A Ceramic Duel

A detached porcelain button had established a rogue outpost right against the kitchen backsplash. It possessed a smooth, glazed dome and four hollow apertures, brazenly mimicking an uncrewed surveillance node. Diplomacy was never considered. I stepped forward across the cool marble surface, locked my knee joints, and planted my left boot squarely against its rounded flank. Drawing the rigid pommel of my sidearm, I brought it down across the central perforations. It gave no heroic cry, merely a sharp, concussive clink against the stone before sliding two inches sideways into inert submission. The perimeter remains pacified.