Overcoming Fears: Excerpt From Untitled Sci Fi WIP

I've noticed that authors give excerpts of their works in their blogs and then realized that I've never done that. I get a little antsy about sharing my work. Being super new at this, I never know what is too much to reveal, what is too little, or whether or not people would like what they read to begin with. Part of this author thing, I'm coming to realize, is overcoming our fears.

So, this post is me taking a step in overcoming my fears. I like to write about alien beings and what life could be like for beings not of our world. Being human, I can't really take the human element out of it (nor would I want to since my audience is, well, human), but the characters in the excerpt from this work in progress are metaloids, mechanoids, mechs...I'm still working on what to call them. Nothing about them is organic, but they aren't robots either. In fact, being called a robot by a human would be insulting to them.

The below excerpt is set in the Scrap Yards of Histerron, which is like a junk yard. Histerron is a Skellyd city (Skellyds are the 'bad guys' of the story, but being 'bad' or 'good' in the story is not really so black and white...I definitely explore the gray areas with each faction.).

Enjoy!

*****

Bazin saw them too late; two Skellyds. He jumped behind a pile of scrap metal, rolling out his arm-mounted cannon, waiting for the attack.

The attack never came.

He was beginning to think that, perhaps, they didn't see him. Bazin peeked out from his hiding place to see if they were still there; they were. They looked like they were lying low, waiting for something.

After a few more moments, it was clear that they hadn't seen him after all. He decided to sneak around them from behind to get the drop on them before they knew what hit them...

As Bazin came around them from behind, he stopped dead in his tracks. Dropping his arms down to his sides as he rolled his cannon back in its casing, he stood up, staring at them as he walked in front of them. His core sank at the horror before him.

They were two bonded Skellyds. They had been executed. They had probably been the only bonded Skellyds in the city, hiding it for as long as they could.

Bazin just stared at them, several emotions taking hold that twisted his core. He still hated them because they were Skells, but the single act that they would be frozen in forever gripped him...

They were holding hands.

The part of Bazin that was now buried deep within his being, but still existing, felt sad for them. They were all still Galtrons. If there was anything good about a Skellyd, it was eradicated now, reduced to nothing but the scrap the majority of the Skells thought it was. This is what bonded Galtrons in the Skellyd faction had to look forward to; to be unceremoniously killed and thrown out with the rest of the garbage.

Bazin reached out to Miaxa. He just had to feel her, to know she was there. She was still keeping him out about her true condition, but she was restless about something else he couldn't get a sense of. Even so, the minimal contact was comforting.

As Bazin stared at the clasping hands, he strangely thought of Zerra. This was her fate. Only monsters would turn on their own kind, leaving the ones they turned on to fend for themselves. As much as he despised her Skellyd ideals, he was forced to see her as a Galtron, as someone not much unlike himself. Zerra was mourning a loved one. He was mourning a loved one. They were suffering the same way, just a different situation for each of them. Bazin felt a tiny bit of sympathy for her.

"Appropriate to find you here," a sneering voice sounded from behind him.

The voice interrupted Bazin's thoughts and he cursed himself for lingering there too long, but he did not let on that he was utterly surprised at getting caught.

"You belong here with them," a Skellyd smaller than Bazin was saying as Bazin turned around. "You bonded piece of scrap metal."

Bazin saw that the mech was a scout. The scout kept talking, "There's a reward out for you. Deglan wants you dead or alive."

The Skell scout had, no doubt, contacted his comrades, but he was obviously too eager to collect the reward for himself rather than wait for them.

"So I've heard," Bazin finally spoke. This scout was going to be easy to take down, but Bazin knew not to let his guard down, nonetheless.

"Where's that pretty little coremate of yours?" The scout just didn't know when to shut up. "I'd love to make her acquaintance once you're out of the way."

Growling in disgust, Bazin didn't hesitate to roll out his cannon and shoot. The shot went right through the scout, the mech's image wavering as the energy was dispersed briefly, only to land its mark in a heap of scrap metal behind him.

The scout was making use of a hologram. No wonder he was so confident.

"A little trigger happy, aren't we?" the scout taunted.

Bazin knew how holograms worked. The real, solid, scout couldn't have been that far away. Bazin surveyed the area, taking note of every piece of scrap that could be large enough to hide a mech that size. Without hesitation, he began shooting everything that he had just scanned.

The scout was obviously tracking Bazin's progress as he blew up each and every single pile of scrap within visual range. The mech was forced to reveal himself, running out from underneath the next pile Bazin took aim at.

Bazin ran straight at him, grabbing the scout up by his arm, twisting it around until he had the mech bowing forward from the sudden pain in his hand. The Skell's CPU jack was easily accessible from this position and Bazin wordlessly went for it. The mech struggled harder as he realized Bazin's intentions, but it was all for nothing.

"You're nothing!" the Skellyd yelled helplessly as the connection was made.

Bazin wasted no time in plundering the mech's mind, recording what was useful, ignoring everything else. Bazin paused as one important piece of information presented itself. Leeda was at Histerron. He didn't question how the scout knew this. That was not important.

The scout tried to push him out as Bazin dug deeper along a line of code revealing something about the city of Histerron itself...and then he had it. Bazin was visibly startled when he found out that Histerron was actually a living mech. The scout was able to push him out then.

"Deglan will purge Galtron of your weakness!" he spat venomously, still trapped in Bazin's grip, but madder than ever.

The mech cried out when Bazin immediately crushed his hand. The scout may have been angry, but nothing could top the absolute loathing Bazin was feeling.

*****

Well, here I go, throwing this out for everyone to see. I haven't decided if this will be in the first book or the second. Things keep changing and evolving as I write and I find that Bazin's story may be better suited for a second book. I barely give a glimpse at Zerra, but her story may be the first book. Either way, I've certainly written enough for two books! LOL!

I'm also struggling a bit with what genre this would be in. It certainly is a science fiction and it certainly has romance in it, but I'm not certain if it would be categorized as a SFR (Science Fiction Romance). It mixes the two, but the more I read of science fiction and the more I read of romance, I get worried that it doesn't really follow the full expectations of either one. There is a happy ending, but the characters go through hell to get there. So maybe it does? I'm definitely confused by book categories and how one would know which category his/her book goes in.

This is definitely a learning process. :)

(Okay, I have no idea why the top part of this post is in small font and this last bit is normal font. Sorry for the small print, but I've been trying to get it all this normal size, but I can't seem to get it to work.)