What people tend to forget is that the antithesis are swarm organisms. Sure, when you’re huddling in a shelter from the half dozen in your building, that’s not what you’re worried about. But if you ever get into a situation where you have to stare at half a million, or more? Let me tell you, that’s what nightmares are made of.
- Captain A.J. Peirce, Black Swan PMC company, during the global incursion.
—
As we hurried west towards the city, I pulled up the map to check out the situation. The antithesis were now quickly advancing, and it looked like they’d overrun the various artillery camps and forward HQ, but to my surprise, none of them were marked as issues.
“Why haven’t any of the camps requested backup? They’re about to be overrun,” I muttered.
{Arty: The government already knew they couldn’t contain the antithesis forever and already planned to evacuate those positions when the situation changed. They abandoned the camps and retreated to the defensive line around Vancouver.}
Skyer blinked in surprise. “They just just ran off, leaving everything behind?”
{Athy: It’s actually a rather smart move. Since the antithesis only care about biomass, and most of the vehicles are too large for even a fourteen to topple over, most of the equipment can just be retrieved later. Slightly damaged from the horde passing over it, but mostly intact.}
“I guess that makes sense,” I admitted. “So where should we go? I don’t see any alerts in the area. Should we head to the walls?”
{Arty: The city is safe for the moment. Most of the Cascadian cities are fortresses, at least compared to the megacities elsewhere in North America. They have well-defended perimeter walls and an excess of PMC forces. It’ll be extremely hard for the antithesis to penetrate.}
“Then why were Aurora and the others so desperate to get the samurai organized?” Skyler asked, confused. “It sounds like the military has the situation somewhat under control.”
{Athy: That’s true for the area directly around the city, but not for the surrounding area. There are a lot of smaller communities and satellite facilities outside the city, like Safe Arbor, which required urgent support. Even though the government sent military relief to these communities, most have yet to arrive and are relying upon the samurai to survive.}
I frowned. “So, should we redirect to one of these towns?”
{Arty: Most of them are in relatively decent shape after samurai intervention. Since most of them are located within the mountains and had at least some fortification on the passes, the antithesis are having severe issues getting close.}
“Alright, smarty pants, if we’re not needed at the wall, or at one of the other towns, where would you suggest we should go?”
{Athy: Although the situation on the shore is relatively stable, the ocean side has deteriorated further. The aquatic horde started moving around the same time the surface one did, and unfortunately the defenses on that side of the city are significantly weaker. Even with the Seattle samurai helping with coverage, they need reinforcements.}
“Last night you said it was unlikely we could help on that front. What changed?” I asked.
{Arty: We’ve contacted the AIs of a couple samurai, and we’ve found a couple samurai willing to give you a crash course, if you’re willing.}
Skyler and I exchanged a quick glance. “Is the situation really that bad down there?” I finally asked.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
{Athy: Warspite and Thermal Current are doing their best to thin the horde, but even with the navy constantly depth charging the area, far too many are getting through. The crew of the Starchaser will be hard-pressed to hold against what’s coming. I’m not going to mince words here, you’re not the best choice, but you’re the best choice out of everyone that’s available.}
“You need to work on your pep talks,” Skyler mumbled before letting out a long, low breath. “Fine, we’re in. What do we need to do first?”
{Arty: I would recommend stopping by the house so we can get you set up, and so you can quickly talk to Reina’s mother.}
I sat up straight. “Mom? Why?”
{Arty: She called while you were in Everson. Apparently she has something urgent to talk to you about.}
“How do you know that?” I asked suspiciously.
{Arty: I took the initiative to intercept the call and let her know you were indisposed. You were busy dragging Woofer out of the rubble at the time and figured you didn’t want to be distracted.}
“Well, I guess that’s true,” I grumbled. “But if you ever take a message from my mother in the future, please let me know as soon as we're clear. I should call her back.”
“We’re approaching the city now, so it might be easier to wait and talk to her in person,” Skyler reported. Looking up, I could see Vancouver’s perimeter wall growing on the horizon. As we got close, I started to make out a lot of movement on both the top and bottom of the wall. Lines of tanks, artillery, and infantry were setting up to intercept the oncoming horde. It was a lot more troops than I expected, considering how few troops they had sitting around the mobile headquarters during the incursion.
