​Full disclosure: I tend not to thank my loyal readers enough. Mostly because, like my disillusionment with long series’ being milked dry, I think more is less and less is more for thanks and showing appreciation. It will mean a lot less if I keep saying the same thanks time and again, while showing nothing for it. That being said: Thank you all. Thank you thank you THANK YOU.

Every delay, you’ve been patient with. You’ve been there, reading and waiting as we drum up fanfare for the excellent upcoming books. The patience of you all is unmatched, second to none. Every author, every illustrator, every reader. We’re in this together. Thank you.

Now, for the less sentimental (but equally important!) news. There will be many upcoming releases you can look forward to. We haven’t been sitting on them, we’ve been working tirelessly to give a product that we’re proud to share. And we’ve gotten far enough that I wanted to share some of them with you.

Cwej: Down the Middle’s recent reprint has art of Frey the Friend (which we previously mistook for Romana), the online-exclusive Ursine Brood artwork, and individual busts of the characters from the original cover art. The original front and back covers make a return as interior illustrations.

Minor tweaks to the original text were made, such as a few occasions of the singular use of Cwejen being fixed to Cwej, and editing mentions of P.R.O.B.E. to SIGNET, an organization starring in our upcoming series of adventures in the Doctor Who universe. The Aftermath’s title was edited to Aftermath, because I thought having so many titles starting with “The” at the very end of the book was aesthetically unpleasing on the table of contents. Sam’s story is no longer included, as I said previously. This is a volume doing away with drama, and starting fresh.

These admittedly minor tweaks make the book look, read, and feel all the more impassioned. You can pick up a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Cwej-Down-Middle-Hunter-OConnell/dp/B0BYR5F8CP/

Now let’s talk about the hardcover. The exclusive short stories are being wrapped up, which means I must tell you about them and the situation with printing them. If you have bought the paperback, you’re in luck! We’ve decided to collect all the initially-exclusive stuff into a paperback, which will come out at a later date. This as-of-yet untitled mini-collection, internally being called Book 1.5, is for those loyal customers who have already purchased one of the two editions, and want the chance to experience these new and incredible tales.

The hardback collects both Down the Middle and Book 1.5 into a single binding with colored illustrations, but if you’ve already bought the paperback, you’ll still get the opportunity to read the new stories in their entirety. The contents are as follows:

Foreword, by Hunter O’Connell (~5,000 words)
A Message to Panda, by Paul Magrs (806 words)
Burnyard of the Cryptopyres, by Tyche McPhee Letts (~4,000 words)
A Tour of La Kraw el Sol, by Hunter O'Connell (~4,000 words)
Ode to a Broken Appliance, by T Maynard Banks (807 words)
Untitled story, by Hunter O'Connell (~15,000 words)

ALSO: For those on a budget or who have more interest in certain arcs of Cwej than others, we’re splitting them up into three cheaper collections. All with the same content, but more affordable, and for people who want to experience the events in a different way!

Living Memory - All stories from A Bright White Crack to In the Loop. Read about the origins of Chris’ companions Larles and Kwol, how they came to meet, and their first few adventures in space and time!

Dying to Forget - All stories from Ring Theory to The Eternal. Experience Chris Cwej’s more self-contained adventures, from one end of the Totality to the other. His odd jobs for the Superiors are documented here!

Uprising - All stories from The Ursine Brood onwards. The lore-heavy interconnected epic you’ve always dreamed of! Deconstructing and reconstructing each character, over the span of a 50-year space battle.

Once these have been released, we’ll release the five novels of Hidden Truths as separate paperbacks, all to be collected in a huge hardback tome, with colored illustrations. Hidden Truths carries on from the Uprising saga, with Chris picking up the mess he made as more threats Loom than he could possibly fathom…

Finally, I’ll be attending Texas Author Con as a featured guest, autographing books for those who attend. I’ll be selling the books at a 25% discount, so be sure to join me and many other authors of incredible fiction at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel for the convention, held on July 14th and 15th! Admission is FREE! Here’s the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/411782651997 See you there!

This should give you a good idea of the direction we plan to take this series in. The audiobook readings are still being figured out, as is the ultimate end of the story. There’s still a lot we have left to do, but we’re constantly chipping away at the little things, and we’re working to ensure a consistent release schedule which we’ll share with you all later. Things are looking bright! More updates to come.

And once again… Thank you!

~Hunter O’Connell

Cwej: Down the Middle established itself as a unique journey in science-fiction, and now it’s back in a new and updated edition from Arcbeatle Press on March 21st, 2023. Featuring new art, and corrections to the original edition, this is the definitive version of the story. “It’s how I always wanted Cwej: Down the Middle to be experienced,” said the book’s editor and creative force, Hunter O’Connell.

Down the Middle follows the adventures of Chris Cwej, a former companion of the seventh incarnation of the interstellar traveler “the Doctor,” from BBCtv’s Doctor Who, now going on his own journeys with his very own companions Larles and Kwol. “While Chris was always a golden retriever puppy type of character in the past, with pure, innocent, sweet, but very dumb energy, here he’s more like a puppy who was saved from a dog fight. He’s hurt, he’s untrusting. And it will take a long time for him to get back to where he was,” said O’Connell.

These journeys take the form of stories from writers such as Simon Bucher-Jones (Doctor Who: The Death of Art), Jeffrey Koval (EverymanHYBRID), James Wylder (WARS, 10,000 Dawns), James Hornby (UNIT), and the creator of Cwej, Andy Lane (Doctor Who: Original Sin) alongside many fresh voices. Down the Middle focuses on dramatic storytelling, with each tale bringing something new to the book. “Getting to dig into these characters, and push them in new directions while building towards the book’s climax was exciting. It was an artistic collaboration I still treasure,” said writer James Wylder.

This new edition of Down the Middle marks the beginning of more adventures for the character, with further tales on the way. “I'm proud to be part of breathing new life into the book, with its gorgeous new cover by Jacob Keith. The team at Arcbeatle have big plans for Cwej, and it all begins with Down the Middle,” said writer James Hornby.

Cwej: Down the Middle 2nd Edition will be available for print and Kindle on March 21st, 2023 in most territories. Preorders for the Kindle edition are now open, with the print version available for sale on day of release. 

Preorders for the Kindle edition are now open, with the print version available for sale on day of release. Pre-Orders can be made at: https://www.amazon.com/Cwej-Down-Middle-Hunter-OConnell-ebook/dp/B0BXS55BRD

