Another Character Illustration + an excerpt from Project Ellexis.
Corporal Ellexis Engel at home on-leave, contemplating recent events, wearing casual clothing.
Pose: Sitting on her home’s front doorsteps.
Illustration by Rick Snyder: https://www.instagram.com/rdsnyderart
Hi friends, it has been a minute! It is good to be back.
If you haven’t poked around here, I have built this new portfolio site. All shiny and brand spanking new. I did not do it without really good feedback.
Way better than the previous one, in my opinion; this one actually looks like a writing website.
You can find many of my previous blogs here, from now until about one year ago. I removed a few of them due to broken video links, or I did not find them worth to keeping.
That said, I am stoked to share something new! Well, sort of. New and revised: a second character illustration from my friend Rick Snyder (his Instagram is linked above) , and an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Project Ellexis. Rick’s second drawing of the heroine is another sweet pose. She’s essentially relaxing, as if on her home’s front doorsteps. I wanted to show this casual, off-duty, contemplating side of her when not geared up for military engagements. And to see what she looks like from a front-facing scene. Thanks dude!
Below are the first six pages of Chapter 1, from my most recent revision. The context here is Ellexis – the main character of the novel – is introduced, along with her brother Nolan and their two fireteam members. Their mission is to sneak into a war-torn courthouse on the planet Mercury to extract an allied scientist holding highly valuable information to a long-running interstellar war – the stories’ major conflict. He doubles as a spy for the UEC - United Earth Colonies’ armed forces. And make witty comments at one another.
Do they succeed? Read to find out!
FYI: For those of you who are totally lost, this is my work-in-progress science fiction novel, taking place over 300 years in the future, where humanity has many colonies in the solar system. I kind of post about this a lot.
Note: This is sure to need further adjustments. I thought it may be neat to share a more piece of developmental editing. Because this is far better than the first take on this chapter. So you know I am, in fact, writing this. Rather than always just referring to it.
Content Warning: Violence, Some Language.
Chapter 1
Ianlos Courthouse, Oswego City, Ianlos Sector, Mercury. April 4th, 2347
Ellexis scanned one of the buildings pockmarked with bullet holes using her heads-up display. Digital lines followed the edges of walls as her curved screen outlined them. A green holographic scale showed height and depth measurements of its outer structure. Crickets chirped in the tree line behind them, as they had for over three hours. Nice nighttime detail to mask her team's approach. But it wouldn’t be that helpful. It was about them being sneaky. What her intel claimed was here – an industrial engineer from Axiom on his way to Sylas after defecting - might be easier to retrieve and exfil.
"Got 'em by the tail," she whispered over their secure radio channel to her three other team members. "Radio silence on my mark."
Rising from her crouching position, she gave a two-finger point toward the closest administration building, where a maintenance door and a ladder were built into the steel wall.
Her fireteam – Private Ronni, Corporal Gareth, and her older brother by six years, Sergeant Nolan - blinked at mute icons in their HUDs, then followed her.
Inside, they climbed the metal stairs with the silence of a Mercurian jaguar. At its top, she quietly twisted a door handle to enter a hall. Ellexis motioned at something down it after giving another scan. Gareth, the Private behind her, nodded while sweeping a collapsable metal detector in front of them. Maybe these humanoid soldiers they expected to be shooting at them would only lure them in. Gareth just happened to raise his other fist at the end of the hall.
Ellexis stopped. Behind her, they all stopped at a corner with a metal door whose jamb was splintered. No sounds came from behind it, though. She tapped him twice on his shoulder, her assault rifle aimed at a forty-five-degree angle. Gareth nudged it open with one arm, his rifle and a white beam exposing the other side. And laying on the floor was a titanium arm—its hand and three fingers still attached to ball joints—mangled.
Okay, Sylas's humanoid robot soldiers are indeed here. Intel was correct thus far, she thought. She'd prefer were previously here. Our friends in the intelligence and planning departments did a good job. Ellexis again tapped Gareth on the shoulder. He took back his spot behind Ronni, who was in front of Nolan. Ellexis continued to the stairs. Faint pale light bled through tall rectangular windows ahead while they stepped up. A skybridge. It must connect the administrative building to the courthouse. We are so close, she thought. She checked the rear of her team where Nolan covered them with his shotgun. She grinned at him and pointed toward the other end. They must be across. His nod indicated "Affirmative” but might also mean "They're eating popcorn by a campfire waiting for folks like us". Fog formed in patches at hip height with moonlight shining off of window shards. No aroma of smoke.
