Did you know that more than eighty percent of samurai casualties happen during their first incursion? It’s not surprising, if you think about it. An experienced samurai is a force of nature, but a newly uplifted one only has access to limited points, and basic equipment.
Those that survive join the roster of modern gods. Those that don’t end up as biomass for the horde. It’s a hell of a first day.
- Professor AJ Hawk, Protectorate Studies
—
I hadn’t really looked at Skyler’s gear until she stripped off her coat. What I originally thought was heavy armor was actually just lightly armored, rugged clothing with an armored duster overtop. She also had an armored gasmask to cover her face. It vaguely reminded me of the old post apocalyptic shows and movies she liked to watch.
Once she was suited up with her own shield, we popped open the top hatch of the APC and sent one of her drones out to scout the next location. I watched over Skyler’s shoulder as she monitored the thing’s progress on a small, collapsable tablet. The drone wasn’t much faster than the APC, so we didn’t get much advanced warning, but what we saw wasn’t good.
It was a transit shelter, where nearby buses were supposed to drop off passengers in the case of an emergency. It didn’t look like much from the air, since all you could see from above was a small, stylish, red brick square with a couple small greenspaces around the outside and an abstract statue in the middle. I could just barely make out the stairways built into the corners of the square most of them were obscured by all the abandoned vehicles on the road.
The troubling part was the square was absolutely crawling with antithesis. It was mostly smaller models, a couple Sixes dotted around the mob, and worse of all, a pair of Eights, who seemed to be slowly digging down.
“At least they don’t seem to have gotten inside yet,” I told Skyler quietly.
“They’re trying pretty damned hard,” she replied softly. “You think we can stop them?”
“As long as you blow the shit out of those worms, I think we can manage,” I replied. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep them off you.”
“Who’s worried?” Skyler shot back, elbowing me in the ribs, “I’m concerned, at best.”
“Right, right, you’re a strong, independent woman,” I replied with a smile.
“ONE MINUTE!” Emily yelled from the front of the APC, which prompted Skyler to slip on her mask.
I stood up and grabbed the support rail right by the back ramp. “Stop a block out, and set up a defensive perimeter around Skyler and the APC,” I yelled back. I waited until I saw Emily nod before I turned back towards the door, one hand on the rail, the other on the hilt of my sword.
As soon as I felt the APC brake, I slammed the open ramp button and sprinted out the door. I could hear Skyler trying to direct her oversized artillery bot out of the back, but I didn’t turn around. I wanted time to set up before the rush started. When I was about half a block out, I slid to a stop and whipped out my bow. A couple of the antithesis noticed me and started rushing down the street, but I figured they were far enough away for me to finish my job. I methodically fired my monowire arrows down the road and created an ad hoc barrier across the road before shouldering my bow and switching to my sword.
Just as the first few antithesis reached the barrier and completely shredded themselves, the mortar array opened up. The shells lit up my new vision, glowing as they raced across the night sky before landing squarely upon the back of the two giant worms. That got the antithesis’ attention.
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The antithesis erupted out of the square and filled the street as they swarmed towards me. I slowly drew my blade as the first wave smashed into the wire. Gunfire erupted from behind me, and the artillery bot fired again, blowing a hole in the antithesis lines, but all I could do was draw my sword and steel myself, waiting for the antithesis to do more than coat the wire in gore.
I didn’t have to wait long. One of the Sixes seemed to realize how dangerous the wire was and smashed into a storefront on the side of the road. I could hear it rampaging around, crashing through things, before it once again emerged from the building, past the monowire barrier.
As soon as it emerged from the building, the Six put its head down and charged. I let the big creature get within a few steps of me before I darted to the side and brought my blade down upon its neck. Despite supposedly being smarter than their peers, I hadn’t needed to change up my tactics for the big creatures yet. I guess they felt charging and attempting to trample their opponents was their best move considering their bulk.
I didn’t have time to rest after killing the Six, as at least some of the antithesis diverted through the new passage and swarmed past my impromptu barrier. The Threes came first, trying to flank me before lunging in from multiple directions at once. I had to constantly retreat to keep the plant dogs from getting behind me. I had to be methodical and wait until they lunged at me before countering. With so many rushing forward, I didn’t want to risk putting myself into a bad position.
Things really got difficult once the Fours got involved. I hadn’t even noticed the first one approaching, and it was only when my new shield flashed, half blinding me, that I realized a small group had somehow climbed up the wall and over the roof. I dove away from the wall, rolling to my feet just out of the range of the creature’s follow up strike.
“Needler!” I snapped, holding up my hand, and as soon as I felt the metal hit my hand, I chucked the grenade towards the wall, then immediately spun towards the Threes again. With so many targets, I had to concentrate on the most immediate threats.
I heard the grenade go off, and the Fours fall off the wall, but I couldn’t afford to take the time to check on them. More and more antithesis were flooding through the bypass, and even though I was striking them down unnaturally fast, I was still getting pushed back. Just when things were starting to look desperate, a couple mortar rounds landed squarely on the building. I glanced at it, just for a moment, as the small shop collapsed, crushing the antithesis inside and cutting off the shortcut. There was still a way across the top of the rubble, but it wasn’t the smooth, quick path the antithesis had before.
Now that I wasn’t being pressed as hard, I pressed the attack, stepping into my attacks and advancing instead of retreating. I cut through the remaining Model Threes like nothing, slicing through their quickly dwindling numbers until I was the only thing left standing. It took me a minute to catch my breath and come down from my combat high before I could fully evaluate the situation. Almost all the antithesis were dead, and those that were left were either critically wounded, or crippled. There was a massive line of dead antithesis, leading right from the former shortcut to where I was standing. I guess I killed more than I’d realized.
I turned around, only to find most of the team standing there, staring at me. “Holy shit! I knew you were good with that thing, but… wow,” Terrier managed to get out. “I think the entire squad killed less of those monsters than you did with that sword.”
“I have years of practice,” I managed to choke out between breaths.
“Yeah, no shit,” he replied.
“Alright, enough with the gawking,: we need to check on that shelter,” Emily yelled as she stepped forward. “Is that wire going to mess up the APC as badly as it did the aliens?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe, but I have a spray that dissolves it. Just give me a minute,” I replied, finally getting my breath under control again.
“Of course you do. You have wire that slices antithesis limb from limb. Why wouldn’t it just dissolve with a liquid? It makes perfect sense,” she mumbled to herself before turning back to the squad. “Stay close to the APC and keep your eyes open. We don’t know when those bastards might show up again.”
As I started walking towards the wire, Skyler came running up behind me. “Eeeeeee… that was amazing! The drone got the entire thing! You were so cool,” she squealed as she threw her arms around my shoulders. “I’m going to post it on the net when we get home!”
“Please don’t… I really don’t want all the extra attention,” I sighed.
“Too bad, we’re samurai now. We’re going to get a ton of attention now, no matter what we do, so I might as well do my best to ensure the public see’s our good side,” Skyler replied as she hugged me tighter.
“I hate it,” I pouted.
“I know,” Skyler said, with a smirk. “But it’ll be worth it.” She slowly pulled her arms away, letting me move closer to the wire before calling out, “You’re so cute when you pout.”