Far-Flung Outpost
Monthan Outpost on the farthest
corner of the Empire
Two soldiers sat a table playing cards.
“You still owe me five credits from
last time” The blond-haired man with a toothy grin told the
dour-faced guy who had a thick head of black hair in a bowl cut.
“Fine, then we'll call this even and
play again” the man answered gathering up the cards on the table
and shuffling them.
“Sergeant, are you sure the
communicator is still working” the younger, blond man asked.
The other man sighed “Yes, I check it
every day, Private”
The younger man shook his head. “It's
like there isn't even a war going on”
The superior officer shook his head
“It's not for us. For us, we are to hold down the fort here and
guard the back yard of the empire. Or the back gate anyway”
The younger man looked across the vast
hangar at the hover-tank. It was quite a formidable machine and yet
it was useless in the battles on the other side of the empire. It was
just sitting there day after day, nothing ever happens here. The twin
plasma cannons and quantum missile launcher on the turret and the
ground-effect action-pulse engine in the main section hadn't even
taken out for a test-drive in six months, the private just dusted it
once a week.
It seemed like a waste of a powerful
weapon of war.
“Okay, remember this is a draw three
game. You can only draw three...” the older man dealt the cards but
they flew everywhere when the sirens erupted. He put a hand on his
chest to catch his breath and the younger man hit the button on the
computer terminal.
“Air raid imminent!” the computer
shrieked “Inbound enemy spacecraft”
The sergeant stood up, “Get in the
tank!”
They both ran to the massive vehicle
and climbed in. The superior officer climbed into the turret and a
bubble enclosed over him. He hit a switch and the large doors began
to open to the outside. It was a sandy world and just getting dark.
Before they even left the hangar they could hear the fwoosh! Of the
anti-aerial missiles being launched by the base computers.
The tank glided out of the base and
almost as soon black shapes flew over them at extreme speeds and were
gone before the base was rocked with explosions. The bombers weren't
even slowing down more than absolutely needed to drop their bombs and
then they increased power again and achieved orbital speeds.
They would be back around within a
quarter of an hour, if they kept up the speed and came around the
planet for another pass.
The Sergeant prepared the plasma lasers
and missiles to launch seconds before the enemy craft even came into
range. They were moving so fast that the anti-aerial kinetic missiles
needed to be launched before the enemy was in range the closing speed
alone would kill them if they hit.
The private could hear the humming of
the plasma cannons as they charged up the necessary power in their
coils from the atomic engine. Then the tank fired four missiles in
quick succession just before the plasma laser bursts were shot off,
raising the hairs on the back of the privates neck.
He could see dark shapes coming from
the distance but they were moving very quickly, then one of them
broke into two pieces and both of the halves plummeted to the ground
on this dead world. The other black shape flew low overhead and the
tank shuddered like a dinghy in the wake of a super carrier.
The private closed his eyes tightly and
covered his ears. There was a tremendous explosion that threw the
tank a good fifty meters but it landed on the gravity cushion under
the tank. They had been rocked pretty good, both of the crew had to
shake off what happened. Knowing that a concussion was not a good
thing, but that things could be worse.
The plasma laser turrets charged up
again. This always seemed a bit creepy to the private but he figured
he had better things to worry about. He decided the tank should also
be moving as fast as possible, his superior yelled “Go, go, go”
The last four missiles were launched
automatically and a moment later the plasma lasers discharged their
immense energy. The enemy craft nosed down and slammed into the
ground just before them, the impact jarred the hover tank, pieces of
rock and dirt flew everywhere and the sergeant had been thrown
clear out of the turret and right
through the bubble canopy.
The Private donned a special emergency
plastic bubble over his head with a small oxygen bottle hanging from
it, then he climbed out and ran toward his superior. He unfurled
another emergency air supply and put it over the head of his superior
officer and inflated it with the oxygen tank. He didn't know if the
officer would live but that he had to try to get back to base and see
if a safe room still existed there.
Then he looked back and spotted
something on the ground, it looked like a big hairless dog and it was
still alive, albeit it injured. The creature struggled to sit up and
then try and get back on its feet. It looked up at the private and
bared fangs several inches long. It had trouble with its hind legs
but it was scooting toward the private.
“Sergeant, you have to wake up!” he
said but then he checked a life support monitor. The sergeant was
already dead. The private would have to save himself. He remembered
the sergeant carried a sidearm and he reached down and yanked it from
the holster, he pulled back the action and aimed it at the alien
creatures face.
It stopped. It laid down on all fours
and seemed really tired. The creature checked a wound to its foreleg
and then looked straight at the private. “Well, I guess I'm
finished. All I had to do was distract you from looking on that side”
it said.
The private swung around and there were
two more creatures, looking unhurt running towards him at a good
clip. He had nine rounds in the magazine and three targets.
That should be more than enough.
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