“Rhinestone, Street Spray, and Clockwork Critter stopped raiding the southern hives and moved over to support Hoppy in defending Chestermere, and with their help the defensive lines over there have stabilized. It was touch and go for a while, though,” the little robotic squirrel in front of me reported in Angeline’s voice.
Once Helen had installed her automated grenade launchers behind the lines, our position stabilized. With the Antithesis occasionally fighting among themselves, they couldn’t exert enough pressure to move forward, but we didn’t have enough forces to push out either. While the two of us considered the most efficient way to eliminate the horde, one of Angeline’s squirrels swooped down to update us on the situation.
“How large is the remaining horde? How long do you think this madness will last?” Helen asked as she leaned wearily upon the side of the Kodiak.
“It’s huge and still being reinforced from the surrounding hives. If it was just you two, I’d suspect it would take several hours for you two to chew through it all, but don’t worry, reinforcements are on the way,” Angeline replied.
“Who? And When?” I croaked.
“CBeRN, and… Now,” Angeline replied cheekily as a high-pitched whining noise filled the air. I turned back towards the horde just in time to see a missile streak in and detonate over the middle of the horde, dispersing a sickly purple gas over a massive area. It quickly settled over the middle of the swarm, seeping to the surrounding aliens. Although I couldn’t see what happened to the affected creatures, they were buried way behind the front lines, I saw the ramifications of the strike almost instantly. The antithesis lines in that area thinned and broke, revealing a massive field of dissolving antithesis bodies.
A few seconds later, a second and third missile streaked across the battlefield, extending the area of devastation over nearly the full length of the horde.
Despite dispersing, and sinking into the ground, the effect of the gas lingered. Any antithesis that charged into the area only made it a dozen or so feet before becoming lethargic. After another couple feet, they’d collapse, skin bubbling, bodies breaking down.
“That’s horrifying. We don’t have to worry about that spreading, do we? Are we going to have to quarantine that area?” I gasped.
“According to Bern, the chemical will break down and become inert after about twelve hours. No chance of it spreading,” Angeline reported.
“Apparently Bern can be pretty scary when he wants to be,” Helen muttered. “He was always running from one experiment to another or quietly cleaning up areas. I never realized he could be such a threat if he wanted to be.”
“It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” I grumbled.
When the next three missiles struck, extending the toxic quagmire even further, the Antithesis’ assault finally began to falter. The swarm continued to push blindly forward, but so few of them managed to survive crossing the toxic ground that the bears barely had to fire their weapons.
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After watching the aliens constantly, and fruitlessly, throw themselves into the chemical death zone, I frowned. “Why aren’t they stopping? Or redirecting? I know there were Seventeens in those hives; why haven’t they stepped in yet?”
“Are you really sure you saw a Seventeen? Maybe it was a panic-induced hallucination?” Helen asked as she strutted up next to me.
“I know what I saw,” I grumbled. “I might have only encountered Seventeens once before, out in the Jasper tunnels, but the little fuckers left quite an impression on me. There was one down in that hive, I’m sure of it.”
“Well, if there was a Seventeen down there, it’s not doing its job,” Helen scoffed.
“It’s not just the Seventeen that’s not doing its job. There are Sixes in that swarm and they’re smart enough to stop or redirect the swarm, but they’re not even trying,” I grumbled.
“Just makes things easier for us,” Helen muttered. “Free points.”
She turned towards Angeline’s squirrel, which was busy mindlessly sniffing around. “Hey Angaline, did CBeRN also drop some bombs on the swarm heading towards Chestermere?”
The squirrel stopped scurrying around on all fours and stood upright. “Of course, it was the most efficient way we could find to cut down their numbers. Charlotte had to authorize the strikes--that’s why they took so long. Unsurprisingly, The Family doesn't look kindly upon the unrestricted use of chemical, radiological, or biological weapons anywhere near civilian centers. Some people don’t care about the oversight, but CBeRN follows the regulations to the letter.”
“Good for him,” I grunted. “I wouldn’t want someone using that shit anywhere near my family. I’m glad the samurai working with the most volatile substances in the city is also one of the most responsible.”
“Should we go out and engage the remaining Antithesis?” Helen asked, inspecting the distant aliens.
“I’m not sending my bears out there. They could get covered in that chemical and spread it about. Plus, these bears are here for the protection of the town, not for eliminating hives,” I replied coolly.
“You’re no fun,” Helen huffed, staring at the distant swarm. “You think we’re still needed here?”
“Probably not, Deadbeat was handling the defenses when we were being pressed, so she’ll have no problems handling the area while the Antithesis are pushed back,” I said. “Why? Did you actually want to head over there to shoot at that mob?”
“Well, maybe not head straight over there, but I feel like I should be doing something after fighting constantly for the last half hour. I’m experiencing adrenaline whiplash over here. Maybe I’ll go meet up with those kids in Chestermere, and join in on some hive busting,” Helen muttered thoughtfully. “You want to come with me?”
“I’ll pass,” I grunted. “I’d like to keep an eye on the towns for now. We still don’t know what triggered the attacks.”
Helen looked me up and down. “What happened to you in the last six months? You used to be an aggressive little gremlin, tearing through whatever stood in your way. This isn’t like you.”
“I have no problem throwing myself into a fight, beating people upside the head with a rusty piece of rebar, but I’m not going to risk civilian casualties when I do it,” I explained. “I’ve always been a ‘protect people first, upside your head second’ kind of girl. That’s the reason I went looking for you and the Guiding Light in the first place.”
Helen flinched back at my gaze. “I didn’t realize that was the reason why you came looking for me originally I thought you just had a vendetta against the Guiding Light,” she muttered.
“Well, I’m not going to lie, that did factor into the situation, but I did it to protect civilians and save lives. That’s always going to be one of my priorities.”
Helen stared at me, apparently uncertain of what to think about me all of a sudden, so I just sighed and threw a thumb over my shoulder at one of the Kodiaks. “Did you want to borrow one of my IFVs, or not?”
“I’ll take advantage of your generosity, and I’ll keep in touch in case something happens,” Helen declared. “Thank you.”
“Just don’t get overrun again. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be close enough to pull your ass out of the fire next time,” I called as Helen started walking away.
“I’ll be careful!” she yelled back. “You just worry about yourself. Whether I like it or not, this city needs you and your army of fuzzy minions, so stay safe out there!”
“I’ll do my best,” I muttered as she vanished into the back of the nearest Kodiak. I watched the vehicle as it took off and turned its way towards Chestermere before I refocused on the remaining Antithesis.
“I really wish I knew what was going through wooden heads right now,” I growled. “Once you’re all dead, I’m going to make it my mission to find that Seventeen, crack it open, and find out.”
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