TBoB - Book 7 - Chapter 71 - Ignore at your peril (Heavy POV) (Patreon)

Heavy hefted his rotary laser cannon and strode across the ocean floor. “I can’t believe the boss based her entire plan upon the chance that we’ll be able to contact Bear Force One once the purifier is closer to the Retribution,” he muttered. “Of course, I have to defend this hunk of junk while she tries to infiltrate the hive with her friends.”He paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side. “On second thought, I definitely have the better job,” he said to himself. He raised his hand, causing the moose behind him to come to a complete halt. It was an unnecessary action; he could control them all with a thought, but preferred the face-to-face interaction. It was definitely something he picked up from the boss.“Once we round this corner, we don’t stop marching until we’re directly underneath the Retribution,” he said to the moose gathered around him. “Make sure that the missile launches are staggered, so we don’t give the Antithesis any openings to close in on us. We need to protect the purifier at all costs, so keep your eyes out for Antithesis trying to flank us. Any questions?”

Of course there weren’t. These were newly produced bots which hadn’t had time to be exposed to new experiences, and develop the seed of a personality. They’d left all the seasoned bots back in Great Falls, and these ones hadn’t learned to think for themselves yet. Still, it felt right for him to ask.

“Since there are no questions, let’s move out!” Heavy declared, stepping out from behind the ridge and revving up his weapon.

He took a nanosecond to evaluate the situation. The number of Antithesis pouring out of the ruined reef was far larger than he expected, but they were also much weaker. There wasn’t a single brawler among them that could cause him damage, so he brought the cannon around, aimed at the closest column of Antithesis and opened fire.

The small, skate-shaped Model One-Os were so frail they couldn’t do anything against the sudden onslaught; They couldn’t even body block to prevent the slightly stronger Model Threes around them from being injured. The laser blasts cut straight through the small pigion sized Antithesis, cautarizing the wounds before punching through the heavier units behind them.

The barrage was so effective that Heavy’s initial barrage didn’t just cut off the stream of Antithesis coming out of that entrance, but pushed them back into the tunnel network. That would have been useful if the creatures weren’t pouring out of a dozen other burrows and flooding into the area. 

As soon as he opened fire, the Antithesis coming out of the three entrances closest to his target turned and charged his location. 

“If you think that’s going to scare me, you’ve got another thing coming,” the polar bear growled, raking his weapon back and forth across the oncoming horde. “You’ll never take me down with numbers like that. If you want to challenge me, you better throw everything you’ve got at me!”While he was suppressing the oncoming wave of ray-like Antithesis, one of the moose dropped into a crouch right next to him, a rocket launcher on its shoulder, sighted the thickest part of the swarm, and let loose. 

Normally, the Anti-Swarm missiles relied on the copious shrapnel they threw out to deal with groups of Antithesis, but down here the water stole much of the shrapnel’s momentum, limiting its effect. That was okay, though, because in order to throw that shrapnel with enough force, the missiles were also armed with an oversized explosive charge, and while the water dampened the effect of the shrapnel, it amplified the effect of the explosion. 

When it detonated, the missile created a shockwave that tore apart both the delicate Model Ones and the more robust Model Threes in a massive radius. Those that survived were quickly cut down by the moose, which Heavy had armed with Rotary lasers before coming down. 

Despite the slaughter that was happening in front of the hive, the vast majority of the Antithesis appeared to be oblivious to what was going on, or completely ignoring the little strike group. Instead, the vast majority of them appeared to be completely focused on charging the massive battleship floating above.

“Don’t you dare ignore me,” Heavy muttered, dropping his laser cannon and pulling the missile launcher off his shoulder. “Forget what I said before,” he shouted to the moose around him. “I was expecting the Antithesis to all rush towards us. Since they’re going to focus on the ship, there’s no point in trying to stagger fire. Throw everything we have at that swarm until the Antithesis either turn their attention our way, or they can’t sustain the assault anymore!”

Bringing the missile launcher up to his shoulder, Heavy sighted the thickest part of the horde and opened fire. Normally, the weapon was designed for single shots, usually linked up to a spotter; however, it was equipped with a five-missile magazine and Heavy made full use of it. 

