The Tonto State Forest Reserve, while maintained and monitored, is still dangerous for new Samurai. The Family does a bi-weekly patrol to clear up any hives that grow too big, so if you want to hunt in the Forest, you need to plan around the cleansing schedule.

  -Excerpt from The Family: FAQ in reference to "Why the fuck is there nothing to hunt out here?"

  As I landed beyond the walls, I activated my swarms in a new formation. I only had one Defence swarm now, so I kept that close to myself, extending seven feet around me. My Assault swarms and Generator Swarm circles me out to a range of six hundred feet, and my Scout swarms fully encompass the eight hundred foot radius around me. I begin moving towards the north through, and instantly my swarms begin shredding the antithesis near the walls. The entire area around the walls, about a mile and a half out, is devoid of any trees or cover, and instead is full of pockmarks from artillery. Moving through the field, I attract the attention of every plant on it, and quickly I earn a few hundred points. Entering the forest properly, I discover something very unpleasant.

  Tree roots were very difficult to walk through. I nearly twisted my ankle.

  The location I am heading towards is about five miles out. Satellite imaging shows that there is a small surface hive in that direction, producing about fifty Model Threes a minute, with a few Model Fours and dozens of Model Ones as well.

  As I continue my stroll in the dark, I converse with Synaptic. “Now that my Scout Swarms are Class II, what fun upgrades are available to me?”

  In terms of specific, unique upgrades, there are two. A seismographer, able to detect and translate vibrations in the air as well as the ground to detect movement more precisely. The ground based sensor requires a swarm to be touching the ground. This allows some limited ability to bypass the secretions of Model Fourteens, which once coated on a tunnel structure, nearly blocks all Ground Penetrating Radar and low level seismographs. It costs five hundred points. The second is telescopic vision, which allows for magnification up two thousand times, and clear long distance vision up to fifty miles. This one also costs five hundred points.

  I glance at my point total.

  Points 2477

  Tokens 5

  I sigh. I need tens of thousands of points just for blueprints. Not to mention the Catalogs I know I will need for the Class III gear. I continued my march north, calculating that I need to walk for another twenty minutes till I reach there.

  “So, could you give me a list of Catalogs I would need to unlock to get my Class III War Swarm Nanite Clouds Catalog?”

  Easily. My note pad opens as the list generates.

  Hive Mind Augments Class I and II

  War Swarm Utilities Class II

  War Swarm Weapon Class II

  Command and Control Class I and II

  Material Science Class I and II

  Chemical Science Class I and II

  Physics Class I and II

  Advanced Spatial manipulation Class I

  Plasma weapons Class I

  Thermal Weapons Class I

  Advanced AI Programming Class I

  2925 points and 7 Tokens

  I feel my head hurt. The points I basically have, but I need to hunt down two more hives just to unlock the prerequisite for a Class III catalog.. Then I do a double take. ”Why do I have 5 Tokent? I only killed four hives in the tower.”

  The last Model you killed was a Model Twenty Three. And while it may not have been fully gestated, it was still your first Model above Twenty you killed.

  I whistle to myself. A Twenty Three. Sands, that thing was tough. “Other than hunting hives, what are the other criteria for getting more tokens?”

  The calculation model is complex and has numerous factors involved. I am not allowed to say more than that.

  “I suppose that's fair,” I say.

  Before I could continue that train of thought, the ground beneath me caved in and I fell.

  I fall for a few feet, then my jump jets activate and prevent me from falling on my ass.

  I am immediately surrounded by Threes trying to rip me to shreds. Fours Spear their tentacles towards me. A few Fives launch spikes at me. My Defence shield begins dropping rapidly.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Then, my Assault swarms fill the tunnel, shredding everything in range rapidly. My shield stabilizes at six percent integrity as I observe the tunnel.

  It's huge. Thirty feet tall and forty feet wide, there are no root structures, but that doesn't matter. My Scout Swarms detect at the very edge a Model Fourteen charging straight at me.

  I activate my jump jets and fly back out of the hole, my Assault swarms tearing through the ground to avoid the rampaging plant centipede. Problem is, it can also launch itself upwards. And it does.

  As I stall in the air, seeing the face of this thing open to swallow me whole, I use my Defence swarm to shove me at the full forty miles an hour it can move. I feel my bones shift at the sudden acceleration, and am assured I will bruise, but I am out of the Fourteens dash.

  I send four swarms inside it with the intention of ripping it apart from within. I have the Defence swarm keep me above the ground at a height of fifteen feet, and have my other five Assault swarms tighten their perimeter around me, as a mass of Model Ones swarmed me from above.

  A few seconds later, my other four swarms burst through the Fourteen as it flailed on the ground. It is ripped into multiple sections, and I direct them to continue shredding it. I sit on the hardlight floor taking deep breaths as the antithesis do their damndest to reach me.

  My Scouts detect a few hundred antithesis rushing my position, and I glance at my points.

  4882

  “There is a damage upgrade for my Assault Swarms, right?”

