Umber Sky

By R. A. Meenan

Zeke Brightclaw has a desperate need to prove himself. As a test pilot in the Special Warfare Division of the Air Corps, Zeke knows he and his friend Andre Bryson are nothing more than insurance bait, so long as the xenophobic Commander Berrycloth blocks their way into flight school – their only chance at becoming full pilots.

So when the Commander visits his base looking for new pilots for the Academy, Zeke sees his chance and volunteers to pilot the Phoenix dog fighters alongside Andre – planes that have killed eight pilots in the recent years. Zeke has confidence. After all, he has a secret weapon keeping him alive in this dangerous job – a phoenix summon of his own.

But the routine exercise turns into a battle against an invading spy plane, Zeke sees this as the real test. Now he has to see if he can truly prove himself – and protect himself and Andre in the process.

Color story to Brothers at Arms.
Companion story to Gray Matter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R. A. Meenan
• Release date: Dec 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463179482

R. A. Meenan

R. A. Meenan was born in London during the golden age of science fiction, but somehow time traveled to the Modern Era (some say a mad man with a blue box was involved). She was dropped on the doorstep of a house owned by anthropomorphic cats and though they were disappointed she didn’t have furry ears and a tail, they took her in to teach her the ways of elemental magic. After setting fire to her furry cat friends’ tails one too many times (final score – fire: 2612, cat’s tails: 0) they called an exterminator and sent her out on her way.Now an adult (physically, not mentally), she ride-hops intergalactic military spacecraft, combing the outer reaches of space and time, writing science fiction and urban fantasy stories based on her experiences. She’s also hoping to find the perfect cup of coffee and a better way to grow dinosaurs. Humans kind of look at her funny, but she’s managed to make herself an honorary ambassador for furry and anthropomorphic aliens and space dragons.She carefully feeds and brushes her wonderful husband Joe and the pair have four furry children (which are really cats, but don’t tell them that) and one small child named after a video game. She also spends her spare time teaching essay-writing haters, molding them into people resembling Actual Students and Lovers of English.She may not win the hearts of stiff military men or students who want good grades for no effort, but she certainly captures the spirit and imagination of time travelers, magic users, nerds, Students-In-Training, and fantasy lovers. Welcome to her nonsensical world. We hope you like it here.

Book preview

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Umber Sky

Color Story for Mage

R. A. Meenan

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Starcrest Fox Press

Contents

Copyright

Discover more titles by R. A. Meenan

Content Warning

Dedication

1.Chapter 1

2.Chapter 2

3.Chapter 3

4.Chapter 4

5.Chapter 5

6.Chapter 6

7.Chapter 7

8.Chapter 8

About the Author

Glossary

Copyright © 2023 by R. A. Meenan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator at the email address below.

[e-mail]

www.zyearth.com

Cover art by Elizabeth Best. See her art on Instagram

@artoferbest

Logo and Chapter Headings by Omni Jacala. See his art on Twitter

@artsyomni

This book was lovingly created by a human, not generated by A.I.

The scanning, uploading, copying, or distribution of this book without permission, as well as the processing of this contents to train A.I., is strictly prohibited and considered theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for the support of the author’s rights.

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Discover more titles by R. A. Meenan

Black Bound

Golden Guardian

Shadow Cast

White Assassin

Brothers at Arms

Umber Sky

Gray Matter

Mage

Angel

Facets of Color: Vol 1

The Drover’s Tale: Academy

Outlander Sky: Summoner’s Fellowship

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Content Warning

This book contains: Military abuse, xenophobia, physical and mental abuse, dead family, and violent injuries. Please take care of your mental health if you find yourself struggling with the contents of this book.

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Dedication

Dedicated to Omni, who had the original version of this character.

To anyone who in the military who has faced adversity from their own people.

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Chapter 1

There will always be people who use your differences as justification for hating you. The challenge is to succeed in spite of that hate.

It’s not always something I accomplish, admittedly. But I try. I guess that’s better than just giving up. It gets harder after every failure though. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep it up.

Especially after that last disaster.

I was in the locker room getting ready for another test flight. I slipped into my green flight suit, tucking my long, thin tail into the special pocket running down my left leg. It ran the fur the wrong way and bent the tail in awkward positions, but it was better than letting it sit against my leg. The black, white streaked quills on the back of my head rustled in my bent, catlike ears as I leaned down for my footwear.

The boots were supposed to be for zyfaunos with bulky feet, though they never fit and often pinched. Luckily, years of using the same pair meant I had stretched them out well enough that these ones didn’t pinch as much. Unluckily, it also meant they wouldn’t protect me as well if I crashed or had to eject. Which was frequent in this line of work.

Like with everything else designed for zyfaunos, the tail pocket and poor-fitting boots were clearly built as an afterthought. After all, why spend extra money and time for the demihumans? No one wanted us in the military anyway. That was for humans.

We all take our chances though. Another flight, another paycheck. And a dangerous one, as usual. I worked in the Special Warfare Division, the branch of the Air Corps that tested new planes, which meant I got the wildest, most dangerous aircraft in the bunch. We told ourselves we were assigned there because we were strong. Fearless. Skillful.

But that really wasn’t true and we knew it. We were there because we were cannon fodder. Expendable.

Which was bullshit, frankly. We were top of our divisions. Well above the average pilot, and that was saying something. You had to be when working with