Page 3 of My Tiny Giant
Hearing that I didn’t belong from an alien male proved just as irritating.
“Hey, Pixie, do you want me to punch him for you?” Ekon, a soldier from my unit, elbowed my suit.
“Thanks, but I can do that myself,” I gritted through my teeth in reply.
In my suit, I could hold my own in a fight against a few Ravils at once, with all their brawn and bravado.
I’d always wanted to be in the infantry, to take part in action right on the front lines. My technique in hand-on-hand combat was excellent. However, the pure lack of muscle power had often prevented me from going head-to-head with larger men.
When the armor suits were finally approved for battle, I’d literally squealed in delight. I’d applied for their very first field trials and hadn’t looked back.
The suit had finally allowed me to do what I’d always wanted. When wearing it, I was seven feet tall, just like everyone else in my Special Unit of Armored Infantry. Thanks to its powerful engines and exoskeleton, I was also just as strong as any of the guys.
I could certainly punch the living hell out of an arrogant jerk like Agan. Except that people like him weren’t worth the effort. Our transport would be here soon enough, and I’d likely never have to see him again.
Ignoring Agan the Asshole, I walked down to the water and rinsed the gore of the battle off the gloves and the helmet of my suit.
“Hey, Eleven!” Someone called me by my helmet number. A slam on my shoulder was strong enough to make me stagger, despite the suit’s stabilizers. “Thanks for helping me out there.” Agan tipped his head back at the jungle.
Sun rays streaked the sleek fur on his torso with gold and highlighted his overgrown hair, the ends of which curled behind his ears and on the back of his neck. With a few inches of length, his thick, wavy hair would be nice to sink my fingers into...
I shook my head at that random thought. The only reason for me to grab Agan’s hair would be to try to shake some sense into his narrow-minded head.
Scrambling, I quickly adjusted the suit’s speakers, making my voice sound deeper. Revealing my gender to someone like him might be asking for a confrontation, and I had no desire to fight an ally after a long battle with the enemy.
“No big deal.” I waved him off. “You kind of did the same for me.” I was referring to him killing the fescod I was about to disembowel on my own, needing no help from him whatsoever.
My sarcasm got completely lost on him, of course.
“Sure thing.” He nodded with a serious expression. “We’re like brothers, now, you and I—battle brothers.”
He kneeled on the riverbank, grabbing handfuls of water to rinse his arms and neck.
Hidden behind the dark glass of the helmet, I followed the water rivulets with my gaze as they trickled between the hard ridges of his muscles, glistening in the smooth velvet of the short fur over his skin.
Not very “brotherly” behavior on my part, ogling him like that.
I tore my gaze away quickly.
“Care for a swim?” Agan asked.
“A swim? Oh, no. I’m good. Honestly.” Shaking my head, I took a step back from the water’s edge.
More humans and Ravils came onto the bank. Stepping into the water, Rick stabbed a metal stake into the riverbed. It emitted a signal, designed to repel all life forms.
“The water is safe in a thirty-meter radius from this.” Rick took his helmet off and brushed a hand over the short stubble of black hair on his head. He beamed a toothy smile. “Who’s with me?”
“I’ll go!” Ekon climbed out of his suit. The bright light of the Tragul’s sun gleamed along his dark skin as he shrugged off the thin, white bodysuit that all of us wore inside the hard armor shells.
“Me, too!” Matteo and the rest of our unit got out of their armor, too, shedding the thin bodysuits one by one.
Suddenly, I was surrounded by naked males—Ravils and humans alike. The warriors ran butt-naked past me, diving into the water with wild splashing and happy yelling.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Agan tossed his chest plate onto the red sand of the riverbank. His hands went to the fasteners of his pants next.
“Me? No... I, um...” I took another step back. “I’ll just stay right here.” I plopped onto the nearest rock, trying and failing to divert my gaze elsewhere as he kicked his boots off then started shedding his pants.
The guys of my unit had seen me in my bra and panties on many occasions during the three years since we’d become a team. We had to sleep in tight quarters on the various transport ships where privacy was practically non-existent.