The Universe's Greatest Hero

As the handsome Captain Cahill hurtles through the cosmos at 186,000 miles per second, his mind wanders back to his finest victory. At the Battle of Vynsenulon VI, when he lured the Gigarachnids into a narrow crevasse and lit the charges above them, burying their army under five tons of granite. His actions that day earned him three medals, one for heroism, one for bravery, and one for valor. Captain Ronald Cahill, the universe's greatest hero.

“I’m leaving you, Ronny.” He barely hears from virtual reality, “Call me if you ever grow the fuck up!” His wife slams the door.

From Guest Contributor Rob Howard

The League Of Ruin

The test for entry into the League of Ruin is simple yet fearsome. Initiates are given two vials and asked to choose. One contains a power-granting elixir, the other a deadly poison. Anyone who wishes to join the league must overcome the test through a combination of bravery, deduction, and perception.

The truth, known only to the members of the League of Ruin, is there really is no choice. Each petitioner either has two vials of elixir or two of poison. The decision has already been made long before the actual trial, based upon the initiate's popularity, deviousness, and attractiveness.

The Loyal Dog

There is a shrine on a small Pacific island that was intended to be an agnostic memorial saluting the bravery and sacrifice on both sides. So many years have gone by, however, that memories of that battle have become obscured, much as the shrine itself has been weighed down by lichen and neglect.

People still visit the shrine and leave tributes. They aren't for the fallen soldiers, but for one particular dog who remained on that spot for ten years after his master was killed. He is remembered as the loyal dog and people mourn him more than any soldier.