Fragmented Stories

[Talkos]

Because this is my space courtesy of she who shall not be named and it's been gathering dust, I figured that I'd use it to record some of my better twitter moments. Which I've been using to tell 140 character snippets of stories unwritten. That said.


Paint the scene with the color of morning, and mourning. Orange flame, and red blood dried to black. Crows feast on heroes farewell.

Her eyes were neutron stars,her heart a pulsing ramjet. I sailed the cosmic string, and still flew rimward yet.

I looked upon the city, of which all others are but mere shadows. The cliff face was ten thousand steps to freedom. They would contest all.

Secondhand magic carpets and rusty magic swords, I bought an invisibility ring that only worked in infrared. Seemed a good idea at the time.

If you can't outsmart a rock troll then I'm revoking your right to belong to the same genus.

Jörmungandr sighs, Apep stirs, and the world rumbles as Oroborus slithers to restless dreams.

A Gun For Unicorn....now whether that'd be a better band name or collection of short stories I don't know, but it does conjure a nice image

"Technology has made the races of man are more diverse and varied than any aliens so far known. Peculiar that." Spacers Handbook 5:22

"When someone threatens to turn you into a small hopping thing, don't ask after phylum and order."

Once there we hired the services of seven native pygmy stewards. If I' known they'd whistle while they worked, I would have taken the mules.

She asked for an Epislon Sunspot. Only drunkards and dangerous dames order a Sunspot. She looked the latter, good thing, drunkards don't pay

The jungle closed in all around, wetly breathing, living and dying with each step. I was an intruder here, and not at all welcome.

If the Shah of Beta Cygnus could not impress me with his wit, I doubt sir, could you.

She asked if I believed in ghosts, I told her I'd believe Elvis was the son of god if the money was right. She stared back and said he was.

"When dealing with hive species do not insult their mother, unless you want 20 million enraged children after revenge" Spacers Handbook 9:14

Humans may become essentially immortal through upgrades genetic, mechanic, or transcendental. By which time can no longer be called human.

Mastadon Bates was the fastest draw spinward of Pecos, but he'd never met Lussex, her chitinous skin made bullets moot, and Mastadon extinct

Knife low, eyes up, slowly circling. There was a stillness about, and my opponent's grin seared my soul as surely as that wicked blade would

The transcendental AIs created during the experiment are the most advanced intelligences known to man. The reverse is unfortunately not true

[Talkos]

The orc was six feet of slavering tooth and muscle, with a wicked blade that just screamed tetanus. I let it have the damned pie!

Zombies are like squid, working with them is messy and the smell doesn't come out for weeks. Except they don't fry up nearly so nice.

Sure you can walk up to a vampire and shove a twig in its heart. Or you can save on the dry cleaning bill and use a military grade laser.

Corregidor Jones was a two bit smuggler out of the Altair system. It was almost a shame to kill him, but needs must when the devil drives.

Never bet against a dwarf in a drinking contest. But I knew something they didn't, the dwarf was really just a midget in need of a haircut.

A motorized junk with "Carthage or Bust" painted on the back passed us by on the port side. Gunrunners for sure, I set a course for Trebia.

The alien at the karaoke machine started singing a dirty ditty about a girl from Cygni Six, and I knew this was going to be a long night.

She danced in the starlight now, slowly spinning her way towards Alpha Centauri. A thousand glittering tears of ice, following after.

We hit the singularity without a flying car in sight, and yet we still longed for that chromed retro future: Yesterday's Tomorrow

Tesla and Frankenstein: No Death Ray too big! No Revivification too small!

I was told that technology was anathema to them...so when I saw the dragon playing with its model steam train set, I was suitably depressed.

The real trouble was the methane breather showing an Ace. Tics are hard to read behind a full rebreather mask.

Ivory limbs on blood red alters, dead men's graves of flickering pyrelight. Survivors, we are kings of the world tonight.

I held the sword of Nothing and was not afraid. If it could cut Fafnir it could chop this overgrown reptile to bits and still slice a tomato

I trigger supernovae as caltrops to cover my back as I shift to the higher dimensions of space. Even then it seeks me, there is no escape.

I downshift my form becoming a cosmic string, a nebulae, the celestial heavens warp and wrack, I'm a thing of scales and thermonuclear fires

I hide in the cores of stars, a phoenix reborn again and again, a steel plated ship headed for the outer rim, and still they chase me.

Empires fall in my wake and I raise up a civilization in my image, just to slow them down. They cleanse the system, just to clear the field.

