Kaotic Beginnings

Kaotic Beginnings Part 7

On the whole, this planet was very much like Earth, really.

Anar put it down to the whole 'breathable atmosphere' and 'carbon-based lifeforms' thing. There were plants, and animals, and birds. They could be the same species they had back home for all he knew, growing up in the middle of England hadn't given him much opportunity to encounter rare and exciting specimens. If you got a woodpecker on the bird feeder it was a good day. The day was split up into twenty-four hours, the two suns followed each other across the sky leading to a satisfying night and day pattern and he had been assured there were seasons. Working in a desert, he wasn't sure if autumn and winter would actually come to much, but he would see. The big difference here, if it could be regarded as big, was in the months of the year. The Dragon had boasted that he was going to get all the nations working on an Earth calendar but instead of February being a silly, short month it actually had a full thirty days in it and no confusing leap year nonsense was needed. It certainly showed that his boss had chosen this world very carefully, and genuinely wanted his aardvark General to feel at home here.

Small fluffy creatures, (which could have been rabbits), scattered in the path of the mighty World War II terror machine as it reared up out of the mire, sending murky thick water splashing over the pretty flowers that were thriving beside it. Through his small viewing-window Anar could see that they were almost upon their next port of call. The Immanok orcs. This community didn't like outsiders much, which was promising, and Gritz and Kallo were both of the opinion that these were a very backward people indeed, which was just the icing on the cake. Taking the tank had seemed a no-brainer after giving the map a glance and seeing nothing but bog, and bringing these two Privates along just might make their reception a little warmer if they were indeed a grumpy bunch!

Gritz had been having a brilliant time playing with the mounted machine gun and they'd left a pepper-spray of bullets on their short journey. Many innocent squeaky creatures had breathed their last and Kallo was positively itching to get the main turret hot so he could have his fun too. As the wooden struts of a community perimeter came into sight, Anar reminded him once again that he was not, under any circumstances imaginable or otherwise, to go blowing anything up without his say so.

There were no guards at the entrance. Not a soul to welcome them, and Anar damn well knew they'd made enough noise to wake the dead, so it wasn't that they'd arrived unannounced and unexpected. He hit the brake, and the old machine squeaked to a stop. He flipped the hatch, which also made a clang. Tanks just were not designed for stealth.

"Sir?'

He pricked his long ears, picking up tweeting and warbling and quite possibly croaking but there were no voices. The village was on higher, drier ground, up out of the muck but the light was still not quite getting in from the leafy canopy surrounding it. Then he realised that there was no fire. In the last two visits, even in the mountain caves, there had been a large fire providing light and comfort, even if not necessarily warmth in these summer months. Here there was nothing.

"What are our orders, sir?"

"Shhh! He's thinkin'!"

"I'm only askin'"

"You don't ask officers nuffin'!"

Anar dipped back down before his two Privates started arguing, "there's no fire in the camp. No voices neither. We're going to go take a closer look, with our handguns at the ready, ok?"

The two orc boys nodded, saluting, unsmiling, clearly getting the gist of the situation.

Anar rolled the tank up the muddy, grassy bank and promptly parked it in the entranceway. That was one access point blocked, at least. He led the way out and down the now filthy vehicle and instinctively crouched. If there was one thing he remembered from old action films, it was that you used cover when you moved. With a wave of a grey hand, he beckoned his men to follow him as he made his way around the compound, going from pillar to post with his pistol in his grip.