Freya

Alien murder plants were a pretty effective way to ruin Freya’s day.

Not that the day had been going great as Mia had bailed claiming that her being a Vanguard meant she had to go fight the Antithesis, which sounded like an excuse to me. So I had decided to go for a run because if the day was already going badly why not make it even worse by adding cardio into the mix.

Which was when everything started to go to shit and not just because running sucks. I was moving along trying my best to focus on the music playing in my head phones to zone out and not think about how much I hate running.

I will admit that I don’t live in the nicest part of town due to the fact that I lack a lot of the papers that might be required to live there, which meant they would start asking questions I didn’t want to answer or simply didn’t have the answers to. Sure Mia had offered to help and to even let me live in her massive tower but I didn’t want to use the fact she was a vanguard to help me more than she already had.

So I should have been much more careful and when I was a bit too successful in zoning out and wound up letting my guard down, I was basically asking for trouble.

So it really is not that much of a surprise in retrospect when I was passing an alley way too close and got grabbed. As soon as I felt a hand grab my arm I tried to twist away only to find the hand that had me much stronger than I was. Before I could even make a sound, for all the good it would have done me as in the slums no one was going to involve themselves to help me, I was thrown at a dumpster in the alley with inhuman strength.

I hit it hard with the teleportation device from Mia that I wore on a necklace caught between my ribs and the metal dumpster smashing the air from my lungs.

I fell to the ground but managed to turn and look at my attacker. My first thought was to fight, I had a knife in my pocket after all. Then I remembered the strength he had thrown me with and I noticed the chrome arms he had chipped in, my strength didn’t lay in open conflict, additionally I was much more adept at ambushing.

So with fighting out that left running away, stunned as I was I wasn't likely to get very far on foot which was when I remembered the teleportation device on my neck, if I could just activate that it would teleport me to Mia’s tower. I immediately grabbed it from inside my shirt.

To my horror it had definitely taken some damage in the throw and the casing was smashed in some places, but I hit the button anyway only to find that nothing had happened. As my attacker drew closer I kept spamming the button. It must have been around the twentieth time I hit the button that the world finally flashed white.

When my vision cleared I almost let out a shout of triumph only to find that instead of sitting safely in Mia’s tower I was staring right into the eyes of a dog like Antithesis. It jumped at me but this wasn’t the first time I had been jumped by a dog having grown up on the streets.

So I instinctively rolled to the side I drew my switchblade and rounded on the Antithesis this time when it pounced so did I and brought the knife up towards its throat.

As I did, the damn things claws found my forearms eliciting a scream of pain from me as its claws cut into my flesh, but I didn’t let it stop me and I finished the motion and buried the knife up to its handle in its throat. The Antithesis thrashed on the ground before finally stilling dead.

But as I stood up I felt pain flood my thigh as it was pierced by long fangs and I was dragged to the ground by a second dog like Antithesis, as soon as I was down thing went for my throat but I managed to intercept its head with my hands hand but my knife was still in the throat of the first Antithesis, so I pushed my thumbs through this Antithesis’s eyes until it finally fell still.

I gasped for breath due to the pain. I looked down at my thigh to find dark arterial blood flowing from the wound, meaning at least one of the Antithesis’s teeth had hit my femoral artery. As I immediately began to try and put pressure on the wound I heard a calm and proper, female voice, with a slight british accent, say,

System Initialized!

Congratulations. Through your actions you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard, a defender of humanity. I am Titania. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your homeworld from the Antithesis threat!

Rise, Freya, and become a protector of the weak!

“What?”

Ah, It would appear further introductions will have to wait as you have been rather severely wounded, if I might be so bold, I would recommend that with the twenty points you gathered from killing those two model threes as well as the one hundred points all vanguard get as a kind of starting bonus, that you purchase the class one medical catalog for 100 points and from this catalog I recommend the wound stop for 5 points. Would you like to make these purchases?

I was not very sure what was going on but the voice had said something about something to make me not die which was something I was very much interested in and hoped it wasn’t me hearing things, from my brain playing tricks on me as I bled out. So I rasped out

“Yes do it”

A small plastic box appeared next to me, I tore it open inside I found a syringe.

You will want to administer it in the wound

I did so, as I did it felt like sand was filling it and as it did the blood flow stopped. Now that I was not apparent moments away from death I thought through what had just happened. My eyes fell on the box that the syringe had come in and realized where I had seen something like that before, Mia could do that because she was a samurai which meant that freya was now one too. I let out a long sigh before speaking.

“What did you say your name was again?”

