For the second time today I found myself buying a set of entrenching tools for the bears and digging through an Antithesis tunnel. I’ve never hated them more than I do now. It only took a few minutes to get through, but I was not in the best shape, or mood, by the time it was done.

Humboldt, after passing through the newly opened passage, looked down at me with a look of concern. “You okay?”

“No. The Antithesis are assholes, they won’t let me rest,” I said, laying flat on my back in the middle of the tunnel.

She stepped around me to look at the carnage I’d left in the tunnel behind me. “Well, we’re almost done, just need to find the hive itself and we’re done here.”

I stuck a single arm into the air and started waving my hand around “Hooray”

A burst of gunfire echoed down the tunnel, I checked my Augs. Spooky had killed a couple of model threes, nothing like we’d been dealing with recently.

Sitting up I glanced down the tunnel, “I think killing that model twenty six really fucked their ability to setup a cohesive defence. Score one for the Samurai. Woo!”

You know, I can provide you with a stimulant to keep you going until this is all over.

“No drugs, fuck that. I’ve seen enough people suffer due to that shit”

These are Samurai grade…

“No fucking drugs.”

Got it. Perhaps we’ll discuss alternative ways to improve your stamina when you’re in better shape.

I dragged myself to my feet, and shouldered the CAR. Looking back I could see Humboldt was looking over the twenty six down at the end of the tunnel. “Let’s get going. The sooner we finish this the better”

*************************

“I was expecting more,” I said, looking down at the small pack of threes we’d just slaughtered.

Spooky walked up and poked one of the corpses, “The hive hasn’t had time to fully develop, once mature it could pump out hundreds of model threes in an hour. This one, maybe several dozen.”

“A few dozen is still enough to do some serious damage to civilians,” Humboldt grumbled.

I agreed, silently. “We have to be close now,” I said, stepping over the corpses, “any further south and we’ll be hitting the canals”

I sent the bears forward, I’d already proved that I was a threat to myself and others while walking at the front. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

We walked in relative silence for a few minutes, before Deadbeat pinged me. I pulled up his optics. “I think we found it, a couple hundred feet ahead.”

“What’s it look like”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I focused on the image, trying to determine the best way to respond. “Like a misshapen, oversized carrot?”

She shot me a dirty look.

“What? That’s what it looks like. You’ll see in a few seconds.”

Rounding the corner I got my first real look at the hive within. Okay, it didn’t quite look like an oversized carrot, more like someone poured out a terrarium full of exotic plants and fungi all over the floors and walls, then stuck a carrot in it. The ground was coated in vegetation, none of which looked terrestrial.

The Antithesis in the room had almost been subdued by the time we arrived. It seemed like most had already been sent out to slow us down, so there were only a couple dozen at the most. The most impressive was a model twelve, which had apparently charged Bob before being flipped onto its back and eviscerated, if the cut marks on its side were anything to go on.

The hive WAS doing its best to fight back. Across the top of the chamber were a series of vines, and hanging from those were what looked like strange seed clusters, or egg sacs. A series of small, six limbed, headless monkeys were rushing back and forth, cutting loose whichever seed was even remotely ripe. As soon as they hit the floor the pods burst open, revealing emaciated model threes or fours, which were immediately gunned down by one of the bears. It looked like they had everything in hand already.

“See those?” Humboldt pointed at the bottom of the main structure where a series of large bulbous flower-like plant structures sat. “I’m pretty sure those are filled with acid to dissolve and absorb the biomass. I saw something similar at the last hive, but they weren’t in the main chamber, and much bigger.”

I nodded, then pointed at the monkey things. “And those?”

“Model tens,” Nyx said from a few feet away. “Hive tenders, and the closest Antithesis to their original forms”

I let that information soak in, then turned towards Spooky, “Where did all the other models come from then?”

“Other species which have been devoured. Little bits of their DNA are absorbed by the Antithesis and then incorporated. They replicate so quickly that rapid mutation can occur, worthwhile changes are re-incorporated into the genome, useless changes are discarded. Efficient.”

“It’s disgusting. That means there could be humanoid Antithesis in a few years.”

Unlikely, humanity rose to dominance on your planet due to your intelligence, not your physical prowess.

“I’m not sure if I should be relieved, or insulted,” I sighed, “How do we destroy this thing?”

Sharron stepped forward, her lasers cutting up the nearest growth. “We either cut it up, or we could use some of those grenades you have”

“Nyx, what’s the most efficient way to clear this mess?”

There are more effective catalogs for clearing hives, but in your case the flesh melters from your biomass denial catalog would be sufficient, just not super efficient.

“Fine, get the bears to clean up the model tens then start distributing the grenades, I want out of here as soon as possible”

*********************************

It turned out ‘As soon as possible’ meant another half an hour of stuffing grenades into every conceivable location to prevent the hive from re-establishing itself. When we left there was nothing but a thick disgusting slurry. I honestly wish I had bought boots earlier, it was disgusting.

Humboldt patted me on the back as we exited the burrow, “I’m guessing you’re going to rest now, right?”

I groaned, “There’s so much to do… I’m just too tired to do it now.”

“Well, there’s always tomorrow. I need to check in with the people up above, but I’ll have Aeonys send you my contact information.” She smiled a tired smile, “I’m sure someone will contact you about joining up with the other local Samurai soon”

“Awesome. More work.”

“Worry about it later, I’ll check in on you in a few days. Stay safe alright.”

“Alright”, as her suit stomped away I waved. I hadn’t expected to get any help from above when the day began, but I was glad I did. Humboldt was a good person.

I raised my CAR and stared into the perpetual gloom above as I set off toward home, tomorrow would bring a whole new set of problems.