Freelancers, Chapter One
"Lia'Vael nar Ulnay?" Lia turned around--too quickly, and the room seemed to spin around her. She slumped against the wall, using it to hold herself upright, and crossed her trembling arms over her chest, hoping she looked casual instead of sick as...
Arena, Chapter 7
"Thank you," Grishnag whispered once she was finally able to catch her breath. When Dylan looked up at her and cocked his head in confusion, she smiled and added, "For not insisting on waiting until we escape the simulation, and for allowing me to be...
Harbinger, Chapter 5
"How is he?" Jack stopped a few yards from Bulkhead to catch his breath after sprinting through the ground bridge into the Autobot base. June and Arcee's mini-me followed closely, the latter giving Jack a quick hug before walking over to the wall and...
Elsewhere, Chapter 15
"Do you guys break _everything_ you touch?" Asuka winked at the group to let them know she was just kidding as they filed into Astra's control room. "Starting to look that way." Kamala sighed and zipped over to the central console. "The good news is,...
Freelancers: A Personal War
_Planet Bekenstein, Boltzmann System, Serpent Nebula_ "Almost there." Chula kept her voice low as Valeria entered the _Sulaco_'s cockpit. "Just a few more minutes. "Thanks for the lift." Valeria stared at he black windows and sank into the seat to...
Elsewhere, Chapter 8: Transitory Ataraxis
"Hello." Everyone stopped in their tracks. _That wasn't one of us. It seemed to come from the air._ Asuka glanced around at everyone else and found a sea of half confused, half startled expressions that, she expected, matched the look on her...
Enemy of my Enemy, Chapter 4
"How much longer?" Jack said as he watched Starscream extract Optimus from the tangle of inert Insecticons. "Until we pass behind the moon?" Screamer pushed one last bug away and nudged Optimus's unconscious body into the room. "We're only a few...
Freelancers, Chapter Fourteen
"So," Lia said, "how should we play this?" She dreaded hearing the answer. "Fuck it." Valeria glared at the main lobby doors across the street. "We'll just go right through the front door." "I like it." Dakka laughed. "So do I." General...
Freelancers, Chapter Thirteen
"This is gonna suck," Valeria grumbled. Chula, Dakka, Quint, Lia, and General Kurakova stood behind her and looked out across the restaurant. Dakka turned to Valeria and cocked her head. "Why's it gonna suck?" Valeria nodded at a turian...
Enemy of my Enemy, Chapter 3
"Come on, buddy, hang in there." Miko sobbed and struggled to see through the tears obscuring her vision. She scrabbled for a handhold on Bulkhead's enormous body, found one, and grasped the edge of the doorway to Knockout's lab. She pulled, the lack...
Elsewhere, Chapter 7: A Familiar Face
Asuka looked around slowly as her boots touched the hangar deck. The bay was big enough to hold all the shuttles and fighters they'd taken from the _Challenger_. The other ships' doors had opened and the passengers were filing out onto the floor,...
Newer World Order, Chapter 7
_ **Big Badda-Boom** _ "It's a shame we can't use any of this footage in our documentary series," the camera guy said, leaning forward and staring at the monitors as the battle raged on. "Some of it might be declassified eventually. We'll just...