“I’ve recently been asked to join other Samurai for some sort of project. No one has said why, but its obvious. It about the antithesis. Well, soon my darlings, you’ll will know what it is all about. I will show you everything, and will get some interviews with the other Samurai. So be sure and tell everyone to tune in when I start streaming on this big raid.”

  – Liberace, upon accepting an invite to work with many other Samurai.

  A few days after returning home, the Family contacted me. It seems the Witch had asked for me in a Family meeting next week. It will be at Handy Hank’s ranch outside of Summerlin, southwest of Vegas.

  I arrive in Vegas the day before, so I can get to Hank’s place without being tired from travel. I head there right after breakfast. Before lunch seems to be unstructured, to allow the Samurai to get to know one another. Mori introduced me to Hank, and a number of other Samurai, then went off with Mordred. Hank was holding court at a bar-b-queue. All sorts of meat and veggies were on the grill, and it smelled real good. I grabbed a drink and began to mingle.

  About eleven thirty, Ysys informed me that Hank said the meal was ready, and to line up at the grill. Once I got my hot food, I headed to the nearby table with the cold food. Finally, I went to sit down at yet another table with several Samurai. I was rather surprised at how much everyone ate. Some, like me, seemed to have reasonable appetites, but some loaded up and even went back for thirds and fourths. I did go back for seconds, but that was only because the steaks tasted really good. Between all that food, and drink, it took nearly two hours for lunch. Hank finally invited us inside.

  We settled into a large room with a table filling most of the space. We each took a seat, and when we settled down, Hank spoke.

  “Thank you Samurai for coming. Recently, the Witch of the West found a megahive deep underground. We apparently didn’t realize it was there, as we allowed people to farm points in the area. It must have been there for over a year, and branched out underground. Only recently did it make itself known. It’s too much for one or even a small group of Samurai. The Witch encountered a model sixty.”

  Several gasps were heard about the table. I was willing to go against ones in the twenties, but sixties? No way.

  “Now, now, she managed to take it out with some help, and it didn’t look like there was another. Nor has the scouting indicated anything more than a few in the thirties. Even so, the cave network houses over a dozen hives worth of antithesis that needs weeding. That’s what we’re here to talk about. Before we go into the scouting report with the mission details, any questions?”

  One Samurai asked, “I’ve taken down a bunch of antithesis in the teens, and the occasional one in the twenties. I don’t know if I can handle ones higher than that.”

  Hank replied, “Nearly half of you are in that situation. You’ll be seconded to a more powerful Samurai, so you can fully contribute while having a safety net. I’ll be using my teleportation to bounce about the various locations, and will be taking care of everything past the thirties. The Witch, will be going after the largest area, as she has the best capability to take out the higher numbered antithesis. There will be four other teams for nearby areas, to keep the pressure of reinforcements off of her team. Next question?”

  Only two more questions needed to be answered, then Hank went into the briefing. Suddenly, a hologram appeared above the table, showing the cave system. It was mostly red, with an area of deeper red to one side. Very little was yellow, and there was no green.

  “Here is the scanned layout of the cave system. As you can see, here is the largest area, where the Witch’s team will go.” The largest area was colored in deep red. It was surrounded by a purple circle. Nearby, four others areas were regular red, and circled in other colors. “The circled areas are for each of the teams. The Witch will lead, and as soon as they react, the others will start. We want to do our best to contain the antithesis from reinforcing other parts of the hive, and to then destroy all antithesis within that contained area.”

  Further discussion followed about what to expect, tactics, and team competition. Everyone decided to help. I was surprised I was given lead of one of the teams. At the end of the meeting, Hank gave a few last words to all of us.

  “I will be sharing all my class one catalogs with you. I recommend you also share your catalogs, and help each other out. While I have higher class catalogs, they need careful thought before sharing. You’re welcome to look, but I’ll need to okay access to anything in them.”

  Everyone agreed to the same or better. I decided to share all my catalogs, since I didn’t see anything worth worrying about. After the meeting, we would get together with our teams to decide our strategy. We would launch the attack in the morning. As we followed a map to a lesser conference room, I checked in with Ysys about preparations.

  “Ysys, I need bullets that can take down models in the thirties. You got something?”

  Of course. The Advanced Kinetic Weapon catalog has some warp bullets for ten points each. When they penetrate, the warp field inside them explodes then implodes, taking a fair sized chunk out of them, and leaving a larger portion severely damaged due to the stress. You might need more than one to take down some models, but anything below the thirties should need at most one.

  “Can I fabricate them?”

  You would need to purchase the Class II Gravitational Effects catalog for five hundred points and a token.

  “I need some other things. Is there something I can fabricate without more catalogs?”

  Yes. While not as good, and not fully able to handle all the thirties, there is a monofiliment bullet for five points. It is armor piercing, and rather than exploding like an HE bullet, it unleashes a spinning disk of monofiliment wires that tear up the insides of the larger models. If you get lucky, they could take down any of the thirties.

  What else did you want?

  “We need communication. Last time, I sent in my spider swarms to map things out, but they failed to get in too deep due to the plant’s ECM. Also, it was hard to keep track of them, and control them. Is there some way I can upgrade them, and make them more autonomous, and able to communicate beyond the ECM?”

  Your spider swarms would need a Class I ECM hardening Module (blueprints) for a thousand points and even so, they would have a reduced spread while it was actively being used. This would require several of the units within the swarm be dedicated to ECM hardening, and all of them be given a better intraspider communication module.

