Captured
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Their first impression as they rode into StarVillage was of crowded, bustling activity. Tents were pitched in open spaces between sod and timber huts. Women and children were everywhere underfoot. Groups of armed men rode by on urgent errands, giving the village the feeling of an armed camp.
"All right, off your ponies," their guard ordered. "You can walk the rest of the way. Your animals and weapons will be waiting for you. If you still need them, that is."
The press of humanity grew as they approached the center of the village, but here was none of the crying for alms, the shrill hawking of wares, and the silent presence of naked slaves that they had seen in Talai. The crowd was made up of individuals who knew what they were doing, who had no attention to spare for lesser matters. At last the clustered buildings gave way to an open area. In the center, seated on a heap of rubble that looked suspiciously like it had once been the circular foundation of one of Kathool's temples, was a man whose barbaric splendor of garb and weapons caught every eye.
"Hey, Orzad!" The leader of their guards shouted unceremoniously as soon as he was near enough. "Here's a guy, claims to have made it past the Green robe patrols. Says he has news, and a message for you."
"Bring him over." Closer at hand, Orzad was only a little above medium height, past the prime of life, but still active and strong. "What's your name, and who's the message from?"
"My name's Shantar. The message is from Nurm the Trader."
"Shantar, huh? Yeah, I've heard of you. Trouble maker. Kicked out of HighVillage for a bunch of different reasons. If half of what I've heard about you is true, I can use you around here. If the rest is true, you'll end up with a knife in your back, some dark night. Well, that's your lookout. What'd Nurm have to say, and what's your news?"
"The news is that King Khamul and Sholim are into it in Talai, but from what we saw on the way here, the fighting has already started. That was the day before yesterday that it started down there. Nurm said to tell you that he's pulled all of his people out of Talai, and that they've holed up until the fighting's died down."
"Good enough. I'll want to talk to you later on about some other things. Mork!" He spoke to the man who had brought Shantar and his friends to him. "See that these men have a place to bed down, then put them in one of the patrol units. They don't look like they need any more training."
"C'mon, you guys." Mork was all smiles, now. "You can join up with my outfit. I know a hut nobody's using right now."
"Why not?" Gortai eyed him suspiciously. "Too many bugs?"
"Nah, nothing like that. It belonged to the local priest of Kathool before we ran him outa here. Some of the boys are kinds leery of it."
"We'll take it!" Shantar laughed. "Maybe he sent all the bugs 'to serve Kathool'."
Mork's unit was taking its turn at patrolling the area around StarVillage. The next few days found them spending a lot of time learning the layout of the village, along with the surrounding hills and ridges.
"Another ten day of this, and we'll know every rock around here by its first name," Gortai grumbled after a long day on foot an horseback amid the surrounding hills. "And, that misbegotten priest didn't take all his bugs with him when he left, neither."
"You're just getting soft in your old age," Shantar jeered. "Or maybe you'd rather be back in Nurm's house, with all its hot water and pretty girls to help you get dressed."
"And undressed," Gortai answered back, grinning. "Yeah, magic does have its good points."
"Hey, you guys!" Mork stuck his head in the door of their hut. "Good news!"
"What kind of good news?" Ch'Dan spoke up unexpectedly. "We gonna be doing night patrols around the village square?"
"Naw, why'd we be doing that? We're going on a scout down to the lowlands for a few days. We'll start out at the end of the third watch, so turn in early and get what sleep you can."
Even in the comparative warmth of their hut, their breath made puffs of white as they checked their weapons and other gear. The Great Moon was just setting as the night began its last quarter. The only light outside the circle thrown by their tiny oil lamp came from the stars that clustered thickly overhead. Already other patrols were setting out, slipping away to perform their appointed tasks, but theirs was the only one that was headed toward the area near Weilin.
"Orzad got word that there's a bunch of King Khamul's soldiers headed that way," Mork explained as they rode along. "He wants to know what happens when they run into Sholim's army. Of course we'll do any mischief we can along the way, but remember that it's information we're mostly after."
