- Anonymous quote, a week before AdiNike’s new product launch 2028
“And you’re saying this is just the scouting group?” I couldn’t quite believe my own words.
The soldier, a woman by the name of Taka, had sent me some video files recorded by her peers stationed outside of the shelter entrance. Some of them had kept an eye on our surroundings and had noticed a rather large group of xenos coming our way from outside of the park. It was pretty clear that they had to come from one of the other drop pods, likely lured here by the earlier fighting and the stench of dead xenos.
“Yes, ma’am.” Taka’s voice was tense, despite her best attempts to hide it. It helped that she wore a helmet, it hid a lot of the unease she almost certainly helped. “Paul says he’s still spotting more aliens joining the marching band.”
That was far, far worse than I originally anticipated. A couple of xenos I could handle, with the help of the soldiers. Probably, anyway. But this many? I wasn’t a fighter, I barely knew what to do. I dealt with people, not with fighting. This was… terrifying, really. I wished Yurei was here. She would know what to do.
But she wasn’t. I had to deal with this one myself.
“Stryx?” I kept my voice as low as I could manage, but I wasn’t quite able to hide the shivering in my tone.
Please be aware that you can subvocalise to communicate with me. That should help with hiding your unease from the soldiers.
<”Okay. Ideas?”>
Plenty. While these numbers might seem overwhelming to you, they are actually not as much of a threat as you likely think them to be. Your specific catalogues make dealing with large groups far easier and safer than most Samurai would be able to, this early in their career. Of course, you are lacking in firepower and large scale defences, but that can be rectified with time. I would suggest you use your imagination to try and sort this situation out. Be aware that I do have plenty of solutions available for you, should you be unable or unwilling to come up with your own, but I believe that, as terrifying as this situation might be in your eyes, it would be a good learning opportunity for you.
You want to play the illusionist, distracting your enemies and opening them up for your allies to take out. To achieve that, you should learn how to think like an illusionist.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hate Stryx for that right at that moment. While she certainly wasn’t wrong, right now really didn’t feel like the right time for lessons. People could die if I fucked up! And that would be on me!
But on the other hand, she was right. And as much as I fucking hated it, I had to learn how to deal with shit on my own. So far I’ve relied on Yurei for much of the fighting, and now I’ve instinctively asked Stryx for help. I couldn’t just ask others all the time. Didn’t I want to be an awesome Samurai who could deal with shit on her own?
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves. It was hard to hide the jitters of fear, but I forced myself to not show how terrified I was. I was a Samurai now, and these people relied on me for help. If they saw me folding, they would lose all hope. Fake it ‘til you make it.
I couldn’t count all of the aliens, but there were at least four or so dozen, and that was just the lead force. Most of that was model Three’s and One’s, with the occasional tentacled model Four mixed in. The thing that worried me the most was the sickly looking ursoid thing that was part of the main force.
<”What are those? I haven’t seen them before.”>
Curious. These seem to be a new variant of model Six. As far as I can find, there are no records of them being sighted before. I can make an educated guess about potential capabilities, but until one is engaged in combat it is going to be very hard to say with any certainty.
Model Six are typically command units, controlling the battlefield by commanding the antithesis. Their commands are typically basic in nature and do not allow for complicated maneuvers, but they can still pose a significant threat. In direct combat the main danger coming from a model Six is the sheer mass they bring to the table. They do not have dedicated weapons, rather just stampeding any adversaries. Unless directly engaged, they typically sit back and focus on controlling their forces, however.
Given the more nimble design of this variant, I would estimate them to be more focused on mobility, or perhaps even not meant for fighting at all. It could be a trade off for more intelligence or more advanced tactics. Caution is highly indicated.
I tried to imagine what that would look like. Antithesis fought… Well, very directly, from what I knew. And the little I’ve seen today did fit that rather well. They typically just overran you with numbers and that was that.
If they were able to organise into something more coherent… That would be all kinds of bad. For a growing number of reasons, and that was only what I could come up with from the top of my head. If I wanted to ensure that they couldn’t just crush us underfoot, I had to make sure that we had defences against swarm tactics.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
With a thoughtful frown I turned to Taka. “Can you give me, like, a rough map of the surroundings? Particularly of the entrance of the shelter and the open plaza? I might have some ideas on how to deal with this mess, but I’ll need your guys' help. All cards on the table, I can either get better weapons for me, or the stuff I need to keep you safe. And I’d rather do that and let you do the killing, since you got weapons and know how to use them.”
“I can do that,” she said with a nod. Her voice didn’t betray any opinions she might have on my suggested course of action. “We aren’t made of ammunition, but we might be able to hold them off.”
I gave her my best smile, “Thanks, Taka. Once I get more points I’ll get you guys better weapons and more ammo.”
That seemed to help her relax a little, and she gave me another nod. I turned my attention back to Stryx, just as Taka sent over the files I requested.