  As to making them more autonomous, you would need to open the Class I Command and Control Utilities Catalog for one hundred points, and from that catalog, get the Class I Command and Control Augment upgrade for 50 points. The latter upgrades their swarm AI making your control simpler.

  “Do I have enough points for all that?”

  Yes.

  “Then, lets do it. I want to have my fabricators going from now till morning making bullets and spiders. I think I’m going to need a lot of both.”

  Monofiliment bullet (blueprints) – 50 points

  Blueprints for Class I ECM hardening Module – 1000 points

  Class I Command and Control Utilities Catalog – 100 points

  Class I Command and Control Augment upgrade – 50 points

  New Total – 1065 points, 4 tokens

  I’ll make a mix of bullets based off of the recon data. You’ll need some raw materials in order to make spider swarms all night.

  “I’ll call Hank and arrange for it.” I was able to send Hank a message, and his AI said it would be handled.

  We entered the room, and there was a similar hologram already showing, but only our part and little more. I met my team.

  “Hello. I’m Calamity Jane, sharpshooter, and midrange support. My signature weapon can take down a twelve at a mile and a half. I have ammo that should be able to take down anything in the twenties and slow down and hurt ones in the thirties. The weapons I’ll start, however, are suited for up to midrange, as there isn’t much long range in a hive. I will be using an area denial gun to keep the small fry off the team, backed up with wrist shooters for some larger stuff if needed. Lastly, I have the Bio Force Gun, which excels at dissolving the central hive structure. If we have the space, my Hunter Tracker can carry us all in to the hive and provide a support base. If we need to go on foot, I use a hard light platform to allow me good sight lines and to avoid difficult terrain.”

  The next to speak was a small man with a tiny drone on his shoulder. “I’m Li’l Wonder, a drone specialist. I use them as a force amplifier, and they are capable of spreading grenades and artillery. I expect I’ll be spending a lot of points on them, as the antithesis tend to take them out. But if I can recover them, I have a repair facility in my truck. I have quite a range of payloads, from flesh melters to monowire, to warp generators.”

  Next up was a curvy lady in a flashy outfit. She also had a drone, but it was obviously recording herself. “To those of you who don’t know me, I’m Liberace. I do some explosions, but plasma weapons are my thing. I can burn through just about anything, but going round corners is hard.”

  Next up was a tall man with a science fiction hazmat suit. Complete with helmet and tanks. “Howdy all. My name is Charlie Horse. I was suffering one when I was initialized, and since I induced muscle spasms into the antithesis, the Samurai what named me gave me that name. I decided to own it, and specialized into bio warfare. My tanks here are set to spew out biological agents of assorted varieties designed to confuse and degrade antithesis. It may not be the fastest, but when dealing with those pesky control types, I can break down their communications. That makes it easier to take down the lot of ‘em.”

  Last was a well muscled man, nearly seven feet tall. He was dressed in a cowboy outfit. “I’m Cowboy Bob. Never did get into ranged stuff, but up close? I’m deadly to ‘em. Heck, I even took down a twenty-one with a bit of help. While my outfit is good armor, I’m tougher. Nothing in the single digits can scratch me.”

  We talked about how to take things on, and settled on Cowboy Bob leading with the rest in my HT. If we needed to leave it behind, then I would be in the middle, keeping the area free of the little stuff, leaving room for the others to go to town on the larger stuff. Charlie Horse would bring up the rear and ensure no dead bodies would be usable.

  After the meeting was over, I called Li’l Wonder over.

  “Calamity?”

  “You mentioned spending a lot of points. Do you have a way to produce your own drones?”

  “No, why?”

  “Well, with a fabricator, you can print your own drones. Then you don’t need points to buy them, only their blueprints.”

  “What does that cost?”

  “Blueprints are ten times the item. I already have fabricators for some of my stuff. I can make small class two items if I get blueprints. I already have my eye on some things.”

  “Damn. I don’t have enough points to get blueprints for my best drone. What about the fabricator? What’s it cost?”

  “I plan on getting blueprints for the class one fabricator. When I do, I can then print one and give it to you in exchange for an equivalent point count of blueprints you get. That’s just over fifteen hundred points worth.”

  “Think I could put it in my truck?”

  “Sure. You do need to feed it mass to break down and print. But there are plenty of junkyards about.”

  “Great. Sounds like a plan.”

  We split off, and I soon found several Samurai were watching an inter city football game. While not my thing, it seemed like a good way to relax before the big day, While there was no formal dinner, a side table was kept supplied with sandwiches and other snacks and drinks. After a few hours socializing and discussing catalogs with the others, I went to the room Hank provided.

  I woke to the smell of bacon. Following the smell, I found a feast of a breakfast. Since we had to leave soon, it was efficient, without much talking. Then we loaded up in our assorted vehicles. My team used three vehicles to get there, and we left two outside, taking only the HT in. As we entered, I give the command for the spider swarm to begin their reconnaissance. Suddenly, the packed inside of the HT starts to empty.

  Charlie Horse says, “What the…?”

  Liberace yells, “Yikes!”

  “Don’t worry. My swarm is heading on in for recon.”

  Li’l Wonder asks, “Why didn’t you tell us about them?”

  “Sorry. I was printing them overnight, and forgot about letting you know. Ysys, please set up a chat room and map the swarm recon data there.”

  Ysys makes the connections, and soon everyone was in the chat room.

  Charlie Horse says, “That’s a lot of detailed information.”

