Tag: fantasy

Working on Something Different

I’ve got a lot going on.

I’m waiting for edits on Date Night (a cyberpunk romance thriller) so I can submit it to an anthology.

I’m editing for Tales of the E4 Mafia 2 and Butter Bars! Large and (Not So) In Charge! anthologies.

So, of course, I’m writing a military fantasy story. It’s about an Ensign interning with a platoon of mercenary marine infantry dealing with what should be a raiding party in a small port village on the coast. Instead, he’s got heavily armed and armored hyena faced warriors who are far more capable. than a pirate or raider band would normally be.

And a they’ve killed the platoon’s lieutenant, so our unlucky ensign is the officer of the day whether he’s ready or not.

Here’s a snippet:

Marine Sergeant Othgrel Skullsplitter was less than pleased by her current assignment. It wasn’t trying to defend a coastal village against raiders. No, that was a normal tasking the 2nd Free Marine Battalion was hired for once or twice a month. her issue was coddling the ensign who was seconded to Lieutenant Hailt, the platoon leader. She wondered if Grem cared at all for her constant effort to grow stronger and prove her ability in war, to have let her get saddled with the just graduated cadet from Swentland’s Officer Training Academy.

“Ensign, please bring yourself over to me,” the gnome said, hearing the sounds of fighting somewhere to their left.

“Yes, sergeant,” the young man nodded and rushed toward her, his kit rattling as he approached.

“Need to lash that trash down, Ensign,” she gave him a sideways glance before leaning to the edge of the hut they were sheltering behind.

“Yes, Sergeant. Shouldn’t we be helping?” the ensign asked.

“No, sir. My job is keeping you alive through this,” Othgrel explained, “Let you get a look at the job before you get into the real.”

“I see. I should stay with you and observe while the platoon handles things. But I can’t see much from here.”

Oh, joy. He caught on, the sergeant thought, “Not to worry, Ensign. We’ll move in a moment to get you some sights.”

“You sound like you’ll enjoy that, Sergeant.”

“I will. Not sure you’ll enjoy it, Ensign.”

“That’s what I’m here to see,” the ensign shrugged, shifting his shield and sword.

“Well, let’s find out,” Othgrel grinned, leaned around the building and moved forward, sprinting to the edge of the hut. That gave her a view of the town’s square, where the platoon was battling some kind of troops.

These were supposed to be coastal raiders. What Othgrel saw were coherent troops moving against a solid squad of free marine infantry. Checking the field, Lieutenant Hailt stood behind the squad, his bow up, but otherwise doing his duty of directing the sergeants and marines. An arrow flew, he gave an order, and then released another arrow. One of the attackers fell out of the shield wall marching on her Marines.

Scanning the attackers for any kind of identifying marks, Othgrel felt the Ensign move up behind her, leaning over her. Ignoring the kid, she spotted another of the attackers across the square, stepping from behind a building and raising a crossbow. She stepped forward, raising her own bow, but she was a step too slow. They released their bolt, and stepped back. Glancing to the left, she saw the quarrel protruding from Hailt’s throat. The officer dropped his bow as blood spurted from the wound, and then he collapsed to one knee. The marines on the line held their place while another, Corporal Guidoft from the look, raced over.

Hopefully, I can get this story finished and out to the reading public soon!

I Finished the Rough Draft of Corporals

I finished the rough draft of ‘Corporals’ the other day, and thought you all might enjoy a snippet of the story. In this story, Burn and Bad Karma are recruited into Rangers due to some issues that come up with Karma’s past.

Enjoy!

“Training under an identity we’re building for you. Makes it more complicated for politicians. Tossing people with no numbers under tank treads is easy. Soldiers and Department team members get ugly for them fast,” the sergeant major explained.

“We haven’t been a country long enough for politicians to be voted out,” Burn faced the soldier.

“Three politicians had tragic accidents,” the general noted, “And the investigations came up to purely accidental causes. Clearly.”

“Wasn’t me,” Bad Karma said.

“It wasn’t,” the sergeant major smiled, her cheeks rising as she spoke, “We checked.”

“What, exactly, are you trying to say?” Burn’s fingers pressed against the table, turning white.

“That it appears that trying to use the Ranger Department for political advantage can be detrimental to one’s health. Many veterans of the war are outspoken about using individuals as trading chips. The Department, of course, is absolutely loyal to the elected leaders of our nation and our constitution,” the sergeant major said.

Silence settled across the room. Burn noted the buzz of the white noise generator and that her comm systems were showing no signal.

“It appears we can trust you. So, why HALO jumping?”

“It’s the nearest start date we have for any training,” the general shrugged, “And I doubt you two would do well in Ranger School.”

“Why’s that?” Bad Karma asked.

“Ranger School lasts for three months. Freefall school is three weeks, and you don’t have to go in knowing military tactics,” the sergeant major noted, “First, you don’t want to be out of the loop in the dropped numbers world for three months. Second, you don’t need to go through the usual military training program. We just need you in a school to have your new core IDs solid. Third, the training will be useful to you and to us, as it opens some options when situations needing your skills come up.”

“New skills don’t hurt,” Karma shrugged.

Speculative Fiction Call: E4 Mafia & Junior Officers

I’m at it again. I’m doing edits and story selection for two anthologies with Henchman Press!

Tales of The E4 Mafia 2

We’re looking for more stories about those corporals, specials, lance corporals and petty officers!

Give us your best speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and urban fantasy) stories about those experience young soldiers, marines and sailors getting tough tasks handled, dodging overbearing leadership, show how and when to ignore their unit’s stodgy processes, and skirting the regulations and rules with the grace of a ballet dancer. A ballet dancer who happens to have access to a ridiculous amount of equipment and weaponry!

Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Tales of the E4 Mafia 2”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.

Butterbars! Large and (Not So) In Charge

No one starts a job or career knowing everything. Junior officers, whether they’re 2nd Lieutenants or Ensigns, in any military bring some nuance to their position. They have education and are provided with training, taught to lead and make decisions in tough situation. What they don’t have is experience at their job, an understanding of how their unit operates, or the personalities and capabilities of their people. Combined with directives to make decisions, give orders and direct efforts, this can lead to, err, interesting results, to say the least.

What we’re looking are speculative fiction tales centered around these most junior officers and the situations they create or impact. We expect to see absurd outcomes, courses of action that are other than optimal, or humor as these leaders’ directives and orders create chaos, their troops adjust to avoid negative consequences, and somehow they still get the job done!

Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Butter Bars!”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.

So, if you write military fiction, speculative fiction, or any brand of fantasy or science fiction, send me a story!