Hey fam, did a new story for the Writathon that follows Mikaela Solari (one of Penny's guards for the Forum in B3) that went off to the frontier with prospectors looking to be a lawman in a space western.

Twenty years after the end of the Herrat War, the Astorian Empire is a different place, and Earth is beginning to stabilize after the Extermination, and the Rise of Warlords periods (I have two story ideas I'm playing with that start within this time frame, but this story was the new idea I hadn't started yet and decided to go for during Writathon.) the Astorian Empire is successful and stable at 100 million residents outside of the Sol system, and 3+ billion remaining on Earth.

The Empress of Astoria, and Humanity, Penelope Astoria, pays little mind to the day-to-day operation of the Empire, leaving the arduous tasks of governance to her Consuls, and appointed cabinet, and the House of Governors, elected planetary leaders from across the Empire. Will the Empress stay involved in her creation? Or will she continue tinkering in her garden castle while the populous continues to aggrandize her legend and curse her name?

In all honesty, Penny is a periodic presence in the story, but the story isn't dominated by past characters.

I've managed to keep relationship issues from being as disruptive to the story as much of Charting Course was a victim of. The story also has less [System] in it, but it is referenced throughout as part of the same story universe, having tracks and classes, the same stat block items (which I avoid showing) that govern personal performance. Mostly I reference Track and Talents, the categories that cause wildcard moments in these kinds of stories.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I forgot that posting chapters requires 500+ words, so more typing. I'm open to showing the numbers, but Mikaela tends to let her AI make positive choices for her when it comes to Modules and monitoring her development, appreciating quick summaries of how she benefits to the nuts and bolts of how she got there

Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in reading more of Mikaela.

Break Break

Thanks for all of the Involvement in Charting Course and sticking with me through all of the mishaps and mistakes. I definitely learned that trying to post everyday is ultimately unsustainable. Without time to review, I tend to make snap decisions that are either disruptive or out of context and with the exception of a hunting chapter, I believe I've managed to avoid most of these.

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