pulled his hand back, only to have it enveloped in another hand. When the boy pulled it didn’t budge, and he looked up to see that the problem was Scott.
The boy swallowed as Scott glared down at him. “Do you want,” Scott asked, “to have a personal discussion with Baba Yaga?” Scott looked around the large cave. “This is part of where she lurks.”
“Uhh…” The boy, his eyes flitting around the hallway, looked uncertain. “I thought she was a fake.”
From above, a cackle could be heard. Those kids still in the room looked up to see a black-skinned woman, white hair floating in the wind and eyes red, looking down at them. “Do I look like a fake to you?” she hissed.
Scott had to catch the boy before he hit the ground when he fainted.
YES! Bethany Anne cackled in their minds. I’ve still got it! Bullies ain’t got nothing on the Baba Yaga.
Scott shook his head as he lifted the young boy into his arms and turned toward the door. “And how am I supposed to know which set of parents he belongs to?”
“Oh, I know,” the other boy told Scott.
“Yeah?” Scott asked as they walked toward the door.
“Sure,” the young boy replied. “He’s my older brother.”
FROM MICHAEL >>>
This is a CRAZY week, and a lot of us are converging on Las Vegas (not me, I’m already here) this week for the first 20booksto50k authors party… Oh, sorry, Author’s Conference at Sam’s Town.
I’ll be having dinner with Craig Martelle tomorrow night, then a trip to the museum with Craig, MD (Michael) Cooper and Richard Fox (Nellis Air Force Base). What could possibly go wrong with four (4) authors who write sci-fi and military fiction on an Air Force base?
I’m sure nothing, but what happens in Vegas… #amiright?
Thursday are meetings and a party, then Friday starts the conference with a meeting in the morning, then Conference and evening stuff etc etc.
Oh, and Friday (11.03.2017) we release AHEAD FULL – 2 Years to the DAY that Bethany Anne was first introduced to fans…
How little I knew back then how she would change my life.
Love you all!
Michael
Formation – Snippet 1
Formation: The Ghost Squadron Book 1
By Sarah Noffke, JN Chaney, & Michael Anderle
Snippet 1
Unedited
Five Trees Bar. Trill Mining Colony, Lorialis System.
T’turk played with his drink. His four shipmates were rowdy and occasionally bumped him, so he had to be careful not to spill his alcohol. He looked around Five Trees, the only damned bar worth visiting, in his opinion, for five systems.
That wasn’t saying much, of course, since the only people living out this far from the Etheric Empire’s territory were pirates, miners, and smugglers. Bastards, all of them.
“My kind of people,” he muttered to himself, smiling as his shipmate Fr’ling caught the eye of one of the girls.
Fr’ling wouldn’t be leaving this space station with much money. Hell, neither would the other three. By the time the night ended, they’d each spent most of their earnings.
Nursing his drink, he looked around the establishment, blinking with his yellow eyes. There were a lot of Kezzin in the bar tonight, including himself. Their red skin gave off a familiar glow in the artificial light. T’turk’s homeworld wasn’t far from here, so it was common to see his people on many of the stations in the neighboring systems. He liked it that way. The rest of the galaxy was far too crowded with non-Kezzin species, like humans and the other Etheric Empire scum. He couldn’t stand any of them.
It was unfortunate, then, that he saw a man sitting on a stool with his face planted on the table. A human male who didn’t belong here.
T’turk smirked. Perhaps he’d have a little fun today, after all.
“Hey, you,” grunted T’turk as he got up from his table and walking to where the man was sitting. “Human.”
The man had his face on the table—probably passed out from too much alcohol. “Look at this guy,” said T’turk. “Typical human. Can’t even handle his drink.”
The man moaned, shifting a little.
T’turk leaned over him and examined his equipment, hoping to find some money or possibly a key to a ship. The bastard wasn’t holding much except for a gray bag on the seat next to him. T’turk reached for it.
“Don’t,” said the human, slowly looking at him.
T’turk could never tell one human from the next. They all looked like a bunch of slugs to him, ugly and spongy. This one was no different.
“What are you trying to hide, human? Got yourself a secret stash?”
The man said nothing.
T’turk laughed. “That’s what I thought. Too bad you were stupid enough to come in here.” He reached for the bag.
A hand grabbed his wrist, surprising him. “I said don’t.”
T’turk paused, glancing at the man again. “Do you have a death wish, meat sack? Back off before I kick your ass.”
