Despite having the bears do all the work, it still took a couple of days to figure out how to stuff five hundred bears, the repair rig from Seattle, several weeks worth of ammunition, and five dozen Kodiaks into the smallest space available.

  “You know, you could have called and asked if we had room for all this equipment before you packed it,” Zettabyte scoffed as I filled the Family HQ’s garage with vehicles.

  “I was worried that if I waited too long, the first ships would leave without my support,” I explained sheepishly. “I figured they’d make decent shock troopers for the initial assault, since they’re disposable, but if there’s not enough space, you can just leave a couple behind, and I’ll pick them up again later.”

  Zetta sighed and scratched his head through his wild, unkempt hair. “I’m sure the powers that be will do their best to fit all your gear. Although we have a couple hundred samurai lined up to participate in the assault, that’s actually not that many considering we’re going up against an entire planet. We’re going to need some sort of automation in order to clear and hold areas effectively.”

  As I finished checking the last Kodiak, I stood up and looked over at Zetta. “Why are you the one out here, handling the handover anyways? I usually deal with either Benedict or Charlotte whenever I come here.”

  “They decided not to come in this week. Both wanted to go to Mars, but since they’re the most senior local members, one had to stay behind and keep an eye on local operations. It took a couple days, but Charlotte decided to volunteer to stay behind,” Zetta paused. “Since we don’t know how long this operation is going to take, they’re spending as much time together as they can before we leave.”

  “They’re the most senior members? What about Dreamer?” I asked.

  “Let me rephrase,” Zetta mumbled. “They’re the most responsible, senior members. Dreamer’s an amazing fighter, but that perception filter of hers really messes with her mind. Leaves her thoughts scattered, like a supercharged case of ADHD. The girl’s smart, but she’s got the attention span of a squirrel on a sugar high. It’s better to leave things to someone more responsible.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” I grunted. “I’m still surprised that you volunteered to go. I doubt that barren wasteland is going to have the greatest mesh access.”

  “I don’t spend my entire life on the mesh,” Zetta huffed. “I will remind you that I’m also in charge of operations in Calgary. With so many different samurai, ships, and autonomous weapons on the surface, someone is going to have to handle coordinating things.”

  “I hadn’t even considered that,” I admitted. “I can’t imagine what planetfall will be like, with several hundred samurai all fighting in a small area, doing their own thing. It’ll be bedlam.”

  “It’ll be fine. We’ll be able to clear the landing zones with heavy ordnance long before landfall, and since we won’t be on earth, we can use something a lot stronger than the rods from god.”

  I just stared at Zetta blankly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What the fuck are ‘rods from god’?”

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  He sighed. “The Family has several orbital weapon platforms that launch massive tungsten rods from orbit. They hit the ground with such force that it’s like hitting the area with an atomic bomb, but without all the messy radioactive fallout.”

  “What could possibly need that much firepower to take down?” I mumbled.

  “Well, we would have used them on that Forty-Three and the cave complex you explored six months ago,” Zetta replied quietly, “but it was too deep for the rods to penetrate.”

  “Shit… yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I replied awkwardly before clearing my throat. “You think the Family might use something stronger on Mars? Like what?”

  “There are a number of weapons that the majority of the samurai community looks down on, for fear of causing even more damage to the planet than the antithesis. Nuclear weapons, self-replicating viruses, mass-produced aerosolized acids. Things that are extremely dangerous to the local environment, but extremely effective at exterminating the antithesis.”

  “And you’re planning to just release this shit on Mars?” I asked.

  “I’m not, but I expect someone is. On Earth we’re fighting to protect our homes, but on Mars we’ll be embarking on a campaign of extermination. We have to completely sterilize the planet so nothing can ever grow there again. If we don't, the antithesis could just re-establish themselves, and we’d have to do this all over again.”

  “Sounds like it’s going to be a real shitshow, but if that’s what it takes to completely annihilate the antithesis and bring you all home alive, I’m not going to complain,” I said, nodding quietly. “Are the ships ready yet?”

  “Some of the Class IV and V samurai have put together some personal battleships, but they’re taking their time for the mass transports,” Zetta explained. “Rather than having a single person having to sink hundreds of thousands of points into each one, they’re getting a couple dozen people to buy the catalogs, sharing them with other samurai, who are then buying the individual parts, then everything is being added piecemeal to the new ships. It’s really helped spread the cost out among everyone participating, but also made coordinating things a lot more difficult. They need to get several dozen samurai together at once to get the ships space worthy, then everyone needs to get together and decide how to arm it and what extras to install.”

  “I can’t believe the Family got that many samurai to work together on a project of that scale,” I said, before narrowing my eyes. “How are they going to decide who gets control of the ship after everything’s said and done? Doesn’t that give everyone an equal claim on the ship once it’s done?”

  “Well… the higher-ups have promised to mediate. Anyone that wants ownership of a ship can trade an equivalent amount of points to the other samurai that participated in the construction. It'll be a real pain to keep track of, but, to be honest, I doubt anyone is really going to complain after the fighting starts. Everyone is going to be earning several thousand points an hour; the handful of points they spent putting that ship together are going to look fairly insignificant by the end.”

  “There’ll still be people that track every single point,” I grumbled. “There’s always someone who does.”

  “At least I won’t have to deal with that shit. I’ll have more than enough other bullshit to deal with while I’m up there,” Zetta groaned.

  I paused for a moment before reaching up and patting the disheveled man on the back. “You take care of yourself up there, okay? I’ll take care of the city while you’re gone; just make sure you come back in one piece.”

  Zetta glanced down at me, then smiled slightly. “I’ll do my best. Just make sure you don’t burn the city down while we’re gone.”

  “I’ll do my best… but no promises," I replied with a grin. “I’ll have Nyx send your AI the controls to those bots, and you can pass them on to whoever’s in charge of the ground forces.”

  The two of us shook hands briefly before I headed back to my truck, which was parked a level below. When I finally got close, Bandit stuck his head out of the window. “Oi boss, are you sure you don’t want me to go with them and manage the boys heading to Mars?”

  “I considered it, but there’ll be plenty of capable samurai to take command up there, but a severe lack of feet on the ground here. I’m going to need your help if we end up on the receiving end of another antithesis incursion. I won’t be able to both quarantine and sweep the area without your help,” I replied as I popped open the passenger’s side door and pulled myself inside.

  Bob glanced at me from the driver’s seat. “Seat belts!”

  I rolled my eyes but still did my seatbelt up. Bandit ignored the bigger bear and stuck his head over the back of my seat. “Do you honestly think there’ll be another incursion in the next couple of months? They only come every few years.”

  “I’m not taking any chances,” I muttered. “You never know what might happen.”

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