#sst26 14:ASSYMETRY -Customs Enforcement, huh? They got you on what, ten-day rotations? -Fourteen. -That's rough. -Eh, once you extend the hab and get a little spin going, it's not so bad; boring mostly. Other two guys are pretty chill. -That hab must reek when you finish up.
#sst26 13:BANDITS Comms jammed, drive-cone shot to shit, radiators shredded, we're a sitting duck out here, just waiting to be boarded. We opened the armory, handed out weapons, but there's only two guys that have prior military experience.
#sst26 12:SLENDER -Look, they've sunk how many hundreds of billions into this thing, and for what? -Recent testing has been promising, last round saw seven full-power cycles of the main weapon system before- -Before it overheated again and melted down half the coils?
#sst26 11:DROPSHIP -First ex-fil? -Yeah. I hope it's gentler than coming down. -Well, us grunts don't get "gentle". When those rocket boosters kick on, let out your breath and brace your core. Grip your armrests- gonna hit six G's for ten seconds until the second stage fires.
#sst26 10 Lunar Marine Corps is the toughest, meanest, hardest-fighting branch in the whole Feddie military. Those prima donna Drop Troopers get all the fancy toys and glossy press, but Lunar Marines fight on the deadliest battlefield of all, with gear a generation out of date.
#sst26 9:SCAVENGER After C-SAR has finished their work, the scavengers move in. Galveston-class salvage tenders burn hard to chase down the dead hulks. Working parts are removed before the rest is broken down into raw materials, returned to the fleet via mass driver.
#sst26 8:DESTROYER The Nairobi-class destroyer is a small, nimble ship that punches well above it's weight. Usually seen in the thick of combat, it's trio of coilguns and ninety vertically-launched missiles provide a final line of defense for carriers and command ships alike.
#sst26 7:CONVERSION Shipyards at Luna cranked out thousands of the Busan-class light freighter during the Diaspora, and two hundred years later they're mostly still running. Simple and rugged, they can be had for a song and are often converted for piracy or merc-work.
#sst26 6:CARRIER The Santos-class carrier enters combat with eighty Stiletto drones. The nets strung between the propellant tanks can catch a Stiletto traveling at hundreds of klicks-per.
#sst26 5: DRONES The MQ-49 Stiletto has been a mainstay for almost half a century. Launched into battle at over 30 G's, swarms of Stilettos will approach enemy flotillas at steep parabolic angles, fire off sixty 2KG slugs from close range, and burn back home to be reloaded.
#sst26 4:TANDEM -Got 'em on the scope? -I think so- big tandem-hulled freighter? That an old Manilla-pattern, upgraded radiator system? -That's the one. -So our target is on that ship, somewhere in the ring? -If what our informant on Deimos said is right...
#sst26 3:RED -Hey, why's that one drone red? -Oh yeah, the Red Dagger. It's survived thirty-six engagements so far, the armory techs named it and painted it red. Got the whole left side shot off by a railgun, it limped back home and they fixed it up.
#sst26 2:RACING Pedal to the metal, man- plenty of delta left, just go fuckin' full throttle! Get it up to seven G's, you've trained for this! You can win this, just picture yourself on that podium!
#sst26 1:LAUNCH The LOF-8 is pretty much just a caseless autocannon strapped to an engine with a crash couch for two bolted on. Those prox-fused frag rounds are good at shredding satellites and small drones, but against any real warship... let's just say those pilots are brave.
Just picked up No Man's Land, the new novel from @quellist1.bsky.social and of course I had to try my hand at drawing the main character, Duncan Silver. Colored and rendered version coming soon
Due to the ongoing NYT Tech Guild strike my wife and I played analog Wordle this morning
#inktober2024 31 LANDMARK Once you spot the big obelisk, you’re only about a days out from Mercy. You sure about that, old man? That crossbow bolt ain’t scrambling your memory? Bolt didn’t hit me in the head, did it? I done this trip more’n dozen times!
#inktober2024 30 VIOLIN What’s that sound? I think it’s a violin, dad told me about them. Someone on a caravan must have found it somewhere.
#inktober2024 29 NAVIGATOR Hell, I’d trade three or four guys with crossbows for a good navigator: he does his job right and you don’t need the crossbows.
#inktober2024 28 JUMBO What were you and Jumbo talking about? Don’t let him hear you calling him that. Why? That’s what the other Sheepdogs call him. You’re not a Sheepdog. That’s Alphas right hand man, his enforcer. Only other guy in Salvation with a Relic rifle.
#inktober2024 27 ROAD We’re lucky this whole road isn’t completely washed out; another five, ten years and it probably will be.
#inktober2024 26 CAMERA What’s that? My mother’s old camera. Does it still work? That’s a complicated answer: it doesn’t need a battery, and if there was film in it, then yes, it would take a photo. But film is long gone, same as the chemicals to develop the pictures.
#inktober2024 25 SCARECROW You ever feel any guilt? What do you mean? Forging the nails that Alpha and the Pack use to make their scarecrows? When it’s someone in the village, sure, but did Dad always say? …Do whatever it takes to keep the Pack happy.
#inktober2024 24 EXPEDITION It was hard for them to tell how many of the Prophet’s zealots were on the march; it was the biggest military expedition they’d ever seen.
#inktober2024 23 RUST He saw the zealot pull out a weapon-an old pair of gardening shears, broken and rusty, the handles wrapped with twine for better purchase.
#inktober2024 22 CAMP Thy didn’t know it at the time, but those first few days just riding through empty wilderness and sleeping under the stars were some of the best times of their lives, despite the danger and the uncertainty.
#inktober2024 21 RHINOCEROS “What the fuck is that?!” “It’s a goddamn… rhino. A living Relic. Used to see them in the zoo, someone must’ve let it out before the End…”
