Hey! Grouse! Get me a scan of the Tonto! Half a dozen Samurai just left the city going that way, and I need to know if we have to use our golden parachute option, or buy even more stock.

  -Intercepted communication of board members of the Payson Mining and Refining Corp, 2057

  Senestera wasn't lying about the mess hall. Nutricubes flavored with salt and other vitamins covered in Sriracha. It was horrible, but Synaptic assured me it was healthy. After the meal, Senestera led me to an actual building just at the back of the camp. It was a square brick of a two story building, but it wasn't a tent.

  Entering through the airlock type doors, I was greeted with an air conditioned lobby. She briskly walked up a set of stairs and into a meeting room. A long, white metal table sat in the center with a dozen large leather office chairs placed around it.

  Senestera took a chair near the head of the table and waved for me to take the chair across from her. As I did, a bowl of colorful chocolates rose up from a hidden compartment in the table.

  “Reward for not bitchin’ about the blocks.” She said, a soft smirk on her face.

  I ate one, and then another. The treat was silky smooth and just the right amount of richness. I saw her nod her head slightly at me.

  “You know why I hole myself here away from the city?” She asks.

  I swallow, shaking my head. “No ma'am.”

  “It's cause kids like you need a safe backing, a safety net for the first few weeks of your Awakening. The death rate for this forest before I arrived was eighteen Samurai a year. Nearly a hundred kids died in these woods, all underestimating the dangers antithesis present. Nine years ago, a few of my friends and I got sick of it. So, we razed this place to the ground, then a few dozen feet down for good measure.”

  I stopped chewing the chocolate and looked at her in confusion.

  “And yet there's a forest outside, is what you're thinkin’. That was due to a concerted effort of quite a few of us. Shrew and Fleming did something to the soil around here, compacting it around the towns and messing with the soil and trees to dissuade the plants from digging down. Obviously, they have adapted to the chemical changes, but that's fine. Those two have not been sitting idle. Once we clear the underground, I'm sure they will have new toys to mess with.”

  We spend the next few minutes talking about how we each awoke, then on our thoughts on spicy foods. Turns out, we prefer cholula over Sriracha, but the cook hated the stuff.

  Soon enough, the door to the conference room opens up, and in walks six Samurai. The one leading the group is someone I recognize.

  “Heya, kiddo! Heard you pissed on an ant hill and found a rabbit burrow filled with foxes!” She strides over to me, locking me in a loose headlock and rubbed my head, which did not have my helmet on it.

  I struggle to get free as Senestera snorts at us. Once she lets go and takes a seat next to me, I take a look at the others who came with her. I see two Samurai I recognized, as they have very public lifestyles. The first is Blizzard, in her very thick blue parka with fuzzy white trim. On her back is a huge backpack connected to a few articulate arms. She is well known for her localized weather manipulation, making it so they every street level space outside of a building is covered in clouds, keeping the temperature in a livable eighty degree range, instead of the inhospitable one hundred and fifties and above it was before.

  The second is Heracles, self styled after the old Greek hero. A nine foot tall wall of well defined muscles, his only armor being a loincloth and toga, his skin was a golden bronze and his hair was equally golden and wavy. He has dozens of gyms throughout the city and does a massive amount of charity work. There was a time when the current mayor was almost out voted by his supporters, but once he learned that was happening, he made a public statement saying he has no desire to have a public office, something about it cutting into his gains.

  The other three Samurai were just as interesting looking. The first was a wiry man in white and purple robes, with dozens of flasks strapped to his body and a gas mask covering his face. The second was a woman in a skintight brown bodysuit with massive digging claws and a helmet that looked like a mole.

  However, they looked normal compared to the last Samurai. They were a seven foot tall dark skinned woman with muscles that rivaled Heracles. However, she was wearing a frilly pink short skirted princess dress with fairy wings. Her smile was blinding.

  As everyone took their seat, Senestera cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself. She waved a hand and the table projected a very detailed map of the surrounding area.

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  “Afternoon, everybody. Let's get basic introductions for the new blood out of the way. I am Senestera, defence specialist and owner of the mech outside.”

  “Shrew, expert on all things below the earth.” The girl in a body suit said curtly.

  “I am Fleming. Chemist and purveyor of explosions of all kinds. Charmed, I'm sure,” the guy in robes said with a posh British accent.

  “I am Heracles, as I'm sure you new Samurai know.” His voice was controlled and pleasant, despite what his frame suggests it should be.

  “Blizzad here! I'm an ice and weather specialist, and I make a mean fish fry.” Said the walking parka. I made a note about her cooking experience, and would ask about it later.

  “Well, both Newbies know me already, so I'll skip.” Laser said, popping a chocolate in her mouth.

  “I am War Games. I deal with Nanite swarms and was the one who discovered the tunnels beneath the area.” I say.

