Chương 371: Book 6 - Chapter 32 - Wheels of Fury

It only took me a few seconds to realize how precarious our position actually was. Although the first wave of Antithesis consisted of Threes, Fours, and Fives, it didn't take long until the Fourteens, Twenty-Threes, and Twenty-Eights came storming down the tunnel. The only weapons we had that were capable of dealing with those heavies were a single heavy coil gun, being wielded by one of the moose, and my linear accelerator rifle.

In most situations I would have simply ordered the other moose to retreat to the nearest Kodiak and swap from their rotary laser cannons to the coil gun while the Kodiak provided covering fire. Unfortunately that wasn't really an option right now, since the worm had ground both the Kodiak and our backup equipment into a fine powder.

If it wasn't for Wild's spores, which were causing the smaller models to melt in horrific ways and causing sheets of flesh to slough off the larger models, and the puddle of stomach acid, we probably would have been overrun in seconds. However, with the Antithesis constantly throwing themselves into the pool of acid, both diluting it and creating an ever-growing pile of flesh that wasn't getting dissolved fast enough, it was only a matter of time until they broke through. [We could use a little help over here!] I broadcast through an open channel. [I lost the Kodiak and the big boys are coming!] [How did you manage to do that?] Mud asked. [A big-ass worm ate it!] I yelled. [It doesn't matter right now. What matters is we need some heavy weapons here ASAP or we're not going to be able to hold this breach point!] [I've summoned reinforcements from the surface, and I'm sending them your way,] Deadbeat reported. [ETA two minutes.] [I'm not sure if we HAVE two minutes,] I growled.

[Keep your pants on, kid; I'll be there in a couple seconds,] Mud declared. I didn't know which tunnel he'd been fighting in, but as soon as he finished talking, the roar of his bike engine roared through the tunnel network. Within seconds that roar grew into an unbelievably loud howl as Mud came screaming down the tunnel.

I barely had time to register that he was there before the weapons on his vehicle—I'm not even sure if the thing even officially qualified as a bike anymore—swiveled forward and unleashed a devastating salvo against the advancing Antithesis. Although the two lighter turrets mounted on the axle of the front wheel were far too weak to penetrate the armor of the Twenties, the turrets mounted at the front and on top of the pilot cabin were extremely effective.

It took me a moment to realize that the sound of those cannons was familiar. He must have borrowed my Linear Accelerator Weapons catalog to pick up some heavier weapons to mount on his bike. Instead of slowing down when he reached our lines, Mud seemed to accelerate, weaving through the bears and just barely managing to squeak by without hitting anything.

As he entered the rapidly decaying body of the worm, the two missile launchers on the back axle finally activated, releasing a massive salvo of miniature explosives that blew jagged chunks out of the larger Antithesis. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

For a moment I thought he might just drive directly into the Antithesis lines in some sort of suicidal charge, but at the last second he made a hard turn, skidding through the pool of acid and spraying the Antithesis on the other side. The vehicle came to a stop just a few scant meters away from the Antithesis, but before they could react and jump on it, Mud pulled the vehicle into a tight turn, spraying the closest monsters with another wave of acid from the churning back wheel.

Those that survived the torrent of acid couldn't react fast enough to grab the weaponized bike as it tore away again. I just stared as the vehicle slowly, almost casually, made its way back up the tunnel, towards me.

"Whatchu think, kid?" Mud asked after he pulled up next to me, the door of his pod sliding out and back so I could see inside.

"That should help keep those monsters off your back until your reinforcements arrive."

"Yeah, but… why did you drive right up to their lines?" I asked.

"WIth that much firepower you could have just slowed down and bombarded them from a distance. You didn't need to get up close and personal like that. It was dangerous."

"Do you know how I killed my first Antithesis kid? I hit it with a crowbar while driving past. I nearly broke my arm when I did, but I saved some kids that were caught out in the open," he said.

"I'm not afraid of getting up close and personal when the situation calls for it."

"The situation didn't call for it though," I replied, shouting to be heard over the turret on top of Mud's pod, which was still shelling the Antithesis further down the tunnel.

"Your bike has almost entirely ranged weaponry. That was needlessly reckless." Mud shrugged.

"I've got to get my daily dose of adrenaline somehow. Besides, it wasn't completely reckless. I outfitted this baby with a couple of specialty shield generators, so if the Antithesis ever got close enough to actually threaten me, I could have sent out a kinetic blast to throw them back again."

"I don't get you adrenaline junkies," I muttered.

"You don't?" Mud exclaimed in surprise.

"That's strange, because I was just thinking that the only reason you'd be on the front line is if you were an adrenaline junkie yourself. You have thousands of mechanical troops, each with just as much, if not more, firepower than yourself. Why do you feel the need to lead from the ground instead of from the bridge of that fancy ship of yours?"

"I dunno," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck.

"That's just the way that I've always done things. I always feel like I should be out doing something rather than sitting back and letting my troops do all the work. Maybe it's a need to lead from the front to inspire the troops or something."

"But all your troops are mechanical," Mud grumbled.

"How does that make sense?"

"I dunno! It's hard to explain. Does that sound crazy?" I asked.

"A little, but then again, I have yet to meet a single samurai who I'd consider completely sane. I don't know if we become strange after spending so much time fighting the Antithesis, or if the AI tend to choose the quirky ones, but we all have our eccentricities," Mud said, leaning back in his seat. He glanced back down the tunnel, through the windscreen of his vehicle, then gestured with his head.

"Looks like the cavalry is here. I'm sure you'll be able to hold with a pair of those bulky APCs you love so much as backup, but maybe I'll do one last pass to make sure." As the pod door slid back into place, he flashed me a quick thumbs up.

"Be right back!" The engine of the bike roared as he pulled it into a tight turn and rocketed back up the tunnel. It looked like the Antithesis had just barely recovered from his first pass and the continuous bombardment from his roof-mounted turret, but they weren't in any shape to repel another assault. The cannons on Mud's bike roared, punching holes in the Antithesis lines just before a missile barrage blew apart the few Model Twenty-Eights left standing.

Instead of skidding to a halt just outside the front lines, Mud drove straight into the remaining Antithesis, only starting to brake and turn when it was far too late to avoid them. Turns out, that wasn't really a concern because when the first Antithesis even grazed his bike, a shockwave shot out, pulverizing the smaller antithesis into a fine mush and throwing the Twenty-Threes and Twenty-Eights back down the tunnel like ragdolls.

Those Antithesis that somehow managed to survive the onslaught were once again treated to a faceful of acid as he gunned the engine and sped away. He didn't even stop this time, just raised a hand to wave as he blew past me, swerved around the oncoming Kodiaks, and headed back up the tunnel, probably heading towards whatever breach needed a hand.

"Everything good, boss?" Deadbeat asked, poking her head out of the hatch of the lead APC as they pulled up.

"You sounded a little panicked on the radio."

"I'm fine. Turns out that Mudflap's latest bike is a real killer, and he helped me hold the line until you arrived," I replied, turning back towards the battle.

"He kept the Antithesis on the back foot, and now that you're here we can take advantage. Form up with the other troops and prepare to counterattack!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Deadbeat replied with a lazy salute as the Kodiaks pulled forward. I just raised my rifle and jogged after. The battle wasn't over yet.