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See what I mean?

The Apocalypse War got me into Dredd, so I'd say - start with the Apocalypse War!

Ah well, glad you've ssen the light in any case. Welcome aboard!

Before I read the clarification...well, I was honestly struggling with whether or not I should drop the Meg.

I wouldn't.

Couldn't do it. Even if I knew for sure it was going to stay at the quality level it's at right now. I guess I keep hoping it'll get better.

And because of shmucks like me, buying it no matter what, maybe those in charge will see no reason to improve it  .

That shouldn't be an impediment fester - just a reason to drink more to kill the hangover. Silly season, indeed.

Indeed... .

Well, there looks to be some interesting material contained in the volumn. I love small press comics...ever since I was a kid...I love small press comics! Good luck to you kiz.

Yeah, our Emperor is the man when it comes to all things comics and creative!

Welcome to the board - hopefully we can remedy that little Marvel/DC problem...!

Better yet, who would ignore T/S? His posts are either sheer genious that us peons can't hope to understand, or pure madness that only he can understand!

I have no one on my ignore list, and no one has me on theirs at this point, though I oftentimes feel ignored anyway.  .

Dinosty.









No, never mind.

Thanks guys!

Kerrin, I believe someone on the short story comp asked if there was something like this, so I thought I'd ressurect the thread - it was your idea, if you recall. Anyway, I had the Bad Company story that got too big for this month's comp, so I dropped it here.

And yes, Godpleton uncensored could either lift this thread to the heavens or sink it straight to hell...depending on your point of view.

2 - Locustsoflove (when did that happen? it was locustsofdeath last time I was here!)

I got bit by the Love Bug  .

Van Dom, you and ozebane were sorely missed this comp (not to slight those that participated, that's not what I mean). Be sure to get one of your yarns in next time!

[Mad Company]

Wrote this 'un for the 'Total War' short story comp, but it blew up to 1,000 words with no hope of being cut down to 500. Anyway, I thought I'd post it here for the one or two of you (if that) that might want to read it!

Mad Company

The planet no longer had a face. The war machines had raked the earth like splintered fingernails scraping away rotten flesh. Pain and death, dead and dying – nothing else remained, as if nothing else had ever been.

Two men lay in the mud.

One of them stirred, drawn back to consciousness by voices floating on the cold morning breeze – human voices – voices of salvation.

'Got a fix?'

'Over there, in the ditch.'

'Alive?'

'Affirmative.'

'Medic team, go.'

Opening his eyes, he watched as a patrol materialized from the mists, moving toward him in slow-motion. Then he was surrounded, and everything sped up so that a flurry of activity went on around him. He felt a tug, a prick, a burning sensation.

The adrenaline shot kicked in immediately.

He sat up, looked around.

Thirteen soldiers stood before him, wearing masks of scars and empty expressions. Battle-hardened and battle-weary, only half-alive and halfway in the grave.

'Name and rank,' a sergeant demanded.

'Private Random, Erebus Company. Me and Flynn – ' he motioned to the man laying beside him ' – are what's left, anyway. Want a report?'

'Sure lad,' the sergeant shrugged, 'if you're feeling up to it.'

'Yeah. Yeah, sure I'm feeling up to it. Krool ambush, two days ago on Golgotha Hill. Routine patrol, nothing special. Fight up the Hill, fight down the Hill. Kill as many Krool as possible. Most of us made it to the top alive, but it was hard going and we were in no shape to go back without a break. So we set up camp.

'Flynn drew first watch. The rest of us dug in for the night.

'The Krool came at us from out of nowhere, with claws and teeth and guns. Most of the boys were slaughtered before they woke up. A few of us rallied, and showed those motherfunters what Erebus Company is all about. In the end everyone was dead – the boys, the Krool – everyone, except me – and Flynn.

'Flynn...

'I found him, a little ways down the Hill. His legs were blown off at the knees. The Krool got him from behind. He got scared, he told me, and ran. Ran, when all he had to do was shout and the boys might have survived. All he had to do was shout.

'Maybe I should have left him there. That's what I wanted to do, but he started crying and I felt sorry for him. That, and he's Erebus and we don't leave our people behind. No matter what. So I found a length of rope and tied it around my waist and under his shoulders and dragged him down the Hill.

'And then I heard a sound – a shrill, high-pitched screech – and I realized I had been pulling him over razor-rock. How he screamed and screamed. So awful, to hear a man scream like that. And I thought – maybe – I should slow down, but his screams let every Krool in the grid know where we were, so I decided speed would be best.

'We made good time in reaching the bottom. I tried to make him understand that I had to move quickly or the Krool would have caught us, but I don't think he cared. He just sat there, real still, real quiet. Can't blame him though. I'd be upset too, if I were all in ribbons like that. Anyway, I was glad he finally shut up.

'After that I figured he could use a rest, so I laid him in some brushwood at the base of the Hill. Maybe – maybe – I should have recognized it as creeper-weed, but I was too busy looking out for Krool. The weeds tasted his blood and grabbed him, tearing at him with their thorns to suck him dry. Poor Flynn, the creepers disemboweled him and took off with most of his guts before I wrestled him to safety.

'He was in bad shape. I couldn't bear to see him like that – he – he – I had to get away from him. So I propped him against a dead tree – I swear I didn't see the Rok-Shah nest – and went on recon. I couldn't have been gone long, I didn't go very far. But when I returned the Rok-Shahs were eating his face off.'

Random hung his head.

'That really bothered me,' he said. 'You see, the thing about Flynn, he had these remarkable blue eyes, blue like what the sky might look like if the smoke ever cleared. I swear I saw one of them winking at me as it slid down a Rok-Shah's gullet. Maybe – maybe I could have shooed the birds away sooner, but I sat there and watched for a minute or two, and when I finally scattered the buzzards, his face was gone. And where those blue eyes had been were black sockets, like the sun inside his skull had set and given in to night.

'I didn't have time to worry over him, though. The Rok-Shahs were circling above us, waiting to finish their meal, so it wouldn't be long before the Krool pinpointed our exact location. I knew we had to get out of there fast, and – and I have to admit, I almost left him. Cause he would weigh me down. Cause of all the boys that would be alive if he'd only shouted, only opened his mouth and screamed like he did on the razor-rock. Maybe I should have let the Krool have him. But he's Erebus, and no matter what he did I had to bring him back. So I ran, fast as I could. With Flynn behind me on the rope, I ran. I ran for me – and for him, believe it or not. I ran for Erebus Company.

'And we made it.'

With that, he fell silent.

Smiling, he held up the rope still attached to his waist. Dangling from it was a hunk of bloody meat that had been a man. 'We made it, didn't we Flynn?'

The End

HM loucustsoflove - Great imagery, and one evil bitch at the centre...

Ha, funny thing is my wife inspired Eneuwydd, not because of how wicked she is (she's a sweetheart, nowhere near evil), but because of how much I love her - that I would do anything for her!

Well done to all!

1. Roger Godpleton - sheer genious, profound in sarcasm and long in wit: the fellow knows what he's doing.

2. Colin MacNeil 01 - a fine, fine poem; my wife, just returned from Afghanistan found it quite emotional.

3. emceehamster 02 - tough choice between this and 01, but this edged it out just barely. Well done.

HM: zarjazzer - good going, z/j!

Actually it may have been our Legendary Shark that thought of the idea...

How should something like that be organized? Gather names of artists and writers and basically draw names from a hat? And who should organizse it? I suppose I could have a go at that, but there are probably better candidates for that position...