Share
Rising Horizons, Pt 1
The penthouse bar was filled with unbridled celebrations later that cycle. It was finally the weekend, and the city’s various denizens needed to finally cut loose after a long week of work. The bar itself sat in the very middle of the place, where a number of bartenders made drink after drink all through the night.
Surrounding the edges of the penthouse were numerous tables, some high, some low. They were all pushed up against the large bay windows that surrounded all four sides of the bar itself. Everyone had a clear view of Manhattan, from all angles, in one of the highest buildings in the city.
The noise from each of their conversations combined with the too-loud music filled the entire room. Patrons leaned towards each other and talked enthusiastically about their lives, their careers, that awesome new ‘Cast, the state of the Federation, everything. All w
CeritusOrbisThis is pretty much where New York University is, except the campus has been tripled in size. If you haven’t been there, you can do a virtual tour on their website.
Related chapters
Ravens of Eternity Rising Horizons, Pt 2
Five jets screamed at maximum throttle eastwards over the Atlantic Ocean, and left the North American coastline far behind. The thrust from their engines caused the water to jet up in the air violently, yet beautifully. The deep blue sky above them turned a deep red the closer it got to the horizon. And as they sped, Sol peeked up and broke the sky into dawn. And even though Helios surrounded it, its light was still bright, and its heat was still felt. The sun unceasingly rose skyward, lit up the sky with brilliant shades of blues and reds, and caused the grey-blue waters of the North Atlantic ocean to sparkle. The pilots watched as Gaea witnessed yet another dawn. Just one more, after billions of them one after the other. Nothing new, but still amazing. Pio wa
Ravens of Eternity Throttling Up, Pt 1
The doors to one of thousands of Helios’ Police & Security Stations opened with a SWISH. Like most of the other government buildings in Helios, these were relatively nondescript. Large, unassuming, and plain, they didn’t do much to stand out among the rest. Eva, Miko, and Amal all walked out, followed by a middle-aged man wearing a pressed business outfit. His polished Helios Megacity Police badge hung visibly from his belt, almost like a mark of honor, or pride. On that same belt, on his right hip was his standard-issue sidearm. It didn’t look particularly dangerous, but it was certainly lethal in its own way. Eva turned around to the genial, bespectacled cop, and gave him a smile. “Thanks for your ti
Ravens of Eternity Throttling Up, Pt 2
The Toymaker sat hunched over his workspace in his quiet little shop and tinkered with one of his many delicate toys. With a jeweler’s loupe in front of one eye, he gently aligned springs and sprockets in place with unwavering precision. His hands, aged as they were, held onto his delicate tweezers and tools with unwavering steadiness. He slipped a thin brass gear in between two larger ones, and tapped it into place neatly. And as he added more and more parts back in, his steadiness never wavered. As though he himself was like clockwork. He barely even stirred when his shop bell rang and three people walked through his door. Two sets of footsteps were familiar to him, but couldn’t place the third. He didn’t even look up by the time they reached his corner of the shop.
Ravens of Eternity Throttling Up, Pt 3
A salesman in a wonderfully-pressed semi-formal outfit slapped a hand on the hull of the used ship next to him. “This bird can fit up to 900 cubic meters of standard goods,” he said, “such as your traditional flour noodle dish with delicious homemade red sauce poured on top.” Eva, Miko, and Amal all gawked at the beautiful frigate in front of them. It was sleek and held organic curves, as though it was a seed with short wings. Miko scanned it with her baton, pulled down its base operational data points straight to her brain, and shared what she found with the other two. According to what they saw on their DI, the ship was slightly larger than most frigates of its class. It sat at 150 meters long, 68 meters wide, and 42 meters high. It had a robust, flexible str
Ravens of Eternity Throttling Up, Pt 4
Eva, Miko, and Amal sat in a rented hangar and stared at the broken down old corvette parked in it. Its design was clearly outdated, and almost from another era. It was probably loved long ago, but was now clearly forgotten and neglected and probably even cursed. The thing was practically falling apart just sitting there. Its landing gear looked frail and could hardly hold the ship’s own weight. Paint was peeling all over its surface, which did little to hide the dents and scrapes all around. It was even missing entire sections of armor - how it wasn’t completely stripped down was a total mystery. And the design itself… not particularly the most attractive thing. It was a bit like a long oval, but slightly boxy around the edges. Although the front smoothed down nicely, the rear was bulky and looked a little
Ravens of Eternity Throttling Up, Pt 5
Amal slid her environmental suit’s helmet shut with a solid CLACK. Air vented out of little ports from the side with a loud FSSSH. Inside, its HUD lit up on the heavily tinted glass in front of her face. — Oxygen: 96%, stable Filter Degradation: 1% Antimicrobial Shield: Active — Amal sighed deeply as resolve set deep in her bones. After a moment of reflection, she curled an open hand into a fist. “Okay, here I go,” she said. “Wish me luck.” “Ganbare,” said Miko. Amal fired up the plas
Ravens of Eternity Launching Off
The Spirit of Amelia blasted out of the hangar tube and out into space with ridiculous velocity. Eva’s face was etched with a wide grin as she felt gravity press her into her seat. The g-forces ebbed when the ship reached terminal velocity, and lifted completely once they left Helios’ vast gravitational pull.Eva pulled the throttle down to the minimum, idled the thrusters, and set the ship drifting lazily through space.Then she received a notification in her DI that wiped her smile right off.“Can you believe they ticketed me for speeding just now?” she said. “They sent it straight to my DI. I even got fined 10k for it - which they automatically took!”Amal giggled.“Maybe you
Ravens of Eternity In Bloom
The Spirit of Amelia slowly descended down towards the ground and touched down on a flat patch of grass incredibly softly. Her landing gears’ legs creaked a little under her weight, but ultimately held firm.There were a few muffled CLICKS accompanied by a long HISS as the ship depressurized deep inside. Vents all around the ship expelled some of its stale air.It quickly normalized its inner atmosphere and let the crisp Venusian air slip deep inside. Every compartment and every passageway drew in the sharp scent of fresh plants, the ripe scent of human sweat, and the pungent stench of animal dung.The side door slid open into a ramp and came down towards the ground with smooth precision. Up top were the three Ravens, who laughed and chatted as they walked down the ramp and out towards a vast and busy fa
Latest chapter
