Chương 12: Chapter 10 - Toxic Sludge

It looked like the 'Rain' had stopped while I was inside. The sludge was no longer running down the middle of the streets, but that didn't mean it had completely cleared out. The undercity had a series of canals, ten that ran north-south, and ten that ran east-west which we used to delineate between districts. First district was the farthest north west, and I was in the eleventh, the furthest north east.

The problem is that the precinct was in the tenth, and the canals were currently filled to the brink with the chemical slurry which had been running through the streets an hour earlier.

"Even the Antithesis aren't stupid enough to try and cross that shit directly," I muttered as I watched the bridge a couple hundred feet away. The Antithesis were swarming across it in both directions, it looked like an alien superhighway. I probably would have walked directly into the swarms crossing it, if the fox hadn't stopped me. Instead of crossing I found a small prefab apartment that had its front door caved in, and a decent view of the bridge.

Once there camped out on the third floor, watching the Antithesis. There's a third one. Nyx muttered, as a Model Twelve crossed the bridge.

"And another pair of Sixes, what's that thirteen?" Fourteen"Shit, we've only been here five minutes," I said checking my augs.

"I'd suggest blowing it up, but the precinct is on the other side, and there's half a dozen other bridges in the district, we'd only be slowing ourselves down." We do have the XR-42"You mean the single shot rifle that took over a minute to cool down," I asked as I subconsciously rubbed my shoulder.

"I wouldn't say it's the greatest weapon for fighting on the move." It did come from the weapon emplacement catalog"I know," I replied.

"I'm not complaining. It made short work of that Twelve when I needed it." I watched the Antithesis outside pushing back and forth across the bridge, organised chaos at work.

"There's a lot of points available out there, I'm just afraid if this turns into a fight we're just going to get tied down here for a while," I explained. And you're worried about the precinct. I shrugged.

"Sort of." I admitted.

"It's supposed to be the most secure building in the area, but if the Terminal's defenses failed, then the precincts can too. I think it's at least worth a look." Well, I'm not sure if you were serious about your original plan, considering your purchases so far it seems like you're heading that way, and if so I have a suggestion. The Class I Area denial catalog which contains Razor Wire, tank traps, and, most importantly, assorted mines. Stolen novel; please report.

"Useful," I grunted, "but I don't think I'll have the time to set that shit up in the middle of a firefight." You don't need to, I can deploy the mines automatically as long as they're within a short distance of yourself.

"That doesn't help me deal with the Antithesis coming from the other side of the bridge," I reminded my AI. True. My eyes went from the churning mass below to the far side of the bridge.

"How far away can you deploy something?" I asked, an idea forming in my head.

A Model Six collapsed, holes in the side of its head, the Threes and Fours surrounding it were caught in a hail of lead a second later. A momentary opening, that's all I needed to reach the bridge.

"Nyx!" I yelled, as the bears and I ran for it. Deploying Conventional AP mines, I'll continue to deploy them behind you as you advance. As the bots pushed forward, trying to clear my way across the bridge a series of explosions started going off behind me. It had taken the Antithesis longer to realize what was going on than I expected, but now they were swarming towards us from every direction.

"Nyx, I hate to rush you…" I muttered as the aliens flooded onto the far side of the bridge. There was a deep whine from the top of the small shopping complex ahead of me, followed by a long burst of gunfire which cut through the Antithesis rushing towards the bridge, severely depleting their numbers. Good call on deploying a bear with the M-93 Ripper to cover your advance.

With the heavy machine gun covering our advance from in front, and the mass assault rifle fire from my bots, we managed to clear the far side of the bridge and slip into district ten.

"I hate that I had to waste so many points to get across," I grumbled, "but I doubt I would have managed it any other way." Actually, even with the mines, which cost three points each, you're in the black right now. I spared a quick glance back at the bridge. The Antithesis had made it about half way across, but they'd taken heavy losses doing it. The entire other side was littered with dozens of Antithesis corpses, most heavily dismembered by the minefield I'd left behind me.

"Can we destroy the bridge to prevent them from using it?" I asked. Not with what you have now, Area denial not demolitions.

"Fuck it then," I mumbled before turning away from the bridge and sprinting into a nearby alley, my little squad only a few steps behind. I spared one last glance at the shopping complex, and the single bear sitting there covering my escape. I hated to leave the little guy behind, but he was buying me time to get through.

"Give the Ripper a few extra reloads," I said, throwing the brave bear a salute before slipping into the alley. That went surprisingly smooth.

"Yeah well, we got lucky that no Model Twelves showed up as we crossed," I told my AI.

"Lets hope our luck holds out."