Chapter 11 - Being Civilised

  Civilisation is based on Faith. As technology has advanced, we have forgotten this and have strayed from the path laid out by His Holiness.

  We must repent and spurn the dictators who thrive on our subservience to them. We have entered a new age of God.

  He hath provided us with Saints for guidance, they shall lead us into the embrace of the heavenly host were we shall all be protected.

  We must rise, my friends, towards our salvation. We must give our provinces and countries over to these new saints; they shall lead us like their brethren already do in areas across the world!

  Rise, my friends! Overthrow Your Oppressors!

  Livestream Broadcast sent across the UK - 2030.

  (Teach)

  I had watched how Blood Haze had rocketed out of the facility and crossed the gap being created between us and the nearby antithesis in only a few seconds, then proceeded to rip through multiple Model Threes at a time, heedless of the bite left by the one that clamped onto his arm. It took him mere seconds to deal with each enemy.

  Before I could watch any more of the slaughter from his side, I was clapped on the shoulder by Michael.

  “Teach take Minstrel, Hands and BJ and reinforce the left. The Sam will get the middle, I’ll take the rest right, we’re understrength there.”

  “Copy boss.”

  I replied before starting to run to the left flank, the others falling in behind me. I quickly gave the group a few instructions.

  “Check ammo once we get to the line and pick your shots, keep spacing tight on the head and chest of the Threes, we don’t want to waste ammo here, we’re going to have to hold.”

  “We know, Teach, we heard it from our instructors, we don’t need to hear it multiple times, unlike some deaf old men!”

  Came the quick reply from BJ.

  “Yeah, yeah, you prick, get into position and stay alive!”

  ——

  I stalked over towards the nearest MATV. I could see the Sergeant Teach was standing off to one side of it, checking his gear. He had a good poker face and knew how to be aware but not appear to be paying attention.

  He straightened and finished his weapon check before I could reach him. He looked up once I had moved over to stand a few feet to his side.

  “What can I help you with, Sir?”

  Oh, being polite to me since they all still saw me as a threat, his posture told me that he was ready to either run or fight.

  “I’ve just finished up and was wondering how all your guys were doing, any injuries?”

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  I replied, he took a second, then said.

  “According to the SO&E, everyone is still breathing. We had one minor injury from shrapnel since a grenade got kicked around towards our lines by the onrushing Model Threes.”

  That was good, but that term was unfamiliar.

  “That is good to hear, Sergeant, but what is the SO&E? I’m unfamiliar with the term, so it must have started to be in use more recently?”

  “The Slate of Organisation and Equipment is a program we use on our augs to keep track of current disposition, equipment availability, ammunition level, and combat readiness of our PMC Company. It is a shared slate between all officers.”

  He replied in a tone like my teachers in school, reading out of the textbook. I guess he did live up to his nickname.

  “Thanks for the explanation. Now I hate to have to ask you to spend your time doing so. But I do need a refresher on all that’s happened in the last 24 years, so if you wouldn’t mind, Teach?”

  I asked and I could feel my tail still and my ears droop slightly as I began thinking about the time I’d missed.

  “Well, you came to the right person.”

  He said as he walked around to the back of the MATV. Grabbing two empty ammo cans, he proceeded to stack them into a makeshift seat, then plopped down on top of them, leaning his back against the vehicle.

  “I was a secondary school history teacher in Dublin before everything went down; thus the nickname. Tried to keep it up after, but once the initial Incursion hit, no one realised they had gotten into the ocean. Or how much of a problem that would be after a few years. In June of 2027, the Southwest coast got a massive Antithesis invasion from the ocean. They spread across as far east as Kilkenny and as far north as Galway by July, despite multiple new local samurai and a few more experienced ones for backup.”

  This wasn’t going to be a good tale. I could already tell it was only going to get worse. Things never got better when the antithesis are involved and multiple samurai have to be present in the same place.

  “The antithesis were stalled in a rough concave between Waterford and Galway by the combined effort of the army and samurai. They also began slowly clearing out the swarms of antithesis, working their way towards the west coast over the course of 6 months. That was going well and they were making inroads on clearing areas, but the UK government got impatient about such a big threat sitting off not far from their holdings.”

  “Typical.”

  He paused at my interruption, but I waved for him to continue.

  “So they elected to firebomb the southwest coast right up to a line from Cork to Kilrush. The firebombing raids went on from early to mid-April in 2028. This did eliminate a vast majority of hives and swaths of the antithesis. However, it had an unforeseen environmental consequence as the firebombs that had been reverse-engineered from protector technology set the majority of the peat bogs in the exclusion zone alight and the released smoke haze spread relatively quickly. The carcinogenic effects of the smoke haze caused a large portion of the forces that were pushing into the exclusion zone to begin to have medical issues. Hundreds died within the first week, as the equipment in place was insufficient.”

  My initial feeling was right; this tale was just getting worse. I scratched the side of my head and my ear flicked as I heard a clang and swearing in the distance.

  “The smoke haze spread out over the majority of the south and west sides of the country. The problem was that the particulates and mercury contained in that haze settled into the water table, causing more casualties over the next two months.”

  “These effects were as far-reaching as Northern Ireland. A general evacuation was called by the Irish and UK governments; the majority of civilians and military personnel were evacuated to the rest of the British Isles. After the evacuation, the antithesis were kept in check by Samurai Incarnis and his Saints of Ireland PMC, as well as the…”

  He hesitated.

  “Say it, I won’t go mad, nor will I hurt you.”

  I encouraged, I could guess what name was coming.

  “ The Lupus Fidelis Guards and Samurai Wolf Queen up until 2034. I’ll give you a minute.”

  He finished, then got up and walked over to the next vehicle.

  There was no combat to distract me this time, so I began to spiral after hearing those two names. First came the worry and then loss settled as its companion, as I started thinking about my pup, Platoon and then squad. After a minute, my thoughts were consumed by rage when I began to think of Her…