The New Threat
Three months after the events of The New Species, Ship-head Uleena has finished his diplomatic training and returns to United System space to make a startling discovery.
Three months after the events of The New Species, Ship-head Uleena has finished his diplomatic training and returns to United System space to make a startling discovery.
Tinea...had an ugly childhood full of pain and abuse. It taught her how to fight and survive, how to run and hide and cut ties. It didn't teach her much else.
So she'd ran.
Crossed an ocean, grown up, and discovered the world. She'd made her life her own. Soul-deep pain notwithstanding, she'd fought to be happy.
Until the rabid aliens invaded her neighborhood.
Smoking rifle in hand and still coming up short, she'd made a life-ending choice...and was rewarded beyond her wildest dreams. Or, perhaps exactly to her wildest dreams; dreams of a chrysalis, come to life through DNA-changing Vanguard science.
Reborn, a whole new journey awaits the warrior looking for connection, for togetherness.
It just so happens, an opportunity lies not far.
What to expect:
Plot is discovered, not designed. Consequences shape events, rather than scenes being designed to push plot. Characters, relationships, and setting are particularly strong, plot can get WILD in amazing, unexpected ways.
- A serious approach to transforming male to female, using sci-fi DNA morphing. Tinea starts out as Aden, but quickly gains his wishes.
- Maturity from both leads
- WLW/GL/Sapphic: from the soft and cuddly, to the (clearly marked) explicit
- Gratuitous violence against unthinking aliens
- Get points, buy gear
- Cybernetic upgrades
- Organic augmentations
- Occasional slowburn sections
- Many, many chapters
This work is set in the universe of RavensDagger's Stray Cat Strut, but it ISN'T necessary to read that first. Further, Tinea and Leah has been recognized officially as canon by master Raven himself. Cheers!
I develop my own plot and characters. Thank you for reading. :)
The cover art was drawn for me by Jero, who can be found on my Discord server - links in each chapter.
Royalroad staff has designated this story as Original so that I may post my Ko-Fi link in the chapters. TnL is still a fanfiction-slash-extended-universe-slash-canon-thing for Stray Cat Strut, regardless of the "Original" tag. :)
WELCOME TO THE RETROFUTURE!
The Future That Never Was is a book series project featuring an alternate space age where the Soviets colonized the belt before David Bowie sang Life on Mars; where rogue AIs took over the web; where pizza came in cans. Humankind couldn’t dream of a more exciting future. Yet, as foolishness eventually turned Earth into a nuclear wasteland, shadows began to conspire from the heart of the Moon to beyond the mysterious Planet Nine…
This extended universe in progress includes numerous R-rated titles. All of them will be uploaded on Royal Road for free. Check the Index or the list/links below for the main stories.
🐈 KITTY KITTY - Completed - <READ>
Join sassy space cat Lee and his Desert Eagle-toting, soda-swigging human partner, Ali, in a future stuck in the late 80s/early 90s. Board the dynamic duo’s ship, the mythical Kitty, as they bounty-hunt their way through a dystopian solar system—so lock and load, and shout Cowabunga! because it’s crime-fightin’ time!
🪐 PACHINKO BLUES - <START READING>
Amid the chaos of the Rings Civil War, a disgraced pilot finds himself tangled in a vast vendetta involving a megacorporation, android mercenaries and data-cartels. From Saturn’s Plastic Fields to the fringes of Kuiper, his violent redemption is an 80s-esthetic space western filled with tears, blood and... ducks?
[Back in November 2023]
Other stories related to the first arc of The Future That Never Was:
• RADIO FREAK - Standalone biopunk short story featuring Ali Koviràn, the Data Maiden and Bill Murray
• STELLAR PATRIOTS - Short special with Braun Kamirov, linking KITTY KITTY and the book series
• DATA ONE & DATA ZERO - 2024
• CYBER MACHO - 2025
To support our work or simply read in better condition, visit our amazon shop and patreon!
Set immediately after the conclusion of The New Threat, the danger posed by the Omni-Union has increased exponentially. If they aren't stopped, the entire Milky Way Galaxy will be destroyed. Thankfully, Ship-Head Uleena's Republic and the United Systems have earned a respite after their previous conflict with the OU. Will this break in the fighting be long enough to come up with a plan to defeat the Omni-Union, once and for all?
In a universe where Earth is nothing but a distant memory, and humanity is clawing its way back from a million years long interstellar dark age, Sarah Ciel-étoilé is but a humble mercenary. For 60 years, her crew of exiles has followed her onboard their stolen military gunship, the Eternal Seeker. But now, a threat like they have never seen before is rising.
The Dominion, an intergalactic empire over a millenia old, is dying. Its catastrophic civil war almost brought it to total collapse, and it endures only through the strength of its navy. But that strength is waning. Throughout the Dominion's Protectorate, whispers of a revolution are spreading, and insurrections are flaring up, as a conspiracy set on casting down the Dominion and burning it to the ground set its plan into motion.
Yet, behind all the chaos and the destruction, something far more sinister brews in the shadows, and it could change the face of the universe forever.
This is the story of Sarah, and her mercenaries, during these troubled and dark times, as empires fall...and others rise.
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Chapters will be posted every sunday, mostly at 23h30 CET (22h30 UTC), although I will probably experiment with different release times.
