“Nyx… how many active hives are there around the city?” I mumbled. I’m not sure if my AI heard my question clearly, since I was lying face down on one of the benches in the back of my Kodiak, but I had faith they’d get the gist of it.

  “There were seventeen active hives in the area last time I checked. There may be additional hives attempting to fly under the radar, either sneaking units out through tunnels or intentionally remaining inactive,” Nyx reported, using their avatar.

  “It’s going to take us forever to find the right location…” I groaned.

  “Hey Teddy, it’s time to go: I’ve got the location,” Charlotte called from the hatch.

  I shot to my feet. Well, I tried to at least. Instead I kind of flailed about, turned over, and fell off the bench, landing on my ass in the middle of the floor.

  “Beg pardon,” I asked as I stared at her blankly. “How…?”

  “I made a call to some of the higher-ups and got priority access to the Family’s satellite surveillance network. A couple of techs reviewed the data from earlier today, found the Thirties when they attacked Okotoks then tracked them back to their point of origin,” Charlotte explained.

  “The Family has a satellite surveillance network? Why didn’t I know about this?” I demanded.

  “Really, Evelyn?” Charlotte scoffed. “Satellite surveillance was a common thing even before the Antithesis showed up. You really shouldn’t find the fact that we have a way to track the Antithesis’ movements that surprising.”

  “Okay, fair,” I grumble, finally climbing to my feet. “So where is this hive?”

  “About twenty kilometers South-southeast from Okotoks, just outside the remains of the town of High River. Seems like they used the riverbank to try and mask their approach,” Charlotte reported. “They can’t see any movement on the satellite, so the Antithesis in the area must be trying to lay low.”

  “I’ll gather my troops. Are we going in alone, or…”

  “Angeline and Bern are going to meet us there. Saber agreed to stay behind and keep an eye on the city while we’re gone, just in case the Antithesis decide to try something while we’re gone,” Charlotte explained.

  “Angeline is joining us?” I asked.

  “I know, she normally plays a support role, but she is one of the strongest samurai left in the city. She said she was going to bring, and I quote, ‘a truckload of saber-tooth squirrels to help’.”

  She paused, watching me for a moment before continuing. “Really nothing? Most people would have at least raised an eyebrow at that.”

  “Yeah, well, most people haven’t seen a swarm of those little buggers turn a healthy Twenty-Three into nothing more than a pair of stump-like feet,” I replied with a shudder. “Are we going to meet them there or…?”

  “They’ll be here in a couple of minutes. It’s probably better for us to all arrive at the same time to maintain the element of surprise,” Charlotte said. “I assume that’ll be long enough for you to gather your forces.”

  “More than enough,” I confirmed.

  “Then I’ll leave you to it,” she said, before turning and stepping out of the vehicle.

  As soon as she was gone, I sent a silent summons to Deadbeat.

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  “You wanted to see me?” she asked as she ran in.

  “The Family has already located the hive those thirties came from. We’re going to assault it soon, but before we do, I want everyone in tip-top shape,” I explained. “Do you think you could pull the arm off one of the moose and attach it to Heavy within the next ten minutes?”

  Deadbeat tilted her head to the side. “I can replace the arm, but I won’t have time to adjust the facade on it.”

  “That’s fine,” I replied. “The color doesn’t matter as long as he has two working arms before we go.”

  The little bear nodded. “Anything else?”

  “I’ll be sending the damaged bears back and pulling in additional reinforcements. Let everyone know if they want anything out of that Kodiak to grab it in the next five minutes,” I said.

  “Got it!” Deadbeat declared, before scampering off.

  I let out a low breath, stepped over to the side of the Kodiak, and slowly lowered myself down onto the bench. Closing my eyes, I slowly immersed myself in the command network. I sorted through the thousand bears around town, reinforcing the forces that were depleted in Okotoks and summoning an assault force to support our assault on the hive, then repositioning the remaining forces to fill the holes in my lines.

