Once the Forty-Four-L was loose a couple things happened in rapid succession. First, the entire cavern quickly flooded with a rust-colored gas. Second, Grey reverted to her humanoid form and threw up a huge nanite wall which just barely caught the first salvo of acid, and finally Executable started analysing the situation in the most unhelpful way possible.
“Assertion. Priority actions should be as follows: Help those affected by gas, restrict Forty-Four’s movement, maintain perimeter, find and exploit Forty-Four’s weakness,” the giant ball droned as it ineffectively lasered the hydra.
“In English that would be…” I muttered.
A moment later Broodmother yelled, “Teddy, grab Hoppy! I’ll grab Raijin.” I turned away from the front lines to find Hoppy curled up in a ball near one of the Kodiaks.
She needs a rebreather, and something to purge the chemicals out of her system. Ideally in a place not flooded by the gas, Nyx informed me.
“Gimme a rebreather then!” I snapped. “And do I have anything to purge the toxins in my catalogs?”
You do. The gas is complex, but no different than a human chemical-based weapon. It’ll take time to clear it out though, ideally it should be done in a place clear of the gas.
“We’ll do it in the Kodiak,” I said as I carefully slipped the rebreather over Hoppy’s face. I carefully helped the girl to her feet, then half-dragged her into the back of one of my transports. “Now a purge device.”
The device that appeared at my feet appeared to be a stretchy band, with a couple needles on the inside, so I slipped it up Hoppy’s arm.
“I’m going to lock you in here until the purge is done,” I told the trembling girl. “The door isn’t going to unlock until you have a helmet that can resist the gas. Understand?” Hoppy managed to hold herself together long enough to nod. “Good girl,” I muttered as I jogged out of the Kodiak, slamming the ramp closed behind me.
As soon as I stepped outside I noticed Broodmother struggling to drag Raijin in my direction. The man had a rebreather on, but was practically foaming at the mouth, yelling incoherently. “Come on!” I yelled, waving in her direction. “You can use the back of one of my vehicles to purge him!”
Broodmother glanced over at me and nodded before turning to get a better hold of Raijin. She’d just adjusted her grip when there was a flash of murky green, and he was gone.
I blinked. It took me a moment to comprehend what just happened. One of the heads had spewed acid, much like a firehose, and caught Raijin in the burst. Barely anything of him was left, even his bones were melting.
What broke me out of my shock was Broodmother, who after a brief moment started screaming. She’d been holding onto Raijin when the acid hit, and now was missing her arm up to the shoulder.
I broke into a run, only briefly glancing towards the hydra before grabbing her and dragging her back to the shelter of the Kodiaks. “Nyx, I need something to neutralize the remaining acid, and deal with the wound!” I yelled in a panic.
I can provide you with a dressing, however the bacteria is already in the system. Unlike the gas, or simple wounds, the bacteria is practically a high-tier antithesis. It requires at least a class III catalog to deal with, the bacteria mutates too fast for the lower classes to deal with.
Broodmother was screaming in pain, writhing on the ground. I had to use all my strength to try and keep her somewhat still.
“Fuck! Then what can I do? Can’t I fill her with nanites to counter it?”
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That would be a temporary solution at best, and torturous to Broodmother as her body would constantly be getting ripped apart and put back together at a cellular level.
“At least give me the dressing!” I yelled in panic. “Is there nothing I can do?”
Pestilence might have the required catalogs but…
“I need Pestilence now!” I broadcast through my augs.
“He got hit by one of the first acid sprays,” came Temporal’s subdued reply, “He pushed me out of the way and took the full force of the attack. His cybernetics are fried. I have no idea if his brain box survived or not. He’s not responding.”
I stared at Broodmother at my feet. Her screaming was dying down, and the convulsions were slowing. The dressing I’d ordered was sitting next to her, but her shoulder and the side of her chest were already starting to putrefy. I knelt down, held her good hand and supported her head.
“Brood’s hit, I don’t think she’s going to make it. The bacteria’s killing her,” I reported quietly.
I didn’t expect anyone to reply, but Executable immediately did. “Warning: If scarabs go offline our perimeter will be compromised.”
“Unless you have the tech to save her, there’s nothing we can do,” I growled. As I watched the life slowly leave Broodmother’s body I took a deep breath. “I’ll handle the perimeter, just kill that fucking thing!”
The fucking ball just gave me the cold, souless reply of “Affirmative.”
“Nyx, I want you to flood this area with bears,” I said quietly as I cradled Broodmother’s body. “Give the Moose 'Devastators’ to deal with big stuff, and spread them around to maintain a perimeter around the team.”
How many points would you like to use? Nyx asked quietly.
“All of them.”
Are you sure? You’ll be pushing your command implant with that number of units, and you should keep some sort of reserve in case of emergencies.
“If the perimeter fails, it won’t matter. The others will be too distracted by the surrounding mobs to fight the Forty-Four, and we’ll be overrun. Do it,” I muttered. On my lap Broodmother finally laid still. I hoped there’d be enough of her left to bring back once this was all said and done.
All around our group the scarabs just stopped. The small antithesis which were previously being devoured surged forward, followed quickly by the larger models.
Purchased:
Class II Combat Bear (With B3AR) x 56 = 16800
Class II Recon Fox (With B3AR-MR) x 13 = 13650
Class II Heavy Moose (With ‘Devastator’ Coilgun x 13 = 23400
Points Remaining: 423
In their way appeared bears, dozens of them. They split into fireteams around the perimeter and opened fire. The cacophony of gunfire was punctuated by the heavier thuds of the coilguns, punching holes into the larger models.
The pure weight of the firepower pushed the antithesis lines back, and gave the others room to work.
I, in the meantime, was in agony. I felt like my brain was melting as it struggled to give orders, and organize, so many new bears at once.
“Teddy, you ok?” I vaguely heard someone say. I turned to see Hoppy, as she slowly crept out of the other Kodiak.
“I’ll be fine, probably,” I mumbled. “I’m driving my brain into overdrive trying to get the new bears set up. I’ll be fine once they're in static battle lines. Help the others. I need to keep the perimeter secure.”
“If you’re sure,” she said uncertainly.
“I am,” I said as I focused on the girl. “Oh, and take Bob with you! Bob!”
The big bear came bounding out of combat like an eager puppy. I probably could have summoned him through my implant, but I was already straining myself as it was.
“Help the others deal with that monstrosity. Leave the small stuff to the others,” I mumbled.
Bob saluted. “You can count on me! That thing is as good as dead,” he said before taking off. Hoppy took one last look at me before following him.
I sat there, back against the Kodiak, eyes closed, conducting a desperate battle with my mind. It wasn’t something I was used to doing; normally I let them fight mechanically, nearly on automatic, but I couldn’t let that happen right now.
I needed to give the team as much time as possible. The Forty-Four had to die.