  “Yeah, I want to be sure no antithesis gets behind us without knowing about it. Also, this lets us map out where trouble is the worst. Hopefully, the plant’s ECM won’t knock them out like last time.”

  Li’l Wonder asks, “What happened last time?”

  “Tried to get a good map of the central part of a hive, but several model twelves were causing problems. Until we took them out, we didn’t have a good picture. I upgraded the swarms and added ECM hardening, but given their size, it may not be as effective as I’d like. Still, they should have network connectivity under harsher conditions then before.”

  “So, they’re miniature drones?”

  “Yes. But not combat types. They are very good when doing cleanup and when doing search and rescue. I’ve had experience in both situations.”

  “Sounds like they are great utility drones. You have any other kinds?”

  “Yeah, some standard construction drones, some resource scavenging drones, and some dedicated antithesis cleanup drones. I’ll be printing a bunch of the cleanup drones when we finish.”

  Just then, the antithesis discovered us, and the combat was on. They must have known something was up, since they quickly scaled up their attack. For our part, I was using the Scattershot to clear out all the model ones trying to obscure our sight. Li’l Wonder and Liberace split their attacks on either side to take out model threes and fours. Cowboy Bob just sought out the larger models. But when there were more that two or three, I would use my Strykers to cut down the extras. Charlie Horse was kept busy making sure the fallen never were usable for recycling.

  I also kept track of our path, as I wanted to make use of the HT as long as I could, since it was also thinning out the incoming antithesis. The various scans had indistinct areas, but we could see our destination, and there was a way to it that we could be in the HT all the way. Or at least that is what we thought.

  Just before the main cavern where the center of the hive was, we were ambushed in one of the a larger areas. I don’t know how they timed it, but several holes appeared in the walls, and from them a number of teens and twenties models came at us. I switched from my Scattershot to the Bio Force Gun. The HT had been hit twice by an unseen model, and I figured it had to be model twenty-one.

  “Ysys, can you use the swarm senses to find the twenty-one?”

  Those senses are not good enough to detect either a twenty-one or a seven.

  “Can you use the difference in the various sensors to find something large and unaccounted for?”

  Checking… Yes. The seismic and optical have a significant divergence. Make that two areas.

  “Put it on my head’s up. I want to target it.”

  Even as I gave the order, Ysys put the display up. While it was only approximate, the BFG was designed to handle an area, so I started shooting in the center of the closest one. I was startled to see the shot splat mid-air. That’s when I realized I had hit. I followed up with several shots around where the first one was. Then Ysys gave me conformation of the kill. There was still the other one, and it wasn’t as close, so was harder to hit. It took three shots before I landed a solid hit. It took almost twice as many shots as it was able to dodge some of them. When it was finished, I went back to the Scattershot.

  Meanwhile, Cowboy Bob was going at a pair of twenty-eights, while a third was trying to get around us. Charlie Horse was keeping it at bay, but not stopping it. When I used the Scattershot, it also wasn’t good enough. So I climbed to the center of the HT and picked up my Overwatch and loaded the new shells I printed last night. I then walked up on my hard light platforms, and took aim at the twenty-eight behind us, and shot. BOOM. The left side of its head was no longer there. Another shot, BOOM, and the entire head was gone. Then I switched to where Bob was fighting, and took my time to line up a shot that wouldn’t impact Bob.

  BOOM. This one slammed into the body, pushing it away from Bob. It was enough to give Bob a breather, but he was looking hurt.

  “Bob, pull back and let me take out the big ones.”

  He didn’t hesitate, and backed away as quick as he could, without giving them an opening. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. I took three more shots, and while they weren’t dead, they were almost dead. Bob went back in and finished them off.

  While Bob and I took out the largest ones, Li’l Wonder and Liberace were busy taking out several fourteens carrying a bunch of threes, fives, and sixes. The HT’s shields were proof against the fives, but even so, they posed a threat if they could overload the shields, especially after the damage the twenty-ones inflicted.

  Once the big ones were down, Bob asked for a quick break to fix himself up. So I brought the HT over him, and extended the shields down around him. He took a little time to order up some medicine. A minute later, he called and said he was ready, so I returned the shields to normal, and he went back to the front.

  We faced another ambush later, but it was not nearly as bad. But when we came to the central cavern, there were quite a few model fifteens sending spiked balls our way. There were quite a few sixes and seventeens in that mass of antithesis, so I yelled out, “Liberace, new priority. Take out the sixes and seventeens. Without their coordination, they won’t be as strong. I’ll take out the fifteens. Li’l Wonder, keep the immediate area as clear as you can to give us space.”

  Even as I was barking commands, I instructed the HT to focus on the fliers. I again swapped back to the Overwatch, and grabbed several magazines, before turning to the fifteens. I took out four before they realized what I was doing. I got another six before they managed to keep me from taking them out. I swapped to some area shells, and shot near them. Since I didn’t aim at them, their blocking tactics failed, and my shells exploded close to them, and disoriented them. The shells also took out the small fry within fifteen to twenty feet of them.

  That’s when the hive changed tactics again. The fifteens stopped shooting, and several twenty-threes attacked. They were backed by some twenty-twos, fourteens, and dozens of thirteens. Who knows how many lesser models attacked. I had to take a break when I ran out of bullets, and when I did, I would reload and pick up half a dozen more magazines. I was taking out the larger antithesis that weren’t engaged with Bob. When a model eleven got close, I used a Stryker on it. Likewise, I took potshots at the thirteens with the Strykers as well.

