Paladin

ii.

"Iren?"

The Paladin slashed through the Onfae's body like cutting grass with a knife. The beam blades did their job right, as the enemy combatant slowly fell to the ground in a heap. No breathing ensued. 

Sweat rained down Iren's forehead as his eyes scanned the battlefield, seeing his fellow Ahnerovans fighting against their mortal foes. Another raid had been announced earlier that day, thanks to the heads-up from the Sentinels monitoring Onfae activity on their home planet.

They saw the fleet heading to Ahnerova way before the Onfae realized they'd been spotted. They were greeted by a battalion of armed forces waiting for their landing outside the city gates. Soon enough, the Danger Alarms rang across the city, warning Ahnerovan citizens to hide out in their homes as the soldiers took care of the attack. 

No surprise, the Onfae were back on their planet to steal their precious technology. 

And although this raid had more Onfae soldiers, midway through the conflict it was clear that without their advanced machines, the enemy would always lose against Ahnerovans.

"Iren!"

The renowned Paladin searched through the crowds of armed aliens, trying to find out who was calling out to him. An Onfae saw the distracted soldier and took it as an opportunity to take him out, aiming the tip of his matter spear on his back.

The Onfae cried out, already chanting victory when the perceptive Paladin spun around with impressive speed and cut through the spear with his blades. The weapon, now reduced to metallic splinters, fell to the ground with the yellow tip slowly losing color, indicating that it was no longer usable. 

"What, you thought I didn't hear you try to sneak up on me?" Iren smirked, the almost holographic blades attached to his tendrils raising in the air as he pointed them at the enemy. "You're dumber than you look."

Without another word said, the sharp blades materialized and sliced through the alien, life fading away in an instant. After making sure that the alien wouldn't get up again, the Paladin stared at the rotting piece of weaponry his blades had managed to tear. 

"Matter spears... by Kos, I hate those things," he muttered to himself and swiftly kicked the spear away, almost in disgust. 

"Iren!"  the voice who'd called out to him rang out one last time, but closer to where he was. The soldier only had to look up to connect gazes with a shorter Ahnerovan who was running up to him.

He grinned. "Thought you had missed the party!"

The alien stopped in front of him, bending on his knees as he tried to regain his breath. Their skin, a deeper shade of purple-blue, rippled with different shades at his exhaustion; a feature amongst their kind. 

Once his stamina returned, the soldier stood tall. "And what, let you take all the glory? Not a chance."

"I already have glory," Iren remarked with a sly grin. "I've been doing all the hard work since the battle started."

The Paladin paused as he nodded at his friend. "Speaking of, where have you been? I didn't see you in the trenches."

Covek rolled his shoulders, his tendrils unraveling and flexing. "Our Commander had a special task for me," he said. "He needed me with the rest of the Sentinels for aerial strategies. Said the Onfae had extra firepower this time, and he needed to make sure the Dome would sustain the cannons."

Iren scoffed at this. "As if the Dome could be damaged by their tacky cannons. Come on, everyone knows the Dome is ten times stronger than whatever bomb these guys have."