Inquiries can be send to arcbeatlepress@gmail.com

​“The secondary fuel tank is leaking, Cait.”
‘Killer’ Cait Grimalkin, captain of the Hellcats—and currently of the worst ship in the Outer Rim—gave a loud, drawn-out sigh. “Of course it is. We were running out of parts that still worked.”
Dawn, the current pilot, gave a hollow laugh. “We’re down to the bare essentials. If anything else goes ka-put, we’re genuinely screwed.”
“I reckon we should set a course for the nearest space station.” That was Sparks, the navigator, from where she was sitting next to Dawn. “I know it’ll be a pain, but we’re going to end up stranded at best and blown to pieces at worst.”
Cait sighed again. She was fully aware of that, of course, but the last thing she wanted to do was broadcast the fact that the best pirate crew in the solar system was currently sailing a ship that hadn’t been flown since the last century.
It was all a bit of a screw-up, really. The Hellcats’ last outing had gone slightly… wrong, to put it mildly. They’d ended up stranded on one of Jupiter’s smaller moons without a ship. They had to hike across the moon’s surface to try and find help, and finally, after a few days’ wander, they’d come across a spaceship graveyard. Axe Boden and Flameout Jackson, the best technicians on the crew, located the least beat-up ship and got it to fly again.
The ship was a relic from the 23rd century, a tacky, overdecorated Earther affair that Flameout reckoned had been shot down when it flew into Cartel airspace over Europa. The massive blaster hole in the ship’s body was what gave it away, apparently. All five of them had to work together to patch it up. And everyone did a fine job, but the ship had clearly never been that good to begin with. It was cramped and dirty, not to mention its general un-flightworthiness. They decided to name it the Reagent’s Reject, after Gareth Reagent, the corrupt billionaire CEO of one of the many shipbuilding companies of the 23rd century. Not the most catchy of names, but they weren’t intending to keep the ship for very long.
Since leaving the moon, they’d been slowly heading for their headquarters on the space station Themis, but it was still quite a way away, and Cait was beginning to think the Reagent’s Reject would fall apart before they got there. Sparks was right, they needed to find a port or space station somewhere. But that would come with a hell of a lot of embarrassment. And, sad as it is to say: when you’re a group of women pirates, you don’t really need any more embarrassment than what everyone else manufactures for you.
“The Mandrake is nearby,” said Sparks, anticipating Cait’s response. “We can be there in just over thirty hours.”
“That’s not bad,” Axe put in, from underneath the floor grate. She was practically having to hold the fuel cables together with her bare hands. “Her crew isn’t too likely to spread the news of our predicament to every arms dealer who drops by for a refuel.”
Cait struggled to repress a third sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. Set a course for the Mandrake, Sparks.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Sparks began to set in the coordinates, and Dawn gradually pulled the ship to the left. Everyone else held onto something; the ship’s stabilisers were barely functioning.
“Hey,” said Flameout suddenly. Cait swivelled around in the captain’s chair to face her. “Didn’t Jack say he was making a run to Saturn around this time?”
“Oh, he might’ve done,” agreed Dawn.
“Hey, Axe?” Flameout stretched out her leg and tapped the grate above Axe, who obligingly poked her head up. “You remember Jack telling us he was headed to Saturn?”
“I, uh—I don’t remember that, no,” said Axe.
“Sure you do, it was when we were all—”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Axe hurriedly. “What’s your point?”
“We could ask him to give us a lift to the nearest shipyard, is what I was going to say.”
“No,” said Cait immediately.
Everyone turned to her. “What’s the problem?” said Flameout.
“I don’t really want the crew of the Raider knowing we’re flying this lump of junk. Not if I can help it.”
“Oh, come on,” said Flameout. “This ship’s about to fall apart. I’d rather lose my pride than my life.”
Cait shrugged. “We’d never hear the end of it. I mean, not that Jack’s crew are not nice, but you know what they’re like. They’ll take the piss.”
“You’re probably right,” said Axe.
There was silence for a second. Dawn said, “It’s your call, Captain.”
“That’s right,” said Cait.
#
They were about half a day’s flight from the Mandrake when Axe, who was the only one in the cockpit, noticed something in the distance.
The fact that she saw it with her eyes was very strange. Normally, in space, the scanners pick up objects and tell you about them. Her scanner didn’t tell her anything about the giant asteroid directly ahead of them.
Axe quickly commed Cait to inform her of the asteroid, before trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with the scanner. It was possible that it had just conked out, like everything else on the damn ship, but a few hours back it had detected a couple of unmanned meteoroid harvesters just fine. Maybe it was the actual asteroid that wasn’t registering?
Which could only mean one thing: it wasn’t any old asteroid. It was a space station.
Axe thought they were rather cool, really. A few years back, someone had the idea to capture large asteroids, hollow them out, install an engine, and turn them into portable space stations. The Hellcats’ HQ, Themis, was one. The Accord, the gang of Maverick overlords who ruled over most of the Outer Rim, owned a lot of them.
Cait came into the cockpit, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “What is it?”
“There’s a space station up ahead.”
“The Mandrake?”
“No, we’re nowhere near that yet. This is something else.”
Cait frowned and tapped the scanner. “What’s—”
“Not registering,” explained Axe.
“So the space station is powered down,” said Cait. “Do we know which one it is?”
Axe shook her head. “I don’t recognise it. Not at this distance, anyway. But I reckon it’s one of the Accord’s.”
The look on Cait’s face told Axe they were both thinking the same thing:
What was one of the Accord’s asteroids doing drifting all the way out here?
#
About thirty minutes later, the Hellcats boarded the space station Wolfhound-3.
Cait had identified it once they’d gotten a bit closer. Axe was right, it did belong to the Accord. Large but nondescript, to the untrained eye it would seem like an asteroid just hanging there in space. That is, until you looked closer, and saw the thrusters attached to its sides and the weapon systems poking out of the top.
The Wolfhound-3 was still not giving off any signal, even at a much closer range, so Dawn had to dock the Reagent’s Reject alongside her manually. The docking bay wouldn’t open, so Dawn tethered the ship alongside the asteroid, and they all spacewalked across to the airlock. It was only a few metres, which was good, because Cait wasn’t convinced the primitive spacesuits from the Reagent’s Reject would be very effective at keeping them all alive.
Still, they all made it inside in one piece. They’d decided to board the asteroid in the hopes that Axe and Flameout could fix it up and they could fly back to Themis in it. It was a much better mode of transportation than the Reagent’s Reject, that was for sure. Plus, if the Accord had lost it, somehow, returning it to them would mean that they owed the Hellcats a favour. And being owed a favour by the Accord is a pretty good ticket to have in your spacesuit pocket.
Once inside, all five of them removed their helmets and attached them to their waists with cord. It was pitch dark. Cait looked around, using the torch attached to her wrist for light. They were standing in the middle of a shiny silver corridor, probably near to the engine room, as there were huge grey pipes lining the walls and ceiling. The corridor was fairly narrow; they were probably in the maintenance sector, a place where the majority of the station’s crew would never have to go.
“We’ll split up,” said Cait. “Axe and Dawn, you find the bridge. It’s that way, I think.” She pointed to the right. “See if you can figure out what happened here. Flameout, Sparks and I will do a sweep and see if we can find any crew.”
There were murmurs of “Yes, Captain” from everyone. Cait took a personal communicator from her pocket and handed it to Dawn, then took out a second one, checked it was working, and replaced it in her pocket.
“Stay on the bridge,” she told Axe and Dawn. “We’ll come and find you once we’ve finished having a look around.”
#
Cait led Sparks and Flameout through a series of short corridors until they came to the crew’s quarters. This was another corridor, except both walls were lined with closed black doors, four on each side. Cait went up to one of them and pushed on it lightly. Locked.
“Flameout, can you get these open?”
“Sure,” said Flameout. She knelt down next to Cait and took an electronic lockpick out of the pouch attached to her spacesuit. Five seconds later, the door was open.
“Do the others for me,” said Cait, going past her and into the first room. A quick sweep with her torch told her it was pretty standard: plain walls, a cupboard, a wardrobe, bunk beds. Cait went over to the cupboard and opened it. Empty. She checked the wardrobe. The same.
“They packed up their stuff before they left,” she called.
Sparks, who was in the room opposite, replied, “Yeah, same here.”
Cait closed the cupboard and went back out into the corridor. “So what was so urgent that they had to leave the asteroid floating through space, but had time to collect everything first?”
Sparks shrugged. “Maybe it got damaged somehow, and the Accord sent a ship to pick everyone up.”
“But why leave the asteroid? These things cost a hell of a lot. Besides, out here, anyone could nick it.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Uh, Captain?”
Cait turned. It was Flameout, staring into one of the rooms at the other end of the corridor.
“What is it?”
“I think something bad did happen here.”
“Why?” said Cait, but her question was answered when she peered into the room Flameout was looking into. It was identical to the others, with one slight exception.
On the wall next to the door, there was a tiny, but perceptible, streak of dried blood.
#
“Here we are,” announced Dawn.
Axe looked around. Well, tried to. She couldn’t see much without the main lights on, although she could tell they were standing in a large space, not the same narrow corridors they’d been walking through for the last twenty minutes. “You sure?”
“Positive.” Dawn walked forwards and Axe tried to follow her footsteps. “See, here’s the main console.” She tapped her fingers against something metal.
“If you say so,” said Axe, feeling her way along the console. “Oh, wait, I recognise some of these controls. Let me find the lights.”
“If the asteroid is out of power,” said Dawn, “you won’t be able to…” She trailed off as Axe pressed a few buttons and the lights came flickering on. “…turn on the lights. Huh.”
“I guess the power was switched off before everyone left the asteroid,” said Axe with a shrug.
“Weird,” said Dawn. “I assumed the Wolfhound-3 had been attacked by Gongens or something, but I suppose not. I mean, if people are coming to kill you, you’re racing to the escape pods, not worrying about conserving power.”
Things were getting stranger by the minute, thought Axe. If the space station had been attacked, that would at least have explained why it had been left in deep space.
Now able to see, she examined the console properly. It was a jumble of buttons, switches, and dials, of all different colours and sizes, stretching all the way from one side of the bridge to the other. In front of it was a giant screen. It was off at the moment, but Axe guessed that when it was on, it showed a view of the outside.
“Axe, look at this.”
Axe turned to Dawn. She was squinting at a tiny screen on the console.
“What’s that?”
“Station log. It might tell us what happened here.” She looked up at Axe. “It says that the last entry was six months ago.”
“Six months?” said Axe. “That can’t be right.”
Dawn shrugged. “That’s what it says.”
“But why would the Accord abandon an asteroid out here for six months?” said Axe. “If it broke down and the crew needed to be evacuated quickly, fair enough. But then why not send a team to tug it back to Titan? Even if it was destroyed beyond repair, they would have junked it, not left it out here where it could easily drift into Gongen territory.” She paused. “Plus, wouldn’t we have heard about it?”
“Not if they didn’t want anyone to know. They’re good at covering things up, you know that as well as I do.”
“Maybe.” Axe’s eyes drifted over the console. “I think we need to get some intel. Tell you what, you read the logs and see if they can shed any light; I’ll do a scan for any ships nearby that might know what happened here. Maybe Jack Wilgress is around somewhere.”
Dawn raised her eyebrows slightly. “Why Jack Wilgress?”
“Or anyone,” said Axe, refusing to take the bait.
“Shouldn’t we ask Cait if we want to start hailing other ships?”
“Who said anything about hailing them?” said Axe irritably. “I just want to scan for them. Cait won’t mind.”
Dawn shrugged.
“Help me get this thing powered up, then,” said Axe.
