Do you really not understand why hives are dangerous? Listen here kid, a single hive is capable of producing hundreds of low level models an hour. If it’s not destroyed within a few days it can start producing models within the teens. The longer they’re left alone, the stronger they get.

We’ve never let them develop past a few weeks because the REAL old ones can pump out some scary shit. Give it a couple months and I bet a single hive could give even the strongest samurai a run for their money.

- Velvet Aurora to Collateral Damage during a samurai training mission.

—

“That didn’t answer my question,” I snapped as Emily sprinted up the stairs.

“Bulldog! Get the incinerator. Terrier take our two new friends and get sweepers, double time!” Emily yelled as soon as she hit the top.

“What’s going on?” Skyler asked, as she peeked over the back of the stairs again. “What did you see?”

“I don’t know!” I replied with a huff. “I’ll share my feed, let me know what you think.”

As soon as I shared my feed through our shared channel I heard Skyler gasp. “I think that’s a hive!”

I frowned. “Aren’t hives supposed to be these huge complex things that just constantly crap out new antithesis?” I asked. “And if it is a hive, how the fuck did they get a seed in there in the first place?”

“Don’t you remember anything of your antithesis studies classes,” Skyler asked as she leaned over the edge of the staircase again. I could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“I was homeschooled, remember?” I reminded her. “Good with traditional subjects and sword fighting, shit with the modern ones.”

“Oh, right,” there was a momentary pause. “Every single antithesis has the ability to take root, and become a hive. They just need enough space, and access to biomass,” Skyler explained.

“So… something got in there, slaughtered the entire shelter, then took root. Is that what you’re saying?” I asked quietly.

“That pretty much covers it,” Skyler replied softly. “At least we know what drove the antithesis to try and dig in there. Probably detected the pheromones from the hive, and they were trying to reach it.”

“Guess we arrived at the right time then,” I muttered as Emily returned. Towering behind her was Bulldog, carrying a very dangerous two-handed weapon that looked like a combination of flamethrower, and heavy machine gun. Behind him came Terrier, Steve, and Trevor, carrying some sort of shotgun.

“I take it you don’t want to just leave this thing locked then,” I said as they piled down the stairs.

“Cascadian rules of engagement state that military personnel must report any hives the instant they're detected, and must make every reasonable attempt to remove them,” Emily replied. “Since this one hasn’t had time to develop, we need to clear it before it becomes an issue. Do you know what’s in there yet?”

I turned back to the terminal and scrolled through the cameras. It was strange, they weren’t destroyed, because the static did clear every so often, but whatever was happening prevented me from catching a good look at anything. “Too much interference,” I finally said.

“Then we’ll have to do recon by force. Are you coming?” Emily asked.

I glanced up at Skyler, who just casually pointed at her robot. “Howie is powering the door, and I’m not sure he’d fit down there anyways,” she reported. “But I can provide some overwatch.”

Emily turned and looked at me next. “A tight, confined space with limited sightlines and an unknown enemy? Sounds like the perfect place for a melee weapon to me,” I said as I placed one hand on the hilt of my sword.

Emily nodded. “Ratchet! Setup with a rifle at the top of the stairs. Hose anything that comes out, unless we message you first!” I barely saw a flash of the other woman setting up before Emily turned back to me again, “Open the door.”

With one hand I returned the display back to the main menu. After checking through the cameras the ‘Open Door’ button was enabled. I hesitated just for a second before tapping it. The door beside me hissed, then slowly retracted back, causing a corpse to tumble through the open door.

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Skyler audibly gasped, and took a step back from the edge. I could see her psyching herself up over the lip of the stairs before she stepped forward again. “Be careful in there, okay?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon,” I said confidently before I stepped forward.

I switched my glasses to night vision mode then slowly stuck my head inside the shelter. The glasses flickered, apparently whatever was affecting the cameras was affecting them as well, but I could still see fairly clearly. It looked like whatever killed the civilians took some time, based upon the pile of bodies sitting near each door. The people tried to get out, but were trapped inside with whatever horror had snuck in.

“You might want flashlights,” I said quietly as I stepped over a particularly gruesome beheaded body. “There’s a lot of gore in here”

There were a couple light clicks, then the room lit up, just a little bit. I glanced back, it seemed they had tiny integrated lights on their helmets, I hadn’t noticed that before.

