The golems were closing in and they would need a larger dance partner. Thankfully, IronHide was in a mood to dance. The golems may have been covered in spikes but they were smaller than him and looked more fragile.

Unfortunately, he’d need to get his boiler up to temperature before he could use the steam cannon. In the meantime, he’d have to dole out some two-fisted justice.

“It’s clobberin’ time!” he called out, eager to get to work.

The nearest golem swung a thick spike covered appendage at him. It didn’t have any fingers or even much of a hand, just a thick stump covered in spikes. I had reinforced all of his iron plating making him heavier at the cost of his speed, but he’d be able to take just about anything that came at him. IronHide blocked the shot headed for his body. It was winding up for another swing from the other arm but he grabbed its head like a bowling ball, jamming his fingers into its eye holes.

It tried to pull away but he used his grip on the head to pull it in closer as he rammed his fist into its chest. With the first hit, cracks spider-webbed across the stone body. He kept hitting it again and again until the body crumbled and he was left holding just the head. He threw the head at the next golem and smacked it in the face.

The narrow road, edged by trees, and filled with coaches, worked to IronHide’s advantage as it created a bottleneck for the golems. If we had been on the open fields, this might have been a different situation. His boiler was up to temperature so he pulled out the steam cannon and took aim.

A steel slug the size of a soup can blasted forth with a deafening pishow! The slug punched through one golem and embedded in the one behind it. The initial golem to take the shot began falling apart at the impact site, reverting to a pile of rocks. IronHide would need to let the pressure build back up again for another shot, a rapid fire weapon, this was not. Without my main body inside, this took three times as long and access to additional ammo was cut off. He stowed the cannon in its back mount and kicked the rubble from the first two golems out of the way as he tried to climb over them to get to the next one.

he drew back his arm, lining up his next punch with the embedded slug but got hit from the side by a tree. IronHide stumbled over the golem rubble and fell to the side catching himself in the branches of a nearby tree that was near the road. He hadn’t really taken any damage, but at the same time he didn’t want more. Climbing over the rubble to get to him was one of the ogres.

It raised its tree trunk club for another blow but its actions were slow with the heavy weight. The club swung down and IronHide rolled to the side, grabbing a chunk of crumbled golem. As he rolled back, he held the club down with his open hand and smashed the rock into the side of the ogre’s head with the other. It stumbled back and a trickle of green blood oozed from the wound.

He pushed forward and punched it in the stomach, then a right cross to its wounded temple and followed up with a spinning right backfist across the face that he managed to pull off by only rotating his upper half around 360 degrees. The ogre spun around, tumbling back onto its stomach. In its fall it nearly landed on the commanding officers who scattered like roaches.

IronHide went in for a big stomp and was tackled by the second ogre before he could connect. The creature had him pinned down and was smashing its fists into his chest and arms as IronHide brought his reinforced forearms up to protect himself. It had him straddled and was landing blow after blow but for the most part it wasn’t doing much damage to his thick armor. He could see the remaining golems were having trouble climbing over the rubble of their comrades as their handlers tried issuing more complex commands to maneuver them.

The first ogre was starting to stir and the idea of dealing with both at once wasn’t appetizing. When the ogre on top of IronHide pulled back for another strike, he grabbed its tusks and started jerking its head around. Instinctively, it pulled its head back to free itself and that’s when he released it. IronHide crunched up and pulled his legs up to catch its head in his feet as soon as it flung backward and pulled it back and down hard, smashing its head into the ground. He crossed his ankles as best he could in this bulky body across its throat and sat up, using the momentum of the movement to drive a punch down and into the stomach and ribs.

The thing yelped in pain and convulsed, flailing its arms around. It tried to kick at him but it didn’t have a good position so he grabbed its knee and punched it in the inner thigh. It yelped again and devolved into a whimpering cry. IronHide was starting to feel like a bully, fighting this guy. He released his legs and rolled it off of him.

It cowered and whined until the control collar flared and its eyes took on a glow. Instantly its manner changed and it stood back up. IronHide looked around and nearby he could see a soldier that looked to be one of its handlers with the same glowing eyes. It looked like they had some sort of puppet spell in place as the soldier’s movements were being mirrored by the ogre.

The poor thing was scared and in pain, and the other ogre had similarly risen with the same glowing eyes. IronHide was tired of getting smacked from the side and this time managed to notice the golem that had finally made it around over the rubble to take a swipe at him.

He caught the spiked arm and jerked the golem towards him, pulling it off balance and punched it in what would be its elbow. The arm shattered at the impact point and now he had a spiked wrecking ball in his hand.

The controlled ogres were moving in weird, almost human ways and trying to move around to catch IronHide from a blind spot. Instead of focusing on them, he threw the spike ball at the handlers. They dove out of the way to avoid the heavy missile and the ogres mimicked them, diving away.

The golem’s other spike mitt slammed into IronHide’s back and punctured his boiler. Steam poured out in a scalding hiss, spraying the golem. It looked like the sudden volume of hot water may have extinguished the flames in the golem’s eyes and it went still like a stone statue. IronHide shoved it back and it toppled over and smashed into pieces when it hit the ground.

The ogres grabbed him from behind, each holding an arm, as the last golem closed in. He struggled, but he couldn’t break free from their grasp. The golem swung its spike fistball into IronHide’s stomach, puncturing the armor plating and hooking into the underlying frame.

The golem pulled but was momentarily stuck. IronHide used the pause to push down on the two ogres holding him and double kicked both feet into golem. Its arm tore free and crumbled as the rest of its body stumbled back, tripped over its fallen chums, and shattered like a plate hitting the kitchen floor when it hit the ground.

The ogres weren’t big or strong enough to hold IronHide’s weight and were pulled off balance, crashing into each other. Before they could recover, IronHide grabbed them both by their control collars and tore them away.

Instantly, the glow faded from their eyes and they looked around like frightened animals. They looked at IronHide with terror in their eyes. IronHide stomped the ground in front of them, thrusting his chest out, as if to say come at me bro.

The ogres scrambled backing away despite their handlers trying to jab them with spears and prods. With a swipe, two of the handlers were sent flying, the other two backed away quickly. With a final glance in IronHide’s direction, both of the ogres took off crashing through the Prince’s forces, upturned a coach, and disappeared into the woods.

These woods already had several megafauna species, hopefully the addition of a couple of ogres wouldn’t become an invasive species issue. I really had no idea what the sex of either ogre was... the chances of them being a breeding pair was crazy low... right?

Ironhide watched the ogres fleeing into the woods when he heard an anguished wail rise above the clash of swords and fighting.