Three…
Siri crouched behind her respective pile of crates, rifle at the ready. Through the tint of her helm’s visor, she watched the armored figure of Commander Ferral hold up the fingers of his free hand—his other held his own gun—in a silent countdown that the nearby Ryxarri aliens skitering past on the other side of the crates couldn’t detect.
Two…
The soldiers around the room tensed, preparing to spring.
One…
There was supposed to be a “Go!” that told them it was time to move, but one soldier lost his nerve just then and leapt from his hiding place early, letting out a wild war cry as he clambered atop the crate to Siri’s left and opened fire upon the startled aliens.
Inwardly, Siri groaned. But there was nothing to be done about it now, so she and the rest of the soldiers jumped up as well, into the sight of the half-humanoid, half-insectoid aliens.
And thus the battle began.
The Ryxarri shrieked in rage and immediately began to call upon the strange powers supposedly given to them by their god. Within seconds, arcs of purple lighting were shooting across the cargo bay, crashing into the bodies of soldiers all around.
Siri managed to avoid the blasts that came her way and began to fire. One laser took a Ryxarri in the side of the head, and another struck an alien in the chest.
Both fell to the ground.
Siri jumped down from the crate, shooting all the while. More arcs of lightning came her way, and she managed to avoid the first several—until one struck her in the shoulder and, although her armor shielded her from the worst of the blow, she still felt the impact and staggered back, grunting in pain.
While she was distracted, a second bolt came shooting in, and she only barely ducked it. As soon as she recovered, she whirled around and tried to locate her attacker in the mass of fighting bodies around her. She quickly spotted him skittering towards her on his spider-like legs, all four hands crackling with lightning.
Hastily, Siri ducked again, just as the blasts shot past. As soon as that danger had passed, she surged forward, firing as she went.
By the time she skidded to a stop, that alien was lying dead on the floor before her. Satisfied that that threat was dealt with, she whirled around, searching for another target.
But there were none to be found; the battle was won.
Thank you for reading! I wrote this story as part of the Storytelling Collective’s Flash Fiction February 2023 challenge, so a huge thanks to them for inspiring me to give it a shot.
