Although my forces had been severely depleted, there were still enough bears to form a defensive line once Heavy cleared the wall. Things were a little hairy for a while, since it took me several long minutes to clear the excess antithesis flesh out of my impromptu fortifications and fill in the cracks and holes, so no antithesis could sneak in. There was no way I could actually salvage the walls, they’d been too badly bent and broken to fix, so I had to stuff some instant cement from my Area Denial Catalog into the gaps.
By the time I climbed back up to the walls, to check on the bears, I was a little exhausted. I expected to see Temporal at the top, helping control the battlefield from the same perch she was standing at earlier, but instead I found Magpie, launching some sort of orb off the parapets with a crooked stick.
“Hey… What are you doing up here?” I asked as I weaved my way towards her.
“Golfing! I just bought the catalog for it. Fascinating game, apparently it was super popular before the antithesis came,” she replied.
“And Temporal?”
“She and the others are taking turns upgrading their gear. I offered to let them use my catalogs, so apparently it’s going to take a couple minutes… We did discuss it in the group chat, apparently you were too distracted by the walls and missed it,” Magpie said with a shrug. While I watched she lined up with another orb, wound up, and smashed it deep into the mass of antithesis. A moment later, a huge explosion ripped through that area.
I immediately glanced at the row of different orbs lined up on the wall. “What exactly are you golfing?” I asked with dread.
“Grenades, of course. I have them set up with a proximity sensor, so they can’t explode until they get a certain distance from me. Perfectly safe! I still haven’t decided if the delivery method is effective or not,” she replied, smashing another grenade off the wall.
“Please don’t blow yourself up,” I pleaded, taking a step back.
“I won’t, probably,” she replied. After smashing one last grenade, she stepped down off her platform, and turned towards me. “So… Now that you have that token, are you going to buy that cannon?” she asked.
“That was the plan,” I said. “Why?”
“It didn’t seem like you were super enthusiastic with the idea in the chat. Was it really something you wanted to do?” Magpie asked, stepping closer and crouching down so she was looking me in the face.
“Well… it’s probably our best bet to deal with that thing, isn’t it?” I snapped. “No one else had any way to deal with it.”
“No one else had a way to deal with it YET,” Magpie corrected. “There are almost a dozen samurai down here in the tunnels, and when our back is against the wall like this, every single one of us can develop ways to deal with the situation. Just like that,” she said, pointing over my shoulder.
I glanced back, unsure what she could be pointing at, and nearly fell over in shock. There was a massive, vaguely-humanoid, grey mass towering over the side of my wall. “Think you can ignore my nanites?” Grey’s voice echoed out of the mass, “Ignore this!” One of the huge fluid arms slammed down on the antithesis lines, then erupted into hundreds of spikes that shot out in every direction. A few seconds later, the arm raised, leaving a huge gap in the antithesis lines.
“Every single one of us has our own strengths and weaknesses,” Magpie explained, throwing one arm around my shoulder and gesturing to the area where the rest of the squad was waiting. “Don’t feel like you need to be pushed into buying something that doesn’t fit your build. As samurai, we always find a way in the end.”
“Is that why you always stick to class I catalogs? To prove that fact?” I asked with a slight smile.
“Nope. I just like catalogs,” she replied with a smirk before returning to her golf game. “If you want to upgrade something, now is the time. That Bob of yours is keeping things stable out front, and I have a feeling the others are going to want to push out once they finish upgrading,” she said as she smacked another grenade off my wall. “I mentioned it earlier, but feel free to use my catalogs, you might not have another chance for a while.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Thanks?” I said awkwardly.
“You’re welcome!” she called back without taking her eyes off her game.
I slid down the ladder, back into the small courtyard. Just staring at the empty space for a minute.
“Nyx, what are your thoughts about what Magpie said up there?”
She’s not exactly wrong. Although another UHR would probably be quite helpful in clearing up the other hives, it’s up to you if you want to invest in one.
“Fucking… I don’t know. I feel like I should, considering I already told the others I would, but on the other hand, it’s not exactly something I’d use on a regular basis.”
Then perhaps a compromise? You’ve already unlocked the Class II Linear Accelerator Catalog, you could buy one of the larger models from that. Although they lack the raw destructive power of the UHR, they may be sufficient for your needs.
“Now that’s something I can get behind. How big are we talking about?” I asked.
The largest would match the UHR for size but would pack a significantly weaker punch. There are also a number of smaller emplacements, along with vehicle-mounted options, Nyx reported. These weapons can be further augmented by the munitions catalogs you unlocked before.
“What’s the smallest model capable of taking down the secondary hives?”
The Devastator could, in theory, take down those pillars, but it would take a significant amount of time. If you wanted to be efficient, you’d need a vehicle-mounted model. For maximum efficiency, the ‘Shellstorm’ repeating coil gun has the same punch as the ‘Devastator’ but at a much higher rate of fire. Unfortunately, I do not recommend mounting one on the Grizzly IFVs, their Class I chassis would not be able to handle the strain.
“Which means using another token to unlock something capable of supporting it,” I grumbled.
But spending that one token now will lead you to earning more tokens in the near future. All you need to do in order to recover is topple a single one of those pillars, Nyx reminded me. If you don’t want to mount it on an IFV, I can always suggest one of the towed or wall-mounted guns instead. Although this seems like a more economical option, I’d actually advise against it. With access to Magpie’s catalogues, I could make a significant number of minor upgrades to the IFV models, at little to no cost. The stationary models wouldn’t benefit nearly as much.
“No, fuck it, you’re right. As useful as the UHR was, it had some significant downsides, and the IFVs have proven themselves against the Twelves and Fourteens in Seattle. If I invest in an upgunned version, it’ll give my squads a lot more staying power in the long run. What sort of costs would I be looking like for the…”
Kodiak. The Class II Armored Vehicle Catalog will cost you five hundred and a token, then it’ll be approximately twenty-five hundred for the chassis, and an additional five hundred for the gun. That includes a hull-mounted PAWS, along with numerous upgrades from your friend, including advanced armor, improved targeting sensors, a boosted drive system, and a hundred other small tweaks.
“Isnt’ that…”
Approximately three times the cost of the Grizzly model, if you include the gun. It is more than worth it for the improved performance. Considering you would lose access to Magpie’s catalogs after this battle, I’d even recommend you buy the blueprint now.
“Do I have enough for that?”
You absolutely do, but it would put the UHR, or other Class III catalogs, out of your price range for a while. That being said, with the number of Twenty-Threes, and Twenty-Eights around, you’ll probably make those points back, even after the ten-way split.
“Fuck it, lets do it.”
Purchased
Class II Armored Vehicle Catalog - 500 points - 1 Token
Modified Kodiak IFV (Shellstorm variant) - 3000 points
Modified Kodiak IFV (Shellstorm variant) Blueprint - 30k points
Points remaining: 37,245
The vehicle that appeared was similar to the Grizzly I was familiar with, but slightly larger and with sleeker lines. Its most eye-catching feature was definitely the massive coil gun mounted in the turret, which looked like a combination of the ‘Devastator’ Heavy was lugging around and the auto cannons on the older Grizzly models.
Satisfied with the machine, I immediately summoned Spooky and Dusty to pilot the thing. It only took them a few seconds to get the thing working and moving towards the gate. I followed behind the vehicle eagerly, waiting to see exactly what carnage my new toy could bring.