It would be terrific to find a few of Sylas's soldiers on watch with the lab tech. Catch them off-guard drinking over a campfire on a blown-out floor. Take them out, grab the yank. Surprise, arseholes, Ellexis chuckled to herself.
A series of clicks came from the courthouse.
Everybody's helmet snapped up to face the off-ramp, weapons ready. An echo followed.
On her heads-up display, Ellexis immediately blinked at the Warning Icon - an orange square on the left-hand side. She followed that with the "All Flashlights Off" icon – a flashlight with four dots next to it. Only moonlight then shown through the skybridge's windows. Her eyes remained glued to her HUD. Then its low heat detection wave pulsed automatically a few times. Was something blocking it?
At the other end, they would get a better vantage point. Well, let's not get antsy, Ellexis reminded herself. Then Nolan crept up to tap her shoulder. She raised a finger. Wait one. They might be scoping us out in there, she thought. But she wasn't sure if he assumed that, too. If only their systems had a few preloaded commands. Blink on them like the other functions.
He curtly held back at her motion.
A white beam flooded their eyesight. A short breath caught in Ellexis's throat.
She dropped to her stomach on the dusty surface. The three others threw themselves down with weapons aimed forward. Laser bullets started whistling through already punctured windows and slammed through the bridges' walls or into the decorative lawn on the other side.
"Doggonit," Ellexis grimaced to herself. "Fall back to the rear door!!"
They spun in prone position, which was tricky given the space on the bridge, and at the first break in gunfire, ran low back to the split with the hallway and stairs. Nolan momentarily stopped by the door jamb until she passed him.
"We are so close to the asset!"
"I know; 83 yards," Ellexis hollered. Dang it – this is too well-timed. They were close to saving that lab tech and the price: a key for one of Sylas's stealthy space research stations. His nuclear fission stations were the hardest to dig up info on and an absolute prize. This UEA double agent for their enemy has the silver bullet to end fourteen years of interstellar fighting.
"To the roof, maybe?" Ronni stumbled in front of Nolan over bullets hitting too close.
"As long as it is anywhere outside this rubbish!" Rounds punched the steel walls like hot orange metal fingers.
Gareth swapped from his TVK 40 submachine gun to his R6C assault rifle. "We can't call for evac yet if we go to the roof. Probably holed up there well."
"Well, now you get all the attention you want," Ellexis said.
Ellexis stopped past the skybridge's entrance where she was surrounded by steel walls. For some reason, the wiz-pop of guns then paused. She took a deep breath to try steadying her breathing, which shook her like crazy before rounding the next corner. She pushed forward aiming down her holographic crescent sight. Tall windows ahead let in cones of light into this office space, which zigzagged as they tied tracking their next exposure. Then, new shots zoomed past her and hit the inner office walls.
She yanked herself back. Probably a smarter move to hold back a second than making a break for it. Her laser assault rifle thudded in her shoulder as she fired back. "Take them out fast, guys," she said to the others. "Nolan, lay some covering fire, will you?"
"My favorite thing to do."
"Gareth, toss smoke over there."
He ripped one off his chest bandolier.
"Ronni, Nolan - cover him. On three, he throws, and we make a jam for it. And no, not muffins and jam,” Ellexis said.
“That’s what I want when we get back home,” Ronni said.
Gareth entered a gap between right-angle desks, tossed the smoke grenade toward the windows, and then sprinted back for the elevator shaft down the hall. Nolan ran next while somehow firing, with Ronni following suit but not firing. However, somewhere from the building opposite stopped shooting. "Wow, what a shot, if you hit that through smoke", Ellexis said. Lactic acid began to weigh her legs down like steel bars. Something she was more than used to.
"Not likely. But I appreciate the thought!"