My name is Titania your personal assistant to aid you in whatever way I can, especially in your role as a vanguard

Well that puts any thoughts about me being wrong to bed. I knew a bit more than the average person about samurais from mia, while of course everyone knew the basics like that the vanguard were empowered to fight against the Antithesis and most knew that they got points to spend on things to make them stronger by killing Antithesis. I also knew that more specifically they bought catalogs which contained various different things like the medical catalog I had just bought which had kept me from bleeding out, unfortunately with just fifteen points remaining I wouldn’t be able to get a weapon. So in other words I had no idea where I was or how many Antithesis there were here and my best weapon was a switchblade. I sighed again and asked

“Do you by any chance have an idea of where we are?”

I believe you have found a hive. As to where in the hive or its size, I regret to admit I do not know. I recommend that you purchase a Nano-Regenerative Suite. It will cost a remainder of your points however it will completely completely heal your arms and leg so that you can get back on your feet.

“Ok let’s do it, won’t matter if i have points if i can’t move”

A box appeared next to me. I opened it to find another syringe, this one contained a swirling gray substance.

You will want to inject it by placing it on your lower thigh then pressing the button on top

I did so and a few seconds later there was an itching sensation in the bite on my thigh and the cuts on my arms as I watched them begin to close and a few minutes later they were gone. I got to my feet and herself to be light headed from the blood loss. Apparently the nanites could not replace the blood I had lost, but it was not debilitating so I walked over to the first Antithesis and removed my switchblade from its neck. I was pretty good with a knife, they were concealable, silent, and you didn’t have to worry about finding ammunition for one, all features I had grown to appreciate growing up on the street. Besides, if they could find one Mia was better with guns and had my back, but that was rare as I had always been good at not being seen. Wait Mia! I thought I then asked

“Hey Titania, do you think we might be able to call someone? My friend Mia is a vanguard.”

I regret to inform you that we are too deep down for a signal for your current aug to get a signal out. However if you were to work your way up that may be an option.

“Well at least it gives us something to work towards instead of sitting around waiting for something to find us.

You will also likely encounter more Antithesis along the way.

To this Freya shrugged and said

“While I won’t claim I am amazing, however this kind of thing of sneaking around is what I grew up doing. Also if we have to fight as long as we are careful and don’t let them sneak up on us, we will get to fight on our terms which will make a big difference.”

With the goal of now to simply head up I went to where the chamber I was in met up with the larger hive to find the tunnel outside rather clear. The ground inclined slightly to the left so I went that way. I naturally sunk back into old habits. I slipped from shadow to shadow being careful to make as little sound as possible while listening very closely to my surroundings. My knife was held reversed in my right, unfortunately my skill for parkour was not much use in a tunnel. It was very easy to fall back into my old habits. It hadn't been until four years ago when I had been sixteen and MIa had been seventeen that Mia had become a vanguard and everything had changed for them. Before that they had worked for the various gangs of the slums with it only being a matter of time before they broke into the wrong place, or got connected to kinda thing that would get them killed. My reminiscing interrupted a sound around a bend in the tunnel I had come to. I peaked around the corner keeping as much of myself hidden as possible, as soon as I saw something I immediately pulled back and when I didn’t hear it start to run toward me, breathed a question

“Is that the same kind as the last ones?”

Yes that is a model three the same kind of Antithesis as you previously defeated

I made the decision that it was better to fight here against something I knew I could beat than to try another way and encounter something unknown.

I waited until it was just about to reach me then pounced and stabbed it in its front left shoulder so even my lightweight was enough to knock it over landing with its front legs pinned under me. It tried to turn its head to bite me and to scratch me with its back legs but before it could recover its sense, I was already stabbing it in the throat over and over again.

I didn’t make the same mistake as last time and immediately got to my feet. It was a good thing because a second model three had been trailing the first and was only about fifteen feet away but I held my ground until it jumped for me then I dogged down and to the right and sliced as I did. This made it stumble on its landing and I was not about to give it time to recover, I brought the knife down through its skull and it died instantly. This time when I got up the tunnel was clear. So I asked

“How many points did I get from that?”

model threes give ten points each so you got twenty points, If you would like after each fight I can notify you of how many points you acquire

“Please do, so I need another eighty points for another catalog right? I am pretty sure that is what Mia said.”

That is correct, a class one catalog will cost one hundred, and to raise a class it costs ten times more than the previous tier.

I nodded at this then wiped my knife clean and a little while later we came across another two model threes which I handled in a very similar way by surprising the first so I only had to fight one at a time and dispatching them by making strikes to cripple and then moving to kill.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I continued this pattern for another four patrols, the last two of which had three model threes, giving me enough for a new catalog. First though there was something that was bothering me, so I asked titania

“Am I wrong or are these patrols increasing and those last two had three instead of two? And if they are, what do you think that means?”