Illustration © Tom Edwards
"What is reflected in your eyes? Everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. That's what people say. But is it?
Axel is only ten moons old when his world shatters—torn from home, sold into the demon realm like property. In his diary, he lays bare a fate too cruel to ignore, raising questions to which society turns a blind eye.
At the clash of three worlds, war breeds only blood, betrayal, and silence.With Felix and Nel—the only sparks in a drowning darkness—he defies despair.
Together, they endure.Together, they choose humanity. They will protect each other.
This is Axel’s struggle. His defiance. His voice in the darkness.
✨ What to Expect:
🖤 Dark fantasy — only raw truth
🧠 Psychological depth
💭 Philosophical reflections — on identity, suffering, and choice
🔥 Inner strength and magic — a fight not just against fate, but the world itself
🌌 Interdimensional travel — across realms consumed by war.
👥Connections that go deeper than survival — bromance, romance, and found family.
✒️First person narration.
📅 New chapters every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
🖤 Read. Feel. Let the darkness consume you.
"This story is for those who made it through.
And for those still finding their way."
A fantasy tale with adventure, humor and loyalty as a family and the young nation they lead refuse to give up in the face of a challenge that could destroy their kingdom.
The first four chapters are still available here, and then Books 1 and 2 are now available on Amazon.
Twenty years ago, in his hour of greatest need, the great orc warrior King Jend met the beautiful Aida, an elven sorceress who would become his queen. Together the couple freed their land from tyranny and built a strong, prosperous kingdom, where their loyal creatures of all types (mostly) get along.
Now they are now dealing with the increasing independence of their teenage daughters, Wyndy and Myla – powerful sorceresses in their own right, with certain opinions on how the kingdom should be run.
As the story opens, the princesses are setting off on their giant wolves with their guard force of orcs, goblins, and buggebears. They are on a simple mission of delivering party invitations. But the mission is interrupted by Count Rassler, a young human noble from the neighboring kingdom. He is fleeing a ruler that seeks to imprison and probably kill him. Human knights and their soldiers are in hot pursuit of Rassler and threaten all of their kingdom if they aren't stopped.
The royal family must use their wits and rally their nation to protect their land against the human incursion.
When humanity first ventured into space, they discovered the Galactic Commonwealth—an ancient and powerful alliance that barely noticed them. The embryonic Republic of Humanity, a mere curiosity to the far more advanced members of the Commonwealth, was quickly forgotten about or viewed with pity as they struggled to expand and colonize their area of space.
One Commonwealth species, the arboreal Eleani, took an active interest in this fledgling polity as humanity fearlessly cast themselves into the expanse. They reached out in friendship, offering guidance to the nascent Republic. In humanity, they saw a reflection of themselves long ago—and they were determined to help their younger cousin-kin avoid the mistakes they once made.
This unsolicited act of kindness was never forgotten by humanity as they expanded and traversed the void, with the two species becoming fast friends as the Eleani watched their cousin-kin earn their place among the stars with benevolent pride.
Decades later, the Insectoid Empire launched another period of swarming and attacked the Galactic Commonwealth again. An aggressive, spacefaring hive-mind species of wasp analogues controlled by intelligent queens, this time they did not stop after seizing a few uninhabited border planets like they have always done before.
Instead, they tore right into the very heart of the Commonwealth itself, intent on extermination. Killing over 100 billion souls across dozens of worlds as they advanced without mercy, they destroyed over half of the vaunted Commonwealth Navy in a pivotal battle and continued to lay waste to entire worlds.
The depleted and battered Commonwealth Navy retreated to the core worlds, abandoning the periphery and leaving species like the Eleani at the mercy of the swarm. Instead of following the fleet into the heavily defended core regions as expected, the Insectoids swarmed through the now undefended periphery to exterminate the last remaining species.
As the Insectoid fleet headed towards their world, the Eleani broadcast pleas for help to anyone who would listen as they begged the Commonwealth government for protection, which declined to come to their defense. Resigned to their extinction, all hope was lost until they received a message from an unexpected savior, the Republic of Humanity.
The Republic fleet was on its way.
The humans had answered the call.
Avo was born to destroy New Vultun. In a twist of fate, he’ll become its only hope for salvation.
The gods were the enemy. The slaver. The chains. With dreams of paradise, humanity slaughtered them and stole their powers, opening the path to become more – to ascend.
Instead, they nearly destroyed the world.
Vast hive cities serve as the final bastions against the crumbling of reality. New Vultun is the greatest of them all, and within its borders, ascenders wage war to determine the laws of existence itself.
The world descends ever deeper into ruination.
Avo was born a weapon, a slave to his instincts and his masters. He and his brothers were made to burn New Vultun to ashes. Everything changes when Avo gains immortality and becomes heir to an impossible legacy.
He must ascend the megacity of New Vultun. He must challenge the very tyrants that usurped the gods.
He must finally free the world from chains.
Join the Discord and subscribe to the patreon here.
Chapters are usually around 2.5 to 3k words.
Disclaimer: Expect detailed descriptions of violence, cannibalism, and cursing.
Expect: Monster mc, magitech, cyberpunk, implants, atrocities, oppression, non-human protagonist, reality-warping powers, and combined arms warfare.
Do not expect: Smut, romance
If you develop a sudden outbreak of rash after reading Godclads, it's not the story. But go see a doctor. Just in case.