I was taking a break from editing the manuscript for Chrysalis Emergent, and decided to create a concept rendering of one of the alien races that feature in the Legion Universe, this one also a Starwolf.

It’s not entirely how I visualize both this alien’s species, and the implants of Starwolves, in my head, but it gives you a good idea.

Alien Starwolf Concept Art

Figure originally created inside Poser, with heavy use of SixthSense’s wonderful ‘Wired’ figures from Runtime DNA.  Figure was posed, then imported into Vue.  The Wired figures were enhanced using Vue materials and effects including the glow effect on the wire cores.  Background is one of Team Dystopia’s old City Blocks, sky and lighting is mine from scratch for the image.  Postwork was minimal as this I consider a scrap.

Comments

• June 29, 2010, Mark Caldwell (1 comments) writes: Really like the skin texture and the red wire cores look really cool with all the subdued tones in the rest of the image My recent post Speed – the Modern Mercury

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After a little bit of CSS hacking, and some new versions of a couple of the images used for the site, I’ve finally managed to create a single column page layout, and can now post more of the writing material up without it looking all squished.

To celebrate this minor piece of design tweaking, it’s maiden outing is a sneak peek at “Chrysalis Emergent“, a K’Arian Legion novel I’m re-working at the moment.

I hope you enjoy the site changes, and especially the fragment of Chrysalis Emergent!

“Chrysalis Emergent”, A K’Arian Legions Novel

Chrysalis Emergent

Kiri believed the best place to hide dark secrets from her past is in the equally dark reaches of space.  Hiring on as a crew member of a deep-space freighter, she begins a new life.

Her hopes of safety are soon shattered on her latest trip with the presence of a Starwolf on board.  Inadvertently dragged deeper into the mysteries surrounding these elite warriors of The K’Arian Legions, she soon finds herself facing her fears and her past again.

Her only escape is to make a choice – stand and fight, or die.

Status: Unpublished

Kiri was, relatively speaking, standing half on the “ceiling” of the core corridor, and half on the wall, her mag-boots holding her secure.

In the time remaining before the main drive was activated, the crew was checking and double checking every component. Since free fall meant there was no real “up” or “down”, the ship’s designers had continued their sadistic delight in the contortions needed to reach ships systems, placing a backup power routing she needed to check behind a panel in a tight corner

Somehow, probably from the metal expanding slightly, the panel was wedged in its frame. Distracted, thinking about her encounter with the Starwolf, Kiri acted on mental auto-pilot, grasped the handles of the panel with both hands and pulled, straightening her legs to put her weight behind the move.

With a metallic “tink”, the panel broke free, but was quickly followed by an unexpected flash of electric blue from inside the space. A shock ran through her body as current arced from within to the panel she held, her muscles going into spasm instantly. As her legs locked straight from the shock, the stress on the seal of her boots broke their magnetic contact, and she came free from her perch, inertia pushing her wildly across the corridor into the corner opposite.

Her head crashed into metal deck plates, and for a moment her world went dark. Winded and dazed from the impact she blindly reached out, her hand catching then clutching a bulkhead fitting. She reached up with her free hand to the back of her head, probing gingerly, her fingers coming away sticky with blood.

She clamped down on the panic she could feel trying to start, her head spinning, she tried to stand but found her legs weren’t answering her commands to move. Droplets of blood, perfect spheres of crimson, floated lazily past her. She flinched from the salty sting as the flight path of one brought it into contact with her eye, and a wave of pain washed over her from the back of her head, nearly dragging her down into darkness again.

“Oh crap, I’m in deep shit here.” The thought flashed through her mind as she tried to figure out what to do.

Turning herself carefully in her weightless state using the handhold, she could dimply see the hatch to the Command Center, but realized her current state made reaching it near impossible. Turning back, she could see the hatch to the drive compartment behind her, much closer, and beside it, a comms panel – with an emergency call button!

She tried to assess how to reach it with minimal effort, the pain she had felt just from flinching looming large in her mind – she couldn’t risk blacking out from a repeat.

Right then, Kiri wasn’t sure if she would even be able to let go of her hold around the fitting anchoring her in place, but she knew that she was injured, and badly – the amount of blood floating around her head was growing rapidly. She had to make a decision, and fast.

