I spent the next fifteen minutes on the examination table filling Leah in on everything that happened, while receiving first aid. I went over everything, from the salvage, to the Antithesis, to the voice in my head.
After I finished she was quiet for a minute.
“You don’t have to go back out there you know. No matter how bad things are out there don't need to sacrifice yourself for other people,” said Leah, her voice soft.
I didn’t dare look her in the face, my resolve would weaken if I did, “Who else will do it? The police? Other Samurai? Everyone down here is kinda fucked right now. Besides, I’m not going out there half-cocked I have a plan.”
Dante eyed me up from across the room, “Really? I’ve never seen you plan anything before. Enlighten us.”
“Step one, kill aliens.” Leah smacked me in the back of the head, hard. “Owww… rude. That’s only step one. Step two, buy turrets and drones and things, set them up in the middle of the shelter. Step three, buy something to lure Antithesis to the middle of the shelter so they spend their time fighting me instead of slaughtering the rest of the district.”
Dante grabbed his head with his good hand. “That is, by far, the worst plan I have ever heard.”
“Double rude! I’d like to hear you come up with a better plan, people are dying right now.”
Leah put her hand on my shoulder, her eyes were red, she was such a strong person it was strange seeing her so upset, “Are you sure about this? No one would blame you.”
“Maybe, but I’d feel guilty about it.”
Dante stood, with a grimace, “I’m going with you.”
“Hells no. Not with your bad arm, someone needs to stay here and protect the clinic. I promise to stop in occasionally to let you know how things are going. You can trust me.”
For some reason neither of them looked relieved.
****************************************
The situation outside was completely different than when I entered the clinic half an hour earlier. A group of model threes and several larger Antithesis, these ones the size of a large predator covered in tentacles tipped with bone spikes, were dragging bodies out of one of the rundown residential buildings down the street and piling them up not even a block away.
Model fours, they’re gathering biomass for the model eights to pick up.
“Any good news?”
The CAR should be able to take down anything up to the double digits with no problem.
I brought the rifle up to my shoulder and aimed at the center of the pack, “Noted.”
I expected a sharp crack when pulling the trigger, instead there was a pop followed by a pssshhh sound, then the closest model three’s head exploded. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or the Antithesis. Considering how fast they reacted, it was probably me.
You might want to keep firing. Those bigger ones are model fours, they can punch right through conventional armor with those spikes.
“Right.” I methodically swung the CAR at one Antithesis after another. The rockets soared, Antithesis atomized. It was almost anticlimactic, almost.
As the Antithesis fell silent I took two steps forward, just two, before something burst through the wall of one of the nearby apartment buildings. As the concrete dust settled it revealed a heavily armored body, long neck and two pairs of eyes, which quickly locked on to me.
Model six, heavy combat and frontline command unit. I would recommend you not let it get close.
The CAR spat two missiles, striking the model six in the neck and front leg, blowing holes in the armor. The thing just glowered for a second, then charged. It was fast, even with one leg crippled it had five more to drive it forward. I dove to the side, nearly getting trampled, only to roll back to my feet, taking off at a full sprint.
“Nyx, you said the CAR would drop anything under double digits.”
If you’d hit it in the head you would have. Even the CAR would take multiple shots to chew through something that size. To the left, there’s a fire escape.
The ladder was down, I leapt for it, scrambling to get some height. The rumbling told me I had seconds until the second charge connected. I barely got my hands on the first landing when the ladder was ripped away, caught on the model six’s head as it passed below.
“Fucking FUCK!” My arms barely held as my body was swung by the momentum. I couldn’t let go, that only led to death. Slowly I pulled myself up, out of the range of the rampage. The model six was not going to let me go easily, it smashed the walls, trying to bring the fire escape down. I didn’t give it a chance, this time I aimed straight down and sent two missiles directly into its face, removing its ugly head. After it fell I slumped to the floor.
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This is no time to relax, I did just tell you the sixes are command units. It’s likely to have summoned additional…
A bone spike struck the wall less than a foot from my face, the street was slowly filling with model threes and fours. Dozens of them.
reinforcements. You’re not safe up here from the model fours, they can climb the walls to reach you
“Safer here than down there.” I concentrated fire on the model fours, killing them as fast as I could. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to help thin out the crowd, if anything there were gathering faster than I could kill them. “Any ideas?”
A model three pounced, missing the landing by a few inches, it was still closer than I was comfortable with.
If you keep the model fours under control this is the perfect place to work on your plan, assuming nothing comes through the building and gets you from behind.
“That’s not funny.”
