Chương 14: Chapter 12 - Humboldt (Alt POV)

Sharron Brooks, AKA Humboldt, was having a bad day. As one of the newest Samurai in the city she was tasked to check on the status of the Undercity shelter nearest the current incursion, and things had already gone to shit.

"I don't care what the system says, I'm telling you there's no shelter here, Zetta," she yelled.

"I'm standing at the coordinates you provided and there's nothing but a field of fucking rubble."

"Well, I have progress and inspection reports saying that it was finished three months ago," a sleepy male voice replied.

"If what you're saying is true, Indico really screwed over those people down there. Gimme a minute." Sharron rolled her eyes, it seemed like everytime she worked with Zetta it was a mess. The man barely left his apartment, and with his unkempt grey hair, he looked more like a hobo than a Samurai. The man was a genius at logistics and data manipulation, at least usually, but useless when it came to human interaction. She could hear him typing something on an old school, manual, terminal through the call.

"The only other registered shelter in the area is the local police precinct. There may be others but, shit, I don't know where they'd be," Zetta said quietly. She could still hear him typing.

"I'll try to get you some backup ASAP. We need to start clearing the area before things get too bad. Check out the precinct first, and report back when you know the situation."

"Right, I'll call you later," she snapped, before ending the call. Sharron shifted, the servos in her environmental suit whirred, the internal displays highlighted nearby Antithesis. Small groups, nothing too threatening. She lifted her heavy cannon and turned. Despite its immense frame, her power armor didn't feel heavy, but it was slow, ponderous. It would take a fair amount of time to reach the precinct, even at a run.

The Antithesis always seemed to be confused by her Environmental suit, perhaps it was because they couldn't detect anything biological through the seals. It didn't prevent them from deeming it a threat and attacking, as was apparent now. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A large group of Threes and Fours, apparently searching through local apartments for loose biomass, took offense from her presence and started pouring out of the doors and windows.

Sharron briefly considered using the cannon before discarding the idea, far too much collateral damage. Her tentacles would be enough. From the back of the suit six prehensile tentacles extended. The top four unfolded, revealing the weapons hidden within, the bottom two swept low, these ended in long blades. Weapons prepared, she met the charge. When the first few Threes got within twenty feet her assault began. The upper tentacles, each one tracking a different target, opened fire with the chemical lasers within.

Deep gouges were burned into flesh, and the first wave fell lifeless in front of her. The Antithesis continued to push forward, each new wave was met by laser fire, but inches were gained, they slowly pushed closer. The last group, the Model Fours, finally managed to plod close enough to strike at her with their bone tipped tentacles. These were met by her own lower tentacles, their vibro edged blades severing the spikes, allowing the lasers to finish their work. The street fell quiet.

Fighting low level Antithesis wasn't tough, or dangerous, they didn't even have enough strength to penetrate her armor at this point, it was just time consuming. Perhaps she'd invest in some longer ranged weapons next. The armor plodded on. Few things could stand up to her armor, the weapons didn't even require much of her attention to operate, making most combats trivial. The trip was boring, until she was just a few blocks from the precinct.

Her sensors identified something moving several blocks ahead, not Antithesis this time, human. The enhanced image showed a tiny girl, dressed in a green hoodie with bear ears, and carrying a massive rifle. Behind her trailed a bunch of stuffed animals, three teddy bears and a fox, all dressed in combat gear and carrying automatic weapons. The girl and bears quickly disappeared around a corner, the fox did not.

It stopped for a moment, stared directly in Sharron's direction, then waved before running off after the others. Sharron sat there for a moment, stunned, before bringing up her communications again.

"Hey Zetta, I've got something to report to you."