  Since the Strykers were on my wrists, I didn’t need to change weapons. That meant they barely slowed down the shots of my Overwatch. When the last of the large antithesis were down, Bob had taken down a bunch of them also. I put the Overwatch away, and went back to the Scattershot.

  “Everyone, back to standard priorities.”

  It took nearly five hours clearing the large models from the central cavern. Another three hours were spent clearing out the smaller models, and a few latecomers that arrived after the big push. Finally it was time to deal with the hive itself. Charlie Horse went one way, and I went the other. The others rested in the HT, and gave us any needed cover. It took another two hours to get the last of the hive. Then we got the notification the hive was cleared.

  We called in to the others to let them know we had cleared this hive. Hank told us to take two hours to rest and eat, before heading on to the next hive. He also suggested that since we had a vehicle, we rotate having someone rest before resuming the fight. Checking Hank’s master map, I saw we were the first to clear a hive, but another team was in the final process of burning out the roots of their hive. The main hive, where the Witch of the West was, however, was barely a third cleared.

  While we were getting settled, Li’l Wonder asked, “Calamity, can I use your printer?”

  “I suppose. What for?”

  “I took your advice, and bought some blueprints. Now I can print some drones and ammo.”

  “The printer is already low on supplies, as it was printing bullets for the HT. You’ll need to get some raw material as well.”

  “Oh.” He was silent for a bit. “Well, that will cost some points, but not nearly as much as I’ve been spending. Here goes.” Just then, the printer started up again. It was pretty silent, but if you listened carefully, you could hear it.

  “Okay, everyone. I think Charlie Horse is the least stressed, so he’ll take watch for an hour. Then Cowboy Bob will take the next hour. Everyone not on watch, sleep if you can. Have your AIs wake you, so you don’t oversleep.”

  I left a small swarm in the area, but sent most of them toward our next target to get information on it. Somehow, I actually fell asleep. In the third hour, we headed to the next hive. I woke to sounds of fighting, but Ysys interrupted before I could say much.

  Don’t worry. They have it under control. Your team let you sleep while they started towards the next hive. There’s time to wake up and grab a snack bar.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Thanks, Ysys.” I looked over to the central area we were using for snacks, and there was a filled container of snack bars. I took one, and a juice from the containers next to it, and ate. Then I loaded up my weapons, and let them know I was ready.

  “Okay folks. What’s the situation. Fill me in.”

  Charlie Horse spoke, saying, “We’re going slower since we didn’t have as much firepower. It’s only been fifteen minutes since we headed this way. Your swarm has already mapped out a nice route for us. Bob’s been taking the lead, since we haven’t encountered anything in the teens yet. I’ve been maintaining the overall command, since my area of responsibility is the least time sensitive.”

  “Thanks. Hank did say to rotate rests. We’ll keep this pace and continue the rotation. I’ve had enough rest now, so someone else can rest.”

  Bob said, “Li’l Wonder, you’re next. Split your drone control between me and Liberace. At least we can keep them a little busy while you rest.”

  “I can probably take some.”

  “You probably could, but you are in command. You need to keep track of the total situation, and the drones would distract you. That would be bad. If either of us is distracted, you will catch it, and cover for us.”

  “Oh. That makes sense. Li’l Wonder, get some rest.”

  “Yes, Calamity.”

  We continued going slow. While it took several hours to clear the way into the next hive, each of us got some rest before the main cavern. We paused short of it to get everyone a snack before entering. Having learned, we didn’t fully enter the cavern, but rather only came to the end of the tunnel. That way, the antithesis were constrained in how they could come at us. When my swarm indicated tunneling close to us, we pulled back, and managed to ambush the ones thinking to ambush us. Even so, a twenty-eight is still pretty difficult to take down. My Overwatch with the fancy bullets did the job, however.

  The main cavern of this hive had a lot more model elevens and ones. My Scattershot was kept busy. Li’l Wonder was happy, as he had not only replaced his downed drones, but added several more. I noticed Bob was sporting a hard light armor on top of his already battered armor. The underside of my HT now had a heavy plasma gun, and a heavy railgun. While they had limited firing arcs, within that arc, they were devastating. I picked up a storage ring from Cowboy Bob’s catalog. I could now fetch the Overwatch and magazines for it when needed. It seemed we had all taken the time to upgrade.

  That wasn’t the only thing I got from Bob’s catalog. I also got the blueprints for a storage unit for my collection rats. I could also use it for the HT and the printer. I planned on waiting till the hive was down before I bought blueprints from my own catalog.

  With weapon switching easier, I was better able to support the team with my weapon variety. The new weapons on the HT also provided additional support for clearing the big stuff. Combined with Cowboy Bob’s improved armor, we churned through antithesis even faster than before.

  When the stream of antithesis slowed down, we finally poked into the cavern and commenced the main battle. As before, I walked up a bit to get better shooting lines, and we took on everything they had to throw at us. That’s when I learned Li’l Wonder upgraded his explosives. We cleared this cavern’s hive in just over half the time as the last one.

  Our new marching orders were to rendezvous with the Witch, and help her finish clearing her cavern. She had already finished off the largest models, but there were still plenty left.

  “Hey, Hank wants us to support the Witch. Should we take a rest first?”

  I was surprised at the unison “No” in response.

  “Okay. Ysys, plot a course, and let them know we are coming.”

  Gladly. Plotting… Course laid out. Your swarm is changing direction now.