As they moved carefully along little known trails, they might well have been riding through a completely deserted countryside for all the people they saw. As they neared the coastal plains they became even more cautious, realizing fully that they were in a hostile land where every hand was against them. Fast side trips by individual scouts brought the news that the land was nearly deserted. Empty farms and neglected crops were the rule, not the exception.
Like before, most of the action took place at the main entrance. The primacord was detonated and a large hole was blown in the door. The MPG troops were deployed well back from the entrance, backs against the tunnel wall, bodies against the floor. The minute that the door was breached, automatic weapons fire began pouring in from the MPs stationed outside. Most of the shots simply ricocheted harmlessly off of the walls but some of them found their marks in the crowded tunnel. It was...
"It appears at this time," General Wrath told the assembled reporters in the briefing room, "that the terrorist elements who are holding Mars somehow got lucky and were able to have a team of their operatives pre-positioned near the north side of the Eden landing site. My guess is that they placed several of these teams in likely locations where they thought our landing ships might come down and that the law of averages simply allowed this particular guess to be a correct one. This group...
Stanley Clinton had been the director of the Federal Law Enforcement Bureau for nearly ten years. As such, he was accustomed to occasionally briefing the WestHem executive council — that group of nine elected representatives that had replaced the single-person presidency shortly after World War III — on various security issues. Never however, had he dreaded a briefing as much as this one. He had flown from the rooftop of the FLEB building in downtown Denver — the WestHem capital city — in...
The MPs guarding the main gate had the advantage of knowing exactly where their enemy was, in what numbers they were in, and what their plan most likely was. They knew that two squads and at least one battalion would push towards them from three directions, undoubtedly all at once. For many groups of trained soldiers this might have been enough despite the numerical and weapon superiority of the enemy. But the MPs were not trained as soldiers, they were trained primarily as a security force...
Aboard the WHSS Mammoth, Mars Orbit August 16, 2146 Lieutenant Callahan came into the berthing area to find his platoon lying listless on their bunks, just as they normally did. As always the smell in the room was of stale sweat and dirty laundry, although after nearly ten weeks he hardly noticed it anymore. "On your feet, marines," he barked at them. "Assemble immediately for a briefing." Nobody got to his feet. During the course of the chaotic trip across space, discipline among the...
Aboard the WHSS Nebraska August 24, 2146 "The last one, making atmospheric entry now, sir," reported Major Wild to General Wrath. The two men, along with everyone else in the room, were in the CIC watching the holographic display as it showed the tracks of the remaining thirty landing ships descending towards the planet. "Very good," Wrath said, sipping from his seventh cup of coffee of the day. Over the past week, since his marines on the planetary surface had come under increasingly...
Though there had been many advances in communications technology since the beginning of the space colonization age there was one constant that never changed and probably never would. No matter what carrier for the signal was used, be it encrypted laser beams or modulating radio waves, they could move no faster than the speed of light. As such it was impossible for a person on Mars to hold a real-time conversation with a person on Earth. Even at the closest approach of the two planets — a mere...
WestHem Capital Building—Denver The view was impressive from the large picture window in the executive council briefing room. The window looked east, out over the entire expanse of the thirty-eighth most populous city in WestHem; the sixty-third most populous in the solar system. The tops of innumerable high-rise buildings could be seen stretching away for kilometers in every visible direction. Each roof was dotted with landing pads and parked VTOLS, the transportation system for the elite....
Back at MPG headquarters General Jackson now had a pretty clear idea of the forces that had so far landed on the planet. Reports had come in from all of the special forces teams that had been deployed which allowed him to update the maps with solid intelligence figures. As far as he knew, none of the special forces teams had been detected by the enemy. None had been engaged anyway. Jackson directed his computer to initiate a conference with Laura Whiting, who was in her own office four...