“Is that really going to be enough?” I asked quietly.
{Athy: If they were the city’s only defense, they’d probably be hard-pressed to push the antithesis back, but both Grey Goo and Velvet Aurora excel at dealing with hordes. They’ll thin out the antithesis’ numbers before they hit the wall, making it manageable for the troops.}
I nodded as the car shot over the walls and slipped into the city. As we flew over the skyline, I marveled at the traffic. There was a cataclysmic amount of antithesis just a couple kilometers outside the walls, but most people seemed to be just going about their day. Either they were supremely confident in the government’s ability to handle the situation or completely ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away. Probably a little bit of both.
Skyler drifted her car around Elysian Heights, bringing the nose of the vehicle straight in line with the garage doors. It took the heavy doors a few seconds to crack open, but as soon as they were wide enough, Skyler slipped right in. My eyes snapped to the parking spot next to Skyler’s, one that had been empty the last few days. While we were gone, someone had parked a dark maroon performance car there. My car.
“They certainly finished the repairs quickly. Didn’t you say it was completely trashed when you left it?” Skyler asked.
“It was. The engine was a complete write-off, and there was damage to the hood. I would have expected them to take at least a week to fix it,” I replied idly, not taking my eyes off the car.
{Arty: The company worked around the clock and put their best techs on it. They said it was an honor to work on a samurai’s car.}
“You told them I was a samurai, just so they’d prioritize repairing my car?”
{Arty: Well… it worked.}
I couldn’t help but smile at that.
As Skyler landed, I hopped out and ran a hand down the side of my car. It had been a graduation present from my mom and held a lot of memories. I would have loved to jump in and take it for a spin, but we had other things to deal with first.
With a slight pout, I turned and looked at Skyler, who was busy releasing her drones from the trunk. “Which do we handle first? Buying gear or talking to mom?” I asked.
Skyler shrugged. “That depends, how urgent is the situation in the harbor? Athyna?”
{Athy: It’ll be stable for another couple of hours. Enough time for you to handle things here and have a relatively short combat tutorial when you arrive. You’ll probably see the start of the assault sometime late this afternoon.}
“Right, mom first,” Skyler declared as she marched towards the door. “Better to get what she has to say out of the way then we can change and go.”
I nodded and followed her into the apartment, pausing just long enough to place Rending Wave on the stand as we passed. The place was quiet, all three cats were sleeping in various cat trees. I took my bow and quiver off, grabbed Skyler’s rifle and helmet, and stuffed them all into the closet, out of reach of little paws.
Skyler casually dismissed her drones, sending them floating up towards the roof as we strode towards the elevator. “What do you think she needed to talk to you about? The complex?” Skyler asked.
“Maybe? She doesn’t really call things urgent, unless they absolutely are,” I replied as we waited for the elevator.
It took a minute to arrive, and only seconds to rise up to my mother’s floor. As the doors opened, we found Agnes there, pacing.
“You’ve finally arrived, good! You need to talk to your mother quickly!” Agnes said as she rushed up to us. The usually proper secretary looked absolutely frazzled.
“I will, but… how did you know we were coming? We didn’t call ahead?” I asked as we strode towards my mother’s area.
“You’re assistant, that Artymis girl, she called me. Never mind that you have to stop your mother before she does something rash!” Agnes pleaded.
“Why? What’s going on?” Skyler whispered.
Rather than waiting for Agnes to explain it, I pushed through the last set of doors between the waiting area and my mother’s living space. She was just sitting there slumped in one of the chairs, a massive glass of champagne in hand. Drunk out of her mind.
As soon as she saw us, her face lit up. “Girls, you’ve arrived! Come have a celebratory drink!”
I stared at her for a second, unsure what to do. My mother almost never drank, and when she did, it was in moderation. “Uhhhh…. Mom, what’s going on?”
My mother smiled widely. “They arrested your father! Woo!”
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