As soon as he fired the first missile, he adjusted, found another large concentration of Antithesis and fired again. When the first missile detonated, the surrounding Antithesis seemed to be confused by the sudden attack. After the second and third strikes, they finally seemed to realize that not only was the Retribution not the only target in the area, but the small, fuzzy strike team was an actual threat and was doing significant damage to their massed forces.

This time, a significant number of Antithesis turned, distracted from their primary target, and charged the bots.

“That’s more like it,” Heavy exclaimed, tossing the empty weapon to the side so he could pick up the laser cannon at his feet. “Missiles back to staggered fire, target the largest clusters of Antithesis. Cannons target the closest Antithesis; don’t let them approach our position.”

[...vy …read? I’ve started… your signal again. I repeat, do you read?] 

[Spooky? About fucking time. I guess between the Retribution and this stupid purified that the boss has me babysitting we’ve finally cleared enough junk out of the water to regain connection to the command network,] Heavy replied. [Can you hear me?]

[I hear you,] Spooky replied. [What’s your situation?]

[The vanguard that escorted the boss down here is still missing, I think they were crushed by that custom Antithesis model the boss was fighting when I arrived. It’s been driven back by the Retribution, however now the Antithesis are swarming the ship, trying to board it,] Heavy said. [Boss wants you to contact the Retribution’s bridge and see if they want support. Provide them with whatever forces they need to push the attack back. Once that’s done send whatever we have left down to my position, the boss and her friends are assaulting a hive where she suspects the Gene Tender is located.]

[All of them?] Spooky asked.

[She said, and I quote: ‘That motherfucker managed to slip away last time, I’m not taking any chances this time. We lock down the area so tightly that nothing can slip through. We end this here,”] Heavy said.

[Did she mention what we’re supposed to do if the Tender isn’t actually here?] Spooky asked.

[I don’t think that ever crossed her mind,] Heavy chuckled. [Besides, the Tender is running out of places to hide. If it’s not here, it needs to be nearby.]

[Fine, I’ll send you what we have,] Spooky said with a sigh. [Try and keep these ones in one piece. Most of our forces are still in Great Falls, so we can’t afford to lose an entire company like that again.]

[I’m not some brainless Class II drone,] Heavy replied. [I’ll keep our troops organized, and alive.] 

[RIght, well… Expect reinforcements in the next five minutes,] Spooky said. [Bear Force One is in position over the battle zone, and our missile tubes are loaded. Call if you need fire support.]

[Don’t worry. If I see an opening you’ll be the first to know,] Heavy replied. [Assuming that the purifier can keep the area clear I’ll keep this channel open to give you minute to minute updates.]

[Good. Then I’ll talk to you soon,] Spooky replied. [Stay safe down there.]

[I’ll do my best,] Heavy grunted.

That entire conversation took less than a thousandth of a second, and when it was done, Heavy lifted his rotary laser cannon, aimed at the closest Antithesis, and opened fire. His weapon punched through the closest Antithesis, and although he couldn’t swat down all the Model Ones that were swarming forward, the little swimmers couldn’t do anything to him or the rest of his team, so letting a few through wasn’t the end of the world. They could always punch them down later.

As he did something larger than a Model Three moved in the darkness. It rose out of the hive, mixed in with the Model Ones and Threes that were rising to the surface. 

“Motherfucker!” Heavy muttered. He knew that silhouette, the entire command squad did. It was burned into their memory banks after the boss shared her memory of what happened in the Phobos moon hive. 

[Boss, the Tender’s on the move. I’m moving to suppress it, but I don’t know how long I can hold it. Get here soon!] he broadcast across the network before turning to the group behind him. 

“New plan: forget the purifier; Use the missiles as area-denial weapons to keep the Tender from moving away, and use the cannons to suppress it. We can not allow it to escape. Bring it down, no matter the cost!” he shouted. 

He brought his cannon about and fired a salvo in front of the Tender, forcing it to divert from it’s ascent and hide behind a large clump of Antithesis. Before it disappeared, Heavy saw it glance his way. “I see the other Antithesis learned their bad habits from you,” Heavy muttered before it hid itself away. “I’ll teach you the consequences of ignoring me.”