#
Cait, Flameout, and Sparks were heading towards the escape pod bay. After finding the blood, Flameout had the idea to check if the escape pods were gone. If they were, then the crew must have escaped. If they weren’t, then either a ship had come to pick them up, or they’d all been killed. Even though Cait had told the others that such a small amount of blood didn’t necessarily point to foul play, she had her doubts.
“What are we going to do if we don’t find anything, Cait?”
Cait turned to Sparks. “What do you mean?”
“Well, are we going to get back in the Reagent’s Reject, or are we going to try and fly this thing?”
“Oh.” Honestly, Cait hadn’t thought about it. “Until we find out what happened here, I don’t think I want to risk flying the Wolfhound-3. Who knows, it might explode the second the engines come on.”
At that moment, the lights came on.
“Huh,” said Cait.
“Must be Axe and Dawn,” said Flameout helpfully.
“Let’s hope my theory about the whole exploding-asteroid thing turns out to be wrong,” said Cait.
They continued to walk down the corridor until a few minutes later, when a hum of electricity suddenly started up. They all paused and looked around. On the wall a little way ahead, a screen switched itself on, and data readouts began to scroll across it.
“There we go, then,” said Cait. “Looks like this rock will be an alright ride, after all.”
Flameout smiled at her, but Sparks pointed down the corridor, back the way they came. “Look.”
Cait turned. A few metres away, a door was sliding open.
“That’s weird,” said Flameout, frowning. “The power outage must have automatically sealed it. I wonder why.”
“Pretty easy to find out,” said Cait. “Come on.”
Cait led them towards the door. Her fingers danced over the weapon at her waist. Slowly, she peered through the doorway.
It was the docking bay. A giant hangar-type room, big enough for one large ship or two smaller ones. It was grey, like the rest of the space station, but the walls were lined with black and white cupboards—presumably for storing tools—and the bay doors at the other end of the room were painted bright yellow.
“Holy smokes,” said Flameout, gaping.
“I know, right?” said Sparks.
Cait could only stare.
It wasn’t the room they were reacting to. It was what was in it.
In the middle of the docking bay was a ship. An enormous ship. It was a beautiful shade of red, but Cait hardly noticed the colour. It had the most magnificent thrusters she had ever seen, a superbly streamlined body, and even what looked like a hatch for a grapple claw. It looked brand new, barely out of the shipyard.
In a word, it was perfect.
“Not often that the captain’s speechless,” said Flameout, elbowing Cait.
Cait ignored her. “I want to get inside that thing.”
#
“Uh, Axe?”
“Hmm?”
“You might want to take a look at this.”
Axe groaned. She was currently flat on her back underneath the console, poking around in its innards. It was some nice tech, but the cables could really do with some TLC. She shuffled out and pulled herself up. “What is it?”
“Well, the station log cuts off abruptly with no indication as to what had happened. So, I decided to take a look at some of the systems data.”
“And?”
Dawn pointed at the screen. “Internal radiation levels.”
Axe leaned forwards to have a look. The numbers were off the scale. “That’s not good.”
“No,” said Dawn grimly, “it isn’t.”
“What’s causing it?”
“I don’t know. But see how it’s steady, then suddenly jumps really high?”
Axe squinted. “Oh, yeah. When was that? No, don’t tell me,” she said before Dawn could answer. “Six months ago, right?”
Dawn nodded.
“Can you locate the source?”
“I should be able to, yeah.” Dawn pressed a couple of buttons on the console. “Okay, the source is starboard… towards the back… in the docking bay.”
#
In the docking bay, Flameout had managed to open the mysterious ship, and the three of them were exploring it. As Cait had thought, it was perfect. Way, way better than the ship they had left behind on that moon of Jupiter. It had enough rooms for all of them, plenty of space to store their ill-gotten gains, and an engine that would get them around at least fifty percent faster than any ship Cait had ever seen. Also, it looked brand new, barely flown. There wasn’t a scratch on her.
Cait wondered where the Accord had gotten it. Wherever it was from, it was clearly the only one. The Accord’s ships were the best in the Outer Rim—in general, anyway—but even theirs were nothing like this. Nor had they put any ships like this up for sale.
Maybe it was a captured Earther ship. No, no one on Earth had such good craftsmanship anymore. Gongen, then. Cait still wasn’t sure. She’d never heard of any Gongen having such a good ship.
She was currently examining the storage hold, which was empty, but in her mind’s eye she could picture where she would put everything. We could build a weapons rack over there. That space in the corner is big enough for larger items. She imagined what the ship would be like as hers.
Cait took a few steps backwards until she was back in the main body of the ship, and called, “What do you guys think?”
Flameout, who was poking around in a fuse box, said, “Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Genuinely. No hyperbole.”
“It’s like nothing else,” agreed Sparks, who was examining the flight controls. “Cait, we need this ship.”
“Hell yeah we do,” said Flameout.
Cait shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. “Well, if the Accord insists on leaving such a nice ship all the way out here for anyone to get their hands on…” She took her communicator out of her pocket and commed Dawn.
“Hey, Captain,” answered Dawn after a few seconds. Her voice was quiet and crackly. “We were just about to comm you; there’s something you need to know.”
“Dawn, listen,” said Cait. “We’ve just found an amazing ship in the docking bay, so what we’re going to do is this: you two come here, then Sparks and I will go back to the Reagent’s Reject and—”
“You’re in the docking bay?” Dawn interrupted her.
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” said Dawn. “Cait, you have to get out of there.”
“What?”
“We just found the internal radiation levels. Cait, they’re off the scale. And it’s coming from the docking bay.”
Cait didn’t reply.
“You have to get out of there. Something in the docking bay is leaking radiation like crazy. We’re all exposed to it.”
“But there’s nothing in here except for the ship.”
“Then the ship is the source. Cait, please. The readings are off the scale. I don’t know how we’re not dead already.”
Cait paused, thinking. Then she said, “You and Axe get back to the Reagent’s Reject and wait for us there.”
“Okay, Captain.” There was a click as Dawn disconnected.
Cait turned to the others. “Did you get all that?”
“What, that we’re all dying of radiation sickness?” said Flameout. “Loud and clear, Captain.”
“What are we going to do?” said Sparks.
Cait hesitated.
Sparks blinked. “I assumed the answer to that would be ‘get the bloody screaming hell out of here right this second’, but apparently not?”
Cait attempted to look apologetic. “Maybe the leak isn’t that bad. Maybe we can patch it up and it’ll be fine.”
Sparks blinked several times and opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. “Or, we could not do that? Hell, Cait, did you not hear what Dawn said?”
“I’m not leaving a ship like this behind,” Cait told her. “Between this and the Reagent’s Reject, what would you choose?”
“The Reagent’s Reject,” said Flameout without hesitation. “She has her faults, but at least she isn’t bleeding radiation.”
“Yeah, I’m with Flameout on this one,” said Sparks. “I mean, all due respect, Captain, but what the hell are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I’d rather die of radiation poisoning than show my face in that heap of Earther junk,” Cait snapped, a little harsher than intended.
Sparks and Flameout looked at each other like they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “You mean, you’d rather us all die of radiation poisoning than suffer a little humiliation at the hands of Jack Goddamn Wilgress,” stated Flameout.
Cait opened her mouth but couldn’t think of a reply.
“No ship is worth our lives, Cait,” said Sparks. “Do you know how many times we’ve nearly died for you?”
“Do you know how many times I’ve nearly died for us?” Cait shot back.
“And now you’re going to throw our lives away for a piece of equipment,” Sparks continued, shaking her head. “Ships can be replaced. Even good pilots can be replaced. But we can’t be replaced, Cait. I thought you knew that.”
Cait was silent.
Flameout took Sparks by the arm. “We’re going to find Axe and Dawn and then we’re going back to our ship. Come and find us when you’re ready to act like part of a team again. Or don’t. Whatever. Enjoy your radiation sickness.”
And with that, Flameout and Sparks turned and walked out of the ship, leaving Cait behind.
#
Axe and Dawn were legging it towards the docking bay when they rounded a corner and smashed right into Flameout and Sparks, who were legging it in the opposite direction.
On the way, Axe and Dawn had passed the escape pod bay and decided to take a quick look inside. It was empty. All five escape pods were gone.
“That settles it,” Dawn had said. “The crew picked up the ship and put it in the docking bay. Then they found out it was leaking radiation. So they switched off the power and got the hell out of there.”
“Presumably that’s why the Accord left it out here,” Axe had agreed. “It’d be pretty embarrassing for them to admit they’d picked up a faulty ship.”
“Not more embarrassing than for us to admit we’ve wandered right onto it.”
That’s what they told Flameout and Sparks, once they’d all picked themselves off the floor. It was only then that Axe noticed Cait wasn’t with them.
“Where’s the captain?”
Flameout and Sparks looked at each other. “On the ship,” said Flameout after a moment.
“The Reagent’s Reject?”
“The ship in the docking bay,” said Sparks.
“What?” said Dawn. “What the hell does she think she’s doing?”
“She wants to fix the radiation leak,” said Sparks. “She really, really wants that ship.”
Axe frowned. “Didn’t you try and talk her out of it?”
“She wouldn’t listen.”
“Flameout, it’s been like…” Axe checked her watch. “Literally three minutes since we got off the comm with you. How much talking did you actually do?”
“It was more like, we said ‘We’re leaving’, she said ‘No we’re not’, we said ‘So you value the ship over our lives’, and then we left,” said Sparks after a few seconds.
“Such a good team meeting, guys,” said Dawn, rolling her eyes.
“She can’t suddenly start treating us like we’re expendable,” argued Flameout. “She’s meant to be our captain!”
“And we’re meant to be her crew,” said Axe. “And a crew can’t just abandon each other if someone gets on someone else’s nerves, or things get said in the heat of the moment. Come on, Flameout. You really just left Cait in a radiation sauna?”
Flameout was quiet.
“I guess we did,” said Sparks.
“Then I think we’d better go and get her,” said Axe.
#
Honestly, Cait couldn’t blame Flameout and Sparks for getting mad at her. In the moment, she had chosen the ship over them. But she was thinking clearly now.
And what she was thinking was: if the radiation levels were as high as Dawn had said, how come none of them were sick yet?
She could understand if they weren’t dead yet. But they’d be showing symptoms: headache, fever, nausea, dizziness. But no, she felt completely fine. So why was that?
First, she went to the engine room. A brief look told her that everything was fine in there. So she went to the control room to run a systems diagnostic. And…
Nothing. No radiation leaks. No anything leaks. The ship was in tip-top condition.
“If Dawn’s got us all worked up over a faulty reading…” she muttered. But she paused when she saw a blinking blue light to the right of the console; something she hadn’t noticed before. “What are you?” she asked it.
After a few minutes of looking through the computer system, she had her answer.
Cait grinned.
#
Axe, Dawn, Flameout, and Sparks arrived back in the docking bay just in time to see Cait sauntering out of the mysterious ship, as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
“You don’t look like someone who’s dying of radiation poisoning,” said Flameout suspiciously.
“Nor do you, funnily enough,” replied Cait. “Strange, isn’t it?”
Axe folded her arms. “All right, Captain. What do you know that we don’t?”
Cait shrugged, the doorway of the ship like a halo around her frame.
“You’re going to tell us that there isn’t a radiation leak at all, aren’t you?” said Sparks with a groan.
“But the readings…” said Dawn.
“At first, I thought the Wolfhound-3’s systems were faulty,” said Cait. “But they’re not. They’re working perfectly. So I had a look around the ship. Engines: fine. Fuel tanks: fine. Everything seemed in perfect working order.”
Axe was beginning to get annoyed. “With all due respect, Cait, get to the point.”
Cait cleared her throat. “It was all in the computer system. The ship is more high-tech than we thought: it’s got a bunch of different defences, half of which I’ve never even heard of.”
“So, what, the ship leaks radiation in case it’s attacked or captured?” said Flameout.
“Not quite,” said Cait. “The ship pretends to leak radiation. It sends false signals to the ship’s instruments to make it think the ship is flooded with radiation in the hopes that it’ll be left alone. Like a poisonous plant, warning away its predators as soon as they take a bite out of it. The asteroid must have triggered it when it brought the ship on board.”
Axe raised her eyebrows. “If you’re right, that is some serious tech.”
“I know,” said Cait. She looked at each pirate in turn. “So, who wants to get their hands on it?”

