The lieutenant was caught flat footed and with his shorts around his knees. Had he followed proper protocol, as advised by his lead sergeant at the time, he would have known that there were antithesis in the region.
The alien Swat, consisting of eight M-3, two M-4, one M-5 and one M-6, was well within the threat level that the unit could have handled had it even a few minutes to find cover and prepare.
Adequate use of drone detection would have allowed the Lieutenant to determine the direction of the antithesis and prepare his troops for the attack. The unit had no less than six soldiers who were drone scout qualified, three with a master rating. It had the full complement of twenty drones, all in working order and fully charged at the time of the incident. Even the minimal three drone inner shell on automatic deployment and warning would have given plenty of warning for him to be ready for the antithesis’s attack.
Given the terrain, his forward point man was not extended far enough out to be of any use, and it is only thanks to the initiative of his flank sweepers that anyone survived. The lives of seven men lay squarely at the feet of the lieutenant. Promotion is unadvised and criminal action should be considered.
-- After action review, Major Corin, 2052
***
We settled into a watchful silence and waited for the next wave.
“Beasts, many, many.” Tara broke the silence. I checked the feed of the watchdog drone, and it showed nothing but a clear hallway. I switched the video in my glasses to see another, larger corridor filled with Anti’s.
“How far out is that?”
“Twenty minutes at the current pace. The other drone’s camera is set to alarm me if there’s any change. Between that and the rest-state while stuck on the ceiling, its charge should last a couple days.” In the camera, the wave ended with a stack of five M-5c. “I’m going to push on deeper; I think I’m close to the hive.”
As the last of the monsters turned a corner, the view of the hall twisted and dropped before settling into a steady view of the hall and starting down it. In minutes, the drone soon found a shattered doorway leading to a large room filled with large plant-like growths. Roots spread along every surface before diving into cracks forced into the walls. On the far side, a large pipe had burst. Below it, the plant matter had formed a collection bowl filled with brown sludge.
“What’s that stuff?” Ginny asked. I guessed that either Corie or Tara had added them to the video feed.
I considered the lumpy mass for a few minutes as rafts of white drifted around the space. A large wormlike antithesis crawled up to the tub and started slurping it down.
Kaitlyn tripped on the answer first. “It’s sewer water. The waste is largely organic, getting pumped straight to the hive.”
I realized that she was right. “So that’s how the hive has grown so large. We’ve been mainlining organic matter straight into our enemy’s veins.”
“You mean that’s... Ewww.” I minimized the video to see Ginny with a disgusted look on her face.
“Even the pope does it,” I said with a shrug. “Corie. Can you see this? What are we looking at?”
“That is hive infrastructure, something akin to a blood vessel. See there?” The camera had steadied down and was starting to slowly pan from a fixed point. Ropey vines and thick trunks spread over and out from holes in the wall. Hanging from some of them were semi-transparent sacks filled with a yellow fluid. “Those are growth sacks for antithesis. Model Fours, based on the size.”
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“Tara, do you have coordinates for that room?” I asked. “Please ping them to me and go back to follow that big group. I need to make a call.”
“Aye aye. Sending it to you now.” The drone turned around and started showing empty hallways again.
I stepped a short way from the ladies along the walkway. “Corie, can you have Jonnie Be Good call me? Or are you able to get his contact details?”
“I’m still not allowed to touch the phone system. There’s a Vanguard AI who is sponsoring and monitoring the phones, and it won’t authorize me until I can sync with you. But I can talk to Wylbur and see if he’s free to call you.”
A short pause later, my phone rang with the default ringtone, indicating someone who was not in my contacts. I answered it with my usual. “Marcus here.”
“Ah, my little duckling! Wylbur said you were asking for me? I’m about three-quarters through getting containment set up. It shouldn’t be long until you can pull back.”
“I’ve pushed forward a drone and found what looks like the hive, or part of it. I’m having Corie send the coordinates over to Wylbur.”
“Thanks; that might help the cleanup crews. The plan is to starve it out. There can’t be that much organic material in the building. It was mostly manufacturing and call centers.”
“No, sir. I don’t think that will be possible. The part we saw had an open sewer pipe, and the hive was collecting it.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly. It might be waste, but it is still organic material. We’ve been giving the hive exactly what it needs—special delivery.”
“That changes things. I’ll have to take a different approach.”
“One last bit of intel. I’ve rescued three people who had escaped from a cult down here. It’s been kidnapping people for a sacrifice. Last they knew, and that was hours ago, there were a lot of captives, and the cult was ramping up for that sacrifice. I’m going to see if we can find their location, in case you want to do an airstrike or something expansive.”
There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. “There've been some rumors of a pro-antithesis cult in the area. I don’t like the coincidence of that cult being so close to the hive. Xenovir, do you think you can get those people out?” Jonnie had become surprisingly formal all of a sudden.
A chill shivered down my spine. “I don’t know. I have no way to protect the civilians I do have while I go for them. That severely limits my options.” Tara started waving at me. “I have to go.” I hung up on the phone and checked the camera feeds. The first drone still showed only an empty hallway. The other was pressed against the wall of the corridor and slowly walked its way towards a corner.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“The big group turned and did not come for us. I saw them slow down as they made this turn. I thought you’d want to see.”
I nodded and expanded the video in my glasses. Around the corner was a meter-deep hall ending with a pair of wide open doors. Beyond the door was a cafeteria large enough to hold several hundred hungry employees. The drone crept closer, poking its camera into the room, and started panning from left to right.
Drink dispensers and condiment displays cluttered the back wall below colorful signs. Anti’s of all kinds made chaos out of the carefully manicured order in the chairs and tables. In some places, they clumped together with their heads down. I estimated that anywhere from two to three hundred Anti’s filled the floor.
At the end of the room, the camera view elevated and started to pan left. Attached to the roof was an assembly of chains and tracks. Human bodies dangled from the tracks like some sick automated buffet. Ginny gasped as the far wall‘s upper reaches started to show windows. People showed through the glass, some staring down at the mass of antithesis morbidly, others with their backs pressed as if trying to avoid something in the room beyond.
The camera relentlessly panned, finally reaching the left wall. A balcony of sorts had been pushed out into the room, caged with spikes to hold off the M-4s that climbed around it. A couple of people lifted up a stiff body and attached it to the gantry above. It started to swing out and start a new macabre path around the room, taunting the aliens below. At the edge of the balcony, a middle-aged man stood, draped in elaborate full-length robes. He stared down at the swarming antithesis, his hands spread as if receiving a blessing.
The drone launched, flying a straight line towards the man. A shadow flickered at the edges of the video before the picture jumbled and went dead. “Drone down,” Tara said. She had pushed herself back into the corner again, keeping all of us between her and the entrances.
“What was that? Who was that?” I asked, avoiding the dreadful thought that came to mind.
Kaitlyn replied with a sour look on her face. “That was Darren Kittritch, First Idiot and Grand Sociopath of the Church of the Ever Seven. And the man who kidnapped us.”