by Chris Hechtl
The Naga lieutenant knew he'd underestimated his opponent again when the gorilla engineer moved in to his reach so readily. His truehands tried to block the Gorilla's blows as he shifted back in preparation of raising his body up on his tail to free up his stronger upper arms. Oz was quicker, he rolled to his left and punched under Z'kth'ss'th upper armpit at a nerve cluster, momentarily throwing him off balance before the fingers of his right hand formed a blade and rabbit punched in over the shoulder to the Naga's larynx. He just barely pulled his punch to keep it nonlethal.
The Naga sagged as he shied away from the blow, coughing as the gorilla backed off bouncing and rolling his shoulders.
"Point," the Naga finally coughed out.
"Need a minute?" Oz asked.
"I'll be fine in a moment," the Naga said as he took his mouth guard out and focused on his breathing. He liked sparing with the gorilla because it helped him get some of his frustrations out over the situation. He was a tactical officer, being assigned to a factory ship was an insult. Couple that with being trapped on board for months with little to do, and he was having trouble with his temper.
The gorilla was a convenient way to unload excess energy and get some licks in. But it also forced him to focus because as he'd just experienced, the engineer could and would hit back.
His mandibles twitched. "Okay," he said. "Best two out of three still?"
"Of course," Oz said as he made his way to his starting position. "Put your mouth guard in," he said.
"Ah, I had forgotten," the Naga said as his mandibles worked. He placed the hated plastic device into his mouth once more.
"Sure you had," Oz drawled as he adjusted his gi and then took a Mot Sohgi fighting stance.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
You can read more in the late fall/ early winter of 2016!