  Indeed! However, there is a prerequisite catalog of Class I Thermal Weapons that must be obtained.

  “Unlock it, buy the upgrade for the swarms. Knowing my luck, I will run into a Twenty something out here.”

  Unlocked: Class I Thermal Weapons

  Purchased Class II Thermal Nano Blades 9x

  Points reduced to 523

  Instantly, my Assault swarms began to glow red and the smell of burning plants permeated the air. Within moments, the rest of the Fourteen is shredded, and the Assault swarms join the defence of me.

  “Alright, new formation plan. I am staying off the ground. Once I have the points, upgrade my Scout swarms with the Seismographs. I'll collect the blueprints later.”

  Acknowledged, Victor.

  For the next ten minutes, I float towards the hive, rapidly gaining the upgrades I need. My logistics swarms, as I am going to call them, collect fallen biomass and convert it into power for my swarms, which is sorely needed with the new Thermal upgrades. Before, the Generator Swarm could passively collect enough energy to keep the swarms powered, but now? I had to collect and convert.

  Soon enough, the Hive enters my detection range. There are a number of Thirteens floating above it, and, based on the vibrations in the air, there is a large flying model somewhere above me, probably a Model Eleven.

  “I need something to take out that Eleven at range.”

  Single shot or rapid fire?

  “Rapid fire. My aim has always been shit, so a wall of fire beats precision.”

  Purchased Iron River Heavy Assault Gun

  Points reduced to 5827

  The Defence swarms create a hardlight shelf in front of me, and a massive box appears upon it. It was five feet long, four feet wide and three feet deep. Opening it, I see a huge hunk of metal and violence. The barrel is thick, easily able to fire fifty caliber rounds. The belt casing wraps around the underside, and the stock looks more like a harness than a brace.

  I pick it up, and while I can carry it, I can tell it weighs upward of fifty pounds.

  The Iron River fires self correcting exploding Sabo rounds at a rate of six hundred rounds a minute. It contains six hundred rounds. Each reload is fifteen points.

  I aim upwards and my mask shifts to a thermal setting. I see six Model Elevens above, a huge bird with a massive beak and four wings. I open fire not a moment too soon and they begin to dive at me.

  The recoil of the Iron River is extreme, but manageable since it has clamped itself to my armor. I unload a stream of burning lead, and a majority of the shots rip through the Model Elevens, exploding them from within and showering the area with their blood. As I turn my attention towards the hive, I realize there is not much for me to do. The main structure is failing rapidly, smoke rises from where the Assault swarms land. Antithesis rush in from the surroundings, but none are able to get within one hundred feet of me.

  The hive collapses after a minute, the mass of antithesis pestering out after three. I check my new points total. 14732, 6 Tokens.

  I look towards the mass of hive flesh remaining and the field of gore that surrounds me. “Hey Synaptic, how broken down does antithesis flesh need to be to prevent it from regrowing?”

  Very. It would take a concentrated effort of your Assault swarms to break all of this down. It would take them more than ten minutes to break it down to an unusable state. If you had a proper logistical swarm set up, it would take them far sooner. Alternatively, there are single use consumables that can clear out the area in a few minutes and it doesn't require you to stay here. Finally, the PMC camp has antithesis flesh melting artillery rounds that are available with a simple call.

  “Huh. Do they get anything for helping?”

  Senestera creates the canister shots and has standing orders to use them often. So other than their pay, the satisfaction of firing a big cannon

  “Good enough for me. Please mark the minimum safe distance for me and record the location. Once I'm clear, please send the request.”

  Of course, Victor.

  I check my map trying to see which direction I should head in, and I see the next closest hive is ten miles to my southeast, so I begin floating my way there.

  I see a few other hive locations marked by the PMC base as priority locations, and I do a rough pathing calculation. I am floating at ten miles an hour as that is the most optimal speed that allows me to shred antithesis as fast as I can. So, I should be able to hit all fifteen marks within my hunting period. That's a nice amount of points and, more importantly, tokens.

  The antithesis are thin in the area, which makes sense, since a majority of them went to the defence of the hive I just attacked. Soon after moving away from the ruined hive, I feel through my Scouts the thumps of cannons from Payson a bit more than five miles away. I count four seconds until the first impact, then the second, then a third.

  Then, I noticed something. A piece of seismograph data that doesn't seem right. I replay the data and connect my senses to it this time and I am certain the ground feels wrong. It feels a bit more hollow than I think it should.

  “That doesn't feel right,” I mumble. “Synaptic, place a mark about a mile to the east of me as well as a mile south and send it to the artillery teams. Three shots in each location.”

  Preferred ordinance?

  “Something explosive with a bit of penetrating power. I need to feel the ground vibrate some more.”

  High Explosive Sabo rounds incoming.

  I feel the pounding of the cannons once more, this time a bit heavier. I link with the Scouts as the rounds slam into the ground, then explode. After all six rounds finish, I feel it. I see it. Seven tunnels below me, faint, but definitely there.

  “That's not good, is it?” I whisper.

  No. No it's not.