“No can do,” replied the stranger. “That’s my stuff. I need it more than you do.”
“It’s mine now, unless you want a bullet in your empty head.” T’turk shook his wrist free, then took the bag and began emptying it. A pad fell out, hitting the counter, along with a handful of unopened soda cans, one of which rolled and hit the floor, breaking and hissing.
T’turk stared at the contents of the bag, confused. “What’s all this trash?”
The stranger looked at the soda on the floor as it sprayed chaotically. “Mother fucker,” he muttered.
T’turk threw the empty bag down by his feet. “You better have something on you, human! I’ll rip you a new one right now. You know how many of your kind I’ve killed just this week? You’re all a bunch of mushy pieces of—”
“You killed humans?” interrupted the stranger, raising his brow.
“Over a dozen in four days!” bragged T’turk. “Ain’t that right, boys?”
His crew cheered. “We raided a ship on its way to Nexus Colony,” announced Fr’ling. “Killed half and saved the rest for later.”
T’turk grinned, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth. “That’s why we’re here celebrating.
The human let out a sigh. “All I wanted was a drink and some food, but you just had to go and bring that up like a fucking jackass.”
“What’s he saying, T’turk?” asked Fr’ling. “Tell him to speak up! It’s hard to hear humans. They’re too tiny.”
T’turk laughed. “He’s scared. He knows he’s about to die.”
The door to the Five Trees opened, and in walked another human. A woman, perhaps, but T’turk couldn’t be certain. They all looked the same to him, ugly and pathetic.
She took a seat at the bar beside the male, motioning to the barkeep. “Whiskey,” she requested, turning away from T’turk.
“You,” he said, puffing his chest at the female. “You’re interrupting us.”
She didn’t answer.
T’turk was about to raise his fist to the woman, when the male got to his feet. “Let’s leave the lady out of it. This is between you and me.”
“Between us?” grinned T’turk. “Finally.”
The man turned to the female. “Hey, wanna do me a favor?”
She shrugged. “Depends.”
“Just watch my drink while I take care of this idiot, would ya?” He slid his glass over to her. “I’m Eddie, by the way.”
“Whatever,” the female answered, still not bothering to look.
The human male turned back to face T’turk. “All right, then, big fella,” grinned the little man. “Let’s see what you can do.”
The Bad Company – Snippet 2
The Bad Company: Age of Expansion Book 1
By Craig Martelle & Michael Anderle
Snippet 2
Unedited
Terry made mental notes of the battlefield as he ran from one position to another. He’d brought all six of the shuttle pods carrying the tactical teams, which still put his Direct Action Branch of the Bad Company in an inferior position.
“Run and gun. We need to run and gun!” Terry shouted at the angry red sky. He adjusted his helmet as it slipped backward. He worked his shoulders to loosen his ballistic vest, too, as he subconsciously considered a running battle, with rapid action and constant movement.
But they couldn’t. They came under fire the second they ran off the drop ships. The shuttles had buttoned up and taken off immediately afterwards to hold a position out of range of the big guns. Or rockets. Or mortars.
Terry wasn’t sure about the weaponry, only caring about what he had to do to take them out. His tactical teams were made up of Werewolves, Weretigers, Vampires, and enhanced humans. They had centuries of experience, and were best making surgical strikes, small teams inserting behind enemy lines.
They weren’t immortal, only enhanced by nanocytes, technology taken from Kurtherian scientists. They were still human, but different.
Terry would never say their enhancements made them better. He would say that their minds and their teamwork made them better. They believed that they trained hard to make war anticlimactic.
“Where’s Kaeden with my mechs?” Terry shouted over the explosions.
Charumati, his purple-eyed Werewolf wife put a finger to her ear as she used her internal comm chip to communicate with her son. Terry had a chip, too, but he didn’t want to lose focus on the battle as it raged on all sides of their position.
“This is the most fucked up thing I’ve ever been a part of,” he growled. He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth. The muscles stood out of his face and a vein throbbed in his forehead. He carried a Jean Dukes Special pistol in one hand and his Mameluke sword in the other. The pistol was dialed to five out of a maximum of eleven.
“He’s over the hill to the right. The fireworks you see are from his section,” Char relayed.
“Can he get through their lines?”
Char’s eyes unfocused for a moment, then she shook her head.
