Once the Ursas were rearmed, they began conducting strafing runs in earnest. Dousing the front edge of the Antithesis phage in M17 proved an effective deterrent, stopping it from growing toward us, but it also painted the horizon with a permanent orange glow.

  “Was that really necessary?” Wild asked quietly.

  “Anything that the goop touches becomes tainted and spreads it further. Bob carried the shit back to town on his feet, and if I hadn’t noticed, it would have probably consumed that section of the wall already. We need to keep it contained, or it’ll consume everything it touches,” I replied quietly.

  “I understand that, but still this feels excessive. You’re setting the entire world on fire,” she muttered.

  “Either burn it or let it be consumed,” I whispered. “I choose to save what I can.”

  Wild glanced over at me and shook her head. “I don’t know if that was supposed to be profound or edgy on your part, but I have to tell you… The effect loses a lot of gravitas when I have to look down at you and have to stare at the plush bear ears sewn into your camo cloak.”

  “Oh, maybe that’s why people don’t take me seriously,” I said sarcastically, pushing away from the wall. “I guess I’ll just stick to the profanity and violence that I’m known for in the future.”

  “From what I’ve seen so far, it’s definitely what you’re good at,” Wild snorted.

  I slowly turned towards her, trying to come up with a comeback, but before I could, my augs beeped, informing me of an incoming call.

  [Hey Mud, what’s up?] I asked.

  [Hey, kiddos. The Adamant Aegis is finally up and running again, and Major Alice Langley and I were just discussing the best place to deploy them. Do you have time for a quick discussion? We’re at the main gates,] the old man asked.

  I saw Wild shrug before she replied. [Sure, we’re not that far away. Give us a minute.]

  [Thanks, we’ll see you soon,] Mud said, before cutting the connection.

  I reached up as high as I could, stretching my muscles and feeling my joints pop before glancing over at Wild. “Shall we go?”

  I casually hopped off the wall and started strolling towards the main gate when I heard Wild call out. “Can you hold up for a second, please? Not all of us have superhuman physiques yet.”

  Turning back, I saw her scrambling awkwardly down the ladder. She jumped the last couple of feet, landing heavily, before running to catch up with me. “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” I replied, before turning back towards the gate.

  The two of us quickly made our way through the defensive perimeter, stepping around the squads of bears hurrying back and forth and various armored vehicles that were stationed behind the wall, until we finally arrived back at the main gate.

  I wasn’t surprised to find Mud standing there with a tall, uniformed woman that I could only assume was the Major. What surprised me was that a small column of armored vehicles, including tanks, APCs, and Self-Propelled artillery, was sitting behind them. I’d heard the PMC had been heavily armed, but this was well beyond my expectations.

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  As Wild and I stepped up to the gate, I stuck my head inside the town and looked around, half expecting to see a super-heavy tank sitting around, just out of sight.

  “Teddy, WildWalker, this is Major Alice Langley. Field commander of the Adamant Aegis, our local friendly PMC,” Mud said, gesturing to the woman.

  “Nice to meet you,” Wild said politely.

  “Hey, nice toys,” I added.

  Mud’s eyes flicked over to me for a moment, and I saw a brief smirk cross his face before he got his expression under control.

  The major didn’t seem to be bothered by the comment and reached out to politely shake both our hands. “It’s nice to meet you both. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, but my men and I had some… technical issues.”

  “I heard. Is everything sorted out now?” I asked.

  “Most of it. The… beavers that I assume you sent are still bypassing the authentication on the last of our small arms. We currently have enough rifles to arm about seventy percent of our troops, and I expect the rest will be armed within the hour,” she reported.

  “That’s good. We could use the help,” Wild told her.

  It was a good thing I had my helmet on, so no one could see how high my eyebrows rose when I gave her a wide-eyed stare.

  Wild must have noticed me staring, because she turned towards me. “What?”

  “Nothing!” I replied quickly before turning back to the major and clearing my throat. “So, how many troops do you have? What sort of hardware?”

  “The Adamant currently has two hundred and fifty-two members: one hundred and fifty soldiers, fifty vehicle crew, forty-three support staff, and ten command staff. We currently have four Leopard VI tanks, five Leopard VI Howitzers, and ten Avalon Ferret APCs,” the major reported.

  “That’s… a lot of firepower. Did you really need all of that to protect this town?” I asked.

  The major cracked a smile. “No. The locals are pretty laid back, and even during the so-called Global Incursion, we didn’t see much action. We’ve only really had to perform a single search and destroy mission in the last two years.”

  “Cushy job,” I said.

  “It was, until a few days ago,” she muttered. “As soon as the planetfall happened, I tried to organize my men. I couldn’t imagine our CEO being so cowardly that he’d run off without ever seeing the Antithesis. It’s not like the man did anything for us anyway; he was just a financial backer.”

  “But you let him put kill switches in all your tech? Why?” I asked.

  “It was his money. Everything is paid in full, up front. He wanted a position in the company and double his investment back, and the terms he offered were way better than any bank or other corporation was going to give us,” she explained. “Never thought I’d regret my decision.”

  As soon as she finished her explanation, she stood up straight. “That’s not important now. My men and I are ready to support. Just tell us where you want us.”

  “Uhhhhh…” I glanced over at Mud and Wild, who just shrugged at me. Guess when you had an entire army of bears at your back, people expected you to be a tactical expert. “Well, the truth is, we probably don’t need your tanks on the front line. My armor can deliver a significantly heavier punch than yours. I also have plenty of troops to man the perimeter, so we don’t really need your troops on the front line either.”

  The major grimaced. I didn’t mean to insult the woman and imply that her troops weren’t useful, just that I had the perimeter in hand, so I backpedaled a little. “That’s not to say we can’t use any of your troops. I have some indirect fire capabilities, but we could definitely use your SPGs if the Antithesis attack. And although we don’t need you on the front line, we do have an important task for you. I’m trying to evacuate the civilians, but the process is slow, and some civilians are refusing to leave. If you could get your men to conduct a building-by-building sweep and ensure everyone is either moved to the evacuation zone or to a shelter, that would be extremely helpful.

  “Once the civilians are secure, we’ll need you to monitor the town center. There’s a good chance the Antithesis may manage to bypass the front line, and if they do, we’ll need to rely upon you and your men to identify and deal with the threats. Can you handle that?” I asked.

  “Absolutely! We can get started immediately,” the woman exclaimed, before performing a sharp salute.

  Unsure what to do, I awkwardly returned the salute. “I’ll provide you with my command staff’s contact info, so if you run into anything you can’t handle, you can call for reinforcements. Don’t risk your men unnecessarily, if you don’t have to,” I said.

  “I won’t, thank you,” she replied warmly.

  “Uhhhh… dismissed?”

  The Major took a step back before turning on her heel and moving back to her men. When she was gone, I let out a long breath.

  “You did well,” Mud said. “I don’t know the first thing about troop movements, so I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Don’t be. I’m no tactical genius. I just assigned the Major the most important job I could think of that was off the front lines. I have no idea if it was the right decision or not,” I told him.

  “Well, I think it was the right decision,” Wild said.

  “I hope so; we’ll find out later,” I muttered. “I’m going back to the wall. Let me know if anything else happens.”

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