Chapter 19: To battle!

  “Most samurais have a specialty. This is critical to remember when creating a tactical assault plan. Doing battle against them in their specialty creates an almost impossible to win scenario. Outside of that specialty, they are still incredibly dangerous, and trying to kill them in direct conflict is idiotic, but it puts them at a severe initial disadvantage.

  However, it must be stressed that their weakness in an area probably won’t last long. Samurai have an infinite arsenal!

  Hell, they have access to whatever they may ever want or need at the tip of their fingers. They only need to ask and your tactical advantage disappears.”

  –Maria Rodriguez, last survivor of the ‘Bounty Busters’ PMC group, team discussion before she refused to attempt to collect on an illegal bounty, 2047

  ***

  I learned something quickly. I was not anywhere near as awesome as I thought I was. For one, I really needed some sort of martial art implant or something because I kind of sucked with my axe!

  I used to down gangers with a stolen fire axe, not do battle with hordes of aliens in melee! Also, super morphic vibro-blade pole arms have slightly different ergonomics than my old shitty stolen weapon.

  My new, beautiful and too sexy for me axe turned quickly into a glaive. The triangular blade flattened and slid out as I swung. The edge hummed gently the whole time, vibrating so subtly that in the heat of combat, there was no way to tell!

  It did its job very, very well. The morphic weapon cut through model threes like they were nothing but cucumbers and this was fruit-ninja seven, the revenge! I loved that movie, so bad it’s good and easy to pirate since no one gives a shit about data theft of that garbage.

  My edge alignment could use some work, but since the grip fit me perfectly and the damn thing cut through anything, I did fine enough.

  For the cut that is. I could have returned to a proper guard, moved with the swing to set up another, etc…

  I wanted that martial art download, bad!

  Lila’s voice came over comms as I switched to my shotgun and fired into the horde at max speed. “Hey Louis? All the civvies are safe, want to get back here?”.

  I kind of did but… “No! Fuck that fuck mother…” A few teeths from a bite got through to my calf! Fucking plates and everything had gone to block a spin and left the armor thin!

  “Use the distraction! Altany! Give them an itinerary! Argh!” Another fucking bite! Shit! “Suck a dog dick you dog faced son of a fucked up bitch!” The little ones I could tank, but when they had big teeth…

  “How long can you survive on your own Mad Panda?” Johnny asked. Good fucking question!

  “We’ll fucking find out won’t we? Ah!” A fucking spine got through! Planted itself in my god forsaken ass from the side!

  “Fucking gaping pig cunt! How did… is that poisonous Altany?” The spine hurt like hell, but an odd extra pain kept getting worse! I pulled the projectile out but the wound still hurt more and more by the second!

  Yes, it is. I believe my vanguard can maintain this fighting pace for another ten minutes before perishing. More if I take over communications and he focuses on the aliens trying to kill him.

  “Thanks Altany! Please give me an antidote or some shit and some fucking nano! Fucking hell why does that hurt so mother fucking bad!?” I unloaded everything in a circle, using low recoil and high rate of fire to give me just a little more time.

  Inject these at the wound site. The pain should subside quickly.

  Model five venom is a neurotoxin. It shares similarities with Earth’s black widow spider venom, but in exponentially larger quantities. This type of exposure could result in super-contractions of affected muscle groups, spasming and twitching of surrounding muscles followed by flaccid paralysis.

  Some affected individuals have broken their own bones due to the over-exertion of super-contractions. It over-stimulates affected nerves and creates false signals. This anti-venom will give you protection against exposure in the short term. I suggest you avoid getting stabbed again.

  “Why the fuck…? Ha! Super moded muscles and nerves! Suck my throbbing cock, bullshit hedgehogs! Though it still fucking hurts!” The weird burning or whatever did subside with that soothing, nice and beautiful bunch of meds… Oh god I loved drugs sometimes… No one tell my kids…

  Yes, but this venom is still dangerous to your non-modified muscles, such as your diaphragm and heart. Also, your pain receptors remain unchanged which leads to your painful experience.

