As soon as the lizard-spider went down, we immediately rushed forward. Even though I had a pair of Kodiaks harassing the Thirty-seven and keeping it somewhat pinned down, no one wanted to give the monster a chance to escape.

  The pair of Kodiaks, which I’d sent through the buildings, weren’t a complete loss; with all the safety features, they were practically indestructible, but these two weren’t going anywhere. Even though the engines had been ripped up and the turrets bent and broken, all it would take was a couple days in the garage to fix them up.

  Still, it was unfortunate that we couldn’t use them to catch up to the bloated brain.

  As we followed the sound of coilgun cannons further into the abandoned town, we started running into the occasional group of Antithesis moving through between the derelict buildings.

  “Do the Antithesis seem distracted to anyone else?” Amy asked.

  “The Thirty-Seven is probably trying to draw all the Antithesis in the area towards itself in an attempt to build up another defensive horde,” Charlotte said. “If that’s the case, the lower models would have no choice but to ignore their regular priorities, or even their own self-preservation, in order to respond to the call.”

  “So that’s why they’re not trying to engage us,” Amy muttered. “Oh well, that just makes things easier for us.”

  “Makes things easier for us now,” I grumbled. “The Thirty-Seven has already managed to draw a small swarm to itself, including a handful of Twenties. The Twenty-Ones are trying to slowly muscle my Kodiaks away from the tick.”

  Nora turned towards me and raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t the Kodiak’s main gun designed to take down Twenty-Ones?”

  “It is, but they have a slow rate of fire and no support weapon, so they get pushed back when there are too many heavier models,” I grumbled. “Like they are now.”

  “What’s the cannon’s location?” Charlotte snapped. “We’re closing in on the target, and we’ll need it soon.”

  I simply pointed over the row of houses to the west. After a couple seconds a single Kodiak appeared, dragging a familiar hover carriage behind it. It made a wide turn before coming in for a gentle landing just a little ways up the street.

  After it landed, I jogged up to inspect the weapon. It was fifteen feet long, with a ten-foot-long split barrel. There was a chair mounted to the rear part of the weapon, with a console, which allowed a bear to adjust the weapon mounting to precisely aim it.

  The carriage was also fairly unique. Ten feet long, and tapered from about ten feet wide at the back down to three feet wide at the front. Its style didn’t quite match the weapon. It was a little more rough with a couple bioreactors mounted on the back and a dozen hydraulic anchors mounted to the front.

  “You just had this thing sitting in your garage?” Amy muttered in awe. “Why doesn’t it look like the rest of your weapons?”

  “Because it wasn’t originally mine, it was mounted on the mech of a samurai who… ran into something we didn’t expect,” I explained, trying to dance around the issue. “I salvaged it as a way to help clear the hives the Antithesis were building in the city center.”

  “It’s also too big to drag around everywhere, and too unwieldy to use in a rapidly changing combat situation. I just never thought I’d have a decent target for it,” I explained.

  “It would have been useful in Jasper,” Nora muttered.

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  “Trust me, I know. I’ve often wondered if that entire situation would have turned out better if I had dragged this motherfucker down there. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t know what we were dealing with until we got down there.”

  Amy tilted her head to the side quizzically. “What happened in Jasper? I heard there was a minor incursion there a couple months ago, but it was quickly put down by a taskforce of samurai from both Calgary and Vancouver.”

  “That’s what we told the public,” Charlotte said quietly. “The situation on the ground was far more complex, and dangerous. We didn’t want to create a panic. I know you probably want to know more, but now isn’t the time. We still have work to do.”

  “What happened to the troops you said were escorting it?” Nora asked as I jumped down.

  “I sent them on ahead. I figured it would be better to have them start chipping down the Thirty-Seven’s defenses, and to make sure the other two Kodiaks didn’t get overwhelmed,” I explained.

  “It was a good idea too,” Angeline chirped. “Things were starting to get a little out of hand over there.”

