Waking the next morning, she was made aware of plans for her travel over the next few days, including options for Newcastle.

~ Avi, was that you? ~

~ Not directly. Your subconscious worked through the night and I guided it. Query, did you dream? ~

Thinking over it for a moment, she nodded. ~ I believe so, though nothing that sticks out. Maybe something about a barrier? ~

~ Do you wish me to monitor your unconscious activity and attempt to wake you if I deem your activities potentially harmful? ~

~ Good idea, thank you Avi. ~

Pouring over the maps as she lay there, she was glad that they had bypassed Gosford. The satellite imagery showed little other than craters and a ruined city. It had been scavenged dry and any remaining usable boats had been taken, leaving a place that could potentially be rebuilt, but with little strategic value. Zoe wondered why the city had been attacked during the war, but that was history from before she had been born.

Your thoughts are not as loud as before, Tyson muttered sleepily. That is pleasant.

Taking her pillow and sitting up, she threw it at Tyson, who jolted awake, the last of the cobwebs in his head fleeing. Stretching and yawning, he halfheartedly threw the pillow back.

"Yes, I know, I should try to not read people, but that's like making Joe not loud. Bloody well impossible."

A thump alerted the pair to Maddison's return to their camp as she dropped a small kangaroo on the ground.

"Up you two princesses get, the day is waiting. Everyone else is up."

Looking outside, Zoe and Tyson saw the first rays of sunlight lighting the tops of the trees. "You got no excuse," Zoe said to Tyson. "Me? I suffered brain trauma and I'm still jet lagged, I get a pass." Stretching, she stood up anyway, assisting Maddison with securing the dead kangaroo to her trailer while Tyson fussed around with the camping gear.

After everyone had eaten and packed up their camp, it was decided that they would make for Warnervale airport. Only Zoe knew where it was, thanks to satellite mapping and maps that she had of the area, but that didn't deter them. The satellite monitoring had shown no signs of habitation in either Somersby or Warnervale, so no one was overly worried.

"We can use this airfield as a way point," one of the Asquith Talented stated making notes on the tablet Zoe had given them. She was starting to run low on tech that she had brought with her, but knew that there would be plenty for her to scavenge later. Even this airfield had things she could use, letting her gather a few more little components.

~

The journey to Warnervale airport was relatively easy and relaxed, the group taking note of where potential rest stops were along the way. They estimated that such a large group could cover the distance in a few days, but with elderly and children, they extended that estimate to two weeks, just to be on the safe side. No one saw any real complications on the way through, so Zoe used the time to test her Talent.

She was right in her assessment of being able to alter programs in remote tech. She altered her visor's programming, fiddling with the display making some changes that had bothered her, things that were easy to do. Putting the visor on, she visually confirmed that the changes had happened without her touching the item.

~ The changes to your Talent are ideal, ~ Avi said as it watched Zoe. ~ There is no longer a need for this system to dedicate resources for remote program modification if you can do it. Processing time will decrease as a result. ~

Zoe wondered to herself if her Talent change had also made Avi more talkative. She thought that she might have to run an analysis on Avi's programming when they got home.

~ Agreed, and I like that I can do it directly and see the results in action. Bring up all sat links, I'm looking for a sat with Cloud access. ~ A moment later, Avi displayed a list of satellites, ones it had already taken control of and others that had only recently come into it's influence. ~ Okay, leave that one to me, I want to see if I can do it by myself. ~

~ Affirmative. Satellite acquisition program paused. ~

Concentrating, she pushed, following the link into orbit. The programming lit up in her brain, immediately blocking her with firewalls. With barely a thought she brushed them aside, breaking through them to get to the satellite's raw code. Pressing her will into the machine, she moved lines of coding around, allowing her free access and aligning it for communication with other satellites in her growing network. As she finished, she returned her thoughts to her body, finding sweat pouring down her shivering body.

"Oh, that's uncomfortable," she muttered through the fever like symptoms. "Avi, how long was I doing that for?"

"Nine minutes, twenty two seconds."

"What did you do Zoe?" Tyson said before raising a hand. "Got it, but, I couldn't hear more than tiny echoes of muttering to yourself while you were doing that, as if you were very, very far away."

~ Your electrolyte levels are low. ~

Nodding to Tyson, she reached for a drink under his seat. "I was taking over a satellite in orbit, directly, rather than through programs I set to do the work." She gulped down a few mouthfuls before continuing. "Avi has programs to do it for me. What's the average take over time Avi?"

"Twenty three minutes, eight seconds."

Zoe smirked. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." Taking another gulp of her drink, she shivered and shook her arms out. "That said, I'm not going to do that again for a while, that was stressful."

"Practice on closer tech?" Maddison asked from behind her, standing in the back of the buggy, rifle resting on the top of the roll bars.

"I will. I will need to re-train myself to do it, as I'm used to having to have the tech in my hands to do anything. It is harder to do it remotely, but not impossible."

