March 2018 100 Word Anonymous Challenge

[Joshua Jones]

So, we have a full month before the next 300 word challenge. @johnnyjet won the last one, so he chooses the next theme and genre. We need a host, though. Would you be willing to do so, johnnyjet?

 

[johnnyjet]

Perhaps I will. I've never hosted before. Let me think a bit about the theme and genre.

 

[johnnyjet]

** PLEASE DO NOT POST STORIES DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD **

Theme: Occupation

Genre: Science Fiction or Fantasy

Please PM (Private Message) all entries to johnnyjet and I'll post the entries into this thread. Entries can be sent from now until probably March 26 (exact time depends on my schedule, since my daughter is visiting at the end of March and my birthday is March 25).

Once the challenge thread closes, a voting poll will be created where you can vote for your ONE favorite entry. Voting will close the end of the day on March 31.

There will also be a guessing portion where you can try to match the Anonymous stories with their creators!

To PM me, click my profile and select 'Start a Conversation'. Good luck and have fun.

 

[johnnyjet]

Homage to Glen Campbell 1936 - 2017


I am Guardsman for the Solar System
I fly the Outer Orbital Course
Searching farther from the Sun
For the coming invasion force

I hear you singing in my mind
I imagine the caressment of your lips
While I lay it all on the line
In the Last Sentry Ship

I know I need a Supercharging
But that option's just not there

So I'll keep on living in the Sleeper
Of my lonely Gunners Nest
With the picture of us at The Last Human Celebration
Burning in my breast

And the Last Sentry Ship lays it all on the line

 

[johnnyjet]

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

“We have a position open for a Rogue?”

I roll my eyes. “I’m a Wizard! WIZARD!”

“Not much call for them.” He looks through more scroll pages. “Three more Rogues… wait! How about a Swordsman? Anybody can hold a sword!”

Face palm. “Sir, I cannot hold a sword. It’s against The Rules.”

“Hmm. Perhaps… Dishwasher, maybe?”

I want to turn him into a frog – but I’m broke, and really need a job. I take a deep, calming breath. “Tell me about the Rogue positions.”

He smiles. “The City Employment Bureau is always glad to help!”

 

[johnnyjet]

The Battle for Britain

The RAF squadron dived towards the Invasion fleet crossing the English Channel, Royal Navy ships sunk or burning everywhere.

Almost three weeks since the fall of Paris and the evacuation from the French beaches; now the Invasion was happening.

Anti-aircraft fire shot up and the RAF was blasted from the sky, parachutes blooming.

The invading army soon overran the hasty beach defenses and swarmed inland.

Horrified civilians shuddered as the blue arachnoid aliens herded them into fattening pens; the final Occupation had begun.

 

[johnnyjet]

Weather Mistress

She was the perfect TV weather girl: gorgeous, cheerful, and deadly accurate.

Theodora Meteora worked for a small town television station. She quickly gained national fame for her unprecedented precise weather predictions.

The meteorological society invited her to meet with them.

She walked into the dimly lit room.

"You wanted to see me?"

"You're making the rest of us look bad. We want you to stop doing whatever you're doing."

She laughed at the figures hidden in darkness.

"I predict lightning will strike in a few seconds. Right about there."

She turned and was gone in a flash.

 

[johnnyjet]

Protective Custody

We called the aliens Stickmen because they looked like bundles of twigs. They clattered on spindly limbs as they emerged from their spaceships.

All attempts at communication failed. The Stickmen ignored everything that was said or done to them. If something got in their way – a building, an airplane, a child – it disappeared, never to be seen again. We quickly learned to stay away from them.

Today they deigned to announce the reason for their arrival. From every phone and laptop and television and radio, in every language, the same announcement was heard.

"Now you are safe from yourselves."

 

[johnnyjet]

The depths of one's job

Black waves rushing into the night carrying the sins of the world.
The little bald man cautiously approached the river bank. Leaning on his long pole, Kharon throw him a void look.
"You're not dead."
"I request passage to the Underworld!"
"Toll."
The man deposited a silvery piece into his hand.
Black boat crushing sinners as they slip into the night. The Death Lord was expecting them.
"What is the meaning of this intrusion?"
The man pulled out a piece of paper.
"You owe taxes for Kharon toll. Considering the 100 billions who ever lived..."

