Once we finished clearing the street of all the dead antithesis, we immediately advanced down the street they’d emerged from, looking for their source. It didn’t take long, because just a couple blocks over we found a massive hundred-foot wood spar, covered in writhing vines, embedded in the street. Around its base there were piles of shattered wood, plant matter, and hundreds of antithesis.

  Although most of the antithesis seemed to be trying to force their way into the nearby buildings, there were a handful of the creatures that seemed to be content eating the debris.

  “What the hell is that?” I hissed as we closed in on the unusual structure.

  As soon as I asked the question, a hatch on the back of the Kodiak popped open, causing me to jump in surprise; I’d forgotten the Kodiaks even had top hatches. A second later, one of the nameless bears I’d picked up to fill in the squad popped its head out and stared at the spar.

  “It’s a seed pod, or at least the core of one,” Nyx explained using the bear. “Seed pods carry dozens of smaller, self-contained landing pods. Not only does that ensure at least some of the antithesis survive when the pod is struck by a heavy weapon, but it also allows them to eject the landing pods early to spread the initial assault over a wider area.”

  “So that’s why some antithesis always seem to sneak through, no matter how strong the anti-air barrage is,” Nora mumbled.

  “If they wanted to spread out into a wider area, what’s the point of the core?” I asked, as I eyed up the horde in the street.

  “The pod’s core is a proto-hive itself. If left unchecked, it can develop into a hive within hours, instead of the days that a regular hive requires.”

  “Yeah, there’s no way we’re going to let that fucking happen,” I growled.

  I hopped up from where I was sitting then stomped down on the top of the Kodiak. “Dusty! Stop here. Let everyone out and then open up on that thing with high explosive rounds. I don’t want you to stop until that thing’s splinters, got it?”

  The turret of the IFV sprung to life, slowly rotating until it was aimed right at the core.

  “Good man,” I muttered as I hopped down from the Kodiak. When Nora joined me, I glanced over. “So what do you want to do? Clean up the street level, then do a building-by-building sweep for the smaller pods?”

  “Sounds slow. How about I call Angeline, and ask if she can use her squirrels to direct me to the antithesis that have landed in the nearby buildings, while you clean up this lot, and the lower levels?” she replied as she shouldered her rifle.

  “Sure, if that’s what you want to do,” I said as I waited for my bears to form up. “When you talk to Angeline, make sure you ask her to check for unsecured shelters, and people in trouble too. She’s probably already doing that, but we should make rescue our first priority.”

  Nora gave me a quick smile and a nod before bolting towards the nearest building. When she got about halfway she crouched down, then catapulted herself upwards with enormous force before crashing through the fifth-floor window.

  “How could she be sure the antithesis were in that building?” I mumbled.

  “It probably didn’t matter which building she started in, If she has to go somewhere else, she’ll probably just vault between buildings,” Nyx replied from right behind me.

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  Turning slightly, I could see the squad had formed up while Nora and I were talking. Even Heavy had managed to waddle out.

  “Combat positions, everyone,” I yelled, hoisting my rifle. “Dusty, do your thing!”

  There was a high-pitched hum as the coil gun charged, and when it discharged, all hell broke loose.

  The core shattered like a glass window, causing massive chunks of plant matter to rain down on the assorted antithesis gathered around its base. Those same antithesis, who had been so focused on cleaning up the debris from the landing, immediately turned and charged straight down the street at my position. A wave of Model Threes, Fours, Sixes, with a spattering of other models, bore down on me.

  And I wasn’t even remotely concerned.

  “Heavy, please clean up this mess.” I muttered to the big polar bear. “You should have no problem cleaning up a couple dozen lightweights like this. Stay on your toes, though. I’m about to kick the anthill.”

  Heavy didn’t reply. He just spooled up his rotary laser cannon and slowly wandered down the street directly into the oncoming rush. The antithesis didn’t stand a chance.