“I’m not going to die, not here.” She repeated the words like a mantra, over and over, and reached down to put the fingers of her free hand into the grill-work of the deck plates. “OK, next hand” she muttered to herself.

Painfully, slowly, she moved hand over hand towards the hatch, her only chance to survive. Moving her eyes instead of her head to look for each handhold in the deck plates meant less pain, but waves of dizziness were coming faster now, the blood loss starting to take its toll.

After an eternity she was at the hatch, but now came the hardest part of the whole process – she would have to let go of the deck plates and push herself towards the comms panel. She doubted she would have more than one chance to slap the emergency button as she floated past.

Psyched with the desperation only one who knows her life rests on her next act, she pushed against the deck plates firmly, letting go and beginning to float towards the panel, hoping she had estimated the angle correctly, only to come to a stop in mid-aid, something pressing against her back. The panic began to break loose from her iron control, and a whimper escaped her lips as she wondered what had gone wrong.

Forgetting the pain that would come, she tried to turn her head to see what was blocking her, and just as a new wave of blackness engulfed her senses she could see a shadow – someone was there! She fought against the pain, forcing it back with the last of her energy, and found herself nose to .. helmet? The Starwolf!

“Emergency button”, Kiri managed to croak out, trying to point to it with her eyes. The Starwolf said nothing, instead holding Kiri steady in the air. She sensed, rather than saw, the grey-clad alien move, just before blinding agony slammed into her from the back of her head.

Drained, wanting to scream in frustration at the cruelty of a universe that would let her come so close to rescue then snatch it from her at the last moment, she finally succumbed to unconsciousness. The last thing she knew was a whispering whipping sound. She knew that sound, she’d …

Coming Soon!

With prompting from a few people, I’ve started working on re-tweaking a Legion Universe novel, with the intent of actually risking the dreaded rejection letters again.

But, me being me, I decided to do some cover art as well given the recent release of some new meshes.

Oddly, working on the character from this cover idea helped me to get a better understanding of some of the concepts the Legion Universe explores.

So, as I doubt will come as a surprise to anyone, I present to you a cover for Chrysalis Emergent, long before the words are even close to decent.

I’m Irish, what can I say?

Chrysalis Emergent Cover Art

Comments

• June 2, 2010, @impworks (1 comments) writes: Very Nice :-) My recent post Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-31
• June 18, 2010, Becca (2 comments) writes: Wow.........sister can't wait for the read.

Poetry is not my strong suit, but on the way home from Rolling Thunder in 2006, I kept having words turning and in the end let them have free reign to come out.

When I originally wrote this, a friend who wrote for a biker magazine on the West Coast suggested it be submitted, and it was accepted and published that same year.

I apologize the poetic style isn’t what you’d consider very good – but not for the words and what they mean.

Steel Voices © miika 2006

Honour, and steel, winds blow as we ride,
though those who sent us would rather we hide,
politics forgotten, we put them aside,
we come for our comrades, and honour and pride.

gladly we served, gladly we fought,
for those who needed us, for those who sought,
freedom and life, to live in safe port,
released from terror, and life peril fraught.

hundreds of thousands, steel voices cry in pain
hundreds of thousands, steel voices cry in shame
our children are home? how many remain?
for those that came home, nothing’s the same.

steel voices raise up, our rallying cry,
asking the guardians, why? oh why?
we did not object, we knew we may die,
but to rest at home, those guardians deny.

everyone comes home, this we all knew,
but those given peace, there are so few,
betrayal and abandonment, if only we knew,
so we raise steel voices, so you now know too.

harden our hearts, lest we forget
those who served, without a regret
and sit ye at dinner, this day that you set
a feast of celebration, with friends well met,

remember the fallen, and those who weep,
for loved ones still missing, no word not a peep,
and when this night you lay to sleep,
think of those, your freedom do keep.

bring them home, alive or dead,
do not allow them to languish in dread,
“everyone comes home”, it once was said,
remember those words, and those whom they led.

celebrate life, but on memorial day,
hear our steel voices, as we ride to say,
our comrades will come home, we pray some day,
regardless of the price for which we must pay.

honour the fallen, those who paid the price,
in deserts or swamps, or yes fields of rice,
return our children home, why must we ask twice?
listen we pray, this pleading precise.

for they are our legacy, those ones who stood tall,
risking their life, lest freedom would fall,
raise up your voices, every one and all,
let “everyone comes home” be your call.

