It took two full magazines, twenty full rounds, in order to cause the first hive pillar to crumble and fall. I’d started with explosive rounds, thinking that I could easily break it to pieces using conventional firepower, but the shell was much harder than expected. So, for the second magazine I filled it with a mixture of incendiary and nanite rounds to clean up the remnants.
I popped out of the back of the IFV so I could take a look at the damage with my own eyes, and not through the monitor, and found Hoppy standing nearby with her hands over where her ears would be.
“You know that’s not going to do much, you’re better off buying hearing protection for your helt!” I shouted.
“I have it!” she yelled back, a massive smile on her face. “The blast is just so loud I feel better covering my ears anyways!”
“Well don’t let stop you,” I said lowering my voice now that I knew she could still hear . “Do you have any idea what you’re going to spend your token on?”
“Legs!” she replied happily. She must have seen the frown forming on my face, because she quickly clarified. “Close Combat Cybernetics Class II to be precise. I have so basic ones right now, but I need sothing with a little more… kick,” she said, breaking into a giggling fit. It took her a few seconds to get control of herself and continue. “Bitsy also recomnds getting so muscle and bone enhancents, armor, and a whole bunch of other things too, so I’m still a ways off,” she continued after she settled down.
“Bitsy?” I asked.
“My AI, Elizebyth,” she clarified. “I call her Bitsy.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can to get you a couple more. I’m going to quickly check the periter before clearing out another one… there are so smart antithesis out there, and I want to make sure we don’t face any reprisals.”
“Sounds good! I’ll follow once I put my legs on!” the girl replied as a box appeared in front of her.
I half-waved as I headed back towards where Bright-Eyes and Broodmother were standing. I could see the carpet of azure biochanical scarabs writhing about, creating a no-man’s land between us and the antithesis. The smaller models were relentlessly pushing onto the carpet of scarabs, only to get instantly sward and slowly consud. The larger models seed to get slowed down by the swarm, but after a blow from Bob or several electric shocks from Raijin, they typically collapsed and were consud.
“Any trouble since I took down the hive?” I asked, as I waltzed up to the pair.
Broodmother glanced over at , just for a mont, before shaking her head. “The periter is holding, thanks to Raijin and your bear. There was a small wave when you originally opened fire, but Bright-Eyes threw so explosive squirrels into the gap, and prevented them from advancing too far.”
“They stopped?” I asked, surprised. “Why?”
“Because, like it or not, we’re far from the biggest threat at the mont,” Bright-Eyes replied, pointing across the room. Apparently the other team had also taken down another hive, while brawling their way across the cavern. They were closer now, so I could make out Drear’s portal blades swinging about, and larger chanical spiders spraying wide areas with acid. The entire team was at least three tis faster than normal, just ripping through everything on the way to the central hive. “No matter how big your gun is, I don’t think it holds a candle to that carnage,” she said.
“Fair enough,” I replied as I watched the rampage. “Maybe I’ll just head back and deal with one or two more hives, so we can try and catch up. Assuming they don’t flatten this entire place before we can.”
“It’s possible, but there’s still a lot of antithesis between them and the center,” Broodmother said.
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“Then the sooner I get to work, the better,” I told them.
I was about to return to the IFV when Hoppy ran up to the group. “Hey all… where’s Raijin?” she asked.
Bright-Eyes frowned. “He was watching the left flank just a few minutes ago,” she said as she scanned the area.
“He is attempting to cross my scarabs, heading towards the other group,” Broodmother reported. “Whatever he bought is also frying everything around him, so he’s creating an opening in my defenses.”
“Where?” I asked, scanning the lines. At first I didn’t see him, but after a minute I realized it was because he'd used part of the cavern terrain to hide his departure. There was a bit of a rocky area on the left side of the lines, which he’d hidden behind.
“Motherfucker!” I yelled, “Hoppy, with !” The girl squealed in surprise, but followed as I dashed for the area.
I sent a quick command and my bears reorganized. I thinned out the battle lines, trusting that Broodmother had the main defenses, and summoned my squad to the breach. By the ti I arrived, Raijin was almost to the scarabs’ outer periter, leaving a trail of dead bugs behind him.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. The man turned towards , just for a mont, before continuing to push out. “The bastard gets one upgrade and thinks he’s invincible,” I mumbled.
“Should we follow him, or leave him?” Hoppy asked anxiously. I chewed on my lip for a second, wondering the sa thing, losing Raijin would be bad. Sacrificing myself and Hoppy to try and save him, even worse. While I was thinking, Hoppy tapped on the shoulder, and pointed at sothing within the horde. “The Twenty-Threes are shifting towards him,” she whispered. “I think they sll blood in the water.”
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. “You rember what I said about sticking with what’s safe?” I muttered over my shoulder. Hoppy nodded. “Well this is a case of do as I say, not as I do,” I said as I sprinted down the path. With the Twenty-Threes repositioning, I saw a chance to salvage this; an admittedly tiny one. I called Bob over.
Raijin’s new tech was impressive. It was frying the Model Threes and Fours before they got close, allowing him to electrocute the larger models. He was making pretty decent progress through the mob, until the Twenty-Threes caught up.
Raijin was lucky to survive first contact, as the first Twenty-Three sprinted in. It bowled over the smaller models, throwing them out of the way as it swept down to bite Raijin. Thankfully, a Model Three that had been thrown by the charge knocked him away, causing the creature to miss its attack by a hair.
“Heavy covering fire!” I yelled as I dropped to crouch, firing into the mass of antithesis. As the squad started ripping up the minor antithesis, Heavy took aim for the Twenty-Three. The ‘Devastator’ roared, taking off the monster’s leg, but missing anything critical.
While Raijin was scrambling about on the floor, Bob arrived on scene. “Retrieve Raijin!” I yelled over the gunfire. The big bear didn’t hesitate, he walked right through the gunfire, hoisted the wayward samurai over his shoulder, and sprinted back. I was montarily distracted by the fact that all his hair was standing on end, so I nearly missed the second Twenty-Three breaking free from the mass of antithesis. It snapped, chasing its static-charged prey straight down the cleared path.
“Heavy…” I started, but, before I could finish, a pink missile slamd into the Twenty-Three’s face. It stumbled, tried to stay on its feet, but Hoppy wasn’t having any of it. As soon as she touched the ground she perford a roundhouse kick, knocking the monster to the ground.
“We should be running now,” she said with a smirk, as the scarabs slowly filled in the pathway again.
She didn’t have to ask twice, I sprinted back up the pathway, letting the scarabs cover our retreat. Once we were clear, I had Bob throw Raijin into the clearing, before returning him to his sentry duties. “What were you thinking?!” I shouted at the disheveled man.
“We should be out there! Helping the other team! Not sitting here!” he yelled back at .
“And we will be, when you’re fucking ready!” I grunted.
I didn’t realize Broodmother had co over until I felt her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll talk to him,” she said with a quiet, sad smile. “Thank you for going after him.”
I took a deep breath, trying to get my emotions under control. “Next ti, I’ll leave you out there!” I spat at him, before stomping away.
I heard so quick chanical footsteps behind , so I glanced back as Hoppy ca up beside . She slowly rubbed my back as we made our way back towards the IFV, it was quiet for most of the way, but right before we arrived Hoppy spoke up.
“I’m sorry, I’m a bad listener sotis,” she admitted. I just burst out laughing in response.
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