Now that you’ve learned a little about how the Hellcats got where they are, you’re ready to see more of their adventures in the next volume of The Battle of Phobos book series!
That’s right, preorders are now up for the ebook of WARSONG: Stretti, where you’ll be able to read some amazing tales of heroism, danger, and intrigue, and see how the world and these characters change.
You can read it all when it comes out October 27th.
Grab it at the link beow:
https://tinyurl.com/stretti​

-James Wylder
President and Publisher, Arcbeatle Press

​October 4th, 2022, for immediate release
WARSONG: Stretti Brings Intrigue and Adventure to Print in October
Arcbeatle Press and Decipher, Inc. announce the continuation of the WARSONG saga with the second volume of “The Battle of Phobos” series, WARSONG: Stretti.
In Stretti, the heroes of Preludes return to face a solar system in crisis, for war is on the horizon between Earth and Gongen (the newly renamed planet Mars). Rogan Hallard, Higen Orochito, and Jack Wilgress each return to face new dangers and make new discoveries. “Stretti is an exciting book, because you’re seeing these characters, and the whole world around them, taken to the brink of disaster,” said range editor James Wylder. “Readers are going to find a more complex political scenario, bigger challenges for each character personally, and even more action. It's everything you want from a sci-fi adventure!” Written by Nathan P. Butler (Star Wars Tales, 10,000 Dawns), Sabrina Fried (A More Civilized Age), and Jim Perry (Bladewielders), the three novellas in this collection continue the story started in WARSONG: Preludes.
The collection will also feature two new epilogue short stories by range editor James Wylder. “With this new edition, we’re able to look not only backwards, but forward at the final set of novellas, and add depth and connections to bring the story of The Battle of Phobos to new heights,” they said.
The world of WARSONG was crafted for Decipher, Inc. by such notable creatives as New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole and Lord of the Rings artist John Howe and has featured in everything from the WARS trading card game and roleplaying game to original music. Bringing these stories to print is Arcbeatle Press, the publisher of several licensed Doctor Who spin-off book series, new novels, anthologies, and their original series 10,000 Dawns.
WARSONG: Stretti will be available in both print and ebook formats on October 27th.
Preorders are available at: https://tinyurl.com/stretti
You can find out more at arcbeatlepress.com/WARS.
Inquiries can be sent to arcbeatlewars@gmail.com.

