The Outback
~~~ ~~~~~~~

       "Targon, where do we go from here?" the young warrior apprentice
eagerly questioned. "Hold on young one. We must proceed slowly, this
isn't a game anymore."

        While Targon was spanning a vast desert landscape with his
high-powered infared viewers, he heard a shrill scream behind him. His
apprentice was being ripped apart by a small goblin with six thick
muscled arms. Targon's reflexes were quick, in a single moment his
plasma rifle was leveled at the goblin's head and fired. It was far
too late however, the goblin accomplished what he set out to do. Targon
sat in disbelief, wondering how a simple training mission could
go so wrong. It was too far to try and reach home, so his only option
was clear, he must proceed to the Outback as originally intended.

        Moving slowly across the desert, Targon carried the weight of
both his supplies and those of his long dead apprentice. Caution
was slowly being ignored in the face of exhaustion, and the desert
seemed to span in all directions with no obvious landmarks. This was
never intended to be a training mission, Targon quietly thought to
himself.

        Finally he saw a one story rock outcropping in the middle of the
burning sand. Reaching it, he realized this wasn't a government structure.
It didn't matter anymore, this was his last chance at life before death took
him at the hands of the merciless desert. He knocked on the door.

        ".. the Outback .. I'm here for the Outback.." Targon panted, not
realizing how hard it would be to talk after uncountable hours in the
desert.

        "This isn't the Outback, and this isn't the front door." The
seven foot scruffy ogre leveled an ancient antitank missle launcher
at Targon's stomach, and fired.

       Targon joined the ranks of the great warriors who were laid to rest,
in search of a place called the Outback that never existed.

Dreadnought [CHAOS] '93