  “Only half an hour above ground, and already getting out of hand,” Charlotte sighed. “I cannot wait until we finally put an end to this thing.”

  “We have all the pieces now. We just need to get them into place,” I reminded her. “We’re only a couple blocks and minutes away.”

  “Then let’s finish this. Is the weapon ready to go?” she asked.

  “Ready,” I replied.

  With only a few blocks left, we broke into a jog, eager to finally end this extended chase scene. We barely ran into any Antithesis on our final approach, the streets were completely quiet. The reason for that became very apparent when we finally turned the last corner and got a look at our prey.

  The streets around the Thirty-Seven were absolutely crawling with Antithesis. There were several Twenty-Eights clustered around the brain, trying to use their bodies to block incoming fire, and Twenty-Ones were roaming around, lunging at any bear or Kodiak that wandered too close. Not to mention that massive swarm of smaller models that covered both the street and, in the case of the Model Fours, surrounding buildings in an ocean of flesh.

  Despite all this bulk, my bears were doing an admirable job at keeping them pinned down. Ten squads and twelve Kodiaks could put out a frightening amount of firepower, even when split between three different approaches. I watched as the Twenty-Ones gathered up and made a focused attempt to break through one of the blockades, only to be thrown back by the weight of coilgun fire.

  “Bears, form battle lines. Make sure you leave enough room for the UHR to fire between you. Prepare to defend the cannon!” I yelled, sending my troops into a frenzy.

  “UHR?” Nora asked.

  “Ultra Heavy Railgun. At least that’s what I call it,” I explained. When I saw her judging expression, I threw up my hands. “Hey! Most of my equipment might have some cute bear-related acronym or pun, but that’s Nyx’s fault. Besides, I didn’t name this weapon. I salvaged it!”

  “Alright, calm down, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Nora replied quietly before patting me on the head. “I think you may have been out for far too long; you’re starting to get a little on edge.”

  “Well, that happens when I have to wake up in the middle of the night to deal with something ravaging a nearby town and then immediately have to deal with something so stupidly tanky I have to pull out the big gun,” I pouted.

  “And we’re almost done now,” she assured me.

  I turned to check how everything was going. The gun slowly maneuvering into position. The platform was exceptionally slow and unwieldy by itself, but it could move just enough to get into firing position.

  As soon as it set down, the anchors immediately fired. These massive pick-shaped metal claws shot off their resting position sitting flat against the top of the platform, pivoted around their connection on the front edge of the weapon, and embedded themselves a foot or two into the street.

  The weapon’s reactors immediately spooled up, filling the street with a low, ominous humm.

  “You might want to step a couple feet away from the front of the UHR, stay clear of its back end, and get some hearing protection if you don’t have any,” I declared.

  “Are you sure this’ll do the trick?” Amy asked. Angeline giggled when she heard the question.

  “I’m sure,” I declared confidently.

  Deadbeat gave me a little thumbs up, so I jogged back from the weapon. Once everyone else had backed away, I just needed to say one word. “Fire.”

  I’d forgotten how much force the UHR had. The shell left the barrel faster than my eye could follow, and after just a moment of silence, I was hit by the blast wave. The shell accelerated so quickly that it created a devastating sonic boom which pushed me back a couple inches, and caused my ears to ring.

  The kickback caused the cannon to jump back a couple feet, despite being anchored to the ground. The picks ripped up the ground as they attempted to keep the weapon from flying away.

  Every surviving pane of glass on the street shattered. Post boxes and even wrecked cars rocked at the power of the shot.

  Nothing could stand in the way of the round. Every Antithesis between the cannon and the Thirty-Seven didn’t just die; they dissolved at the force of the impact. Those that were close enough, but not directly hit, were thrown away by the shockwave.

  It was devastating.

  I stood there a moment, stunned, before I finally shook off the cannon’s effect and turned to look at the damage.

  The Thirty-Seven was still alive.

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