Captured by Sir Al Chapter 1: The Beginning I was spending my afternoon quietly, waiting for Hubby. A cold shower mighthave been the best to relax my senses on so hot a day. When you're hot intobondage and discipline, you need your Master's constant presence, don't you?So I was trying to relax and preparing everything for my Master and his night;it will be a night in his ropes, of course, and our lust. My body was gleaming under the shower but then a noise from the lounge drewmy attention....
Brandon Fitzsimmons – The Abyss "God-King," Milly purred as she dragged in the auburn-haired Wendy. Wendy was a lovely woman, the face of a twenty-one-year old, a set of perky tits, and a plump ass. She had been founding hiding in the city two days ago. I wanted her for my personal harem. But the whore refused to submit to my will. "I bathed and perfumed her," Milly smiled. "And shaved her bare, just the way you wanted, my Lord." Milly was the fiercest of my personal harem, a...
Mermaid had no one in the official position of executive officer. There simply were not enough officers to go around for that designation. The closest that they had was Lieutenant Sugiyoto, the navigation and tracking officer, who filled the role if it was needed by virtue of being second in command. "Green light on all exterior doors, Brett," he said now, checking a panel on his display. "Thanks, Sugi," Brett said absently, looking at his own display board. He was now sitting in the...
General Jackson was still at his command post in the capital building, monitoring the various operations that were taking place around the planet. The entire operation was at its most vulnerable right now since the bulk of the MPG members were still in transit to the bases. His greatest worry was of course the security of the Eden MPG base, which stood less than two kilometers from ten thousand WestHem marines. His worry was increased by a call from Sprinkle. "What's up, Jack?" he asked,...
Aboard the WSS Nebraska, Mars orbit September 11, 2146 Major Wilde was once again observing the final flight briefing less than two hours from the scheduled launch time. Admiral Haybecker was explaining to the AA-71 pilots and gunners for the tenth time that no matter what else they blew up in or around New Pittsburgh on the coming strike they were not to touch so much as a hair on the head of the Alexander Industries ammunition plant. "That plant is a vital part of the WestHem military...
MPG Headquarters, New Pittsburgh September 14, 2146, 2000 hours "It's confirmed, Kevin," General Zoloft told General Jackson via video link. "The WestHem marines are in full retreat from the main line. They started giving up in droves twenty minutes ago. It started at the Pillbox 73 and 72 positions and spread all along the line from there." "Could it be some kind of trickery?" Jackson asked, wanting to believe what he was being told but not wanting to fall into a trap. "I don't...
Sally CapturedBy Aspererus ([email protected])Chapter One I’d seen her in the halls at school quite often but she wasn’t in any of my classes so I didn’t have much contact with her. I did manage to find out her name was Sally though. There was just something about her, she did something for me, or to me I guess. I don’t know what it was exactly, I suppose it was that petite little body of hers and those nice perky little titties with the erect nipples. I’d seen her try to cover...
Don Mitchell, son-in-law of Director Clinton, had of course been given the honor of leading the takedown team that would take Laura Whiting into custody. He and his team gathered at the main FLEB office at 0700 that Thursday morning. There were forty of them, including himself, and he divided them up into teams of ten, each of which was assigned a leader. He then briefed them on their mission, an act that did not carry the dramatic punch he had hoped for since every last one of the men had...
Lieutenant Glory Bongwater was as confused as the rest of them, though her information was a little bit better. She stood before an Internet screen at the command post, a block away from the main entrance to the capital. Beside her was Special Agent Waxford, the highest-ranking FLEB agent left from the field office besides Corban Hayes himself. Waxford knew exactly what he wanted done but otherwise didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Bongwater detested him immensely and longed to...
July 28th, 2146 Deep space, between the orbits of Mercury and Venus The armada continued on, coasting through space at seventy kilometers per second. Because of the attacks made by Mermaid, it was now an armada that was significantly more alert than it had been on the outset. All active detection systems on all ships were powered up and sweeping through designated sectors. A full wing of attack and detection craft now maintained a 24-hour combat space patrol, circling around on all sides in...
