Saturday, August 20, 2011

Onward!

Well, it's back to work tomorrow after a 3-week break. Not sure what I'm going to find as there were two major staff additions in my absence, but all should be well.

During my time off, I got just about everything I wanted to accomplish done, which rocks. With the books and short stories up at either Amazon or Smashwords, I can now focus on the third Approaching Infinity book. I imagine there will be time for the occasional short story as well (hopefully there's interest for both...).

Thank you all for your support!

And please let me know what you think—be it good, bad, or ugly—at one of my sites or at Amazon with a review!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Stafros Lowe

Specialist, Blue Squad, Retired
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: Lead Cloud Steps

Height: 190 cm
Weight: 82 kg
Gravity Rank: 25
RPP: 2,050
RMP: 100
Birthdate: 9,471.142

Artifact: Eternal Spring
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 41,000
Dark RMP: 2,000

Active Dates: 9,500-10,000
Residence: Planet 815

While Dark, Lowe is an anthropomorphic frog with metallic, electric blue skin. His eyes are strangely faceted yellow-green gems. He has a three-meter long tongue with a bony harpoon tip which can be launched with deadly speed, force, and accuracy. At each shoulder is a sealable "pod" that houses 7 launch tubes which can fire pollywog drones. These drones can act as fairly slow smart bombs—they can fly or swim to designated targets—detonating on impact, or they can, in two minutes, "evolve" into simple copies of Lowe (up to a total of 140 copies at one time, each with an RPP of 8,200) who will brawl until their allotted lifespan of one hour is up and they explode. The smart bombs' explosions are twice as strong as the copies. Though through his martial art Lowe can effectively fly, the Eternal Spring grants him phenomenal leaping ability, which allows him to cover more distance more quickly.

Dolma Set

Specialist, Blue Squad, Retired
Category: F-Gene Fighter, Superior Grade
Discipline: Liquid Palm

Height: 172 cm
Weight: 74 kg
Gravity Rank: 28
RPP: 2,072
RMP: 100
Birthdate: 9,473.084

Artifact: Essential Oil
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 41,440
Dark RMP: 2,000

Active Dates: 9,500-10,000
Residence: Planet 832

While Dark with the Essential Oil, Dolma Set takes on the appearance of an anthropomorphic cross between an eel and a shark. His single fang can infect opponents with a debilitating hallucinogenic poison. His "skin" while Dark is made up entirely of folding placoid scales, which can smooth down to make him nearly frictionless.

While Dark, the Essential Oil also surrounds Set in a bio-electric field that is sensitive to external pressures. When the external pressure is exerted by matter in a liquid state, Set gains limited control over the liquid. Among other benefits, this gives Set unparalleled speed and freedom within liquid media. Directing the power away from his person, Set can gain control over sizable volumes of liquid (up to 20,000 cubic meters), enabling him to summon forth Un Azameio, a semi-independent mass that responds to his commands and his will.

Bela Fan

First Specialist, Blue Squad, Retired
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Cryokinesis

Height: 148 cm
Weight: 40 kg
Gravity Rank: 22
RPP: 880
RMP: 4,100
Birthdate: 9,477.103

Artifact: Cold Front
Artifact Rank: 22
Dark RPP: 19,360
Dark RMP: 90,200

Active Dates: 9,500-10,000
Residence: Planet 649

When Dark, Bela Fan is covered in a thick, protective layer of glossy white enamel that flexes to accommodate her every move. She also gains a prehensile tail, two meters long, issuing from her lower back and buttocks, which she can use quite effectively as a weapon. The tail is 25 centimeters in diameter at its base and tapers to a one centimeter point.

In addition, her Artifact significantly bolsters her cryokinesis. This, combined with her mastery of Sinzer Method Projection, makes her quite deadly, able to flash-freeze her opponents through and through.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Ghost Squad: Kalkin's Dilemma

Now Available!

Please take a look here at Amazon!  Although it may say $2.99, it's $0.99.  Thanks again to Chris Seaman for the cover!  Future Ghost Squad stories will be coming out soon (but don't be confused by the cover which will be the same for all Ghost Squad stories)!

Approaching Infinity Books

Now also available from Smashwords!  Check here for all titles!

Update - Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Unfortunately, no titles are currently available from Smashwords.com. They were removed so that they could be enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select program.