Enemy rounds continued ziinnging into every surface. Light fixtures dangling by wires crashed to the floor. Desks that had been shifted into what was likely cover for a previous skirmish were destroyed. Ellexis had to sprint to catch her fireteam. Then a distant pop, a burst of concrete chunks, and a series of cracks resulted in the floor turning into a downward ramp. One of those humanoid soldiers had fired a rocket from a lower level…. right into a weak floor. In the chaos, Ronni yelped right before the rocket broke the floor.
"Damn machines. Lucky shot!"
Three of them slid into a cloud of dust, coughing their lungs up, and then launched onto their feet in a race to get to the lower level’s elevator.
"Nolan, her calf. Grab her arm!" Ellexis said, lifting her by her other arm.
Ronni spoke through the lances of pain with garbled words. "You shoold'vv brught uh rawcket launcher, Gareth." They helped her to hop as fast as possible the last several meters.
"We'll stuff you with medifoam - just hold on," said Ellexis. "Can you walk?"
"'Bout to find out,” she growled.
She put Ronni's laser-blaster rifle into her own grip. "No, gimme. I can shoot back," Ronni said. Ellexis unbuckled its holster on her hip to give it.
"Got one, Sergeant!" Gareth said to Nolan from a corner cabinet by a desk. But he must have seen her hobble because he ran back toward them. "I'll use hers."
"Hey! I need it. Wh-why?" said Ronni.
"Seeing as you really can't." He didn't bother to get approval.
"Don't stay for long," said Ronni through gritted teeth. She pulled another couple of magazines from her belt and handed them over.
He grabbed them. After confirming its current magazine had bullets, he ran past the metal cabinet down the hall, into some other room, and hollered a super dramatic war cry. "Go to the scrap yard!" He managed to look as fearsome as an American wild west fugitive.
"They must be so scared of you," Ellexis laughed.
"Hah, I never figured him for a cowboy," Nolan's laugh was suppressed by the twin firing of R6C assault rifles. He propped their barrels on the desk. Just enough of an angle he needed. One stream of fire from the other side stopped firing after many seconds.
Before that next room at the end of the following hall, they were back near that maintenance ladder. Nolan fired from the gap between them and Gareth as he made a run for it. A dented-up metal receptionist table thankfully provided cover. Groaning, Ellexis hauled Ronni to the ledge. Her left thigh had a bleeding hole the size of an American quarter-dollar.
"Where's his gang at? Gareth said we'd gallop out of here," said Ellexis. Her grip sweated firing across the way with her pistol.
It sounded like an hour later that Gareth stopped firing. He had crouched to reload and take a breather. Flicked two fingers towards them, even if they didn't look his way. "Get down the ladder, you bloody idiots!!"
Another enemy stopped firing. Were they reloading projectile weapons? Ellexis wondered. Cooling off blasters? They were using both and the dust played havoc with visibility.
"Alright, I am!" Ronni pushed her weak leg over, groaning. "This bloody well hurts!"
"Woah - something fell out of the fifth floor. I think I hit one. Or two. Woo!" Gareth continued laying down covering fire.
But for another moment, the fire stopped again.
"Gosh. I was beginning to think they would not let up,” Gareth said.
"Yeah, me too. Or they are swapping for blasters," Nolan said.
Gareth caught a short moment to rotate his shoulder. Ellexis now found her own corner to fire from. "I thought they only used blasters to burn holes through buildings, like these," Ellexis said.
"Only if they duel someone like Gareth," Ronni said.
"Watch that far left angle. They might fire another rocket," Nolan said. He had slung his shotgun and fired his R6C while walking backward towards the ladder.
"Aye. I already am- "Gareth started to say.
"Can-it. You – scurry down that ladder!" Ellexis then pointed sharply at Ronni, "Wrong time to yap at each other."
"Actually, I can use more assistance, Corporal," Gareth hollered.
"Right. Gimme a second," she said, guiding Ronni to the ladder. Then she ran and slid to the middle of the splintering metal table. He repeatedly pulled back the charge handle of his assault rifle. Jammed. “Oh, not right now-“
“Problem?” said Ellexis.
“Bugger is jammed.”