​Being the descendant of a legend of history isn’t easy. It comes with expectations, and sometimes unexpected responsibility. Higen Orochito works as a tech helping with the massive planetary Artificial Intelligence called Shocho that in many ways runs the planet Gongen, formerly named Mars. Centuries ago, Shocho saved the lives of countless people during a terrible nuclear disaster in Asia on Earth, and helped spearhead moving their lives to Mars where they’ve been living ever since.
It just so happens that Higen Shijin, the man who programmed Shocho in the first place, is Orochito’s ancestor.
With a nice job making sure an AI runs properly, he’s settled down and started a family with his wife Mayu. They even have a young son together named Kiyoshi who likes practicing kendo with his dad. In his free time, he enjoys exploring the wastes with his jetpack, training, and living a peaceful life with his family.
There’s just one problem.
As Higen Shijin’s descendant, everyone expects him to know how to handle Shocho.
And something is getting very weird with that AI. Something is wrong. And life is about to get a lot more complicated for Orochito, and everyone is going to want the answers from him…

Once he finds those answers, how will it change him?

You can find out the answers in WARSONG: Preludes! 

​From the scientific journal of Viramri-Damir Historical Lord Advisor to the House of Damir
Subject of Study: Relic – Quondam Falx
Viramri-Damir writes:
A very curious weapon indeed.
The Quondam Falx was found on Prilcali during an off-world competition 4,517 years ago when the Shi expansion spread out thousands of light years from Seyal. The world's fate would be decided, as per normal decorum, in the arena.
The Prilcali champion, Battah, was undefeated, and welcomed the Shi challenge. So sure was the Prilcali council, that it eagerly accepted the terms. Helashir-Damir, the Shi champion, was also undefeated having vanquished over a thousand aliens from as many worlds Helashir traveled to through rifts.
The duel was brutality at its most spectacular. Blood was drawn on both sides and the battle turned from one side to the next. For several hours, the combatants fought. Blood sprayed the spectators, which only drove the savage Prilcali into frenzy. Even the Shi were swept up into the fury of battle, seeing their champion fight so valiantly.
Then a curious thing happened. Helashir began to slow and soon took more blows than Battah. The Prilcali's weapon struck again and again and the Shi began to falter. As Battah took fewer blows, he delivered more and more to his opponent. Finally, Helashir fell to the ground, no longer able to remain aloft. Helashir's Vatarma shattered at the head, leaving nothing more than a splintered rod. Blood poured from dozens of wounds and Helashir's nanites couldn't heal him fast enough. Battah stepped forward and looked down to the deliver the final blow. He kicked the Shi hard in the head, spinning Helashir over. Battah raised his weapon high into the air. He turned to the cheering Prilcali and screamed "Quondam Falx!" As the crowd roared in response, the Shi spectators sat in stunned disbelief. Helashir-Damir was about to die.
However, that was not to be. Using Battah's arrogance as a distraction, Helashir drove the broken Vatarma clean through Battah's fleshy upper leg, ripping the muscle from the bone. Battah screamed in pain as Helashir then grabbed both sides of the Vatarma and spun it like a wheel. Hunks of Battah's leg flew in all direction as Battah crashed to the ground, falling on his good knee. He swung his weapon around desperately, but Helashir-Damir caught the weapon by the handle and began to wrestle with Battah for control of it.
The account of what happened next comes from Helashir-Damir's personal journal. Helashir described the sensation of touching the weapon as spiritual. It felt cold and warm at the same time. It was impossible to determine its weight and balance, as it seemed to shift wildly up and down its length as Battah and Helashir fought for it. Reeling from the pain in what remained of his left leg, Battah made one final shift to try and throw Helashir-Damir off-balance. Helashir had almost forgotten about the battle and was intoxicated by the weapon's feel. With the smallest gesture, Helashir plunged the weapon deep into Battah's chest with a sick, slicing sound. Battah fell to the ground gasping. He looked back up to Helashir and reach up a bloody hand toward the weapon. "Quondam Falx," he said desperately, before he died.
Helashir-Damir, the champion of all Shi, had won. The following day, 100,000 Quay slaves were deposited on Prilcali and the civilization was destroyed. The origins of the Quondam Falx would never be answered.
In journals, Helashir struggled to describe the Quondam Falx, as it became named, assuming that is what Battah had been referring to. Helashir said the weapon was like holding a sealed tube, half filled with water. As the weapon was shifted, the weight on one end or the other seemed to increase. This wasn't consistent though; as the weight change always seemed to coincide with a strike or block or some other move during combat. Scientific analysis done long after Helashir-Damir's death verified that the weapon was not hollow but did seem to respond by increasing and decreasing its molecular density when certain individuals held it. Many in the scientific community scoffed at such a ridiculous notion and dismissed such talk. One scientist speculated that the weapon was almost sentient and would respond to beings with special abilities. What these abilities are, no one knows. Helashir-Damir was the most traveled of the Shi champions, but beyond his battle prowess, he possessed no such capabilities that could ever be detected in those ancient times.
Helashir-Damir used the Quondam Falx for a thousand more battles, and was never defeated. Helashir became popular, powerful, and dangerous. Whispers in Shi society saw that as a threat to their own power and ambitions. Helashir's eventual death was a mystery never fully explained as he fell in the Coliseum to a vicious Quay savage named Grttak. Helashir seemed sluggish and distracted as he entered the arena, a condition that the Quay took advantage of. As Helashir died, his last breath spoke "Quondam Falx." Grttak picked up the weapon, looked at it curiously for moment, then threw it aside. Grttak was shot dead by the Coliseum security detail.
The Quondam Falx then disappeared for several thousand years, before being found in the remains of a prominent member of the Vishal house who couldn't explain its presence there. Reclaiming it as their property in a bloody civil war, the Damir have held it ever since. Where it came from and what secret it holds is a mystery for the ages. Nevertheless, the Shi are timeless and patient. One day we will know.
Entry closed.
Viramri-Damir looked up from the data gelscreen and stared at the broken, empty pedestal where the Quondam Falx had remained for hundreds of years. The security tendrils lay strewn about the floor in tatters and human blood trailed down the hallway toward the outer corridor and onto the maintenance level boarding platform.
"The Shi are timeless and patient," Viramri thought to himself.

 WARSONG has a long enough history that its managed to accrue some lost media in its nearly two decades of existence. Some more lost than others. Recently though, a lot of material has come to light due to the diligent efforts of fans, and this story is here thanks to the diligent efforts of fans like Ketora on Discord, who helped dig up things we didn’t even know we’d lost.
During the wilderness years of WARS, as fans passed around the original WARS stories written to promote the WARS Trading Card Game, this story was never among them. Imagine my shock when I read a brand new WARS story I hadn’t read before—and I hadn’t commissioned! It was a real treat, and I hope you get the same joy out of its rediscovery. Yes, its a short little ditty, but its unique and fun.
Written to promote the release of the unreleased WARS TCG cardset “Edge of a Sword”, this story is perhaps the furthest most edge WARS existed in in its timeline. For new fans who haven’t gotten to the appearance of the Shi yet… well, we at Arcbeatle Press hope very much to tell the exciting story of how the events here came to be. There’s so much yet to explore.
Thanks for reading, and celebrating WARSONG with us!
-James Wylder
President and Publisher, Arcbeatle Press












WARS is Copyright Decipher Inc.
WARSONG is Copyright Arcbeatle Press and Decipher Inc.
WARS and all associated characters and concepts are the property of Decipher inc.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people, places, events past or present is purely co-incidental.
Arcbeatle Press is owned and operated by James Wylder, and is based out of beautiful Elkhart Indiana.
This story is copyright 2005 Decipher, Inc.

​Only once has Jack Wilgress been caught without his weapon. As he waited for his wounds to heal, he swore there wouldn’t be a next time.

It’s 2374. Born to a cattle farmer from Benson, Arizona County, Jack lied about his age to join Earth’s space military. He quickly rose through the ranks until he reached Level Zero, the elite of the elite, where he underwent much harsher training than earthbound ground militaries ever dealt with. Over the course of two years, he received the height of special forces training for the wide-ranging and harsh conditions that space and her celestial bodies could inflict. Not only did he pass this training, he performed so well that he was selected by Colonel Xander himself. He was the pride of the Earth military.

