Incipience

Chapter 16 pt 2

She repeats herself as she takes a step closer, this time raising the gun. "Xoi f'iw mij xid iog boda!"

"What?! Woah!" I throw my hands up in my defense. "Wait a minute now!"

 Her finger slides up to the trigger. "Xoi f'iw mij xid iog boda!"

I sweep her feet from under her before she can properly take aim. Her blaster misfires, leaving a scorch mark on the ceiling. That little—she has it set to kill!

"I—what are you doing?!"

My question goes unanswered as she hops to her feet and towards me.

"Xoi f'iw mij xid iog boda, xinxi!" She trains the blaster straight at my face once again. "Inova jez a fōdkeha īb ilm!"

I grab the barrel of the blaster with my left hand and chop her wrist with my right in one fluid motion. The force of my hit and her evident surprise makes the guard let go of her weapon. Her eyes go wide as the gun clatters to the floor. She yells for the others as she charges at me again.

I hold back an eye roll as I duck and weave between her sporadically aimed blows. You can definitely tell that Rombag wasn't her instructor during her time at the academy. There's no way that he'd ever let any cadet in his barracks leave with a fighting style like this. I know for a cold hard fact that he'd rather crash land on the Quinzentenians' lawn without a blaster or an inch of armor on him instead of graduating someone as sloppy as her.

I sidestep a punch meant for my head and use her momentum to flip her on her back. Her head hits the floor with a sickening smack. She cries out on impact. Good. Serves her right.

I turn my attention from the now visibly disoriented guard to the other two. The taller guard charges at me while the other is still frozen in place, obviously conflicted as to what he wants to do. I honestly can't tell if he wants to run to their aid or just flat out run away.

Whatever, I think to myself, I'll deal with him in a second.

You can tell that the guard bulldozing towards me is used to relying on his size and strength to win fights. The punches he throws are wide with a lot of power behind them. Fortunately for me, I'm used to dealing with this fighting style—most of the male cadets in my barracks favored this method despite N'vei's constant lecturing—so taking him down doesn't take much forethought.

A few kidney shots and kick to the knee later, the man is on the floor. He tries to shoot me but I'm quick to rip the blaster from his hand. I fire once at his good leg. He screams out what can only be curse words. 

Again, serves them right. None of this would've happened if they left me alone in the first place.

I can see the woman slowly rising to her feet in my peripheral but I don't pay her much mind. My attention is now on the third guard. His bright blue eyes widen once he realizes that he's caught in my sights. He immediately bolts for the door.

I draw my blaster. "Oh, no you don't!"

Unlike his incompetent colleagues, my aim rings true. The young guard crashes to the floor. He howls in agony as he clutches his now shattered knee close to his chest. I'm quick to switch the blaster to stun mode before shooting him and the other downed guard again. They're out cold in seconds.

I turn to the female guard. She's back on her feet, but her stance is shaky. If her rapid blinking and slightly hunched posture are any indications, the room is probably spinning for her right now.

"Voxib!" She points her finger at me halfheartedly. "Xoi... f'iw mij..."

I interrupt her lethargic speech by pointing the blaster at her. "Didn't we establish earlier that I don't speak Inovarian?"