Most feared the gunslingers along the rim was the Angel of Death, more so than the Duke in waiting, Mastadon Bates, or the Lussex. Or me.

I'm a bounty hunter because I've been the rebel, a dozen worlds and revolts, only to displace crooks with thieves. It got old, and so did I

Ursa Major hold a monster, the last of its kind, old when Earth was made. And for those that don't mind the threat of being lunch, an oracle

Like the sphinx of old it loved its riddles. Wireless connectivity to the Galactic web made things slightly less deadly. Slightly.

The Sycamore, a woman's form carved in bark and branch, unnatural and unnerving. Yet still it beckoned me forward with the rustle of leaves.

His sword flashed and his feet tapped out the dancing, fluid style of Caeldos, I countered with angles and efficiency, no wasted movement.

I hide among falling meteors, I am a fox fleeing hounds, a fish escaping the net, whatever trap they set I slip, but I am so very tired.

They return me to the rock, and the chains, the serpent's venom dripping down, the vulture tearing at me. All for another chance at freedom.

There was blood on my sleeve, and my sword. Dirty ice crushed under my feet as I backed down the alley. A feral grin and they were upon me.

The minute I opened the letter, I knew my life would end. For there was no turning back. A single line of text "I need you."

It was a weapon of exquisite beauty, one that the maker assured me would kill any man, beast, or god I happened to come across.

Saddler was in the top 20 of the universal fighting circuit, a bruiser, and headed right at me. I made peace whatever gods I could think of.

They used to sing of Tolo Glenraven like he was a 23rd century Robin Hood. He still steals from the rich, it's the giving that stopped.

They argued, who would come out in a fight, Angel or Blackfoot. Popular opinion had Angel, but smart money was the whole planet was toast.

Yesterday there were five beings considered more dangerous than I in the world. Today there is only one. I don't know if this is good or bad

Took the last ship out of Barnard's Star. What a sad, sorry bunch of refugees we were.

The list, the most dangerous 100 outlaws, inlaws, and xenomorphs this side of Centauri. One way to get on it, one way to get off.

I passed the first punch, and checked the second with my forearm. It was simplicity itself to lean forward and overbalance him. Victory.

Sir Theodric always said that the only good goblin is a dead goblin. He of course, never met one wielding a flamethrower.

I ordered a pseudochicken surprise. Which has as much relation to actual chicken as cherry jello does to cherries. Always a disappointment

We were halfway to Havana when I started seeing the flies. Could be worse. Wrong climate entirely for bats.

There were 37 souls aboard the Eclipse when it vanished. I was determined to find one of them.

So I may have rescued the dragon and slayed the princess. Let's let bygones be bygones and entrails be where they're supposed to be. Please

I stared down at the dirty pages and learned why cats cry and dogs howl at night, why you wake up in a cold sweat. The dreamlands, Kadath.

The oracle promised me three truths. One that I asked for, one that I needed, and one that would destroy me. All things have a price

We had wakened things long undisturbed, old gods shifted in their sleep, the earth shook and their nightmares crawled up from the underworld

We destroy ourselves each night, and recreate ourselves come morning. And thus do all worlds pass.

Know O Prince, that between the time when Miami sunk beneath the waves and the rise of fair Arrania, there was an age of high adventure.

[Talkos]

The placard read "Protesting the Heat Death of the Universe" I flipped the guy a cred. I intended to light some fires.

Cyrano Rae was master of the flexstick, with the application of an electric current it could go from whip to staff and everything in between

After the fight they started calling me Godkiller. I didn't ask for it, but I didn't start knocking heads when they started using it either.

I caught a tramp freighter out of Antares, best deal I ever made. Nothing beats a few light years between you and trouble.

I approached the Tower of Loss and Sorrow alone. The Warlock of Padua does not take well to uninvited guests, or even invited ones.

A illusion. Or a mechanical trap combined with woodwinds. Or of course, he actually summoned the dead souls and bound them to rotting skulls

Until the end of time I am here, trapped. Knowing only the vulture/the venom/the fires/the dark

Most often, superheros are regular joes. Supervillians, are the ones who built the tachyon collider in their basement. That says something

To raise up rebellion against the unbeatable foe, to fight, knowing I'd lose. The conclusion is foregone, but it's important to do anyways.

Was it the sneezing man in the elevator, the unwary handshake, the doctor's needle? I had been infected, and dreamt of unknown Kadath

I always got the shakes before a drop. Which is why they dosed me with diazepam. A thousand suns of nuclear fire lit my descent.