It’s 2388. Jack Wilgress is the leader of a band of space pirates called the Knaves, and he’s holding a crew at gunpoint to steal their ship. Jack is now a Maverick: an outsider who lives in the lawless reaches of space, eking out an independent living by hook or by crook.

What changed? How did he get here?

Find out in ‘Firefight at Overwatch Command’ by Jim Perry in Warsong – The Battle of Phobos: Preludes.

WARSONG Q&A

Q: Can you give a bit of background for those unfamiliar with WARSONG?
A: WARSONG is a science fiction setting about a future where humanity has fractured in to three factions: earth has become a corporatocracy, Mars has declared its independence, renamed itself Gongen, and is now a communist government run by an Artificial Intelligence, and people who don’t want to be a part of either of those two powers have become Mavericks–people who live in the lawless reaches of space waking out an independent living. Earth wants Gongen back, the Mavericks want to be left alone, and everybody is starting to get in each other’s business as a complicated situation starts reaching a breaking point…

In the real world, WARSONG is a series of fiction based on the universe that was created by writers like New York Times Bestseller Michael A. Stackpole (Star Wars: X-Wing), Chuck Kallenbach, and Tim Ellington, with art for the series done by folks like John Howe (the Lord of the Rings films) and Kieran Yanner (Magic the Gathering) for the WARS Trading Card Game by Decipher, Inc. back in 2004. The game itself didn’t last long, but the universe, the game, and the stories have had a hold on myself and other devoted fans for nearly two decades now, and I’m beyond excited to be able to bring this universe to a whole new audience of readers.

Q: What can the audience expect from WARSONG: Preludes?
A: Three novellas by some really talented writers, and one short story by a mook–sorry I’ve been told I should be nicer about myself! I mean, one story by another writer some people have called pretty-okay (me). Nathan P. Butler wrote the first novella, and he’d written for Star Wars Tales comics, so he was a great find for this series. The guy is really smart too, he understands history and politics on a deep level that you’ll really get to see play out as his story continues. Sean E. Williams wrote the second one, he’s had a wild career, writing Wonder Woman comics and Fairest. He’s great at character work, and you’ll get some great stuff as the characters in his novella are built up and torn down. Finally, Jim Perry wrote the capstone to it all, which is a legitimately riveting and funny book that’s going to take you on an adventure that I think is fair to call “cinematic” in a good way! 
 
Q: Do you have a favourite scene in the book?
A: Oh how to pick… There’s a reveal in the first novella, Healers and Hunters, that I think first time readers are going to have an absolute ball with and just eat up, and folks familiar with the lore already will be grinning when they realise what’s about to show up.

Q: How did you find the editing process?
A: It was unique. After all, the three novellas had already been released before! They started with Grail Quest Books, who I worked for in the past, but they didn’t manage to finish releasing the series sadly. I’d been part of the series as a proofreader and setting advisor–as well as writing an unreleased novella for it!--so when my old bosses Josh and Kas Radke, offered to let Arcbeatle Press finish releasing the series they’d started for it, I was ecstatic. I’m honored Decipher gave us this chance, and we’ve taken it very seriously. But we had a few things we knew we could improve going in. One of the writers wanted a chance to improve some elements of their novella they weren’t satisfied with, so I did a new editing job on one of the novellas, and added a new epilogue to the book to help lead readers into the next book better. I think this is the best release this book has gotten, and I can’t wait for new readers to see it for the first time, and old readers to see it in its new form.

Q: Does the book connect to the WARS Roleplaying Game?
A: If you’re a fan of the WARS Roleplaying Game you’ll find some of your favorite places and characters from the game in this book, not to mention a lot of valuable lore about the universe you’ll uncover along the way you can use in your games. In making the Battle of Phobos series, when it started at Grail Quest Books, there were a lot of things we had to figure out and expand about the setting to make the series happen. All the writers, and the series first editor Josh Radke, made a lot of wonderful additions, and I think we at Arcbeatle Press are doing our best to add our own!

Q: Could you list a few reasons readers should check out WARSONG?
A: Do you like character driven stories? Adventure? Sci-Fi? Factions maneuvering against each other in the shadows? Giant robots? Jetpacks? Heartbreaking separations? Mad science? Cool spaceships? You might be into WARSONG. Give it a shot!

Q: What can we expect to see in future WARSONG releases?
A: In the next trio of novellas, Stretti, you’ll get to see the ramifications of everything that happened in the Preludes will play out. Things will have consequences, characters will be faced with tough choices, and things are going to get real dramatic in all the best ways.

Not to mention how wild the finale of the Phobos series, Stretti, is going to be…

We also have our continuing serial series Academy 27, which follows kids at a school on Gongen that’s had a surprising amount of success lately and we’re very proud of.
WARSONG has been resting awhile, but there’s a lot in the works and on the way. We can’t wait to show it to you!

​

​"You can't really expect to make people stop yelling about war by throwing a dinner party, sir..."
Howard Martin sighed, Kippli Darnell was talented in his own way as a diplomat, but he still didn't understand the job.
"You're young, I get that, but you need to learn not everything is grand gestures. History doesn't always change in a moment, sometimes it's a long series of ups and downs. If you get the chance to push things up, you go for it."
Kippli nodded, but the frown plastered on his face showed he wasn't convinced, "If you say so, sir."
He nudged his junior, "Maybe you're just getting jealous everyone wants to talk to Yumi." Howard had been joking, but the way Kippli went red showed he'd actually hit the nail on the head. He held back letting out a second sigh, oh to be a young man and have such ridiculous worries. Earth and Mars were teetering on the edge of an incline they would slide down together into war, and Mr. Darnell was just coming to terms with his wife being noticed again now that she wasn't hobbling around from her injuries or covering her face to hide the wide straight scar that went across both cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Well, it shouldn't be his job, but he knew how to work people. That's why he was the head diplomat after all. He slapped Kippli on the back warmly, "Come on kid, she's glancing over at you half the time. The woman clearly loves you, she's doing exactly what a diplomat's spouse is supposed to do and keeping the boring people busy. Isn't that right, Mary?"
The third diplomat in their party, Mary Spruce, did not feign levity, "I wouldn't know sir, I'm not married." He'd have to teach Kippli how to not pout, and Mary how to play along. Alas.
There was a chime, and on the other side of the room, past all the white-draped round dinner tables, a security detail came through the door, examined the room, and then the guest of honor came in as the herald at the door loudly announced him: Sato Shintaro, the President's son, followed by his ever-present bodyguard Hotaru.
"Well damn, I guess the rumors the President's health is still declining have more weight to them than I thought," Mary grumbled. "They'd RSVP'd for the man himself."
"They always RSVP for the President and send Shintaro instead these days," Howard said coolly. "You'll get used to it."
It took him a while to work his way over to them, stopping to talk to every smiling face like a good politician, but eventually he got to the hosts.
"Ambassador Martin, it's always a pleasure. Ambassador Darnell, a pleasure as well, I'm glad to see Yumi is feeling well enough to be out and about. Son with the grandparents?"
Howard was always impressed with Shintaro's ability to either remember details about every person he met, or alternately cram a briefing ahead of every event. He'd mastered the skill to an incredible degree for a man so young.
Hotaru hung back behind him expressionless. He gave her a smile. She didn't budge a muscle.
"Yes!" Kippli replied, "It's nice to have a little time to go out on our own now and then."
He looked at Mary, "And I don't believe we've been introduced. Sato Shintaro."
She gave him a customary bow, and then they shook hands, "Mary Spruce. I'm the newest diplomat here. I hope to get well acquainted with the planet."
Howard noticed a bead of sweat on Mary's temple. She had wiped her palm on her pant leg before shaking hands. He'd read her file, she'd worked as an attaché to the president of iCom, so she'd met plenty of rich and powerful before. Still, it was a whole new planet, and her first time meeting a Marsian official, so he'd excuse it.
"And how are you liking Gongen so far, Ambassador Spruce?"
"I am liking Mars just fine, sir," she replied.
Martin grimaced, the Marsians renaming their planet and people Gongen was still a point of contention after all this time.
For all the dinner was supposed to bring people together, the cracks were still popping through.
Shintaro wasn't phased though, he kept up that pleasant smile, "If you haven't tried the local bathhouses, I'd recommend them. You'd be surprised just how relaxing they can be."
So he'd noticed her sweating too.
"Thank you sir, I'll take that under advisement."
The President's son moved on, they'd have their real discussion after he made his rounds, and Howard turned to Mary, "I know you're ex-military, but you need to start learning to relax at these events. Just take a deep breath."
"Yes, sir."
"And drop the sir."
She adjusted the collar of her knee-length green and white jacket (the Earther fashion these days) and nodded, "I'm going to step out for some air if you don't mind."
He smiled, "I think that's a good idea. Don't worry about tonight, just take it as a trial run."
She put on a fleeting smile before turning and heading for the balcony.
 