  With everyone juiced from the hive takedown, we went quickly, and reached her cavern in less than an hour. But I held us back at the brink to get the swarm’s mapping. Then we broke in, and I immediately went up and started shooting as many large models as I could as quickly as I could. The HT’s big guns were also shooting rapid fire. As those nearer started dodging and having lesser models intercept my shots, I started shooting ones further away. Those had a harder time avoiding my shots, as they couldn’t see me as well over the vast distance.

  When elevens came by, my Strykers took them out. Li’l Wonder targeted the teen models, while Liberace kept the riff-raff down. Charlie Horse, however, was hard pressed to get all the ones we killed nearby, as there were so many and we were slowly moving around the outside of the cavern.

  Meanwhile, in the center, the witchcraft was dominating. Nothing survived it, and lightning was coming from it every few seconds. When it did, hundreds of antithesis died. Unfortunately, there may have been over a hundred thousand in the cavern. No wonder it was taking her so long.

  Now that we had arrived, it did relieve the pressure on her a bit. It also meant we were cutting the numbers faster. But it didn’t take long for the twenty-ones to target us. That’s when everyone learned I had upgraded the HT’s sensors to class two. The twenty-ones were somewhat visible to us now, and when they came, I took them down.

  About ten hours later, another team converged, and now there were three teams taking things down. It soon became clear that they could not see the twenty-ones coming after them, so I spent some time targeting those models. When I took them out, I could see them relax briefly, before getting back to the grind.

  Another eight hours in, Ysys spoke up.

  Jane, the hive is now somewhat vulnerable. If you take your team over, you can begin the destruction of the hive. That will severely impact its ability to fight.

  That woke me up. “What will its reaction be?”

  Likely to focus attacking you. But if you’re fast, you should be able to get a big chunk before you are forced to back off.

  “Sounds good. Lets head over that way.” Then I called out to the others, “We’re heading in. We can take a chunk out of the hive and weaken it significantly.”

  I saw both Li’l Wonder and Charlie Horse start talking to their AIs. Then Ysys informed me they would also be attacking when I did.

  We came in high and fast and slowed when we got close. I went rapid fire on the Bio Force Gun, and Li’l Wonder and Charlie Horse both joined me rapid fire with their respective weapons. Liberace provided covering fire, and Cowboy Bob was on board controlling the HT and its main weapons.

  Ysys was right about how it would react. And also about how it would loose combat ability. What she hadn’t anticipated was having three of us tear into it. The degradation was a lot faster and more severe. By the time sufficient forces were arrayed against us, and forcing us to back off, we got perhaps twice what she expected.

  “You think we could get another strike on the hive from another angle?”

  No. It will be keeping a close watch on you, and won’t let you approach. The next time will be either through the defenders, or after it falls.

  “Oh well. Back to the grindstone.”

  We stayed near enough to the hive to keep a fair portion of the antithesis focused on us and not the others. The third team really appreciated that.

  Two hours later, everyone was taken by surprise when the witchcraft shot out a heat ray of tremendous power into the hive. That single shot took out half again as much as our run. Everyone wanted to know what happened. But I noticed the antithesis had taken their attention off of us.

  “Everyone. We’re making another run while they’re distracted.”

  Bob quickly had us going in. Halfway into the run, we learned the hive had changed tactics on us again. One of the main roots moved and took a swing at us. The HT was sent hurtling into a wall of the cavern. It died, but before doing so, its shields absorbed most of the impact. Bob was the only one to remain in his seat, as he was holding on to the controls at the time. The rest of us were tossed out, but rebounded from the shield. When the shield failed, we all fell out, since the HT was inverted.

  I was the only one to not fall all the way, since I had my Skypath. However, I rushed down to the others, and handed each a Nano-Regenerative Suite so they could get back on their feet quickly. Then I laid down a defenseve area with my Scattershot. Bob was the first to fully recover, and he also began defending us. When we were all on our feet, I made the decision to stay where we were. I called in, telling Hank that we survived, but we no longer had transport.

  While not as mobile, we still killed a lot of antithesis, since they continually came at us. We stayed by a wall, but moved along it. The spider swarm, though thinned, remained large enough to map a good chunk of the cavern. It also let us know when a model eighteen was about to ambush us.

  There were several larger antithesis near the witchcraft. Wanting to help, I loaded the overwatch with my strongest bullets and started shooting one of them. The good news is that I pulled it away from the witch. The bad news was that my bullets didn’t seem to do any damage, and it was heading my way.

  “Ysys, why aren’t my bullets working?”

  It’s a model thirty-five. Your ammo cannot pierce it to do damage.

  “I don’t have time. Get me bullets that can kill that thing!” I pulled the current magazine, and held my hand for whatever Ysys would send.

  You will need to open –

  “Open whatever. I need the bullets now!”

  A magazine appeared, and I slammed it in. I then emptied the full magazine into it. I was about to order another when it collapsed.

  “Ysys? What kind of bullets did you get me?” Even as I talked, I swapped in one of my magazines, and started shooting other antithesis.

  I bought you a magazine of phase bullets for forty points.

  “Expensive rounds. You said I needed to open a catalog?”

  No. I was about to say you needed to open two catalogs. The second one a class two catalog.

  “I’m sorry. Um… what did you open?”

  I opened the Class I Dimensional Utilities catalog for fifty points, and then the Class II Dimensional Weaponry catalog for four hundred points and a token. Then I bought a magazine of HE Phase Bullets for forty points. The latter have a proximity sensor that determines when it is about to encounter something very solid, and then teleports a small distance so that it is inside whatever body it hits. It retains its kinetic energy, and activates whatever trigger the bullet has. In this case, it was HE explosives. Your bullets had sufficient power, they just could not get to where they would do damage.

