It had been an hour since Songbird had hit the surface of Oxomo. Ash spent the whole time down in her guts. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Nothing seems to have broken down, but something went screwy enough to trigger the engine core’s emergency shutdown procedure.” Zane looked worriedly at the pipes where… Read More AotS – We Be Legend, Part 2

The crew of Songbird had been taking it easy. It had been a couple weeks since Ash was cleared to be on his feet. And while Martens hadn’t heard the whole story, he was more than happy to provide a little assistance on the subject of Ash’s medical expenses. As he had said, “you guys… Read More Apex of the Songbird, Episode 12: We Be Legend

The city was, as Mari had indicated earlier, absolutely lousy with shipyards. It was a convenient stopover point on several trade routes. They had searched three of them so far, and found nothing. Before they went running to another one, they stopped in a little diner to eat and think. Jayna pored over a directory,… Read More AotS – The Ash Heap of History, Part 6

Jayna sat and listened in rapt attention as Chuck told the story of how he met Ash, with Zane and Mari patched in and listening via her tablet. “…and there he was on my doorstep,” said Chuck. “I hadn’t seen him since his father died.” “So… he just left the Brotherhood, just like that?” Jayna… Read More AotS – The Ash Heap of History, Part 5

“Ash…”   “…Ash?”   “…Ashton, get your ass out of bed or so help me.”   He jumped up, looking up in a haze. “I’m coming… I’m coming!” he said, slipping into his pants and running for the bedroom door. It was a smallish apartment, the sort that was copy-and-pasted a hundredfold around the complex.… Read More AotS – The Ash Heap of History, Part 4

It took some doing to convince the hospital staff to let them accompany Mr. Vankar, but they managed to get across the idea that Zane was his cousins. A few chits helped get the idea across with a bit more speed. It took maybe another two hours to get him stabilized to a point where… Read More AotS – The Ash Heap of History, Part 3

“Ash! Hey, Ash!” “I’m listening!” “You’d better be. Hand me that spanner, would you?” “This one here? I think this one might be better…” “Hmm! You could be onto something! Alright, we’ll try it. We’ll make a mechanic out of you yet!” ~*~ Ash woke up in a haze. He usually did. He was not… Read More Apex of the Songbird, Episode 11 – The Ash Heap of History

  Batch sat on the stage, crooning to himself as the flurry of people crowded around him. From backstage, Ash watched the crowds assemble. It was all rather low-key, compared to the sorts of places that this persona was used to performing. “So how’s this going to go down?” whispered Batch as the song wound… Read More AotS – The Man With No Face, Part 6

  Back at the suite, there was tension in the air. The lobby was jam-packed with media, hoping to get a story on the attempt on the life of a local celebrity. And Zane had just finished telling Batch his newest theory. Batch shook his head. “There’s not a whole lot of people who know… Read More AotS – The Man With No Face, Part 5

“I really, really don’t want to be out in public right now.” “Tough noogies,” said Zane,” you need to be here, they won’t talk to us without you.” They had dressed Batch as plainly as they possibly could. It didn’t help much. Mari watched the elevator numbers tick down. “So.. do you write your own… Read More AotS – The Man With No Face, Part 4