Comments

• May 26, 2010, Jacqueline Lichtenberg (1 comments) writes: That's an amazing poem - made me cry and I could hardly finish reading it! I'd never have found this if you hadn't exchanged comments about HOUSE OF ZEOR on twitter. Since you said it's a good book, you might consider that it was my first published novel, and some people say I got a little better at writing as I went along. You can find a list of all the Sime~Gen novels, free chapters, other readers' comments, and links to all kinds of fan fiction in that universe athttp://www.simegen.com/writers/simegen/ If you'd like to add your comment about House of Zeor, just email it to me and I'll see it gets posted (with a link to your website of course). I'm impressed with your artwork, but more so with your writing. Jacqueline Lichtenberg http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com
• May 29, 2010, Jon Watt (1 comments) writes: I really liked this poem and the one you sent me in email. Jon Watt
• May 29, 2010, DeidreKnight writes: RT @MoonWolf95: @DeidreKnight http://bit.ly/amf5MR (beautiful, moving poem about meaning of Memorial Day)
• June 18, 2010, Becca (2 comments) writes: amazing and true.......thank you

I was hanging out in The Knight Agency’s chat room after the Rhyannon Byrd chat with a few others and the discussion got around to aliens and predators.  One of the chat regulars, DianeT, mentioned she’s prefer to go down to predators rather than aliens because she’d rather a quick death than the icky slimy death aliens result in.

Having just finished doing one of the illustration renders for Outsider: Epiphany, I was twiddling my thumbs, so I put together an image fast, and squirted it off to the farm while we were chatting.

Once it was done, a quick visit to Photoshop, and presto! – one random giftart of a predator

No Icky Stuff - Just QUick Death

Comments

• April 23, 2010, Tweets that mention Giftart Render for DianeT » Moonwolf’s Lair -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Moonwolf. Moonwolf said: Moonwolf's Lair: A cute little predator #3D giftart #render for DianeT (no icky stuff!) http://bit.ly/aHeeYr [...]
• April 30, 2010, Kokoro Fasching (2 comments) writes: *huggles*! Miss you hon!

I finally got around to finishing off this giftart for Mike Hawthorne over on Twitter – I get the feeling this is a scene that would be the end panel of his idea for a strip featuring his 4 year old.

No, seriously!  Check out 4YO’s antics!

I’ll admit, this is more of an artistic impression, but I’m trying to cut down on images with more blood in a frame than the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

All yours Mike, enjoy

I Can't take you anywhere

Comments

• April 17, 2010, miika writes: Giftart Render for @MikeHawthorne: “I can’t take you anywhere …” » Moonwolf’s Lair http://bit.ly/bapD6q
• April 17, 2010, Mike Hawthorne writes: RT @MoonWolf95: Giftart Render for @MikeHawthorne: “I can’t take you anywhere …” » Moonwolf’s Lair http://bit.ly/bapD6q
• April 17, 2010, Mike Hawthorne writes: RT @MoonWolf95: Giftart Render for @MikeHawthorne: “I can’t take you anywhere …” » Moonwolf’s Lair http://bit.ly/bapD6q
• April 17, 2010, Tweets that mention Giftart Render: “I can’t take you anywhere …” » Moonwolf’s Lair -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike Hawthorne and Mike Hawthorne, Moonwolf. Moonwolf said: Giftart Render for @MikeHawthorne: “I can’t take you anywhere …” » Moonwolf’s Lair http://bit.ly/bapD6q [...]

