Book 6 - Chapter 35 - Reinforcements
I frowned as another tremor shook the Bear-acades. Now that the subterranean situation had stabilized, I’d started systematically collapsing the Antithesis tunnel system.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the Antithesis hadn’t been content just running a couple tunnels to bypass our defenses, and once we’d intercepted them, they’d decided to branch out and create a series of forward tunnels so they could deploy their ground troops much closer to our lines and protect them from the relentless Shatterstorm barrage.
Since the largest and heaviest models were trying to push through the tunnels, they didn’t have enough bulk to survive the unrelenting stream of laser fire being unleashed upon them by the rotary laser cannons on the walls. If the Antithesis had dedicated more Fourteens and Twenty-Threes to the surface assault, they might have actually made progress while I’d been tied up below.
If I’d been a little smarter I would have ordered the bears to collapse the tunnels at the far side of the battle field first, and prevent the Antithesis from sending reinforcements through the tunnels at all, but since I’d been concerned they’d sneak something through while I wasn’t there I’d told them to collapse the tunnels closest to the walls first. This led to a brief, intense, fight on the surface as everything that had been trapped in the tunnel emerged in a single massive wave.
The surface access tunnels were so close to the walls that the bears just didn’t have enough time to deal with all the heavy models. The Twenty-Threes smashed into the Bear-acades in several locations, dislodging the anchors and throwing bears from the walls.
Our reinforcements poured into the gaps, holding the tide back just long enough for me to re-route several Ursa’s and bathe the front lines with M17. Frying the Antithesis gave us just enough to start collapsing the next section of tunnels.
Once the Antithesis had been cut off from the tunnels right outside our walls, things stabilized. The Twenty-Threes might have been strong, but even they couldn’t stand up to a sustained Shatterstorm barrage as they crossed no man’s land. With the situation stabilizing, I assigned Bandit to coordinate with the weapons crews and collapse the remaining network.
Now, almost an hour later, the process was still ongoing.
“Please tell me you’re close to finishing,” I whined. “The constant rattling is giving me a headache.”
“Sorry boss, it seems that the Antithesis have either started mass producing Model Eights, or have unleashed the ones they had sitting in the hive, and have started building a massive tunnel network. I don’t know how wide they’re going, but we’ve got a number of reports of Antithesis being spotted on the far side of the M17 firewalls the Ursas are laying down,” Bandit explained.
“I guess the Antithesis are tired of being contained,” I grumbled.
“If I had to guess, the M17 worked early on because the hive hadn’t extended its tunnel networks out that far. Now that it’s all connected, there's nothing stopping them from creating a series of subterranean highways out of the area,” Bandit said.
“I thought they were focusing their efforts on assaulting us here, but now it seems like they’re focusing their efforts on branching out…”
“Well, in all fairness, Grand Falls probably seemed like a fairly juicy target to the Antithesis early on. Plenty of resources close to the hive, and with the fungus, they really didn’t lose much by throwing waves of troops at our walls. If there’s any sort of intelligence in the hive, and based upon the fact that the Antithesis are adjusting their tactics over time, there’s probably something, then it must have realized that it can’t penetrate our defenses with its current forces, so it’s started to branch out,” Bandit said, leaning on the wall. “Grand Falls might be the closest source of materials, but it’s not the only source. There are plenty of other towns and abandoned settlements in the area.”
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“Ugh… smart Antithesis are the worst. I prefer the stupid, mindless ones that throw themselves helplessly against our walls until they weaken themselves enough that we can go on the offensive and wipe them out,” I grumbled.
“I don’t think that was ever going to happen with that fungus breaking down the Antithesis losses,” Bandit pointed out.
“They might have been able to recover the vast majority of the biomass, but they couldn’t recover it all. We would have worn them down… eventually… probably,” I muttered.
When Bandit just shook his head, I sighed. “Once they break the perimeter how long until the Antithesis reach a significant source of metals?” I asked. “Any chance we can send some troops to cut them off or, even better, salvage the resources before they do?”
“Our salvage teams have been breaking down the closest ruined towns, but there are far too many ruined houses, buried pipelines, and other abandoned infrastructure out there. We can’t prevent them from collecting it all,” Bandit replied.
“In that case, you should call Charlotte and see if The Family can pull up a list of major settlements and locations that may have used rarer materials,” a familiar voice suggested. “If we can’t keep them from collecting metals, we should at least try and keep them from gathering anything valuable.”
“Nora! When did you arrive?” I asked in surprise before hopping off the wall and running over to my friend so I could give her a hug.
“Just a couple minutes ago. I’m surprised you didn’t notice me earlier. I flew over your defenses on the way in so I could see what we have to work with,” Nora replied, returning the hug. “Seems like you’ve had a little trouble, I noticed a couple breaches in the walls.”
“It’s that fucking fungus!” I exclaimed, gesturing back to the wall. “It allows the Antithesis to throw their forces at us with little regard for their losses. Plus, they seem to have access to a couple unique, heavy antithesis models, which have been causing us all sorts of trouble.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like you managed to handle them okay,” Nora replied. “The town’s still intact.”
“Yeah, but we’ve had a couple close calls. Every single time the Antithesis throw something new at us, I need to purchase some new catalog and upgrade my forces just to get through the fight,” I admitted. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to hold if the Antithesis manage to start developing stronger models.”
“You’ll hold; I have faith,” Nora replied, patting me on the head. “So where are the samurai you’ve been working with?”
“Oh, WildWalker is probably still in the tunnels. Since there’s not a lot of space on the front lines she’s kind of turned the area into her own experimental greenhouse. I assigned a couple beavers to help her expand the place and a couple frogs to help take care of the plants. Whenever she has something she wants to deploy, she gives it to the bears,” I explained. “Now that she doesn’t need to plant everything herself, she can concentrate on developing the new species.”
“And the other one… Mudflap was it?” Nora asked.
“He’s probably out running over the Antithesis somewhere. That ‘bike’ of his is quite the machine, absolutely scythes through the antithesis, but it doesn’t have many indirect fire weapons, so he prefers to stay on the other side of the walls harassing the enemy,” I said. “He usually comes in for a break every hour or so, so if you hang around the front gate you’ll probably run into him eventually,” I said. “Oh! I should give you their contact information before I forget. Would you like me to give them a call and introduce you all?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Nora replied. “I spent the last hour in a cramped compact car, and I really want to stretch my legs. I want to go for a run.”
“And after that?” I asked.
“I’ll probably hop over the wall and check out what the front lines look like,” she replied. “You know me, I may have some ranged weapons, but I’m more comfortable dealing with the Antithesis in an up close and personal manner.”
“Be careful out there,” I warned. “The Antithesis have been developing stronger models, and the Fives are strong enough to damage my bears. This isn’t your standard battlefield.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she muttered. “I’ll keep an eye out for them. I just upgraded my power armor; hopefully that’ll be strong enough to withstand the punishment.”
“Hopefully…” I hesitantly agreed. “They’ve also been bombarding us with acid that cut through my old armor, so that might be an issue too. I’ve invested in a bunch of new catalogs after arriving here, and I’ll ask Nyx to make them available to you. Feel free to use them to upgrade your gear.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she replied, stretching her arms above her head. “I’ll make sure to take a look at them before I venture out,” she said. “But first, to introduce myself.”
“If you need anything I’ll be on the wall, organizing the defenses,” I told her.
“Thanks! I’ll stop by before I head over the wall,” she replied before turning and heading towards the town gate.
“Hey Nora,” I called after her. “It’s good to see you, thanks for coming.”
“Thanks Evelyn,” she replied. “It’s good to be here.”