  “Ooo, I like. I want blueprints.”

  Opened Class I Dimensional Utilities catalog – 50 points

  Opened Class II Dimensional Weaponry catalog – 400 points and a token

  HE Phase Bullets, magazine of 10 – 40 points

  Blueprints for Phase Bullets – 40 points

  When I had a chance, I saw that we had taken another chunk out of the hive, but apparently we missed three shots from the witchcraft while we were busy. Less than half the hive remained, and the antithesis were showing signs of confusion.

  The end came swiftly. The antithesis just seemed to crumble, and their numbers stopped being infinite. The witchcraft’s lightning found fewer and fewer plants to kill until there were only a few scattered single digits left. Once more I rallied my team to attack the hive. This time, it was not able to fight back.

  We gathered, and took a break to rest and eat. Then Hank got our attention.

  “Folks, you’ve done a lot of work here, but we are not done. However, we need to rest. So in a few minutes we will be heading out.”

  Many expressed happiness at that. But I didn’t. My HT was a large part of why we did so much. But apparently, Hank realized that, as he came over to me.

  “Calamity, what are you plans for your craft?”

  “I want to repair it if I can, but given where it is, that’s going to have to wait. I don’t even know if it is worth repairing. Even so, some of the stuff mounted on it should be recoverable.”

  “Hm. What happened?”

  “The hive hit us hard, and we flew into a wall. I’m surprised it is still in one piece.”

  “Me too. Did it have some kind of special armor?”

  “No, just a class two hard light system.”

  “Really? Hm. That could have buffered it just enough. Give me a moment, and I’ll send it back to my place.” with that, he teleported on top of the HT, and standing on the bottom if it, he leaned down and placed something on it. Then he was back next to me, and said, “Transfer.” Suddenly, the craft was bathed in light, and then disappeared. “It’ll be waiting for you at my place.”

  We soon left, and returned to the vehicles outside. Then we went back to Hank’s place, and I went straight to the bath, then to bed. Out like a light. Next thing I know is the sound of Cowboy Bob.

  “Wakey, wakey, jungle goddess. A new day dawns, and antithesis need killing!”

  Throwing my arm over my face, I say, “I’m up. I’m up.”

  “Right you are. Laying there in all your glory. Makes my anaconda want to play.”

  “Huh?” I push myself into a sitting position. “What do you mean?”

  He points over to a tan colored pile of clothes on the floor. It takes me a moment to realize those are my clothes and that I’m not wearing them. I look down, and half halfheartedly make an attempt to cover up before saying, “Shit,” and not bother. “I’m not wearing those dirty things. Ysys? I need a new outfit. Can you make it self cleaning and repairing?”

  Techno Sheena Self Maintaining Outfit – 15 points

  New Total – 764295 points, 7 tokens

  Ysys pops a box onto the bed beside me. I should have paid attention to the new total, but I was distracted by needing to dress. I open it and put the vest and skirt on, then look up. “Now I’m ready for the world. Why jungle queen?”

  “Look at the room. Hank set the décor to jungle, since you are going for the Sheena look. And seeing you as I did, well, your body is steamier than the jungle, and worthy to be worshiped.”

  “Oh. It’s too early in the morning, and it’s not time for play.”

  “Agreed, however, let’s get together later and discuss our primal natures. Perhaps you’ll like my anaconda.”

  “You’re that turned on?”

  “Oh yeah. Your body is a ten. You can lead Samurai, which ain’t easy. And you got serious muscles to handle that beast of a gun. You may have noticed I’m a bit of a muscle head with my way of fighting. You got it all, so of course I’m interested.”

  “Um…”

  “But I agree, now is not the time. Let’s head back to the common area and meet up with others. I smelled food cooking.”

  “Right. Lead the way.”

  I followed him, and he was right. People were a bit spread out, but there was a table with plenty of food, and I loaded up before finding a seat.

  About halfway through my plate of food, Liberace came over and sat next to me with her food already started.

  “Hey there Calamity. Good work back there in the hive. My fans approve.”

  “Thanks, I’m glad.” Meanwhile, I’m not sure how to continue this conversation. I needn’t have worried. She’s a streamer.

  “You’re welcome. You know, it’s rare that someone manages to upstage me on my own show, and you weren’t even trying. Color me impressed.”

  “Uh… Sorry?”

  “Naw, don’t be. Just means I have to interview you after the megahive is dealt with.”

  “Cowboy Bob said he was also impressed with our work yesterday.”

  “We all are, but honey, wearing that outfit at height makes quite the impression. My fans loved it.”

  “What am I supposed to do? Sheena’s my favorite character of Safari Hunter, and this is all she wears.”

  “You are supposed to own it. If you got it, flaunt it, and dear, you got it in spades. I’ve seen other videos of you, and it is clear you’re okay with the outfit as is. Anyone complains, just tell them to go back to playing with kids, as you’re an adult who likes to play with adults.”

  “You think that will work?”

  “It already has. My fans have been defending you ever since they realized what you were not wearing. I agree with them, that we need more adult role models, and you are making a big splash there. Don’t be surprised if you get requests from other Samurai for playtime. We all need release, and what my fans learned about your background suggests you’re willing with both guys and gals.”

  “You think I’m that popular?”