It wasn’t meant to be, more of a warning. You currently have 110 points, that’s enough to unlock Class I modular combat robotics. Unfortunately to buy an autonomous combat unit with appropriate upgrades you’ll need 150 points, and then you’ll need to arm it.
“Other options?”
You could unlock a Class I heavy weapon emplacement catalog for 250 points, that would also work towards your end goal, then buy a Ripper Heavy Machine gun for 50 more. That would throw out more than enough rounds to clear the street, I’m not sure now would be the greatest time to learn how to deploy and use it though.
The repeated explosions were starting to give me a headache, making decisions in the middle of a firefight was more difficult than I expected. Not that I ever expected to be in this position in the first place.
“Queue up a bot, as soon as I have the points buy it and give it a rifle, something in the 10 point range. And get me a reload.”
Got it. You’re almost there.
Without practice I fumbled swapping the ammo drums, and the Antithesis took advantage. The bodies had piled up in a few spots, and the model threes started using the dead as elevated platforms to leap from. One managed to clip the fire escape, its claws screeched as they connected with the metal, the entire structure shook. As soon as the drum was in, a few shots went into the bodies, disrupting their efforts.
It’s done.
Purchased - Class I modular combat robotics - 100 points
Purchased - Class I modular autonomous combat unit - 150 points
Purchased - T-22A Blackpaw assault rifle - 10 points
Points remaining - 3
Two packages appeared on the landing, one immediately started humming faintly as it unpacked itself. I didn’t dare look at it yet, too busy for that, but I caught a glimpse of it. Small, maybe three feet tall, dark polished metal.
The bot opened fire, and almost immediately the situation changed. For every kill I made, it killed two or three. For the first time since I stepped on the fire escape, the crowd thinned. Not only was I killing faster, but fewer Antithesis arrived. Soon enough, the crisis was over.
The ground was coated with the blood and bodies of the dead, dozens of Antithesis, more than I thought I’d encounter at this point. Sitting on the edge of the landing I stared at the carnage.
“How many people do you think have died so far?”
It depends how many made it to the local shelters or evacuated the area. In a typical Incursion you can expect five to ten percent of the population as casualties.
“You’ve seen the local ‘shelter’. Down here people don’t expect an incursion, at most they have a bolt hole or escape plan, and even if they did expect it, look at how many Antithesis are here already. I can’t imagine how many those things down there have already killed.”
You’re doing your best.
“I need to do better.” I stood, and turned towards the combat bot. Words died in my throat, it took me a minute to find the right thing to say.
“It’s hideous.”
It’s not that bad.
I looked at the bot again. Barely three feet tall it had visual sensors protruding from a featureless head, the body and limbs were almost skeletal.
“It looks like someone skinned a kid and dipped the bones in metal.”
Well, you were in a bad situation. 150 points only bought you the essential upgrades like targeting and combat reflexes. It would have been another 50 points for the armor plating, and who knows what the situation would have been if we waited.
“True… still, it’s a spooky fucker.” I waved a hand in front of its ‘face’, It didn’t move. Waiting for orders I assumed. “Anyways, you follow me, engage Antithesis when possible.”
Getting off the fire escape was a lot harder than getting up. I managed to land relatively softly by hanging and dropping down. Unfortunately I landed in a pool of Antithesis juices, slipped and ended up on my hands and knees, covered in god knows what. The bot simply stepped off the railing, landing stably, alert, and prepared to move.
“Showoff.”
I stood, scraping the Ichor off best I could. “Nyx, give me reloads for both weapons, and what’s my point total at?”
185 points - 159 after reloads.
“Why the hell are the bot's reloads so cheap?”
It’s not so much the bots ammo is cheap, it’s that yours is expensive. You’re using a high-end weapon firing missiles at everything. I’d say it’s overkill, but I’ve seen you shoot and we’ve already encountered a model six.
“Everyone’s a critic. How long until I can buy some lures?"
The Class I Antithesis lure catalog will cost you 500 points, and a token.
I stopped. There was an urge to turn and look at Nyx, unfortunately they only existed in my head, “How much? And what the hell is a token?”
You can earn tokens through achievements and milestones during your Vanguard career. Saving a certain amount of people, destroying Antithesis lairs, etc. They’re used to limit a guardian’s access to dangerous technology until they’ve proved themselves, all tier two and above catalogs will require them.
I threw my hands up, “So why would I need one for the lures?”
To make sure you weren’t the kind of person that would drop one in the middle of a crowded area, or a closed shelter.
“That… makes sense. Fine, I’ll figure something out.”
Marching back into the street I took a quick moment to stare at the bodies the Antithesis had piled there. I could feel bile rising into my throat, but I managed to keep it down. Barely. My next words came out shaky, “The sooner the better.”