Commando
The soldier ducked, barely getting under cover as the wall behind him exploded. His head was pounding - his muscles aching. But now was not the time for rest.
He counted the seconds. The mounted missile launchers always took a few seconds to recalibrate, and if he took advantage of that time...
Through the sounds of gunfire and chaos, he heard a small click as the enemy missile platform prepared for a second strike.
Commencement
Have you forgotten – that those gates are my design?
You would not know, because you do not look up. You bend knees only for ants and vermin. But I have been working on a grander design. A greater gate – to travel greater seas.
What if I met you, on one of these extinct planets? What if I caused the calamities you strive to avoid? What if I reaped destruction?
Corpsebloom
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==== MyBabel Machine Translator ====
==== [Version 12.45.1.009 ] ======
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Training… <100000000 cycles>
Training… <253421 cycles>
Complete!
Display result? Y/N
Y
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The body is received and placed in a special containment unit. Proper care must be taken to ensure most efficient growth conditions.
The seeds are planted in the body.
One day passes.
Flesh softens and stretches. Youth returns to the face. Bones harden.
Another day passes.
Crowbar
//--AUTO-TRANSCRIPTION FROM CARGO BAY 5 OF UES [Redacted] --//
“Hey, toss me a crowbar?”
Jesse walked over to the toolbox and rummaged around. Plucking a crowbar from the container, she went over to James.
“Thanks,” he grunted, attempting to pry the chest open. Jesse sat herself on the table next to James, idly watching him work. “I swear, this had to be the one chest that CAN’T be paid open.
Death Mark
Order: “Death Mark”
Tracking Number: 66******
Estimated Delivery: 02\22\2056\
Shipping Method: High Priority
Shipping Address: 421 Lane, Lab [72], Mars
Shipping Details:
Everyone said that I was crazy to search for lost artifacts on Mars. Idiots. There hasn’t been any proof of a previous civilization - but I’ve always trusted my gut. This skull proves that I’m right - that something did exist here before.
That smug professor at the university.
Defense Nucleus
"Excellent! How did you find it?"
"We took down one of those floating fortune tellers--"
"Xi Construct."
"Sure. Anyway, we took it down and recovered the sample."
"May I see it?"
"This is it."
"This? What happened? I thought you said it was glowing."
"That's right. It was. Before I scrapped it."
"...You ...what?"
"I scrapped it."
"You were finally able to recover a sample from the Xi Construct, and you scrapped it?
Defensive Microbots
“Captain, look out!” A voice cried from the old man’s periphery. But he knew he was in no danger – with a chirp, his companion microbots activated and fired, disintegrating the fireball. Just as it did every time. Quickly spinning on his heel, the old man fired his shotgun, decapitating the Lemurian with a swift and pronounced BOOM.
“I’d worry more about your own safety than mine, private.”
Defiant Gouge
Excerpt from the folk tale “Hymn of Aphocles”:
“...The statue had been carved to the artist’s creative vision. Beautiful and powerful, its mighty marble visage shone as radiantly as the moon. However, the common folk did not share the artist’s vision. Declaring the statue imperfect, a single laborer took up his gouge and defiled the work, shaping it to his own selfish ideas of beauty.
Admiring his own work, the laborer confidently claimed that he had increased the beauty of the art tenfold.
Delicate Watch
The wind blows over the plains. Two soldiers trudge along on their routine patrol, filling their boredom with casual conversation. "Hm. Hey, Shelly, have I ever showed you my new Patex?" Quinton mused. Shelly shot him a quizzical look. "Tell me you didn't bring a $75,000 watch with you on a dangerous expedition into unknown territories..."
Whirling around to face his partner, Quinton gave a hearty laugh. "Why, yes I did!
Dio's Best Friend
Hey Dio,
Wow, you have gotten older since the last time I wrote! How old are you now – 10? And so much grumpier, too. I’ve never seen a cat so grumpy. What do you have to be grumpy about?
Despite the fact that you are the pickiest eater I know – and love to meow all throughout the night, every night – it still makes me happy to hear you bounding down the stairs every time I come home.