Introducing: Zadir Corps: First Strike

Light Unto Another World art & revisions are moving along very nicely, and that’s not far off from starting to come out, but I have another, smaller–but also awesome project to share with all of you!

This July, I will be starting a Patreon/Subscribestar exclusive serialized mecha story (available to all tier levels).

Allow me to introduce

Zadir Corps: First Strike

More than a thousand years before the events of the Galaxy Ascendant series, the Revittan Empire finds itself at war with the aggressive, fanatical Nekessians of the Grand Akraphate.

When the Empire’s fledgling mecha program, the Zadir Corps, comes under attack during the graduation of its first crews, the war takes a turn, and the new war machines will take center stage as the enemy’s new weapons pose an existential threat to the Empire.

On very short notice, the literal handful of operational zadir and their their young crews find themselves embroiled in a conflict that is bigger than any of them realized.

As I indicated above, this series will be serialized exclusively to my Patreon & Subscribestar supporters, and the plan is to release an installment each month of roughly 10,000 words. Zadir Corps: First Strike represents just the first part of the story, with more to come if it is successful. And, of course, the more successful it is, the more art I’ll be able to commission for the series. And speaking of art… enjoy a look at the main mecha class we’ll be spending time with.

Yes, I grew up watching Zoids. Could you tell? I also have another ambitious mecha concept that’ll be appearing later in the series, but that art will, G-d willing, be ready for me to show off later this month.

Why a mecha focused series? They’re awesome, and especially with a severe lack of animal-form mecha out there, I figured I had to do it myself. Also I enjoy the idea of looking at this new tech from its inception, where it has more than a little in common with tanks (in case it wasn’t clear from the art above, most of the mecha in this series will have more than a single operator. The Zerakami-class, for instance, has a pilot (who commands the crew as well), a main gunner, as well as an engineer who can move within the mecha’s superstructure to carry out repairs on the fly. It’s also a subgenre I haven’t written in before (apart from the one short story), so I wanted to give it a go.

The adventure begins in the first week of July, with the first installment of the story (a short story initially published in a mecha anthology over two years ago–you can read a review of several of those stories, including my own, here.) Be sure to sign up before then so you can start at the ground level!

If you enjoy badass mecha, and especially if you, like me, enjoyed Zoids back in the day, you’ll have fun with this series.

Remember, you get access to this series at any Patreon or Subscribestar tier. So for just a dollar or 2 a month, you’ll get exclusive access to this series, first looks at art and other updates for my various projects, along with, hopefully, additional perks down the line. (And my highest offered tier, $10 monthly, gets you additional rewards including a free digital copy of any book I release while you’re subscribed. With Light Unto Another World just around the corner, you can expect quite a number of free books through that tier between now and the year’s end!)