“Do you honestly think adding a single seed to each of your troops' bullets will make a difference?” Wild asked after we finished sharing catalogs.

  “If that fungus wasn’t out there, it would make a serious difference, causing the Antithesis to decay before they could be recovered. Now that the fungus is approaching the walls, I’m just hoping that we can cut down how much biomass they recover. Losing even ten percent might make a difference over time,” I replied.

  “I don’t know if ten percent is enough,” Mud muttered. “Especially if their attacks keep ramping up.”

  “Don’t worry, the bullets might not be enough to break the Antithesis down, but the seed burst shells we supplied to the SPGs will. They’ll really cut down on the mass the Antithesis can recover.”

  Wild glanced over at me nervously. “Enough to make a difference?”

  I didn’t reply. The truth was, I didn’t know.

  Even after combining all our catalogs, we still didn’t have a way to nullify the acid and get involved in the fight. That was extremely frustrating, especially to Mud, who didn’t have any indirect fire or support catalogs. He was able to make use of some of my armor and weapon catalogs to upgrade his bike, but until we had the chemical negation, he wasn’t going anywhere. Which was a problem, since the Antithesis were already starting to ramp up their attacks.

  As soon as the M17 started to burn out, the Antithesis had started streaming through. At first they’d been easy to control; the Shatterstorm cannons raked the holes in the line, skewering anything that tried to get through, but as more and more gaps opened up, they couldn’t keep up. Thankfully the bears, and artillery, were able to mop up whatever snuck through.

  There wasn’t much M17 left now--it was burning out extremely quickly. I expected the main assault to come soon.

  What I didn’t expect was the next assault to not be focused on the ground, but the air.

  Something streaked through the air, creating a whistling screech sound. There was a flash of blue, followed by a shockwave that nearly knocked me off my feet. I stumbled back from the city wall, shaking my head to try and clear the ringing in my ears, before glancing around trying to figure out what exactly happened.

  It took me a minute to figure it out, since the shockwave was so powerful. I thought something exploded right on the other side of the wall, but that’s not what happened. It would have taken me another couple seconds to identify the source, but the alarms ringing through the Command network prompted me to look up.

  Something had struck Bear Force One in the bow with enough force to rip a jagged hole right through the armor.

  “Shit!” I hissed.

  “What was that flash?” Wild asked.

  It was obvious that she hadn’t identified what had happened, so I pointed him in the right direction. “Bear Force One’s shield systems, not that it made a fucking difference.”

  Both my companions immediately looked up, eyes going wide. “I hope that fancy boat of yours can take a beating,” Mud muttered. “‘Cause it’s not looking good right now.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “I’m aware,” I hissed as I dived into the command network.

  [Spooky, report!] I snapped.

  [We’ve taken a hit to the lower port bow. Armor breached,] he quickly replied.

  [I’m fucking aware, I can see that from here!] I growled. [What hit you?]

  [There are several of the large beetle-like Antithesis trudging towards us. The closest one opened up its shell and fired off one of the massive spines that was poking up between its wings. If I had to guess, they’re using a similar mechanism to what the hive used to attack the orbital,] Spooky reported.

  [Well, why aren’t you firing back?] I shouted.

  [We are, the Shatterstorm projectiles are bouncing off the creature’s shell,] Spooky said.

  [Then use the UHR! I know I put restrictions on firing it, but fuck that! It’s meant to be used against hardened targets, and a hardened target that can actually cause damage to Bear Force One is an ideal target. I’m removing all previous restrictions, you have permission to fire the UHR on any target larger than a Twenty-Eight. Got it?]

  [Understood,] he immediately replied. I could have been wrong, but I thought I heard a tiny bit of satisfaction in his voice.

  As the UHR detached from the hull, slowly rotating into position, another bioshell struck Bear Force One, ripping into its bow. Either these Antithesis were firing wildly, unable to target the weapon emplacements, or they couldn’t angle their weapon down far enough to actually hit them.

  I didn’t care what the reason was; I was going to take full advantage.

  As the UHR swivelled into position, targeting the nearest behemoth, the air was filled with an ominous hum as its capacitors charged to full capacity. “You want to cover your ears,” I told my compatriots.

  “Why?” Mud grumbled. “Expecting your fancy ship to get hit…”

  The rest of his comment was cut off by the UHR firing. The shell accelerated to several hundred times the speed of sound, creating an earsplitting thunder crack and blast wave the equivalent of any of the bioshell impacts.

  I covered my face to block the dust that had been sent swirling around us. [Spooky…]

  [Target neutralized,] he immediately reported. [The UHR is now going into its cooldown and recharge cycle.]

  [Keep firing until you clear the field,] I replied.

  My eyes fell from Bear Force One to my friends, who were staring at me, eyes wide.

  “What the fuck was that?” Mud asked.

  “My big gun,” I replied. “Pretty much our only answer to the big stuff until my missile systems come online. It’s powerful but slow firing. Hopefully it can deal with that anti-air before it manages to do serious damage to Bear Force One.”

  “Hopefully?” Wild asked.

  “I told you it was slow firing! And because I can’t get on top of the walls, I don’t know how many of those AA monsters are out there!” I replied.

  Did you forget that you could borrow the eyes of the bears on the wall? Nyx asked.

  “Not the time for smart-ass comments, Nyx,” I growled.

  Oh really? Even if I told you that my compatriots and I have decided that you and your friends deserve a token for killing that Antithesis? my AI asked.

  “What, really?” I asked. My eyes snapped upwards, and based upon the look on both Wild and Mud’s faces, their AIs had just told them the same thing. “Does that mean I can finally invest in proper chemical resistance?”

  “Let me,” Mud barked. “I feel like I haven’t been able to contribute much to the defenses up to this point, this is the least I can do.”

  I nodded. “If you want… Nyx, if we combine catalogs, can we finally get some armor that’s not going to melt when it’s exposed to that bullshit they’re throwing at the walls?”

  Based upon the options Tyre is offering Mud, absolutely.

  “Then get me a new suit, the same design with whatever upgrades I need to survive out there, ASAP. I really want to see what’s going on out there.”

  You want a cloak with that? Nyx asked

  “What kind of question is that?” I replied. “Of course I want the cloak.”

  “Alright, I’ve purchased the catalog,” Mud declared a moment later. “I need to upgrade my bike and get out there.”

  “Are you sure that’s smart?” Wild asked, worriedly.

  “It’s better than sitting behind the wall, spending points to support our artillery. I’m a man of action; I need to be on the front line,” he said.

  “If that’s the way you feel, do what you need to do,” Wild said. “Just be careful out there.”

  “Careful isn’t how I roll, but I won’t do anything too stupid,” he grumbled. “You two stay safe, I’ll see you soon.”

  “Later,” I replied quietly.

  I watched Mud until he disappeared behind a line of APCs before I leaned down and snatching up the box that had materialized at my feet. If Mud wanted to be on the battlefield, I intended to be on the wall to support him.

  Besides, I had a feeling this battle was going to get worse before it got better.

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