"I'll take over," She winked. Whatever had fired stopped or was already down still, thank God. Pinpointing their enemies' positions was hard when they can reposition between rooms faster than them. She glanced back at the others. Ronni slid a magazine into her blaster pistol while still holding on the first rung.
"What are you doing?! Get your arse down to the grass!"
"Distracting them, obviously! And making sure I don't fa-"
A fresh hail of gunfire cut off what Ronni said with a sharp yelp.
It happened too quickly. Ellexis didn't even catch sight as she was shoved over the ladder's top rung with a thin, red-hot finger entering her clavicle. Her eyes grew wider than plates.
"NO!! Gareth! Ronni got shot down. See if she is still alive!" Ellexis said.
He spun around shocked. "Turds." He said, although it was muffled. Worry stretching across his face, he ejected his spent magazine and jammed in a fresh one whilst running back. He looked down at her figure. Her leg barely moved. "She may be alive-"
A blaster round then rained dust over his head. He ducked instinctively by the nearby elevator's dusty silver "Ianlos Courthouse" logo. But going to a fetal position didn't really help. He fired a few shots before launching off his feet toward the corner opposite Nolan when he violently shuddered backward over the rung.
Ellexis froze in shock. She stared at the ledge, right there, being fired upon. "Are you kidding m-"
"Ellexis, we're finished here! I will send those space heathens back to boot camp and then be right behind you!" Nolan said.
They both piqued around their corners. A red targeting laser found her position. But Nolan pulled his trigger three times first. All shots from across the way went silent.
"Sit down," he said.
They needed one chance to break cover. No - Ellexis wasn't losing her brother to this, too. If only each breath she sucked in to calm her heart rate filled her teammates' lungs. Slapping her R6C to her back weapon magnet, she booked it for safety and death to the ladder and slid down the three stories to the lawn.
And it became noticeably quieter, the walls drowning out robot warriors unaware they shot into the dark.
But where… where were they?? She thought, her eyes flicking side to side for two dark armor suits. There.
She saw one a few feet from the base of the building face down. Ellexis rolled the body over. It was Ronni and she pulled her to the tree line. Dark fluid soaked her clavicle. "Ronni, are you hit anywhere else?? We're out of there." She fell along the lightweight sections of body armor. However, all she received was incomprehensible groaning. So she felt more around her shoulder. Slickness - lots of it. Ellexis bit her lip; she knew. "Here… I'll find medifoam." She scrambled fingers over her packs for a cylinder of rapid-coagulating foam. Since it pumped out bright white foam, wounds were much easier to see once it was applied. She squeezed the nozzle's trigger to her shoulder area. And thus, her suit's left clavicle turned dark. But Ronni didn't answer nor respond to the jab. "Ugh, c'mon, Private. You have a brother waiting for you at home. Don't do this."
A long minute went past. No further action was heard. Taking her pulse confirmed it though – she was dead. Ellexis's lips tightened. Before she pushed herself up on her knees, Nolan gently pulled Gareth to them. He was bulkier than Ellexis could manage.
"Nolan… she is gone. I-I did this," Ellexis breathed hard.
"No, this is not your doing. You know that, and I know that."
He laid Gareth next to Ronni's still form. Dust from the rocket-cracked floor coated their legs and his torso had a quarter-sized hole slick with blood. He lay motionless, stone cold. She saw the realization in Nolan's face, exhaling quickly. These two were their best team since joining the Irish Armed Forces. The pale moonlight showed over the bodies as though a celestial hand took their souls to a heavenly resting place. Which, no doubt, she believed they now headed to. That didn't erase this.
In a crouch, she felt her arm tense up all the way to her fingertips, clenching a fist on the chilly grass.
"I… um… can carry him to the ship," Nolan said in a low tone, "if you can manage her."
"I hope that asset is smart enough to stay alive. But If the robots follow us through the trees, “she sniffled, “I will unload misery on them."
***
A battle pose for Ellexis Engel.
Corporal, Intelligence and Covert-Ops.
Irish Defense Force, United Earth Allies. 24th Century.
Illustration by Rick Snyder: https://www.instagram.com/rdsnyderart
Illustration by Rick Snyder: https://www.instagram.com/rdsnyderart