Aren Alspess

General, 18th Generation, Retired
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: Liquid Steel Whip

Height: 190 cm
Weight: 82 kg
Gravity Rank: 24
RPP: 1,968
RMP: 100
Birthdate: 9,322.005

Artifact: Live Wire
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 39,360
Dark RMP: 2,000

Active Dates: 9,350-9,850
Residence: Planet 906

When Dark, Alspess's body becomes a figure of animate wire, tangled and knotted, which responds to his will. Alspess can expel seemingly endless lengths of this wire, though wire that is removed from his body for more than 24 hours will begin to disintegrate. Alspess uses the wire for a variety of purposes but mostly to implement his martial art, the Liquid Steel Whip.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thuzo Povall (DECEASED)

Former Specialist, Ghost Squad
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Illusion Generation

Height: 185 cm
Weight: 82 kg
Gravity Rank: 16
RPP: 1,312
RMP: 5,000
Birthdate: 8,975.203

Artifact: Infinity Box
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 26,240
Dark RMP: 100,000

Active Dates: 9,000-9,367 (killed in 9,367)

There is no question that Thuzo Povall was killed by Geiss Sinzer, but evidence suggests that somehow, Povall's Artifact, the Infinity Box—a powerful complement to Povall's innate illusion generation skills—has been tapped and is being used by Sinzer to provide cover for his terrorist activities. How this has been accomplished remains unknown.

Povall was one of the most accomplished illusion mechanics the Empire has ever known. His mastery over his art enabled him to move subtly from the mundane to the outlandish with no one the wiser, not even those with substantially higher RMPs. This made him very dangerous as few could count themselves proof against his Truth of Infinity, an assault on the mind and the senses which obliterated both. When Dark, Povall usually appeared as a hooded figure of constantly shifting proportions, covered in animate rags. Just to look at him caused motion sickness.

Pai Casta (FUJITIVE)

Former Specialist, Ghost Squad
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Energy State

Height: 158 cm
Weight: 47 kg
Gravity Rank: 23
RPP: 1,081
RMP: 4,900
Birthdate: 8,977.117

Artifact: Containment Suit
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 21,620 / 98,000
Dark RMP: 98,000

Active Dates: 9,000-9,367

On receiving her Artifact, Pai Casta's skin took on a permanent light, rich gray cast. Her once fair hair also turned a darker shade of lustrous gray.

She has two transformations while Dark. The first reveals the black Containment Suit, noted for its unusual triangular helmet. The second is her refined energy state, enabled by the Containment Suit. In this state she is animate energy, a pulsing sphere of purple light one meter in diameter, essentially immune to physical harm. She has total control over her movement and her destructive power, able to project the latter in a variety of ways, from repeating projectiles to devastating blasts of built up energy.

Geiss Sinzer (FUJITIVE)

Former First Specialist, Ghost Squad
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Telekinesis (Psychokinesis)

Height: 168 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Gravity Rank: 30
RPP: 1,950
RMP: 10,000
Birthdate: 8,983.254

Artifact: Spectral Coat
Artifact Rank: 25
Dark RPP: 250,000
Dark RMP: 250,000

Active Dates: 9,000-9,367

Besides raw telekinetic force, which he uses as a means for flight and as a primary offense, Sinzer has exhibited the ability to heal at an extremely accelerated rate, to teleport to any location he has seen (with his own eyes or through video reproduction), and to mark otherwise hidden objects of potential interest to him for further investigation (referred to by some as intuition radar). There is some speculation that these "secondary" abilities are all subtle reworkings of his telekinetic power, that unconsciously his mind sets to work mending broken flesh and bones, that he physically folds two points of space together for instant transportation, and that he "sorts" through his environment, emphasizing items that would catch his peripheral attention but that would normally be overlooked.

When Dark with the Spectral Coat, Sinzer is incorporeal and looks in fact like a ghost, or an interpretation of one. He becomes focused telekinetic energy, able to use his power without restriction. In this state, his Dark RMP doubles as his Dark RPP. The Spectral Coat also enables Sinzer to call forth the Ghost Army, up to 10,000 duplicates of Sinzer, all capable of independent action, and all equipped with his full abilities. The synergism achieved by Sinzer's innate abilities augmented by the Spectral Coat was unprecedented and remains unmatched. However, Wheeler Barson, the 20th Generation First General, comes in at a close second with his Singularity Punch.