Age of the Paladins

I was born into a post-apocalyptic world. Years ago, a carnivorous extraterrestrial race entered Earth's atmosphere and wreaked havoc on the world's cities. We called them the "Mindrenders". The aliens' diet was the consciousness and nutrients in a human's brain. They 'd sink their mandibles into a human's skull and maul the brain out of its sockets. The human brain's nutrients induce the Mindrender's strength, endurance, speed, and agility. So, if you wanted to kill a newborn Mindrender, all you needed was a revolver gun, but if it just consumed someone's brain, you'd suddenly need a shotgun.

Somehow, every year, there is a new type of Mindrender that emerges out of the hive. When they arrived on earth, they brought along with them a huge brain. I'm guessing that brain is what gives them new ideas. Some say that The Brain is what connects to all of the Mindrenders and tells them to do whatever it wants. The current Mindrender models include: Slashers, Arachnoids, Drones, Megarenders, and the Defender.

We lost 85% percent of the human population in the first year when they came. But those of us who survived were able to seek refuge in underground bunkers and adapt. Basically, I've been underground for literally my entire life. Some idiots in other underground colonies try to ascend out of the dirt and fight back. They get together and scavenge digital parts on the surface and build pilotable battle-robots called "Paladins".

I am one of those idiots.

My name is Scott, and I am currently constructing a Paladin in one of the underground bunkers in Queensland, Australia. I'm almost finished with its exoskeleton. My Paladin's current weapons are a loaded gatling-gun on the right arm and a wired missile-launcher on both shoulders. I'm just in the finishing touches of constructing the grenade-launcher which will make up my Paladin's left arm.

"Almost complete!" I called out to my engineering companion, Bob. "Yeah Scott. We just need to weld the grenade-launcher onto the arm and wire it to the central controls in the cradle," Bob replied. "Anyway, who's going to try out the Paladin when it's finished?" I questioned. Bob scratched his bald scalp and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Uh, I think I should, shouldn't I?" Bob uttered. "Nah, I have more fighting experience." I argued.

"Uh, in that case you should go in the simulator." Bob agreed.

Half an hour later, the Paladin was officially complete. I thought of giving it a paint job, but that'd take much longer and might make it look silly. "Time to test this thing out." I thought. I stepped into the cockpit. I inserted my hands and feet into the piloting-gloves and shoes which remotely connects to the Paladin's arms and legs. I was ready to test my creation.

Suddenly, the lockdown alarms blared! "Whoa! What's going on," Bob called out to a nearby farmer from the colony. "Breach! Mindrenders have found the colony! Hope that Paladin of yours is ready." The farmer called back. "Time to kick some alien butt!" I muttered and sealed the cradle's door.

Already, Slasher and Drone Mindrenders were digging into the colony, ravaging people's brains, destroying forts. I got a glimpse of a group of them from the Paladin's visor. "Hey, brain-suckers!" I called out to the aliens through the microphone and speakers within the machine. Grrrarrr! The creatures snarled and lunged towards me. I had to think fast.

I quickly forced my index finger on the right-missile launcher button on my glove. This rocket fired and ended two Mindrenders. More aliens were raring to attack. "Activate gatling-gun!" I told myself. I stretched my arm out inside the cockpit and clenched my fist, which activated the gatling-gun system and fired the bullets out of the gun's pipe. Each bullet drove into the monsters' shingling armor. "Yeah!" I laughed in glory. The monsters were almost defeated by one scrappy Paladin. I fired the second missile on the left shoulder. The Paladin released the missile and destroyed three of Mindrenders. Their body parts exploded apart and splattered on the dirty ground. Only one more left to defeat. Unpreparedly, the Slasher Mindrender pounced on top of my Paladin, pinning me to the dirty ground. The monster slashed and cracked my Paladin's visor. "One weapon left!" I groaned. "Fire!" I activated to grenade launcher on my left arm, clamping my gloved fist. Two grenades fired at the Mindrender, exploding it. "Yes!"

All of the Mindrenders were defeated. Everyone cheered for their hero, "Scott! Scott! Scott!"