There was no need for a machine rebellion, man moved smoothly from flesh to circuitry. Humanity continued uninterrupted.

Moonless nights and empty dunes, a thousand miles to Cairo. A red star burned in the sky, the last beacon of a dying race.

Forget the black hats, first thing to learn as a PI, the most dangerous dames are the ones that come to hire you.

A Zenex was chittering along to I Left My Heart in Sigma Draconis. Of all humanity's exports, why did Karaoke have to catch on.

You cannot escape your past, the great trials and troubles stand like contrails in the morning light.

When was it? That precise moment when you stopped trying to take over the world? And when was it that you finally realized it?

"Did I do it? Did I destroy the world?" There was a hope his eyes, and I hesitated to reply. "Only your own." The wicked get their due.

I wanted Excalibur, to ride the sandworms of Arrakis, to match Lazarus Long drink for drink, and saddle Sleipnir. I wanted adventure.

I didn't take down the evil overlord just for you fools to make it worse dammit!

The LT dropped us five klicks from the zone, time to earn our pay. Ionized plasma bolts turned the skies a deathly shade of green. Hoorah.

Not one in three came back from the green. This one looked like he never left, a half dozen pale pointy ears hung from his scarred neck.

Can't go to Proycon. Shah of Proycon and I don't get along. He thinks impressing free traders into his navy was a good idea. I objected.

If your solution to the problem is either kick it or reverse the polarity, we need a new engineer.

I have wonder where one draws the line on cannibalism in a fantasy world. Do elves count? Dryads? Centaurs? Or just anything that speaks?

Always inspect sacrifices for authenticity. When the thousand headed demon lord is unhappy with the meal, everyone is unhappy. -Henchtip #48

The Arcturian was knocking back Jovian Sunspots and Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters like water. Its breath was enough octane to fuel the ship.

Did the gods switch places, the world slip sideways? I try and fail to recall the exact moment, when I stopped trying to take over the world

I set out to destroy my worst enemy, and found it was my own self. I sought treasure, and found only ogres and demons.

I didn't have any choice. I chased her, as the sun chases the moon and winter chases summer. There are some things we can never catch.

I dreamt that I was setting out to free my friends from the lords of fairy, armed with cold iron, hot lead, and hard rock.

The Karinae explorers named it the Valley of Birds, the Yeman shamans; the Cage of Air. There is a danger there in the mists. It calls to me

Cats have their own agenda. Let them fight their secret wars and toothsome struggles, we'd only slow them down.

Are you one who travels to a supernatural world and has fantastic adventures, or the world a fantastic creature travels to and causes chaos?

I can think of no better way to disillusion someone of the idea of a benevolent god than to give them a copy of the sims.

The Apocalypse Was Then! Memories of a Future Past. A retro future destroyed by the bomb. Now jetpack gangs roam the wastes for plutonium.

There are a few people in life that you have to let go, because they have a destiny. I was never one of them, but she was.

The ship took out three hunter killer navsats as we approached Proxima. I wondered briefly if AI's mourned for each other like we did.

Sometimes I think it'd be fun to meet all my parallel dimension selves. Except, I have a sinking feeling, I'm the worst of all possible mes

I slipped into my formal body. Slowed reactions, a little bulky, and all too human. I missed my extra hands immediately.

The vat grown Kurasawa looked good on her. Violet eyes and long legs. If only it hadn't come with venom dripping fangs and razor sharp claws

I uploaded myself into the mainframe. And again, and again. The ultimate in dark narcissistic pleasure. Then I randomized my/our avatars.

A half dozen gunships scoured that rock for 16 hours. If they was anything alive before, it isn't now.

The likelihood of insanity increases exponentially to the time your upload has been active before reintegration, and how many there were.

Saturation bombing turned the mountain into a molehill. Still, nobody wanted to be first in. Nothing more dangerous than a cornered dwarf

Coyote greets me, four jackals with red paws and white eyes sit at my feet. There is a memory of thunder. And I am bound.

The King of Cats cuts me open with a claw, and eats my sins. The Cat Queen shall chase all my evils away, for she is a hunter of all things.

I recite the words of opening given to me by a dying god, where will this go? Unknown Kadath, Savage Hyboria? Dark Dragaera? I fear my fate

Beyond the forever door I see two ravens and I know them to be Hugin and Munin, one will guide me to the future, the other to the past.

I call out to that being of last resort. Sun Eyed Set. There is hollow laughter as I am swept away by the storm, I am eaten by the winds.