Sunday’s prompt and DeviantArt link.

It seems that no matter how long someone serves in military operations of any sort, the sight of ashes is always one that causes pause. Even when it’s the aftermath of battle and you know the images you’re seeing are the results of your fellow troops fighting for their own survival, there’s just something about seeing any structure reduced to ash that’s unsettling.

Maybe it’s because dying in a fire just seems like a terribly painful way to go. Even if the guys who were burned to death were guys who were trying to kill friends of yours, something about the sight of ash and the knowledge of how it comes to be takes any feeling of celebrating or winning right out of the mental equation.

Even those of us far removed from the battlefield, or flying over the battlefield after the battle is over, in the safety of what one 20th century musician called the “bravery of being out of range”, the sight of ash makes one think. A failed part, a lucky shot, a simple mistake, that’s all that keeps you from sharing what has to be the more feared way to die.

Banana and I are silent as our Gemini passes over the burned out field below. Our space marines and spec ops forces combined with the paladins to assault a troll stronghold that appeared in an area much too close to a civilian village. Apparently space marines, Templar knights, and Vikings aren’t the only things that get sucked through anomalies and find themselves somewhere they weren’t before.

The civilians are all okay, although we still have medic teams on ground to be sure. Our forces marched towards the troll stronghold, which prompted a response from the trolls who met them midway between the two points. The battle that took place was gruesome. A part of me almost feels guilty for being able to kill so many trolls without ever really being at risk from harm by the trolls.

However, what guilt I do feel is offset by the knowledge that we saved people who’d done nothing more than make a trip from home, fall through a hole without knowing it,  and somehow ended up on the other side of the universe. Somewhere along the way trolls have developed a taste for human flesh. This has caused some to wonder if the anomalies do allow travel both ways.

Today’s prompt and DeviantArt link.

While elves and dwarves, and trolls and Templar knights, and Viking villages were all strange encounters, they were nothing compared to our most unusual encounter here on Themis, When the recon flights went over the south polar land mass, which we began calling Antarctica, one of the crews caught sight of a large cavern entrance. General Gail Ward, now designated expedition leader by the default of being the highest ranking flag officer on Themis versus the ones who remained on the Aldrin, decided to take no chances and immediately ordered the two Artemis dropships to carry the SOF teams to check out this cavern.

Since almost everything we’ve encountered planetside seems to be more dangerous than anything we’ve encountered in space, the mission commander requested Gemini aerospace fighter support. Banana and I got the call for this latest mission.

“Atlas, are you reading this,” she asked from the wiso seat as we made a pass over the large opening of the cavern.

“I’m seeing it, but not believing it,” was my reply from the pilot controls as we passed well closer to that massive entrance than we probably should have. I and the other Gemini pilot could have flown both planes side by side into that entrance without touching each other or the walls.

“How do you want to play this, Poker,” I called over the radio to the other Gemini pilot, Captain Amanda Card.

“Poker says we’ll take the high road, you take the low road, and we’ll see what happens,” came the response from her wiso Vinnie, Lieutenant Paul Vaugn.

We flew our passes by the cavern opening as Colonel Will Martin took his spec ops teams inside. His como, Sgt Brandi Stuart, joined our conversation in the sky outside as the team delved deeper into the cave system. “Bossman says keep you posted just in case,” came her introduction into the radio net.

“Roger that Stu,” both Gemini crews replied back. Our part of this mission seemed it would be and remain uneventful. Stuart’s side of the conversation mostly involved her describing cavern hallways and dark shadows as the SOF teams moved towards whatever their exploration target would be.

Her descriptions cut off with an intake of breath as she was describing a large cavern room where the SOF teams had just started to use lights for a better view. When her voice returned to the radio net, we heard, “we now know why that cavern opening is so big.” And then going silent before adding, “I hope for all our sakes, no one wakes it up.”

“It”, both wisos asked over the radio at the same time.

There was silence in answer. After several tense minutes, at least on the Gemini fighter end of the conversation, a barely audible whisper added, “big” and a few seconds later “dragon”.

“Figures” came Poker’s reply over the radio. “Meets the expectations I’ve had for this planet since we first came down here.”

“Uh, guys,” Stuart said before adding, “we now know where all the 10 mm sockets go when they disappear.”

“Repeat that last,” Banana requested.

“Big dragon on a big pile of 10 mm sockets”, came the answer from Stuart.

“Like how big a pile? How many?” Banana asked.

“I honestly think all of them. Ever. Since the first usage of the 10 mm socket on Earth. Or possibly anywhere”, was the answer.

Yesterday’s prompt and DeviantArt link.

An absence of snow on the land masses around Themis’ equatorial belt was one of the most noticeable differences between the Earth we’d left behind and this new home world of ours that we now called Themis. It seemed all continents and land masses on Themis, except for two, resided within the planet’s two tropical belts. The exceptions were two polar land masses, each the size of Antarctica from the Earth they left behind.

Recon flights dispatched, at first, from the Aldrin, and later, from our forward operating bases planetside, returned from the Arctica continent, the northern polar land mass as we named it, descriptions of some small coastal villages, some of the village architecture we’ve come to associate with the troll tribes, and a lot of ice and snow.

Of the four flights sent over Arctica, descriptions became scarcer as the Gemini pilots flew over the center regions. Clouds and weather reduced visibility to nothing. Nightvision couldn’t get a clear view and what infrared could see splotches of cold and warm appeared on the FLIR screen, which of course told us nothing.