~

The trip between the two airfields was relatively short by vehicle, even with multiple stops to check way points. The group noted that there were also animal tracks through the brush in some areas, and even saw a sheep farm that had been neglected for many years. A large flock ran wild, moving away from the group as soon as they saw them.

Zoe also made note that the flock seemed abandoned, as their wool was definitely well past comfortable for the older creatures. The proximity to Newcastle worried her a little, but she figured that if the sheep were unattended, the city didn't know about them.

Two from the Asquith group rounded up a pair, slaughtering them and putting them in the boot of their car. For them, the fresh meat was a scarcity and was a welcome change to their diet.

~

The group rolled down the last road leading to the airport as the summer sun reached its peak. Zoe had already taken off as much clothing as she could but could still feel the uncomfortable sweat dripping down her back. The twins, however, had put on sunglasses and seemed to be enjoying the warmth. Grumbling about missing her winter, Zoe drove up to the main entrance of the airport, parking in the pick up zone.

Stretching, Tyson stood, hung his rifle from his shoulder and walked towards the entrance, completely unworried. Maddison followed, rifle in hand, but relaxed. Arming herself with a stunner, Zoe still got Avi to deploy the turret anyway, regardless of the casual stance of the twins. She figured that there still may be trouble here that Tyson couldn't sense.

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Parking next to Avi, the Asquith group joined Zoe as the twins went scouted ahead. The group joked around, but Zoe could tell they were still alert, just not stressed.

The airport was dirty and dusty, piles of leaves sat in corners and suitcases lay scattered and pillaged. It was a very small airport compared to even the military base Zoe called home. Something skittered away in the far corner as Tyson neared it, but Zoe didn't see what it was.

"Just a spider," Tyson said out loud.

"Bigger than any I've seen," Zoe replied, gripping her stunner tighter.

Maddison snorted and the Asquith group laughed. "That one's small," Tyson said, sending a size impression to Zoe. She squeaked in terror at the implication of spiders up to her waist.

"I'll save you," Maddison said, pulling her rifle up and aiming for where the spider had gone. A moment later her rifle spat a couple of shots, taking out the 'small' spider.

The echo bounced around in the building for a moment before clearing. Maddison tilted her head and went to lower her rifle before sharply bringing it back up.

"Out!" She shouted as a chittering sound reached their ears. Maddison twitched her rifle a few times before grunting, turning away and running after everyone else.

Spiders started pouring out of the holes for the baggage carousel, the chittering noise escalating as their mass in the room grew.

Maddison cursed loudly as she took the occasional shot while running. As she neared the door, a spray of small energy bolts flew past, pausing long enough to let her through the door before starting again. She flashed a grin at the buggy, the turret spraying many more small stun bolts into the room.

As she reached the buggy, a pair of flaming bottles arched their way to the solitary entrance. Watching the future shadows, Maddison fired a few quick bursts, taking down the few spiders that made it through the doorway before the molotovs landed, spraying burning alcohol everywhere.

Watching the fire burn and the spiders turn away, Maddison called out for a head count. All out, her brother confirmed. Zoe looks like she's about to cry though.

Zoe was indeed on the verge of tears, sitting knees to chest, clutching her stunner, back to the other side of the buggy. All her remaining drones were swarming around her, not that any other than the two with heat cannons would do anything to stop a giant spider.

"He warned you they existed," Maddison said, crouching near Zoe. "There's just a big nest in there we need to clear. Looks like huntsman spiders. I probably accidentally threatened a breeding female."

Two glass bottles broke further inside, the noise of the alcohol igniting reaching Zoe and Maddison. "Personally, I'm glad they brought the molotovs. Spiders hate fire." Maddison quickly checked her rifles magazine. "Don't worry, I've dealt with spiders before." Leaving the rifle with Zoe, Maddison returned to Tyson, who also passed his rifle to one of the others.

"This is how it goes," Tyson said, addressing everyone. "We draw the mother's attention. No one fires a single shot unless ordered by me. When we get behind the baggage area, we'll clear an area for molotovs to be thrown. Yes, I know there's two left, keep them till I say."

Zoe had silently joined the other four, steeling herself while cradling the rifle. She really didn't want to join in the battle and hoped that she wouldn't need to.

"We've done this before," Tyson said, winking at Zoe.

"They cause a bushfire last time," one of the others spoke up.

"That nest never recovered though," another added.

Without a further word, the twins walked together, drawing their swords, one for each hand.

Then Zoe watched something amazing.

The twins danced, stepping through the flames, spinning around each other, their swords flashing and occasionally clanging loudly against each other. The spiders watched, fixated on the movements and sounds of the pair as they exited the fire. They didn't move until Maddison lashed out, slicing both swords through one of the spiders.

The creatures exploded into motion, launching for the twins who held their entire focus. That was when the twins sped up, Spinning back and forth so Maddison could see all around them for both of them.

Eyes on spiders, not us, Tyson blasted the group who had been gawking at the display.