Terry slid his sword over his shoulder and into its scabbard strapped under his backpack. He took his pistol in both hands and dialed it to eleven. “Order a tactical retrograde to our position. We’re breaking through right over there.” Terry pointed to a heavily-wooded area covering the top of a hill.
“Joseph, where the hell are you?” Terry asked out loud, before switching to his comm chip. Powered by human energy, with a little extra boost from the Etheric dimension, the comm chips allowed the group to talk with each other. It also translated a vast number of human and alien languages into English.
The Bad Company’s Direct Action Branch had only had the comm chips for a few weeks and weren’t yet accustomed to them or how best to optimally employ them.
We’re where you saw us last, but we’re dug in better. My people are burning through their ammunition. It’s like an endless tide. I’m not sure we have enough bullets to kill them all, Joseph reported.
Have you tried not shooting them?
The first bunch got close and you know Fitzroy isn’t afraid to break into pugilist form. These things rammed him and bit the holy hell out of him before we could blow their stalk heads off. He said punching them was like hitting a tree trunk. I wailed on one with my sword. I’ll second his observation. It took a lot to cut through that neck. I don’t recommend we devolve into hand to hand.
Ahead Full – Snippet 02 of …
Planet Leath
Hours later, the Leath Prime One Intelligence officer watched the interview in the comfort of his own living space. He had paid personally for the intelligence so it didn’t go through the Leath infrastructure, and at the moment he wasn’t sure if he had just damned himself or possibly liberated his people.
He re-watched the video one last time, trying to commit the information to memory. Then he shook his head. Getting up from his seat, he made his way to an old desk on the lowest level in his home. He opened a drawer and extracted an old tablet he had used in his youth before he could afford better tools.
He turned the unit on, surprised to see that it had been charged recently enough to still have power. He would have thought it had lost its charge over the many years since he had last powered it up.
He plugged in the password and was surprised to see a note appear.
“Hello, Jerrleck. This is you, from earlier in your life. If I am correct, you have had your memories modified by the Seven.”
Jerrleck stopped, realizing immediately that if he continued, whatever he learned could possibly be accessed by the Seven. He wasn’t sure how deeply they read minds, but he was positive they scanned his topmost thoughts.
He dared to read another line.
“If you read any farther, realize what I say below may possibly be discovered by the Seven.” Jerrleck smiled. At least the younger him and present him were both intelligent Leath.
“If you are still reading,” the note continued, “I have had plenty of time to realize what must have happened to our people, to me and consequently to you. Think about just how many Leath have been killed in our war against the Etheric Federation, and how many more will die if we continue this attempt to Ascend our people under the direction of the Seven.”
Jerrleck considered the truth of this statement. Only a few years ago he’d helped one of his best friends mourn their only daughter.
All because the Leath had been told to take over a world the Leath had no business or interest in ruling. He had done the numbers…
Jerrleck’s eyes opened and other information started pouring into his mind. He stood up and walked to the opposite wall in the windowless room. Feeling down a line, he found a small indention and pushed it.
The wall opened.
Jerrleck stopped a moment, knowing this was his point of no return. He wasn’t sure just how long ago he had been mind-wiped, but it was apparent that he had. He put the tablet down and walked back up the steps to the main level. It took him only a short amount of time to secure his residence against intrusion and return to the bottom level.
Now it was time to see what his younger self had been into, and what he could do with it now that he was older and hopefully wiser.
An hour later he was in a state of shock. His mind was confused, but in his heart the path was clear.
He needed to revive a rebellion that had been put on hold until he became aware of it. The last leader had been taken away in the middle of the night.
He should know—he had pulled her from her bed and taken her to the Seven himself.
He looked at the monitor in this hidden room and ran a finger across the image on the screen. “Dur’loch, my love,” he whispered. “This will be for you.”
FROM MICHAEL – I’m at about 46,000 words on this book, meaning I have about 24,000 or so words minimum to go. There is a LOT going on in this book, and I really hope the book is enjoyed as we wrap up the last 2 books before Bethany Anne goes back to Earth…
You know… To meet someone?
THANK YOU ALL for supporting these books, these authors and me personally as we build out this Universe. I’ve already written the last scene (nothing else) of book 20 and I have to say…
It made me tear up, but not in a bad way.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
The Bad Company – Snippet 1
The Bad Company: The Age of Expansion Book 1
By Craig Martelle & Michael Anderle
Humanity’s greatest export – Justice. Space is a dangerous place, even for the wary, especially for the unprepared. The aliens have no idea. Here comes the Bad Company.
