Showing results by author "William D. Arand" in All Categories

Wayne dreamed of piloting a thirty-foot-tall walking robot that was closer to a battle-tank than anything else. They were called Walkers. They were armed with laser cannons, rockets, missiles, and heavy kinetic weapons more similar to artillery pieces than guns, and everything that went with that. Unfortunately, he had been declined military service. His only avenue left to become a Walker Pilot was to make it happen all on his own. Under his own power. With his own hands. Literally. Working his fingers to the bone, saving all he could, and digging through junkyards and salvage pits,

In a world full of superpowers, Felix had a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns. To upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. At least, that was until Felix leveraged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give himself a great deal of points.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a Monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same Monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted. Rather than being an actual Monster. That was Rene’s entire life until a fateful day changed that. A day that the career as a hitman for hire built on the Monster’s needs will end. Where Rene will be forced to atone for his actions. To be held accountable and judged.

In a world full of super powers, Felix has a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns. To upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. With that in mind, Felix settled into a normal life. A normal job. His entire world changes when the city he lives in is taken over by a super villain. Becoming a country of one city. A city state.

Wayne dreamed of piloting a thirty-foot-tall walking robot that was closer to a battle tank than anything else. They were called Walkers. They were armed with laser cannons, rockets, missiles, and heavy kinetic weapons more similar to artillery pieces than guns, and everything that went with that. Unfortunately, he had been declined military service. His only avenue left to become a Walker Pilot was to make it happen all on his own. And he did just that. He became a true Cavalier, was wounded, gained squad mates, and founded the House of Hesh.

Have you ever woken up, rolled over, and thought to yourself, "I'm pretty sure I'm working for a supervillain?" If you haven't, then maybe you're not the type of person to work for a global corporation. Edmund, however, is exactly that kind of person. He had worked for Legion and for his mentor and savior, Felix Campbell. Now, though, Edmund is working for himself—and for the universe as a whole. He's leaving everything he knew, everyone he knows, to set out into the literal unknown.

In a world full of superpowers, Felix had a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns and to upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper; almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. At least, that was until Felix leveraged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give himself a great deal of points. Investing in, owning, and using Super Heroes and Super Villains, Felix built up an empire: an organization by the name of Legion.

Ash led a very normal life by his own standards. Right up until he was literally pulled into a portal that spat him out into another world. One that was full of martial arts. And martial artists who could use magic. Three years of living his life as one of the citizens, those without power, and Ash has figured out how to survive with his adoptive family and a lot of persistence. His goals in life have become to give back to those who gave to him. And he’d do whatever he had to to do that. Except Ash is about to get his life turned around again.

Alex has taken firm control over his county as the count of Brit. By and large, everything has settled into a fairly normal pattern for him, his Numbered, and his wife. The problem of course is there's still an ongoing war between two duchies, and Regina Tanulf, Alex's liege and lord, has plans for him. Plans that he wants no part of. Except that he doesn't really have a choice in the matter. Everything begins to spin back out of control as a messenger from the Wild Lands arrives with a plea for help.

He has the ability to modify any item he owns; to upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. At least, that was until Felix leveraged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give himself a great deal of points. Investing in Super Heroes and Super Villains and owning them. Using them, Felix built up an empire: an organization by the name of Legion.

In a world full of super powers, Felix had a pretty crappy one. After learning to harness his ability to modify any item he owns, he now runs a corporation that is rapidly expanding - Legion. After tangling with the local Heroes guild they’ve finally settled into a semblance of stability. Sounds great on paper. Run your company, make money, be your own boss, settle down. Except that with running a business, comes an inordinate amount of responsibilities. Like making sure everything keeps running and your people are paid.

Dominic's world had been a fairly simple life. To live his life to the best of his abilities, gain experience, level up, and strive to enjoy himself as best he could in a backwater. Which, while tough on its own, was made infinitely harder by his father being the local executioner. All of that becomes infinitely worse when his entire family is murdered. Dominic is then thrust into a war between noble houses that had been put on hold for generations. A war that the royal family lost, and now only had one true heir and claimant: Dominic Randolph.

Have you ever woken up, rolled over, and thought to yourself, “I’m pretty sure I’m working for a Super Villain.” If you haven’t, then maybe you’re not the type of person to work for a global corporation. Edmund, however, is just such an individual. He works for Legion: a corporation of unimaginable reach that he barely understands, a corporation that seems determined to put itself smack dab in the middle of a brewing civil war between Super Heroes and Super Villains.

Felix would like nothing more than to take a vacation. A long one. One where he didn’t have to wake up every morning and worry over casualty lists for the day. Ever since he and the Legion had been forced to flee their headquarters four years previous, nothing had gone quite right. In fact, Felix and the Legion have been locked in a shadow war with enemies unknown. Ones with magic that could carve through their technology easily.

Runner and his team managed to bring peace to Tirtius, successfully log the crew out, and have begun settling in to make a home on the isle of Vix. Fate isn't going to let them go that easily though. She clearly hasn't decided on what to do with him. Plots are in motion. Threats local, divine, and abroad scheme to exterminate Runner and the threat he represents. The possibility of what he could become.

Runner and company have safely left the city ahead of the siege. Completing their class promotions with barely any time to spare. Unfortunately Runner hasn't discovered the password he needs to begin the logoff process to save the 400,000 or so crewmates left alive in this game where dying truly means death.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted.

Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down. Gus’s life had been a tedium and boredom he’d grown comfortable with. One that he sought out after he’d come back from his tour of duty. That was before Melody, a contractor, more or less blew his life up as if it were a building packed full of C4. Then she pranced around the ashes of it like it was the end of the world and was conjuring up the end times herself.

The war with Gaelis has gone poorly for Alex's foes and well for his allies. He's enriched himself, empowered his county with that coin, and built his county ever higher. The war swings in favor of his Duchess. Yet the war still goes on. The end doesn't seem to be near, nor does Alex feel as if it is as simple as he'd once thought it. Because spring is here. Roads will be opening. Passes will be traversable. Making it possible for armies to march. Which means it's time for Alex to get back to work. Because more than ever, he has a lot to lose, including his newborn children.

Runner has a problem. He and 499,000 men and women are trapped in a game. He also just happens to be the only person from IT who could log everyone out safely. And he doesn't remember his password. He, like everyone else in this nightmare, had his memory scrambled or lost in the process of being loaded into the game. A single garbled message is his only clue to how to save everyone. The problem is that whoever loaded them into the game loaded their minds completely.