A short story.

Just for a change, I thought I'd throw together a short story about a lowly Grymn trooper making a very important delivery...so here it is. Enjoy:

A Special Delivery.

Tomlinz neatly placed the package in the stowage compartment in his Grav-bike. It wasn’t too heavy so there was no need to adjust the repulsor arrays to compensate. He jumped into the pilot’s seat and gunned the engines before waving to the ground engineers and lifting into the air.

Tomlinz was very proud to have been given the honour of delivering the package. It was marked as top priority; essential for front line activities and it meant that he had taken another step up with the responsibility and trust that his seniors gave him. As he darted along the tracks, feet above the ground, the head-up display (HUD) glittered with holographic images of the trees and terrain that was dashing past. Occasionally, a red warning would flash if he got within a couple of metres of an obstacle but Tomlinz was an accomplished flier and avoided the hazards easily. He was having a peaceful trip at the moment but knew that it would be a little trickier once he crossed the border and entered the disputed territory.

The first sign of the ambush was the motion sensor beeping a warning with accompanying red dots appearing on the HUD. Tomlinz was quick to react and slowed quickly to re-arrange his route. The beauty of the warning system was that it had a good range and as long as you reacted quickly, you would have plenty of time to get out of trouble. After a quick course adjustment, he set off again and zipped through a small forest; avoiding the main track and the enemy soldiers that were lying in wait. As he zipped though the trees, his motion sensor beeped again to indicate that the ambushers were moving towards him and although he tried to avoid them, there was the sound of small arms fire and the associated ‘WHIP…WHIP’ of rounds flying past. Tomlinz accelerated and took evasive action but was un-able to avoid all of the incoming rounds as some bounced off the armour of his bike. Just as he thought he was past the worst of it, the HUD illuminated with a flashing array of cautions and the warbling beeps that accompanied them filled his ears. “MASTER CAUTION! ENGINE 2” was quickly followed by a marked drop in power and a sudden lurch to the right. Tomlinz kept his cool and immediately shut the offending engine down whilst flicking the emergency power switch for the remaining engine. He was still leaning to the right so he compensated with an additional boost to the repulsor on that side to offset the imbalance. He was lucky; the corrections worked and he was able to continue on his way. It was then that he realised that the HUD wasn’t indicating any motion and the incoming rounds had ceased…he was past the ambush.

After another hour of uneventful travel, Tomlinz reached the first check-point for the Grymn outpost. It was set quite away from the actual camp to ensure that there was time to flag up defence, should there be enemy attack. The guards checked Tomlinz’ ID documents and were very pleased to see that the package was safe on board. One of them dashed into the bunker to pass on the information and when he returned, he said that the gates would be opened from now on and ID checks wouldn’t be necessary. It was, of course, a very urgent delivery. Once he was cheerfully waved through the barrier, Tomlinz continued on his journey and as he passed through the remaining two check-points, the guards waved and cheered at him. After a couple of minutes, he reached the main gate and was met by a junior officer who checked his details and made sure that the package was safe. Tomlinz picked up the package and followed the officer through a doorway that was situated on the side of a sheer rock-face and led into the depths of the ground. In a couple of minutes, after passing many side offices, he was led into a large hall and seated all around were Grymn soldiers on benches, looking expectantly towards him. He walked over to a very senior officer who warmly shook his hand and received the package from him; signing the docket in the process. The senior officer turned to his adjutant and said “Prepare accommodation for this Grymn, he will need to wait until tomorrow for the reply”. With a ‘yes sir’ the adjutant hurried off and Tomlinz was ushered to a small seat with some refreshments on hand.

The senior officer stood up and faced the gathered Grymn. “Mail call!” he shouted “The Christmas mail is here!” He tore open the package and started to call out names for the gathered troops to collect their messages of good will.

“Trooper Tomlinz, isn’t it?” the officer asked.
“Yes sir” He replied.
“You’ll drink well tonight, my lad!” he said as he raised his voice to shout “let the festivities begin!”

On another note...

'What the Voices Tell Me'

On my conscience today we have dropships, Void army selection for VASA, Mantic sci-fi dwarfs, 'THE HOLIDAY PROJECT' and little-purple-people.

See you from the stern!