 

[johnnyjet]

Hell of a Job

Explosions shook the deck plating, a horrific rattle set bolts and plating chattering.
Captain Thadius growled. Gripping the control's in a vice grip, arms shaking with the strain. His eyes fixed in determination.
"Come onnnn girl, stay together,"
Lights across the board flashed from green to red. The ship was breaking up as she tore through the enemy debris.
"Sir" a voice crackled across the intercom.
"Escape pods are away."
"Captain is a hell of a job," Thadius growled, flicking the intercom off.
The ship plunged like a dagger into the heart of the enemy fleet, her engines detonating.

 

[johnnyjet]

Traditional Logic

Their position was clear - if one of theirs was killed by us they would kill off twenty-four randomly selected humans, or thirty-six for an officer. Most places, this stopped the killing, but in Israel…

Try to kill a scaley near your enemies' position, so they'll be blamed.

After the fiftieth mass funeral, the head alien called me in.

"So, you kill off members of the opposing congregation, each to appease your own probably mythical god?"

"Same God, different form of worship."

"Even illogicaller. And why do you indulge in such behaviour?"

"It keeps us occupied, I suppose."

 

[johnnyjet]

Operation: Occupation Earth (#27)

"Oye! Oozzat knockkin?"

"I'm Zontar. Your master."

"If that's a salesman, tellem ta clear off."

"Naoh. It's another, space invader."

"Another? Explain, Earthian."

"Woll, everso offen, an otherworldly being wants to occupy Earth. But since us Umens are so dazeezed ridden, aliens usually end up dead."

"Dead?!"

"Yeah. Weezah, filthy race."

"Whozzat?"

"Eez, Zontar."

"Would you like some tea?"

"We got, Pringles."

"Grahhh! What a hideous child."

"Eear! Don't call my cat ugly."

"What's all this then? An invader. RIGHT! Prepare, for halitosis!"

"BRAAAHHHH!!! I'm contaminated.......!"

"Thank you, officer."

"Our priority, is you, and, to chase away, nasty aliens."

 

[johnnyjet]

.... and Odysseus hid in the great horse

My crutch exploded and I screamed in ecstasy as I swam between the stars.

There! I’m in! And you didn’t feel a thing! I was encrypted in that text, and that little frisson of excitement was enough for me to access into your brain and begin examining your synapses.

Let’s just adjust the neurotransmitters a little, particularly the noradrenaline…… that should make everything a bit sharper, a bit clearer.

And here’s the on-off switch, the stroke switch, the heart attack switch…….you get the picture?

Now listen carefully, because I’m going to tell you which story to vote for…..

 

[johnnyjet]

Well, Maybe A Quiet Place By The Sea…

“So prisoner, apparently you have something of interest to say to me. Me, the supreme leader of the greatest warring race ever to bestride the galaxy!” A glare.

“Why are you here?”

“Where better? Try to make us leave!”

“No thoughts of home?”

“None! Well… not for some time.”

“No thoughts of family?”

“No. It’s my job to lead my people. But, there was a time… But what about you?”

“I control minds. I change minds - permanently.”

“Indeed? So that’s why you’re here. And when do you start, my friend?” A laugh.

“Actually, I think I might have finished.”

 

[johnnyjet]

Shadow of Truth

While Alone in the dark, one vision always mercilessly occupied Trep’s thoughts. The faceless man. The dark silhouette that was always lying in wait at the bottom of the stairs or the foot of the bed. Here Trep was again, alone in the dark.

Trep was innocent, but everyone in Pota-Mei thought he was a dangerous fugitive. But as he lay crouched in the bushes, dodging the Equilibrium Troopers, something happened.

The fear was gone. He was no longer scared of the faceless man. Trep was the faceless man lurking in the dark, and he was finally, truly free.

 

[johnnyjet]

Judge, Jury and…

Aaron opens his eyes. An afterlife?

Earlier he had been secured to a gurney in a vaporisation chamber; innocent but nonetheless condemned. His last memory was the executioner winking at him. That was odd.

A woman bends over him, removing the straps.

“You’re not dead.” She smiles at his confusion. “Samuel is a telepath and has adapted the chamber to send people here instead of reducing them to atoms."

She sighs. “As long as they are innocent. Judge and Jury sometimes get it wrong but our official state executioner sees what’s true.”

“He says it gives him real job satisfaction.”