  “Yes. Right now you are new and different, but play your cards right, and you can be a star. I can be your manager.”

  “Um, I already have a day job.”

  “Only as long as you want it. You’re a Samurai. You don’t need to work for nobody if you don’t want to.”

  “I’ll have to think on that.”

  “You do that. I’ve got to talk with the others, and maybe the Witch if I can catch her. That witchcraft is awesome.” With that, she got up and wandered off.

  I pondered what she said until I finished my plate. I was still hungry, so went for another full plate. but it was time to focus on Samurai work.

  “Ysys, can you summarize what all happened since before the fight? I want to see what I bought and what I have left point-wise.”

  Sure, here’s the summary.

  Opened Class I Dimensional Utilities catalog – 50 points

  Opened Class II Dimensional Weaponry catalog – 400 points, 1 token

  Class II Autonomous Turret X 2 – 200 points

  Class II Burning Passion Heavy Plasma Cannon – 400 points

  Class II Mk 4 Rail Cannon – 450 points

  Hammerspace Ring – 250 points

  Blueprints for Dimensional Pocket – 3000 points

  HE Phase Bullets, magazine of 10 – 40 points

  Blueprints for Phase Bullets – 40 points

  New Total – 764295 points, 7 tokens

  Oh, and there’s more good news. Hank’s drones repaired the HT, and it is as good as new. I took the liberty to print some replacement spider swarms, and some drones for Li’l Wonder. The HT is kind of full right now, but if you print some pockets, all the spider swarms can go in them.

  I stopped eating mid chew. Recovering, I swallowed and asked, “Three quarters of a million points?”

  Yes. There was a multitude of antithesis you went after. You were involved in taking down three hives, and all had been around a while. You cleared three hives, so you gained three tokens.

  “And the HT is okay?”

  Yes.

  “Earlier, I kept having to switch out magazines for the Overwatch. Is there a way I can combine it with the pocket and let it supply whichever shell I need at the time? And at rapid fire rates?”

  Let me see… Yes. However, it will need active control from your augs to switch bullet types.

  “That’s fine. Print one and fill it with all my bullet types.”

  We won’t have time to print that many bullets. The pocket can hold a huge amount.

  “In that case, given how many bullets I shot since we started this, can you fill it with sufficient for another run? Perhaps a little extra in case I need a different total selection?”

  No. I can get about a third of that amount by the time we get there. All of this needs to be done with the Attoscale Architect, which limits the amount I can make. However, I can print another magazine and start filling it after you take the first. Then you can switch as needed every few hours.

  “What about the HT’s mounted guns. Can you make similar magazines for them? They use bullets from the main fabricator, correct.”

  Yes. The magazines still need the Attoscale Architect, but the bullets can be made on the other printer.

  “In that case, print a magazine for each of those weapons and fill them with bullets. When we arrive on site, make spare magazines for each and then start filling them as best as you can. Oh, make pockets to hold raw material for both printers and then we can fill them with Hank’s scrap. That way we can keep feeding the printers longer than before.”

  Printing assorted pockets now. When they are ready, I’ll start filling them.

  A few minutes later, Hank called us back to the main conference room. I quickly ate the remaining food on my plate, and went with the others.

  “Good work everyone. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we lost two Samurai. Given the age of this megahive, and the models encountered, I feared we would lose more. But we must persist. Three others have decided they have done enough, and we thank them for what they did. In light of our reduced numbers, the teams will be restructured. Calamity, your team did not lose anyone either way, so it will remain as is. Likewise, the Witch’s team did not suffer, and will remain as it is. The other three teams will be reconfigured into two teams. I’ll send the configuration to your AIs.”

  Everyone was sent the new list, and could see who was left. Before anyone could discuss it, Hank continued.

  “Now for the good news. Here’s a new map of the caverns.”

  Where before there had been a huge area marked in assorted reds, there was now a lighter yellow. Four red areas were circled. The purple circle had the most volume. The tan circle, which I realized was mine as the previous area we started in was also tan. Looks like my team’s area was almost as large as the Witch’s.

  “As you can see, we cleared about forty five percent of the megahive. I want to get at least thirty percent with this run. We’re tired, but will continue to do our job. However, I don’t want to lose anyone else, so we will go slower this time. At least much of the higher number models have been already taken care of. Now that you have your assignments, please go to your team rooms and work on your plans.”

  I was surprise when Hank and Mori followed us to our room. Before sitting down, I gave Hank an inquiring look. He said, “I wanted to let you know I took the liberty of repairing your craft. It’s odd, but then so are Samurai. Additionally, your AI allowed me to incorporate your swarm intel into the overall situation map. That helped refine the data for the areas you cleared, allowing us to get a better understanding of how well they stayed clear.”

  “Thanks for the repairs. The HT is the foundation of our team, allowing us a mobile defense that we could use to tackle the antithesis from a point of strength. I was worried how we would complete this mission without it.”

  “I’m more than happy to repair it. Mori tells me that your strafing runs really helped in knocking down the hive.”

  “The witchcraft did way more.”

  “Even so, you still did your part and then some.” He gave a bow and left.

  Mori spoke, “That’s right. Your team more than pulled your weight. I wanted to ask why you had a pair of printers in your craft. I might want to do something similar.”

  “Actually, the large printer was put there for a cleanup job. I had my drones deconstructing fallen buildings, and it was easier to have the printer local so that collections could go faster. As for the other one, I had recently got it, and thought I might need it for this job. It has been providing me with class two ammunition, and more than paid for itself by that alone. It also lets me make other good stuff. In fact, given all the points we made, I think I need to reconsider my construction plans and go a bit bigger.”