Captured familyThe Bruner family was on their way back home from vacation, and all of them were rather tired. Rock Bruner was proud that he had been able to finally afford the cross-country trip that he had always promised to his family, but until this year they had been unable to go. They'd been on the go for two weeks, had been to California and were now only several hundred miles from home. Rock's wife Linda was in the front seat asleep, and the two teenagers, fifteen-year-old Mark and...
Foreword: Somewhere I read another story similar to this. I can't find it to give proper acknowledgement. It may have come from Powerone. I can't find it. Anyway, the other story was filled with violence; beating and every kind of sexual punishment you could put a woman through. I am not much better, but I have tried to put a different slant on a similar story about a woman captured during World War II. If another writer emails me that they had the original idea, I will pass it on somehow I...
Jason returned to the canteen feeling quite ravenous. He spent some time chatting to the Jumo, and began to feel a hankering to have his feet on the planet and see what it was like. He felt that it would be safe as he had a very peaceful tranquil relaxed feel about both the Jumo and the planet. He had very much liked what he had heard about it, and thought that he himself would like to have a bit of a look around. Jason decided that he would chat to Linda, Karen DuPree, Matilda MacArthur,...
The men who captured me were a mix of Scots and Germans under the command of a young Englishman with an aristocratic look and a sadistic streak. His mixed and motley company had been out stealing horses when they found me late one morning disporting myself in a barn with a young maiden who had been around the track a few times. We were so busy with our efforts to please each other that neither of us heard the horsemen approach until they were in the barnyard. The girl squealed, slithered out...
It was a beautiful spring afternoon and Jay didn't have a care in the world as he walked home from school! The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky and his thoughts were on maybe going for a swim in the old quarry pit on the other side of town when out of the corner of his eye he saw a middle aged woman falling down on the steps in front of her house!!! He raced to her aid and while helping her to her feet asked, "Are you all right, ma'am, that was a nasty spill!?!" "I-I think so,"...
FetishThe Green Goblin Strikes Back by Steve Zink In Marvel Comics, Spider-Man is one of the all-time favorites. One of his constant foes almost from the beginning has been the Green Goblin. This villain was originally the chemical industry mogul Norman Osborn, who gained his alter ego after being bathed in chemicals at his plant. In the comics, Norman eventually died, while his son Harry, a good friend of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man, married his high school sweetheart,...
There was no water. Close to the heart of the Evergreen Forest, Snatch narrowed his eyes. The forest was picturesque. The trees (deciduous, despite the forest’s name) were thick enough to keep the ground below in a perpetual twilight, the grass was tall and green, and there were flowers everywhere. The place was obviously well-nourished. So where was the water? Snatch was not one for the outdoors, of course, but he’d worked with a druidess once. In his experience, it was very hard to spend a...
The Troop Club was a chain of taverns that was owned by a subsidiary of Barkling Agricultural Industries, the third largest food producer on Mars now that the Agricorp-Interplanetary Food merger had been consummated. Only a minute portion of the intoxicant distribution holdings of BAI, Troop Club taverns were nevertheless a lucrative, low overhead venture. Located just outside of military establishments throughout WestHem's territory, they had managed to snare an incredible thirty-eight...
"Incoming multiple agency response call," the dispatch computer said in it's calm, cool, collected voice. A second later, rows of text appeared on the screen. "What is it?" asked Lisa, who was behind the wheel of the cart on this day. It had been another slow shift and she was ready for a little action to break up the monotony. A multiple agency response meant that something big was going down. "34th Street and 7th Avenue," Brian told her, reading from the screen. "Heavy smoke in...
Mermaid's engines had long since been shut down and she drifted silently through space, her passive sensors keeping an eye on the frantic search that was being undertaken on their behalf. The crew had been at general quarters for nearly five hours now, all of them anxious, scared, but also proud that they had just helped take forty thousand marines out of commission. Brett and the rest of the bridge crew watched their screens as the Panamas continued to pass far above them and as the...
