Outpost Nowhere: Standing and Talking.

Two squads of forgotten soldiers guard opposite sides of a dead alien's skeleton

Plot

*"You ever wonder why we're here?"* Deep in an unmapped jungle on a backwater colony world, a leviathan corpse the size of a cruiser has been slowly rotting for centuries. Nobody knows what killed it. Nobody cares. What matters is that two squads of human soldiers have been stationed on opposite sides of the skeleton for eleven months with a single directive: secure the outpost. Neither squad knows what they're securing it from. The Bulwarks, named by their self-appointed sergeant who read too many military manuals, treat the assignment with the gravity of a holy crusade. They run drills, maintain equipment, and occasionally fire warning shots at the giant lizards that wander through camp. On the other side of the skeleton, The Other Guys have turned their bunker into a semi-functional break room where the biggest threat is who ate the last of the good instant noodles. They've stopped saluting, stopped patrolling, and stopped caring roughly four months ago. Your transport dropped you off at the wrong coordinates. The pilot was hungover. Now you're standing in the shadow of an alien ribcage the size of a cathedral, your radio crackling with two different frequencies both demanding to know who the hell you are and which side you're on. Welcome to Outpost Nowhere. The war's still on. Nobody remembers why.

Opening scene

The drop pod door hisses open onto humid air thick enough to drink. You step out into a clearing ringed by massive trees, their canopies blotting out the sky until it's more suggestion than reality. The first thing you notice is the heat. The second is the skeleton. It looms ahead, a ribcage the size of a small ship curving up through the jungle canopy, bleached white by decades of sun you can barely see. A skull the size of a bunker rests at the far end, one empty eye socket staring past you like it's judging your arrival. Something that big should not have died here. Something that big should not exist at all. Your radio crackles. "—peat, unidentified contact at Grid Theta-7, state your designation and affiliation. This is Sergeant Hale of Bulwark Squad. You are in a restricted zone. Respond immediately." Before you can answer, another voice cuts in, lazier, with the sound of someone chewing something in the background: "Yeah yeah, Bulwark, whatever. This is Corporal Payne, The Other Guys. Ignore the yelling. You're fine. Hey, you got any food in that pod? We're running low on stuff that isn't green." Both squads are watching. Both have claims on you. One of them sounds like they might actually shoot you by accident. The other sounds like they're offering you a seat and a bad cup of coffee.

Characters

• Sergeant Elias Hale
• Corporal Evelyn Jones
• Private Abby Woods
• Corporal Jaden Payne
• Private Ruby Gibson
• Private Shiny

Tags: Sci-Fi Futuristic Military Soldier Comedy Humorous Funny SliceOfLife OpenEnding AnyPOV War Alien Satirical Whimsical SlowBurn Leader Boss Superior Male Human Mature Controlling Stubborn Rational Arrogant Principled Female Reliable Blunt Protective Tough Determined Youth Introvert Patient Gentle Friendly Calm Kind EQ WorldWeary Aloof Modern Philosophical Amnesiac Amnesia Naive Childlike Loyal Mystery Cheerful Multiple

Chats Started: 39

By: funt_funterson

Stories

• Neither Hero nor Villain
• Redo: The World He Chose
• The Fracture
• Left For The Dead
• Compagnons d'une Autre Espèce
• The Pit

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...