  It only took me a couple of minutes to do, but the effort to sort through and organize things that fast gave me a little bit of a stress headache.

  Just before I disconnected, I received a query from an unexpected source. Rather than communicating through the network, I flipped over to my augs.

  [Spooky, is that you? What’s your status?]

  [Greetings, commander! The Marsupial is currently patrolling Montreal’s airspace. The situation here is still quite grim. The locals have decided to construct a perimeter wall to keep the Antithesis out of the city. Although I don’t feel comfortable leaving now, I estimate that the situation should stabilize once the wall is constructed. We’ll be able to head back in a couple of days,] my second in command reported.

  [As much as I’d like to have you here to help out, I think that’s fine. Even though there are a couple of issues, I think we mostly have things under control out here,] I replied.

  [You don’t sound so certain, comrade,] Spooky observed.

  [Well, I’ve noticed that whenever I make a definitive statement, reality usually punishes me for it,] I mumbled. [Things are fine now, but you never know when the situation is going to change.]

  [I’m glad you’re finally becoming aware,] the bear replied. [For a while I thought your statements were going to be the end of me.]

  [Is that your attempt at a joke?] I sighed.

  [Perhaps…]

  [You should stick with commanding,] I told the bear.

  [Yes, commander!]

  [Anyways… Even though we’ve taken some losses, it hasn’t been enough to cause any serious issues. If the situation changes, I may emergency recall you and your crew, but if not, continue with your current assignment.]

  [Confirmed comrade.]

  [Good, stay safe out there,] I said.

  [I will report in again soon!] the bear replied before cutting the line.

  I leaned back, slowly massaging my forehead. I didn’t know if the headache I was developing was due to my overuse of the command network or talking to Spooky.

  “Why did I have to give them personalities?” I muttered.

  “Because they’re far more interesting and useful when they can think for themselves,” Nyx replied. “At least that’s what you said after uplifting Spooky.”

  “That was rhetorical, Nyx,” I sighed.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, it sounded like you were questioning your life choices,” Nyx chuckled.

  I glanced over at my AI and shook my head.

  “Teddy, the others are arriving!” Amy called in a sing-song voice from outside. “Charlotte wants to try and work out a plan!”

  “Fine,” I called back before pushing myself to my feet.

  I stepped out the back of the Kodiak into about an inch of sludge. Now that the Thirty-Two was dead, flesh-melters could slowly work through its prodigious body mass. The downside was that much body mass actually had to go somewhere, and in a relatively flat plain that meant it just created a titanic puddle of sludge that covered the entire area. The sound that the goop made as I slowly slogged over to the edge, where everyone was waiting, was disgusting.

  Angeline had arrived in something that looked like a cube truck with hundreds of small kennels on the back. I knew she’d embraced the squirrel life, but I hadn’t realized she’d gone as far as buying a dedicated squirrel transport vehicle.

  Bern had what looked to be a typical civilian pickup. Well, a civilian pickup with a variety of tanks and canisters in the back. Tanks and canisters filled with substances that would probably melt every living thing within several hundred meters if ever opened. I made a mental note to keep Bob and his pals as far away as possible.

  Charlotte nodded as I walked up. “As you’ve all probably heard, we’ve got a little bit of a problem in our backyard, a big one. A hive spitting out thirties. Although we probably have more than enough firepower to deal with it, we need to be cautious: we have no idea what’s waiting for us in there.”

  She walked over to a hoverbike sitting a couple of feet away and pulled a small orb out of its storage compartment. She pitched it towards the center of our group underhand style, where it froze midair, and started projecting a map of the target area.

  “I’ll tell you what we know, and we can plan from there,” she declared. “This is a threat larger than most of us have ever faced, so don’t be afraid to speak up.”

  She glanced at each of us, waiting for some sort of confirmation before continuing. “Alright, here’s what we know…”

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