I slowly swept my gaze across the entire room, but I didn’t see a single alien. There were a couple curtains up to divide the space, but the shelter was for the most part an open space. There was no place for the creatures to hide.

“Do you think that only one antithesis got in here?” I asked quietly.

“Too many dead,” Bulldog grunted. I turned back and looked at him, questioningly.

“There are hundreds of corpses in here,” one of the new guys explained, Trevor I think. “When pushed into a corner even civilians can beat a couple Threes, or Fours, to death. This was something different.”

I took another few steps into the room, slowly sweeping the area. Something felt wrong about this entire situation, I should have seen something by now. There wasn’t a single alien, not even a body. I’d just reached the middle of the room when something caught my eye. Not through the glasses, but through my peripheral vision. A flash of iridescence. I turned and glanced at the area, but there was nothing there, just a fire extinguisher. A very glitchy fire extinguisher. Subconsciously I flicked my glasses off, leaving me in the dark. The fire extinguisher was still there, still fuzzy, but there was something else too. An indistinct iridescent shape behind it.

Kill it quick!

I didn’t hesitate. The blade flew from my sheath and bisected the shape. I hit flesh.

The thing collapsed onto the floor and spasmed, revealing far too many razor sharp limbs. It was covered by millions of thin strands, which made it look fuzzy, but I had a feeling this definitely wasn’t something to hug.

Nine! Stealth model that mimics objects to ambush their prey. You almost walked straight into a trap. That vision upgrade just saved your life.

“Fuck,” I shouted, bouncing back from the critter, somehow managing to avoid tripping on a body, while I desperately swept the area with my eyes. There were three or four of them, and some were moving apparently realizing the jig was up. My eyes snapped to the one closest to the door. I’d mistaken it as a folding chair when I’d passed, and now it was less than a foot from the team. “Terrier chair to your left, SHOOT IT” I practically screamed as the creatures burst into action. I couldn’t keep my eyes on the team because two of the fully killers sprinted across the room, directly for me. Even though they were smaller than Threes, these things were fast, and even with my improved reflexes I barely got into position before the first one was on top of me.

The creature leaped, its six scything limbs slicing back and forth in a killing frenzy. Thankfully I had the reach on it, and the tip of my sword caught it in the side, mid pounce, cutting it down before it could do any real damage. The other one went low, and even as my sword connected with the flying one, I knew I’d never get my blade back around in time, so I did something desperate. I planted one foot, and booted the second creature right in the ‘face’ area. My shield flared, and I felt the scythes sink into my leg, but it was enough to send the creature skidding away. I leapt desperately after the thing, trying to ignore the burning pain in my leg and just managed to skewer the thing with a lunging attack before it recovered. Then the room went quiet.

“Are we clear?” Came Emily’s quiet call. I swear I could hear something behind her, struggling, gurgling.

I struggled to my feet and quickly looked around the room. There was no more iridescent, so I flicked my night vision back on. “I think we’re clear,” I reported as I looked back at the group. Emily was pale, which wasn’t surprising considering what was happening behind her. Terrier was dead, disemboweled, and Trevor was on the ground, clutching at his neck as blood flowed out between his fingers.

“Steve, take him outside, and do what you can. Don’t forget to warn Ratchet before stepping out,” Emily ordered sternly. “Bulldog, burn it. Burn it now.”

The big man stepped purposefully across the room and before he was even half way the weapon in his hand lit up and coated the small nest in fire. I didn’t watch, I was busy hobbling across the room.

[Arty I need medical, now! Something to keep him alive] I typed desperately.

You’ll need to unlock the…

[I don’t care, if I have the points, just give it to me. Now!]

I felt something fall into my open hand, an inhaler.

Force him to inhale, just like Skyler did to you.

I threw myself to the ground by Trevor’s side. His eyes were unfocused so I forced the thing into his mouth. “Breathe in, as hard as you can! Come on Breathe!” I growled.

I guess something about my tone got through to him, because the man inhaled hard, then started coughing. The blood pouring around his hands quickly stopped, but his vision was still unfocused. I just watched as Steve carried his friend out.

“You did good. If you hadn’t noticed those things, they could have wiped us out,” Emily said quietly, patting me on the shoulder. “Let’s get you back outside, and have a look at that leg.”