  Those ranged models could still choke on a horse cock! I could at least take the damage without too many issues now. I’d prefer not to though!

  I’d upgrade my armor when I got out of this. However, that didn’t look likely at the moment. I needed to change tactics…

  As my shotgun reloaded in my armor, I kept fighting with the Paw, hopefully getting better in the process.

  I fucking sliced eight in one swing, but they were still coming! Saying I’d barely made a dent would be an understatement.

  Using all my strength and speed, I kept slashing, barely holding back the small horde that surrounded me… for a few seconds.

  One of the bigger, meaner model threes jumped over my swing and went for my face! I let go of my weapon with my left hand only to get a vibro-blade out of my right gauntlet.

  Truly, vibro-blades were amazeballs and I just couldn’t do them justice. The one extending from my arm went straight through the thing’s face!

  Then it went through its throat, then stomach…

  yup, a millisecond later I was covered in antithesis gore, again! God damn it…

  This time, I even got whatever passed as its digestive system in my face! Yeah!

  My arm-blade wasn’t long enough to cut it in half. The asshole’d jumped at my head so guess who the fuck ended up in the direct trajectory of a massive stomach wound!

  “Thank you, Altany the almighty, for making my armor airtight.” I muttered at high speed using my boosted to ‘holy shitballs!’ reflexes.

  You’re welcome. I believe this may be a good time to extricate yourself.

  I sadly didn’t have time to cry and shutter or whatever since there was still a tide incoming! Or… well, right on fucking top of me, so not incoming?

  Because I got a bit buried in antithesis guts, it took them a couple seconds to find me. I decided not to wait!

  I had a lot more experience with hand-to-hand fighting. That, I was good at, really good. A big advantage when fighting in a megabuilding, especially on the lower floors.

  On the higher ones, residential districts were built wider, had more space. The lower floors however were a fucking warren of tight corridors and confined spaces. It made creating close quarters ambushes a lot easier.

  So, I decided to put my talents to good use! It became a disgusting and violent melee. I’d always loved Muay-Thai, but with vibro-blades involved? Snap kicks without as much force became much more effective. I dodged, weaved then delivered quick jabs and punches. Putting more force behind strikes might help with that one enemy, but against so many it became a hindrance.

  I mostly used my strength to move the models out of my way, or in the way of another xeno! My favorite shined mostly with very close quarters, when I used my elbows and knees. With my new strength, those became ridiculously devastating. Only necessary for the bigger assholes though.

  I started to like the claws! Whenever I had the chance, I could just grab one of the fuckers and rip out… anything, really! Just grab, dig in and pull. It also felt incredibly cathartic. Those fucking pieces of god damn shit ripped my people apart? I’d fucking rip them apart!

  I tried not to let rage control me, to make it turn to wrath and have it fuel me instead. Hard thing to describe, really.

  My armor was good, but not impenetrable. The fuckers got through some of the time. Especially the big ones with power behind their claws!

  The hits I had to worry most about were those that went straight for the thinner, more mobile alloys at my joints. The gel impact lining inside helped for sure, and the alloy plating still blocked a lot of damage, but given how many hits I took?

  I had to thank Altany for proposing bone augmentations. They’d saved my life a dozen times already, given how debilitating breaking joints would be. I also avoided a ton of damage simply because the antithesis were in each other’s way!

  Worst injuries came from the fuckers still shooting at me! The model fifteens couldn’t get proper angles on me, so they waited. Those explosions would hurt the horde more than me.

  The model fives, on the other hand, had absolutely zero compunction about shooting their own troops!

  By sheer chance, a few spines made it through where a plate wasn’t and I got skewered. KP-Kicking to the rescue! Having to fight with a goddamn spine going from my stomach to my back felt fucking fantastic! A few more added themselves to my wardrobe before I ripped them off.

  The only solution I could think of was running for a hallway to funnel them. However, I couldn’t leave while my enforcers risked their lives to save civilians. Every second I lasted might mean another life saved!

