And all Her Majesty's men

[Wolfs Ghost]

I've seen strange things in my life, I've seen men kill themselves, men throw their lives away for their house, but until recently, I've never seen a planetary entrance done without a Docking ring, planet side. That was one hell of show and I don't want to bloody relive it either. The pilot was dead when I found him.

I've never seen a human burnt to a crisp either, until that day.

--- Austin Goodmen, Private Memoirs

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Industrial Zone Alpha-3, Western Leeds...

Running as quickly as he could just before night fall he made it to the outskirts of the city, it was an industrial city, like all of the ones on Leeds.

He slowed down to a walk then completely stopped, panting heavily. A door next to him opened up and a shot ringed out, thankfully missing him. He was to tired to move but looked over at the door and saw a gun pointing directly at him. "Bloody.....hell....man....what are you doing?" He said trying to catch his breath still.

"Who the hell are you, and why the hell are you running about this late?!" The man holding the gun said. Keeping it aimed at Austin.

Austin stood straight and turned raising his hands. "I'm Lieutenant Austin Goodmen of the Bretonian Armed Forces, I was left out in that wasteland before god knows how long, now someones pointing a gun at me."

The man lowered the gun, "Did you just say Austin Goodmen? Lieutenant Austin Goodmen?"
"Aye, I did."
"Bloody hell, come in lad! Come in! I've heard a lot about you, young man!"
"Uhm...you shoot at me, then...never mind."

Austin slowly approached the old man then entered his house. "So, how far from the Armed Forces base is your house?"

"Five hours, son. Longer by foot."
"Can you spare anything I can use, a..transport or something?"
"I can but you must know, this side of Leeds has dangers lurking at night."
"Such as?"

The old man leaned towards Austin and whispered "Shadow People..."
"That's absolutely insane, chap." Austin said holding back a laugh.
"Oh? Don't believe me! A Fortnight ago I was opening the door to let old smokey in, he's a lovely dog, anyway's, when I opened the door I heard a mechanical scream, sounded like a females. I froze in fear, then the air got cold, as if it was winter! Then, I felt something rushing towards me, I forced myself to break my trance I was in and I slammed the door shut. Never again did I go outside at night without this gun."

Austin smiled, until the oldman gave him a stern look. "Shadow People eh?" Austin said lightly, wandering over to the couch and sitting down. "You, were attacked by beings, that don't exist?"

"They exist, Mister Goodmen. You just head right out those doors, young man, and wander down the streets by yourself at night. You won't come back, atleast, not alive."

"And what happened to your pet?"
"He's dead...the Shadow People killed him."
"Right, I would love to stay and talk to you about these things, but I'm rather busy at the time, need to get home, you see, rather important man."
"Then take this!" The old man handed him the gun.
"I can't take your weapon. It's yours."
"Without it how are you going to protect yourself, Mister Goodmen, from the Shadow People?"
"I'll find a way, I always do." Austin smiled and turned towards the door, then opened it, heading outside into the pitch black darkness.

The door shut behind him quickly, causing him to turn. "Odd...the old man must have shut it, well then, five hours walk, let's get started."

He started off in the direction he was previously heading, hoping to run into someone he could ask to give him a lift to the Military base, which was unlikely at this time of night.

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