You are right, there are two likely reasons for this. One is that some of the dead you have left have been found to which the Antithesis has increased their presence number while this may be true in addition to the second, the second is far more likely and troubling.

“Which is?”

When taking into account that your aug is unable to get a signal out which points to you being quite aways down, because while your aug is of lower quality I am able to improve it quite and make it run at a level that would normally be well beyond it. When this and with how empty how empty the hive has been may point to us being near the base of the hive. Which would point to this hive starting its preparations to attack. Normally Antithesis will stay at the base of their hive with exception of the days preceding an attack then they proceed to gather around the hive's central chamber from where they will attack. If this is the case this means that this hive will attack in a number of days. Which means it is imperative that we reach signal range so that we can warn other vanguard so that a response can be prepared.

“Fuck! All the vanguard are busy with a A tier incursion, I was supposed to meet Mia today but she had to help with that.”

And you are certain it is A tier?

“Yeah Mia told me it was when she said she wouldn’t be able to meet up today, why?”

I do not believe that the vanguard will be capable of handling both an A tier incursion and this hive which seems to be at minimum B tier. Which means that even if we alert the other vanguard there will likely be high casualty rates among the cities’ defenders and civilians both.

“If you had to guess at casualty numbers what would we be looking at?”

Low estimates place civilian’s dead at over 700,000

“And the casualties among class four Vanguard?”

Out of the 4 class fours in the city it is likely that at least 2 will be killed.

Mia was a class four, I couldn’t let this happen no matter what resolve filled me, before asking in almost a whisper

“What if we forget about me surviving, is there anything we could do then?”

I surprised herself with how calm I sounded, there was a long moment before Titania responded

Because of your abnormally high acceptance rate for cybernetic implants even among vanguard there is a chance that you could use learning architecture also known as learning architectures, in combination with a neural uplink, implants that focus on speed and you would also need to invest heavily in your weapons as well as finally in nanities both for healing for you and for a biological warfare nanite swarm which would need to be deployed at the central chamber of the hive. If before the swarm goes live you were to find a place to seal yourself off from the swarm you may even survive. The issue mainly arises with the sheer amount of information that you would need to take in with the neural uplink your sanity will not survive the strain if it weren't for your abnormally high acceptance rate for cybernetics this would leave you comatose. However these skills incomination with a high mobility high damage style that gives you a decent chance of making it to the central chamber. Upon which you would need to seal yourself off from the nanites. This will take out enough of the Antithesis that the hive will either attempt to bunker down and regain its strength or only a small enough part of the cities defenders will be needed to mop up this hive back that the other part will still be able to defeat the A tier incursion.

I let out a shuddering breath before responding “I’ll do it”

As an afterthought I asked “will I ever be able to use learning architectures after this?”

Sounding surprised Titania answered

Yes, you will still be able to use them, to a much greater extent actually, as the damage will already be done however there would be no way to heal, this the effects from this will be permanent.

“I mean for preventing the death of over seven hundred thousand and a fifty percent chance my best friend dies, my sanity is kind of a bargain.”

That is very noble of you

I chuckled at this and replied

“Not really just doing enough so I can still sleep at night. Anyway, how long do you think I have got before they attack?”

At most it will be three days

“Well we still need to let people know about the plan and from the sound of things I am going to need a lot more points so I am going to need a better weapon.”

Indeed you will do you have an idea of what kind you might want

“I think sticking to blades might be a good idea as shooting a gun is probably a good way to attract a lot of Antithesis and I am better with blades any way.”

In that case I recommend the bladed weapon category.

“Sounds like a good place to start from”

Class 1 Bladed Melee Weapons unlocked

40 points remaining

Now for a more specific weapon might I recommend the trencher’s sword for twenty points I believe you will find it well suited to your needs

“Is it one handed or two handed?”

It is one handed

“In that case can I get two so I can dual wield?”

Indeed you can, so you wish to purchase them?

“Yeah let’s go for it”

Very well

Trencher’s sword x2

Points remaining 0

A box appeared in front of me and inside I found the two swords, they had dark leather grips and their hand guards had four spikes if someone were to punch with it would operate like spiked brass knuckles, the pommel had a wicked looking spike that also would serve as a counterweight to the blade. I picked it up and found that they were already attached to a belt which I was grateful to see. I fastened the belt and unsheathed one of the blades. It was insanely light, the blade blade was 30 inches long, and was double edged with a leaf like shape. I resheathed the blade and kept moving.