  With the immediate threat handled, I wandered around to the back of the Kodiak and headed inside. Although my personal vehicle was practically identical to the other mass-manufactured models, it did have one important difference. It had an antithesis lure mounted in the back.

  This particular lure had originally been mounted in the back of one of the old models of IFV, the Grizzly, but when I upgraded to Kodiak, I forgot to pick up the blueprint for the lure too. I only realized this after I’d already spent most of my points on the blueprints for the fabricators, hydroponics, generators, and other various bits and bobs I was using to revitalize the undercity. It unfortunately meant that I couldn’t just have the bears sweep through the incursion zone, attracting every antithesis in the area. I only had six of the devices available, but I could still bring the plants down on my own position.

  With a flick of a switch, the machine pulsed to life, lighting up with a blue glow.

  “Here planty, planty, planty. Come out and play…” I chuckled as I snapped up my rifle, and bolted out the back of the Kodiak.

  The antithesis on the lower floors of the local buildings were already flooding into the streets. A couple of them even jumped from the second and third floors to get down, regardless of the damage they took in doing so.

  “You know, you could have told Nora you were going to use the lure. She’s probably mighty confused right now,” Nyx remarked.

  “I turned it down so it only reaches the nearest buildings, and it probably won’t even reach the middle floors,” I replied as I snapped a shot at a Four which was skittering down the glass facade of the building on my left. “I’m not going to bring the entire city down on my head when all my bears are currently occupied elsewhere. Once Bandit is able to shrink the perimeter, or Bob finishes locking down some of the nearby towns, I can bring in some backup, but until then we’re on our own.”

  “That sounds surprisingly reasonable of you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m perfectly reasonable all the time. There’s nothing surprising about it,” I hissed.

  “Should we ask Jane, see what she has to say about that?” Nyx asked.

  “No… I already have a pretty good idea what her opinion would be,” I grumbled.

  The only reason that Nyx and I could have this conversation is the antithesis within the buildings were filling out in a slow, unorganized fashion. They had to find their way out of whatever hidey hole they’d crawled into, find their way down the stairs, and finally back onto the street. The bears had no problem keeping that unorganized mob under control.

  “Is there anything else I need to do to make sure that oversized pile of mulch in the middle of the street doesn’t take root?” I asked as I casually gunned down another Model Three.

  “Those tank rounds should have done it, but if you want to be doubly sure, you can sprinkle the entire thing with flesh melter nanites and break it down into its base elements.”

  “I probably will. Better to not take any chances after all,” I muttered.

  As the antithesis slowly filtered in, I looked around. “You know, this is a lot easier than I expected it to be. I thought I’d need multiple armor columns sweeping the streets to handle an incursion.”

  “You handled an incursion on your first day, remember? Since then, you’ve upgraded all your bears, weapons, and equipment to handle much stronger Models. Seed pods typically only hold Models up to the low teens, which is why samurai typically leave the fighting to their newer counterparts. It’s a good way for them to earn points,” Nyx explained.

  “I didn’t know that! I guess it makes sense though… Does Calgary have many inexperienced samurai running around? I think Sharron and I were the newest recruits the last time an incursion happened.”

  “Not that I know of, but given the scale of this assault, and the fact that many samurai awaken during incursions, you’re likely to see a couple after today,” Nyx explained thoughtfully.

  “Great, it would be nice to have some new blood around here. Maybe I could get an apprentice, and teach them to feud with Mirage so I don’t have to.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea....”

  “I’m just joking, relax. Geeze,” I chuckled before lowering my rifle.

  The number of antithesis pouring out of the surrounding buildings was already dying down. I considered turning the lure back up, but discarded the idea immediately. I could crank it up, and fully clear buildings later. Right now, clearing the big hordes, clearing the pods, and protecting civilians was the priority.

  “Nyx, give me a box of flesh melters please. I want to try and get this mess cleaned up before Nora comes back. We still have a lot of places to get to today, and not a lot of time. Let’s not waste it.”

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