* * *
 
 
“So, make new friends? That Earther girl looked cute.”
“Ha. Ha,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “That’s our new junior, she’s… been assigned to us.”
“I got that impression. The one you mentioned driving you up the wall?”
He nodded, “One and the same.”
“I tried talking to her when we got in, she was… touchy.”
“She’s ex military, not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels like they threw her in here just to keep tabs on us, frankly she doesn’t have a bright future as a diplomat.”
“What tipped you off, her inability to talk to people, or her inability to read the room?”
He laughed, “I’ll keep her around just so you tease her about that and not me.”
“I’m sure I’ll fit it in somewhere.”
The host of the evening stepped forward, and brought the room to attention. It was the ambitious Ito Ryuu, a man whose motivations Kippli hadn’t entirely grasped yet, but whom he was certain had his eyes on the presidency of the planet. A fierce nationalist, sure, but one who seemed to not be easy to pigeon hole with that descriptor either. Beside him was an older woman wearing an Au Dai.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and honored guests, I know you're all anxious to see the main event. But if I might say a few words--the future of Gongen in our solar system is one with an uncertain path, but one for which we must be sure on the direction we will guide it on. Tensions are flaring, and our security is more important than ever. Who can protect Gongen, but the Gongen? The idea that we can rely on outside help when danger comes to our own citizens is a folly, and our soldiers in the Self-Defense Force need every advantage they can get. And that is why I'm proud to announce the latest in monomolecular blades, a mass production model based on the work of master blademaker Ming Hu Tran."
The woman bowed, and there was much applause. Kippli didn’t applaud, this wasn’t the kind of thing an Earther ambassador should ever be applauding, but he did give it his full attention until he noticed someone awkwardly sidling up beside him.
"Great party huh?" Kippli looked up to see a young Marsian lady—perhaps in her late teens?—who was so clearly faking her confidence in being here that it was, in a certain way, charming. Was she the daughter of one of the officials here? Probably. She didn’t want to be here, that was for certain.
"Oh, sure. I suppose so, if you have a certain sensibility,” he replied with what he hoped was a sense of camaraderie.
The girl nodded, "Love that war profiteering, and stuff like that. Really enjoy the prospect of imminent mass death for no good reason."
He frowned, "Are you... being sarcastic?"
"Sorry, I don't get to speak English a lot. Yeah, that was sarcasm." She gestured over at the sword. "Kind of a blunt force way of showing off that they don't want to give peace a chance."
He sighed, "It’s certainly not what I was hoping to see, especially not from Ito Ryuu... who might you be again?"
"Oh right," she extended a hand. "Kalingkata. I'm a criminal hacker with the space mafia."
He took her hand, awkwardly, and shook it. "Is that also sarcasm?"
"Who knows? Who are you?"
"Kippli Darnell, ambassador to Mars from the CGC. I'm here with Howard Martin from the Earth Mission to Gongen, and my own junior ambassador Mary Spruce. And my wife, of course."
She blinked, "Oh shit, I mean, uh, oh... gosh. Wow. So there are important people here."
"...Did you sneak in?"
"Not at all, I got announced at the door and everything. My name is 'and guest'." She glanced over to see a line of guests who were taking turns giving the sword they'd brought for demonstration a few swings, then asking the old man questions about it.
"Well at least you're not boring. And it's good to see not everyone is being a warhawk about all of this."
Before he knew it Yumi had slid in next to him, smiling at Kalingkata. She really was too good at sneaking up on him. "Who might this be?” The girl glanced at the scar on Yumi’s face, everyone did that, but thankfully had enough tact not to linger on that detail and move her gaze up to her eyes.
"Kalingkata. I'm just some girl."
"Yumi Darnell, I'm Ambassador Darnell's wife."
"Pleasure, so my boss, who I am here with--"
"--From the space mafia?"
"Right, exactly. She wanted me to check on the item she put up for display here. Any idea where I'd go to make sure it’s ready?"
Yumi mouthed, "Space Mafia?" at her husband who whispered something back Kalingkata couldn't hear.
"Below us is where all the items being showcased for the guests are located. I take it by ‘space mafia’ you were being funny about saying ‘arms dealer’ then?"
She winked, "You got it." Kippli had watched this girl’s cover story shift multiple times in the tiny amount of time he’d known her. He wasn’t sure whether to call her out on this, or just keep playing along. And he hesitated, as he often did, and because of that he didn’t get an answer.
Because that was when the explosions started. Yumi rushed forward, catching Kalingkata deftly as she began to tumble from the shaking. The girl looked up breathlessly from the rescue—not everyone in the room was so lucky. Many had fallen over, and a rush to leave the venue began immediately. Kalingkata, wasting no time, extracted herself from Yumi and with a mock casualness said: "You guys should go, I have work in the morning.”
There wasn’t a chance to go after her. She disappeared into the chaotic crowd, moving further into the room. He reached for Yumi, and she grabbed his hand as the throng swarmed around them. At least they hadn’t been separated.
“What’s going on?” Yumi said.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here.”
 
Yumi stopped, and pointed. The girl he'd been talking to was standing on top of the display the sword had been on, lowering into the floor. Was she performing a robbery? Was she in danger? It didn't matter, Yumi was already springing into action, shoving her way through to Sato who was trying his best to direct the crowd as he straggled behind her.
"--below us!" he heard as he finally caught up.
"What makes you so sure?" Sato replied.
"If I was trying to sabotage this, that's where I'd be!"
He opened his mouth, shut it, and nodded. "Hotaru," he said to his bodyguard, "go now. We'll follow." The woman nodded, and bolted. Kippli found himself caught up in following, as Yumi and Sato ran after her. He worried Yumi's leg would give out. They barreled out of the hall, through an ornate hallway, and then down a service stairway Shintaro seemed to know by heart, where they could see an open doorway that they charged towards--the scene inside was a mess.
The girl was in the back, standing by a hole in the wall that had clearly been the earlier explosion. There were other explosives in the room too--but something had gone wrong and they hadn't gone off, a small blessing there. The girl looked like she was about to jump out of the hole in the building, which was a skyscraper. This was concerning.
What was also concerning however was that Hotaru was in the middle of a fierce grapple with an opponent who Kippli immediately recognized, and began to curse up a storm over as soon as he did.
It was Mary Spruce.
The brawl was fierce, Mary threw Hotaru down, only for her to turn the fall into a roll, and kick back up while activating her jetpack to rush her again.
Yumi yelled something at the girl which Kippli couldn't hear over the noise. The girl didn't seem to hear either.  She jumped. Yumi sprung into action, and as Mary and Hotaru fell once again into a fierce grapple, trying desperately to take each other's weapons, she grabbed a display rifle from where it had fallen on the floor. Of course it wasn't loaded, but she was reacting without thinking.
Once she'd realized this, she continued reacting without thinking and hurled the rifle at Mary's leg--it slammed into the back of her knee, her leg folding, and Hotaru used the sudden loss of balance to disarm her, and drop her into a hold.
She squirmed and screamed on the ground.
"What the hell," was all Kippli could think to say. And then he ran towards the hole in the wall. He didn't know what he expected to see. The girl hanging from the ledge? A faint pinprick of red on the ground below?
What he did see was a surprise. The  girl had been caught in a floating net, attached to a hover bike. He let out a relieved sigh. Well, she may have actually been a thief and a spy, but she was far too young to die. That's why he was here after all, it was a good reminder.
All these warhawks. This whole stupid banquet showing off weapons of war for the older generations to force the younger ones to use to kill and be killed. He wasn't supposed to let them win. Shintaro's voice broke him from his reverie, a grimace on his face.
"Ambassador Darnell, I think it would be best if we agreed nothing happened here."
He blinked, "I'm sorry?"
"There wasn't an incident. There are no explosives."
"DAMN YOU, YOU'RE ALL INSOLENT LITTLE CHILDREN!" Mary screamed.
The pieces came together in his head. He nodded. "It’s unfortunate, but I believe Mary Spruce's drunken conduct tonight may require me to quietly send her back to Earth."
Shintaro gave a bow, "I'm glad we have an understanding."
"...What about...?" he gestured at the damage, the bombs.
"I'll handle it, don't worry about it."
Kippli nodded, and staggered over to Mary. It was all so... confusing. She scowled up at him.
"Mary... why? Just... Why?"
She spat, trying to reach him but it falling short in front of his shoes. “Because this is what we’re supposed to be doing! The Marsians need to be taught a lesson. They’re not going to understand until we put them back in their place.”
“You want a war?”
“Of course I do! You should too, Ambassador.”
“Think of the children who would die… the innocent people. I have a young son here, Mary.”
“And he’ll thrive as part of the Central Governance Corporation’s glorious future.”
Shintaro stared down at her, impassively. “The fate of Gongen isn’t yours to decide.”
She took a breath, steadying herself, then spoke firmly, never breaking eye contact with him. “You think you have any leg to stand on? Mars once belonged to Earth, and will always belong to Earth. You don’t get to choose your own name, or choose the way your own foot takes a step forward. You’ve become so drunk on your illusion of independence, you’ve forgotten who your masters are. The CGC is going to remind you who is in charge, whose soil this is, and I don’t give a single damn how many innocents get bombed to a pulp in the meanwhile. Think of the children? They’ll die in the bonfire like the rest of you traitors.”
Shintaro didn’t react. “Thank you for your opinion. I’ll keep that in mind. Hotaru?”
She grabbed Mary by the hair, and slammed her forehead into the floor in one precise movement. Kippli cringed.
He looked at Kippli, “Take care of your own now, if you would.”
 