The next group I came across was larger and had six model threes. I drew both my swords and as the first reached I dogged to the right and swung with my left sword at its leg as a result that leg came off.

I grinned as I faced the second one, this time I dodged to the left and stabbed with my right the hound collapsed dead, I then turned on a third which I stabbed through it though the head.

Another jumped at me to grab her throat which I ducked under and stabbed up with both blades opening its stomach as it passed overhead it fell to the ground in a heap.

As I rose I sliced up with one sword and down with the other at the fifths neck, its head coming off as a result.

The sixth I dogged and then stabbed, killing it, I then finished off the first which leg I had cut off by stabbing it in the head.

Targets Eliminated

Reward… 60 points

The next group had nine but I was able to handle them in the same way by utilizing a dodge and strike technique while positioning myself so I never had to fight too many at a time. Which brought my points up to one hundred and fifty so I asked

“Titania, what do you think the next thing I buy should be?”

I believe that you might wish to purchase the biological nanites, as you are doing well, your current point gathering rate will not be sufficient for what we need so you will need to hit a few of the smaller chambers to gather the needed points.

“Sounds good, let’s go ahead and buy that.”

Very good

Biological nanites unlocked

Points remaining… 50 points

As I worked my way upwards the number of Antithesis and frequency of them increased. The tunnels also started to branch off more but with Titania’s help I managed to keep moving up and stay to the outskirts. Eventually model sixes started to accompany the model threes. These were considerably slower than the model threes, but their chitin plates meant they were much tougher. They are insect -like which was pretty common for Antithesis. But due to their slowness I was able to dispatch them by stabbing the unarmored places where their plates met. Once I managed to accumulate a total of 530 points Titania spoke up

You now have enough points to afford a class one biological warfare nanite swarm that would be capable of exterminating one of the small chambers.

“Ok, any clue where I could find one? Because stumbling around down here while hoping we don’t come across something too strong for us strikes me as a bad idea.”

As indeed it would be however now that you have explored more of this hive it has provided me with enough data to make predictions on suitable targets as most hives have similar layouts, due to the fact that all Antithesis answer to the same overarching hivemind.

“Nice, you are the best Titania!”

Thank you. I am happy to be of service, Miss Freya, however I regret to inform you that the same data that has allowed me to make these predictions has also led me to the conclusion that this is an A Tier hive.

“What does that mean in practical terms?”

A higher tier means that there will be more Antithesis and that there will be much stronger Antithesis and that the weaker Antithesis will be present in far greater numbers. The single digit number model Antithesis will move in swarms equal to some lower tier hives. The biggest impact regrettably will be that it will be a harder fight when you make your assault on the central and if we fail the predicted casualty rate is much higher, however a positive is that the hive mind is less likely to notice a few of its weakest chambers disappearing, and if it does it is unlikely it will react. Does this answer your question miss freya?

“Gottcha, well in that case we better get a move on, because from the sound of it we are going to need every point we can get.”

As we got moving again I decided to keep up the conversation with titania, in order to keep my mind from wandering and realizing what it is I was actually doing and how much was riding on my success.

“So is an A tier hive equal to an A tier incursion?”

No, an incursion will always have more Antithesis and can be much more difficult to deal with as they can occur inside of a city and so are already behind the city’s walls. While hives have less Antithesis and are normally located and exterminated before they reach this size.

“Gotcha, on a different note, do you have an idea of what I should do for this first chamber? Because even if it is just model threes, if there are more than thirty of them I don’t see how I am going to be able to run in and drop something off in the middle of them and then leave before they kill me.”

You are correct Miss Freya that would most likely be impossible but with this swarm as long as you are able to get the holding canister inside of this chamber that will suffice. I would also recommend moving quietly until the canister is deployed so as to not alert the chambers occupants. In Addition As soon as you do this though, I would strongly recommend evacuating the area as quickly as you can.

“That sounds like a great idea. Now I just gotta do it, it would be really embarrassing to die on the easy part of this plan”

We are getting close to the target. I would recommend that you purchase the nanite swarm now.

I did not want to make any more noise than necessary, so I only nodded in response.

Biological warfare nanite swarm

Points remaining… 30

When I saw my new point total I had a moment of sadness, yes I would hopefully be getting more but still I had enjoyed watching the number so this thing better be worth it.

I opened the box to find a metal sphere about ten inches in diameter with a handle coming out of it. I picked it up by the handle, it was surprisingly light for its size I noted before moving forward.

As I got closer I could hear them milling around in there. I moved at a crawl barely breathing as I inched closer until finally I was next to the entrance to the chamber and titania said

Push the handle down and then turn it ninety degrees to the right to activate it then throw it through the entrance and as soon as you let go of it you will want to get away from here as fast as possible.