Lon and his squad saw the dust cloud long before they saw the first of the WestHem armor coming down the valley below them. They were spread out atop four different hills on the south side of the valley, some forty-five kilometers from the landing ships, just outside of the effective range of the 150-millimeter guns on the ships. They were heavily laden with anti-tank lasers and charging batteries. Supporting them were two sniper teams on hills to the east and west of them and two mortar...
The dance of the WestHem marine's artillery battalions was an intricate and well-rehearsed affair. They spread out all across the valley, forming up by battery, each of which contained six guns. The commanders in charge of each battery had a map on their screen which indicated firing positions they were to head to after each firing sequence. Each battery had more than twenty such positions pre-programmed in as waypoints on the navigation screen. Their doctrine commanded they fire three...
Aboard the WSS Nebraska, Mars orbit September 5, 2146 Rear Admiral Mitchell Spears was the commander of all of the task force's F-22 space fighters. Each of the California Class superdreadnoughts housed a wing of ninety-six of these saucer-shaped craft for a total of 192 of them — or at least that was what they'd left Earth with, they were currently down to 147. Like most of the command rank officers involved in the conflict, Spears was somewhat upset and disillusioned by the losses and...
Aboard the WSS Nebraska, Mars orbit September 13, 2146 1718 hours Major Wilde sat at his desk, watching the InfoServe main news channel that was being beamed over from Earth. It was the top of the hour news summary, although, since it had taken it eighteen minutes to travel to Mars it was no longer the top of the hour. He was shaking his head in disgust and disbelief with every word the grinning newscaster spoke. "At precisely 1300 hours, Eden and New Pittsburgh time, today, WestHem...
Eden MPG base 2206 hours Matt Mendez was barely cognizant of the fact that the Mosquito he was in had just touched down on the main runway outside the base. He felt the gentle thump, felt the push against his restraint harness as Brian put on the brakes and slowed them to taxiing speed. He was weak all over, feeling like it was an effort just to move his arms or turn his head. He had never been so tired in all his life. The pain in his butt cheek was still there but had mostly faded to a...
You walk into the house and it is dark. This is not unusual, as you live alone. However, tonight you worked especially late for a Friday night and it was now nearly ten thirty when you unlocked your front door. You walked into the foyer and as you reached for the light a hand grabs your and pulls you away from the light switch. Suddenly another hand grabs for your free hand and pulls it back behind you and both hands are quickly secured behind you with the click of a pair of handcuffs. You...
He was counting the Ehue “One to be happy, two to be sad, three to be good and four to be bad.” There were four, he sighed. The fates were against him. The man was taller than average, but not taller than his fellows in their armour. He stood a little aside from the others, leaning against a tree. His breastplate wore the green crest, embedded into the metal, as was his right. This right could not be taken from him, whatever he had done. It was a double-edged sword, for he had the right, and...
Green River by Tim Willows Jake never felt his first misgivings about transferring to Green River until the very moment when the needle entered his arm and the world dissolved into a vague cloud of grey. Before then, the transfer seemed like the only option-more than that: a godsend. He couldn't handle life in the general prison population. There was no other word for it: the other prisoners were animals. There wasn't a trace of racism in Jake's mind when he thought of them...
Green upon green "The Order is in shambles in here! What were you thinking? You have no foothold, the Assassins have all but destroyed our contacts and there is no one in the King's Court! I came here only to see how Portugal is doing in the hands of our noble leaders, but you have done NOTHING!" The Pope was fuming in the old decorated halls of the Templar Order in the middle of Lisbon. The room was dimly lit, with only a few candles on the large carved dining table in the middle,...
Green Acres 1: The Gypsy Indian Curse of Green Acres Produced by Jay Sommers [1965-1971] By Ron Dow75 "Good Morning Mr. Douglas, Mrs. Douglas," the general store's clerk and owner greeted the distinguished gray-haired man in the three-piece pin-stripe suit and a Bavarian hat, and the trim blonde in yellow-with-white polka dots skirt and short-sleeved jacket, white purse and gloves, and a hat similar to her husbands, only with a much wider brim, and white with yellow trim....