• I can't believe I'm still awake … #
• #Google backpedals (again) on #Buzz privacy http://bit.ly/bbP1tp – Padlock that barn door boys! #
• Just cleared compositing directory of render passes not needed any more – *44GB*!!! I *really* need to update my site with finished renders! #
• #DeviantArt #Artist mention: Bloodredsangre http://bit.ly/dgbjNA Cute fae and vamps amongst others #
• Just fed ferals, count's back to 5 so we didn't lose one as we feared! Looks like he found a new feeding/sleeping spot #
• Taking a break from rendering today, defragging the boxen in the farm. Wondering if I should write instead. #
• BBC News – Space rock contains organic molecular feast http://bit.ly/9PLb88 #
• OK, *this* is somewhat scary – #Poe Toaster didn't show this year – baltimoresun.com http://bit.ly/9n5kCN #
• Clips & interviews from the remake of "The Wolfman" on #CNN – http://bit.ly/bDxKla – I think I've found a new movie to watch on a big screen #
• Worth Going To! >> RT @JamesAMoore: For anyone in Atlanta area w/gets bored, I have a signing http://bit.ly/bJVCKv here, 7:30 PM on 2/16/10 #
• Riddles and Rumors: Big #Batman 3 Plot Points – Techland #TIME http://bit.ly/dx0ge7 #
• Group gives #veterans homeless pets a second chance #CNN http://bit.ly/bQYsO0 – And yes, it does work #
• You know you're having a slow day when you're arguing in blog comments about whether or not a pixie is a fae #
• #DeviantArt #Artist Mention: KaanaMoonshadow http://bit.ly/a3o3z8 – Beautiful work #
• QOTD: The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible – Arthur C Clarke #
• See a common theme here? >> RT @DarkHorseComics: #newcomicday #newcomicday #newcomicday #
• Don't know if anyone's seen these: Captain Phil Harris Moments #Discovery #DeadliestCatch http://bit.ly/baB5wL – Walk with beauty Captain #
• El Reg gets creative titling an article "#Google #Buzz accused of EPIC #FAIL quot; http://bit.ly/aTq6cu – You'd think they were geeks #
• Today's #deviantART #artist mention: Damaged927 http://bit.ly/dDfvQB – Some really cute anime art #
• QOTW: I have an Oscar and Alex [...] doesn’t. [...] I would have done a far better job of playing me than her >> *snerk* @MarleeMatlin #
• NBC's tape-delay coverage of Olympics frustrating for sports fans SI.com http://bit.ly/cHyNeX – Not to mention incomprehensible, lame & daft #
• Looks like local PD has that new "rumbler" siren … can *feel* it two blocks away! #
• Help me resolve a disagreement with my pixie friend and vote on my poll: Are pixies fae? http://bit.ly/b4dt0K #
• Today's #deviantArt #Artist mention: alltheoriginalnames's http://bit.ly/cUx1vU – You've got to see this guy's art! #
• Congratulations to #deviantArt #Artist LadyNightVamp, on her first cover art sale!! http://bit.ly/aw1Y4i #
• Hubby trapped by #WMATA #MetroAccess – An hour late making p/u, and now he's forced to do the Grand Tour of DC. 3 hours so far. #FAIL #
• Grand Tour update – #WMATA #MetroAccess still has hubby trapped on one of their vans. Dinner's cold. Good job he's not diabetic. #FAIL #
• Woohoo!! Hubby is finally saved from #WMATA #MetroAccess Grand Tour captivity. Only took 4 hours. Got to love efficiency #FAIL #
• Music to render to: Buffy Sainte-Marie's Running For The Drum esp. No No Keshagesh http://bit.ly/c4j7rX #NDN #
• Note to self: Don't populate an infinite plane with a non-dynamic ecosystem if you value your system's resources – 77 million polys of scrub #
• Today's #deviantArt #Artist Mention: porkshanks http://bit.ly/bKUsCd – *punk Cosplay and some amazing repurposing & jewelry! #
• Hmmm, should I be excited and proud I actually managed to grind Vue into imploding? Bad artist! Bad! #
• You know you've gone crazy when: you decide you've had too much coffee this morning #
• Farm happily churning away on a new Wasteland Wench render, and keeps office warm @ the same time! #
• Trying to explain Wasteland Wench to hubby, best description I could come up with is Mad Max meets Sigourney Weaver … #
• Muse is being a bitch this morning, teasing with glimpses of a fantasy image but not letting me "see" what she sees. Bribe with choccies!? #
• RT @GeekGyrlFriday Online Chat with Author Yasmine Galenorn | Geek Gyrl Friday http://tinyurl.com/yhebnw3 #
• Hot chocolate with marshmallows makes a good bribe, Muse happy and pointing out what I should have seen myself! *dives into render* #