I nodded, then grabbed the handle and pushed it down and turned it to the right, as soon as I did the sphere started to make an ominous whirring noise, so I slung it as hard as she could through the chamber entrance. As soon as it left my hand I took off running as fast as my legs would take me. As soon as I started thinking I was in the clear I heard a noise behind me, I managed to draw one of my swords but as soon as I started to turn I was slammed to the ground a model three was on top of me. I managed to push its head away from me with her free hand saving me from having my throat torn out, but its claws managed to cut into my stomach making me cry out in pain. It was too close for my sword's blade to be effective so I laid into it with the spiked handguard hitting it with all the strength I could muster until it finally stumbled off me. As soon as it did I surged forward stabbing it through the head killing it. I looked around but luckily it had been alone, so I sat down against the tunnel wall and croaked out

“Healing”

Immediately a box appeared next to me when I opened it I found two things inside one of which I recognized one of which I did not. I started with the one I recognized was the nano-regenerative suite which I immediately used a few seconds later the same itching sensation as last time started. I picked up the second thing when I did Titania spoke

That is a hemo-restore between your earlier injuries and this you have lost quite a bit of blood today, this will give you a pint of blood back when ingested orally

I drank the contents of the package which I found to be tasteless. A few minutes later there was no sign of the injury and I asked

“So, how many points did we get?”

Your current point total is 11,370

At this news I grinned and let out a chuckle remembering that I had been sad about giving up five hundred points. I then replied

“I need to be more careful next time though I almost just got taken out by one model three. Also before we hit many more chambers we get in contact with Mia and the other vanguard first.”

I then let out a weary sigh before getting to my feet.

Following Titania’s directions I kept heading up, along the way they hit two more chambers bringing my point total to 34,130 points before titania Finally announced

We are now able to get a signal

“Nice, let’s call mia.”

When Mia answered it was obvious that she was busy from the sound of constant gun fire from her end but you wouldn’t have guessed that from Mia's casual tone.

“Hey Freya, what are you still doing awake? Your sleep schedule really is awful.”

I chuckled at that and replied

“Says the person who is also awake”

At this Mia scoffed and said

“Well one, I am a bit busy to sleep and two I am a vanguard, you aren’t so it is different.”

I let out another chuckle at that and replied

“Well you see the thing is I kinda am though.”

I had barely finished saying the words when mia yelled out

“WHAT?! What the hell happened?”

I replied

“I will tell you all the details some other time because right now we have got a problem.”

Mia suddenly serious asked

“What do you mean? Are you hurt?”

I thought about how much of the plan to share before responding

“I am fine, as for the problem there is an A tier hive that has already begun attack preparations, but don’t worry titania and I have a plan. Mia was quite though the sounds of her guns never let up before she replied

“Let me patch in one of the class fives. Her name is Kitsune.”

A moment later a new voice joined

“Hello Freya, Stitch just informed me about the tier A hive.”

This Kitsune woman spoke in a smooth and sultry voice that left me needing to take a moment to compose myself but after I cleared my throat I responded with

“Hey, um yeah, but the thing is that there is a way for me to get a big biological warfare nanite swarm into the central chamber. Then a much smaller group should be able to mop up the stragglers.”

At this Mia immediately interjected

“Absolutely not that is a suicide mission!”

I calmly retorted

“It is not, there is a pretty decent chance of survival, like I said Titania and I have a plan and it doesn’t involve me blowing myself up in some sort of sacrificial play. However I don’t really have time to tell you the whole thing as I need to gather a lot of points between now and when I act on our plan. Hopefully after I get the points I need I will be able to have enough time to give you a more thorough run down then.”

Mia started to say something else but got interrupted by Kitsune asking

“Are you sure that you can do this?”

To which I replied

“Yes no matter what I promise that I will get the swarm in place and activate it”

Again it sounded like mia was trying to say something but once again Kitsune spoke cut her off

“Then that is the plan, Freya will set off the swarm which will delay the Antithesis long enough for us to be able to spare enough vanguard to mop up what remains.”

I was incredibly grateful this meant she wouldn’t have to tell Mia the truth yet because I was pretty sure if Mia found out the real plan she would do something to try and stop me which would lead to all sorts of problems. So I just replied

“Thank you, I will do my best to call right before everything kicks off and to let you know when I am successful. I really should get to it though, so bye, talk to you soon.”

While Mia was obviously very hesitant to let me go, both she and Kitsune wished me good luck before ending the call. I stood and stretched my arms above my head before saying

“Time to get to work. You ready Titania?”

I am Miss Freya.