Just as I was starting to get the fires under control, the Antithesis flooded into the surrounding area as if summoned or directed. If it had been a regular blind charge, I might have been able to handle the surprise, but the Antithesis descended upon us from every angle, catching several of my escorts by surprise.

  The foxes was freaking out, sending me so many sensor updates I was starting to get sensory overload, so I shut it out so I could function, a decision I was going to regret.

  “Fall back into the Kodiaks,” I shouted over the gunfire that had erupted around me. “We’re pulling back to a more defendable…”

  A series of tremors shook the street, causing me to stumble slightly as the asphalt under the vehicles cracked, bulged, and finally exploded outwards as two massive tusks erupted out of the ground. The six-foot long implements hooked around the side of the nearest transport, lifting it high into the air before throwing the armored vehicle straight into the side of a nearby building.

  With the Kodiak out of the way, the Model Twenty-Eight turned its tentacled, lamprey-like head back towards me as it slowly pulled the rest of its massive bulk out of the burrow and up into the street.

  “Motherfucker,” I hissed under my breath. The other Kodiaks all turned their turrets and fired point-blank into the sides of the monster, but the damage was already done. As the Twenty-Eight collapsed to the ground, a wave of antithesis burst out of the tunnel around it.

  “Breakthrough to the east, and regroup as fast as possible!” I screamed, firing wildly into the mass of alien monsters that was closing in around me. “Bob grab Heavy and get him onto one of those transports NOW! He’s too slow to keep up with a fighting retreat!”

  Bob didn’t argue, sprinting forward and smashing through the surrounding Antithesis like a linebacker, sending the smaller Models flying as he stomped through their lines. As soon as he reached Heavy, he clamped his meaty paws around either side of the polar bear’s bomb disposal vest, and in one smooth motion turned and just threw his slightly smaller cousin.

  Heavy didn’t even look fazed as he spiraled headfirst across the intersection. He even managed to fire a round from his coilgun into the crowd before smashing into the top of one of the transports.

  The Kodiak creaked and slid a foot to the side with the force of the impact, but Heavy just calmly climbed back to his feet and continued firing.

  “Now fucking RUN!” I yelled.

  All around me the rabbits bolted forward, smashing into the eastern front like a precision sledgehammer. They darted right up to the antithesis and emptied their SMGs into the aliens at point-blank range, cutting through the front line in seconds. It wasn’t quite enough to punch through, so half of them bounced back, while the others hurdled the remaining Antithesis while they reloaded. The few surviving antithesis went down from the lethal crossfire.

  With the way clear, I hopped onto the nearest Kodiak as it surged forward, escaping the encirclement and tearing down the street after the rabbits. Being clear of the ambush didn’t mean we were out of trouble, though; the antithesis were already starting to give chase, despite Bob’s best efforts to slow them down.

  “Nyx, I need something to clear the streets,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Something old, or something new?

  “I don’t care, as long as it’s effective. The rabbits aren’t great at holding a defensive position, and even if they were, I don’t think I have enough to clear that mob fast enough,” I said.

  Might I suggest you take advantage of your Class II Area Denial Catalog? Although you’ve used it to create the laser fences and self-replicating minefield, it has plenty of quick and dirty options too. Might I suggest some Shard Spitter Mines?

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  “Aren’t those the same ones I used on my first day? The ice ones?” I asked.

  Slightly different…

  “Well, whatever. Start throwing them down and don’t stop until that fucking mob starts to clear up,” I grumbled.

  Your wish is my command.

  Purchased - Mark VII Shard Shatter Mines - 10 x 25 points

  Auto redeployment enabled

  Points remaining: 50224

  A line of small hemispherical disks, about six inches across and two inches deep, materialized right between my fleeing forces and the antithesis. As the pursuing aliens closed in, I braced myself for a massive explosion.

  I didn’t get my explosion, but that didn’t mean I was disappointed by the result.

