01651: Dan Danger and the Moon Base (Flash Fiction Challenge 08/30)

Trying my hand at this week's Flash Fiction Challenge over at Chuck Wendig's blog. My D20 roll gave me setting #17 - In the base of the Moon Nazis. And naturally a Nazi story has me wanting to go all campy pulp hero...



Dan Danger silently slipped out of the space zeppelin’s cargo hold into the Führer’s secret moon base. Allied Command had only heard rumors that this facility existed. And that’s why they had reached out to him to ferret out the truth. Who better to trust with this mission than the world’s greatest secret agent, archeologist, and gymnast?

He had spent a few weeks undercover in Nazi-occupied Poland to eventually find the right lead to get him to the base. Apparently German rocket technology had taken a turn for the better without the rest of the world knowing about it – hence the space zeppelin project. What interest the Nazis had in the moon was anyone’s guess at this point, but Dan figured that the was no sense delaying any further.

The main hangar bay of the base was largely empty save for this single space zeppelin and the support crew. He must have lucked out and caught a ride with a minor supply ship – the only folks interested in this bird were those assigned to unload its cargo. There were few soldiers present save for a few guards at the main entrances into the facility as well. Then again, what security did you need when your enemies were all on a different planet?

Dan Danger kept out of view using various packing crates that lined the hangar bay. It took him a few minutes to dig out his Nazi disguise and apply some rough make-up to disguise his more obvious features. The only problem with being a world-famous secret agent was that you were world-famous and not very secret. But he was used to this routine and had more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

Soon he was back at the Zeppelin, making it appear as if he had just emerged from the cargo hold once more, making no signs of hiding himself this time around. The guards lowered their guns as he approached but he kept his posture confident and his step quite snappy as well. Appearances were important when infiltrating an enemy facility through the front door after all.

The soldiers snapped to attention once his rank insignias were clearer. He had also wasted no time barking out orders in flawless German – being a linguist was also essential to the secret agent trade these days. He had prepared a quick story about secret orders from the Führer himself while citing other top Nazi officers as his direct superiors in this endeavor. Being the grunts that they were, they figured it was safer to just let him through than risk the ire of a Nazi officer from the homeworld.

A security detail met him once the gate guards had let him through. They claimed there were only there to escort him around the facility in order to prevent him from getting lost. It went without saying that their true purpose was to ensure someone had eyes on him while the other security forces verified his identity. Standard operating procedure.

Ditching his security escort was child’s play in itself. No secret facility was complete without a handy utility closet to stow unconscious guards in. And because Germans were efficient more than creative, the layout of the base was easy enough for Dan to intuit quickly enough.

The only question that remained was what exactly was Dan going to do next. If he were to follow his orders to the letter, then he had already confirmed the existence of the moon base. He could probably earn a little extra credit by figuring out the purpose of the facility and steal a few Nazi secrets while he was at it.

Or he could take the whole thing down. He was pretty good at that sort of thing.

No Nazi facility was complete without some sort of a barracks or an armory. And to take this place down, he needed some serious ordnance. He could have made sure to bring enough beforehand, but that would have been tacky. He was a “travel light” kind of guy more often than not. Besides, a suit doesn’t look good when you have several dozen shaped charges hidden within its folds. Suit bulges are not sexy where it counts.

He finally came across a set of steel doors – they looked well reinforced and designed to hold back an army. Either he had found the armory, or something even more important. Either way, it promised to be fun.

Dan Danger was always ready for, well, danger. But he was not expecting to barge in on Hitler and his commanders all gathered in one room. He also wasn’t prepared for the hulking figures standing between him and the leaders of Nazi Germany. Definitely a lot of fun, but not at all easy.

He had heard rumors about the Nazi’s augmentation program – boosting human capabilities with artificial implants and chemical supplements. He had no idea that the end result would turn out to be giants nearly 8 feet tall bristling with various guns and other weapons in place of regular arms. Nasty piece of work indeed, and he had only opted to lift a lonely Luger from one of the guards. Traveling light had its limitations.

The two let loose with chain guns that replaced their left arms as the Nazi commanders began to scramble out of the room using alternate exits. Dan figured he might have a chance to take out Hitler himself if he felt like it. But the two big baddies in his way were probably going to be a bit of a distraction.

He tried a few shots but the former humans just seemed to shrug them off. Either their skin was now armor or they were just conditioned to ignore pain. Neat trick for any dumb guard. He tried another shot at their eyes as he rolled out of the way of their bullet barrage but achieved little effect.

So Dan improvised. He ran straight at the closest brute, actually leaped onto the still firing chain gun and grabbed his head with both arms – just like with the old pommel horse. People always forgot that he was a gymnast. His momentum was just enough to jerk the brute’s firing arm towards his fellow and the two managed to shoot one another full of holes in no time flat.

By then the chamber only had a few Nazi commanders still joining the fight as more security forces joined the fray. Considering he was trapped on the moon with a whole secret base of Nazi soldiers with more Nazi experiments possibly hidden within the facility – it already promised to be a good time. Using the brute as a meat shield, he checked his ammo levels and prepared to charge forward anew.

Show time.

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