An explosion sounded and plasma fire flashed before his eyes.
Hidden in a remote corner of the Pan Galaxy, Nathan Lowell sat in his private office looking at the video communication screen. The President of the Bad Company frowned.
His direct action branch was engaged and not in a good way. Nathan shook his head slowly as he watched.
Thirty seven star systems away, General Lance Reynolds saw the same images displayed on his monitor. He chewed vigorously on his cigar. The report wasn’t what he had expected.
Colonel Terry Henry Walton, the man in the image, looked back and forth between the screen and something to his left. Ominous sounds accompanied the image.
“This first mission wasn’t what we contracted for, Nathan,” Terry yelled at the portable console that sat with a sideways tilt. He stared at a point off screen, shook his head, and continued. “My first stop when I get off this rock is that dandy president’s office where I’ll wring his pencil-neck to get our thirty percent bonus and seventy percent kicker. And then I’m leveling his fucking palace!”
“Can you settle this with what you have?” Lance asked.
“Yes, sir,” Terry replied.
“I already told you once, call me, Lance.”
“No can do, General. Can’t have you thinking I’ve grown soft just because I’ve been a pseudo-civilian for over a hundred and fifty years. Hang on,” Terry’s smile evaporated as he looked off screen, his lip curling involuntarily. “SHOOT HIM!” he shouted.
The crack of hand-held railguns answered. Terry stabbed his finger at something neither Nathan nor Lance could see.
“Not that one, the other one,” Terry corrected. More cracks from the hypervelocity weapons. Terry nodded and flipped the bird. “Fuck you, buddy and your stupid looking stalk head!”
Terry turned back to the screen. “Where were we?”
“Something about you intending to level our client’s palace,” Nathan said coldly.
“After we’re paid, that is. Hang on,” Terry looked off screen, flinched with surprise, and started yelling, “Why won’t you die? WOULD SOMEONE KILL THAT THING!”
Terry continued to watch off screen.
A rapid barrage followed, then a brief silence, and finally a blast that nearly threw the colonel off his feet. Laughing, Terry brushed his uniform jacket with his free hand. “Come back from that one, you blue fuck!”
“Sorry, General, Nathan. There’s about a hundred times more of these crawly bastards than we were led to believe. Mano a mano ain’t working. For every one we pop, five more appear in its place. Gotta run. We need to lop the head off this dragon. Have your people call my people and we’ll do lunch.” Terry saluted and ran off screen. Plasma beams cut through the spot where the colonel had just been standing.
“I’ll call our least favorite client right now and tell him to stand the fuck by. I’m coming for a visit,” Nathan growled, eyes flashing yellow as his anger charged his Were form. He tamped down the urge to change into a Pricolici, an upright-walking Werewolf.
He didn’t have the luxury of tearing up the universe. He was in charge and had passed the mantle of Bad Company door-kicker in chief to Terry Henry Walton.
Lance Reynolds stroked his chin as he thought about the man who looked happy to be in the middle of a battle that seemed to be raging out of control.
We Have Contact Audiobook Release!
We Have Contact: The Kurtherian Gambit, Book 12
By Michael Anderle
When you least expect it, expect it.
Bethany Anne has been notified there is a spaceship inside the system…but they can’t find it. Is it Kurtherian, someone else?
The governments have to be told about aliens, which sparks a worldwide effort by Governments to find what TQB has….
Oh, and Eric wants to date Gabrielle but he wants her to know he can protect her if need be. But his idea on how? Well, let’s just say it might not be the best solution.
Etheric Researcher – Snippet 1
Etheric Researcher: A Kurtherian Gambit Series
Unlawful Passage Audiobook Release!
Unlawful Passage: Age of Magic: The Rise of Magic Book One
By CM Raymond, LE Barbant, & Michael Anderle
Even heroes need a vacation.
Unfortunately, Hannah and her friends chose the wrong beach.
The Oracle needs help. She’s dying, and only Ezekiel knows that the world will die along with her.
Hannah and her team take up the call without hesitation.
The only problem? It takes a freaking long time to cross the world.
While putting their quest on hold for a much needed rest stop and resupply, Karl, Hadley, and Laurel get captured by some angry locals, who accuse them of kidnapping their leader’s son.
Hannah and Parker head to the rescue, leaving Gregory alone to guard the airship on a remnant infested hilltop.
What could possibly go wrong?