“You okay?” Humboldt asked once I stumbled out of the Kodiak a few minutes later.
“I’m fine,” I snapped. “Just because I took manual control of the coilgun and completely leveled two more pillars doesn’t mean I’m pissed off or anything.”
“I know, you’d do that for fun,” she replied with a knowing look. “I’m asking because Bright-Eyes told me what happened.”
“That overconfident asshole not only almost got himself killed, but compromised our defenses!” I immediately started ranting. “I have no idea what could possibly have been going through his mind!”
“Apparently he became a samurai before you, or even I did, but he barely got any kills during that first incursion, and hasn’t had any real chances to fight since,” Sharron said as she rubbed my back and tried to get me to calm down. “Mother said he’s been itching to prove himself, and that drove him to take unnecessary risks while they were exploring the tunnels. She’s been trying to reign him in a little, but as you can see…”
“He’s an idiot,” I finished for her.
“He still thinks he needs to take risks to prove himself worthy,” she corrected.
“I don’t give a shit. He needs to learn that risking your life is one thing; risking the lives of others is something completely different,” I replied. Now that I finished ranting, I took a couple deep breaths to help calm down before looking towards where the rest of our group was huddled together. “What’s going on?”
“While you were busy blowing off steam, the other team managed to crush another three minor hives,” she said, pointing to the blur of destruction at the other side of the room. “Now that more than half of the supporting structures have been destroyed, we’re actually seeing a drop in the number of smaller models. We’re actually making progress.”
“About fucking time,” I muttered. “So why is everyone huddled together like a cryo-coolant pipe broke nearby?”
“They’re trying to determine if now is the best time to meet up with the others or not,” Sharron replied. “I actually wandered over to collect you, so we could discuss it.”
“For fuck’s sake…” I moaned. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”
“Because I wanted you to blow off a little steam before having to deal with Raijin,” she replied. “Otherwise you’d just rip into him every time he opened his mouth.”
“I do have some self-control,” I told her as we began wandering over to the others. “I just choose not to waste it while dealing with idiots.”
Humboldt snorted. “Just play nice for a few minutes. The pressure may have eased up slightly, but we’re still in a combat situation, and the longer we’re away from the line, the more likely that the antithesis attempt something.”
“Fine,” I muttered again as we stepped up to the group.
Broodmother, Bright-Eyes, Hoppy, and Raijin were standing in a loose circle, which opened up when Humboldt and I approached. “Thank you for joining us,” Mother said with a polite smile.
“I hear we’re planning on trying to meet up with the other group, and pushing towards the core hive,” I said, slowly turning my head until I was looking at Raijin. “That didn’t really go well last time.” I immediately received an elbow to the ribs from Humboldt.
“Well… that’s true, but we weren’t exactly planning on walking there. We were thinking about using your APC,” Bright-Eyes said. “You managed to fly over to us, couldn’t we just fly over to the other team?”
I just blinked at the suggestion. It was something exceptionally simple, but had never occurred to me. “Oh, yeah, we can probably do that,” I admitted.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“We won’t be shot down on the way over?” Hoppy asked hesitantly. “I kinda have a thing about flying.”
“We won’t exactly be flying, as we will be hovering just out of range of the ground units,” I clarified. “Nyx told me the Kodiak is solid enough to resist an attack run from any of the flyers, even those oversized Model Elevens, so there’s nothing to worry about… probably.” Hoppy whimpered slightly. “We’re fighting giant killer plants, I can’t believe you’re afraid of flying.”
“I have control over what happens when fighting,” Hoppy said quietly. “I can’t exactly control what happens in the back of an aircraft.”
“Fair enough,” I replied. “So that’s the plan? Just hop in the Kodiak and fly over there? What about this position?”
“What about it? It’s just a tunnel opening,” Raijin spat out. “It doesn’t matter as long as we take out the hives and eliminate the antithesis here.”
“You’re not wrong… but you never know what could happen. What if we get pressed and have to fall back?” I snapped back at him. “Then again, we’re all samurai, so that could NEVER happen, right?”
Raijin’s face turned red, and his mouth flapped as he tried to come up with something to say.
“Enough! This is not the time to fight among ourselves,” Mother said. Her voice was a lot colder than I’d ever heard before and kept me from saying anything more. “Our priority needs to be dealing with that central hive and the monstrosity within.”
“You’re right, sorry,” I apologized. “You’re sure this is the right move? I can always provide covering fire from over here.”
“You can, but none of the others can help. I believe our best option would be to consolidate our strength and try to take it out with a single strike,” Mother answered. I glanced at the rest of our small group, trying to gauge their reactions. Hoppy seemed nervous about the situation but determined, and Raijin seemed excited. I just shook my head.
“Fine… I’ll trust your judgement, but we’re not all going to fit in a single Kodiak, so I’ll have to buy another. What about your bugs? Even with another vehicle, I don’t think they’ll all fit.”
“They’re disposable. I’ll take enough to restart the swarm at our destination, but the others will completely shut down once they get a certain distance from me. It’s a failsafe,” Mother said.
“Great. No problem then,” I said. “If you leave most of the swarm to maintain a perimeter, then we shouldn’t have to worry about the area getting overrun until we’re airborne.”
“Does anyone have any concerns before we move?” Humboldt asked, stepping forward and taking attention away from Broodmother and myself. “We may have a plan, but if you have any issues, we should take care of them before we jump into the middle of the action.”
Hoppy slowly raised her hand. “I’m mainly melee-focused, but I’m not sure I can hold my own in the middle of… that,” she said, gesturing to the melee on the other side of the room. “Even with the added tokens and points, I doubt I can tangle with Twenties consistently.”
“That’s fair,” I said. “You never unlocked a ranged weapon?”
“I’m an absolutely terrible shot. So I stuck with what I knew until now,” Hoppy replied. I stared at the woman for a moment, then pulled my rifle off my back before offering it to her.
“It’s mostly self-targeting. As long as you don’t fire it directly at someone’s back, you’ll be fine,” I said.
“You don’t need it?” she asked, surprised.
“I’ll just get another one,” I replied with a shrug before turning away.
“Any other concerns?” Humboldt asked again. “Once we get over there, I doubt we’ll have time to do much but fight. Last chance.”
Since no one spoke up, I stepped a few feet away from the group. “Alright. I’ll order up another Kodiak. You guys pile into the existing one, with half my bears, and Humboldt and I will take the second one,” I said. “We’ll wait until you’re away, because I’ll have to pull Bob and the last of the gunline back.”
“You’re sure?” Mother asked.
“As long as the scarabs remain active, there shouldn’t be any issue,” I replied. In the back of my mind, I went through every possible way I could see this going wrong, but I still smiled. “It’ll be fine.”
When the others turned to head to the Kodiak, Humboldt leaned closer to me. “If you want to inspire confidence in other people, you should work on your poker face. That was the most forced smile I’ve ever seen,” she said with a small laugh.
“Shut up,” I muttered. “I was just trying to figure out the safest way to do this.”
“You think something might go wrong?” she asked, suddenly concerned.
“Not here,” I said. Across the room, I could see the other group smash about. Bursts of light and sound erupted from their location occasionally. “We’re about to fly right into the heart of the battle, and I doubt it’ll be a smooth ride. We better be prepared.”
Humboldt just nodded in response.