“It looks like the first wave of Antithesis is finally starting to break,” Spooky reported.

  “It’s about time. I knew they’d be aggressive, but that was ridiculous. I can’t believe they managed to push all the way to the town’s walls before we managed to push them back,” I replied. “Any losses?”

  “We lost contact with the two Kodiaks that Bandit sent to scout the impact sites,” Spooky reported.

  “Signal jamming?”

  The bear shook his head. “I wish… Here's the last signal we received from the scouts.”

  He waved a paw at the strategic table, and the holographic terrain faded, replaced with the perspective of a bear. At first I thought the hologram was paused because there was no movement and no sound. It was only after the first shudder went through the crew compartment that I realized it wasn’t--the infantry bears didn’t make any unnecessary movements or sounds.

  “Why aren’t you showing me the cockpit view?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Because the pilots and exterior cameras didn’t catch the attack, and this is more dramatic,” Spooky explained. “Just watch.”

  I turned back to the hologram and watched as the image shook a couple times. Occasionally there was the sound of the PAWS going off or a quiet clunk against the hull. I almost gave up watching. It didn’t seem like anything was going to happen when the Kodiak was ripped in half.

  There was no warning, no sign of anything wrong. One second everything was fine the next there were several dozen holes blown through every possible surface.

  The Kodiak’s automated alarms and safety systems didn’t even have a chance to activate as the frame twisted and snapped, breaking the vehicle in two.

  What was left of the squad was sucked out and sent plummeting towards the ground. The last few seconds showed a series of massive beetle-like Antithesis with spikes poking out of their shells, marching across some sort of spongy carpet.

  Even though the bear survived the fall, it was swiftly crushed by one of the titanic monsters.

  “Nyx, what the fuck were those?” I asked.

  [I don’t know,] my AI replied.

  “What do you mean you don’t know? I thought you had an encyclopedic knowledge of antithesis species.”

  [I do, that was something completely new. Probably whipped up during the Mars conflict,] Nyx said. [You have to keep in mind that the Antithesis numbering system is something you humans came up with, and although it works at lower levels, it quickly falls apart once you get into the more complicated models. The Antithesis are constantly integrating new DNA, adapting to different threats, and growing. Once the hives grow to sufficient size and complexity, you never know what’s going to come out of them. They’ll adapt and create new models to directly counter your strategies. Just based upon that video, I’d say those are some sort of anti-aircraft model created to counter the Vanguard air and spacecraft on Mars.]

  “Well, fuck…” I muttered. “Guess performing a lightning strike against the drop zones is out. If those things can rip straight through a Kodiak, they might be able to damage Bear Force One, even through the shields and heavy armor.”

  [Unfortunately, those Antithesis are the least of your worries,] Nyx said. [Did you see that growth on the ground?]

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  “The… what did Jane call it when we saw it in Yellowstone… lichen?”

  [Structurally, it’s similar to your earth lichens, but it’s far more dangerous. It’s one of the most aggressive types of hive structures you’ll ever encounter. It grows fairly rapidly, envelops any biological matter, and sucks the nutrients back to the hive,] Nyx explained.

  “I can see why that could be a problem, but a bigger problem than those monsters?” I asked.

  [Think about it this way. If you kill one of those… we’ll call them Model 35 Mars Variants on the phage. If you don’t immediately dedicate someone to spraying them with flesh melter, or some other type of biomatter removal, the Antithesis will reclaim that biomass before you even finish the fight,] Nyx said.

  “So they can be extremely aggressive,” I muttered. “Spooky, tell the others to make sure they get rid of those bodies ASAP. I don’t want to give the Antithesis a chance to use that biomass against us again.”

  “Yes, commander!” he replied, snapping a salute.

  “And can you show me the last image from those Kodiak’s cockpit and exterior cameras? I want to see what we’re dealing with.”

  The bear waved his paw towards the table, and the image shifted to a low-altitude view of the horizon. I just gawked at the image.