This story has been buried deep inside of me for a long time. I remember all of it very well, almost like it was last week. I’ve reminisced and re-lived it all many times over the years. Much of it is quite fun to remember. Some of it is bittersweet. Some of it is painful still.When I was out of college and in my early twenties I got a job selling radio advertising in a suburban/rural area, and although new to the region, I became successful in a fairly short time. After a couple of years, I...
MatureIt is 9’o clock in the night and Samir is in his apartment which is right in the middle of the Green Valley town. He is on his bed inside the blanket and he is wearing just a blue t-shirt and a boxer. He already has a boner thinking about Sandhya’s huge ass. Sandhya is a girl who works in the same office with Samir. She has that huge ass which could give anyone an instant hard-on and it was no different for Samir when he saw Sandhya for the first time. She is his junior; in fact, she works...
LesbianShruti was tired, and her panty was all wet with her juice, and both the girls were smiling at each other. But there was some dissatisfaction on Manisha’s face which Shruti found out. She lifted herself and put her lips on Manisha’s. Manisha held Shruti’s head, and both girls started sucking each other’s lips. Both were getting amazed by the fact that they were enjoying a girl’s company. Manisha was already wet. Her pussy was dripping while Shruti was getting aroused again. Still sucking and...
LesbianShantar writhed in agony as a bucket of salty water splashed over him, stinging and burning in his many cuts and scrapes. "On your feet, Hill man!" The words echoed through the roaring in his head as he blinked the water out of his eyes. He stumbled to his feet, staggering and nearly falling. His arms were lifted over his head with a clanking of chains. Before he could realize what was happening, he was only one of a line of naked figures. Their manacles were hooked to hanging rings that...
Her long brown hair fell against my cheek as her rosy pink lips reached mine. I could feel her soft hands caressing up and down my back. I found my hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her body close to mine. She parts my lips with her tongue and for the first time, I actually taste how sweet she really is. She presses her lips into mine so hard I actually feel like she is swallowing my soul. My hand slips under her shirt and slowly make their way up the small of her back, within minutes I...
LesbianNurm's closed carriage moved unobtrusively through the crowded city streets. The early afternoon sun blazed down with all its tropical fury, but the men, women and children abroad in its heat seemed to scurry about with the energy of insects from a disturbed hive. Shantar looked about warily as he followed Nurm and his two cloaked and hooded 'demons' up the broad palace steps. He felt naked without the comforting weight of his sword at his belt, useless as it would have been against the...
List of characters: Kylie - 19 - Popular: Alex: Ms Robinson - English Teacher - : Tracy - Cheerleader - :
TeenHi, my name is Stephanie, I’m 38 years old, and I’m the mother of an 18-year-old daughter, her name is Katie. And I have never been married. I don't even know who the father is. ************ My life-changing that Sunday afternoon, I was 17-years-old, My dad was having a poker game at our house with 7 of his friends. They were watching a football game on tv as they played. I was watching the game as well. The guys were in the dining room, at the kitchen table. Our house is an open house...
Nestled in the center of rolling mountains, surrounded by sky-reaching spruce trees, blanketed in a thick layer of snow nine months out of the year, was a small growing town called Greenwall. The little mountain town was founded over two hundred years ago by a man by the name of Simon Kaster. Only a trading post in the beginning, it steadily grew into an impressive hub for northern trade, but as the years passed, the trade left, but the people remained. While never much to the average...
TeenMy wife and I are a white couple in our mid 30s that have never swapped or included anyone in our sex. Often during sex I would tell my wife that I wanted to watch her with another man and what a turn on it would be. Sex with her is always good but when I tell her these fantasies during sex she REALLY gets off! We've visited the Vegas Green Door 4 times in the past and have always had a good time without including anyone else. My wife always gets off knowing she’s being watched. On our most...