  “How so?”

  “I still need to work it out with Ysys, but maybe go with building class two structures rather than class one.”

  “That’s bigger alright. Did you use your printers during the mission?”

  “Yes. I was pumping out regular bullets for the HT, but later Li’l Wonder used them to replace some of his drones. In fact, since Hank fixed things, I’ve printed some more for him.” That got his attention, and a smile.

  “What about your material source?”

  “Yeah, that sucked. I ran out not too long in, so I had to buy more with points. At least that is a lot cheaper than the finished product. I did snag dimensional pocket blueprints, however, and I should have a lot more raw material this time.”

  “I hadn’t considered that. Something for me to think about. Well, good luck on your long term plans, and I’ll see you at the hive.”

  I said goodbye, and then sat down at the table.

  Li’l Wonder spoke up, “You made me more drones?”

  “A few. And I’m stocking up on raw material so we can make more as you need them.”

  Someone griped, “It’s going to be cramped going there, again.”

  “No it won’t. I now have dimensional storage, and will be using it. So, lets review our past actions, and fix our mistakes.”

  We spent the next hour going over everything. What I hadn’t counted on was Liberace supplying a lot of footage of everything. Now everyone could take the time to appreciate the view from below me. At least it didn’t seem to distract anyone while we were fighting. Having the imagery did help, as we were able to deconstruct exactly what happened, and who said what when. We were ready shortly before the others, so Li’l Wonder and I went out to transfer the drones over to him.

  This time, things went far better. We took more time to rest and cover for each other. Likewise the slower pace meant more time for eating, and healing, without rushing. The Witch’s team and my team took the outside portions, with the other teams to be between us. This kept their areas from getting much in the way of reinforcement, as the plants would likely have to go through our areas first. Hank also spent the majority of his time in their area.

  Hank called it after we covered about another thirty five percent, and we again went back to his ranch. This time we weren’t wiped when we got back, and enjoyed a feast before a nice long sleep. Then we came back and finished the job of clearing the hives. The antithesis had enough time to restart two hives, but we wiped them out without difficulty before we went back to the ranch.

  Hank said, “Thank you all. Your effort has been successful. The megihive is destroyed. All we need is to clean out the place to be sure it cannot restart. If some of you would like to stay and help, I’d appreciate it.” Perhaps a quarter of us chose to stay. Charlie Horse said his bio warfare was well suited to it. I said I have good tools for it as well.

  “We’ll take a day off before going back to the caverns.”

  As I sat back relaxing, I spoke to Ysys. “Can you start printing out more of those spiders with the sonic disintegrators. We’ll need a lot of them.”

  You’ll need to buy the blueprint first.

  “Oops. Hm… Can I get a better one, with greater endurance, and a built in collection rig and pocket dimension? Oh, and since we need to work in infested space, some armor and a plasma gun?”

  We can, but since Liberace left, we don’t have access to the her weapons catalog. Do you want the drone to be be class one or two? The latter provides far more efficient drones that can also do more. If you want that, you’ll need a class two fabricator.

  “Oh yeah. That’s right. What would you recommend for a class two fabricator that would also be good for construction?”

  A Class II Mass Matter Reconfiguration Machine would be 21000 points. It is a twenty five foot square machine capable of producing not only the shelters you plan, but also the wall and infrastructure you want. You will still need to build in pieces, but far fewer pieces that the Mark I Industrial Creation Engine at 2500 points or the Class II Industrial Matter Reconfiguration Machine at 4200 points you were thinking about before.

  “That sounds sweet. A lot of points for the blueprints, but if I make several, that will pay for itself. But moving them would be a pain. Is their a larger drone I can use to house it? That way, it would be mobile.”

  A larger version of the Zin Spider would make an excellent platform. It can handle rough terrain, and tight spaces. It can even be set up so that the printer is inverted, and generates the print on the existing surface. It would need to use destructive beams to ensure the surface is flat, but you already have those blueprints.

  “Given my existing fabrication, how long would it take to make the mass matter machine?”

  Eight days, and that if you spent time also making some construction drones.

  “Ouch. What if I got blueprints for the creation engine and used that to fabricate?”

  It would take several hours to fabricate the creation engine, but with that, some construction drones, and the Attoscale Architect, the Mass Matter Reconfiguration Machine could then be fabricated within a day.

  “In that case, lets get that started. After the lesser printers are done, start making the improved spiders for cleanup. Then make the drone to carry it with the same stuff I’m adding to the new spiders. Might as well get the blueprints for the construction drones I’ll be needing. The ones I already have work well.”

  On it.

  Opened Class I Plasma Casting Weaponry – 100 points

  Blueprints for Mark II Motherlode Construction Drones – 3000 points

  Blueprints for Class II Mass Matter Reconfiguration Machine – 210000 points

  Blueprints for Mark I Industrial Creation Engine – 25000 points

  Blueprints for Zin Construction Spider – 6000 points

  Blueprints for Zin Spider Crew – 3000 points

  New Total – 1281392 points, 11 tokens

  Again, I was in shock. “That’s a lot of points. And tokens.”

  That happens when you go after a megahive. If you survive, you gain a lot of points and tokens.

  I decided to relax and let Ysys handle getting my first construction spider operational.

  Stray Cat Strut [Stubbing Never - lol]

  Teddy Bears on Brigade