  I could just make out the outline of a massive pit, between one and two hundred meters in diameter, with massive fleshy tentacles reaching into the sky. Hundreds… no, thousands of tiny silhouettes were climbing out of the crater and spreading out in every direction. There was no way I would have been able to make out something like a Model Three or Four at that distance; every single one of those things must have been a monster.

  “Why didn’t you think this was important?” I asked quietly.

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t important; I said I was going to show you what happened to the scouts,” the bear replied. “I was planning to get to the reports afterwards.”

  “Fuck…” I whispered. “Did we get a look at the other drop sites?”

  “They didn’t get close enough before getting shot down,” Spooky reported. “We could send more or maybe the Marsupial to do a high-altitude reconnaissance run.”

  “No, I don’t want to lose it to some other new Antithesis model. We’ll call the Family and see if they have any surveillance satellites in the area,” I said as I stared at the hologram. “And maybe if they could redirect a couple of their orbital weapon platforms.”

  Do you want to talk about installing a couple of those ICBMs on Bear Force One now? Nyx asked.

  “Honestly? They don’t sound like such a bad idea right now,” I said. “But can I really afford anything big enough to actually deal with that?”

  You can afford something large enough to blow chunks out of that, Nyx replied. Which will get you more points to buy bigger and stronger weapons.

  “Tempting. How long will it take to get them active?” I asked.

  [That depends on the Beavers. Bear Force One wasn’t originally designed to have the long-range missiles. They can probably clear the space for launch bays in a couple of hours, as long as you’re not concerned about losing a couple of the guest and storage rooms,] Nyx said. [I think the ship can fit around fourty eight long range missile systems, without compromising the hull or any internal systems.]

  “That many? I know the carrier is large, but…” I started.

  [You have to keep in mind that Class I and II missiles are far more advanced than the terrestrial versions you’re probably familiar with. With the advanced propellants and payloads, the ICBMs you’d be installing wouldn’t be much larger than modern cruise missiles,] Nyx said.

  “Which are…”

  [The launch systems would be twenty feet tall and two feet wide.]

  “Oh, they’re just tiny then,” I said sarcastically.

  [They’re smaller than traditional ICBMs, which are Forty to Sixty feet long,] Nyx replied.

  “I don’t know… with all the samurai responding to this problem, this entire problem might get cleaned up before the missiles come online. It might be better to invest in some new molecular reconfiguration machines or additional weapons for the bears,” I said.

  [Evelyn, trust me when I say this is not going to get cleaned up in the next twenty-four hours. It is going to be an unbelievable slog, even for you,] Nyx said.

  “How much of a slog?” I asked quietly.

  You’re going to be facing monsters engineered to fight Samurai on Mars, and until you find a way to handle the phage, the Antithesis are going to salvage their losses and recover nearly instantaneously. Nothing short of completely incinerating the core hive node is going to slow them down, Nyx explained.

  “If that’s the case, why wouldn’t I want to improve my reconfigurators? Try and keep my forces up?” I asked.

  Because with your current setup, you’re going to lose the ground war. The Antithesis will outweigh, and outproduce you. The missiles will at least give you a reliable way to gain points while you fight that war.

  “How many points do I have?” I asked quietly.

  Enough to fully arm Bear Force One, with plenty left over, Nyx reported.

  I stood there a minute, staring at the horrific flesh pit spitting out monstrosities while I mulled things over.

  “Give me half the missile launchers now, and use whatever points I have left to purchase some Class III reconfigurators,” I said. “I’ve had the catalog for weeks now; might as well put it to work.”

  [They won’t be enough to hold off the tide, not forever,] Nyx said.

  “They don’t have to,” I replied. “I just need to hold them off long enough to earn more, which I’ll invest back into manufacturing, which I’ll use to earn more points. If the Antithesis want to push this direction, they’ll have to go through the bears and me. Let’s see who breaks first.”

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