“I kind of expected to emerge out of that hole to a sea of bears,” Saber mumbled when we finally emerged from the now defunct hive. “Where’s your army?”

  “Trying to contain the incursion and defend the surrounding towns,” I grumbled. “I didn’t expect the antithesis to not only launch an incursion but also pour out of every hole in the area. I had enough bears to protect the civilian areas and keep the antithesis contained, but I can’t afford to send them on the offensive until the incursion is taken care of.”

  “Fair. Maybe this’ll probably prompt the city council to finally get off their asses and hire the PMCs they’ve been promising for the last couple months,” Saber growled.

  “Doubt it,” I grunted.

  The Kodiak was actually starting to get a little tight. It was actually designed to transport two squads, which was twelve bears. But there was a big difference between filling the area with twelve immobile bears and a squad, four overactive samurai, and Bob.

  I forced the bears to huddle together on the benches, and that gave us just enough space to move around comfortably.

  “Sooo… where to next? More hordes? Another hive?” Amy asked.

  “We stick to the plan, clear the hives in order and hopefully locate the other two samurai before something happens to them,” I said. “Unless someone has a better idea.”

  “Can’t cha just ask Bright Eyes if she knows which hives the others went to?” Saber asked as he slipped off his helmet. Even though I’d met him a coupleof times, I’d always assumed he was a younger guy because of the way he bounced around and his fairly youthful voice. Turns out he was a little older than I expected. Not super old by any means, but I had to guess he was in his mid-twenties based on the shape of his face, and bushy mustache.

  “We could, and should have done that,” Nora moaned. “Give me a minute.”

  “I’ll get Dusty moving towards the next hive while you make the call,” I said. “If she knows where they are, we can redirect, but I don’t want to waste time sitting around here.”

  When Nora nodded and stepped to the side to make the call, Amy slid up next to Saber. “So Mr Saber… do you know anything about the other two samurai that disappeared? My two mentors here hadn’t heard of them before.”

  “Really? I find it hard to believe, considering that Teddy there had a huge beef with one of them,” Saber chuckled.

  “What? No I didn’t,” I said, scowling at the man. “There’s only one samurai I have a beef with in town, and he’s currently on mars.”

  “You can’t think of anyone else? No one at all? I’m sure little Miss Psychosis will be disappointed when I tell her you completely forgot about her.”

  “Look, I acknowledge that I should make more of an effort to meet the other samurai in town, but I’ve never met this Psychosis before.”

  “She spent six months in protective custody and a year in therapy because of you. You sure this doesn’t ring any bells?” Saber asked with a small smile. He really seemed to be enjoying this.

  “Wait… Are you talking about Helen? Like the psychopath that tried to start a gang war in the undercity, Helen? That’s Psychosis,” I asked aghast. “I thought the Family still had her in protective custody, or surveillance, or something. The samurai handle is making a lot more sense now.”

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  “Haven’t you watched the news at all? Psychosis has been the Family’s local PR person for the last six months,” Amy explained.

  “I try to avoid watching the news. I have enough problems to deal with in the undercity. The last thing I want to do when I get home is hear about all the problems elsewhere,” I grumbled.

  “Well, she’s really changed from when she first arrived a year ago. Gone from sullen and confrontational to cooperative. She volunteers to help when she can and has been a great help dealing with the issues that have cropped up while everyone’s… out of town,” Saber explained.

  “We already told Amy that half the experienced samurai in the city went to mars,” I said. “In fact, I think I even mentioned it earlier in the conversation. What’s it matter anyways? The fight's winding down, and there’s no reason to keep it from a fellow samurai anyways.”

  “Right, I guess that makes some sorta sense,” Saber mumbled.

  “Angeline didn’t see which hives Psychosis and Trench Stormer went to, but two of the active hives show clear signs of battle,” Nora announced the instant she finished her phone call. “Not at the next closest hive, but two slightly further west.”

  “Teddy said the garrisons should be able to hold against any assault, right? So it’s probably worth it to check out those hives first. Delaying the counteroffensive would be worth it if we could get two more samurai back on the field, right?” Amy said.

  “Well, one maybe…” I grumbled, earning me a disappointed glare from Nora. “Fine! You’re right, we should go save them if we can. I’ll redirect Dusty.”

  The trip to the next hive only took a couple of minutes at cruising speed, but unlike the last hive, which had barely recovered from the initial attack, this one had almost completely recovered from the previous attack.

  “Must be a pretty mature hive to pump out Fourteens like that,” Saber muttered as the Kodiak did a flyby. “I don’t see any Twelves or Fifteens though, which is strange.”

  “Maybe they’re planning on moving against one of the towns,” Nora suggested.

  “All the more reason to get down there and stop them from leaving,” I grumbled. “The Kodiak’s main gun can make short work of the Fourteens if we can keep the smaller models off of it.”

  Nora raised an eyebrow. “Do you honestly think we’ll have problems keeping the rest of that rabble away?”

  “Not really, I was mostly just thinking out loud,” I replied. “Shall we move in?”

  “No point putting it off. Lead the way!” Saber declared.

  The Kodiak swooped down, landing a good two hundred meters from the edge of the swarm around the hive entrance. As soon as it touched down, I slammed the open hatch button and stormed out of the vehicle.

  It didn’t take the small antithesis long to start closing the distance; they managed to get about halfway before my bears were in position to open fire. The massed firepower of four samurai and a squad of bears was more than enough to blunt their charge. When the Fourteens trundled up, they were met by the overwhelming power of the IFV’s coilgun. Although it wasn’t the fastest-firing weapon, it punched right through the carpaces of the bus-sized armored centipedes. One by one the massive monsters fell, long before they got close enough to pose us any real threat.

  “Wish I had one of those things earlier. You know how hard it is to cut up a Fourteen with a sword? It’s not easy, I tell ya!” Saber chuckled.

  I looked over at the man. “I thought your blades shot out lasers.”

  “They do, but they’re not powerful enough to get through that heavy armor. Gotta stick em before I can fry em, very annoying.”

  “You know, you could just use a gun. Then you wouldn’t have to deal with all that,” I suggested.

  “But that wouldn’t be as much fun!” he laughed. “Careful where you’re shooting now, I’m going in!”

  Before I could reply, the man shot forward faster than I could follow. He got within a couple feet of the front line before he unsheathed his blades, and when the first blade connected with a pouncing model Three energy erupted out of the blade. All the antithesis within a couple feet were completely torn apart, consumed by the expanding wave of energy. He didn't stop at a single blow, though; his second blade came across and erupted with another wave of energy.

  After that he just strode down the line, blades flashing as he cut a swath through the antithesis. Nora was brutal when she engaged in close combat with the antithesis, smashing the largest threats easily. Saber was different; he was efficient. I guess that’s what years of experience and having the right gear get you.

  It didn’t take us long to clean up the Antithesis. Even though there were a lot of them, the only big threats were the Fourteens, and the Kodiak took care of them. Wandering forward, we found Saber casually leaning on the remains of a tree that the Antithesis had been in the middle of dragging down to the hive.

  “Whatcha think? Pretty good, huh?”

  “It was impressive, but don’t get cocky,” I grumbled. “Someone wandered into these tunnels and disappeared. We wouldn’t want a repeat of the last hive, would we?”

  “Don’t worry,” Saber growled. “I won’t be caught off guard this time. I’m ready.”

  I nodded. “Then let’s go find us a samurai.”

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