Chương 132: Book 2 - Chapter 50 - Stonewalled

"I guess they gave up on tactics," I muttered as I crouched behind Bob. We only managed to make it about a hundred meters down the tunnel before the antithesis stampeded towards us. This was nothing like the hit and run attacks from before; this was a veritable flood which would have pushed us back, if we didn't choke off the opening with their bodies.

"I wouldn't say that," Whisper countered as she chucked a couple of flesh melters into the growing mound of plant flesh.

"It may not be a sophisticated attack, but this constant pressure is preventing us from advancing." Our advance had stalled out over twenty minutes ago, and there was no sign of them letting up. No matter what we tried, we could only gain a few feet before being swamped again. Jesse incinerated hundreds with his plasma weapon, only for the reinforcements to storm through the molten tunnel the instant he needed to cool down.

Tina coated the tunnel with various acids, which allowed us to advance a few feet, before the Model Fours struck them down from a moderate distance. Finally, Whisperer used the piles of antithesis bodies to summon another of her pets, the massive grey cat, only for the antithesis to start pelting us with projectiles from the Model Fives and Fifteens. All I could do at that was take cover while Heavy and the moose slowly chipped away at the ranged units.

"Any other ideas?" Tina asked from the cubbyhole she was hiding in.

"Try another tunnel?" Jesse suggested. Whisperer considered, just for a moment, before shaking her head.

"There might not be another tunnel that leads directly to the hive, and even if there is, they'll probably just flood that tunnel the same way."

"Well, we need to do something, because this isn't working!" he shot back.

"Just keep pushing!" I yelled.

"They can't have unlimited reinforcements, and the more antithesis we tie up here, the less the antithesis can throw at the other teams." We were so busy 'discussing' the situation, that I almost missed the tiny voice from above my head.

"I was wondering why I hadn't heard from you for awhile, seems like you're busy," it said. I jerked around, only to find a white squirrel standing on Bob's back, peeking over his shoulder.

"Bright-Eyes?" I asked in surprise.

"How the hell did you get a squirrel through to us?"

"A couple upgrades, a little bit of planning, and a whole lot of luck," the squirrel replied as it dropped into my lap.

"My new ghost squirrels have limited stealth capabilities, so they can sneak through most occupied tunnels, plus they're all carrying scarabs to get through the walls!" The little squirrel held up a small metallic bug, so everyone could see.

"I take it you guys aren't completely swamped by enemy forces," Whisperer said, as she shifted from her cover over to Bob.

"How far off are you?"

"About a kilometer off, on the other side of the hive, I think." the squirrel replied as it struck a thinking pose.

"You think?" Jesse asked incredulously.

"You don't know?"

"I'm sure we're about a kilometer from you, but I'm not sure about the hive. The antithesis have been extremely vigilant in the tunnels between us, so I haven't caught sight of it yet. Like I said, I was lucky to slip a squirrel through." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"And you haven't encountered any resistance?" I asked.

"A little, but nothing like this," Bright-Eyes replied, as her squirrel peeked around Bob's back again.

"Then we're going to have to rely on your team to advance, and find the hive. We can hold position here, we just can't move forward," I told the tiny bot. It turned back to the team, and nodded.

"We'll do what we can," the squirrel reported.

"The dig team is almost here too, so I'll report the situation to Humboldt and Barricade."

"What?" I cried in surprise.

"Why the hell is Sharron here?"

"She volunteered! It's practically a national emergency! We have multiple heavy hitters from all over the continent coming here as fast as possible, along with several weapons of mass destruction zeroing in on the location. Why wouldn't she be coming?" Bright-Eyes asked, as she crossed her little arms.

"That's… not my place to say," I said sullenly.

"As long as it's her choice, then I can't really argue."

"Well, it was," Bright-Eyes said.

"The dig team has been using plasma bores to vaporize the rock, so they're making good time. They've been tracking my signal, and should be down to tunnel level soon, which'll give us a third angle of attack. You'd know that if you'd bothered checking in during the last couple hours."

"I've been busy," I hissed.

"The antithesis have hounded us every step of our advance, and it wasn't until we hunted down the Seventeen coordinating the defenses that we had a break. I guess I could have checked in then, but it slipped my mind." The squirrel opened its mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a sharp crack, as something ricocheted off the front of Bob. I carefully poked my head around him to check out the situation.

The ranged antithesis were slowly getting worn down by the heavies, but they were being replaced by a wave of Twelves and Fourteens.

"As much as I'd like to discuss this more, we have trouble, so we'll have to cut this short," I muttered, sending a quick message for the bears to switch to the railguns.

"I'll try to send a squirrel to hook up with Sharron… Humboldt's team, and let you know the instant things start to clear up here. Can you keep us updated on both yours, and the surface team's progress in the meantime?"

"Can do!" the little squirrel said with a salute.

"Good luck! We'll talk soon." A second later the squirrel hunched over, dropping into a much more natural stance. It glanced around Bob, checking to make sure the coast was clear, before scampering off into a corner. I once again popped around the side of Bob and let off a couple of rounds at the remaining Fifteens, cutting down the remaining ranged support, before leaving my fuzzy walking cover.

All around me the bears swarmed out of their cover, and swapped to their rail rifles, preparing to intercept this next wave of antithesis.

"So we just need to hold the line?" Tina asked, as she sent out a wave of bomb spiders.

"We'll keep trying to advance, but now that we know the other team is relatively unopposed, it's worth trying to keep their attention here," Whisperer replied. While the bears were still setting up Jesse stepped forward, anchored himself, and opened up with his plasma cannon. It was a short burst, but it still cut straight through a column of antithesis, cleaning one side of the tunnel.

"Don't you find it suspicious that the other team hasn't encountered any significant resistance, and we have?!" he shouted as he backed off to let his weapon cool down.

"You both said that those Seventeens made our advance much more difficult than the unorganized mobs you're used to. Do you really think they'd overlook a threat like that?" Whisperer and I exchanged a quick glance.

"It's definitely odd, but all we can do is hope the other team can handle anything the antithesis throw at them. We'll do our job, and trust them to do theirs!" Whisperer yelled back, her voice practically drowned out by the volley of railgun fire. Jesse nodded hesitantly, as he swapped over to his LMG.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Tina mumbled quietly. I didn't have time to reply, since a wave of antithesis completely filled the tunnel once again. They couldn't keep this up forever. I just hoped they ran out of reinforcements before we ran out of time.