23.3: Soldier—An Infiltration, Mirando

In-transit, Capricorn The cold and dark sleep clung to the recesses of Werner’s mind as he awoke. He lay still for a moment on his thin mattress as he stared up at the low-ceiling overhead and felt the rumbling of the train pass into him through the bed-frame. Light permeated the small room from beneathContinue reading “23.3: Soldier—An Infiltration, Mirando”

16.2: Private, 0405 No Honor

Landser Wilhelm Fischer always wanted to be somebody. Anybody. He wanted to be more than his grandfather who fished day-in and day-out with a lame leg that ached every morning. He wanted to be more than his grandmother who toiled away at the bakery reading customers’ lips and because she’d lost her hearing in theContinue reading “16.2: Private, 0405 No Honor”

16.1: Captain, 0500 Insubordination

Before Volker Weingartner was hauptmann of the 212th Division of the Border Force, he was a teacher at Vollmond Elementary. Rather, he was a professor, holding first a degree in psychology and then numerous degrees in literature ranging from Capricornian folklore to classical Signum epics before finally attaining a degree in military tactics. Nothing tooContinue reading “16.1: Captain, 0500 Insubordination”

15.5: Second Lieutenant, 0310 Captured

Unoccupied Territory, Argoan-Capricornian Border  Death was like a bad whiskey. Drink enough of it—get exposed enough to it—and you got used to it. Sometimes forgot about it. The bitter taste of it lessened into something shrugged at, maybe grimaced at lightly in passing. The line, smudged. Until it was someone you knew. Someone you reallyContinue reading “15.5: Second Lieutenant, 0310 Captured”