BRUTAL ASSAULT
A SHADOWED STARS SHORT STORY BY STEVEN KOUTZ
The planet Aklowda, was a rocky surface full of blowing dirt and barren rock, or so it seemed at first glance. Three men donned in full black armor from head to toe approached a piece of smoldering debris and examined what appeared to be a crashed satellite probe. The commander spoke with a female voice from under her visored helmet. She stated that it was imperative they assessed a positive identification. Another of the soldiers, with a male voice looked the debris over carefully as the female commander and the other soldier kept a spanning and intent watch around the site. The male soldier claimed that it did not look like any Ubide tech. He claimed it was from a much lesser developed technology and seemed to be more of a relay of some kind and broadcasting a weakening signature code. As the code went silent, the female soldier said that they had company.
The approaching soldiers were donned in green and yellow armor. They were humanoid in form and wore helmets with curled back horns attached at each side that resembled the head of a ram on Earth. They armed themselves with swords drawn from their sheaths and engaged to split the single blades into two parallel blades and from between the blades were shot streaks of purple flame from some and streams of electricity from others. They were referred to by the female commander in black armor as, Queen Ararra’s royal guard, the Gomen Satys. The armored soldiers with swords that could be used as ranged weapons were not the only danger.
Looming above and behind the Gomen Satys was a smooth metal and giant robot about twenty-eight feet high. The female commander in black armor called for her soldiers to take cover from the Gomen Satys and concentrate all fire on the giant robot that she called a brute. The four Gomen Satys warriors fanned out with their stingrippers firing as the three black armored soldiers took cover behind small rock outcroppings. The electric streams and streaks of purple flame hit the rock outcroppings but the soldiers ignored them and each raised a forearm toward the giant metal brute that started to run toward them and trembled the ground as it did so.
The raised forearms of the black armored soldiers sported a highly technical device that stretched from their elbow joints to the wrists. They were more than just a device. They functioned as an incredibly powerful weapon as well, called war arms. The war arms unleashed powerful pulsating energy blasts and delivered wild shots that seemed to bounce off the metal shell of the giant brute.
The trembling ground from the brute’s run and giant size was enough to throw the aim off from the black armored soldiers and the Gomen Satys. Two of the soldiers took off running. The brute increased its speed and with its giant stride had stepped on one soldier and squashed him under the large seven foot diameter metal foot and into the rock and dirt covered ground. The other soldier took a few more running steps before tumbling forward and gaining some ground as he came out of the tumble action and into a straight run. He reached back as he continued to run and with an increased pulsating energy blasted at the ground in front of the brute’s charge.
The female commander took advantage of the distraction and used the pulsating energy blasts from her own war arm to hit the helmets of two of the Gomen Satys. She followed with pulsating energy shots to their heads as their helmets fell to the ground. The Gomen Satys Commander, the only one that had red armor, disengaged his ranged attack and charged toward the black armored female commander as she dodged more purple flame streaks from the other Gomen Satys warrior. He ceased his fire once his commander was in melee and engaged the rotating sharp teeth mode on his parallel blades. The helmet fell off the head of the female black armored soldier and revealed her to be Princess Erikai. A human with long black hair. The Gomen Satys commander swung harder and with more focused strikes once he realized who he was attacking. Queen Ararra would be extremely pleased to receive the head of Princess Erikai and that kill would also boost the Gomen Satys commander in rank. Princess Erikai engaged the short forward dagger of her war arm and the two combatants dodged and parried with each trying to gain a killing slash or stab.
The other Gomen Satys soldier decided to watch the combat and took his eyes off his surroundings. The brute had stumbled from the other black armored soldier’s pulsating energy blasts to the rocky ground around it. The black armored soldier had switched his hits from each side of the brute causing it to lose balance with its giant round feet and it fell backward onto the Gomen Satys warrior in his observation of his commander’s assault. The brute rolled around on the ground as it struggled to again stand. It squashed the Gomen Satys soldier underneath it even further and into a deadened state. The Gomen Satys commander was thrown into a misstep from the trembling ground behind him and it allowed Princess Erikai to stab him under his ram headed helmet and through his throat. Princess Erikai then retracted her short dagger and along with her surviving fellow soldier they again fired heavy pulsating energy blasts onto the Brute that had managed to get to one knee. The heavy shots had slowed the brute’s action and caused the delay needed. Princess Erikai and her fellow armored soldier each fired two mini rockets and four mini grenades onto the brute’s lower half. With its giant metal legs blown apart, the brute fell to its belly and frantically reached for its assailants. They walked away and left the brute struggling and crawling with its giant arms pulling its massive metal torso. The soldier asked Princess Erikai as they looked back if they should attempt to finish the brute off. She stated that they would need more firepower for that task. They had already exhausted their war arms and by the time they returned, there would likely be a full retrieval unit sent by the queen.
THE END