<”Okay, I’ll have to make sure their morale keeps up. Can I get like barricades or something?”>
Basic barricades are Class 0 items and always available to you for a pittance. If you wish for something more specialised, you’ll likely have to unlock a catalogue for that and pay more per purchase.
<”Is the basic stuff enough to just keep a Three from smashing through it?”>
I didn’t need a fortress right now. Well, I needed one, but I couldn’t afford one. I had less than 200 points remaining after getting my new gear.
Yes. They are more resilient than the concrete barricades you would see on highway construction sites. Short of a model in the teens, you needn’t worry about them breaking through.
That was good, and I nodded to myself. Taka was still watching me intently, and I did my best to act as if I was starting to get a good handle on this situation. What they needed, more than anything else, was the hope that we could get through this. I knew from experience that people who were confident were far more productive and likely to succeed than those who believe that all hope is lost.
<”Good. I’ll have to do some acting once we get out there to set up. Do you think you can help me look all amazing and magical when I buy the stuff?”>
That will be no trouble. While the defensive Hard-Light emitters in your armor aren’t meant for light shows, they are very much capable of them. Would you prefer something pompous or rather keep things on the down low?
<”Pompous. As grand as you can manage. Half this fight is going to be good bluffs and acting as if things are well in hand. And if they see me pull off some amazing shit this soon after being selected as a Samurai, they’re more likely to believe the aliens have no chance.”>
And what if you lose after all?
I shook my head. <”Then it doesn’t matter, because we’ll all be dead. There is this saying, ‘fake it ‘til you make it’. That is going to be our watchword for the hour.”>
Very well. What else do you have in mind? I doubt that the barricades are the only thing you plan to get, am I correct?
I grinned, an expression that came surprisingly easy to me, despite the situation. <”Oh, of course! You mentioned those pheromones bombs earlier. What do you think about mixing some of Yurei’s flesh melters into those?”>
With a long mechanical click the shelter doors unlocked, and slowly started to open. I was standing at the front of a dozen soldiers, all equipped with rifles and some incendiary ammunition, courtesy of Stryx and Yurei’s weapons catalogue.
The planning stage had been far, far shorter than I really liked it to be, but we didn’t have time and I still had to make sure we were set up before the xenos arrived here. It wasn’t as if they were barrelling down on us within the next few moments, but we likely wouldn’t be getting more than ten minutes before they got here.
“Okay, everyone!” I said cheerfully, clapping my hands as I stepped out of the shelter. I turned, giving them a wide smile. “Time to prep for some xeno killing! You all know the plan, so let’s get set up. Stryx, my dear friend, if you please?”
With a bit of flourish, and a tiny little bit of childlike glee about the ability to actually perform some miracles, I bowed, waving my hands to either side. Immediately my armors sprang to life, hard-light emitters projecting a veritable light show around me. Stryx obviously went to town on the project, half-transparent duplicates of myself ‘building’ the barricades in record time.
New purchase: Class 0 Reinforced Barricades x15!
Points reduced to: 134
New purchase: Class 1 Custom Turret Rig x10!
Points reduced to: 34
True to Stryx’ words, they really weren’t much more than concrete slabs, originally. Evidently she had decided that that wasn’t pompous enough, and redecorated them, including some depictions of myself holding up signs with various motivating lines, such as ‘Only a dead xeno is a good xeno!’, or ‘Keep calm, keep focused, and we’ll wipe the floor with those plants!’
I had to admit, it was kind of endearing, and it helped a lot with the anxiety I still felt deep down.
The soldiers didn’t waste any time and immediately began to set up at their designated positions. Next to each of them, and along the outer perimeter of the barricaded were the Custom Turret Rigs that I had put together with the help of Yurei’s catalogues. Honestly, I was so glad that she got a good catalogue for weapons.
The custom rigs weren’t much. Really, they were just there to lob my new, custom made grenades into the mix. To that end they had some limited ability to aim, but had to be reloaded manually after three throws. Not to mention, that they were jerry rigged from various items on my utilities catalogue, so they weren’t exactly quality products.
I wanted something better, but I didn’t have the points. My hopes were that I’d be able to get more stuff in the middle of combat, once we started killing some xenos.
That was also the reason I had spent some points up front for better ammo. That way, I’d be earning a fraction of each kill the soldiers made. I didn’t have enough for all of us outside, but that would hopefully change soon.
Just as I was about to turn to the soldiers to give them some pep-talk, the lookout spoke up over the comm channel that I’d been invited to.
“Ma’am’s, the xenos are closing in. It seems that they have spotted us.”
For a moment there was silence. I nodded, forcing myself to remain calm.
“Thanks, Paul. Good job out there!” With a smile that was only partly genuine, I turned to the assembled fighting force. “Well then, it’s time for us to do our part. Let’s kill ourselves some xenos!”
For good measure I pumped my fist into the air, and Stryx used my Hard-Light emitters to send a shower of light around me. It seemed to help a lot, if the cheers were anything to go by.
Now I only had to make sure that that false front of confidence wasn’t just a front, and make sure nobody died in my attempts to keep everyone alive.
But no pressure!
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