War Girls (The Juniper Wars Book 5), Aaron Ritchey [read my book TXT] 📗

what once was Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and sections of surrounding states. Due to the Yellowstone Knockout and the subsequent flood basalt, electrical current does not function in this area.

Kanton, Jack Anthony—48th President of the United States of America and the second president to hold four terms in office.

Kutia—Female dog (from the Hindi word).

MG21—Standard issue assault rifle in the Sino-American War.

Male Product—The male reproductive cell.

Masterson-Wayne Act—Signed into law by President Jack Kanton in 2033, this act of Congress relegated the five states affected by the Yellowstone Knockout back to being territories.

Meetchum, Mavis—Second largest cattle operator in the Colorado territory. Located in Sterling, she has established treaties with the Wind River people and is a strong advocate for Native American rights. She introduced buffalo back into Wyoming in the mid-2030s during a critical time for the Wind River people.

MRE—Meal, ready-to-eat.

Neofiber—A variant of carbon fiber but stronger and lighter.

New Morality—A religious movement with sociopolitical connections that encouraged women to remain chaste, dress appropriately, and behave in a conservative manner.

New Morality dress—A dress of a neutral color (usually gray, brown, or cream-colored) that covers as much of a woman’s body as possible to comply with New Morality etiquette.

Old Growth—A synthetic coal created from wood taken from old-growth forests.

Parson, Reverend Kip—Co-founder of the New Morality movement.

RSD—Reality simulator displays—Video screens with near-perfect resolution.

Sapropel—A weak fuel used for heating and lighting in the Juniper. Chemically manufactured by using remnants of oil shale.

Shakti—Raw female power (from the Hindi word).

SISBI—The Security, Identity, and Special Borders Injunction (SISBI) is a set of laws enacted by a special executive order that requires all U.S. citizens to register eye-scans with the government. It also allows for border fences around the Juniper and military units to secure the perimeter of the territories.

Skye6—Diacetylmorphinesextus (a synthetic morphine).

Slate—Tablet computer.

Sterility Epidemic—First cases discovered in January of 2030. One in ten births are male. Of males born, 90% are sterile.

Thelium—Theta-helium—Synthetic helium manufactured to give zeppelins greater lift.

Thor Stunner—Eterna-powered electrical non-lethal weapon.

Viable—Non-sterile (refers to males).

Weller, Abigail—Growing up in the family business (The Buckeye Urban Recycling and Reclamation Company), Abigail Weller chose to enter the Juniper to run salvage for Crush Jones. After the Salvage Era, she operated the third largest ranch in the Colorado territory until her death in the winter of 2058. She had three daughters: Sharlotte, Wren, and Cavatica.

Wind River people—The general term for all Native American tribes living in the Wyoming and Montana territories.

Yellowstone Knockout—A term used to describe China’s missile attack on the Yellowstone caldera and the subsequent flood basalt.

Zeppelins—Four classes of airships: Jonesies, Jimmies, Johnnies, and Bobbies. All manufactured by Boeing for use in the Juniper. Jimmies are engineered for maximum speed and Johnnies for maximum cargo hold. Bobbies are a mid-size zeppelin. Lastly, Jonesies are the most customizable. Also known as dirigibles or blimps, the airships have rigid skeletons of neofiber covered with next-generation lightweight Kevlar. The superstructure contains air cells filled with thelium.

Zeus 2 charge gun—Eterna-powered electric rifle for short-range lethal combat.

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Looking for more from Aaron Michael Ritchey, and need it right this minute? Check out: Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons: Year One. Or keep reading to take a sneak peek.

BUILD A DUNGEON. SLAY Heroes. Survive Finals. 

Wounded Army vet Logan Murray thought mimics were the stuff of board games and dungeon manuals... right up until one ate him.

In a flash of snapping teeth, Logan suddenly finds himself on the doorstep to another world. He’s been unwittingly recruited into the Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons—the most prestigious interdimensional school dedicated to training the monstrous guardians who protect the Tree of Souls from so-called heroes. Heroes who would destroy the universe if it meant a shot at advancement.

Unfortunately, as a bottom-tier cultivator with a laughably weak core, Logan’s dungeon options aren’t exactly stellar, and he finds himself reincarnated as a lowly fungaloid, a three-foot-tall mass of spongy mushroom with fewer skills than a typical sewer rat. If he’s going to survive the grueling challenges the academy has in store, he’ll need to ace the odd assortment of classes—Fiendish Fabrication, Dungeon Feng Shui, the Ethics of Murder 101—and learn how to turn his unusual guardian form into an asset instead of a liability.

And that’s only if the gargoyle professor doesn’t demote him to a doomed wandering monster first...

Chapter One

LOGAN MURRAY PULLED his truck into the driveway of his ranch house in Arvada, Colorado. The suspension creaked as the tires crunched onto the gravel beside his garage. The garage itself was full of tools, lawn mowers, replacement parts, and a big woodchipper named Wanda—not to mention a variety of equipment he only pulled out when he had specialty jobs to run. But that was fine. His big F-350 didn’t need a comfortable place to live. His business did. Logan’s Landscaping, though physically demanding work, kept food on the table and him out of trouble.

He killed the engine, but just sat there for a long beat. He rubbed his tired eyes with calloused