Group SexGreen Acres 3: The Country Gentleman in the Peignoir Produced by Jay Sommers [1965-71] Parodied by Ron Dow75 Gray haired, distinguished, non-disbarred Oliver Wendell Douglas was vigorously chopping wood in his yellow nightgown with the white peignoir. "What are you doing?" "I'm chopping wood! I have to destroy something, or I'll destroy some-one!" On the back swing, Oliver Douglas realized he was talking to somebody: Off-balance, he struggled to stay on his feet. Even...
Green Acres 8: Not a Milton Berle Sketch By Ron Dow75 The first thing Oliver Wendell Douglas saw when he opened his eyes was a black dildo laying on top of the cover. "AAA-nh!!" he screamed, leaping out of bed. (The lighter party favors were stirred up by his draft of his billowy nightgown.) "Oliver, what's the mattser?!!" his wife asked, concerned. "Lisa, you didn't do it to me again, did you!?!!" the man in the long, green silk nightgown demanded and prayed. "Do whats?"...
GREENHOUSE CRUISINGbyChristopher PierceI was laying on my back on the ground, my legs in the air, a sizzling hot cock reaming my butt. My vision was filled with the sight of the gorgeous man above me. He smiled down at me as he fucked my ass better than anyone else ever had.All I could see around him was the green of plants. Huge tropical leaves dripped with moisture, voluptuous blossoms sagged sensuously on their stalks and tall tree trunks disappeared into the bright sunlight above. A tangled...
Diane leaned out of her window as her vehicle sat perched in the nursery's sandy parking area. Jasmine stood facing her friend, with her navy blue leather handbag dangling from a strap that wrapped an elbow on one of her folded arms. Jasmine's swarthy legs were braced apart in a taunting, yet argumentative posture and she unconsciously flexed her gluts to accent her points of the discussion at hand. "Are you sure it's all right?" Diane asked with a whine and a squint. When the two...
Martian Planetary Guard Base Troop Club — Eden The smell of marijuana smoke hung thickly in the air, overpowering even the odor of alcohol and tobacco smoke. The ventilators in the room struggled to keep up with the outpouring but it was a hopeless task. Scores of off-duty MPG soldiers of all ranks, sexes, and ages were sitting at the bar or at cocktail tables; smoking and drinking the intoxicating substances, unwinding from the stressful twenty-four hours that had just occurred. Even though...
The nearest MPG recruiting office was forty blocks away, in the south portion of Helvetia Heights. They rode the public transit train there, utilizing one of the transport tokens that came with their monthly welfare allotment. They stepped off at the nearest station nervously, knowing that they were now deep in enemy gang territory, an act that could easily lead to their deaths if they were discovered. Sure enough, they made it no more than two blocks from the station before a group of...
The marines were right. The special forces teams were not suicidal and had no intention whatsoever of actually going head to head with an entire company supported by tanks and hovers at once. In fact, Lon and his squad were the only actual combat squad currently deployed on the western side of the Eden LZ and they were almost five kilometers away. They had their normal weapons and their normal assortment of anti-tank and anti-aircraft lasers, but their orders were not to engage unless they...
MPG Base, Eden August 25, 2146 Jeff Waters took a drag off his cigarette and looked at the five cards in his hand thoughtfully. He was pretty new to poker, had only been taught the basics of it a week ago, but in that week, as he and the rest of the 17th ACR spent hour after hour, day after day in the interior assembly area near the outside wall of the base, he'd played the game a lot, enough to know he stood a decent chance of taking the pot this hand. Hicks, who had dealt, had chosen...
MPG Base, Eden August 27, 2146 2245 Hours General Matthew Zoloft — a third generation Martian — was the overall commander of the Eden forces. He was a WestHem Military Academy classmate of General Jackson's who had been a member of the MPG since its inception. In the WestHem marines he had risen to the rank of lieutenant in charge of a tank platoon and was a veteran of the bloody loss that was the Jupiter War. A personal friend of General Jackson's, he had started out his MPG career as...