  “Suggestions please?” I asked while frantically spike-punching and kicking heads, spines, legs, anything I could reach!

  It may be wise to use your powerful main weapons after gaining a minimum distance. The antithesis will still stay focused on you a few meters into a corridor. This could let you funnel them. Would you like a special type of warhead for the occasion?

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  “Yes please!” I said while bolting through the thinnest spot I could find. Fuck it. I’d been a fucking idiot. The distance had closed so fast that my instincts, all of which were based on fighting humans, took over.

  That had been a mistake. I was fighting hordes of aliens, not a dozen gangers! Melee may happen, and it could be the right choice in some circumstances.

  However, blade punches just didn’t commit the level of war crime needed to push them back! I couldn’t slice enough xenos to create distance, so I ended up in non-stop melee.

  The moment I got a few meters of distance, I reassembled my gun. So mother fucking sexy… No time for putting my dick in a barrel, I had work to do! Damn drugs, super nice to have but a bit distracting!

  I loved my shotgun. Large bodied with red RGB coming from seams in the black damascus metal. who the fuck knows how that light worked. I mean, I assembled it and I had no idea! Oh well, samurai. Focus damn it!

  That hexagonal barrel had mounts at corners that formed a six pointed star with long alien tubes attached to it when assembled, forcing a lot of the bulk. The barrel would move back with every shot and the gel or whatever in them would absorb most of the recoil. Little gift from Johnny!

  The problem with shooting massive slugs delivering ridiculous amounts of energy? Well, that energy also came right back at you in the form of kickback. Not anymore though! My first awesome ten gauge? I could run that ammo with full auto with this! Don’t believe me?

  I grinned and chuckled as I brought my gun up. This’d be fun.

  The surprise rounds Altany had given me thundered into the enemy! 20mm and sporting more propellant than normal shells, adding half-again as much velocity. The rounds wounded plants in a spread but I thought it had a slug since what I aimed at got hit hard. I got a bit confused until my brain squatting bestie explained.

  These are collapsing slugs. Upon exiting the barrel, the strong G-Forces and air resistance force the upper parts, a series of extremely sharp wedges, away from the slug. The shape helps with separating them as much as possible, creating much wider spread than buck or bird shot.

  I smiled. Altany might’ve been a bit excited. I sure was!

  The core is a depleted uranium alloy penetrator. The projectile itself is almost twice the height of typical one ounce slugs and weighs a total of seventy-five grams. It may not kill a model six in one shot, but two well aimed ones may be effective enough. The wedges are not typically very lethal. However, at current velocities, they will cause severe wounds.

  I couldn’t fuck around, so I unloaded full auto into the wave. The moment I had more space, I kept on bolting for the shelter’s hallway! I’d never open the damn thing, of course, but the corridor created a good funnel with the right width.

  I remembered my humbling. I wasn’t a frontline monster yet. I needed those fuckers to come from a single direction and this was my only choice for now. It fucking annoyed me but I’d deal.

  “Fuck I’ve been stupid…” I chastised myself while unloading ungodly amounts of metals downrange. The main slug could penetrate up to three aliens depending on the model!

  Had to keep my ears peeled for hostiles behind me. I’d never admit it to Altany, but those cybernetic ears were really fucking useful…

  You are inexperienced and relying on hard honed and ingrained battle tactics that are not well adapted to your current enemy. You have not been a vanguard for long, it is natural to struggle with very rapid battlefield adaptation.

  I smiled. “Thanks Altany. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them since I’m pretty sure they’re going to flank me soon.”

  Your coilgun, stupid.

  Okay, yeah, I deserved that. I honestly forgot about it! First massive battle, alright? cut me a break! “Anything else?” I asked, hoping for tips and tricks to save the day.

  All you have is upgradeable, even your munitions.

  That also picked my interest! “Any esoteric upgrade to those shells?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Of course there is. You are using humanity grade or slightly above ammunition and boosting their velocity, but that is all. As I have said, you’ve only begun to plumb the depths of this catalogue.