  When the leading edge of the swarm crossed the mines, reality shattered. Hundreds of blurry, intersecting lines flashed into existence for just a moment before dissipating. The antithesis in the affected area literally went to pieces, cut cleanly through wherever they’d touched the lines.

  I winced as hundreds of Antithesis collapsed into piles of cleanly sliced chunks of flesh.

  “The hell was that?” I asked, dumbfounded. “That wasn’t lasers or cryo shit that was… insane.”

  Nothing special, just spatial fractures. Nyx replied casually.

  “Nothing special? Spatial Fractures?”

  The mines remove matter from the affected area, making some of the cleanest cuts possible. It’s kind of like teleportation, but without the pesky requirement of reassembling the molecules properly on the other side. Nyx explained.

  “That’s Class II?” I said, as another wave of Antithesis went to pieces.

  Of course, opening a portal is easy. It’s getting everything to the other side in one piece that’s difficult.

  “Remind me not to invest in Class II teleportation,” I mumbled, sending a signal for the rabbits to stop and reassemble into battle lines. There were a few Antithesis getting through the slaughter zone, but far fewer than were charging the zone.

  Behind the mines I could see a couple larger models, Twenty-Threes and Twenty-Eights, holding back, watching the situation warily. A couple even tried to pull back, but Bob wasn’t having any of it.

  I watched as the big bear charged unimpeded through the smaller models before jumping into the midst of the twenties. I could almost hear him laughing as his pile drivers caved in skulls, sundered limbs, and broke tusks. I wouldn’t have to worry about those monsters any time soon.

  As I hopped down from the Kodiak, there was a massive clattering behind me. I turned to find Heavy lying face down on the pavement a couple feet away. He picked himself up, brushed himself off, then wandered into the back of my Kodiak, like nothing had happened.

  He emerged a couple seconds later carrying the rotary laser cannon and started mowing down the nearest aliens..

  WIth the situation quickly stabilizing again, I stared at the last few twenties.

  “That was a well-organized ambush,” I muttered. “I’d bet there are Model Seventeens behind this… or worse. That ECM attack was far too organized to be a coincidence.”

  I turned away from the front line and glanced back into the back of my Kodiak at Nyx’s avatar. “Hey Nyx, is there a catalog that’ll let me track Seventeens effectively?”

  “Define effectively,” my AI replied. “If you’re looking for some sort of magic tracking tech to tell you when there’s one close, then no… not at Class II and III. You could invest in some tech that may allow you to track the Seventeen’s line back if you get close enough to a model that is infected by one of their specialized Sevens.”

  “Anything I can deploy now?” I asked.

  “I think I can rig something up using a combination of your Class I Modular Recon Robotics, Class II Robotic Sensor Modules, and the Class I Integrated weaponry,” Nyx said. “It would send a charge into the host, which would resonate down Seventeen’s tether and let you know where they are at that instant. It wouldn’t give you a persistent signal, but it would let you know where to start.”

  “Worth a try,” I muttered. “Give me one.”

  Purchased - “Yellow Jacket” Aerial Observation Drone - Stinger Version - 100 points

  Points Remaining: 53892

  I snatched the tiny box that materialized in front of me and cracked it open, nearly dropping it when I saw what was inside. “Is this a bug?”

  “No, it’s a micro-drone in the shape of a wasp. The normal version has a relatively short battery life but can attach itself to a target and act as a tracker.” Nyx explained. “This version is single use. Direct it at a target, and it’ll discharge its full battery. If there’s a Seventeen attached, it can identify their location. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to receive the coordinates remotely through all this ECM, so you’ll have to retrieve the drone afterwards.”

  “I can handle that,” I muttered, sending a quick command into the tiny drone.

  It took off from my hand and zipped through the Antithesis lines, making a beeline directly for the twenties. I lost sight of it, but a few seconds after it disappeared into the melee, all the twenties that were attempting to retreat stopped,, and instead turned to engage Bob. Enraged.

  “I think I might have spooked something,” I smirked. “Now, let's clean up here and find that drone… time to turn the hunter into the hunted.”

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