Freefall — Part 3

Good evening, and thank you for taking the time to read another short story. As you can tell from the title, this is part 3 of Freefall, an ongoing series of double drabbles (200 word stories) set in a science fiction world. In the last couple of episodes we’ve met the still unnamed protagonist, and the incredibly tall military man, Kohra, who is chasing him. This episode we’re back with our protagonist, who was last seen falling towards the planet in Part 1.

The escape pod had landed hard. The emergency chutes had been damaged by that one shot from his attackers. It could have been much worse. Another direct hit like that and he would have been atomised.

With his body aching all over he twisted the hatch open and let it drop to the floor outside. It hit the sand beneath with a dull thud. He’d been lucky to land here. The sand had cushioned much of the impact of landing.

He climbed out of the pod and dropped the few feet to the ground. He winced at the pain from his ankle. He must have twisted it on descent. He looked around.

He was well behind the front line, but the telltale signs of warfare were all around him. On the horizon the sky burned orange. Flashing lights, close to ground level, represented the huge siege guns used by both sides to pound the opposition into submission. The guns were unreliable at the best of times, more often than not falling short or far beyond their intended target. Trench warfare never changed.

The click of a gun from behind made him freeze. He turned slowly to face the unknown adversary.