* * *
 
Kippli Darnell’s new assistant barely talked. It wasn't as though she wasn't well knowledgeable about her position; along with a previous diplomatic internship she had a full on degree in Marsian Studies. She just didn't seem to have a lot to say. She followed his orders pretty precisely, took notes perfectly, and didn't make herself known. He was 100% certain that she was another spy, but at least this time they'd sent someone who wasn't going to cause her masters more trouble than she was worth.
"I did finish running the check on the girl you met, one Kalingkata," his new aide began as they sat in the lobby of Sato Shintaro's office. "Quite the interesting character. She actually fell on our radar last year it seems."
"Is she--"
"Alive? Yes. She's been attending school." She handed him a padd, which had a brief dossier on her. Student at Academy 27 in Takumi, associated with several Mavericks. Grandparents were dissidents. Then several pages of completely redacted text.
"Well that's curious."
"I thought you might think so."
He sighed, and set the padd down. "Curious but not useful. I feel like I just stepped for a moment into a whole other life, and then just as quickly stepped out of it again. I'll probably never encounter--sorry I'm rambling now."
"You're fine sir," she said, tapping the right side of her head by the eye with her curled fingers.
"Feeling alright?"
She tensed for a moment, "Fine, sir. My right eye is prosthetic, I lost it fighting pirates in the rings of Saturn. First and last tour out. When I came back I thought I might try my hand at something a little more peaceful so I went back to school. Now I'm here."
"You should get it serviced if it’s bothering you," he said in a voice that might have sounded a little paternal.
She screwed her lips up for a moment, "I don't want anyone to think I'm a Maverick, sir."
He sighed, "I'll have someone come into the office for you. And drop the 'sir' already. What's your name again?"
"Catinka. Catinka Barow, from Hamburgplex."
"Well, I look forward too--"
"Ambassador Darnell?" The secretary called. "Master Sato will see you now.”
Finally. Annoying timing, but finally. He rose up.  "You won't be allowed to come in with me I'm afraid," Darnell told her. "Try to get to know the secretary and the staff while you wait. Those are more important connections than you might think.”
The young woman nodded, and turned around to go do just that. Maybe she'd stick around, maybe she wouldn't. Things would be difficult either way.
Entering into Sato Shintaro's office he found the man buttoning a shirt up as a floating bot sprayed him with de-scenter.
"I apologize for my appearance; I just finished a workout."
Kippli waved away the apology, "No, I should be thanking you for making time for me in your busy schedule."
The formalities out of the way, Sato went right into it. "I understand Mary Spruce has been reprimanded and sent back to Earth."
Ambassador Darnell nodded, "It’s unfortunate she caused such trouble getting intoxicated during a crisis. The vague implication that she accidentally had a hand in the explosion due to her intoxication probably helped."
Sato slid into his seat. "Of course, no one believes your report."
"Probably not."
"I did my end of the work. As far as anyone is aware, it really was just an accidental explosion. I found a man willing to take the fall for it, and relocated him with the same job down in Hozin."
Perfect. Kippli wasn't keen on the way that Sato Shintaro had been given the reins his father the actual president Sato Satoshi should be guiding, but he was good at his job. He let out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Well... "...Master Sato, if I might?"
He gave a curious look and nodded.
"How many more crises like this can we avoid?"
Sato gave him a sad smile. "As many as it takes, or as many as we can. We can only keep trying."
“And when we run out?”
The President’s son sighed, “Read the room Ambassador Darnell. The answer to that question seems to be either despair or joy for most people.”
“And which camp do you fall into?”
Sato got up and walked to the window. He looked out at Kazuki, and after a time Kippli thought he might never reply. Then finally, he looked into the Ambassador’s reflection in the window and give his reply.
“Hope,” he said.
 
* * *
 
Mary Spruce opened her eyes. The room was silver and green, with white support beams. She was sitting in a chair, but she could tell it could be lowered into a bed for medical procedures. She tried to move, and found before she looked down to confirm it that there were restraints around her wrists and ankles. She tried a few of the normal tricks to get out of them, but whoever had designed them had worked around each one, and doing so only continued to make her more uncomfortable.
"You're quite tenacious, aren't you?"
It was a man's voice. She tried to turn her head to see him, but it was no use.
"I like tenacious people. That's a compliment, mind you. But there's also a problem with them."
He finally came into view. She couldn't place the face, she was great with faces too. But he seemed familiar.
"The name is Jylan Rathe. You're currently at CISyn headquarters. Do you know what that means?"
She stopped struggling. "...You don't need to bring my family into this, please. I'll tell you anything you want to know. But there isn't much, the whole bomb plot was my idea, and I can give you the list of the sellers I--"
He shook his head. It stopped her dead cold. She knew about CISyn. Had been in the army long enough to know not to say anything if someone just happened to get mysteriously reassigned. Her pulse raced. She tried to steady it, but she struggled. She thought of her parents, her siblings, back in Atlantaplex. Her pulse raced faster.
"Please, Ms. Spruce. No need to be so ragged and weary. I want to offer you a job, actually."
She gulped, and found she couldn't not, so replied. "What sort of--I mean, yes sir."
He smiled. "There's only one problem of course. For this job to work, I'm afraid we can't have Mary Spruce running around. Too many pesky memories."
The chair began to turn into a table. Her mouth was forcibly shut. "But I have complete confidence you'll be whoever I want you to be."

After a long wait, we’re happy to finally present you the “Side-B” story to “Kalingkata Has a Bad Night Out” we promised back when that story came out. A lot changed in the world since then: we came out with a the first volume in “The Battle of Phobos” saga, we successfully launched the first WARSONG spin off with the surprise hit Academy 27 (a series none of us saw coming!), and announced that Arcbeatle Press would be putting out even more WARSONG content for the WARS Roleplaying Game with our newly acquired tabletop gaming branch, Shotgun Angel Games.
And now, WARSONG: Stretti, the second part of the Phobos saga, is on the horizon. How time flies, huh?
We’ve got a lot of exciting things on the way: the other two Phobos books, more original WARSONG stories, new RPG content, and a second season of Academy 27! We hope you’ll join us, and spread the word.
Oh, and if you haven’t already, grab the first Phobos book. Or heck, get one for a friend! With Stretti on the horizon, its time to get reading:
Click Here to Grab WARSONG: Preludes!
-James Wylder
President and Publisher, Arcbeatle Press