  I didn’t argue since they started to gain ground and I had to block more spines. “Sure, gimme gimme! Expensive shit please!”

  Drugs had disadvantages, like making me say shit like that to make a joke. Totally not worth it. I endorsed this message!

  Oh wait, horrendous pain rendering me incapable of fighting a kitten… Drugs were awesome! I wouldn't endorse this message with a ten feet pole! I had kids, come on.

  After switching magazines, the moment I started shooting again, the difference became obvious and magnificent. I opted for just a bit less velocity to get a higher rate of fire. Using my speed boost vape, I saw a bit of the result.

  As the slug exited the barrel, I could see the small sub-projectiles extend in a small circle around it. The moment they disconnected, each of them doubled in size!

  Then, just a bit farther down, the slug… exploded? No, there was an explosion behind it… then another… Wait, did that thing accelerate?

  When I saw it hit one of the model fives, I got it. It was probably going at minimum Mach 3.5! The impact blew a hole twice the god damn size on entry!

  Then, as the sub projectiles hit, they exploded, because of course they did. Such beauty in annihilation! I could see a circle of explosions mangle antithesis after every shot. It didn’t kill with every hit but it sure as hell did a lot of damage.

  Fuck me, did I push them back?

  As I heard the assholes coming from behind me, I assembled my railgun. “Something to keep them back, please!” I shouted over the cacophony of my shotgun. Thinking about it, why the fuck was I shouting?

  Altany lived in my head and I wore a pretty damn good helmet. Whatever, it felt right.

  Anything specific?

  I thought about it for a quarter of a second. Damn, that speed vape really worked well! It wouldn’t last long but it made for a great emergency tool.

  “Super napalm? Something that can melt the fuckers? I don’t care much about points at the moment!”

  I shot the bigger prolapsing assholes and the small fry got hit in the crossfire. It worked! My aim was… dubious, but the spread helped compensate! Those spines still pummeled me every so often, but only on plates since they all came from the same direction now. I didn’t go deep in the corridor which meant more angles to shoot me however.

  I stayed close to the center so that I’d keep their attention. I had a fucking mission after all!

  I felt the magazine on my back become much heavier right before my railgun started to hum dangerously. I knew the little garden hounds were almost around the corner.

  I let Altany aim for me since she could connect to my armor through my neural wreath.

  I didn’t ‘see’ the result, but echolocation gave me a good idea. I didn’t need much velocity to simply deliver napalm, so massive projectiles fired quickly did the job rather well.

  The insane heat surprised me since I could feel it from twenty or so meters away! “Jesus mule fucking Christ! What is that?!”

  Napalm mixed with stabilized viscous chlorine trifluoride. It may melt the concrete, but not all the way to the next floor.

  Well, it worked. The hive hounds tried to jump over it, but apparently that was a bad idea! They never survived the trip. “Am I endangering survivors?” I asked with apprehension.

  For the moment, no, but if you wish to make it safer to extract others, you will have to reenter the fray in the middle.

  “Fuck… I need… point defense and some way to funnel them! Shit, turrets too…” I had an idea…

  According to the footage I have access to, several model six are coming towards your position.

  “Shit, give me stupidly high velocity shit right after a few more super napalm shots, blow a hole through the fuckers! Before they arrive… good high velocity railgun buckshot?” I asked, getting agitated.

  My coil gun turned around on a dime and I received a new magazine. I had no time to fuck around as I observed a version of high-powered grapeshot come out of my railgun. Every pellet tore through the horde like 50 BMG rounds. Fucking awesome, next!

  When the plant elephants showed up, I fired the last rounds of grapeshot to get to the promised super high velocity slug.

  I should’ve braced better.

  The shot kicked unlike anything else I’d ever experienced. Even with a knee in the ground with a spike for stabilization, but that just meant I created a furrow. My railgun even added more bracing before firing!