Turning their eyes to the chittering mass, Zoe spotted one clambering along the roof. As it dropped, the twins separated, swung their swords up and stepped around the fallen creature, moving further back towards where they were coming from.

"What have they been eating to get this many, this big?"

"Likely those sheep we passed, maybe some roos. I wouldn't put it past a big buck to just stomp one of these though."

"Reckon they'd let us catch a small 'un? For science?"

"Why would you want one?" Zoe had to ask into the conversation.

"Their poison. They produce heaps of it, enough to make Joe sweat. Small doses on arrows is helpful for hunting."

"Plus, having a spider in the labyrinth below town would be hilarious. A small one like that would just run away all the time."

Zoe shook her head as the assault on the twins finally stopped. The pair moved up to the "staff only" door and booted through it, launching into an attack straight away.

Move up to the door, try to stick to weapons that aren't guns. Don't light the bombs till we say.

Baseball bats, a machete and a thick plank of wood with nails hammered into it replaced guns as the group followed the twins to the door. Zoe slipped a pair of brass knuckles looking devices over her fingers. She tapped them together, getting a small electrical pop and a spark as she did. She had doubts whether they would be effective at all. As if responding to her doubts, the group moved to surround her.

The 'keep your eyes on us' dance continued while they worked out where the mother was. They both saw movement further in, but wanted to be sure of exactly where to throw the molotovs to do maximum damage.

Tyson shuddered as something intelligent seemed to brush over his mind. It was way too familiar to the spider nest they had taken out for Asquith. The brood mother had grown a hive mind. Knowing their opponent was thinking changed nothing of the twins tactics though. They kept up their noise assault, even adding as many other noises as they could. Which meant they started wordlessly singing.

The eerie but harmonic tones started up from the twins and was rewarded by drawing the brood mother and her guards out into the open. Moving from just inside the doorway, they charged at the mothers guards, their swords still moving in harmony as they removed leg after leg from the spiders.

Get ready to light, Tyson ordered as they started their assault on the last of the spider guards. Light!

The rags caught fire and the first was thrown on Tyson's order. Maddison jumped and pushed it with a sword, sending it past the mother to crash into her nest, covering her eggs. As the queen screeched, the second was thrown, Maddison using both her swords to guide it past the mother before her blades smashed into the creatures head. Any remaining spiders shuddered and ran, their hive mind holding them together ending and fire threatening them.

"I claim this land in the name of humanity!"

Zoe giggled at the youth, relaxing a little as the brood mother's corpse began to burn..

~

While the others searched for anything useful and cleared out the spiders, Zoe began to get details of the area. The runway was a bit short, but if a few trees were able to be knocked down and the plane was able to come in low, it would work.

Once the small control tower was cleared of remaining pests, Zoe went about her business of reactivating everything she could. The tower already had solar panels, backup generator and power storage, Zoe just had to work around the damaged components and bug bits. So many bug bits.

As evening set, Zoe got the lights working, jump starting the system from Avi's power storage. Zoe hummed happily as she worked, linking systems with small cables, bypassing damaged components, bringing what she could to life without using her own parts. Eventually she had to though, as she couldn't get the satellite communications working otherwise.

They camped down for the night, cooking and eating the kangaroo that Maddison had caught that morning. The group chatted about their finds at the airfield, which included several intact small planes, though their tyres had deteriorated over the years. Zoe made note of tyre sizes, figuring that she might be able to scrounge something up to replace them. Setting the drone defenses for the night, she made sure they were aware that spiders were in the area.

~

Entering the control tower in the morning, Zoe instantly heard the beeping of contact attempting to be made. Activating the radio network, she listened to the message that came in.

"... seas. Families on board. Need assistance. S.O.S. Repeat. Ship Jumino. Ship heavily damaged in hurricane seas. Families on board. Need-"

Zoe turned the volume down and quickly did what she could to track where the signal was broadcasting from. It was pure radio waves, which made it a little harder for her, but not impossible. From where she sat, hand on the console, she reached out to Avi and linked the tower to the buggy. The struggle she had triangulating the signal vanished as her network instantly leapt to her command.

Jumping as Tyson placed a hand on her shoulder, she disconnected from the network. It would find the signal shortly, with or without her.

"The Asquith group will stay here and start prepping the area for our return." He tilted an ear towards the speaker, the call still playing, but barely audible. "You want to help them, but how? None of us are sailors, Avi can't drive on water and a hurricane sounds bad."

~ Location confirmed to 97% accuracy. The Jumino is off the coast of Northern Queensland, near Beta team. Weather warning issued to all northern teams. Weather advisory issued for Eastern Australia. ~

Nodding, Zoe relayed what Avi had told her. "I guess I'll keep going with the plan. Might rain a bit though."

Checking in with Delta, she learned that the town they were at were indeed stubborn, as the Asquith group confirmed. Checking the weather maps, she wasn't sure if she should risk going to the coast in search of the scattered Talented and she still didn't have a good plan for Newcastle, other than avoid it all together or try and blend in to get intel.