In Search of Pi

Okay, I was going to leave The Turning Tide up for another week, but on the spur of the moment I decided to do this. :)
Sitrep: I finished In Search of Pi several weeks ago and it is in the hands of the Betas. If any Betas who haven't been poked want a go at it, better let me know.

What is In Search of Pi you ask? Well...
Yes that is a tug and work crew rebuilding Io 11's flank engine pod. I made it from gear from DAZ3D since I'm lazy. :D

   In Search of Pi is the first of what is turning out to be another Federation spin off series. It will eventually combine with one of the others so it will be only a couple of books.
  Back story: See, when I wrote Hunter or Hunted (one of the Io 11 short stories in one of the anthologies! Go find it if you haven't read it!) I thought of it as a lead in to another story. Then I did 6BO and I thought, wouldn't it be fun if they met?
  This was supposed to be that story, but it grew. So, I took Hunter or Hunted and tucked it in there, added a bit of other stuff, and then remembered I'd planned to do a story about the Prowler team exploring Pi. That was waaay back in Pirate Rage, I'd set things up then if you recall.
  Anyway, I added that, and before I knew it I had a full on novel going. I decided to push it up the queue and I wrote it last month since I had more freedom to operate in Pi.
You saw a piece of it in The Turning Tide.

   So, not only do you get to see the events in Hunter or Hunted, but also the aftermath, that chapter in The Turning Tide, the Federation's work in Pi, and more.

  And, I'm already working on the next book already. Yeah, I found enough material to write a second book, Pi Fight and added it to the queue as well. I decided to dive right in with it since it has enough freedom to stand outside of Liberty or Death, the next Federation book. I've finished 3 chapters of it so far. (I started it last Thursday.) Ironically, 1 of the chapters I finished, the first actually, is a crossover with Liberty or Death as well as HL3. Enough said there.
:)

In other news, I worked on a single Zoid image in the 4 days off in between books:
  Mechmaster (He's more famous with his Daleks than mecha) helped me clean the ground up with procedural generated textures and displacement maps. Fun.
  I also have the Karanak Firewalker spider tank nearly finished. I printed a few bits yesterday but I can't get the basket to print right for the life of me. It is so spindly it comes apart! I admit, I'm too much of a fumble fingered idiot with fragile stuff okay? I'm about to give up and go with the best one I've got. 6 tries at printing it are enough.
I'll post pics when I'm done.
  No! (screaming in indignant rage) Dang it, I just glued the legs to the hull and I find someone had made a remix with moveable legs! GRR! ARGH!

   Anyway, I am not enjoying the heat. It is too fricken early for 95! I am going to fiddle about a little more and then see how much more of Pi Fight I can get done before lunch. :)