Chapter 9 - Observe, Plan, Execute.

  Most samurai will deal with the antithesis at range, only getting in close when necessary, but there is a subset who prefer melee combat; the normal schools of thought for it tend to be speed or heavy armour, both with high damage output up close in an area around them. Unfortunately, there is a subset of idiots who seem to like the idea of being eaten as they decide to trade blows with the enemy. It doesn’t normally end well. There’s a lot of antithesis and you can only take so many injuries and will tire. - Samurai “Incarnis” during a panel about samurai strategy 2030.

  In the time I’d been observing the battlefield, the other Fives had gotten into position to begin firing on the troops and the Six was thundering towards me, shrugging off the rounds coming out of the RWS on the MATVs.

  Bout time I got back to work, I grabbed primed and threw the remaining two monowire canisters into the oncoming Model Threes. They didn’t make any real noticeable noise, just expelled a large bundle of wire in a couple of meters radius from the canister that shredded anything that was there or subsequently tried to move through the area.

  I had left a pathway for myself since I still had antithesis to rend into chunks.

  I was warmed up now, so I should start to have some fun. I jumped forward into motion again, meeting another set of Threes. I sidestepped the first, raking my left hand's claws through its side as it passed me by, spilling its innards over the ground. I was rapidly approaching the rest of the swarm and the six was beginning to trample over the smaller threes to get towards me quicker, as I was covered in antithesis death pheremones, marking me as a high threat.

  Two Model Three lunged to try and sink their teeth into me. I stepped past them to the left and slashed my claws through both their necks and saw their heads drop to the wayside as their bodies kept going with the momentum.

  I was upon the next three immediately. I planted my knee into the plant's skull, collapsing the skull and pulping the internals, but those were definitely teeth or bone shards that ended up in my knee.

  I didn’t have time to check as another three was in the process of jumping for my neck and another was trying to get to my leg to disable me for the six, which was letting out a low rumble along with certain pheromones that I was picking up.

  Swinging my arm into the one already midair I sent it flying to the side with a satisfying crunch, for the other I lifted my foot out of the way of its attempted bite and brought my paw back down on top of its back breaking it the tenacious thing still tried to snap at my leg so I answered it by lifting my foot again and kicking it in the side of the head snapping its neck.

  The six was nearly upon me now and I had lost the momentum I had built up and had originally planned on exploiting so plan B running to the left the big hunk of plant meat shifted to turn towards me and put its head down slightly to attempt to ram me as it got within a meter or so of me I spun and jumped towards its other side I had judged the distance well but hadn’t adjusted for the six HS’s increase in speed from the base model. As I passed by it, the thing's shoulder clipped my left calf; the bone snapped immediately from the force of the charge and the thing's bulk, and I was flung off in a horizontal spin.

  “Anand, add a bone enhancement to my reminders for immediately after combat”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I said as I flew in a flat spin for a few feet.

  Done.

  I reached out my hands, all claws extended and dug them into the first thing in front of them and got a set of spines through my hand as it turned out to be one of the fives, lucky me I had been flung by the big bugger exactly where I wanted to be, unlucky cause of the neurotoxin.

  The five was sturdy enough to arrest my momentum as it planted its feet further. How kind of it! In thanks, I raked my claws up its entire right flank. It collapsed and I fell with it, going into a roll and popping back up before tilting sideways and nearly falling over as my lower left leg, which I’d put under me, suddenly went to the left and a few ivory parts sticking up through the top.

  That was a problem.

  “Badb, couple more bionanite injectors.”

  I quickly relayed

  Hurry up, there is slaughter to be had; my hound has no time for stopping.

  ——-

  New Purchase:

  Class II - BioNanite Supplement Injector x 2 - 280 Points

  ——-

  I caught both the injectors in either hand as they blinked into existence and I was about to stab one into my leg when a set of quills shot through the right side of my chest, scraping the ribs all but one, deflecting off of them, the one that landed properly was ejected by the bionanites. With that encouragement, I stabbed one of the injectors into my left thigh and the other was pressed into my chest again.

  Hearing another whoosh of a projectile coming towards me, I immediately leaned down to the right and planted my hand to remain stable as the next volley of quills missed by a hair's breadth. The sound of the displaced air was overshadowed by the rapid popping and cracking sound coming from my leg as the bionanites first ejected bone shards out of the skin and muscle, then snapped the bone back into place, then began knitting the muscle and skin back together.

  Due to the amount of them I had just injected into my system, the healing only took 3 seconds, but that was a very long time to be essentially crippled against the antithesis. The six had already stopped its failed charge and turned; it was now building up its speed again. The fives were repositioning further from me. Some of the threes were circling to get at my back, though a vast majority of the threes were currently being cut down by the RWS systems. I’d have to thank the gunners after this.

  The last of the skin on my leg closed up, but then my right abdominals started to cease up.

  “Badb, what happened to my siphon? I shouldn’t be getting affected by this low of a tier poison?”

  I asked as it should remove the poison present in my body and redirect it to the organ for it to break down. While Badb was gearing up to squawk out a response, I started forward to meet the six again, dodging the largest bundles of quills being thrown my way.

  Your siphon organ has been removed during your time under control, as Wolf Queen seemed to need a way to more easily contain you via the use of tranquillisers.

  Shit that wasn’t good.

  “Soon as I have a moment, need cleanse.”

  Very well

  The reply came quickly.

  The pain of the neurotoxin wouldn’t register due to my combat stims and any damage to tissues would be healed at some point. The problem will be the paralytic element of the fives toxin spreading and disabling muscles.

  A three chose that moment to jump at me, I punched forward and it went flying back from whence it came.

  “Babd monowire refill and one in hand.”

  ———

  New Purchase

  Class I - Mark I Monofilament Wire Canister x4 - 16 Points

  ——-

  The pouch swelled and one dropped in front of me. I grabbed primed and threw it at the fives if it didn’t shred them, then it would make them at least reposition. Grabbing another two with my other hand, I primed and dropped them behind me to cover my rear and I began building up speed again to meet the six.

  Slán!