  The last Samurai's voice was deep, yet full of excitement. “Hello, hello! Magical Girl Chocolate Thunder has arrived! Here to sweep away the woes of the battlefield with glitter and lasers!” She struck a pose, then sat back down.

  “Alright, introductions are done.” Senestera states. The map zooms into an area to our northeast, seismographic data I collected from the area last night displayed in front of everyone.“As War Games said, there is a mass of tunnels at least in this location, which he discovered by following up in a hunch. Since then, we have been besieged non stop by every above ground hive in the region and have discovered six large entrances three miles out to the tunnels that opened up and are spewing out double digits. Thankfully, the Globe and Show Low have reported a lack of antithesis attacking them, so that means that whatever is leading the hive, it wants War Games dead.”

  That gets a concerned look from me, then a dismissive wave from her. “Only thing here that isn't in those towns is you, kid. You've probably been marked somehow. A heavy shower should fix it. But for now, we have an attack to plan.”

  Shrew pipes up,”Might be a new variant Fourteen. The chemicals Fleming and I came up with was supposed to turn antithesis matter into nutrients for the trees, a kind of self replicating acid. Ground density outside of town was left unchanged to allow the trees to grow. Density here is unchanged, unmolested. I checked once I arrived.”

  “So you're saying my work was flawed?” Fleming glares at Shrew.

  “Technically, against the antithesis, all work is flawed. We should have checked up on this place before now.” Shrew retorts.

  “Later, you two.” Heracles interrupts, “Plans for future reclamation can come later. We need to remove the hives first. And for that, I say we charge two of the tunnels. Two groups of four. Gunny is on standby with orbital support, he just needs coordinates.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan,” Lasso says. “Now, I just have to decide which newbie I get!”

  “He specializes as a Command and Control one man army. I've seen what those things can do for the last seven hours. Either Shrew or Heracles should go with him as a heavy single target fighter. Blizzard should go with Magical Girl Chocolate Thunder, as their area denial works well together, and I will go with her as well as War Games and I can coordinate our team's movements.”

  “I'll join you, then,” Fleming says,” Blizzard's tech is perfect for preserving samples.”

  “Good. Teams decided. We move out in ten,” Senestera says as she stands up. Everyone stands and follows her out.

  My team follows Shrew towards a larger version of the drill pod I remember seeing at The Family HQ yesterday. And when I say larger, I mean it was large enough to act as a mobile command center. Twenty five feet wide, forty feet long, and fifteen feet tall on the inside, we were able to sit comfortably.

  “For the sake of efficiency, we will be traveling in the air to the target entrance, then descend on foot through the tunnels. The Mole will follow us from behind acting as a rear guard. War Games, your swarms will be the Vanguard, with Heracles and I acting as your bodyguards. Laser will do what she wants, as normal.”

  I nod, then ask, “How fast will this pod travel? My swarms can move up to forty miles an hour, so they might be able to keep up.”

  “That speed will be fine. Have them stay near The Mole. Ready?” She asks as I feel the hover engines activate.

  I pull in all my swarms to stay near the Mole, keeping a distance of about thirty feet. Through the Scout swarms, I saw that as the Mole moved forward, the drill spun with it, acting as if it was digging through the sky.

  We made rapid progress towards the target entrance, and I got to see Betsy flying through the clouds of Ones and Elevens, decimating them.

  Then, once the hole was below us, I sent my swarms to clear a landing space. Heracles had a different plan. He opened the side door and jumped from three hundred feet in the air. When he landed, a massive shortwave burst from around him, disorienting the antithesis and making it easier for my swarms to work.

  As the Mole descended, a Model Twenty Eight burst from below Heracles. It looked like a six legged heavily armored bear with a lamprey head. Heracles simply punched down, and the face of the plant was crushed into paste, spraying the area in green blood.

  Once the Mole landed and we all stepped out, my swarms had created a one hundred foot perimeter, with Betsy rampaging around beyond them.

  “Well, that went swimingly!” Heracles declared laughing. “Now, let us enter the abyss, my friends!” He began to walk towards the entrance, and the moment he passed the perimeter into the waves of antithesis, he simply ignored them and crushed them underfoot, or having them shatter upon his visage. Threes exploded upon contact, Fours had their tentacles ripped off when they tried to stop him from moving, the quills of Fives shattered. Nothing fazed him, nothing slowed him down.

  We followed after him, entering the fifty foot wide cavern while protected by my swarms, which covered us in a dome.

  As we descended, I came up with an idea. “I fell into a trap before out here that was triggered by stepping on thin ground. I can either create a series of platforms for us to walk on, or just a platform that can move for us.”

  “Nah, that's okay, kiddo. I'm going to ride Betsy and go charge ahead with Heracles.” Laser Lasso says as Betsy walks up. She vaults on her back and then moves ahead.

  I looked to Shrew. “My tech requires that I stay on the ground. But good information.”

  I feel a little disappointed, but I move on.