  “Altany, what in the ever loving fuck was that?” I asked as I replayed the scene in my head.

  It had clearly been a sabot round, no question about it. As soon as those separated, I saw a small light. Not a tracer, right? I only saw it for a flickering instant since it impacted the target ridiculously fast! Did it accelerate like those slugs?

  That was a hypersonic uranium staballoy penetrator shot. Low weight to allow it to reach the proper velocity.

  “What the fuck does hypersonic mean?” I knew supersonic meant above the speed of sound and… Yeah, no, that was it.

  Most rounds are supersonic, which creates a sonic boom. Your projectiles tend to hover between Mach one and Mach three. Hypersonic means that the projectile exceeds Mach five. This requires a minimum amount of space after firing to achieve extra acceleration.

  Most of what you fired was actually extra ‘slow’ burning propellant. The Tunneler cannot fire such rounds as it would burst. To give you an idea, you exceeded three hundred thousand joules on the first hit. This shot strained your armor in a few ways, firing this many more times would be unwise.

  Yeah, that’d explain how the round had punched through a model six, then another, then continued to punch through anything. It blew a ridiculous crater in the wall before said wall was splattered by a mist of plant blood!

  “Fuck me…” I couldn’t take the time to be dumbstruck. I switched to super napalm and went back to covering the area behind me.

  Had to be careful. There were fucking holes in the concrete from that shit! If I shot the same spot too many times, pretty sure I’d get to floor seven. Scary shit!

  I got back to my old love, hyper-compressed buckshot. All the creative stuff was useful, but not necessarily correct for this situation. Hyper-compressed buckshot may not be the most expensive, amazing or whatever, but it did the job beautifully when accelerated a bit.

  Not only that, I could fire it somewhat rapidly now, which meant great coverage! The guided rockets might be nice but they needed some time to lock on targets. After a few shots though, I switched to the death spinners to make a model three salad.

  After those, I started moving forward, back to the slaughter. “Altany, any way you could replace the pellets/slugs in the hyper-compressed buckshot with those white phosphorus balls of yours?”

  Of course. Would you like a full magazine? They will be rather expensive.

  That surprised me a bit, even though it shouldn’t. Altany could clearly invent and make alterations, why wouldn’t she be able to do this kind of shit?

  I really needed to sit down and do some proper shopping when I wasn’t dying. “Hell yes, full mag, let’s make a barrier. Burning balls this big should intimidate any body builder and create an area that’s nice and hot.”

  I’d made a pretty nice hole! Sadly, I needed to step back into the maelstrom. The alien fucks kept getting closer to survivors and rescue teams because the aliens followed me outside the main concourse.

  At least, I reentered with a much better understanding. Also, maybe most importantly, with giant bodies to use as a barricade.

  I took the time to inject all the healing nanites that were left in my colonic injector and refill it. KP-Kicking in my vein still kicking! I also reloaded my propellant magazine and bought some classic ammunition for my ammo storage.

  Since the model six corpse was on the right, I started spraying the blindingly bright projectiles to the left, making a sort of wall of fire while I moved forward. Accelerating as much as I could without stopping my phosphorus rain, I finally tackled the closest model six corpse and pushed!

  It gave me a bit of cover from the model fives all around the concourse, but not that much. However, it was enough cover for me to mostly shield myself properly. I really needed more armor plates…

  Moving as fast as I could and using every muscle in my body, I placed corpses to create a triangle open at one corner. “I need area denial that’s different from fire!”

  What about compressed slugs of a powerful adhesive liquid that you can fire at the ground, slowing down the enemy. They should burst on contact and spread their payload. There is no need for anything but the lowest velocity which should allow you to cover a large area with very rapid fire.

  “Sounds good!” I would need to hold that position until the civilians we could get to were safe or until Johnny Law could assist me.. “Please tell me you can get a juice box that I can drink without stopping?” In the end, it was doable… Mostly.

  Let’s not talk about it. I was rehydrated and ready for a good fight!

  This’d take a while…